Tales from the Storm Discussion

[Belhi]

I wonder when today it would be up. Time for some light reading!

[Anonymoose]

D'aww. Even having known the basics of the story, it's still a good read. The sudden introduction of "Raubahn's adopted son" came out of left field a bit back in the day, so the biographical side of this trivia was nice to see through their eyes.

[YianKutku]

I've always been a bit fascinated by Pipin, mostly because other Lalafell VAs tend to have scratchy or squeaky voices, and then 2.55 happened and I encounter this Lalafell with this deep smooth bishounen voice, complete with flowing silver locks of hair.

The story revealed little new, but it did reinforce why Pipin feels such fierce loyalty to Raubahn, and why he holds Raubahn in such high regard. It also triggered the usual immediate thoughts of "man, Ul'dah is terrible", but then that usually leads to a derail on how other city-states are just as bad in their own ways, so we'll just treat that discussion as done and over with.

I will still screenshot all those occasions of Pipin blithely striding around with a sword about as big as he is, though. Lalafell and equipment don't really scale too well.

[Belhi]

I wonder if Raubahn implemented any changes in policy over the Bloodsands when he bought out the Coliseum. It wouldn't surprise me if he arranged for better treatment of the Gladiators even if he lacked the influence to basically shelve the whole slavery thing. We see someone getting sold off for debts in the SAM quests but the individuals involved end up getting arrested by the Brass Blades. I wonder at the specifics of that. Was it that basically the Merchant was 'paying off' guards with the indentured woman or is there limits to what is technically legally allowed?

[Mysterysword]

The very first NPCs you see in the Gold Saucer, upon turning the corner, are a boy protesting that he doesn't want to go work in the silver mines, and his father assuring him that it'll "only" be for a few months, until the father's debt is repaid.

Given that he's apparently willing to discuss something like that in public, I wouldn't be surprised if selling off your children is legal, except it probably goes by a nicer term. Kidnapping and selling off strangers, however, ought to be a crime.

As for the story itself, going by the screenshots, it looks like a 13-year-old Lalafell isn't that distinguishable from an adult one. Also, this story could've done with some better editing, but that's par for the course.

[Enkidoh]

I wonder if Raubahn implemented any changes in policy over the Bloodsands when he bought out the Coliseum. It wouldn't surprise me if he arranged for better treatment of the Gladiators even if he lacked the influence to basically shelve the whole slavery thing. We see someone getting sold off for debts in the SAM quests but the individuals involved end up getting arrested by the Brass Blades. I wonder at the specifics of that. Was it that basically the Merchant was 'paying off' guards with the indentured woman or is there limits to what is technically legally allowed?

There had been earlier indications that the Colosseum was indeed often used as a place of punishment by Ul'dah's ruling oligarchy, but, it was always tempered by an apparent desire by the earlier owners/Guildmaster that despite the ominous name the 'Bloodsands' was actually not a place of bloodshed, that fighters fought mostly for show and didn't actually kill each other or even brutally injure - (the 1.0 GLA quests showed that), so this tale kind of shows the Colosseum in a more negative and brutal light.

It also goes some way to explaining Raubahn's stubborn determination - I mean, this is the guy who once fought a hundred opponents in the Colosseum single handedly, earning himself enough money to buy the Colosseum and a place on the Syndicate outright! He had to fight to live, to earn his freedom and gain the strength to liberate Ala Mhigo. And Pipin's past is a real tear jerker - that someone so noble, so principled and just had such a terrible childhood. This is definitely my favourite tale so fa (as it really strikes a chord with me, the connections my character has with the GLA's Guild and being Ala Mhigan herself).

Thank you so much for this Ferne! (And the rest of the lore/writing teams too ). I can't wait to see what the final story is about.

[LineageRazor]

All right, we finally struck gold! Definitely the best side story in a while. This is the kind of thing I like to see; a story that looks into a character's history and motivations. I guess my only criticism is a small and petty one: there's not much about this story that's specific to Stormblood. Honestly, though, I don't care - it's fascinating to learn more about Pippin and his father, and their relationship.

There had been earlier indications that the Colosseum was indeed often used as a place of punishment by Ul'dah's ruling oligarchy, but, it was always tempered by an apparent desire by the earlier owners/Guildmaster that despite the ominous name the 'Bloodsands' was actually not a place of bloodshed, that fighters fought mostly for show and didn't actually kill each other or even brutally injure - (the 1.0 GLA quests showed that), so this tale kind of shows the Colosseum in a more negative and brutal light.

While I wasn't in the game for 1.0, even then Raubahn had earned his freedom and bought the Colosseum, no? Perhaps the Bloodsands were less bloody due specifically to his efforts; that in the days when he and Pippin were slaves, it really WAS a field of slaughter, and having survived through those harsh times himself, Raubahn had plenty of motivation to enact some rules and regulations to stem the death toll once he took the reins? It sounds very much like something he would do.

[Belhi]

I doubt it was a complete bloodbath. Even as slaves, gladiators are expensive. That was true in real life too. Rome made some real progress in surgery and medicine in patching up wounded Gladiators after battle.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if he reformed a lot of things once he owned the place.

[YianKutku]

I doubt it was a complete bloodbath. Even as slaves, gladiators are expensive. That was true in real life too. Rome made some real progress in surgery and medicine in patching up wounded Gladiators after battle.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if he reformed a lot of things once he owned the place.

Good gladiators (in RL) were expensive, but there are all sorts of tiers of gladiators, ranging from unfortunate slaves and POWs (or at least the ancient equivalent), to celebrities in their own right.

The very early gladiator fights were indeed to the death, but as the audiences' tastes became more picky, they placed more importance on the showmanship of it than the actual combat. So a "good" gladiator was one who could entertain the crowd, and did not even need to kill their opponent. Officially the defeated were not supposed to die, but given that we have evidence of fights advertised as "to the death" for that extra frisson, this is probably not very strictly enforced.

And of course, it's a dangerous occupation in the first place, and nobody really cares much if a gladiator dies, apart from his sponsor (who may well be ruined from the loss).

I'm not sure if even Ul'dah is as horrific as that, though. Chances are the Bloodsands of Raubahn's time are already fairly non-lethal, outside of accidents. The audience likely prefers entertainment to blood.

The part in the story about good food is also true to life; gladiators got some of the most then-advanced food science with regards to keeping healthy and strong. The "science" may not be worth the term, but at least they tried. Their diet tended to be vegetarian, though, compared to Pipin's account of big portions of meat.

[Mysterysword]

All of the stories so far have been focused on Ala Migho, and it would make sense to have some for the Doman side of the expansion..

I'm guessing the final one won't be focused on a Doman character either, so I'd be surprised if it turns out to be Hien, Yugiri, Gosetsu, or Yotsuya, etc.

Bet it'll be Grynewaht, just to throw us for a loop. In all seriousness, probably someone tangentially related to Fordola, perhaps an underling of hers. For a really out-there guess: Regula, watching young Zenos grow up.

Reading these stories, though, takes me back to the Tales from the Dragonsong War stories, and just how much better those were in comparison. "For Coin and Country" gave us a side-story scene that tied directly into current events in the main quest, and also managed to add a new dimension to the characters involved, instead of rehashing stuff we already knew. "What Remains of a Knight" managed to introduce a character we never got the chance to even speak to, much less see, flesh out his character, kill him off, and make his death have a lasting impact by making us wonder what would've happened had he lived. I can only hope the next Storm tales after these will live up to the HW ones.