#the allagan tempest

[nightmareopera]

no one said that this would be easy no one read the fine print underneath up ahead, danger is gleaming on the edge of a lost memory

there was a recurring dream of her face

[mythandral]

Day 10 - Dragon

"Hey, Gonzalo? Where are these cameras, exactly?"

[yloiseconeillants]

when our falsehoods are divided, what shall we become? one evaporating sigh-

[hermits-hovel]

Memo has the emotional range despite not having a human face anymore.

[lilbittymonster]

Did the happiness chart from Gallus and I guess this is also an informal OC introduction of sorts? I guess? Anyways here's the current lineup of blorbos

[autumnslance]

[Language barriers and the Echo Anon] You ever keep yourself awake at night thinking how they hand waved currency differences in FFXIV. Sure I’m fully aware that tomestones, tribal currency and other such things exist but the majority of things are paid with Gil. It makes sense in Eorzea but less so elsewhere. Kugane can be justified with being the only open trading port of Hingashi, Thavnair receiving trade from Eorzea and the First’s currencies being so tossed about post Flood they accept Gil now but would it really make sense in places like Yanxia or Rak’tika(rural)? I don’t want to think about how places that you aren’t supposed to visit again lore wise(Elpis, UT and the illusory Amaurot in Tempest) can accept gil as payment and or even trade goods.

I really don't worry about it, especially if we go with the idea of Gil being a typical gold-based currency just with a funny name.

It was also an Allagan thing, recycled by Eorzeans. And with trade with Eorzea being common, it does mostly work in the Source. Yanxia is Doma, more open to trade and outsiders than even Hingashi, and has been part of Garlemald besides--and the Empire has no issue taking Eorzean coin and probably has a similar Allagan-inspired currency that's equivalent, given how much else they base upon the old empire.

Mostly it IS a gameplay convenience even more than the languages so players don't also have to worry about the Gil to Koban exchange rate, but there's also nothing saying the WoL and Scions aren't dealing in Koban when in the East and the game just doesn't deal with that.

As for the First, that's just a mess of handwaving a world actively in the midst of apocalypse and maybe we'll get more details in the 3rd lorebook, but they seem to be having a "collapse the languages and currency down since the remaining population is so small" situation there, and everyone has to trade with one another for survival purposes; even the Viis, who start working with the Qitari and the Night's Blessed.

And while a barter system for the Viis on introduction (or even the Xaela of the Steppe) might seem to make sense, it also unnecessarily complicates and bogs down story and gameplay, so like a LOT of other things in the game, shorthands it to "they just take your coin."

Which I find more and more, people kind of forget, especially when criticizing how "fast and easy" something resolves, that in the scope of the game, pretty much everything is shorthanded to keep gameplay and story moving along, from conversations to rest periods to equipment acquisition to scenes we don't see play out between NPCs and to the vast majority of gameplay mechanics where they intersect with character actions and interactions.

FFXIV tries real hard to make some gameplay part of the world and story, like teleportation. Or they make bland excuses on why we can wander around the 3 city-states post-Banquet, or why the WoL isn't given a shock collar too in Tertium, or can keep visiting unique locations for specific storypoints like Ultima Thule and Elpis. And if we were playing a traditional standalone, single-player FF game, those situations would be written and played out differently.

But sometimes a lore lampshade is just a lampshade, and not all game mechanics are actually lore, but ways for players to fill in the gaps when it comes to Roleplay and Fanfiction.

EDIT: And here's a post from some other folks, with some sources, that barter wasn't as widespread as people think, most places--even remote and sparsely populated--had regular commerce, and currency of some form was far more common and far-reaching than might be assumed.

Remember, folks: Hollywood and other media rarely have accurate portrayals of history, and our own modern assumptions of things being different "back then" are often wrong. Street vendors and athletic sponsorships were common in Rome and "Tiffany" is a medieval (nick)name.

[valkariel]

Widowmaker

» Overwatch Cosplay «

Head: Ravel Keeper's Headband of Aiming - ink blue Body: Late Allagan Armor of Aiming - metallic purple Hands: Atrociraptorskin Armguard of Aiming - gunmetal black Legs: Augmented Lost Allagan Breeches of Aiming - metallic purple Feet: Bonewicca Tracker's Sabatons - gunmetal black

Alt Legs: Late Allagan Bottoms of Aiming

Earring: The Emperor's New Earrings Neck: The Emperor's New Necklace Wrists: The Emperor's New Bracelet Right Ring: The Emperor's New Ring Left Ring: The Emperor's New Ring

Main Hand: Augmented Radiant's Pistol - default Off Hand: --

Fashion Accessory: -- Minion: -- Location: The Tempest - Amaurot - The Capitol

Shader: Nightingale - custom

[nightmareopera]

The world has gone mad today and good's bad today And black's white today and day's night today

(antonio and icarus belong to @hermits-hovel)

[mythandral]

feral over syrcus tower/the twinning. absolutely losing it

with @hermits-hovel‘s mnemosyne

[yloiseconeillants]

JUNELEZEN - Day 1 :: Portrait

The Aetherochemist Medusa of Xande's Court. Historic records identify her as Ariel Mersegrit, formerly of Meracydia.

Ariel is the Allagan Empire-era shard of my ancient, Ariadne (who briefly held the title of Halmarut before the Final Days) - an Allag-educated Meracydian bio-chemist, sought by the newly re-established Allagan Empire in their push against the southern continent due to her research into aetheric dampening.

She is immediately given up by the Meracydians who want nothing to do with her and taken to a prisoner camp, where Emet-Selch offers her a place in Allag (and among the Ascians) in exchange for her cooperation against Meracydia. She agrees, and together they poison several villages down river from the prisoner camp, killing man and dragon alike.

While Emet-Selch gives her the Halmarut crystal, given Halmarut's distance from the rest of the Convocation, it doesn't contain enough memories to fully reawaken Ariadne. Ariel knows that her survival in Allag is fully dependent on her allegiance with Emet-Selch and so begins weaving an increasingly complex set of lies that she has been reawakened and cooperating with the Ascian plot.

Meanwhile, she ingratiates herself w/ Xande's inner court (including Amon, who is aware of her Ascian aspirations, and Scylla, who is not). She takes the name Medusa as part of Xande's court. Eventually, she backs Amon's plan to summon the Cloud of Darkness.

[hermits-hovel]

JUNELEZEN DAY 8 || Beauty

"Why should you be ashamed of sprouting a few scales? That dragon is your most beautiful project, is it not?"

[lilbittymonster]

do they like receiving gifts? giving gifts? what is their ideal gift? (for alexandrite, please!)

Alexandrite l o v e s gifting, especially when they can use it as leverage! I think they're a pretty materialistic person so finding physical objects to give as a thank you is pretty easy for them.

Their ideal gift (to receive, I assume) is something that can be shown off easily, usually clothing or accessories, but also something that can be displayed in their home.

Thanks for the ask @yloiseconeillants!

Ask list here

[emc2beans]

#FFXIVWrite2023 Day 11: Once Bitten, Twice Shy

I might continue this one someday. Just a bit of Isolde and G'raha's almost-relationship/pre-relationship development.

“G’raha Tia!” Isolde’s shriek rang across the peak of Mt. Gulg, cutting through the sound of the shot Emet-Selch had fired into the Crystal Exarch’s- G’raha’s back. She lunged at the Ascian, teeth bared, ready to get between him and G’raha. 

She was going to lose him, she couldn’t lose him. Not again, not again, not again. 

Emet-Selch vanished with the Exarch before Isolde could reach them, but not before inviting them down into the Tempest, the sea surrounding Norvrandt. Isolde’s rage at the Ascian was interrupted when Gwynedd collapsed to the ground, white ichor leaking from her eyes and nose. The Light was becoming too much for her to handle and if nothing was done, she would turn into a Sin Eater. They could not let that happen.

The next few bells were spent getting Gwynedd back to the Crystarium and stabilized, a process for which Isolde was fairly useless. Instead she paced, and paced, and paced around the Ocular trying to think of how to get G’raha back. She would make that smug, insufferable bastard Emet-Selch suffer, and she would tell him where to shove his ‘lost paradise’. Isolde continued to pace.

Why did the good parts of her life always get ruined? Was it her fault? Did she deserve this?

“Isolde,” G’raha began, sitting up from where the two of them had been laying on a slab of Allagan stone, taking a pause from their conversation. They were just far enough from the camp at St. Coinach’s find to not be bothered. “Do you… ever miss anyone? From Allag, I mean. You’ve mentioned acquaintances and people you knew in passing, but never anyone who was important or… special to you.” He hoped Isolde could not see the color in his cheeks in the faint moonlight. 

“I don’t think there was anyone particularly special, per se.” She paused, staring up at the stars above them. “I… miss my master. He took me in, taught me to paint, and he was always kind to me. Encouraging me to rise above what others thought about me, telling me that there was something good in me, deep down.” Isolde sat up. “He was a little bit delusional, but I think all artists have to be either delusional or simply insane.” They both laughed quietly, the sound fading off into a comfortable silence. 

“You’re a Warrior of Light, of course there’s good in you.” G’raha said, putting his hand on top of Isolde’s. “Hydaelyn wouldn’t have chosen you otherwise.”

“Mm, still, I question Her taste in heroes.” Isolde shifted just a little closer to G’raha. 

“I think there’s good in you, too.” He whispered as Isolde leaned her head on his shoulder, as if being any louder would scare her away. There was another long pause before Isolde spoke again. 

“I’m going to disappoint you.” She stated flatly. Her proclivities toward violence and vice were no secret, they both knew that. 

“I’d give you another chance.” He replied.

“That would be very foolish of you.” 

“Then I shall be your fool, as many times as you need me to be.” G’raha rested his head against Isolde’s as the light from the camp began to dim. She had no words to respond as she felt her cheeks dampen with her tears. 

Isolde brought up a hand to wipe the tears from her face. She was going to get to the Tempest or die trying, that she knew. She was a hero, after all, and this was what heroes did.

To be continued maybe