The Masked Mage

[Forgo]

Its Hildibrand, I mean who else could it be? He shot himself up to the red moon (so he would would have us think) What if he came back all evil and shit? It has to be him!! With that smug face.... O.o

[MartaDemireux]

But how would he shave his face up there o.o

[Momita]

But how would he shave his face up there o.o

Flames of the Hell shave him!

[Anonymoose]

Masked Mage #1:
"The end of your tale is but the beginning of another: the tale of the Crystal's demise! AHAHAHAHA"

Masked Mage #2:
"But, inspector, if they get away now, won't they know everyth-"

Masked Mage #1:
"How many times do I have to tell you, Nashu, I am not an inspector. I am ... <flex pose>
A BRINGER OF CHAOS. SPECTRE EXTRORDINARE."

Oh, man. Can we have a case where Hildebrand investigates the threat of the masked mages by impersonating them just so we can have that kind of exchange? I bet Nashu would trip over her robes and break her cute little cat-mask and then stumble around in the background, blind without her glasses, while Hildebrand over-sells his act to the point of hilarious absurdity.

[finiteHP]

Masked Mage #1:
"The end of your tale is but the beginning of another: the tale of the Crystal's demise! AHAHAHAHA"

Masked Mage #2:
"But, inspector, if they get away now, won't they know everyth-"

Masked Mage #1:
"How many times do I have to tell you, Nashu, I am not an inspector. I am ... <flex pose>
A BRINGER OF CHAOS. SPECTRE EXTRORDINARE."

Oh, man. Can we have a case where Hildebrand investigates the threat of the masked mages by impersonating them just so we can have that kind of exchange? I bet Nashu would trip over her robes and break her cute little cat-mask and then stumble around in the background, blind without her glasses, while Hildebrand over-sells his act to the point of hilarious absurdity.

If only I could like this post more than once.

[Catapult]

A little something from the first Hatchingtide comes to mind.

Somewhere along the banks of the Black Tea River in Gridania...

"I see the mind purge was a success," mutters a hooded man as he slowly folds a copy of the Raven and slips it beneath his dark cloak.

"I did only what was necessary. Had we let her continue before we had completed our preparations, the consequences would have been dire," replies a similarly garbed woman huddled in the shadow of a nearby tree.

The man pauses for a moment, then slowly lifts his head to gaze upon the twin moons hovering in the night sky before whispering, "Yet time is of the essence. There are those who have already begun to piece together the clues laid out before them, and soon our secret will be a secret no longer. But until then, we must remain vigilant..."

Any retrospective thoughts, my friends?

[NoloeTazier]

A little something from the first Hatchingtide comes to mind.


Any retrospective thoughts, my friends?

Think you might definitely be on the right track Catapult. The mind purge sounds VERY similar to something going in ARR now.

[RahfaelFavinco]

What I want to know is why all this stuff was being built up about the Masked Mage - including having seen Bahamut before - considering the outcome of the Gargoyle mission. I don't think he's as gone as Thancred (or Yda/Papalymo or Y'shtola, depending on where you started) seemed to think...either that or that was the Masked Man's colleague, Other Masked Man, in the Cartenau cutscene. The one that didn't have any dialogue.

[Anonymoose]

I'm curious to see if there's a hierarchy of some sort in play. We seem to have put own down, and something more powerful than he seemed to be granting his requests for the voidsent he summoned. Ascians were also referred to as shadoweaters or those who have eaten their own shadow on occasion. Perhaps some are human/recently-ex-human, while others are timeless, and others still have that demonic grim reaper visage. However, perhaps some are merely residing in vessels. I'm not sure if it was the beta programming or what, but we do think we saw a shadow under him...

Who knows where it's all heading. I'm really going to take my time with it, I think.

[NoloeTazier]

I'm curious to see if there's a hierarchy of some sort in play. We seem to have put own down, and something more powerful than he seemed to be granting his requests for the voidsent he summoned. Ascians were also referred to as shadoweaters or those who have eaten their own shadow on occasion. Perhaps some are human/recently-ex-human, while others are timeless, and others still have that demonic grim reaper visage. However, perhaps some are merely residing in vessels. I'm not sure if it was the beta programming or what, but we do think we saw a shadow under him...

Who knows where it's all heading. I'm really going to take my time with it, I think.

Maybe the 'stronger' versions can take a form that they want, after all they seem to be strong magically. If something like a Dormouse or Snurble can come from the Void, I would say very much so weaker than Ascians/Paragons...I don't see why beings of magic in "our" world couldn't open a portal to the Void and slip through. If not with their own magic, maybe Atomos' legend in Eorzea runs deeper than we currently know..maybe people were taken to the Void.

The Masked Mage (leader?) said he thought he would never see Bahamut again, so he was around during the time of the Allagan Empire and Bahamut before the sealing...maybe he was an Allagan, maybe he was an Ascian/Paragon during this time. If he was an Allagan, then their technology was very impressive..being able to seal Bahamut and open a way to the Void.

But one thing we do know is their ultimate goal has something to do with the Crystals and Hydaelyn. Something that was started the day the day the Garleans accidently released the Primals, which allowed them to teach the Beastmen to summon the Primals. Maybe that's why the Allagans sealed Bahamut and rest of the Primals.