#garlean stuff

[jenessa-mercier]

Everything was wrong. Her limbs were too short, the armor didn't fit quite right, and each step threatened to trip her in the snow with legs that she was used to being a full three ilms longer. And that wasn't even getting into the sensation of utter wrongness that pervaded her being, the sword in her hand familiar and yet alien as she glared at the standard issued sword of the Garlean army.

It was a cruel joke, Jenessa stepping over the unfortunate opponent that had attacked her, his body already cooling in the fierce Garlean winter. Everything in her body ached; this body was not nearly as strong as her own, Jenessa moving through the alleys and destroyed buildings with the ease of a lifetime of navigating the capital. The patrols were evaded despite her inexperience with her forcibly swapped body, nearly tripping and banging on debris that she would normally avoid.

The few lone tempered soldiers she encountered were dealt with as best as she could, doing what she could to spare them in the hopes they could be treated later. But as severely weakened as she was meant, that less than she would have liked were rendered unconscious rather than slain, having to fight tooth and nail to keep herself safe.

Her stolen body heaved, crimson spilling through the mouth vented helm, an errant heavy blow from her previous opponent having smashed against her chest, and judging from the pain, at least several ribs had been broken at the very least. It was becoming clear that her time was running out, Jenessa forcing herself to breathe normally even as she could feel the wetness in her throat. Gods, it hurt more to not breathe...

The sound of conflict drew her attention, her head turning as she beheld a group of Garlean soldiers fighting a group of the tempered while civilains in winter clothes ran for the outskirts of the city, following the tracks towards the waystation where Julius and his crew had been holing up. It was like a jolt of aether through her body, Jenessa forcing herself to her feet and towards the conflict. Each unsteady step was quicker than the last, crimson marking her path as she reached a full sprint.

The tempered about to behead his kinsamn was crashed into with all the force her body could muster, the hoplon smashing against his helm with enough force to send the tempered sprawling across the ground. A wordless hand yanked her kinsman to his feet, Jenessa falling into formation in the line with the ease of a thousand drills as for a moment, she was not the Warrior of Light but once again, another soldier fighting to protect her people.

Her body screamed in protest with each swing, lungs burned, and the arcs of crimson marked the desperate struggle to buy the fleeing civilains as much time as possible. Blows were felt, ignored, and returned, the Garlean having no choice but to trust in this body's gear to keep her going.

The sound of a shuddering walker charging its primary cannons drew her attention too late. One of her kinsman's screaming about its core overloading reached her ears half a second before it detonated.

There was no sound. No light.

Agony.

She opened not her eyes behind a ruined helm, her limbs feeling like they weighed a tonze, forcing herself to a sitting position. The walker was no more, a smoking crater of ruined machinery and cerelum. Any standing close to the explosion no longer resembled figures as much as blackened messes of ruined metal and meat. Some of the others had fared better, looking over the fellows and urging others up.

One grabbed her shoulder now, speaking, but she didn't acknowledge him as she pushed herself to her feet, her armor smoking and ruined. The heraldy on her armor was still burning in places as she paused long enough to withdraw the scant few medical supplies she had scrounged, wordlessly pushing them into the youth's hands.

She didn't know how she looked, but the fear in the young man's face told her enough. Taking her fallen sword and pressing the other hand to her ruined side, Jenessa moved away from the survivors of her temporary company. Shifting her attention in the direction of Camp Brolen Glass, she began to walk; one agonizing step after the other, her boots no longer scraped the snow, crimson now lining her strides.

She prayed the few lives she had saved would not come at the cost of others.

[picaroroboto]

acta est fabula, plaudite

[tallbluelady]

Between the puppy dog eyes that Lyse was giving her and all the work Raer (@azure-dragonsinger) put in to alter the dress, Rowan couldn't very well refuse to wear it.

[14kuponuts]

Nero tol egotistical know-it-all Scaeva should get a portrait painting when we least expect it. Sold by someone that just wanted to get rid of it

[elizabethrobertajones]

I stan Alphy's character development. Me too, lil buddy.

[neriyon]

Did they learn their profession from the guildship, on their own, from a friend/family member? for Yulan!

Mix of these! He learned some basic skills in foraging, weaponmaking and mending back in his home village - including his still horrible cooking. Most of it was basic life skills stuff, like finding food and firewood on the mountainside, fixing broken gear or making arrows for his bow, but it eventually got him interested in whatever their village smith was doing. Not that she ever got to teach him much, as Yulan was soon taken as a woodwarder apparentice and had to leave the village.

When he later left the mountain and travelled Othard, he ended up staying in the bigger cities for few years, learning what he could from their craftsmen before moving on to next city. It was only after he made the trip to Eorzea that he finally got a formal, more long term apparenticeship under the Ul'dah goldsmith guild.

That's where he's been the past 25-ish years - offically he's still their employee, even if he has his own workshop nowadays and mostly chooses what jobs he wants to take. After running out of mentors to teach him within the guild, he took to studying any and all goldsmithing related records and books, eventually starting his own research into intricacies of mammet making.

So short form would be family/friend > guilds > more guilds but this time permanent position > his own research and experiments.

[sylverbough]

Alt special: A Soldier

Do you really think you can undo every atrocity you had a hand in? Do you honestly believe there's any sort of penance for someone like you?

No. For one repentance does not make a sinner into a saint. You are to live with this burden. You are to survive knowing what you are.

You cannot wash clean the blood that stains your hands.

You are a soldier, and it is all you will ever be.

[eorzeansavagery]

AIM TRAINING.

Because is there any better father-daughter bonding activities than shooting out in the wilderness?

[impossible-rat-babies]

thinking about eyrie and bozja again. how it brings back memories of ala mhigo and even further back of their time in dalmasca. how it comes after 5.3 when after the dust settles of returning everyone back to the source, they are still listless and directionless. burdened by the death of elidibus by a grief that is both theirs and not their own. how they are reached out to by reputation by representatives of bozja.

how they leave their linkpearls with Hien and board the boat to gangos and disappear off the map. they know how to use a gunblade, thus they are given a blade and told this is how we fight. and they do it. they so easily slip back into the mindset of a soldier, where this isn’t their responsibility—they are just told what to do. a weapon pointed at the enemy. a symbol to rally behind. the terrible violence they inflict is at best excusable because they are the warrior of light, and at worst is just vengeance repaid twofold.

it’s not until it’s far too late when they “wake up” and realize that they are once again so very, very far from home, and anything resembling good intentions

[wayward-travelers]

What do they think of Garlean technology and their use of ceruleum? (For any you'd prefer)

If his introduction to it hadn't been through conquest, Skaar would have been a lot more interested! He's not against mechanical technology, far from it. It's interesting and it has the potential to be useful, even in Eorzea where not everyone is a mage, and magic can't do everything. But he would rather avoid touching garlean technology if he had any choice. It's just a visceral reaction atthis point at the mere idea of it so really, anything coming from them is met with anger and distrust automatically.

As for ceruleum... He's seen what the extraction looks like in Northern Thanalan. It's certainly useful, but is it worth leaving the land around the mines inhabitable? That's less certain. Past that though, he doesn't really know enough about it to have an opinion and he's not even sure if it's due to the Ul'dahn company mining it from the ground or to the ceruleum itself.

Thanks for the ask, @confusedtia!

[mmorpg-escapism]

1 - What do they do to pass time on long journeys? (caravans, chocobo rides, etc.) and 7 - What do they think of Garlean technology and their use of ceruleum?

On passing time: "Long trips that don't need me to drive are great for napping, if I can find a mostly quiet corner. Or I'll spend the time struggling to imbue my ammunition, because that's always needed.

"If I'm having to lead or guide? Well, I don't mind the boredom much anyway. It's nice to let my thoughts wear themselves out while I rest my body."

Sometimes she'll "nap" while curled up in a loose ball and just listen to the sounds around the caravan or cart to destress. It's less fun to sit in a chocobo saddle for so long, though... and neither of those happen as often as she'd like.

On Garleans and ceruleum: "... Next question."

Besany has very mixed emotions about the Garlean Empire. They are directly responsible for the event that caused her aetheric impairment that's almost completely disconnected her from a hereditary affinity for aetheric manipulation (magic), the loss of two families, and the death toll of the Bozja Incident. She didn't see the benefit of ceruleum and magitek, just the oppression that came from it.

It wasn't until the events of Endwalker that she was able to start letting go of a lifelong hatred that was only intensified by her experiences during Stormblood. Someday she'll be able to forgive, but she will never forget.

[starstrider]

Kind of hyped for the fanfest, NGL. I'm not attending, I'm gonna watch the stream, but the hope they'll show us fem hrothgar and some new cool stuff is strong

[nyalisa-landale]

alisa vs eorzea: a visual guide to why being short in eorzea sucks, actually, ft. stormblood, shadowbringers, and endwalker spoilers

[ecosystem-administrator]

I need to make some time during my waking hours to just really sit down and focus on building up my headcanons

because I'm this close to actually being able to coherently write (up to my own high standards) for Maxima quo Priscus

but I need to do some more solidifying of stuff like my ideas about Garlean culture

and like maybe I can get more people on board with my specific views

[deet-doot]

.

[starvoidsailor]

Do you think Garlear need to sign a waiver when they join the legion that their family can't prevent execution of their loved one if they get tempered with?

You ever think that Gaius wondered if he send Nero or Livia or anyone else out today would he have to execute them coming back maybe?

Or if Nero woke up in the middle of the night in cold sweat after nightmares about eikons, all wrangled up in his blanket? That maybe, this time, he got too close and that whisper in his head was not his subconsciousness but something primal?

Do you think legionaries thought about their family and friends back home and maybe, just maybe, sending something akin to a prayer to something out there to at least keep them safe before falling in battle?