Character Death in the MSQ

[Cleretic]

Honestly didn't like Ysayle. She was a prime reason why Heavensward did little for me personally despite the popular opinion. I just kept thinking she was an idiot and kinda freaky for turning the image of a gentle saint that loved dragons to her death into that ice themed, amazonian warrior goddess, and then being shocked when Hreasvelgr, the real Shiva's lover who Ysayle knew was her lover all along, was deeply offended by how Ysayle twisted her image.

While largely unrelated, when you put it like that, I do think it's really interesting that Ysayle essentially did the same thing with Shiva that Ishgard did with Halone, who wasn't a goddess of war until Ishgard decided to wage one.

Which, as unfortunate as that is to phrase, is kinda just how real-world pantheons and sainthoods work. Domains just sorta get tacked on by social necessity; 'we need a god/patron saint of X now that it's a present part of our life, so let's staple that to Athena/tangentially link that to Saint Jimothy the Younger'. If anything Ysayle is kinda doing better than most; she is correctly identifying with Shiva's overall ideal, she's just picked a sword instead of an olive branch. ...and has some unhealthy associations that would've really served her to unpack with someone, but therapy's not exactly a thing a lot of people get to do in grand adventures.