Nael Van Darnus -- A Love Story

[Anonymoose]

Okay, draft one finished. Find the parts I'm wrong about and we'll refine! lol

Back to work on trying to figure out which of the conflicting language issues and missing puzzle pieces can be independently solved back in my Lominsan homeland... </sulk>

[HiirNoivl]

I'll do my best!

the eradication of the primals will leave a land "bereft of the crystal's light" You're making a tiny mistake here. It would not leave a land bereft of the crystal's light (singular), of the crystals' light (plural). I think he's referring to the impact Dalamud would have on removing not only the primals themselves but the aetheric energy that brought them to being in the first place. Had it been used as a blunt force, it indeed would have removed all light and life from Eorzea leaving nothing as both Cid and Gaius try to tell him. But they just don't get it! No longer does he care about killing the primals. I originally thought that he LIKED the primals with that statement. But now I'm not so sure of that. He's not in love with the primals at all... but with their energy. And he wants to destroy all primals but his. Perhaps he views all the other primals as false gods, and that the energy in the crystals left after eliminating them would be "leavings" for the Empire to "scavenge". Having no other primal but Dalamud would certainly be a purification in this sense. Without even human beings to take any energy from it would be wonderful to him indeed. But the crystals' light emanates from a singular source. He doesn't want the leavings. He wants it all. Maybe that's why he is so frustrated with the Garlean plans. From his vantage point, he can "see" all there is to acquire and the idea of killing the primals for Eorezan land looks dumber than ever.

With that certain villain wanted to collide the ol' Meteor last time, he wanted to "become one with the planet" by creating an "injury" so great that all the planet's energy would gather to one source...

Darnus wants to drop the big rock, not on the primal's main hideaways in the 3 cities, but the center of aetheric energy of the land that brought them into the world. So perhaps, his intention was to give over all of the primal's energy to Dalamud, make Bahamut impossibly strong and eliminate all the primals (including humans) for the purpose, not only of stopping the cycle of Eras, but also of rebooting by simultaneously eliminating all things on Eorzea, and releasing all the energy in it. It wasn't his intention to die in the process. That was our doing. He only talks of giving over his flesh, which he had already done by the time we had gotten up to his floating rock. But even then, instead of falling down and dying, he shatters, in a pose that certainly doesn't evoke fear, anger or even defeat - but love and dignity. Deep down, he still knows that Bahamut is the winner and that his plan will be realized. To shed the last of his attachment to the world pretty much was an honor more than a defeat to him. (He was still planning on fighting but then starting to float away).

It's kinda why I title my post a love story. (heh) His crazy I <3 you Dalamud ramblings and bizarre attachment to a giant floating rock was just him acting on what he loved more than anything. Pride and especially power connected to his Allagan Heritage (He certainly seems proud to flaunt his knowledge and heritage anyway). He fell for Garlean might because they could bring his dream into being but he never had any intention of resisting the pull of something even stronger than them, even if it meant their deaths. Whether or not this is his own desire to be part of Allag's prophecy or his reflecting the desire of Bahamut is unclear and I'm not even sure it matters. Anyone who's against Dalamud is against Allag and is evil and doesn't deserve to live.

Love is crazy. XD

"A new world awaits, and only by the strength of Garlemald will it be realized."

Remember, Nael is Allag - the Allag were of Eorzea. He is fulfilling the prophecy that dictates the future of this land, his home. The prophecy must come true - Dalamud must fall - the purity of nothingness must consume the land he holds as his own legacy, and the only way he can do that is to use the Garlean's power as his own.

I don't think he was admitting anything. He was acting in front of his minions, just like he was in "It Kills with Fire". Cid was a blabbermouth, speaking of Bolja Citadel and rejecting his claims that he was going to bring forth a bright new era. This information cannot get out. If it did, it could be fatal to his plans of using the Empire. He has to get rid of this guy. So he sticks to the party line: "You don't join me because you suck! You've been in this realm too long and you've been infected by its taint!" ( :3.... BAHAHA ...ahem sorry.)

The Legatus then proceeds to execute him as a traitor. Essentially he's saying, I'm not the traitor, YOU are.
Also please keep in mind that this whole thing occurs in an Echo. We don't know when it happens but it probably happens before It Kills with Fire but after Cid Garlond walks down the stairs in the Grand Company and comes to the realization that someone is trying to bring down Meteor at the beginning.

Apparently some fell for the ploy. In "Know your Enemy" Charledore rants that Cid "turned his cloak and forsook us for this doomed realm" and that "And the dogs at the Ironworks name me a traitor!? Hah! They who serve the greatest traitor of all!" Charledore was a double agent in Cid's own organization, trying to pass info to Van Darnus that he wasn't able to acquire thanks to Cid's "betrayal".

Gaius is much more discreet. He knows that what Darnus is saying is crazy and will work to the end of the Empire, but rather than turning away from Darnus, he joins as a double agent, revealing information to Cid and to you at key points in time because he wants Darnus stopped. Cid doesn't realize this until Don't Hate the Messenger, when he admits that Gaius was the one that brought down the airship outside Castrum Novum. He's happy that you win because now he can continue the conquest of Eorzea. Later on, in Living on a Prayer Y'shtola admits that Van Baelsar has been cooperating with the Circle of Knowing "for quite some time". Cid, because of his vocal manner, was likely kept out of the loop on this. So he can be forgiven for his words in the "Alive" quest.

Also his long (friendship or acquaintanceship?) with Van Baelsar seems to go much deeper than just a rivalry for the Emperor's favour... watch the GC quests "Alive" and "Two vans are better than One" to understand what I mean. I think Nael has a strange kind of "respect" for Gaius and realises that he needs his help to activate his secret plot.

I'll have to disagree with you there.

Gaius Van Baelsar: Eorzea must be assaulted on all fronts─on that I agree. But Meteor... Go no further with this, Nael. It is...depraved─fouler even than the pestilence we seek to purge. It is more wicked than the eikons themselves. It─

Nael Van Darnus: ─Is the will of our Emperor. Why, Gaius, one might even think you bitter at having fallen from his favor. Could that be the root of your doubt?

Gaius Van Baelsar: Do not mock me. Our duties are no place for personal feelings. You know that as well as I.

Nael Van Darnus: Oh? And what of your tired obsession with conquering Eorzea, then? Is that not personal?

Gaius Van Baelsar: Better to conquer a realm than a void. What is the value in ruling over emptiness─over nothing!?

* * * *

Nael immediately attempts to brand Gaius's doubt of his plans as doubt on the Emperor likely as an attempt to get rid of him. Gaius uses the exact same reasoning as Cid, but this time the minions aren't around and Nael wouldn't have any way to manipulate such a brazen assassination of a rival. Van Baelsar appears to understand that there's a time to speak (Two Vans) and a time to keep quiet (Alive). Nael hints that Gaius has personal reasons for wanting to conquer Eorzea. Granted, he could be referring to Gaius's humiliation in being stopped by a primal. But I'm more of a mind that Gaius has some sort of roots in Eorzea, maybe he's from the realm. In this position, openly opposing Darnus's plans would be suicide.

[Forgo]

I love this thread btw lol but got to thinking about Nael and thought about something...Now we know Nael hit the fan on crazy
but was it really him we fought at the end or was it Bahamut in his body? Before you look at me and go what?! My reason is this...we know Nael wielded a Gun-spear which only lancers and dragoons do..so was Neal a Dragoon? Was his "dragon" linked to Bahamut or was His dragon Bahamut? Doing the dragoon quest myself the main guy you fight at the end tried to awaken his dragoon within which turned out to be Nahog (probably spelled that wrong) but we stopped him, so what if in his messing with Dalamud he awoken Bahamut and became one? just a theory have no real backing but I thought about it since the same energy that Nael had around him look like the energy the other had when he tried to summon Nahog...

[razz]

Ah, I'm totally disappointed by this thread...
Anybody else thought 'Nael Van Darnus -- A Love Story' would be a new post from Bastok?


(actually it's a great topic, lore is always interesting)

[HiirNoivl]

I love this thread btw lol but got to thinking about Nael and thought about something...Now we know Nael hit the fan on crazy
but was it really him we fought at the end or was it Bahamut in his body? Before you look at me and go what?! My reason is this...we know Nael wielded a Gun-spear which only lancers and dragoons do..so was Neal a Dragoon? Was his "dragon" linked to Bahamut or was His dragon Bahamut? Doing the dragoon quest myself the main guy you fight at the end tried to awaken his dragoon within which turned out to be Nahog (probably spelled that wrong) but we stopped him, so what if in his messing with Dalamud he awoken Bahamut and became one? just a theory have no real backing but I thought about it since the same energy that Nael had around him look like the energy the other had when he tried to summon Nahog...

Moose had the question too... how did Allag get all mixed up in Dragon Gods?

From Into the Dark

Yuhelmeric: This... One of the Garleans was carrying this? Are you sure!? Speak false and I shall have your tongue!

Yuhelmeric: Forgive me. I spoke out of passion. That was not...knightly. Seeing this relic, I...I forgot myself.

Yuhelmeric: The draconian rosary is the mark of a heretic. The mark of one who has given his soul over to the dragons. Doubt not that they are cunning creatures, beguiling to the weak of mind, and all who lust after power. Such men are apt prey for the foul spells of the dragonkin. Their wills are broken, and with them their oaths to Ishgard. For that, we brand them heretics.

Yuhelmeric: The lives of such craven traitors are forfeit. All know that the knighthood will hunt them to the ends of the realm, and so, to escape the See's justice, some turn to the Empire, divulging the Darkhold's secrets to curry favor with their new lords.

Yuhelmeric: It shames me to speak it, but the imperial soldier who carried this may once have been one of our own. Perhaps he turned cloak and fled to the Empire. Perhaps they founded their siege strategy upon his intelligence. Perhaps he guided these bloody Garleans across our borders and into the Darkhold...

.....Well.

[Anonymoose]

<...>

I think you've managed to clear up the one thing I was having trouble with. If he can sever the aetheric veins in the ground using his own power and manipulate the energy, you have to believe a meteor impact would be like severing one of the planets limbs, so to speak. What's the use in taking control of a body you cannot move?

I'm still relatively sure that this was all planned from the beginning, though, and that he just lost touch with his ground on reality as time went on and Bahamut took control of his volition. I'm not at all trying to dismiss your angle on it, by any means, as I'm probably off, myself; but it makes sense to me that as the legacy to House Darnus and heir to the Allag, he's had these gears in motion for at least as long as he's been hungry for imperial advancement.

I think he uses the patriotic rhetoric for a plethora of reasons: (A) It makes him look good to the Garleans; the better he looks the less they'd think he thinks they're fools. (B) He relies on their power to achieve his goals - the better he makes them look, the more power they have, the more power he can access. (C) Technically, he's a Garlean general assigned to that front. It would be pretty suspicious if he wasn't all, "GO TEAM!" about it, regardless of how inevitable the prophecy is and how much it means to him.

Long story short - you don't kill the golden goose... and you'd probably do well to try to avoid offending it, too, for whatever that's worth. Certainly don't, like, punch it in the beak or anything.

Also, nice find on that Into the Dark quote. That, itself, could reveal exactly where this all began with him... I wonder if the Allag themselves were at all pro-Bahamut (LOL) EDIT: respecting of the dragonkin (as opposed to the violent opposition seen from the Holy See) or if their wiles were just able to twist his "religion" the way the interpretation of all religions eventually is...

Thanks for bringing that up! It would have been quite a while before I dug that gem up for Loremonger so... just... WOW. Seriously, SE: good storytelling.

Anybody else thought [this] would be a new post from Bastok?

The fact that the "O" in "Love" wasn't capitalized was a dead give-away that, best-Bastok-case-scenario, this was a cheap imitation. Dump tell no mandy, he's just a landmower turned bankways.

[Alaltus]

I'll throw in my own thoughts into this heap =P

Shadow of the Raven

The Elementals deliver a prophecy. “When white wings hie from distant east, a maid of steel to bear,Shall darkling sky shed tears of fire, and veiled ones know despair.” Swethyna reasons that these words ring true of the events that follow.

Swethyna: “...Shall darkling sky shed tears of fire, and veiled ones know despair.”

Swethyna: Only after the fact do these words make sense. Gods strike me down for a fool!

Swethyna: The veiled ones are none other than the Wood Wailers, and the despair is that of the elementals.

Swethyna: That the Garleans would carry out an aerial bombardment on the Twelveswood...

However if you think about it these words ring true of the events in the end of an era trailer as well. Except who are the veiled ones in this scenario? well all of Eorzea despair over the catastrophe, Gridanian's with them. Veiled sounds like it could have a double meaning, a veil conceals but is it concealing you or does it hide the truth infront of your very eyes?

[Molic]

I wonder if the Allag themselves were at all pro-Bahamut

Edit: Meh came back and realized it was actually sil'dih that did the zombification thing, wrong civilization D:

[HiirNoivl]

On Darnus's character page, it doesn't appear that he has any links to Ishgard itself. His father was a founding member of the Empire. But the revelation that disgraced dragoons take refuge in the Empire and share secrets might explain how he was able to come in contact with Bahamut inside Dalamud. A draconic rosary and whatever else came with it seems to be more instrumental to the Seventh Umbral era than even the lunar transmitter. I would wager that Into the Dark is where Darnus learns of Bahamut.

I would wager that All that Glitters and the kidnapping of the theologian helped him become Bahamut's "dragoon". I'll have some time to scrounge up more info on this later. But the pieces seme to fit in theory.

Moosey say:

I think he uses the patriotic rhetoric for a plethora of reasons: (A) It makes him look good to the Garleans; the better he looks the less they'd think he thinks they're fools. (B) He relies on their power to achieve his goals - the better he makes them look, the more power they have, the more power he can access. (C) Technically, he's a Garlean general assigned to that front. It would be pretty suspicious if he wasn't all, "GO TEAM!" about it, regardless of how inevitable the prophecy is and how much it means to him.

How can you hear the truth above the roar?

He was really good at it. Lord knows I was fooled.

Dump tell no mandy, he's just a landmower turned bankways.

lol Okay Homsar... But don't talk about it too much... you might bring it in here.

[Kagato]

Yeah, Nael wasn't that bad of a villain. But he's still not Shadow Lord levels of complexity.