Tales from the Dawn #2: "In Pursuit of Knowledge" (Erenville)

[Iscah]

It's week 2 of Tales From the Dawn, and here we get Erenville's perspective on events in Sharlayan.

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes.../sidestory_02/

[Rannie]

Hmm most interesting especially the last three paragraphs...

[Iscah]

I would have liked to hear a bit more about Erenville himself, but what we got is still nice.

Of course he's going to be utterly perplexed and intrigued by Alpha.

And the ending is very much indicating we'll be seeing more of him in the game proper! Perhaps even multiple story threads, between whatever task the Students have for him and then his own plans.

[Cleretic]

Thanks for making a separate thread for this one, the other one was probably gonna keep with its talk to the point of steamrolling over the next story.

Nothing that's all too new here, although it confirms Erenville was genuinely on our side the entire time we knew him, even if he wasn't letting on. Also neat is the confirmation that Alpha doesn't look like any breed of chocobo around even to the guy that would absolutely know that stuff (no offense to the Ironworks, they ain't biologists).

[Iscah]

confirmation that Alpha doesn't look like any breed of chocobo around

I always liked one of the side remarks in the Omega quests – I think it was from Biggs – that Alpha looks like a chocobo in the way that a mammet looks like a person.

[SentioftheHoukai]

Nothing that's all too new here, although it confirms Erenville was genuinely on our side the entire time we knew him, even if he wasn't letting on. Also neat is the confirmation that Alpha doesn't look like any breed of chocobo around even to the guy that would absolutely know that stuff (no offense to the Ironworks, they ain't biologists).

To be fair, there was really no way for Erenville to know just what Alpha actually is. I mean, he's a chocobo... but he isn't? Honestly that stuff is rather confusing, and the Omegas didn't really go over that all too well aside from reassuring us that Alpha did indeed have a soul and is a person. I think my personal favorite part is when Erenville resolved to not tell his Sharlayan compatriots because he feared they may treat him poorly to attempt to discover just what he is. That was pretty considerate of him.

and its weird to see how... grand everyone sees us. and eccentric lol. besides that it was nice to see erenville stumped by alpha.

The "eccentric" part was probably another Azem nod, to be honest. As for the faith, well that's actually one part I think Shadowbringers could have improved upon. Instead of Elidibus cosplaying as a Dissidia NT character (and really, what's with the model rips anyway? What with that and the Cloud of Darkness from NT Eden sure did like copying stuff), it would've been a pretty tense situation to see the Emissary instead use Eorzea's faith in us in particular against us in the worst of possible ways.

It was alright. Honestly not too invested in Erenville, but it was at least heartwarming.

I think it might've been easier to get invested in Erenville as a character if he had gotten more screen time. We really didn't interact with him all that much in Endwalker, and it made it difficult to really get a feel for his character. I feel the Warrior of Light spent the most time in Thavnair and Elpis by far in the MSQ to be perfectly honest. Garlemald, Sharlayan, Labyrinthos, and Ultima Thule all felt really short as segments.

Seemed more like we inspired them to start their own journey to me.

I don't know, it honestly read more to me like Erenville always planned to make an odyssey of himself but got caught up in the work that suddenly became much more dire due to Sharlayan's abrupt revelation about the Final Days. It's a little like what Cleretic said here:

Nothing that's all too new here, although it confirms Erenville was genuinely on our side the entire time we knew him, even if he wasn't letting on. Also neat is the confirmation that Alpha doesn't look like any breed of chocobo around even to the guy that would absolutely know that stuff (no offense to the Ironworks, they ain't biologists).

It's more to me like Erenville was on the "good guy's side" from the start, in that he fights for the little guys. It makes sense, and I'm glad the Gleaners have someone to fight for them since it did feel more than a little bit like they had been being mistreated and taken advantage of by the Sharlayan higher ups.

We still have six tales to go. Ahewann isn't a bad guess to be one of them. (His induction into the truth behind his family's role as satrap would be an interesting one.)

Erenville isn't my favourite either, but I guess a fair bit of my own interest in him is hoping for a bit more insight into Viera culture and mindset rather than wanting to see more of him specifically? We haven't spent enough time with him to think much beyond "he seems nice".

Wait, where did you get that idea there are only two empty slots left on the site?

Also, I'm not entirely sure we can even GET Viera culture from Erenville. He honestly comes across as more than a little sequestered and I wouldn't be surprised if he possesses little to no actual knowledge on what Viera culture is like.

[Jandor]

Wait, where did you get that idea there are only two empty slots left on the site?

All the other expansions got eight, and also only started with four slots if I recall correctly.

[Cleretic]

All the other expansions got eight, and also only started with four slots if I recall correctly.

Shadowbringers actually got even more; on top of Tales from the Shadows, we also got the five stories leading into Endwalker that were secretly role quest prequels.


Chewing on this one more, I think it's more interesting not as an Erenville story (not that he isn't quite charming), but that he's very much acting as a window into just how weird the WoL and their friends all are to someone who isn't already used to it. Krile's personable, but most of this story is basically just Erenville boggling vacantly at everyone's shenanigans.

Also, if people want to dissect this stuff: the 'bickering like old lovers' line isn't in the original Japanese exactly, but there's still some clear passion involved in their phrasing. I don't know what portmanteau to go with for those two (Simmanelain? Emmanecard?), but the flame is indeed alive!

Also, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it line, but Erenville apparently named himself after a place. So perhaps someday we'll visit Erenville with Erenville? (Or maybe it's just in Corvos, like everything else that's happening just off-screen in Endwalker.)

[Iscah]

Wait, where did you get that idea there are only two empty slots left on the site?

Four this year, four next year at the next Rising. That's how it has worked for years.

[Enkidoh]

Wait, where did you get that idea there are only two empty slots left on the site?

Four this year, four next year at the next Rising. That's how it has worked for years.

Also the Lodestone outright says there will be ultimately four stories on the main page:

* Please note that Tales from the Dawn may contain spoilers from the main scenario.
* Four stories are scheduled to be released.