Khadan

I do enjoy my rumors section, small as it is. It's kinda neat to see the record of what characters think about someone over time. I'll probably have to do that whole... making *shudders* friends... thing... >.>

I wouldn't mind doing this IC since Kayllen is all about getting his homeland 'back on track' so to speak. However I think this weekend might be a bit too soon with other story elements currently in the works. I will likely have to pass unless you wish to revisit it later when I actually do it as part of Kayllen's personal story and/or FC group plot. Either way he'll be going as sword-and-board or Dragoon depending on the circumstances.

I don't really find it so shocking at all, really. In the end he was, or is, the Azure Dragoon. When you confront him and he takes on the power of Nidhogg it implies that there's some serious corruption there. Afterwards you channel the Dragoon's power and defeat him by throwing a column of flame at the guy in which he promptly disappears. So either one of two things is happening here in my opinion: 1: the MSQ takes place before the final lvl 50 Dragoon quest. 2: You defeat Estinien and he returns after his sound thrashing, gets taken in by the Temple Knights who, by all appearances, need every edge they can get against the Dravanians and he IS the Azure Dragoon after all, and disguises his 'bond' with Nidhogg as "the eye is talking to me and grants me some power blahblahblah I can hear his planz" Anyway it speaks more of Ishgard's desperation for powerful allies to me. It also has an interesting hook in that Estinien will either have the chance to redeem himself or to succumb fully into being a monster. Either way you as the fellow Azure Dragoon/Warrior of Light will be there to help or hinder him.

A standard military doctrine for small unit combat would basically dictate that you position your most heavily armored person at the fore while your 'flankers' sweep in form the sides to incapacitate your enemy while you keep an archer or "ranged" at the back to not only keep people from overwhelming your position but also to pick off exposed targets of opportunity. Of course in this case you can add in "the healer" but generally speaking it'd be like a diamond pattern with tank at the fore and "dps" at the side points ready to flank the target being engaged. That way it's less to do with "hurr they're attacking the heavily armored guy first what a bunch of dumbasses" to a more realistic "they have to get through our heavy first and he's not likely to go down anytime soon".

I'll be looking for an invite, myself. =)

How I handle RP that takes a turn for the worst?

Was this a thing that was in question, before? Anyway, we also need to keep in mind the different kinds of armor and harness. Not all Harness is the same as other harness. For example an armored lancer (not the dragoon kind but the jousting kind) is going to use a different kind of plate and harness than an unmounted man-at-arms. There's also different levels of plate such as plate-and-chain, plate-and-harness, half-plate, full-plate, and so on and so forth. Would I think that a man in full mounted plate and harness who is then on foot and trying to be 'stealthy' is a thing? Well probably not because holy crap that armor is definitely not designed to be quiet; it's designed to protect you from swords, axes, and if you're extremely lucky the piercing blow of a war lance. Now a man in half-plate or well made plate-and-chain with leather backing? You wouldn't be catwoman levels of ninja sneakery but you could hide in the woods and ambush an enemy position at night even at a full run; also to note that your boots would likely be louder than your armor since most armed men would use either steel or iron-heeled boots or hobnailed boots. But that's literally only a tiny fraction of the overall situation. Armor has a long and extremely detailed history and no two are exactly alike. Much like swords and other weapons, you pick the right tool for the job. If you're wanting to ambush people and be generally more 'stealthy' then you want a different kind of tool for the job. Are you going to be in a mounted charge against an enemy infantry line? Different armor for the job. Going to be in a line fight? You want forward facing half-plate and plenty of chain mail over your joints etc etc. Anyway, like in all things manual, you always pick the right tool for the job. Combat is really no different =)

"Sexist" is overused as a term thus reducing its efficacy by an alarming margin. Just like any of the other 'ist' terms, tbh. Trying to attribute "Sexist" to "Mary Sue" (while completely and willfully ignoring Gary stu) only reflects on the others ideology and desire to twist the narrative to their own ends. This is why ideologies are vermin.

Well you CAN do anything you want. HOWEVER I would say that since Miqo'te canonically hate the cold and due to Ishgard being a 70/30 Elezen/Hyur split by the look of Coerthas' population, that a Miqo'te living in Ishgard, let alone being an Astrologian, would be exceedingly rare. However with Heavensward coming up, who knows?

Recollections of the Stormbringer Vol. I 16 Cycles ago The boy sat behind the form of his father, clutching his furred cloak while they rode astride the massive feathered beast. The chocobo was his father’s personal mount, a war steed bred for his size, stamina, and intelligence. The animal gave off plenty of warmth from below them yet both the large man and the boy were wrapped tightly against the billowing snowy winds that buffeted them along the high mountain approach they traversed, though even with the appropriate winter clothing the boy huddled and felt chills. The chills were not necessarily from the cold though occasionally a gust of wind slipped through his cloaks, rather it was for the life he was leaving behind. His home, his friends and family, the safety and security of a child’s private room with his possessions… All of those would be there, still, but he knew that he may never see them again. Of all of them that he would miss it was perhaps his little sister that he would miss the most; his father would be with him, of course, but not as his father as it had been explained to him several times. Leaning out to the left from the broad muscled back of his father, Kayllen peered up at the looming rampart of the fortress they approached. Thick crenelations rimmed the main gate of the keep with arrow slits spread evenly across the top. Each crenelation was curiously sliced at a diagonal angle from the rampart end and sloping gently downwards towards the wall. Kayllen remembered reading about the design being for deflecting dragon fire up and away from soldiers on the ramparts rather than having a ‘splash’ effect in a flat plane to any standing behind the defensive structure. Armored figures marched along the keep walls and peered out from high turrets bedecked with the flags and pennants of blue and silver; the colors of the Lecuyer house and of the Temple Knights within. The Lecuyer house wasn't necessarily large or even vastly influential on its own, truth be told. It was a vassal house to the larger house Dzemael, a true great house of Ishgard. House Lecuyer served them faithfully. If Dzemael was the ‘rook’ then Lecuyer was one of the shields that manned its ramparts. As they neared the portcullis the call went out over the wall to raise the heavy cold-forged iron gate that would allow them entry into what would be Kayllen’s home for the rest of his life. Soon the calls changed from “Open the gate!” to “The Lion! The Lion has returned!”, only to be echoed within the structure. They cheered for his Father, he knew, shouting his title to the heavens and joining the chorus of loud voices that all seemed to be filled with genuine reverence and pride. A great clamor could be heard over the walls as men and women rushed to complete their tasks and prepare for the return of their lord and commander. Leon tugged on the reins to his massive mount and turned somewhat in the saddle, “Dismount, Kay.” He said, his tone still fatherly but Kayllen could feel the warmth slowly draining out of it. The Father was in retreat and the Commander was advancing to the forefront. Lifting his leg over the back of his father’s saddle he slid down off the back of the bird. His father soon followed suit and patted the mount lovingly on the neck as he always did. Turning around on him he spoke in a low rumbling tone, “All initiates must walk through the gates on their own feet. You are no exception, my son.” The portcullis clanked to its full height and stopped soon followed by the creak of the iron-banded wooden doors being slowly opened. Leon knelt before the boy, one gloved hand tousling his shoulder-length golden hair. “You know my hair used to be this color, once.” The man’s hair still sported a fair degree of the fair color but streaks of grey and white mixed in with it to give him a ‘peppered’ appearance. “Son,” He said, his tone growing slowly grave. “Wherever you go in this world you will always be my cherished boy. You’re growing into a fine man and I know you’ll make me proud. You'll do great things one day, change the lives of an important few or a great many. ” His head turned to the now-open gates before them both. Within the forms of running men and women assembling into formation for Leon’s arrival and inspection could be seen. At the center stood a row of children all roughly Kayllen’s age and dressed in black tunics with matching trousers. Elezen boys and girls still shoulder to shoulder with Midlander children of the same and they all looked a bit confused or perhaps adjusting to the momentous event unfolding before them. With a sigh Leon squeezed Kayllen’s shoulder with one gloved hand, “But within these walls I am your commander first and your Father second. It is important that you realize that now. You will be worked hard. Harder than you've ever known. You will be beaten. Broken. Pummeled down and ground into nothing… And then you will be reforged into something -glorious-. Do not fight it, remember the lessons I've taught you: Discipline. Stillness of mind. Observation. All of these will help you. You will be worked harder than the rest -because- you are my son. No one will go easy on you for fear of angering me and they are right to believe so. Remember that I love you and am proud of you, always.” With that Leon, the Lion of Ishgard stood, cupped Kayllen’s cheek in one hand as the boy stared up in awe and some small confusion at his father. Before he knew what had happened his head reeled and stars danced in his eyes. The vertigo of being unbalanced was met with the hard reality of the ground rushing up to meet him and not cushioning his fall whatsoever. His Father, no his commander, had just struck him he realized. The blow was fast and hard, like being struck with a battering ram the size of a man’s fist. Sprawled out on the snowy ground with his lip bleeding he glanced up at the towering man to question what he had done and why he was being struck only to have the man lean down and start shouting at him! “On your feet initiate! This isn't leisure time! Get into formation! Now! Now! Now!” Kayllen scrambled to his feet, confused but now also terrified and not wanting to be struck again. Leon pointed at the line of waiting recruits and Kayllen didn't even speak a word. He turned and ran as fast as he could for the open gates to stand in line with the rest of the recruits, his father’s words ringing in his ears along with the recent blow. You will be broken. The boy believed it.

I tend to agree with Berrod on this. For myself I just assume that all aether is just aether (unaspected) until you forcibly assign it a 'flavor'. As for personal Aether I follow the trend that as an avid follower of Halone in his daily life, his affinity will be more in the realm of ice and wind. I play this off in little ways like rather than braving the Thanalan heat he uses ice shards in his armor to keep him from suffering too much and when in Coerthas he finds the cold 'bracing' and comfortable while others are wearing the heavy winter coat and still shivering in their boots. I personally enjoy the interplay of religion in RP especially when one can easily prove that the gods do exist and, to a degree I hope we'll see more of in Heavensward, influence the world. Just my 2 gil.

I generally agree with this sentiment though I might word it a bit more politely so it doesn't seem like I'm daring nerds to come at me bro or something (even if I AM! :evil: ) The only other thing I would like to point out, since I believe this is for the most part a civil debate in of itself thus far, is that the term 'negativity' in this context is not only arbitrary but entirely subjective. Excluding the extreme example of someone threatening to bodily harm the other over their internet words or just being overly hostile and needlessly aggressive. Things like ad hominem (attacking a person and/or their character) or tu quoque (hypocritically calling out a behavior you exhibit) are what we ascribe to these things and then sometimes there's just being a butthead. Anyone who's played League of Legends has probably experienced a bit of that =P

This would be my bet. :thumbsup:

Discussion on an open forum is how things get done without visiting grievous bodily harm on others in order to force your world view on them. Without civil discourse you resort to barbarity. Or in this day and age, passive-aggressive caltrop laying while thumbing your nose at people and then talking crap to your friends in private. =P The point is that 'debate' or just polite conversation where two people are discussing $thing is productive. Always. Even if someone doesn't like what they are talking about or finds the topic 'uncomfortable'. If the individual finds said topic uncomfortable then it is the responsibility of the individual to remove themselves from the discussion and return later; not expect other people to revolve around their arbitrary feelings. That is not the way things work and it is likely not ever the way things will work as long as common sense prevails. Being made 'uncomfortable' by someone's conversation, to me, is just a way to try and shut down discourse and control a narrative by preventing it from happening. It's just a really crappy way to behave when others are having a discussion. Now if it's just two jerks beefin'? Then yeah tell them to stfu and go to their corner. Otherwise act as civil as they are and either enjoy the debate, participate, or bow out.

Technically so did Ishgard. A reeeeeally long time ago. That is a huge technicality. It has been stated that the extent of Ishgards part in the Eorzean Alliance is pretty much the extent of their part in current affairs. They told everyone to stay the hell out of Coerthas, and in return they would offer them meager supplies when they could. So essentially they were only ever part of the Eorzea Alliance in name alone. I believe at that point in time the only thing they really did was give Gridania Chocobos, which is why Bentbranch has their own stable. I'd need a source on something like that before I could even contemplate believing it. To my knowledge no such source exists thus we have absolutely no bearing on how large or small their involvement was in the Eorzean Alliance. What we do know is that the Ishgardians bred the finest chocobo mounts on the continent and that prior to the Calamity almost no female chocobos existed south of Ishgard because they wanted to monopolize the trade and did so pretty effectively. Fairly certain it's a Bentbranch NPC who explains that but anyway, even IF, and it's a big if, the Ishgardians only supplied chocobos to the rest of Eorzea? That's still a pretty large contribution. But since we don't know what they did and how much then it's really doing no one any favors to make assumptions with little-to-no backing.

I might suggest looking at the list of linkshells/FC's and getting in with that. Especially if you don't know anyone in the game, yet. RP'ers are notoriously cliquish and suspicious of strangers (this sounds like an alien race, doesn't it?) so a lone person approaching an established group often has their work cut out for them unless you win the lottery and that group happens to be one of the few who will interact with anyone/everyone for the sake of it. To clarify, I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. If anything it's highly reflective of RL. If you and your friends go out to a place for drinks and/or food and you're all chatting and having a good time, then some random person none of you know shows up and starts talking at you then the reaction is pretty much the same. Funny looks, raised eyebrows, everyone looking to one another while shrugs are exchanged and some will opt to ignore while others might say "errr no thanks we're not interested in buying what you're selling crazy lady!" To that end I might suggest a tactic of infiltration (join an FC or Linkshell) or divide and conquer (find a person who is just as alone as you are at the time and spark up a conversation). That person likely knows other people who know other people and so on. Social networking at its finest. =)

I don't think Ashren was trying to say they weren't xenophobic, merely pointing out that Ala Mhigans were a bad example due to their terrible standing with one another brought upon then by their rocky relations in the past. Its pretty obvious they wouldn't like Ala Mhigans after that whole shebang blew up in Ala Mhigo's face. That example alone is quite a reasonable one, so its not the soundest example of xebophobia simply because its quite justified and rational. This is all super off-topic though It is understandable completely to not want to invite a former enemy into your home even if they are in need and conquered from an outside power. I had a friend remind me that the majority of the distrust/xenophobia is because of the accrual of woodsin from entering the hedge. Wariness of outsiders leads to xenophobia which leads us to where we are now; don't want strangers messing up your home so therefore outsiders are glared at because they could potentially ruin everything. As my buddy stated, there's zero proof that they're -not- outsider-unfriendly and the very fact that a lot of people get that impression about them in the first place disproves Ashren's initial points about Gridania. As I stated in my original post, though, we're talking about cultures, lots of history, and how cultures end up the way that they are and how they might be slowly shifted. =)

You've essentially nailed the crux of the matter. :thumbsup:

In the interest of keeping this from turning into a zebra posting war of who's opinion about $made up thing is right, I'll try to keep this as concise as possible. 1: there's no need to express exasperation at a lengthy reply; if you cannot counter said points then simply concede said points and move on to those that you can. 2: yes I am referring to the guard at the gates of judgment. Him and perhaps 3 or 4 other npcs are the only ones even remotely derisive to the WoL. All other Coerthan npcs are neutral or grateful for your help. Especially in the case of aurum vale and dzemael darkhold. Therefore by default the "everything we know" statement is fallacious from thebeginning because we don't know everything yet. In fact we know very little. This was addressed in my original post though, no sense in rehashing it here. 3: your point is that they aren't xenophobic because they are xenophobic? 3.5: I linked an imgur album taken by an rpc member showing the myriad ways that Gridanians think and feel about others. You've failed to address that in favor of doubling down on your original statement of the subjective view as the WoL. 4: caste systems are almost by definition based around excluding others. my original statement was never that Ishgard is inclusive. In fact I made several points as to why they are exclusive and how a theocratic people might view others as well as how those societies become accepting of other peoples. You don't know whether or not they have an adventurers guild; why wouldn't they? It would just be full of Ishgardian adventurers. Lastly it seems obvious to me that Aymeric is entertaining negotiations with the Eorzean Alliance to jockey for a better position or end rssult. That's simple negotiating strategy. Also the MSQ almost blatantly shoves in your face that there is third and perhaps even fourth party manipulation going on. The left hand may not know what the right is doing. Doing this on my tablet while in bed so eff the formatting police; I do what I want.

The irony of this statement is that Ishgardians are anything but inclusive. We seem to be doing okay with the Gridanians being traditionally xenophobic as well as the Ul'Dahn socio-economic good ol' boys club that likes to dump on Ala Mhigans and treat them little better than unwanted slaves. At least Ishgard looks to be having a change of heart. I doubt you'll ever change the Ul'Dahns and Gridanians, though. The xenophobic attitude the Gridanians are supposed to be known for is almost completely unapparent in the game outside of the Archer quests and the initial cutscene for those who started there. Most Gridanian NPCs are all too happy to talk and help out outsiders it seems, and there are even Ul'dah merchants there now. I think once they had to accept aid from Ul'dah to start reconstruction they lost their attitude towards outsiders for the most part. As for Ul'dah, I actually expect a change in their socio-political climate soon with the way the storyline is going (I won't post spoilers), but even then Ul'dah only treats one group of people with any sort of disdain, that being refugees. Ishgard treats everyone not from Ishgard with disdain, and even goes as far as to call all outsiders and anyone who help them heretics in at least one case. One thing you REALLY have to take into consideration is just because a few people in Ishgard like the Warrior of Light, does not mean they will suddenly become accepting of any random person who wants to come into their city. This is probably the most important fact to consider. I think that you're ignoring some very important factors here and basing an conclusion off of some salty gate guard NPC. We don't let the doorman tell us how the movie is inside; we go and see it for ourselves! Nor do we allow a single person to dictate to us the representative attitude and/or culture of an entire people. Just because we as the de facto warrior of light do not experience the xenophobic contempt of the Gridanians does not in any way erase that part of their culture. Gridanians have routinely in the past been very unwelcoming and even booted out the aforementioned Ala Mhigan refugees. Their attitude has likely not changed one bit and I would go so far as to say that you, again as the de facto WoL do not experience that, but anyone and likely everyone would probably be met with suspicion if not passive-aggressive hostility. Much in the way that the Feudal Japanese might act towards a house guest that they didn't particularly like. Will you be polite to them? Yes because societal norms dictate that that is just how things are done. Will you talk mad crap about them after they leave? You betcha. I imagine that the Gridanians as described in lore and backed up by the screenshots in Ansemaru's Gridanian census are all about saving face and avoiding shame in public. With respect to Ul'dah, I highly doubt anything will change there. The City of Sin which bases its culture almost entirely off of the concept of things being bought and sold (including people, though any would likely say that slavery is illegal but everyone knows that there are different kinds of 'slavery'), even their religion is based in it with the primary worship of Nald'Thal. Fun fact: When your culture shifts towards hyper-capitalism, it does so at the expense of widespread fundamental values. I.e. an Ul'dahn is unlikely to ever utter the phrase "Ask not what your country can do for you; but what you can do for your country". Rather it would be societally expected that your country pay you for any service rendered no matter how menial or patriotic. All things have a price in Ul'Dah. I'm sure there's even an NPC or two who will echo that but I can't be bothered to look it up right now. As far as the Ala Mhigans are concerned, the only way that their lot in life within Thanalan will improve is by conquering Ul'dah from within (unlikely) or by peacing out (more likely and practical assuming that they have the means to do so). Will Ul'Dah's chief money grubbers eventually be brought to task for their despicable behavior thus far? I hope so. But it won't change that the general opinion of Ul'Dah with respect to the Ala Mhigan refugees is one of base contempt and near-disgust. The more things change; the more they will stay the same. In conclusion I will simply cite that your own words back at you with respect to Ul'dah and Gridania: "just because a few people in Ishgard like the Warrior of Light, does not mean they will suddenly become accepting of any random person who wants to come into their city." Replace Ishgard with Ul'dah/Gridania and suddenly the view is expounded in all directions. A few words of wisdom with regards to Theocratic nations and societies. These people don't fear strangers or even outsiders all that much. Sociologically what they fear is outsiders judging them for their beliefs or attempting to change said beliefs. They fear, if fear can be used as the appropriate term, having to fight for their own beliefs. There's obviously a great deal of contempt for those that do not believe in a similar fashion, which in the case of Ishgard is the following of Halone's Enchiridion and the worship of the Fury herself a the patron deity of the entire nation. Will they respect the belief in the other 11 gods? I'm sure they will but they will likely not think better of you for it. This is both a source of national pride and international exclusion. In the case of Ishgard's Holy See, not only a powerful theological and military force on its own without the support of the four great houses, you see an odd middle-ground between theocracy and ecclesiocracy. Regardless, you will find that in societies like that of Ishgard, it is not the outsider that they will 'fear', rather what the outsiders represent. This is usually dispelled by a good old-fashioned rubbing of elbows. And, you know, having a thousand year-old enemy constantly threatening to burn your nation to the ground and being in dire need of help doesn't hurt that much, either. Apologies, I didn't intend for a small reply to turn into a full on lectured beat-down D= edit: tried to edit for brevity but the spoiler tags hate me so whatever. =X

The irony of this statement is that Ishgardians are anything but inclusive. We seem to be doing okay with the Gridanians being traditionally xenophobic as well as the Ul'Dahn socio-economic good ol' boys club that likes to dump on Ala Mhigans and treat them little better than unwanted slaves. At least Ishgard looks to be having a change of heart. I doubt you'll ever change the Ul'Dahns and Gridanians, though.

I think the important thing to keep in mind is that the RP that will shift to Ishgard will be the INTERESTED PARTIES. Which, to be honest, is the kind of RP I want shifted there, anyway. I know I'll be spending time up there quite frequently as my character is and always has been Ishgardian since launch day! Plus snow zones are best zones. Also dragon killing? BRING IT ON. Anyway I can't wait for Ishgard RP to thrive. There's just metric tons of RP potential for almost all walks of life. It has a lot of lore just waiting to be delved into which I'm sure will spurn even more Ishgard-centric roleplayers and new characters. I'm looking forward to it so hard lol. Anyway, see you all in Ishgard. :thumbsup:

Will you be restricting interaction to members only or will you use a Linkshell so that people who want to be involved on their Ishgardian-oriented characters wouldn't need to leave their established RP FC or PvE FC? To expand on that further would Linkshell members be just as included, perhaps? I ask because I couldn't possibly leave my FC even to RP in a group that is involved in my character's home! Though I would love the chance to be involved in more Ishgardian related RP! So if a linkshell is possible I'd love to be involved.

Sojiana and Kayllen lookin' baws as always!

This is wonderful artwork! May I be added to your wait list as well? =)