Isilme

Server: Balmung Primary Linkshell: Crystalline Characters: Hirilonde Turuphant, Isilme Turuphant Style of Roleplay: Heavy Immersion. I tend to prefer to put as much of what I do into an RP context as possible. Doesn't mean I'll try and force RP on a mixed group however. Strongest Skills: I'm good at supporting the rp of others, and I think I'm a pretty decent 'proofer'. I have a few story ideas of my own, but mostly I'm out here to support and help the roleplay of others.

"What would you have me do?" "Toss me a match."

"Hmmm, this post reminds me of an experiment I need to conduct! 'What temperature do Catbois burn at?'" "Quickly! Get me ten gallons of kerosene, a Black Mage with good aim and bad ethics, and some S'mores!" "For SCIENCE!"

I think this was a very interesting read, and definitely potentially useful information and conjecture. As people have pointed out, some of this doesn't seem to apply, but... really, we're talking about tribal mechanics here, and the miqo'te of the cities and the adventurer miqo'te are no more tribal than people living in New York. There are still influences. Note the op mentioned how our own taboo on inbreeding stems from Feudal European policies enacted by the Royalty to keep wealth from concentrating and becoming a threat, rather than any selective biological benefit, and that in the long term inbreeding actually has biological benefits (Though 20 generations is hardly a 'short term' by human perception) I think this should be seen as a tool, to make referencing 'traditional' miqo'te society a little easier. However, no one should feel bound by it, anymore than one should feel legally bound to give the Lord of the land first rights to bedding the new brides. in real life. There are a few points I would refute, however. 1. Nunh's eating the children of the previous Nunh - I doubt culturally they would be able to support this. If selection of a Nunh, and what defines 'fittest' is truly in the hands of elder females, I doubt they would tolerate seeing their own children detroyed each time there is a succession, as sentient attachment to offspring is FAR stronger and long-lasting than simple instinctual attachment. If the previous Nunh were worthy, than his children are worthy, and it would be a waste to lose them because of succession, especially as humanoids mature far more slowly and require much more investment of resources to raise. Also, the miqo'te are pretty in line with the other races as far as moral values go, for the most part. If they casually killed their own kids, I doubt they would be so nice to the children of other races. 2. Miqo'te females experiencing estrous - This one we can discard as bunk. Miqo'te females - Seekers no less - are one of the more common races among prostitutes (Or pretending to be prostitutes in Limsa). Their playful, flirty nature seems to be canon, and even the Seekers in Forgotten Springs, the 'traditional' Seeker settlement, seem to enjoy trying to flirt with the Brass Blades stationed there. There did seem to be a lack of concern about the gender of their partners, at least in the flavor text of 1.0, but that may have just been unique to the dancers at the Mining Concern. I would submit that this is easily proof enough that miqo'te have the same sexual needs and wants as the other races. 3. Crossbreeds are mules - This assumes that hyurans and miqo'te are as genetically divergent as horses and donkeys, which may not be the case. The lack of crossbreeds could quite easily be attributed to cultural taboos, and cultural preferences. In North American society, mixed race couples were HEAVILY frowned upon until recently, after all. We've been on the American continent for centuries, yet there has been very little effective blending. Before Ala Mihgo fell, the nations were also at war, and each one tended to have their dominant races (Seawolf Roegadyn in Limsa, Lalafel in Ul'Dah, and jointly Hyuran and Elezen in Gridania). The kind of mixing we're seeing now is a relatively new thing, brought about by refugees, and unprecedented mobility and freedom of movement between the three nations. And finally, all of this can be contradicted anytime SE likes, because MAGIC CRYSTALS!

Assuming SE hasn't fallen and damaged it's brain again like it did for FFXIV 1.0, they HAVE done this sort of thing before. In FFXI, for Nyzul Isle, you could save your progress every so many floors (Can't remember how many) so that you could pick up where you left off. This progress was saved to the disc of the person who took the party in, and it retained that progress until you cleared floor 100, at which point progress was wiped. As time went on, and other content was added and Nyzul moved to farm status, those restrictions were removed. Every eligible party member would have their discs updated, and the progress would not be wiped upon completion, allowing you to access whichever floor blocks you wanted in the future. I suspect it will work like that. Harder at first, starting over each time you clear, then later on you keep your progress forever.

Character - Hirilonde Turuphant I wish I hadn't done this one in character. It hurt a little. I'm sorry, Hirilonde.

As has been said repeatedly by Yoshida, barring major data errors requiring a wipe and reset, progress in Phase IV will be retained.

It wouldn't be the first time a song has had a strong in-lore role to play. Remember Memoro De La Stono? A song that could end the world. BPW549JJFss

I think I've found some suitable themes for my chars. First, for Isilme. For a knight clad in red, a theme for another knight clad in red. kiHQv6Mz3zU And for Hirilonde, returning after five years to a land that doesn't remember him... jM_KEnu2TJU

I am Legacy, and see my recent post if you're curious as to how I feel about the Legacy community. Legacy players aren't just rpers, and they're not just rpers who played the old version of this game. They are rpers who stuck together and stuck it out through the WORST mainline Final Fantasy game in the franchise. I wish I was exaggerating, but as bad as your favorite FF chewtoy is, it was at least PLAYABLE, had CONTENT, and had a STORY. 1.0 was very, very grim at launch. These are people who are good enough that they all stayed together, solely to stay with each other. Even the ones who disagree, and argue with each other, chose to stick with the community. I think that speaks volumes. Now, that being said, that's EXACTLY why I can understand people wanting to go to Gilgamesh too. Because there is a certain fun in starting out together, struggling through the hardships, and having to build things from scratch. You'll definitely have an easier time of it, not having to contend with an utterly broken game. Basically... I don't think there is a wrong choice here. Creating on both servers isn't a bad idea. There's sure to be a big rp event shortly after launch, and that should give you a good idea of which community suits you best.

Now that we're staring down the barrel of Phase IV Open Beta and Launch... which look to be three weeks away... which is an eternity... Nnnngh!! Sorry, just got the shakes for a bit. Got the jonesing bad. But I can quit anytime I want... Seriously, though, I thought it might be interesting for those of you who didn't get to see what 1.0 was like at launch to see how it compared to ARR. Some of you may have unpleasant flashbacks from this, so I recommend those who still have PTS from the old crafting system look away. Anyway, I was very much looking forward to FFXIV. Most of my old friends from FFXI were hopping onto it, and I was looking forward to a new MMO, as nothing had really felt right since I had left FFXI a few months prior. The RPC had started up, and was bustling with enthusiasm, and both fresh faces and veterans from FFXI were meeting up and things were remarkably drama-free for roleplayers. The system requirements were steep, so I had to invest in some upgrades. But hey, I was due for a good gaming system anyway, right? I only got in on the open beta, which was short like Phase IV is going to be, only about a week. I logged in and created my character. Coming from FFXI, the character creator was tremendous... we're a bit jaded now, but coming from FFXI's limited choices, it felt like I could finally make a character that didn't look like every other character out there. Turns out I made a character that looks like every other miqo'te out there, but that's more of a personal failing. Logging in took a bit. As with any other MMO launch, the game was plagued with login issues due to the rush and press of people eager to get in and see the new game. I had expected all this. I had heard tales of FFXI's launch woes, and so was actually looking forward to tales of my own. And then I was in, an in Limsa Lominsa! The first impressions of the place were... to put it mildly, epic. The city was huge, and impressive, all bone white spires and walkways and bloom, every time you walked through a doorway. Visually speaking, this game was very impressive out of the gate. And unlike ARR, you didn't start in your classy RSE, all clean and neat. You started out as a refugee, in the hold of a ship (For Limsa anyway), clad in filthy, stained rags and clutching a rusty, beaten old weapon. You started as a nobody, and looked the part. So, I grabbed my disappointingly puny gladius, and headed out, sure I would quickly graduate to something more impressive. And if it wasn't provided through quests, I would simply check the auctionhouse. Right after I figured out how to sort my inventory, and do a search for my friends in game. ... Yeaaaah. "Auctionhouse?" "Where's the Auctionhouse?" No problem, right? This is only beta, so I'm sure this stuff will show up. So off I went to do some guildleves. Outside of the city, the world was huge, beautiful... and surprisingly empty. There were no ruins dotting the landscape, no farms or mills... a few lonely lighthouses on the cliffs, devoid of life. Eventually I found a town, but they were empty, and far removed from the little camps where we did our Guildleves. "Hello flower. Kinda lonely out here, huh?" The rewards were surprisingly random. I would do a level 5 Guildleve and get level 1 archer gear, or crafting gear, or just about anything but something USEFUL. But it was alright, I was making gil, so I could just go to the NPC shop to buy what I couldn't scrounge from quests, right? After all, I had nearly 10,000 gil! So I hunted about, but there didn't seem to be any NPCs selling anything but weathered gear for Gladiators in Limsa. This is when I heard about the Gladiator's guild in Ul'Dah. Hmmm... maybe I started in the wrong city? So I took the ferry, and prepared to make the jog to Ul'Dah ... and got 1 shotted by a level 35 Antling who I never actually saw, but was apparently near the road. See, all mobs had ranged attacks, and antlings were sound-aggro mobs who seemed to have an aggro radius greater than the draw distance in beta. Back to Limsa I HP'd. Sooooo... maybe I could craft a sword? The first sword was a level 5 synth, but to make the materials was higher, so I settled down to do some leves to level up so I could make the actual BLADE of the sword (Which was a level 10 or so synth). I took a good three or four minutes to actually get to the screen where I hit stuff with a hammer. Select craft from the menu, wait for character to kneel and get out tools... choose to open inventory, wait for a minute or two for that to open, painfully slowly scroll through materials. Select each individually, waiting each time for the game to catch up, then play a little minigame with a glowy ball and a bunch of commands, most of which didn't work as intended, and a bunch of stats about durability. Took me about 15 minutes to make a bronze ingot. Okay, enough of that nonsense, I'd wait until launch to try again. Then we'd have auctionhouses, and inventory sort and friend search, and all the lag will be fixed! So... launch day! Nothing changed. Absolutely zero. No auctionhouse, no inventory sort, no friends search, huge menu lag, no npc-purchasable low-level gear, and a crafting system that required materials from a level 20 craft to make a level 5 sword. The combat and leveling system was... weird. You had two separate 'levels'. Your character level, which you retained regardless of which job you were on, and your job 'rank'. The interplay between these was not well defined, but from what I could tell, your personal level functionally meant jack shit. Then there was leveling itself. You got exp not from killing monsters, but scoring hits with your weapon, or otherwise doing job actions that the game considered useful in combat. The problem with this was the balancing of it was terribly askew. Gladiators technically had two separate jobs they were ranking up, sword and shield, and you didn't get your first shield until rank 5. Pugilists easily outstripped marauders due to the fact they attacked so quickly, and mages had a rough time getting enough points from healing or nuking. Thaumaturges and Conjurers were not well differentiated, until higher levels. At low to mid levels, they were more or less identical. They both healed, both could AoE heal, both could raise, and both could nuke. Conjurers had all the elemental nukes, and Thaumaturges had dark and light dot/nukes. Then Thaumaturges got Shadowsear, and basically your mage choices were to get a Thaumaturge, or to choose wrong and eventually kick the Conjurer to get a Thaumaturge. And it was STILL impossible to get proper gear. The skill level to craft a rank 29 sword was actually fairly reasonable... but the skill required to craft the lower level swords was actually higher. In other words, while making am Iron Falchion was fairly simply, making an Iron Gladius was damn near impossible. "Just because the shield has a lantern in it, why do I need to have an alchemy skill high enough to know how to make the lantern in order to craft the shield? It's like needing to know how to make an alkaline battery before being able to change the batteries in a flashlight!" So everyone was running around in an eclectic mix of mismatched gear, either far too low level, or far too HIGH level for them. Because FFXIV didn't forbid you from wearing gear based on its level in those days. A rank 1 mage character could equip rank 50 heavy plate if he wanted. "So, if I can wear heavy armor... why again is the bathrobe better?" Naturally, there were heavy stat penalties for equipping gear too far outside of your level range. However, getting gear in the proper range was almost impossible, thanks to the Market Ward system. "Level 17 armor, level 5 sword, level 1 belt, and level 25 CRAFTING BOOTS. And I'm better geared than most!" The Market Wards were large, visually identical hallways where you could dump your retainer, to stand around with other retainer, shuffling their feet and looking supremely awkward, with a bazaar flag over their heads. There was no indication of what they were selling, or indication of which ward was for what, so finding what you were looking for in the wards was actually more time consuming than just going out and farming/gathering it yourself. You only had seven or eight slots to sell items in as well, so you couldn't even sell a category of items effectively. You could also request items, which had a unique icon, and might have saved the system by providing a method of commissioning gear and such, except... to request something, you had to already have it. And the item was then tied up until you cancelled the request, so it was utterly pointless. Later they added categories to the generic wards, and a search function, but all of the retrofits never quite brought it up to the functionality that the simple Market Boards have in ARR. Another problem with 1.0 was that the zones, while huge and lacking hard zonelines (Though there were 'soft' ones, as you would sometimes discover during Guildleves, especially around Hallatali) was that they were... empty and boring. They looked exactly the same, no matter what part of them you were in, and they were completely devoid of structures or variance. This was Thanalan. ALL of Thanalan. Take this, and copy/paste it a billion times. That was Thanalan. Welcome to every part of La Noscea You get the idea (Yes, the Twelveswood was always this dark. Always.) Another big issue was the gear. Or more specifically, how drab it all was. You started out in stained, dirty brown clothes and... basically got new, cleaner brown clothes. Starter brown gear Brown gear, grey and biege gear, and brown weapons Grey, grey and brown, brown and biege, grey and brown Now we've upgraded to brown armor! Brown Brown Brown Brown Brown Brown Brown. And of course, the best gear at that time in the game, for Rank 50 only, Rust. And the repair system was... well, punitive. Even when gear was optimally matched with your level, it had the durability of congealed butter. A sword would typically last for 3 guildleves before it would break. And gear was considered broken at 50% durability. NPCs would only repair gear to 75% durability, and the scaling of ho they charged was so messed up that it was literally cheaper to replace that Rank 29 Iron Falchion than it was to repair it at the NPC. So, why did I stick with it? A lot of people didn't, and rightly so. The game was practically unplayable at launch, and remained a broken, clumsy mess for a good year afterwards. Simply put, the people. The roleplayers. Riki, Ozak, Claus and I, watching the sun rise Gathering for a huge, inter-linkshell expedition to the Galmorra Ruins Plotting strategy to get past mobs that could one-shot us One of the early story nights Making the trek to Ishguard with Claus Hunting the Great Buffalo Crafting Party Campfire night Sitting in the Golden Court The game was a mess, but the people made it worthwhile. We banded together, crafted together, leveled together, helped each other out, and generally turned what was a bad game into a great experience. These are the people who stuck it out with the game and became Legacy. I've seen them around in the beta, online... So if any of you are apprehensive about Legacy players, I can tell you... for me they made a terrible game great. I can't wait to see what they do with a great game ^^

Being a Padjal means having a strong connection to the elements, but having a strong connection to the elements does not necessitate being a Padjal. Now, I'm not suggesting you become a Wildling (An individual who has accrued too much woodsin too quickly can become 'claimed' by the elementals, becoming forever linked to them and the Twelveswood, serving them as penance and unable to ever leave) but there are options, and the flavor text of the Guild indicates that most Conjurers tend to have a certain talent or leaning... some speak best to earth elementals, others hear the wind most keenly, some can't really hear them at all, but excel at healing arts. Just pick some aspect of Conjury to have an aptitude for, and go from there.

I'm not sure what the final Ferry price is going to be (SE stated that it was a 'known bug', so I assume someone misplaced a decimal point there), but I doubt it's going to drop to less than a few thousand, as I imagine they want players to go through their starting nation story missions at get to level 15 before cutting them loose on the world. Between Black Shroud and Thanalan there might not be a toll or anything, but there ARE level 20+ aggroing mobs. Gameplay wise, it basically means that it's a discouragement from wandering out of your own area too early, but it won't stop the truly determined. RP-wise... well, I imagine at the opening to AR, travel IS restricted. The Maelstrom fleet is still recovering from the Calamity, and Serpent Reavers, Sahgin and Garleans make sea travel dangerous, even just between the mainland and La Noscea. For someone who is poor, 5,000 gil (What I suspect the ferry price will settle on) is a huge sum, and probably represents life savings to make the trip. Also, I suspect the average person doesn't have access to aetherytes. Given the refugee situation, smugglers like Tyriont are probably common, and probably a lot less scrupulous than he is. Refugees are often preyed upon by Primals to swell their ranks of followers, or by groups like the Serpent Reavers as conscriptees and slaves. All in all, going from Gridania to Limsa Lominsa is probably a dangerous, harrowing and expensive trip, even for a well-armed adventurer.

Here's some more of my own

Dragoons are exclusive to Ishguard, but Lancers are NOT, nor are they exclusive to Gridania, though Gridania is considered the best place to learn the art. Lancers came from several sources. Some took the lances mounted riders used to joust and learned to use them on foot. Others took fishing spears and learned to use them as weapons. Over time all the different sources were blended together to create the monster skills. Lancers are found throughout Eorzea, and the skill is fairly common. Weapons are easier to come by (Again, fishing harpoons) compared to swords, easier to handle, and give a reach advantage. You could literally come from any part of Eorzea and have a lance strapped to your back, and no one would bat an eyelash. Since adventurers are attempting to improve their skills, they would tend to gravitate towards Gridania to learn from the Wood Wailers. But you don't need to feel restricted by game mechanics. Just because you have to start in Gridania as a lancer doesn't mean you have to be from Gridania or Ishguard, or even spend any significant time there. Be a fisherman's son from Limsa if you want. As for the Op's backstory, I love that you used the naming conventions, and I like how you started things off. I gives you an opening for more plotlines when Ishguard finally opens up.

Good to see another Lalafel character! Firstly, you might want to define her strangeness a bit, as lalafel seem to be odd if they ON'T have some quirk. They're not to the degree of Tarutaru for sure, and they certainly can't rival that one Roegadyn from 1.0 who had the thing for Opo-opos, but... defining your strangeness can help. Moogle companions, I'm not sure of. In 1.0, Moogles were incredibly rare, and virtually unheard of outside of the Twelveswood, but that has obviously changed with the Mogpost. I am personally hoping they give us a moogle companion in game. For now, though, I would lay out what you plan for this companion. He/she will need to be well thought out, as Moogles are considerably more than cute sidekicks in Eorzea. Take some time to read up on Eorzean lore. If you're in the Beta, dive on in and do the main storyline missions at least. As for magic... Ambition is the fuel that drives Ul'Dah, so having the ambition to be the best magic user around is perfectly in tune with that setting. But Ul'Dah is also terribly unforgiving. Also, Thaumaturges can be a really creepy lot. Is your character naturally skilled, or does she struggle? How does she feel about some of the less savory things the Thaumaturge guild does? Beta is a good time to just run through the Thaum guild quests and get a handle on what they're all about, and how that affects your character.

The original aetherytes were Allagan relics that had been in use for... well, basically since the Allagan Empire was in power, and they were not only a source of cheap, easy transport, but each Aetheryte also supported one or more remote gates, at a fraction of the size of the current aetheryte crystals. Then Atmos showed up and messed them all up. An odd side-effect of that was, for a short while, you could teleport with no anima cost. Then they all blew up. It's possible the old anima cost was actually some sort of in-built safety system by the Allagans to avoid overuse. The current Aetherytes are much larger and more imposing, but by definition less sophisticated. They're essentially as close as they can currently get to the old aetherytes, and for the most part they work well. They can't support aetherial gates, however, and I imagine they require upkeep (No anima system, after all), whereas the old ones were basically designed to function forever with no maintenance. Re-creating such a network obviously wasn't cheap, so a teleport fee is only natural. Adventurers can probably be considered to be nontypical as far as wealth. The average refugee might have to scrape to afford a prime cut of dodo to treat her kids, whereas the same cut is essentially vendor trash to an adventurer. But at the same time, our characters are considerably healthier and more skilled than the average. Threats that could spell the end of normal people are almost trivial to us. I imagine there are tradeoffs. Adventurers have a high mortality rate, thanks to the danger of our profession, and in the storyline you see a few adventuring groups have some fatalities (Getting whisked back to your homepoint on defeat seems to be rare or nonexistent in game lore, and I would suggest it might be treated as a game mechanic only) So, we live hard, make good money, and even the poorest adventurer is better off than the refugees by level 5 or 10 (But the assumption is many don't SURVIVE that long). However... we're also taking disproportionately huge risks. And in addition to that, the tools of our trade are by necessity expensive. And for those who craft... skilled labor is always more valuable than nonskilled, and even as a manual laborer like a miner, it's implied you have the skills and sense to actually follow the veins and mine selectively, rather than just swing a pickaxe at rock and hope for the best. So, a successful adventurer is likely always going to be seen as affluent, or at least well off. We're not sen as homeless vagrants because we're scary competent. But at the same time, we're not envied because the stuff we do is dangerous, difficult, and requires us to farm most of our money back into our trade to make a go of it.

1562 - Coerthas Highlands Hirilonde grunted as the axe came down on his shield, the metal groaning and denting from the impact. It worked to his favor, catching the blade of the huge axe rather than letting it slide off, and giving him the leverage to push it to the side as he stepped in and drove his sword between the Roegadyn’s ribs. The Imperial’s eyes widened, a gurgling cough escaping his lips, his grip on his weapon slackening. Hirilonde planted his boot against the man’ chest and pulled his sword free, pushing him onto his back and leaving him to gurgle his last. He spared a moment to look around. All around him, explosions and chaos. Huge Garlean striders advanced over the hills, implacable and seemingly invincible. Allied troops fled, abandoning their injured, their standards left scattered and forgotten on the ground. The line was broken, and if he didn’t move he was going to be overrun. He glanced around, spotting the flag of his unit. The Garlean foot soldiers were holding back now as the magitek walkers started bombarding them heavily. There was little resistance from enemy soldiers as he ran, but the world around him was all fire and fury as explosions rang in his ears. “Captain Terrick! We need to withdraw, sir! The line is faltering!” He said as he reached the rise the group was sheltering behind. The unit was a lot smaller than he remembered... many familiar faces were missing. Those that remained looked haggard and battered. “Lieutenant. Where is your unit?” Captain Terrick was a tall man. A Wildwood elezen, taller than Hirilonde even, and he had an effective way of looking down on others that made them feel small. The full force of this haughty gaze was directed at Hirilonde now. “Dead or out of commission, sir. The west flank was overrun. Perkins and N’hamarro were killed in the bombardment, Tracey and Ancient Pearl fell in the fighting. Oworgumo was wounded, and was evacuated to the healer’s camp. The other enlisted broke when the striders attacked, and I lost track of them.” Hirilonde didn’t flinch from the gaze. He had been the recipient of it far too often since being assigned to this unit. Terrick snorted. “Damn poor show of leadership, Lieutenant. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, given your history, but I expect better of my men. I want you to get back out there, round up your enlisted men and get them back in the fight!” “Sir, this position is being overrun! We don’t have the heavy support we need to deal with those Garlean machines! We need to regroup with the Ul’Dahn thaumaturges and...” “Lieutenant!” Terrick snarled at him. “Stop your snivelling! We are Knights of the Barracuda! We do not retreat, we do not surrender, and we do not give ground!” “But the whole rest of the allied forces are falling back!” Hirilonde cried back, unable to throttle his frustration with the man. “The standards have all fallen. We weren’t prepared for this fight! This area isn’t strategically important enough to justify wasting lives over!” Terrick responded with a stinging backhand. Hirilonde had expected it... Terrick had a bad habit of telegraphing his movements... and was braced, but it still hurt like hell. He took the hit, clenching his fists, then returning his gaze to his commanding officer. “You are relieved, lieutenant. It doesn’t matter if the cowardly Ul’Dahns or those simpering Garleans have slunk off to lick their wounds. We stand our ground! Our banner flies! Our forces will rally to it, and we will be victorious! Now draw your sword and take up the line with the others, or it will be more than just your rank that you lose!” You enjoy putting me in impossible situations, don’t you Oschon? Hirilonde knew what the Captain was asking was suicide... and that it would get him and the entire rest of the unit killed. Disobeying would be treason, and likely end with one of them on the point of a sword, and if Hirilonde was the survivor, a quick court martial and hanging. Not disobeying would result in all of them on that sword. Not much of a choice, I guess. He stepped back, widening his stance some in preparation. “Captain Terrick, I cannot allow you to lead these knights into suicide. Not for a bunch of windmills and old goat trails.” Terrick’s eyes narrowed, and his hand darted across for his sword. “So be it, traitor.” The outcome of the fight would never be known, however. From the ridge behind them there was a cry, an avian squawk, echoed by a hundred more. Ixal held their swords aloft as they stood defiantly on the ridge. Okay, Oschon, you have outdone yourself this time... Hirilonde drew his sword, but not on his commander, the two of them standing shoulder to shoulder. The Ixal were no friends of the Garleans, but they were no allies of the Alliance either, and they were now pinned between the two forces with no retreat. The Ixal on the hill raised his staff to the sky. He wasn’t looking at them... it was possible he didn’t even see them. He seemed to be staring down the oncoming Garlean army. Dozens of his fellows flanked him, all in a line. “What are they doing? Are they going to attack us, or the Garleans?” Terrick said, eying the bird-like beastmen warily. As if to answer, the Ixal started chanting, a low, trilling noise that seemed to reverberate in the air, audible even over the din of the Garlean onslaught. Those in the line each held up large crystals, which started to glow a greenish hue. Winds started to pick up around them... no natural wind. This one clawed and tore at them, stole the breath from their lungs, left them choking on dust. There was a shriek, an inhuman scream that somehow the roar of the wind didn’t drown out. The green light swelled, flowing from the crystals the Ixal held into a ball floating above the battlefield. The light exploded as the crystal the Ixal held shattered, one by one. As the light faded, a hovering figure was left. She was roughly humanoid, avian, but not like the Ixal. She had four wings, and was obviously female in shape. The Garleans had taken notice by this point, a artillery fire from their walkers arched upwards towards her. It exploded harmlessly some distance from her. She laughed, and it was a mirthless, maniacal, sound. The laughter of an utterly inhuman, alien being, and mixture of rage and madness. Her gaze fell upon the oncoming Garlean onslaught, and she gestured. And suddenly, the wind really WAS razors. 1572 - Mor Dhona Hirilonde stared into the sky at the lesser moon. For the moment, all his training, all his years of experience, all he had seen fell by the wayside, as two enormous wings erupted from Dalamud, as the moon crumbled from some tremendous internal heat and pressure. His instincts snapped back into play, as something in the back of his head screamed at him that what he was staring at was about to become a fireball, and a hail of debris. “Take cover!” He cried out, though he knew not if anyone heeded him as he dove under a rocky outcropping. The din of battle had dulled his senses, but even with that the thunder was painful, as the moon cracked and shattered, and finally exploded. The sky was filled with lights as fireballs streaked across the heavens. Above it all, was the enraged roar of something ancient, furious and powerful. It was the same feeling as ten years ago, in the hills of Coerthas. But where in Coerthas the feeling of dread was a cold ball coiling tight in his stomach, here it was overwhelming, smothering. A suffocating blanket of fear that threatened to physically drag him to his knees. Among the expanding cloud of ruin that once was Dalamud, great wings flapped, holding aloft a dragon the likes of which the world had never seen. Or perhaps, had not seen for a very long time. It was the size of a city... bigger perhaps. Around him people scattered. Others stared up at the behemoth in the sky as it’s gaze fell balefully upon them, frozen. In their eyes, there was fear, despair. A few others narrowed their gaze and gripped their weapons all the more tightly. Hirilonde saw this, and in spite of himself, a smile creased his lips. “Here we go again, eh?” The Garleans barely seemed to react. The Seventh Legion had always been fanatical... Darnus’ death had only made them moreso. Instead they pressed the advantage the confusion gave them, even as fire rained down on them. “... Back... repeat, fall back! Knights of the... to provide cover... retreat of Foreign Levy!” The linkpearls had been faltering since Dalamud had begun it’s ominous groaning, and now that the Great Wyrm had emerged, only snippets came through. One would think the order was hardly necessary, but all around them, the Grand Companies were rallying. Some fled, but most held fast. Shields flickered as conjurers and white mages struggled to hold protection over their comrades as Bahamut screamed overhead, bombardments lighting up the battlefield, and flashes of conflict could be seen as the adventurers refused to yield ground to the Garleans. “They aren’t going to fall back...” Hirilonde straightened. He was proud of them... these adventurers who had taken up the standards of the Alliance, who even now stood in the shadow of fear, and did not falter. But... experience told him the retreat order was right. The adventurers had proven themselves the strength of the Alliance, and they could not be allowed to fall here. “Barracudas!” He shouted, raising his sword. “The order to retreat has been given. Form a defensive line, I want archers on the ridge providing covering fire for the withdraw of the Foreign Levy! The adventurers got us this far, now it’s time for the Yellowjackets to pull their arses out of the fire!” There was a shout from the troops, and he could see the line firming, archers taking position. There were members of God’s Quiver and mercenaries from Ul’Dah as well, and a few Sultansworn had joined the line. “Sir, we can’t hold here long, and the Adventurers... we can’t get the retreat order to them in all this.” A lieutenant came up to him and said, breathless. “Our runners won’t survive in all of that, and the horns can’t be heard over this din!” “Alright then, we’ll trade defense for speed.” Hirilonde cracked his knuckles. “Hold the line as long as you can, then fall back and cover whoever manages to get out.” “Sir?” The lieutenant cocked his head. Hirilonde tightened his shield straps. “What? I wasn’t planning on living forever. I have a better chance than most, but if there are volunteers among the Sultansworn, send them as well. Give me twenty minutes, then command is yours.” “But sir!” “You don’t need me to tell you how to run, soldier.” He patted him on the back, then vaulted the barricade and started running. I was an odd feeling. Liberating. He had always known he had little chance of coming back from Mor Dhona, and now he knew he had none at all. But Isilme and her family were safe. He had taught her all he could, and now it was time for her generation to take over. Eva was safe, and his debt to Dyterium was... well, at least a down payment has been made on it. I guess I’ll have to work the rest off in the afterlife. A garlean soldier charged at him. The man was covered in soot, bloodied and half crazed, his gunlance broken. Hirilonde barely slowed as he deflected the strike and ran the man through. “Sorry, friend.” He said, and genuinely meant it. These were men who had thrown away their lives in service to a selfish madman. A magitek ride armor stumbled near him, something going on on top of it. It fell to it’s knees and keeled over, sending a man in black armor tumbling off. His armor was smoldering and damaged in a number of places, and his helmet came loose as he tumbled. He rolled and sprang to his feet and roared. Hirilonde froze. He knew that roar. It can’t be... “Raaaaagh!” The black armored man stumbled a bit and shook his head. He was older, his bald head bearing old burn scars, and a black eyepatch over one eye. “Woooo... headrush.” “JJ?” Hirilonde stepped hesitantly forward. A gigantic dragon was one thing, but this... was a ghost he hadn’t seen for nearly twenty years. The man turned. His face was older, of course, a few new scars here and there. But it was him, without a doubt. “Hiri? Hiri!” The highlander drew a greatsword from his back and slashed at a Garlean soldier who was recovering from the magitek wreckage. “Well?! Stop gawping and start shielding! That’s what’ you’re here for, isn’t it kid?” Hirilonde gawked a moment, disbelieving. He then spotted another Garlean moving up behind the dark knight, and threw his shield, striking the soldier. He charged forward, catching his shield again and striking him with his sword. “Where the seven hells have you been!?” “You know how it goes, incredibly handsome and skilled adventurer helps to kill a demon god. Adventurer gets cursed so that being around his friends slowly kills him. Adventurer wanders off into the sunset to have adventures while trying to find a cure, Adventurer eventually hears about a REALLY BIG party going down in Mor Dhona, and decided to check it out...” He pushed the Garlean soldier off his blade and thumped his chest a couple of times. “Speaking of which, seems the curse musta worn off. Remind me to give you a hug after all this.” Hirilonde barely had time to get his shield up as bullet fire ricocheted off. He peered over the edge to see another Garlean walker, it’s mouth opening preparing to fire. He gathered his aether and prepared himself. The ball of ceruleum-fueled energy slammed into his shield, forcing him skidding back. The old shield started to crack under the strain, the metal groaning, and the wood backing starting to splinter. Several decades of experience had taught Hirilonde many things. Tact, how to pick his fights, regret, compromise... but most importantly, it had taught him several tricks that most adventurers had never heard of. Such as a type of spellcraft that allowed him to reflect attacks off his shield. Like, say, ceruleum-fueled balls of energy. He yelled out as he pushed back, and the energy blast suddenly switched direction. It slammed back into the barrel of the ride armor, prematurely igniting the second shot and blowing the top half of the walker apart. JJ sprinted past Hirilonde and fell upon the troops, drawing his scythe and cutting a swath through them. Hirilonde recovered, but JJ was already in the thick of things, assaulting yet another walker. “Damnit JJ...” He was about to follow when he saw something else on the field that made his heart drop. A familiar glimpse of golden hair, pale skin, and a very familiar tattoo. “Kes...” His throat was dry, the name was a croak. Kes was pregnant, so she was with her father’s clan, in their traditional homelands. Kes was safe. Kes couldn’t be here! He stumbled forward. “KES!” But his words were drowned out again by the roar of the dragon. He looked up, and saw the monster descending, as conjured shields shattered, and the whole of the Grand Company forces watched, helpless. Fire as gathering at his maw, as bright as the sun, so intense he could feel the heat from here. He stopped. He was out of time. There was no time for retreat, no time to save Kes or Dyterium’s grandchildren. “I’m sorry, Dy. I truly am.” He said softly, as the light and heat grew more intense. Any moment now. He almost didn’t notice the tingling feeling of being teleported, as Bahamut unleashed his fury on them all. ***

I'm actually in kind of a unique position, because I have two chars: One who timeskipped, and one who didn't. Isilme IS Legacy, but she didn't timeskip, and isn't a Warrior of Light. She left with a group of refugees for an Isle off the coast of La Noscea, and lived out the five years. As such, she struggles a bit, having forgotten most of her adventuring friends. She remembers important figures in her life, like her father and Eva, but she can't recall details, like how they looked, how their voices sounded... She knows who they were, that they were important, and the effect they had on her life, but she wouldn't recognize them on the street. Hirilonde (Isilme's father) was at Carteneau, and he DID timeskip. And when he comes back, he's not some legendary mythical warrior who beat back Bahamut. He's an old knight that no one remembers, who's home was destroyed, and who's position is gone. So he's forced back into adventuring out of necessity (He was a career soldier)

Natch, I'm never gonna blast someone for disagreeing, and I left the true source of Izzy's childhood issues vague specifically to avoid saying "Crossbreed babies are fuxxored". It doesn't really matter (Y'know, as long as it's in reason and you're not a half dragon, half fairy, half goddess half demon princess general warrior knight) But it IS fun to say "Miqohyuroegelefels"

I personally play it that adventurers, as a whole, are already exceptional people who don't tend to follow the strictures of society. That means your miqo'te might have adopted an elezen-style name, or your highlander is a refined gentleman pansy (Hello Inspector Hildebrand!) My character was raised in Limsa in more of a hyuran style, simply because her mother was a bit of a renegade, and had burnt her bridges with any tribe she had been part of a long time ago. But Izzy is developing an interest in her heritage, and will be investigating that (even if she's not really thrilled about the whole breeding arrangement. Hyuran values again). As for half breeds... I figure with so many races interacting, and especially with so many in-game references to interspecies romance, cross-breeds DO happen. However... well, what happens when you breed a horse and a donkey together? You get a mule, which is sterile. I figure, as harsh as it is, that this is the probably outcome of any interspecies pairing. The differences between the races are more significant than just human variation. Any kids they have will be difficult to conceive, have a higher rate of deformities and health issues, and most likely be sterile. Otherwise with all the hard work of the miqo'te in Ul'Dah, the city would be populated by nothing but miqohyuroegelefels. That is just my assumption, of course. (For the record, Izzy IS a hyur/miqo crossbreed. And she had a rough childhood because of it)

Not too bad, you've got the impression of older there with the scars. As for the dirty hair, you could try using highlights, like black or a darker shade of your current hair color Thanks, I try ^^. I think most of the time Izzy falls more under awkwardly cute and stubborn 'Badass' is something you need an awful lot of cred for.

This is probably my current favorite shot of Izzy in 2.0 I shrank?! Derpin' on my Goobbue, Gonk. And, just for fun. This is Simurgh. Simmy thinks miqo'te look tasty. Decided to test that theory on Izzy. NOT... ... SO... ... TASTY... ... AM I?! Had enough? DESSERT!!

Here, lemme try! Isilme Turuphant