thedragonofdoma

[thedragonofdoma]

The Frog in the Well Knows Not of the Ocean

So, I achieved Lv.90 in the three Magic DPS classes on FFXIV, and like when I had done so for the Tanks, I wanted to take some photos to celebrate.

As usual, thoughts and action photos will be beneath the 'read more' line. Hoping to get Melee DPS done next!

Around Post-ARR, I figured I'd pick up some alternative classes to pad my gameplay while I waited for friends to catch up or become available. I decided to start leveling Black Mage -- or Thaumaturge, as it were -- because I had heard of the challenge associated with leveling it. As a result, BLM was my first Lv.90 caster, though it's one of my least-played jobs at this point in the game. SMN and RDM just feel much better for me, and I think the reason is I can't get my head around how Enochian is meant to work.

I also didn't count Blue Mage as a Magic DPS class, since it's so different from every other job in the game and can't be leveled normally.

And, as for the title of this small collection, I wanted to use a Proverb like I had with the Tank Job Collection (Fall Seven Times, Rise Up Eight). I decided on "Frog in the Well" because it encapsulated Zaya's canon relationship with magic. Her body has so little aether within that she'll never know the arcane mastery she could achieve.

[thedragonofdoma]

Last week, a friend of mine proffered a question: "If a culinarian were to create a dish that represents Zaya, what would that dish be?"

Originally, I handwaved the question, giving an answer I was neither happy with nor really remember. Now, though... I think I've got an answer I'm happy with.

A lot of thought went into this item, as well as its stats and the ingredients it would require. But if you just want to look at the fake food and move on, be my guest!

Now, there's a lot to go through about the Three Flowers Mochi. Firstly, the real-world variation.

Three Flowers Mochi would actually be a trio of assorted Daifuku Mochi, each one filled with a different popular Japanese fruit; those being Cherries, Strawberries, and Plums. Outside the fact they are fruits can be found in the East, these fruits go quite well as a set of three, and individually with the matcha flavor of the green tea accompaniment. Ideally, they'd have a little of the flour used to roll them sprinkled on top, as if they were snow-capped hilltops, resembling the mountainous terrain of Yanxia.

The green tea itself would be fairly standard -- using matcha instead of sencha for a more distinct earthy flavor that would complement the sweeter notes in the daifuku mochi. However, I think that the green tea would feature a garnish of a single shisho leaf, which in itself won't change the tea's flavor, but make it feel less like an additive and more as part of the dish entirely.

In-game, the recipe would call for five ingredients, all of which would be found in and around Yanxia (though most are currently collectibles): 2 Crescent Spring Water, 1 Othardian Plum, 1 Azim Strawberry, 1 Koshu Sticky Rice, and 1 Steppe Tea Leaves.

Now... why daifuku mochi? Why fruit flavors, rather than the standard red bean paste and matcha? Why is its item level much higher than other recipes using the same ingredients? Well, there's a lot to unpack.

Firstly: Why Mochi? By its design, mochi tends to have a distinct sweetness that very easily implies the emotional core of who Zaya is: incredibly sweet and empathetic, yet incredibly calm and responsible -- of which is represented by the matcha green tea. Now, I had originally intended to pick Dango for the dish of choice, but not only is it the name of Zaya's pet boar, the small colored balls of pounded rice flour didn't fit the image I had for Zaya. Still, mochi is extremely similar to dango, which helps tie in the fact that Zaya cannot cook to save her life. Don't ask, it's just how it is. But the final part is that daifuku means 'good luck', and the chosen fruits each carry important significance as well (Cherries representing both life and death, strawberries being a symbol of love, and plums being a protective charm against evil and a sign of perseverance.)

The choice of fruits over the traditional red bean and matcha is a rather simple one to answer; I much prefer fruits, and wanted to include a variety of flavors to the dish in question. But this does ground Zaya's core in Othard and the Far East, as all the necessary ingredients are found within Yanxia, Hingashi, and the Azim Steppe.

Lastly, the level. I specifically chose Item Level 520 because it is the same level as the first Endwalker recipes, creating time between the end of Stormblood and when the dish would become available, which in turn helps imply the growth of Doma after its liberation, and the impact I hope for Zaya to have on the people thereof. A fun aside on this, actually; I had thought that it would be Mitsuba, from the Ten Thousand Stalls of the Doman Enclave, who would first create Three Flowers Mochi, and let it spread from there. Finally, the boosted stats also give a hint toward Zaya's character: With Determination being the first on the list, and Direct Hit being the last: These show that Zaya is tough, sturdy, but has learned to strike back swiftly and efficiently.

Thanks for reading this thing all the way through! I put far too much thought in a stupid question, and only have the one picture to show for it, but I hope you enjoyed my rambling all the same!

[thedragonofdoma]

Fall Seven Times, Rise Up Eight

Having finally reached Level 90 on Paladin, I've finally gotten every Tank Job in FFXIV to max level on Zaya!

To commemorate this, I went ahead and took some shots of the glamours I use for Zaya's tank jobs, alongside some action shots -- because one photo per job does not a celebration make.

[thedragonofdoma]

In an interesting turn of events, Zaya had effectively been warned ahead of time, while the WoL was stuck in Tertium.

During a patrol, Zaya was met by Fandaniel, hiding in his Maelstrom disguise as when he took away the WoL for their 'dinner date' with Zenos. After a short exchange, Zaya developed a sinking feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong, and so took matters into her own hands as best she could.

She wasn't at Camp Broken Glass when In From the Cold occurred. She had known something would happen, and still failed to do her sole duty of protecting the people. Even now, she blames herself for having played a role in the incident, however minor it may have been.

I'll put the whole scene below, since I'm still rather proud of this piece.

9/14/23

What was your wol(oc)'s reaction to the "in from the cold" quest?

[thedragonofdoma]

"How closely do you follow the lore for your WOL/OC’s Race / Clan?"

- WoLqotd from @blordbooflight on Twitter

One of the things I had intentionally done for Zaya's backstory was to separate her from as much of the Xaela lore as possible. Not only did I pick a clan that just... didn't appear in the MSQ, but I also chose to make her parents immigrants to the neighbouring nation of Doma, which was far enough from the Azim Steppe as to let me tell a story without worrying about what Zaya was.

Of course, this only resulted in me trying to fit Zaya into the much more concrete story that is Doma, but I generally prefer fitting my character into canon cracks than to try and make new lore of a previously unknown people.

[thedragonofdoma]

Hey look, it’s Zaya x Yugiri.

battle couples has gotta be one of my favorite tropes though. The “you got me?” “Yeah, I got you.” The kiss for good luck. Fighting alongside each other for so long they know every strength and weakness. The dichotomy of being fucking terrifying to their enemies, but so soft with each other. When one is in danger and the other goes feral, protects them at any cost. When everything is over and done, it’s all “let me see where you’re hurt,” and washing off the dirt and blood.

[thedragonofdoma]

Introductions

So I realize that, in a setting where just about everyone has their own characters and stories they want to tell, it can get exhausting trying to figure out what each character's deal... is. And mine are no better, given my tendency to not elaborate much on their stories and personalities beyond the occasional wolqotd. So, to try and clear away some of the fog, here's an introduction to the characters I'll probably be posting about on here.

Fair warning, this is a LONG post.

The easiest place to start is with my primary character, Zaya Dalamiq. She is a Xaela Au'ra from Doma, whose parents immigrated from the Azim Steppe.

Zaya's story is one of connections and vulnerability, culminating in her replacing Gosetsu as one of Hien's trusted retainers and advisors, alongside Yugiri. Zaya is a (non)wol x Yugiri ship, and sees Hien as a non-blood related sibling. She also has close relations with Lyse Hext, Magnai Oronir, and Aymeric de Borel.

Zaya has two custom jobs called Demon King (DMK) and Sohei (SOH). Demon King mixes aspects of Dark Knight, Warrior, and Samurai; while Sohei is a very straightforward blend of Monk and Dragoon. She does not possess the echo, and was born with unnaturally thin aether, to the point she is unable to use magic of any sort without the use of crystal conduits. In exchange for this defecit -- and to explain her DRK capabilites -- Zaya has a natural affinity for Dynamis, to the point she is able to freely manipulate the energy as if it were aether.

Zaya is also a talented artisan, specializing in metalwork such as Armorcraft, weaponry, and goldsmithing. A lot of her spare time is spent around the Doman Enclave, training the guard and working to help Doma's reconstruction in the wake of Stormblood.

She's an extremely emotional woman with a measured and controlled exterior that she's developed to oppose her empathetic nature. She is strongly loyal to her friends and Doma both, and puts 110% into every single thing she does. Unfortunately, she does suffer from Impostor Syndrome, and always assumes herself at fault for problems or tragedies, so there's still some stuff that could be worked on.

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Next on the list is Lernea, Zaya's Ancient counterpart. She's much less developed than Zaya, but still has a good bit of lore surrounding her place in the world and how her story goes.

Lernea is a researcher in Elpis, though 'researcher' is a lofty title for what she really does. Put as simply as possible, Lernea's job is to fight things. Despite lacking the level of aetheric control necessary to actually test and evaluate concepts, Lernea serves to test a being's combat capabilities and to determine whether a certain concept will be a threat to the outside world.

Compared to Zaya, Lernea is far more confident and headstrong, to the point of appearing arrogant and brash. She has a short temper, and lives for the thrill of battle, though this comes from an innate desire to protect -- one that, for the most part, could only be satisfied with testing -- which has persisted into her various shards, including Lyna, who I've picked to be Zaya's reflection in the First.

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Moving on to the more... conceptual characters, we have Kanemi and Kawami Munakata, two Hingan Au'ra that come from a wealthy mercantile family near Kugane. Originally conceived to be foster siblings for Zaya, these two have ended up being their own characters with their own stories.

The older of the two, Munakata Kanemi, is usually depicted as a soft-spoken caretaker, leaning heavily into the stereotypical Healer Archetypes. Being the next head of the Munakata family, she doesn't get to do much in the way of combat, as her talents lie more in commerce and communication. Her job is a custom rendition of White Mage, meant to present a far more Eastern aesthetic than the normal job allows.

The younger, Munakata Kawami, is actually from a branch family of the Munakata clan. Despite that, she grew up in the same house as Kanemi, and the two are more like sisters than cousins. Kawami is much more rambunctious and mischievous, fitting well into the 'gremlin' caricature. While originally designed to be a Monk, I've recently changed Kawami to being a Samurai, having trained with the Sekiseigumi in Kugane before eventually swearing her sword as Kanemi's personal protector.

To that end, the two are never far from one another, and I struggle to picture them without the other.

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Of course, I've some other characters that I may eventually explore, but for the time being these are the ones most likely to appear!

Thank you for taking the time to read through this! I've not been doing this sort of stuff for very long, but it means a lot to me to be able to share something I'm passionate about with others.

[thedragonofdoma]

It’s generally a toss-up between Oath of Crown Paladin or Echo Knight Fighter, depending on how you want to flavor the abilities.

Oath of Crown Paladin has far more abilities that line up with how I picture Zaya behaving in combat, as it emphasizes being a full tank, with taunts and rally capabilities all packed into one. The problem there, of course, is I’ve never seen Zaya as a high Charisma sort of person, though I suppose if I did make her a Paladin she just wouldn’t have proficiency in many of the Charisma skills like Persuasion. (Might even go so far as to ask the theoretical DM to let me trade Guild Artisan’s persuasion proficiency for a second Artisan’s tool.)

Echo Knight Fighter, of course, leans far more heavily into Living Shadow as Zaya’s go-to ability. It helps to be a non-casting class, since Zaya’s not supposed to have any magic capabilities, but it lacks the crowd-control potential I feel Crown Paladin provides. I’d probably pick it if there were an oversaturation of casters in the party, but it can also hurt being the only non-caster in a party.

9/5/23

What D&D class would your wol(oc) be?

[thedragonofdoma]

Zaya originally entered the Doman Liberation Front to support not only Hien, but her parents who had served as quartermasters and suppliers to the rebellion. However, wishing to do more than ferry goods, Zaya asked to be taught to become a Samurai.

Unfortunately, her skills as an artisan failed to translate into combat prowess, and Zaya’s lack of natural talent made any effective training arduous, tiresome, and overall unsuccessful. In the end, Zaya was recommended to simply wield something that didn’t require much finesse.

8/9/23

When did your wol(oc) first started learning a combat job? Why did they learn it?

[thedragonofdoma]

I usually try to dress Zaya in pragmatic clothes with a heavy Eastern and Oriental aesthetic, and a preference toward purple colors with silver and black as secondary hues -- sometimes pulling in red, gold, or a deep blue to pull an outfit together. However, I have other outfits that are certainly more for show, though the Eastern/Oriental aesthetic remains, with an added theme of flowers and long, flowing bits of cloth.

To show what I mean, I’ve put some photographs of Zaya’s various outfits below.

8/3/23

How does your wol(oc)'s clothes reflect how they express themself?

[thedragonofdoma]

Some days, Yugiri wakes a little happier than normal.

It's uncertain whether or not she knows why.

[thedragonofdoma]

[🌸Wisteria🌸]

Old set of photos I took due to the wisteria tree in my FC's front yard. Still really happy with them, and felt they'd be good to post while I'm still getting things set up on Tumblr

[thedragonofdoma]

It's not often that Zaya gets excited about things; but when she had the chance to take Yugiri up Mount Rokkon for a day, Zaya knew she couldn't let the opportunity slip away.

[thedragonofdoma]

An old action photo of Zaya, just to make sure I understand how tumblr functions.

Curious to see how things develop as time goes on!

[thedragonofdoma]

since the old version of this post was flagged for ‘adult content’…

reblog this post if your account is a trans safe space or owned by a trans person!

along with that, reblog if your account is a non-binary spectrum safe space or owned by someone on the enby spectrum!