Tales from the Shadows

[Anonymoose]

It has begun!

2019-08-27 One Name, One Promise (Thancred)

I appreciate that it manages to just narrowly avoid re-treading over stuff we knew by filling in the gaps around those things. We already had an adequate explanation for Thancred's sense of responsibility for Minfilia; that if it weren't for that he was distracted at the parade, he might have seen things going sideways in time to save her father. However, the common thread of this story gives us a more complex view: he could also live up to Louisoix's example by helping an orphaned child live up to their potential. And to boot he's clearly quietly fantasizing about playing house with F'lhaminn while looking after her. I like that (just as ARR+ made him a more complex character in general) this story tidied up his past to match. Bonus points for putting one last nail in the coffin of Thancred x Minfilia as a ship.

2019-09-03 Echoes of Delusion (Estinien)

Even though it was a throw-away explainer line, I think the first thought everyone had when Estinien quipped that he was tracked down by the pair was, "I need to know exactly how that happened," so this tale probably made a few days, lol. We don't learn much in the way of lore, of course, but it's still nice to see their characters from this angle - Estinien still bumbling through trying to function as anything other than the Azure Dragoon. For those that struggle to see Estinien through Yoshida's eyes as a distant quasi-Scion, perhaps seeing him awkwardly dragged into others' affairs and trying to make the best of it helps. (I wonder if the surume addiction will hold or if he'll find a new horizon to pretend he's not broadening every time he ends up somewhere.) I had a suspicion that Krile didn't actually see anything and was just playing to his disguised insecurities but I didn't expect it to be confirmed in the end, lol. (That's not usually how the Echo works; Echo users tend to pick up on specific powerful memories that people are thinking about at that moment.)

2019-09-10 A World Forsaken (OMG)

"Omega had a secret epiphany at the end and is clandestinely living anew from scratch within OMG" is one of the silliest headcanons I've embraced (and I've found that a number of people have independently had the same idea)...so I started laughing as soon as I saw the word "Objective:" and had almost lost it by the time I read "yellow-plumed creature." The Wedge scene was surprisingly sweet; I knew he had a crush on Tataru, but I thought it was just another of his eccentricities like taking a shine to Maggie (Magitek Reaper) and Gilly (Guidance Node). Saving the reveal that Nero was there until the end was a great decision; I spent the whole read wondering if he stayed or went. The fact that the perspective is just...slightly...more human than one would have expected of Omega prior to its defeat is really satisfying, too. Confirmation of "alternate reality" time travel makes me grind my teeth a bit, though. Here's hoping it's just shoudn't-have-been-possible spatio-temporal "twinning" and not confirmation of infinite simultaneously existing variations of history.

2019-09-16 Through His Eyes (Hades)

You know, at the same time, I thought, "One of the stories has to be him." and "There's no way." We can perhaps learn a fair amount from this story. Let's weave it all together. In the time of Amaurot, there was indeed one race, one people. Amaurot was the largest city of its day, but not the only city by any means. They had no belief in a higher power beyond a vague notion that the aetherial realm was an unknowable "Underworld." The shades woven by Emet-Selch aren't completely accurate; the robes are black, the masks are white, the Convocation's masks truly were red, but each individual was as unique as they are today. Some of the Ancients had a strong affinity for "the Underworld" and could see the aetherial nature of things clearly. Hythlodaeus and Hades were particularly gifted in this, but the former, while stronger with the gift, was not suited to using it for anything practical and thus refused the first offer of the Convocation to take the office of the Emet-Selch. Whoever the Warrior of Light was in those days, Hythlodaeus felt this mutual friend should have been one of the first people to learn of Hades's appointment.

Souls, we learn, cannot be made - even by the Ancients. Life-aether can form quasi-souls (arcane entities), but no more. Souls spontaneously manifest in things that are born in accordance with the laws of nature (and also Alpha, apparently). They considered this a "gift from the planet."

Somehow, a wandering soul (afraid of death / bound to this side by regret) merged with a phoenix (arcane entity; purely aetherial) brought into being via creation magicks. To deal with this situation and unmake the creature required the best mage available, and Hades was able to transform himself (by bringing aether within to himself)into something massive "like a shadow lengthening" to do so. (Other attempts would merely have caused it unnecessary pain and triggered its regeneration.)

The finale gives us a bit of a glimpse into how House Galvus came to behave as they do. We see a scene around 1550. Emet-Selch is well into his life as Solus zos Galvus and already feeling the effects of aging around 61. Think about where each of them are at the moment:

Solus decided to embody an emperor and take a wife, neither of whom were very imposing despite the Garlean race typically having formidable bodies. And then they had a son, and for a moment Emet-Selch had a strange sense of hope he couldn't identity. As the boy grew, he seemed to be a perfect specimen - the envy of all their peers. And then some common malady struck him down at a young age and validated Emet-Selch's assessment of life as it now was. And yet that man had also left behind a son, an ever-continuing bloodline mocking Solus's brief moment of hope. On the other side is Varis, a 19-year-old without a father eager to win the acceptance and pride of a grandfather who will never see him as anything but the above.

Explains a lot.

[Theodric]

It's a nice story. Three more to come, too!

Thancred proved to be one of my favourite characters during Shadowbringers so I'm pleased we get a deeper look at his past. To a degree, it's simply repeating stuff we already knew - but it does an excellent job at filling in the gaps and showing the emotions involved.

I suspect that there will be at least one other Scion as the focus of a future story (likely Y'shtola) as well as another tale focused on either Zenos or Varis. Emet-Selch or Elidibus are other potential candidates in my eyes, too.

[Yuriane]

I also like how it spreads a little bit of lore about the locales in FFXIV and not just focuses entirely on Thancred. In Sharlayan espionage is not only expected but encouraged, you can even get the equivalent of a PhD in what is essentially Book Theft. In the First the depiction of colours is reversed with a holy and chivalrous knight culturally being understood as donning black armour rather than white as it is in our world, which makes me think towards the garb Minfillias are made to wear being this hostile colour to the First. Eulmore has subterranean levels that, if we are to take the text literally, are carved into large (likely dead) reef coral.

Lore dude.

[KageTokage]

I'm hoping the Eulmore depths become a future MSQ dungeon.

It wouldn't surprise me if there were still some sin eaters down there still, personally.

[Iscah]

Eulmore has subterranean levels that, if we are to take the text literally, are carved into large (likely dead) reef coral.

A "reef" can also be a rock ridge - which sounds more likely in this scenario. A coral reef would be a bit porous for carving subterranean caverns into it.

[Gula]

Since I never got to experience 1.0 outside the lore book and Tales from the Calamity, I appreciate this. I also appreciate how it adds a new color to Thancred and Minifilia with the naming and how frustrated he was when being so harsh on her.

[Alleluia]

Nice story. I have trouble pinning Thancred's character down in my head sometimes, so I'm glad we got that.

I'm expecting Lyna to get at least one of these stories to give some insight on both herself and the early days of the Crystarium and G'raha on the First. Or, more unlikely, but a Feo Ul pov perhaps? Maybe G'raha himself, though he's likely gonna get plenty more MSQ opportunities for stories for a while yet, so that might be redundant.

I'd LOVE some kind of Amaurotine story, with the real Hythlodaeus maybe, but that's almost a 0% chance. lol

[Theodric]

I'm hoping the Eulmore depths become a future MSQ dungeon.

It wouldn't surprise me if there were still some sin eaters down there still, personally.

That could work rather well. You can see some buildings popping out of the ocean not far from Eulmore itself which may very well be part of the place.

[Iscah]

I'm expecting Lyna to get at least one of these stories to give some insight on both herself and the early days of the Crystarium and G'raha on the First. Or, more unlikely, but a Feo Ul pov perhaps? Maybe G'raha himself, though he's likely gonna get plenty more MSQ opportunities for stories for a while yet, so that might be redundant.

Definitely some of my guesses, though probably not Lyna and "early days" in the same story unless it's from G'raha's perspective - the city was founded almost a century ago, and Lyna is young enough to regard the Exarch as her adoptive grandfather. (Lyna definitely feels like she needs more focus, whether it's through the game itself or a side story. She seemed under-used in the main game.)

I had the thought it could be an interesting story idea to focus on the passage of time, and how painfully slow it would be for G'raha. I'm picturing that he probably planned to arrive on the First much closer to when he needed to summon us, basing his destination on Source time with some room for error... and instead fell into that hundred-year wait and has to watch our adventures play out in excruciating slow-motion until it finally reaches the planned moment.

(Side note: I assume in preparing for his time-travel trip he researched all existing references to the WoL, and came prepared with a detailed record of what we did and when... which ties in very nicely with his initial job as a historian!)

There's also definite potential for something set in the dark future - Biggs the Third has been set up as a character on three occasions now (Echo vision, Twinning audio log, letter from the Rising) so I wouldn't be surprised if we get something from him.

[Gula]

(Lyna definitely feels like she needs more focus, whether it's through the game itself or a side story. She seemed under-used in the main game.).

Underused is an understatement. I didn't use her in Holminster so really, most most clear memories of her were her stopping us at the gate, being a plot movement device when we were interrupted in the briefing room, and her breakdown.

Riveting.