Tales from the Storm Discussion

[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.

[MuseTraveller]

Personally I think it's best story so far! I've always loved Pipin, now even more so!

[Theodric]

I'm not particularly fond of either Pipin or Raubahn. With that said, I did enjoy the story due to it serving to fill in the blanks and tell us something we did not yet know. Plus it did not pull any punches in showing just how unpleasant a place Ul'dah can be.

[CaesarCV]

I really enjoyed this story! It didn't necessary bring in a lot of new information, but it was good to get a few more tangible details on how Pipin and Raughban began their relationship. While it was spelled out a little more in the lorebook, it was really nice to see it as a full story. It's also fun to see a little more of the seedy underbelly of Ul'Dahn society. After all, behind the grand buildings and wealthy merchants there are those who lie on the bottom. It was also nice to see a bit about how Ul'Dahn slavery works. It seems to be more debtor slaves than chattel slavery, which does make sense given their Social Darwinism style outlook. This might be my favorite of the ones so far! Although...I'm guessing they might release 4 more of them. 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..

[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.

[FJerome]

And here's our last one for this year, "Oh Nhaama, Where Art Thou".

(Magnai's nickname in my FC is "Forever Alone" . . . this isn't really going to help change that.)

[Anonymoose]

I do enjoy the whole Magnai x Sadu thing. It's obvious. It's a handful of tired old tropes. And yet it's hammered together into something satisfying.

[FJerome]

. . . Actually now I'm more confused than ever about the status and role of women in the Oronir, given that Magnai was simultaneously expected to be leader one day and constantly at the beck and call of his elder sisters.

(Also, petition to meet Magnai's terrifying sisters.)