Melkire

Well, shit. I want to write this down to "the Scions only have working theories, as seen when they flip out at the Sahagin Priest possessing other's bodies to resurrect himself," but then we'd have to question everything they tell us ever. Now I'm wondering exactly what the significance of those crystals and their lattice was. And whether the MC is under Midgardsormr's aegis now rather than Hydaelyn's, because I can't see the MC facing primals anymore without some sort of protection (does this get addressed during the quests for the new Odin trial?).

Can't watch the vid at work atm to refresh my memory, but.. I think they're separate. Echo as its own thing, and the "blessing of light" that Midgardsormr refers to as specifically the protection from tempering and/or being murdered by primals and the like. This is sort-of kind-of supported by the (six? I forget how many) special crystals that the MC spends most of the MSQ gathering. They make an appearance in at least one Primal cutscene (Garuda's) that implies that they're at least part of the reason why you can't be tempered... and then the crystals show up again when they're depowered and shattered by Midgardsormr's consenting to Hydaelyn's covenant.

Wholeheartedly agreed. "I'm a rare Miqo'te male! I'm mixed breed! I'm a victim of bigotry! I'm awesome but you'll only be informed that I'm awesome! Cid & co. love me!"

IS THAT A TRITTON KUNAI?! /high-fives for excellent taste in headsets

That's exactly what the Scions wonder about in the MSQ when they compare the Ascians to primals. The answer seems to be, "they have a safe zone in between us and the Void that they retreat to." As for the means (the "how"), it's not expounded upon pre-2.5 to my knowledge. tl;dr: Ascians are somehow an exception via DARK MAGICS, whereas nearly everyone else plays by the same rules.

Want to meet Hydaelyn's Twelve now at some point in XIV's MSQ. Hyped.

Will gladly fill in as an NPC bandit! Just realized I'm at work that time & day. D'oh.

Probably wasn't in the bubble. Tsk tsk, Warren. Halatali HM / Leviathan mechanic.

That's the word I couldn't think of. Thank you.

"Sultanate" essentially means the sovereignty of the sultan(a). Ul'dah as a city with its peoples can go on without the Line of Ul, should they be overthrown or abdicate. It's like the distinction between a kingdom and its country. Take medieval England, for instance (more specifically, London). The cities and peoples didn't cease to be when the Normans took over. It was still the same place (albeit name changes b/c to the victor go the spoils yadda yadda yadda), but the sovereignty had changed. In the vast majority of cases, the distinction won't matter. But sometimes, it will.

Disclaimer: I've not finished 2.5 MSQ. That said, I'd be very, very careful about equating "sultanate" with "Ul'dah". Nearly every reference I've seen makes a point of distinguishing between the two. Futhermore, there have been plenty of situations where there is a clear, direct threat to Ul'dah and the 'sworn aren't leading the way (Operation Archon, Ifrit, etc.). Again, it comes back to the law/military/federal breakdown.

Osric Melkire, soldier for the sultanate, once known as Dirk Problemsolver, assassin for hire, stared long and hard at the man he could have been had he signed on with Worthy Jetsam for more than a mere half-dozen moons. His hands ceased to play with the forest of hilts protruding up and out from the table before him. His breathing slowed. His shite-eating grin died. He grunted. He reached forward. He pushed his tumbler towards Nero. He drew his blades from the woodwork. He sheathed them one by one. He left the last, a single pesh-kabz, embedded where it stood. He pushed his chair back. He rose to his feet. One hand snaked upward and turned over as he seized the neck of the bottle in a reverse grip, lifted it up high, and in a single motion that made use of his wrist, his arm, his hips, his legs, and his weight, slammed the glass down and broke it against the edge of the table, shards of glass flying every which way. The sergeant didn't spare a glance for his "guest" as he threw what was left in his hand aside and into a far corner. Instead, he leaned out over the table and starting moving shards around until he had a circle of broken glass surrounding the knife. His eyes never once left his task. "This game is different," he breathed. "As an extension of another's will, he benefits from their aegis. As their instrument o' choice, he has had some time t'entrench himself in the affairs o' the city, to ingratiate himself with its worthies. His is a web o' dependency: associates, business partners, contacts, acquaintances, they all benefit far too much from his ever-present influence to ever allow him t'come to harm. To try for him directly is to be cut." A smile touched his lips again. "Different game, similar solution." He waved a hand out over the broken glass, then wrapped his fingers tight around the hilt and slowly drew the pesh-kabz from the wooden table. He slid the knife home into its scabbard, then turned and walked away, pausing only in the doorway long enough to glance back over his shoulder. "Then we're agreed?"

I know this doesn't excuse or justify anything, but technically that word has its etymological roots in seizing or devaluing. Online video game communities use it interchangeably with "wrecked (rekt)", "pwnd", and other various slang terms that ultimately amount to short-hand for, "I triumphed over you so thoroughly that you should feel demoralized." I've been plenty guilty of throwing -that- word around nonchalantly in the past, back when I didn't much care for how others might take it. Been gradually phasing it out of my own vocabulary and using the aforementioned alternatives instead. tl;dr: it's a case of differing social values from one individual to another, namely how much weight and import we give to what other people say. EDIT: Warren quit ninja'ing me, you're a PLD, you're supposed to be slow.

Yes, please.:moogle:

I have a few suggestions for this one... huehuehue Oh? I'd like to hear them. I'd post birthday suits as a suggestion, but that'd be NSFW and inappropriate for this site.

Ooooo, windoe scaling--- WOOTZ KNUCKLES.

Glamourable Odin armor. GLAMOURABLE ODIIIIIN ARMOOOOOOOOOR.

...absolutely must meet you in-character. Are you the fellow in the screens that keep getting posted here and on tumblr? Belated welcome to Balmung. :love:

BLOODBATH AND VENGEANCE ARE UP. I'M PULLING EVERYTHING.

>Kirimu I TOLD YOU, I TOLD YOU THAT YOU COULD FIND BETTER FOOTWEAR THAN THE SAILOR-- >Siha ... ...... ............I'm warning Erik.

[align=center]Alexei told me to scheme more, so...[/align] [align=center][/align] [align=center]Scheme scheme scheme.[/align] [align=center][/align] [align=center]SCHEME SCHEME SCHEME[/align]

I think I just read "free soldiery". *ears perk up* Allow me to clarify. I am currently puking my way through animus books. I wish I had free soldiery to hand out to you g--- ... ... Would anyone like to help me clear EX primals?