Nero

Kasrjin was careful in binding their two charges with rope he'd carried on his person. He'd inspected the female knight's armour to make sure there were no sharp edges on her gauntlets, sabatons, or breastplate. It was likely that someone would notice their absence eventually, but for now they would have the time they needed. "Interrogations would be fruitless," he commented to Roen, a sentiment that was confirmed by the female knight's baleful glare. The Xaela casually flipped the hawk-like mask the Marquis wore, revealing a fairly average-looking Hyur furrowing his brow. "It is doubtful they will tell us anything useful. We'll search the premises, then." The manor was smaller and less palatial than most other residences on the Pillars, but even Kasrjin with his limited understanding of the concept of wealth could tell that effort was invested into its appearance by the craftsmanship of the items. Ornamental weapons, finely polished woodworks, and large and garishly elaborate tapestries adorned the residence. Kasrjin was quick to note, however, that other than superficial decorations, the residence was empty. There was almost no furniture save for a single desk and three chairs in the study, and a dusty couch in the hallway preceding it. The bookshelves were empty. There was no bed or anything to suggest that anyone stayed in this residence for any extended period of time. It was a house, but it was not somewhere anyone lived. In the study, however, several scratches on the floorboards behind the desk caught Kasrjin's eye. They were almost imperceptible--one might mistake them for tricks of light--but it was the only place in the manor that seemed marred in any way. The Au Ra withdrew his greatsword and drove the tip into the boards. The wood made loud creaking and splintering sounds in protest, and it took him some time to dig the blade underneath the boards enough to pry them open. Underneath the boards was a small box comprised of smooth, lacquered wood. A careful inspection displayed a numerical lock of some kind. The Xaela frowned. Another forceful application of the greatsword upon the surface of the box introduced a large crack onto the lacquered surface of the wood. Rather than pry the box open via its lid, Kasrjin instead cracked the side walls of the box and unceremoniously dumped most of the contents out onto the floor.. Within the box were sheets of parchment; notes from each Marquis or Marquise to the other. On the underside of the lid that Kasrjin had pried off was a small vial of vitriol, a complex mechanical mechanism intending to break and destroy the box's contents should the box be forced open through its lid; the initial break mark where Kasrjin had stabbed the blade into the box was only a few ilms away from it. It would seem that the designer was planning for thieves or conventional violence, and not someone simply sawing an entire side of the box open. It appeared that the manor was the location each member of the Court used to confer with...whomever, and this box was what they used to update each other member of the Court as to their activities. There were, of course, no names or anything to implicate any identifiable persons; most of the documents were written in some form of code or cipher, and even the ones written in plainly legible Common used so many acronyms and shorthand phrases that without context it was more or less useless. There were, however, a few pages that were clearly legible. One was an exhaustive set of alchemical notes detailing the nature of the dragon's blood within Spoken. Kasrjin could decipher very little of it, but he could recognise enough complete sentences to tell that it would be prospectively useful. The other was a map pinpointing some location outside of the city. It was made out of a translucent material, but directly beneath it was a rough map of Ishgard, indicating that there was some kind of...passage or other that lead to underneath Saint Reymanaud's Cathedral. Kasrjin returned to the main hall, handing most of the parchments he collected to Roen who had just returned from searching other areas of the manor. "Very little seems legible," the Au Ra admitted. "Something indicates their presence beneath the cathedral." The lady knight fixed her glare upon him even through the bleeding bruises upon her face. Kasrjin folded his arms. "I care little for these Redeemers. It is unlikely that the two of us will be able to remove them from Ishgard alone. At the least, however, we can disrupt this 'ritual' you described and retrieve whatever was stolen from my kin."

"Subdue the Marquis. I will handle his guard." That was all the warning Kasrjin gave in response. With only a slight clanking of his sabatons on the shingled roof, he slipped off of the building he had been perched on, the azure steel of his greatsword in hand. The distance to the ground was about sixteen fulms. However, it would have been too difficult to roll with the sword strapped to his back. The Xaela held the blade perpendicular to his body, the flat of the blade facing his torso. As he leaned his weight forward to roll from the landing, the position of the blade adjusted, and the Au Ra's brief tumble segued smoothly into a wide, horizontal swing. The lady knight possessed impressive instincts, as the shuffling of the shingles above her had alerted her instincts. A violent shove pushed the Marquis towards the building while a swift ducking motion saved her head from the steel of his blade. A small click indicated the knight's longsword leaving her scabbard, and Kasrjin adjusted the hilt of his blade to catch the enemy's sword just before it reached his head. Kasrjin was in a kneeling position as a result of his roll, but that was quick to change. A forceful parry with the hilt of his greatsword caused the knight to stagger. The Xaela's left hand placed itself against the flat of his blade, the right firmly holding the top of the hilt. In this position, he made short, controlled thrusts with the greatsword, using it more as a spear than as a sword. As the knight carried no shield, her only option was to parry the thrusts away. Rather than back up, however, she dashed forward. A part of Kasrjin could not help but be impressed; in only a few seconds had she managed to gauge the effective range of Kasrjin's weapon, and rightfully determined that it would have limited effectiveness close-up. As the knight manoeuvred forward, she placed her left gauntlet against Kasrjin's greatsword. Doing so prevented him from adjusting the position of the blade, whereas if he attempted to move the blade away from her arm to gain momentum for a swing, it would only open him to a deadly strike. With her right hand, she made a thrust towards his stomach with her sword. Kasrjin let go of his greatsword, leaving it to fall upon the pavement. A twist of his body and swift movement of his right arm lead to him slapping away the thrust of the long sword, and though unarmed, the Xaela retaliated with a menacing hook from his left hand. The gauntlet smashed into the knight's face, and Kasrjin knit his brows together before following up with another hook from his now-free right hand. Her sword clattered to the ground. Blood was streaming merrily from the Elezen's smashed nose and cuts upon her cheek and forehead where Kasrjin's gauntlet had bit into the fair skin. The combat only lasted for a few tens of seconds, but the adrenaline pumped through him still.

Their rendezvous was swift, although Roen had entered the Pillars through a route circumventing the mob as an equally swift reminder that Kasrjin's sense of direction in this labyrinthine city was less than accurate. They were a safe distance away from the shouting protestors, and yet the indignant chants could be heard clearly from where they were standing. Kasrjin's concerns about the riot melted away almost instantaneously in the wake of Roen's information. It made sense, then. Somehow, these Redeemers knew about the ancient peoples who had also constructed Karaad-El on Othard and how the keystone functioned...and more importantly, if the Xaela's inference was correct, then Kaizhan had succeeded in his mission but was murdered before he could return. If Kaizhan had the keystone, and if the keystone truly required a second half to operate. There was simply no way to be certain, but operating under the assumption that he did was Kasrjin's only lead to finding the truth behind the death of his kin. "If what you say is true," he murmured, "then it is possible that they are responsible for this disruption as well. If their goal is marred by this peace, then they would do all they can to break the peace." Instinctively, the Au Ra patted the secured bag on his waist that held the hemisphere of black obsidian. It would be safer elsewhere, but intuition told Kasrjin that he could not let the keystone off of his person for a second. Keeping it on him simply meant that there was no room for failure. "Then this 'marquis'. We must acquire information from him. We know when and where to strike." Emerald eyes shimmered at the paladin in front of him with curiosity. The end was in sight.

The following section contains meticulous detail as to the forum rules and how they are enforced. Reading it is optional; it is available for users who wish, for whatever reason, to have an in-depth understanding of the site rules. Consequences Moderation Tools

The following section contains meticulous detail as to the forum rules and how they are enforced. Reading it is optional; it is available for users who wish, for whatever reason, to have an in-depth understanding of the site rules.

If you see a bunch of new threads pop up by the staff, don't be alarmed. The staff will be gradually reformatting (and if needed, rewriting) certain stickied sections of the forums like the rules, the new users guide, etc. This effort will be ongoing so please excuse any weirdness that might happen in the mean time. Thank you!

These rules apply to the entirety of the site, including the Wiki. Be Respectful Be respectful of your fellow posters and roleplayers. Offensive commentary of any kind is not permitted. This includes but is not limited to: personal attacks, discriminatory language, flaming, and harassment. Discussions of personal conflict, call-outs of specific individuals, groups, or Free Companies are not permitted. Wiki vandalism is not permitted. Be Constructive Adhere to the "Discussion" tag (explained here). Keep posts relevant to the thread. Do not spam. Attempts to derail, troll, or otherwise disrupt threads are not permitted. Do not post bait threads, "I'm leaving" threads, or threads intended to call out specific individuals. Search before posting If your post or thread is asking a question, particularly about topics like lore, please use the search function before posting a new thread. No NSFW or R18 Content All content on the site must adhere to a relative PG-13 standard. No NSFW or R18 content of any kind is permitted. Suggestive content should be appropriately hidden with spoiler tags and labelled. Commercial advertisements must be relevant to Final Fantasy XIV or the RPC. Advertisements for commissions, artwork, or any other user-created content are permissible in the Artisan House forum. All other commercial advertisements must be approved by the staff before posting. Sockpuppetry is not permitted. Using and/or creating additional accounts is only permitted if additional accounts are clearly linked to a "main" account. The use of open proxy servers, disposable/cloaked e-mail addresses, and Tor are not permitted. Creating additional accounts to circumvent bans, suspensions, or posting limitations is not permitted. The administration and moderators reserves the right at all times to change, add, or delete rules. Failing to adhere to the rules will result in a warning on first infraction. Further infractions may incur temporary suspensions and permanent bans.

These rules apply to the entirety of the site, including the Wiki. Be Respectful Be respectful of your fellow posters and roleplayers. Offensive commentary of any kind is not permitted. This includes but is not limited to: personal attacks, discriminatory language, flaming, and harassment. Discussions of personal conflict, call-outs of specific individuals, groups, or Free Companies are not permitted. No forms of "drama posting" (subject to moderator interpretation) are permitted. This includes but is not limited to: spreading rumours, refuting rumours, callouts, "baiting", etc. Wiki vandalism is not permitted. Be Constructive Adhere to the "Discussion" tag (explained here). Keep posts relevant to the thread. Do not spam. Attempts to derail, troll, or otherwise disrupt threads are not permitted. Do not post bait threads, "I'm leaving" threads, or threads intended to call out specific individuals. Do not post threads, posts, or discussions regarding real-world politics or issues, including but not limited to identity politics, word politics, religion, and debates on current events. If you feel these issues must absolutely be discussed through the RPC, restrict it to private messaging. Search before posting If your post or thread is asking a question, particularly about topics like lore, please use the search function before posting a new thread. No NSFW or R18 Content All content on the site must adhere to a relative PG-13 standard. No NSFW or R18 content of any kind is permitted. Suggestive content should be appropriately hidden with spoiler tags and labelled. Commercial advertisements must be relevant to Final Fantasy XIV or the RPC. Advertisements for commissions, artwork, or any other user-created content are permissible in the Artisan House forum. All other commercial advertisements must be approved by the staff before posting. Sockpuppetry is not permitted. Using and/or creating additional accounts is only permitted if additional accounts are clearly linked to a "main" account. The use of open proxy servers, disposable/cloaked e-mail addresses, and Tor are not permitted. Creating additional accounts to circumvent bans, suspensions, or posting limitations is not permitted. The administration and moderators reserves the right at all times to change, add, or delete rules. Failing to adhere to the rules will result in a warning on first infraction. Further infractions may incur temporary suspensions and permanent bans.

I think no character advances without the writer's will, since after all, they don't do anything without you moving your fingers. Even in regards to the interactions with other characters, it's still the writer deciding who affects their character and how. Isolating the character, or putting limits on how far they can develop through things like memory loss controls information, but frankly gratuitous retcon use, or simply limiting RP to select people/motifs serves the same purpose. If that's the case, I question whether it's a problem with amnesia as a motif and not creative control, as so many hot button topics on this forum end up being about. Granted, it's not my favorite motif, but I'll use it when I feel it's suitably entertaining for others. Pretty much every RPer I know who has a "personal storyline" advances it at their convenience, so this is hardly uncommon, nor limited to amnesiac characters. Just not being IC alone is the most effective method of creative control. While it's true that characterisation and the advancement thereof is dependent on the writer in a literal sense, in practical terms a character's advancement in a narrative is relative to the context. For example, if a mortal character has their head cut off, then yes, in a completely literal sense, the writer can decide whether or not that character dies. That's not really a choice in terms of consistency and context, however; if the character does anything other than die immediately, then it needs to be adequately explained with some degree of plausibility or else it ends up being deus ex machina. That's an extremely binary example of course, but the principle applies to more ambiguous situations as well. And while yes, a writer does have control over what kind of contexts their character engages in, that too is subject to consistency; the writer's control and choices are never truly total. You can't have your characters contemplating fate underneath an ice temple one second and then suddenly teleport them to a desert and have that be at all acceptable without explanation, not unless the writer chooses to not have any plausibility in their narrative. That's the the key difference--retcons, selective roleplaying, and advancement of a "personal" story are explicitly out-of-character methods of information control wherein the amount of information is dictated almost purely by OOC circumstances, while amnesia and the circumstances thereof are explicitly in-character, and therefore is (or at least, should be) be subject to one's personal standards the same that any other personality trait would. Which is a bit of a problem, because amnesia is a poorly understood phenomenon which lends to the fact that it's used in very whimsical ways. I'm not talking about realism, but when and why a character suddenly "remembers" something is very often poorly defined or head-scratchingly coincidental. To further illustrate my point, let's say a character doesn't know their name. Let's say they find their nametag. The writer chooses whether or not the character suddenly remembers their name. The ephemeral nature of memory means that the character not remembering their name is just as possible as the character suddenly remembering their entire lives in photographic detail. It's totally arbitrary as to whether or not the character will remember their name at that point or not, which is why I don't find amnesia at all interesting. Let's say our amnesiac character still doesn't know their name, but finds a photo with their name written on it and a big arrow pointing to an image of them. Again, it's totally possible for the character to not remember anything and say "I guess that must be my name" as it is for the character to suddenly go "I remember everything now!". There's absolutely no rhyme or reason to amnesia; either it happens, or it doesn't, dictated by absolutely nothing other than whether the writer feels like revealing it at that point, which is why I don't find it particularly compelling.

Amnesia as a plot point works, but I wouldn't particularly call it interesting. 90% of the time it's a paper-thin character device that basically says "the plot/character advances whenever the writer wants it to advance" and is subject to intensely arbitrary conditions. At best, it's a minor footnote justifying some of a character's eccentricities and at worst, it's a character's sole defining feature. Amnesia is going to be something glossed over. You can argue that treating it so inconsequentially is a bit meta game-y and you wouldn't be wrong, but I can't feel invested in an amnesic character or the dilemma of a character's amnesia because more often than not it's just a railroad, so there's no point in trying to go off the tracks.

Hey all! It's been about a year since our last feedback survey, and there's been quite a few changes since then. So the staff is interested in hearing what you think of the site, and how you think it could be improved. Feel free to share this survey with your friends who are on or were on the RPC. The survey is completely anonymous and doesn't require a Google account; just be sure to keep track of your edit link in case you want to change any of your answers. Please try to avoid submitting duplicate entries as well. All questions are set as "optional", so if you have no opinion on a question, feel free to leave it blank. Otherwise, if you have questions about the survey or want to suggest additional questions, feel free to send a message to any of the staff members or to open up a thread in the Requests and Feedback forum. The survey will close on May 5th, 2017. RPC Survey Link

Well, it's not entirely surprising, and really it's not as implausible as it sounds. Mountains can provide for thriving civilisations. Creative use of vertical space and implementation of terrace farming can provide for a sustainable population (historical example: literally any Andean civilisation ever) and an ample supply of agriculture. In FF, red magic has historically always been a mix of white and black magic, so the Amdapor-Mhach union was inevitable. Also, I'm pretty sure people are focusing on the "flamboyant fencer" image way too much. While it's outright stated that RDM used rapiers from the very beginning, bear in mind that the feathered hat is most likely a modern interpretation of red mages i.e. it's what current practitioners wear, and it's probably what the RDM job mentor will be wearing. A few hundred years ago when the Amdapori and Mhach were still getting things started, you can bet that red mages were dirt farmers with rapiers wearing whatever clothing they brought with them at the time. A couple of centuries gives massive room to change.

It's not as bad, it just requires a lot of chocobo racing, which can be frustrating when the chocobos in question handle like a rhinoceros in a shopping trolley that's missing one wheel. It used to be way worse when it took six hours to breed one chocobo--now it only takes a half hour. The main reason to get a good chocobo is the challenges; with the FC MGP buff applied, it's about ~500k in MGP.

My Triple Triad collection is close to done, though. Not relishing having to run through dungeons to get 3-stars, though.

With Stormblood coming up, I've been obsessively playing Triple Triad and chocobo racing like a man possessed. Chaos is still the worst rule ever (since they at least got rid of Random), Lewena is still a bitch, and it's ironic how I finally getting the perfect (or semi-perfect, in my case) chocobo makes you never want to chocobo race ever again. Anyone investing effort into getting that MGP?

I'm pretty sure this is possible with "glamours". NPCs use the stuff to look like other people all the time.

It's a shame you're not a robot. I may or may not have a certain biased affinity towards robots, and it would go a long way if a certain person were to be discovered to be a robot... But hey, welcome!

The nice thing about Balmung is that there's our fair share of Garlean expats to hang out with (or perhaps it's not so nice, I dunno, whatever you feel!) Welcome! Hope you're here to stay!

Hey Cain, welcome to the site. Unfortunately, there's no official Discord server, but plenty of people have Discords you can join. Be sure to check out the Free Company listings as well when your transfer goes through! Glad you could join us. Feel free to ask if you have questions!

Introducing the brave new members of the Mogglesguard! Special thanks to Meishali!

I'm not particularly huge on the ass window on the caster gear, and I'm still annoyed that Square Enix consistently refuses to make healer gear unisex, with very few exceptions. That said, I suppose there were worse options.

Being a bartender was kind of a shit experience for the most part, but on the quiet nights where most of the patrons are interested just in getting shitfaced I took quite a bit of enjoyment on it. I played the shit out of Root Beer Tapper as a kid, so that probably explains it.

Alright well I said the drawing would be done and winners announced at 9 PM PDT but there's honestly no point in waiting that long. So without further ado... Out of a pool of 51 possible winners... The winners are... Number 45: Knight Kat Number 28: Bishido Number 9: Corelyn Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone for taking part in our silly moogle-thon! Prize winners should claim their prize by sending their requests and/or art references to Nero (that's me) via private message. Prizes must be claimed by April 5th, 12 P.M. PDT. Any unclaimed prizes will be given to another randomly-selected winner.

Hearken unto me, brave Mogglesguard! As of today, this land and all of its people are now the subjects of Good King Moggle Mog XII! Therefore, by the will of the king, the laws have been altered accordingly. Be grateful to your kind and noble lord, kupo! His Royal Mog-ness has been kind enough to allow his fluffy minions to transport your posts, as usual. However, under this new regime, your lack of kupo nuts is highly unmotivating and they'll deliver posts at their leisure. Therefore, under the rule of your liege, all messages should include the appropriate amount of "kupo!" Donations of kupo nuts are also appreciated. Note: There is hereby a duty tax for kupo nuts consisting to be collected at the beginning of each new fiscal month. Duties are to be proportional to an individual's income as according to their tax bracket. Details can be found within the appropriate tax code under Subtitle A, Chapter 3B, Subchapter K, Part VI, Section F, Subsection 2-2, Paragraph 5. Those unable to provide duties appropriate to income are encouraged to seek financial assistance and may be eligible for subsidies. Rejoice, for under the wise wisdom of our Good King, we go forth in prosperous prosperity! -- BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! Those of you who wish to demonstrate your devotion are highly encouraged to do so, kupo! The King, in his magnanimous magnanimity, shall reward the most splendid displays with his favour! Thus! Reply to this thread with the moogliest, mogliest post you can conceive, and the King may shower you with accolades, kupo! Each unique user who posts in this thread with at least one "kupo!" in their post will be assigned a number. Post length does not matter. Winners will be selected via random number generator from random.org. Feel free to post as much as you want, but only one post will count as your raffle entry! No spamming, kupo! THREE (3) GRAND PRIZE WINNERS shall ascend and have their earthly forms converted to the height of fluffiness as moogles, and they shall receive artwork of their selected character as a moogle, drawn by staff member Meishali! Prize claim Winners will be selected and announced on April 2nd, at 9 P.M. PDT. After the announcement, grand prize winners should claim their prize by sending their requests and/or art references to Nero via private message. Prizes must be claimed by April 5th, 12 P.M. PDT. Any unclaimed prizes will be given to another randomly-selected winner.

All this build-up for Tataru making the WoL an outfit and she dresses us like we're side characters in a magic high school anime. ALL HAIL AND WORSHIP THE ONE TRUE TATSUYA