sartelainargret

[sartelainargret]

FFxivWrite2024 Participation Prize

A portrait I drew for @a-pink-beau! This is a prize for participating in FFxivWrite2024, a Final Fantasy XIV themed 30-day writing challenge.

Congrats to the winners!

FFxivWrite2024 is hosted by @sea-wolf-coast-to-coast

[sartelainargret]

Theories and Speculation: The Queen and the Gilded Cage

[This theory includes spoilers for the 7.0 Dawntrail Main Scenario Quests in Final Fantasy XIV. It was written before the release of the 7.1 patch.]

I theorize that the Endless Sphene was a figurehead without most of the powers of a real monarch. This may not have been the case when she was alive, but this was true of the Endless version of Sphene. She may have had some power over her country as an Endless, but her directive to preserve the Endless at any cost reduced her personal agency and robbed her of much of her free will.

I think this version of Sphene is a warped copy of the original because she had to adhere to her directive. This directive was given to her by someone or some group of people. These people asserted their authority over her decision-making process and turned her into a figurehead. Thus, she was unable to make the choices that were in line with what she really wanted—that is, what the living Sphene might have chosen.

“But what’s your favorite food, if you don’t mind me asking?” –Wuk Lamat

“My favorite food… That is a question I may never be able to answer.” –Sphene

It's also possible that the Endless Sphene is a cherry-picked version of her original self. Her inability to choose a favorite food, for example, may be evidence that she did not have this memory at all. Perhaps some memories were culled by her creators because they were deemed useless for a figurehead queen to remember. It may also be possible that some memories were lost over time—it appears she was an Endless for a while. Regardless, the scene where Sphene could not choose a favorite food seems to both foreshadow her difference from a living person and that she may have lost a connection with some of her memories from when she was alive (even before she erased them to serve as the Queen Eternal).

“Unlike me, you still have the power to determine your own fate.” –Sphene

Sphene’s creators may not have meant for the Endless to be prioritized over living beings. However, because the directive was so rigid, this is what occurred in practice. This rigidity may have also been intentional—the people who preserved Sphene may not have wanted her to disobey them. Her creators made her unable to alter her directive. This decision, at the very least, took power from her and made her less true to herself.

I theorize that the people that created the Endless version of Sphene always intended to use her as a public figurehead while they (possibly the group named Preservation) ruled in the shadows. It is also possible that this group still rules Alexandria.

“You’re useless! A queen in naught but name!”–Frantic Man

When Sphene gave the Warrior of Light’s party a tour of Alexandria, a man accused Sphene of being just a figurehead. It’s not certain whether she wanted to oblige this man and could not, or legitimately did not want to give him preferential treatment. Regardless, she placated the man, and this showed her effectiveness as a figurehead. Throughout her tour, she never offered to change the system she was supposed to be the ruler of. Regardless, she was able to offer solace to the people who were disenchanted with Alexandria’s society.

“It seems I’ve no choice but to continue down this path…” -Sphene

In the scene above Sphene lamented that she could not choose a path to a peaceful solution with Wuk Lamat. This closely followed a conversation where she could not speak her mind because there was a mechanical soldier watching her. At first, it seemed like this watchful eye was Zoraal Ja’s, sent to stop her from betraying him. However, at the end of the 7.0 MSQ it seemed more likely that these sentinels were meant to represent some other presence. Perhaps they were meant to be a physical manifestation of the directive, always keeping her in line. Alternatively, they could have been the watchful eyes of Preservation, or whatever group that was really in charge. It’s possible that this unknown group had the capacity to change Sphene’s directive but would not do so because her pursuit of the directive benefited their selfish interests in some way.

Sphene appeared keenly aware that her activities caused suffering for her own people, despite her assertion that she wanted to protect them at any cost. This troubled her when she visited the sick child in Alexandria. She made it clear that it was her fault that levin sickness was on the rise.

“The cause is quite clear, though—the excess lighting in the environment. It’s no coincidence the number of cases has risen dramatically these past thirty years.” –Sphene

“It’s all my fault…” –Sphene

I don’t think the Endless Sphene wanted to take the lives of others to preserve her own people. She recognized that her directive made her dangerously selfish, even when she did not want to be selfish. I also think she didn’t believe Alexandrian society always acted in the best interests of her people. However, the system that preserved her did not give her the freedom to pursue other paths. She may have hoped the Warrior of Light could find a peaceful solution that worked for her people and Wuk Lamat’s, but she also accepted from early on that being shut down might turn out to be the most peaceful solution that benefited everyone. However, she had to be careful that her acceptance of this path was never expressed in a way that would violate her directive.

“I am, in the end, a pitiful, selfish creature. One that should never have been created.” –Sphene

“If only I had met you when I was still alive, then perhaps…” –Sphene

I also theorize there is a second copy of Sphene’s memories in her crown. At some point it was mentioned that Sphene had a special regulator, and there was a small scene at the end of 7.0 that showed her crown glowing. It seems likely that a new copy of her will be created from these memories. I suspect that this version of Sphene will be devoid of any memories of her experiences with Wuk Lamat’s party.

[sartelainargret]

FFXIV 30 Day Writing Challenge 2024 (Prompt #1)

Prompt: #1 (Steer) Point of View: Sartelain Argret Spoilers: No, unless some visual details about an early Dawntrail area are spoilers to you Timing: Sometime after Dawntrail’s Main Scenario Quests Word Count: 777 --

You and I have been together a long time now. Long enough that I know by the rock of your gait that you are tired.

It is still a long way to our destination, but now I look for a quiet place to rest for the night. Near a stream, perhaps, or at a little town with a warm stable, or at least a clearing sheltered from the dust of the road where I might build a fire for the evening. I pull back gently on your reins, and we slow to a walk—rider and chocobo synced by years of adventures together. I feel your relieved sigh reverberate through my whole body.

“We’ll stop soon, Thaddic,” I encourage you aloud.

“Kweh.” You agree it is almost time. I think that even if I did not have the Echo, I would know what you meant.

This is an old dance to us both. The road that stretches before us is not the dustiest one we have trod, nor the cruelest, nor the longest. Thankfully, it is also not the most urgent. You have ferried me to battles from which I was uncertain I’d return. Yet you were always sure that we would see each other again. So far, you have always been right.

The crisp air takes on an uneasy chill, and the jagged mountains bleed purple and peach out of the retreating daylight. I see a barren outcropping at the top of a slope nearby; it overlooks much of the Urqopacha valley. Worqor Zormor looms, stern and imposing in the distance. This is a good place for a campsite and a view of the mountain both.

I steer you off the dirt-packed road and up the cliffside. We take it slow in case there are loose rocks underfoot. When we are on even ground again, I signal for you to stop. I pat the glossy feathers of your neck.

“Thank you, my friend,” I say.

“Kweh!” You tell me it is nothing, in your cheery way.

I dismount, remove your saddle and bridle, and unpack your saddle bags. Then I offer you some Gysahl Greens from our provisions; you inhale them with reckless abandon. While you nibble curiously on the native grasses that are poking out of the dirt, I look for kindling suitable to sustain a fire. There are few trees here, and I’ve learned that cacti make for a poor campfire. Nonetheless, I find some dead, shrubby thing that will suffice.

The sky is a gradient of greys and dark blues by the time I return. You are already curled up with your beak laid over your talons in preparation to sleep. You open an eye when I approach.

“Kweeeh…” You are glad I am back.

I light a fire, pull out some dried provisions from my pack, and sit down near the fire’s warmth to eat and watch the stars twinkle into existence for the night. You make a contented noise; I think you might be asleep already.

How many more of these journeys do we have left in us? You tire more easily these days. I do not want to think of the day on which they become too much for you.

Today’s ride was long and rough. My body aches from it, and I wonder if I am not becoming a bit tired of this kind of thing, myself. The dried meat is bland and unappetizing after so many days of it, too.

To raise my spirits, I think of the hot meal and warm bed that await me once this job is done. I imagine myself having my fill of it, of gladly choosing to head out again—of my curiosity getting the better of me, as it often does.

Still, I find it easier and easier to imagine a day where I no longer choose this kind of life. I hope—if that day comes—that I find something else that fills me with as much awe as the cloudy, nighttime vista that dances, dreamily, before me tonight. If only it was not so hard to reach these sorts of places, the ones so rarely trodden but so full of wonder.

The moon reveals itself, half alight, from behind a cloud. My heart dances at the sight. Inspiration takes me; I pull out a quill, an inkpot, and a well-worn journal from my pocket and jot down the inklings of a new poem.

It is so very quiet here. I can hear each gentle breath that you take as you sleep. I wonder, absently, if you are dreaming. If so, I hope that your dream is a pleasant one. --

[sartelainargret]

Greetings! I’m Sartelain. Maybe you’ve seen me wandering from place to place in the MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV. I plan to post mostly about FF14 here. Since it’s the time of the year for the FFXIV 30 Day Writing Challenge, I may post some writing soon.