Some confusion about Ishgard?

[Xibri]

TL;DR In the trial Steps of Faith, I thought all the dragons attacked from the north end of the bridge between Ishgard and Gates of Judgement, but; Ishgard on the north end of the bridge is not under dragon control. So where did all the dragons come from?


I thought that when we're fighting the giant dragon on the bridge, in the trial The Steps of Faith , that all the dragons were coming from the other side of the bridge. What confuses me is the other side of the bridge is Ishgard and it's not dragon controlled. I had assumed that the land north of The Gates of Judgement, In Coerthas Central Highlands, was controlled by the dragons. I figured there would be a part in the story where Ishgard was liberated or something along those lines at the end of ARR or the start of HW. My best guess is that the dragons invaded by getting on the bridge in the center. Flying in from the sides, or above. Then they started marching towards The Gates of Judgement side of the bridge. If not then where did the dragons come from. If invasions of the dragons were coming from the north wouldn't Ishgard be the stopping point of such an invasion.Did this all happen on a different bridge than the one from The Gates of Judgement to Ishgard. If this was the case, I don't see why a large group of soldiers wasn't sent after the dragons from the Ishgard side to help. I'm just really confused.

[Bright-Flower]

Going off memory I think Vishnap came from Coerthas Central Highland and we're trying to stop him from reaching Ishgard proper, and I think the attack was in part possible because of Iceheart's people sabotaging wards or something? It's been a while though since I did that.

[Neophyte]

I guess Vishap actually came by flight:

"The Steps of Faith─the sole means of approaching the city of Ishgard. As well as providing passage across the Sea of Clouds, this great stone bridge also serves to anchor the series of arcane wards known as Daniffen's Collar.
Long has the Holy See relied upon these barriers to shield the city from Dravanian assault, but it did not reckon upon the brazen actions of Lady Iceheart. The outermost layer of protection has been dispelled, allowing the mighty dragon Vishap to land upon the far end of the Steps of Faith. Leading an army of lesser kin, the massive creature is intent on destroying the exposed foundations of the remaining wards. Take up position alongside the Temple Knights, and defend the structure from the ravaging forces of the Horde!"

[Bright-Flower]

I guess Vishap actually came by flight:

"The Steps of Faith─the sole means of approaching the city of Ishgard. As well as providing passage across the Sea of Clouds, this great stone bridge also serves to anchor the series of arcane wards known as Daniffen's Collar.
Long has the Holy See relied upon these barriers to shield the city from Dravanian assault, but it did not reckon upon the brazen actions of Lady Iceheart. The outermost layer of protection has been dispelled, allowing the mighty dragon Vishap to land upon the far end of the Steps of Faith. Leading an army of lesser kin, the massive creature is intent on destroying the exposed foundations of the remaining wards. Take up position alongside the Temple Knights, and defend the structure from the ravaging forces of the Horde!"

That makes sense, I remembered the sabotage from Iceheart and her followers but them flying in makes sense for this. I guess with how huge Vishnap is, and him being grounded for the encounter, I assumed he had to have gone there by foot but this makes sense.

[Xibri]

I guess Vishap actually came by flight:

"The Steps of Faith─the sole means of approaching the city of Ishgard. As well as providing passage across the Sea of Clouds, this great stone bridge also serves to anchor the series of arcane wards known as Daniffen's Collar.
Long has the Holy See relied upon these barriers to shield the city from Dravanian assault, but it did not reckon upon the brazen actions of Lady Iceheart. The outermost layer of protection has been dispelled, allowing the mighty dragon Vishap to land upon the far end of the Steps of Faith. Leading an army of lesser kin, the massive creature is intent on destroying the exposed foundations of the remaining wards. Take up position alongside the Temple Knights, and defend the structure from the ravaging forces of the Horde!"

So i guess without the barrier over the bridge the dragons could land then they decided to march to The Gates of Judgement I suppose that they marched to the Gates because it's probably less fortified than Ishgard but idk.

[Riardon]

Ishgard is protected by 4 magical barriers.
Lady Icehart dispelled the outermost.
The dragons came flying and landed on the bridge and attempted to destroy the rest of the barriers which is now easier since the most important barrier is down.

[MistakeNot]

So i guess without the barrier over the bridge the dragons could land then they decided to march to The Gates of Judgement I suppose that they marched to the Gates because it's probably less fortified than Ishgard but idk.

No, with the barriers down the dragons could just bypass the Gates of Judgement and land directly on the bridge, and then marched on Ishgard proper.

As for why there weren't more Ishgardian forces involved in repelling the attack on the Steps of Faith, I assume they were busy fending off dragon attacks attacking Ishgard from other directions.

[TheMightyMollusk]

To be fair, the Ishgardian forces directly involved in the battle with Vishap are horribly ineffective. They mostly just die in droves.

Just went through this a couple of days ago on an alt. It's stated that some of Ishgard's forces are on the city walls, manning cannons. Others, along with more adventurers, the other Scions, and the Crystal Braves, are scattered around Coerthas fighting other Dravanian forces. And Estinien was shown in a cutscene at the end, standing over some dead wyverns to explain his own absence from the main fight.

[Enkidoh]

Both battles on the Steps of Faith (Vshap and

Estinien!Nidhogg

make more sense in the context of the revelations during Heavensward's story, namely the whole cause of the Dragonsong War in the first place -

Nidhogg was fully capable of simply flying in and wiping Ishgard completely off the map if he ever wanted to. But the very fact he did not was the first clue there was so much more to the whole war than met the eye. Because Ishgard's complete destruction was not what he desired, no, total annihilation was too good for them he figured. He wanted them to endlessly suffer, to writhe and squirm in agony like a worm on a fishhook for eternity, to feel the pain he and all the dragons felt with Ratatsokr's murder.

So he was playing with Ishgard, inflicting just enough damage and chaos to wound them severely but still leave just enough to allow Ishgard to survive in suffering, when he would withdraw and go into slumber. And yes, that meant actually giving the Ishgardians a fighting chance, so the dragons flying in and attacking on the bridge where they could be more easily engaged by Ishgard's forces does make sense in a sinister way.

It's one of those situations that make more sense when taken in context.