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rennivere · 7 days

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"You never told them?" He asked incredulously, practically gawking at the mage, taking a moment to look over the group before sparing a soft laugh of disbelief. "Oh. Oh, I'm impressed. That you managed to keep your upbringing as an Ascian a secret this long is truly something to be commended. Elidibus would be proud. Brava."

It was as if time had stopped.

At first, she wasn't sure she wasn't trapped in a dream. She'd pictured herself in this scenario at least a hundred times over the years, imagining how the Scions would react when she told them the truth about herself.

She was an Ascian - born and raised. The rift between shards was no place for a child, and yet it was there that she grew, her mind shaped and molded to believe unquestioningly in the Ardor.

Promises of greatness, of power, strength, and knowledge were spoken into her ear, filling her mind. She grew to worship Zodiark, just as she grew to loathe the people of the Source and its shards.

Then again, those people were hardly people at all - or so she was lead to believe. Even she was imperfect, just a fragment of what she could be if they succeeded in rejoining the star.

Naturally, like the rest of her kin, she sought that perfection. She never thought she would ever question her beliefs, until she met them.

The Scions were not weak, poor excuses for mankind. They were strong, intelligent, personable, loyal to a fault, and they extended a hand of invitation towards her based on a lie - that she was just a normal adventurer, and not an Ascian sent to infiltrate the Scions on behalf of the Emissary. Then again, why would they have any reason to distrust her, when she had so willingly killed one of her own in Thanalan?

He would not be the last, either. She would stand opposed to the Ascians again and again, and what began as a ruse to gain the trust of the Scions soon became Aletheia's reality. Hydaelyn certainly had more than just a simple hand in that matter, her words - whispered into Theia's mind in every dream - causing the mage to question everything she had ever known and been made to believe.

These people around her who were supposed to be frail, fragmented excuses for what they once were and could be were not sacrificial lambs for the greater 'good'. They were people, with their own lives, loves, and stories to tell.

They deserved to live and love.

They deserved the truth.

And yet, for years, Aletheia kept her deepest secret close to her chest, for fear that her closest companions would turn on her in an instant if they knew the truth of her deception. She tried to imagine every possible scenario, and always, something would deter her from disclosing the truth.

And now, with that truth exposed, every instance where she could have - should have - told the truth to her companions flashed through her mind.

Emet-Selch's words echoed in her head until her ears began to ring from the silence that followed.

"You know, ever since I first had the pleasure of seeing the famed Eikon-slayer, Warrior of Light-turned-Warrior of Darkness in person, I thought there was something a bit strange about you. A bit… familiar. At first I thought it might just be a side effect of immortality: Being cursed to see the same dull face reappear every century or so… but that's not it, is it?" "No, no. You're a bit older now, grown and matured… but you still have the same hopeful gaze that used to stare oh so longingly after Elidibus, praying he would give you the light of day. It wasn't often we allowed ones so young in on the truth, but you were a bit of a special case, weren't you? Oh, yes, I remember you now. Aletheia, was it? It has been oh-so long."

He had the gall to look surprised when the Scions turned to her in various degrees of confusion and shock. Urianger was the least outwardly affected - though Theia had long theorized that during the man's own stint as a double-agent, he had somehow learned of her truth, but kept it to himself. Still, his eyes shut, brows furrowing as he lifted a hand to stroke lightly at his chin in thought.

Beside him, Thancred reeled back, staring at Theia with wide, questioning eyes that desperately sought answers, silently begging the mage to dismiss Emet-Selch's claims.

Minfilia remained at his side, concern and uncertainty causing her to step forward, hands pressed to her chest as she peered around past her guardian, towards the Warrior.

"What is he talking about, Theia? Do you actually know each other?"

"Yes, pray tell, what is he talking about?" Alisaie pressed, turning her full body towards the mage, finally prompting Aletheia to break the unblinking, piercing glare she had on Emet-Selch.

"Are you implying that Aletheia is... an Ascian? That's absurd," Alphinaud tried to reason, giving a dismissive scoff - though there was a swirl of fear and uncertainty in his eyes as he looked towards the aforementioned mage, then back again, "You truly expect us to believe that?"

Emet-Selch's expression was infuriating.

He looked genuinely dumbfounded.

The thick fabric of his gloves resulted in a dull, muted pat as he clapped slowly in response. His expression began to shift from one of genuine surprise to something far more sardonic, a slightly quirked brow, one corner of his lips upturned in a smirk as he lowered his hands back to his side, causing his weight to droop forward again into his usual slouch.

Theia said nothing, every word dying on her tongue as her hands balled into fists at her sides, digging the sharp points of her metal claws into her skin nearly hard enough to pierce both palms. She had half a mind to do just that - surely she deserved a bit of physical pain to pair with the emotional devastation.

Emet-Selch meanwhile must have taken her silence as an invitation to continue gloating.

"Well, I originally came here with a proposition for you and your little band of heroes - a possible alliance, in fact - but it appears I've made a bit of a mess for you to sort out, haven't I? My sincerest apologies, Hero. Would that I had the ability to take it all back so you could go about your merry way, keeping secrets, killing Lightwardens, and all that..."

"Alas, it seems I may have to choose another day to extend an olive branch to you and yours. I suppose I will give you a bit of privacy while you figure out how to justify the past few years of deception to your friends. Do try not to turn on each other: You'll need all the help you can get if you hope to defeat the remaining Lightwardens."

Theia thought she might scream. She thought she might conjure a blaze in her palm and lob it at the Ascian out of pure rage, but she was frozen, left only to watch as the man gave a flick of his wrist, a dismissive wave as he stepped towards the conjured portal of swirling darkness had had appeared only moments before. He stopped just shy of it however, his hand turning as he gave a gentle snap.

"Ah! But before I go: If your friends do happen to turn on you, or you decide you wish to hear my proposal in full, don't hesitate to seek me out. Difficult decisions lie ahead of you: Decisions best made with the benefit of knowledge to which only the eternal are privy."

A slight smirk curled onto his lips once more as his gaze locked on Aletheia's.

"Until then, hero."

The sound of the man's twisted, corrupt magic warping and twisting echoed off the crystalline walls of the Ocular as Emet-Selch passed through the shadowy portal, which rippled before shrinking around him, swallowing him.

Time seemed to halt as he disappeared, the room deathly silent aside from the natural hum of magic from the tower around them. No one seemed keen to speak first, though Theia could feel six sets of eyes peering through her.

In the end it was the Exarch who broke the silence with a somewhat uneasy clear of his throat.

"Perhaps it best to focus now on the matter at hand, and address some recent revelations at a later time," he suggested calmly, unaware of the short fuse he had just lit by speaking up.

"A later time?" Alisaie balked, her boots giving a squeak against the crystalline floor as she twisted towards Theia. "No, I think we address this now!" Steps far heavier than the girl's stature would imply echoed off the walls as she turned to place herself in front of Theia, staring up at the Hyur with eyes that swirled with everything from confusion, to fear, to rage.

"Is it true? Is what Emet-Selch said true, Theia?"

"I'd wager that her silence should more than suffice as an answer to that question," Thancred chimed in, his tone bitter. Aletheia swore she heard the leather of his gloves creak as his hands balled into fists at his sides. "An Ascian," he verbally spit, as if the word alone left a sour taste on his tongue.

"While 'tis true that this deception is great, I would implore thou all to remember that our friend hath been steadfast in her resolve. She hath never once strayed from the path of good, and hath proven through her actions alone to be a loyal companion. I suggest we do not let these revelations taint our opinions of our friend too hastily, and instead grant her a chance to explain herself,"

Urianger. Of course he would have a level head. Aletheia might have thanked him with a look, had Alisaie not scoffed, drawing her silver gaze.

"Oh yes, please do explain why you deemed it acceptable to keep a rather important detail about your life a secret from us this entire time! An Ascian? Really?"

"I have not answered to the Ascians since before the turn of the era," Theia finally spoke, though she wasn't able to get much further before Alphinaud was chiming in with a dry snort.

"So you admit it, then. While we have been fighting against the greatest threat our world has ever known, little did we know that one of their own was in our midst the entire time. Did you truly never deem it necessary or relevant to share this little fact with us? Has it truly just slipped your mind all this time?"

The boy sounded more hurt than angry, bewildered. He moved to stand beside his sister, perhaps to help anchor her lest her anger turn into something more - or perhaps ready to join her. Theia wasn't entirely sure, though she was certain that nothing pained her quite as much as seeing those near identical sets of eyes staring up at her in dismay.

While all of the Scions were undeniably dear to her, the twins had become especially important to the mage. She viewed them both as her own siblings - and if she was right, the feeling was mutual. Despite their capabilities as fighters and their shared fierce independence, Aletheia often found herself quietly and gently doting on the pair, always the first to remind the rest of their party that the Leveilleur twins were still, by all accounts, kids.

They did as teenagers often would of course - scoffing and defending their own faculty, insisting they didn't need any extra care than the rest. It only endeared the mage more to her two young companions.

That made the looks of disdain they gave her now hurt far, far worse.

"Clearly she did not think it necessary to be honest with us. It certainly puts into question what other secrets she has kept since the start," Thancred muttered dryly, contempt dripping from his words.

Alisaie was certainly passionate, but Thancred looked at her as if he were a lover scorned. Thancred was the one who recruited her into the Scions at the start after all, the one who put his trust in her and shared their secrets. Not to mention, he was also the one with a rather personal reason to despise the Ascians, beyond simply the threat they posed to the world.

She couldn't blame him for being upset. She couldn't blame any of them, frankly. She couldn't even blame Emet-Selch for exposing her truth - though she would, she realized consciously.

That was simply far easier than accepting all of the blame outright.

"Had I been honest upfront, would you truly have believed me if I said I was no longer loyal to the Ascians?" Aletheia asked, annoyance slipping into her tone as she turned to properly face the group, putting her back to the Exarch, who used that as an opportunity to approach the group, stopping not far from her left.

"Well we'll certainly never know now, given how you lied to us all this time," Alisaie spat bitterly, "Thancred makes a valid point. What else have you kept from us?"

"Nothing," Aletheia responded firmly, "I have been honest in every other regard. What would I gain from weaving a web of lies? Nothing," she repeated, her brows knitting above her bridge as her gaze flicked over the group. "Tis true: I am - was - an Ascian. I was born on the Source, but I was raised in the rift between shards, brought up to worship Zodiark and to believe only in the Ardor. I answered to the Emissary, and it was he who tasked me with seeking out the Scions and to report back with what I learned."

"But in seeking out the Scions, I encountered Hydaelyn. She spoke to me, and I began to see the truth. In meeting you all, I began to learn that everything I had been led to believe about mankind was a lie."

"And how long did that take, exactly?" Thancred scoffed, his arms rising to cross over his chest as he sneered at the mage. "Exactly how long was it before you stopped reporting back to your betters? How long were you sharing our secrets before you switched sides?"

Stubborn, stubborn man.

"Less time than it took for you to fall victim to Lahabrea's plotting," she said flatly, though her words were not pointed or accusatory. Thancred seemed to still take them as such though, given how his nose flared, arms unfolding as he moved to take a step forward, only for a small arm to outstretch across his midsection, giving him just enough pause to stop and look down at the pair of solid cerulean orbs staring up at him.

"Stop, stop," Minfilia insisted, her voice pleading. "I... I can't imagine how you all must be feeling right now... but it is as Urianger said: Theia has more than proven herself to be on our side. If she wasn't, why would she be helping with the Lightwardens? Not to mention all the stories you all have told me about what you've done together on the Source... if she were secretly still working with the Ascians... why would she do so much to thwart their plans...?"

Her words were enough to have Thancred stop fully in his tracks, his head tilting as his gaze downcast, though his posture gave away his continued frustration. He would not be so easily convinced.

"Agreed," the Exarch now chimed, "Which is again why I propose we turn our attention to the matter of the sin eaters. In striking down the Lightwardens of Lakeland and Il Mheg, together, you have accomplished more in your short time here than all of our forces managed in the last century,"

He emphasized together, Aletheia realized, stressing the word to help further his point. On either side of her, Theia heard both Thancred and Alisaie scoff, both equal parts unconvinced. Alphinaud on the other hand sighed, his head nodding.

"Perhaps you are right. For now at least, let us focus on dealing with the sineaters. We can address certain... revelations once the greater threat has been addressed," the young Elezen suggested, his tone slipping into that of the young diplomat Alphinaud often portrayed himself as, for better or worse.

"Agreed. To that end, it is imperative that we address the remaining Lightwardens of Kholusia, Amh Araeng, and the Rak'tika Greatwood. Alas, their precise whereabouts are as of yet unknown to us," the Exarch agreed, "Which is why I propose we divide our forces and conduct a systematic survey of each region. Once we have found our quarry, we may then determine how best to proceed. I imagine this will also allow us all the time needed to gather our thoughts and decide how to best address the various matters at hand,"

"Fine," Alisaie muttered bitterly, "I'll take Amh Araeng by myself," she said firmly, leaving little room for argument from anyone else.

"Then I will make for Kholusia," Alphinaud followed, his body turning. Neither twin seemed inclined to meet the gaze Aletheia spared them both. "I have connections there both in and around Eulmore that may prove useful."

"Wonderful," the Exarch approved with a nod partially hidden beneath his cowl, the slightest smile tugging across his lips - the man clearly relieved that the party had not deigned to continue their verbal assault on their companion. "Then I would recommend the rest of you venture to Rak'tika, where you will find Y'shtola. We will need her aid in finding the Warden hiding there."

"I doubt all of us will be needed to find Y'shtola. Urianger, Minfilia, and I will venture there in search of her. It shouldn't take long to track her down,"

Ah. Thancred's words were a firm message on their own: Aletheia was not invited on their venture into the wood, it seemed. The mage felt her teeth grit as she turned to peer at the man, her gaze flicking towards Urianger, who met her eyes before giving a quiet sigh, clearly disinclined to argue.

"Very well then. I have my own matters to which to attend as well."

The Exarch brandished an envelope from within the folds of his robe, further drawing attention away from Aletheia's exposed past. He spoke of the invitation he received from Lord Vauthry, and his intent to take the man's offer, despite the thinly veiled trap it tried to conceal.

Aletheia had a mind to offer to accompany the Exarch, but she wasn't given the chance before the Exarch turned towards Alphinaud, personally requesting his escort instead, leaving little room for Aletheia to insert herself.

Thus, plans were set in motion, prompting her companions to turn and take their leave. Aletheia hesitated, her lips parting as she tried to find the words to say - something, anything, be it a desperate plea of her case or something else that might help rebuild their confidence in her... but her tongue went dry, any words she tried to utter never making it to her lips. She was left to watch as the five Scions departed the Ocular, leaving her to watch as the door began to swing shut behind them.

The silence that followed was so deafening, Aletheia nearly forgot that she wasn't alone.

"For what it is worth," the Exarch spoke, his words smooth, carrying a warmth to them that had Theia finally taking a breath, a modicum of hope fluttering in her gut as she turned to look at the man, who greeted her with a gentle smile beneath his hood, "I do not view you differently. As Urianger said, and Minfilia after him, you have more than proven yourself time and again to be a hero, just and true. It may take time for the others to see it that way... but I have faith that time will heal these fresh wounds."

Theia's brows furrowed in thought as her head dipped, lips pursing in a tight line as she bit gently at the inside of her bottom lip in thought. Perhaps he was right... but did she deserve their forgiveness?

"Thank you, Exarch," she finally said, her attempts at a steady tone somewhat failing, unease slipping into her words. The Exarch's response was only to smile a bit wider, nodding as he lifted a hand, his crystalline palm solid and cold as it moved to squeeze her shoulder reassuringly - a fleeting gesture of comfort before he let his arm fall back to his side.

"If but I could do more to help convince them. Alas..." he trailed off then, seeming to mull over his thoughts as Theia peered down at him with a pinched brow. "Might I suggest you also venture East to the Greatwood? Be it alone or with the others. Despite Thancred's words, I believe it would be beneficial to have more eyes and ears on the ground. And... perhaps you'll manage to stumble across Y'shtola yourself, and be able to share certain matters with her in your own words."

She couldn't argue with that.

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anneapocalypse · 2 months

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I got to the scene last night that I'm sure everyone spectating my Urianger Problem has been waiting for me to get to. 🥺

I knew the scene with Moenbryda's parents was coming (it pops up in basically any youtube search for "Urianger" no matter what you're actually looking for), but I didn't know when or how it would go, and so it still managed to surprise me, in the manner of "I'll just turn in this quest and go to bed OH SHIT WE'RE HERE"

It was really good, even more so than I expected, not just in how much emotion it gets to show in Urianger but in how it brings a lot of his character setup full circle.

It was good to hear someone tell him Moenbryda's death wasn't his fault, especially someone he might actually believe, at a time when he might almost be ready to hear. I don't think he'll ever completely stop feeling responsible for it (especially given that what he says on the moon implies he was just offscreen when it happened and he could have stopped her and didn't). But it's clearly that it's been mostly shame over his part in it that has kept him from contacting her parents since, and now that he knows they don't blame him... maybe he can finally make some peace with it.

I love the anecdotes about the two of them in childhood. That Moenbryda was the one who sought out his friendship, that she acted as a protector when he was bullied, completely tracks and fits the pictured I'd already tentatively formed of them. That Urianger is a nerd (affectionate) even by Sharlayan standards is something we definitely already knew (I had the thought early on, which I think a lot of people had, "...Do all the archons talk like this? Ah, no, he's just Like That") but the story Moenbryda's parents tell just confirms it, that he was not just a loner but a bit of an outcast. Even in a culture like Sharlayan's, kids are kids. I love having a clearer picture of their childhood together and how they became the friends they were.

It's clear that Moenbryda's parents were also a big part of Urianger's childhood, and that they love him like a son too.

Which, to me, really raises again the question of Urianger's own family. To the best of my memory, he has never mentioned his own parents. Even upon arriving in Sharlayan, where they presumably live or at least did, he says nothing about visiting them. This wouldn't be particularly unusual for another Scion--Y'shtola, for example, rarely talks about herself period, so her not bringing up her family or childhood unless it's directly relevant to the current quest isn't particularly noteworthy. But Urianger seeking out Moenbryda's parents, and particularly the way the writing frames the Warrior of Light as someone he feels close to and trusts, both in the way he confides in them on the moon and in the way he thanks them for being present at the reunion--it draws attention to the fact that he's never once spoken of his own family. In that context, the fact he makes no mention of visiting them on returning to Sharlayan becomes meaningful. Either he does not have a relationship with his parents, or they are dead. To be honest, I was beginning to wonder if he was an orphan. I'm told there's a very brief mention of his parents in the lorebook, and it's to say they weren't around much in his childhood, and we have no idea if they're even alive in the present day. (Thank you, @farfromdaylight 💜)

And all of this adds context to who he is, his tendency to self-isolate while also longing for companionship and to place his trust in others. I wonder who he would have grown up to be without a Moenbryda in his life--I imagine someone far less trusting, with a more cynical outlook toward others perhaps, without someone in his formative years going out of their way to defend him and befriend him (I especially loved the bit about Moenbryda reading the same books as him because she wanted to understand him), without these surrogate parents who clearly loved him and cared for him. I imagine having those people in his life has gone a long way toward shaping his faith in other people, even when they're very different from himself.

It was so bittersweet to hear how happy Moenbryda was to hear from him, calling her to Eorzea. I feel like it really can't be understated how much Louisoix leaving her behind, while taking her best friend, hurt her, and I feel some kind of way about the fact that his approach to that was "I won't tell you why, figure it out" instead of just... I don't know, giving her a choice? Saying, "I understand you have doubts, and I want you to choose your own path; I'll respect you whatever you choose." I can see there that classically Sharlayan attitude of "I alone am burdened with the knowledge of What Is Best, and it is my duty to protect everyone else from the burden of this knowledge," which Urianger very much picked up from him. (I've talked about this before, but I have a lot of feelings about the influence Louisoix seems to have had on the Scions as a whole and I don't think the effect is wholly positive.)

There is probably a lot more that I could say (and there is definitely a larger Thing I want to write about Urianger once I'm done with Endwalker) but overall it was a really great scene. None of was especially surprising or jarring, which I think is a sign of how strong his character arc has been; it's a really strong payoff to a lot of great setup. It has me thinking about a lot of things and I want to roll around in it for a while.

#anne plays ffxiv #ew spoilers #i'm not finished so no spoilers please #afk by the aetheryte

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scrollsfromarebornrealm · 3 months

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on our fates alight--questioning senses

One week following the Royal Menagerie

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The weather had shifted early that evening to Quicklevin, bringing with it a surge of aether. While none of the Scion Dominants were Thunder-aspected, the extra ambient aether in the air immediately started to work wonders for their current situation. Sebastian was able to slip into an actual healing sleep, while Reinhardt and Augustine found that they could actually stomach solid food. Mathye had elected to follow Sebastian's example for a nap, while Riven had felt strong enough to risk going outside. Zoissette joined her, and out in the open air, the younger Dominant felt her wits slowly come together.

Well, together enough to venture something that had been on her mind...

"Curious. You said it felt like you broke through something?" Zoissette asked. Riven nodded, extending out a hand to catch the stray sparks of levin-aether against her palm.

"I don't...have any other way to describe it." She said. "I know from school that there is a barrier to keep the air we breathe and the other cycles of nature separate from what's up there. I know of the aetherical currents. But this...this was different."

"Describe it." Zoissette ordered, adjusting her glasses. Riven frowned. How could she put into words what she and Valefor had sensed, all the way up there? Or what they'd possibly seen?

"Imagine...the thickest, heaviest blanket you can think of." She began. "How it would feel on your person, against your skin. Now picture just...fighting against that blanket, moving in it--through it. That's what it felt to me. Like I was fighting my way free of a thick blanket made of pure aether." Zoissette hummed, crossing her arms as Riven continued.

"And when I broke free and got up there..." The younger Dominant trailed off. "It was silent. Quiet. And there were so many stars..." Riven closed her eyes, remembering. The darkness around her, the curvature of the planet below. The beautiful shimmering blue of the sky she'd just broken free from, the stars twinkling like diamonds, so many diamonds, as far as her eye could see...

"...For a brief moment, I swore I saw aether wrapped around the planet. Not in the form of the currents, but something else." Riven opened her eyes, watching as sparks flared briefly against her skin. "That same blanket, like how you'd put a cover over something. Only...it was covering the world beneath me." Zoissette tilted her head, her eyes darting back and forth as she thought. She shifted position, tucking a hand under her chin.

"A shield." She breathed. Riven nodded. "A shield of aether...around the planet? I've never heard of such a thing!"

"You see why I told you. I honestly don't know if I'd taken a hard crack to the head from Zenos and it was making me see things."

"You weren't." Zoissette said gently--but firmly. "Valefor has sharp senses for aether, sharper than most. If you and her picked up on something, it exists." Now it was the elezen's turn to pause, mulling over what she'd just been told.

"A shield of aether, separate from the currents." She mused aloud. "Mayhap something created by Hydaelyn, for extra protection against Zodiark?"

"That was my thought, but then we've had to deal with surges of Zodiark's power before. If this shield was supposed to be some type of protection against that, it failed." Riven answered.

"True, true. This is something worth looking into."

--- (starring @driftward's Zoissette)

#ffxiv #ffxiv ffxvi au (the other one)#on our fates alight

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semi-imaginary-place · 2 months

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ffxiv ill mheg 2 and rak'tika 1

2 headed wolf of voeburt. like the 2 headed eagle of the germanic kingdoms?

dohn mheg. i kinda miss actual dungeons that were mazes would have been appropriate here

ardbert's got that chronic depression rizz

firs tthe echo makes pc best canditate for primals and now the blessing of light makes them suitable for lightwardens. isn't it great being the player character

i was eating chocolate so this line blindsided me because it's very different and 4 times as long in the og japanese. so i didn't get it all but whats different is something like i'm not the real minfilia im not the minfilia that is his family

yeah that sounds like him. 5 years and a different world didn't make him any less emo

this is my favorite section of the game so far.

fandom is such a liar. emet selch is the true femboy of ffxiv. he's such a drama queen (literally too since he was the main patron of the sb raid theater group). he just came here to complain

speaking of ill mheg and lakeland. those don't look like 100 year old ruins. (or was lakeland earlier i dont remember). but stone structures even without maintenence don't fall apart that fast like irl we have stone castles and pyramids that are hundreds or thousands of years old. stone is durable. wood is the stuff that will fall apart after a hundred or two years. i guess the pixies went on a wrecking spree?

rak'tika greatwood. y'shtola joined a cult.

wow he's really got nothing better to do than follow us around

y'shtola joined a paranoid xenophobic cult. they called anne-san! an oira character! oira characters are the best! damn she really went no contact

yeah i got spoiled on this plot point but it's concerning that pc-kun is aetherically indistinguishable from a sin eater

oh so this is a persistent script change. in jp minfilia says "I'm not the real one" and this isn't the first time she's referred to herself as not the real one. honmono ja nai or something

idealism, hedonism, spirituality. also interesting that rak'tika is the only place outside of the shroud ive seen teh duskright models being used.

rather convenient that krile of all the scions didn't get summoned. well i guess post sb she's messing with eureka. but still imagine if 5 sine eaters were distributed among 3 people instead of 1. 5/3= 1.67 and wol-chan is ok at 2.

... it's a new age cult. the night's blessed see themselves as stars in a night sky, lights in the dark or do they consider stars/candles to be a part of the darkness too?

huh just noticed everyone this expansion is in black and white. minfilia is in mostly white. urianger and y'shtola in black. thancred is in white and black . alphi and alisaie are the most colorful. and my player character is all in white too.

... pc didn't tell anyone about ardbert.

it doesn't come across as much in eng but in jp vauthy's speech pattern is unusually childish for his position

weren't the murderous faction wanting to kill everyone. really ranjit is the better option. the audience knows the night's blessed are the "good" ones but really this sounds like a religious faction skirmish, what is one belief system over another.

finally i've been hearing about the great serpent of ronka for years now. is that a tsukinoko?

#ffxiv #ffxiv 5.0

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ars-matron · 3 months

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The Last Sun: Prologue/Chapter 1

The Last Sun! Here we go!!

I started this series (like a week ago) after finding a rec for it on Instagram. The only thing they said about it was "It's about a prince whose throne is brutally taken from him," and then a bit about him having a body guard and it being a queer found family book. I'll give you a little more info that won't spoil anything. It takes place on an island city called New Atlantis, and yes that's because there was an Old Atlantis. It's ruled by a series of courts that are named after the major arcana in tarot (or vise versa in this scenario)

Prologue

The prologue is very short, just a small intro for Rune Saint John, our protag. He talks about how he survived the fall of his House and this is where my first gut punch of the series happened, because I did not equate "having a throne brutally taken" to mean "brutal assault" which is the wording he uses.

"I am, before anything else, a survivor: of a fallen House, of a brutal assault, of violent allies and complacent enemies, of life among a people who turned their back on me decades ago."

Then he lists some of the not so great names people call him. the Catamite Prince, the Day Prince, the Prince of Ruin.

"I am the last scion of my dead father's dead court, once called the Sun Throne, brightest of all Arcana, now just so much ash and rubble"

It's really so short, I'm trying to not copy the whole thing, but it does set the mood very well. Things aren't great, there aren't a lot of people Rune can trust. All his family is gone and he's left with the ashes of a broken court.

Chapter 1: The Heart Throne

We open with an insufferable rich man regaling people with a tale of kicking a woman to the curve. He calls this woman, "a wrecked parasite," and Rune notes he has an Old Atlantean accent, pronouncing the word 'wrecked' as reck ked. "Cleaving it into two waspish syllables."

After flicking a shrimp tail into a potted plant and completely forgetting any manners he ever learned and wiping his mouth on his sleeve, we find out that he is at a very fancy party. We also quickly become aware that Rune hates, hates, hates where he is. The room is the size of a football field, it's two stories tall and nearly all windows that over look the ocean and giant gilded mirrors. There are tables of drinks, things that look like drinks but are mostly illusions, tables of pills in every color imaginable. And a bunch of servants who are described as, "young, drugged, and blankly beautiful."

"There was a forty man chamber orchestra; a woman with flames dancing across the enamel of her teeth; a young page who chilled people's drinks with a spell that left frostbite on his palms"

Frostbite on his palms! For a drink! Rune is very upset by all of this, and yeah, so I am. But he puts this aside because he is part of raid on this house. As he waits he gives the earpiece he's wearing a little flick, because he, 'misses Brand'.

"It's working," he snapped, his voice a tinny echo inside my head. "Calm the fuck down."

I really do love them. When I first read this I assumed Brand must be stationed somewhere where he could see what was going on. How else would he know that Rune was flicking the equipment, or is agitated by the things around him? You learn in a few more paragraphs what exactly a companion bond is. Brand was born human and as a baby was put in the crib with baby Rune, some words were spoken over them (they weren't separated for like five years after that*) and a mental bond was formed between them where they can feel each other's emotions and know when the other is nearby.

As Rune is pushed through the current of party goers he ends up in front of a set of windows facing the ocean. He has a moment of remembering a time on the beach when the sun was out, of warm weather and soft white sand. Then he hears a woman talking about the night that his House was attacked. She's wearing at least 12 sigils (items that are able to contain magic) we learn they are very valuable, rare, and that most scions of courts keep them filled with frivolous spells that enhance beauty.

This woman is talking to a group of younger scions telling them about the night when the Sun Throne fell. About how she was there, at the current residence, when it happened. How they didn't hear anything. That the attackers had stealth wards. No one found out until it was too late. But quickly she turns to the topic of the Heir scion, which is probably how most accounts of that night go. She says that he was the only survivor, that seven men in masks took him a shed while the attack was going on.

"and by gods, the things they did to that poor boy. They had him for hours before he escaped."

I have wondered and wondered throughout the books just how much of it was reported to the public. We never learned what details were released. Only that they get some of it wrong.

She goes on to say that one can still find him, Rune, wandering around now and then,

"A very, very pretty man, but rank with darkness. It precedes him like a fog."

She claims to be able to see this miasma, because she has seers blood. She then calls Rune the Catamite Prince, and implies it's because Rune has had 'relations' with someone called the Tower. Rune, hearing all of this, livid, approaches the woman, and has a little fun, saying that he is also a seer. The woman is intrigued and we learn two things, one, Rune is wearing a disguise that makes him look like a blond man. And two, most important, Rune is short. the eyes of the nondescript blond man illusion are somewhere in the vicinity of his forehead. Rune says that he sees this woman "crawling in a field of blood and char with bone shards in her hair".

He's furious as he walks away and, somewhere else, Brand is worrying about him

"To hell with her. To hell with her sigils, her fat fingers, her crowd of stupid boot-lickers. To hell with the Lovers and their Heart Throne and their drugged slaves. To hell with nine men in animal masks in a carriage house, and all the other stupid details people got wrong."

Brand is very worried and threatens to come down there to him. And it is a threat, because that's the only love language Brand knows. Rune takes a moment to cool down because his love language is trying to make people feel better.

"my Companion, born human and bonded with me in the crib, raised and trained to protect me. And he had. He'd saved me-saved us both-that night."

Rune gets his calm back, says he was upset because he hates seers, especially fake seers, which are both things Brand knows. Then Brand brings up a hitch in the plans, and enter Julia, whose name Brand cannot remember.

During the raid Rune is supposed to go to a lab in the building, only they just learned that the labs have different security. Now Rune has to find a keycard to get through the security. But it's okay!!! Julia looked into who is on the floor that night with access, and all Rune has to do is find the red haired man by the doors who is about 6ft tall. Only to find the door and there are three tall red haired guys.

One is obvious high, staring at his hands as he sways, the rainbow residue of the pill buffet on his lips. So Rune turns his attention to the other two men, employing all his stealth training to do so.

By finding the drunkest man in the vicinity, telling him that a red haired man by the door said he was out back giving a horse a blow job a while go, and standing back to watching the fight ensue. The man the drunk guy picks is not a fighter. He does little more than try and keep the drunk man off of him, the other red haired guy though watches the fight in a calm and assessing manner, his body turned and poised in case the fight moved to him.

Rune gets a warning from Brand just before a spell rocks through the ballroom and everyone but the four people on the floor that are part of the raid go down. Rune walks over and plucks the keycard from the guard and moves through the residence towards the lab. As he moves through the mansion the halls go from opulent to grey and sterile.

We learn a bit about Atlantean culture in this part. That the Heart Throne, ruled by Lady and (now dead) Lord Lovers, used to be an archetype of love and sex and all that good stuff. They had been important to their society as Atlanteans are very big on group marriages and love no matter someones gender. That strictly homosexuality or heterosexuality were both seen as odd. After the fall of the Atlantis homeland some courts (like the Heart Throne) turned to twisted ventures that put the whole of their society at risk of compromising their treaties with the humans. And so, twelve of the Arcana had agreed to this raid. Every Arcana that participated in the raid would get a share of the spoils.

Which is why Rune is there.

Rune has a pretty kickass weapon that is able to take the shape of anything he wants. And, it shoots fire. It was one of the few things that survived the attack on the Sun Throne.

"I shook my wrist. My sabre, now in the form of a scuffed gold wrist guard, stretched and slid over my knuckles. By the time it was in my palm, it had transmuted into a swordless hilt."

Brand and Julia chatter a bit, they tell Rune that Lady Lovers is not accounted for down in the ballroom, they can't confirm she's even on site.

There are seven mercenaries by a locked door contemplating blowing the door down until Rune shows up with the keycard and lets them all into the area where the labs are kept. Rune makes for a chemical lab, thinking it will be less fortified, he just needs to get a terminal to download something for current employer, Lord Tower.

"The operating system was reportedly the closet thing in development to an actual artificial intelligence; the Tower had cashed in a lot of favors to stake it during the raid."

This is a little tidbit I didn't hang onto in my first read. The Tower has this almost AI, I wonder what he's planning to do with it?

There are two men in the lab he enters, they were not effected by the spell. They are pale and shaking and holding a lamp and stapler as weapons. When Rune brings up how ridiculous this is, since they are in a lab full of caustic things, the oldest of the scientist grabs a silver letter opener and holds it against the neck of the younger scientist. He then tries to barter for his life by threatening to kill the intern.

There is some back and forth where the scientist tries to claim that they are innocent and totally not slavers, but that Run should still let them go or he's going to kill the intern. Which Rune responds to by, shooting the intern in the leg.

Rune pops in his USB drive and downloads the files he needs. Claiming that his knowledge of technology and computers is just being able to avoid spyware on porn sites

As it's downloading the scientist tries to guilt Rune about what's going on, that they were just trying to find someone to pin this on to make the humans happy. Phrased in way that heavily implies that because they are Atlantean, they should be above such things as human laws. Rune asks if he were involved in Project Laius, when the scientist quickly shuts up Rune takes that for a yes and shoots him in the head.

"The stuff that began with projects like Laius had ended with the mind-fucking of underage kids, who spent the rest of their miserable lives in dog collars as someone else's property. So I did what I did, and my conscience whistled."

When he leaves the room Brand is throwing a fit. It turns out that they didn't just lose signal for the earpiece, but that Brand couldn't even feel their bond when Rune was in that room. Reports come that people are starting to wake up in the ballroom and that he needs to get out quick. There's a little fight with Julia, who, much respect for her, but she needed to take a step back here, tries to direct Rune as though he were one of the mercenaries she's used to directing, and tells him to abandon their plan to evac on the roof.

"Mind your fucking manners," Brand said, all humor evaporating. "He's not one of your mercenaries; he's a scion of Atlantis. If it was a question about needing safe routes, I'd have him turn the entire side of the mansion to slag and gingerly fucking tiptoe through the puddles of plasma."

Have I mentioned that I love Brand?

On the roof there is a man who pops out right in front of Rune with an assault riffle, whose head Brand immediately blows off from his perch in a water tower close by.

"When I could breathe again, I said, "I especially liked it when you didn't warn me. That part was fun.""

Followed quickly an actual dragon swooping by. But the dragon is part of Lord Chariots raid team, and does nothing to hinder Rune. Brand is yelling at Rune to get the fuck off the root NOW. Because assault riffles and dragons weren't bad enough, Lady Lovers rushes by and opens a secret door right next to Rune's secret hidey spot. Ignoring Brand, Rune decides to follow her. I mean, her House is getting raided and she takes time to rush up there, I too would assume there was treasure of some sort in there.

So Rune walks through the door, and is instantly knocked out.

He wakes up chained to a wall, unable to activate his sigils and his disguise temporarily disengaged. Elena, Lady Lovers, recognizes him, of course.

""Faith, but you are a very pretty thing, Lord Sun. Hasn't it even been said that you are the most beautiful man of your gener-" "That'll be enough of that, thank you," I said testily."

First instance of the beautiful prophecy!

They have a bit of back and forth in which Rune tries to remember to be polite to an Arcana while still pointing out that she deserves this. Arcana are very very old and powerful. In a city of magic users, they are demi gods pretty much. And now I'm wondering if Lord Lovers was an Arcana too...What house was he from? Was he a principality? (That'll be explained later) Something to think about.

When she finds out that it is 12 Arcana against her, a surprisingly high number for a sanctioned raid, evidently. Her demeanor changes. She releases Rune from the wall, his sigils flood back to his awareness once released. She tries to makes a connection between this raid and the one that happened to Rune's House, he is, of course, very angry. But, demi god, so he keeps it to himself.

Elena goes to her magic mirror and is able to use it to look onto the battle raging below

"To each age, a magic ascends. Death magic ruled the final days of the homeland. Hearth magic ruled the rise of New Atlantis. I had thought, perhaps, the lovers' time had come, that the age of heart magic was upon us."

Yeeaaahhh, from what we've seen "heart magic" is just fucking with people's minds and enslaving them. So, kinda glad that isn't the case.

At least she admits that things were wrong in the end, and that she should have released the Throne to someone else once her husband died. He was her Talla, soulmate, and she had only had the one consort ever. Which is very, very odd for their culture.

"In Atlantean terms, soul mates weren't always a cozy and romantic concept. Hatred was just as strong as love, in terms of metaphysical catalyst."

I need to go back to add Tallas to my list of things I'm going to be keeping an eye on. I have a THEORY!!! I'll add that after I'm finished here, I want to keep these relatively spoiler free for the whole series.

Almost immediately after reminiscing about her talla, Lady Lovers taps into her aspect. Sort of like the primal soul of an Arcana's powers. The demi gods within them, if you will. Hers is fea-ish. It's terrifying. Her fingers add another joint, her skin beings to mottle in jewel tones that moved as she moves. She has hornets wings and her dress is made of rose petal. Suddenly her scent (musk, honey, semen) is very powerful and her magic causes Rune to fall to the floor with an erection. It would be kinda funny, but the scene is suitably horrific.

""I would beg a favor, pretty Rune. I swear by the river the answer will be your own.---I ask that you deliver, and protect, a package of mine to a safe destination.""

In return for this favor, which she swears is nothing illegal, she will give him a sigil. A silver ring with three chips of emerald in it. Sigils are so rare and Rune has so few of his own, that after getting her promise that it isn't going to get him in trouble, he agrees. She releases the sigil to him and then she tells him the package will be delivered to his house and that he should hurry on so he isn't, "caught in the fire".

Rune gets out of there as quickly as he can, Brand is yelling again once he gets out, having lost all contact with Rune while he was in the warded secret room. Rune finally imparts that there is a bomb and using a gold chain sigil around his ankle, released a flying spell. He wobble-flies to the water tower to pick up Brand, depositing him by Brand's motorcycle to tell him about the deal, and his new sigil. Brand is upset, and they wait for a little bit to see if they mansion explodes....

it does not.

They drive home separately. Brand speeding off on his bike, Rune in his beat up old Saturn. He's nearly home when there is a large CRACK back near the Lover's compound and the sky behind him fills with fire and smoke. I would like to take the time to point out that Rune had "Foreseen" that the fake seer at the party would find herself struggling in a field of blood and char with bone shards in her hair. I wonder if that did in fact come to be?

At the door to their house Brand calls Rune a fucking dumb-ass and takes up the argument on having made a deal with an Arcana as though there was no time between. But he does calm down and ask if Run is okay after the fake seer incident.

They go in and Rune stops, because their house keeper, Queenie, always leaves cookies and juice out for them after their missions, and there is no cookies or juice on the coffee table when they come in. So Brand goes to check on her.

"He went in search of our housekeeper, Queenie, who lived in a tiny cottage in the backyard. Normally she laid out fruit drinks and snacks after a successful job, her small way of celebrating the fact that she was still employed."

I know I just said I wanted to keep this spoiler free, and it is, pretty much. BUT! what are they paying her with? How much? How can they afford a housekeeper?

Rune sits down and takes off his boots, telling us that they are warded and perfected fitted to his feet, and that he mostly doesn't wear socks with them. Gross. Brand enters and is followed closely by Queenie

"Her plain face swung side to side in a nonstop headshake. She said, "You took in a seventeen year-old boy?"

That's all we learn about her appearance. That she looks plain.

Rune is dumbfounded, because he does NOT remember taking in a child. But Brand, livid, and probably a little amused, let's be honest. Informs Rune that the "package" Rune agreed to take and "deliver" is in fact, a seventeen year-old boy. And the destination is his age of adulthood, twenty one.

And that is the end of the first chapter.

*this little bit of knowledge comes from a supplemental story you can download on the author's website. It's a four page PDF file and it's just a snippet of Rune and Brand as babies. And now that I'm thinking about it the tidbit that they weren't separated until the age of five might be something from another supplemental story. This is about what would have been their first instructor trying to separate them as toddlers. Neither of them can really speak, so it's told by their governess, Lady Patience (Look, if K D Edwards isn't a fan of Realm of the Elderlings I will eat everyone's hat! Lady Patience, Lady Amber, the Fool! If Francis isn't a Fitz stand in I will riot!)

It opens with baby Rune standing up in the crib, yelling about how Brand (he sits in the corner, well he sits where he wants but he always gives me the blanket and he's gone. And he took the orange rattle!) is missing. He's always been there for their whole lives and suddenly his Brand is missing. Lady Patience, not knowing how to calm him, goes in search of the instructor and Brand, to find baby Brand standing in a chair, brandishing the rattle, which is made of some pretty expensive material, at the instructor. He is also grumbling in a baby way because he too, can't really speak.

The instructor is displeased with the behavior going on here. He wants Brand out of the house, pretty much. Right around that time the door starts rattling, amber light filters in from under the door and it, kinda implodes inwards. Baby Rune is standing on the other side of the door, eyes glowing, and demands, "Band-aid!" Which is his word for Brand. Brand happily tottles over, hugs Rune and then proceeds to poke his nose to see if he can make it glow too.

The instructor is raging about how they need to be separated immediately, but is cut off by a tower of sunlight that stands in the doorway. Rune's father, Lord Sun. Even after he stops being on fire, no one can actually see what he looks like, only sunspots. He leans down and scoops both Rune and Brand up at once. Saying that he had to learn to pick them up at the same time, because they cried when they were picked up separately. He fires the instructor and walks off with "his boys".

It's really such a sweet story.

#the last sun #the tarot sequence #rape tw #rune saint john #brand saint john #live blogging #booklr #ttsrr

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