discussion [Spoilers] Travel to Othard

[Gegenji]

So, I've been having a discussion about how one can travel to Kugane.

 

In the MSQ, it makes a pretty big deal of having to manage to get a ship to sail all the way out to Kugane. And, if I'm remembering correctly, someone stated that traveling by sea to Othard is a two month affair - referenced in the lorebook or something similar to that. Once you've actually traveled to Othard, though, you can use the aetherytes to teleport willy-nilly if you have the gil to spend.

 

But what got brought up is... why couldn't one travel there in an airship? If you followed a similar route, skirting the southern edges of the Garlean Empire, couldn't you make the journey in potentially less time? The WoL certainly would've had access to airships to travel that way and, even if they needed a specially modified one - I'm sure Cid and them could've modified the Enterprise or something to make that journey.

 

So, why wasn't it an option? I'm trying to remember if the MSQ actually brings up a reason why it was unfeasible.

 

Was it because the Garlean Navy would've detected them and shot them down? If so, wouldn't have just normal sailing have been just as dangerous? I mean, I suppose it was/is since you had to make a deal with smugglers to get to Kugane to begin with. But then afterward, you can sail back and forth without incident (which could, again, just be a game consent to keep you from being able to go to and from).

 

Or was it a fuel issue? How much ceruleum gets used up by the airships just going around Eorzea? Maybe they don't have access to enough of the fuel or efficient enough engines to risk flying over the ocean like that? Could Cid and company have designed something that might've fixed that, or would that still have required an airship of a size they just didn't have access to or time to modify?

 

To tl;dr this whole thing down to its base: how hard is it to get to Othard and what options are available to people?

[Unnamed Mercenary]

MSQ had brought up that airships weren't viable because they'd be weighed down by the amount of fuel required to make such a trip, assuming they weren't shot down by the Garleans to start.

 

If you actually leave the ship before doing the Sirensong Sea dungeon, the NPC will act all surprised at how you're back in Limsa and complain that they need to send you back on their next fastest ship.

 

But given what we know of airships currently, most of the ones of Eorzean design do not appear to hold much cargo. Nor are they particularly large either. (But this could just be a game model issue).

 

From my understanding, ships are still the most viable means. I suppose someone could use aetherial teleportation if they've visited before, but that would likely involve a very large amount of anima in addition to the regular teleportation caveats like a limited amount of items to bring along, aethersickness, and the like. This too, is mentioned in the game when Alisae talks about having restored an aetheryte crystal in the Doman hideout.

[Kilieit]

Only got 2p to add: I know a few people who are travelling back and forth, and all of them say their character is using aetherial travel. One of them is having their character get sick from exhaustion as a result of doing so many long-distance journeys.

[Silmanos]

As per the MSQ the reason an Airship is an unfeasible option is one the Garlean Threat. Despite the fact that you could skirt the land masses themselves that are controlled by Garlean forces doesn't eliminate the possibilities of running into their airships or navy. Eorzean airships are just not equipped to deal with threats unlike their ships. The second reason is a fuel related issue. There currently does not exist an airship of a large enough size within Eorzean control to hold enough fuel to make the trip. This one is a bit impossible to circumvent seeing as there are airships of a large size in Ishgard and under the control of sky pirates, yet apparently these aren't even large enough to make the trip. This indicates that it is most likely not just a size issue, but an engine issue as well. Eorzea just doesn't have the technology to create an engine that could handle it yet, whereas the Garleans do.

This leaves you with the option of making the two month trip by boat, which is the shortest the trip is as the lorebook states this is with favorable winds. You could also possibly piggy back off of someone else taking the trip by aetheryte, but also note the MSQ refers to the sheer aether cost of doing so when talking about the aetheryte in Yanxia. Stating that it would only really be useful to those with immense aether reserves such as the WoL, so remember while teleporting is an option it is not something everyone can even feasibly do. The average person's aether reserves are actually not all that big.

[Gegenji]

I suppose the next question is how frequent ships go from Eorzea to Kugane, and what types.

 

Again, the MSQ had you sneaking your way there aboard a smuggler's vessel - which would imply that obtaining a vessel to get there would be difficult (though, going from Kugane to Doma proper seemed even more so, considering). However, Kugane itself seems to be a bit of a cultural hub and destination point for sightseers and the like. Its enforced neutrality also seems to make it more approachable than one would think.

 

There's also the fact that future travel there seems relatively simple. I mean, one could just attribute being able to find a ship there and back over and over is a gameplay concession... but you also travel there for both the Armorsmith and Blacksmith quest lines. While BSM doesn't have you actually heading there until the level 70 capper - it still has not one but two Kugane citizens come to Limsa with no apparent trouble. ARM has you heading out that way as early as level 63, which - if you were following general level progression, would still be well before the liberation.

 

So, I'm trying to remember. Was the reason why the WoL and crew used a smuggler ship because they were trying to sneak in unnoticed as opposed to one of these many other ships that apparently head out that way on the regular? Or was there some other reason why the difficulty of travel out that way seems so heavily emphasized despite how regularly and easily merchants and tourists seem to manage it?

[L'ohba Tia]

So, I'm trying to remember. Was the reason why the WoL and crew used a smuggler ship because they were trying to sneak in unnoticed as opposed to one of these many other ships that apparently head out that way on the regular? Or was there some other reason why the difficulty of travel out that way seems so heavily emphasized despite how regularly and easily merchants and tourists seem to manage it?

 

It was just because they needed a ship, and Tataru was privy to some useful info that she could use to blackmail Carvallain into bringing you for free. The difficulty is only because Othard is pretty much the other side of the world and that's a rough journey. Not because there isn't frequent travel between Eorzea and Kugane. Lolorito even has an office in Kugane, so there must be frequent trade.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

AST and WAR both have you head east as well.

 

I think our reason for taking a smuggler's ship was more of who we are as the Warrior of Light and less "this is the only way to do it." I mean, if it were so difficult to get to Kugane, then East Aldenard Trading likely wouldn't be a thing. And they've been there seemingly longer. Just like the various bugyo from the east have been allowed to come to Eorzea every new year.

[Gegenji]

Ah alright, so it was more along the lines of what I was thinking once I actually sat down and mulled on it. At first I thought it was going to be pretty hard to get to Kugane based off the MSQ stuff... but it's pretty blatantly obvious that it isn't that difficult, given everything that's mentioned.

 

Definitely all good stuff to know, though, for RPing going to Kugane. Which plenty of folks seem to be doing, and I have plans for myself. :blush:

[Teadrinker]

I hate this subject. But here.

 

 

 

 

 

But then we have Hancock saying this later about Yugiri and Gosetsu.

 

 

 

So, it would seem private merchant sea vessels do NOT aggro the Garleans even if clearly Eorzean affiliated.

 

On another note, as far as RP goes, I am handwaving the CRAP out of this. It's too much of a pain in the ass for my tastes and too much of a crimp in the ol RP. There's simply NO way I'm locking myself for 2 months for...just to do it lol.

 

I've seen other groups of people also attempting to use aether crystals to offset the tax on their reserves from the teleportation journey but afaik this isn't lore viable at all. It's sort of like dumping a bucket of water into a river and saying it's helping you float. I'm not really...making a stink about it though cause the hoops here just suck to jump though.

 

What I plan to do is I'll RP out the journey on the boat for a few days then afterwards do aether teleportation with the character resting for a day or so afterwards and will likely call it good.

[Gegenji]

On another note, as far as RP goes, I am handwaving the CRAP out of this. It's too much of a pain in the ass for my tastes and too much of a crimp in the ol RP. There's simply NO way I'm locking myself for 2 months for...just to do it lol.

 

I've seen other groups of people also attempting to use aether crystals to offset the tax on their reserves from the teleportation journey but afaik this isn't lore viable at all. It's sort of like dumping a bucket of water into a river and saying it's helping you float. I'm not really...making a stink about it though cause the hoops here just suck to jump though.

 

What I plan to do is I'll RP out the journey on the boat for a few days then afterwards do aether teleportation with the character resting for a day or so afterwards and will likely call it good.

 

Oh, I can totally see that and agree with it. I think RPing the first time heading there might be fun, maybe a couple incidents on the way there (if any, could totally be a peaceful trip with good headwinds)... but heading there afterward is likely going to be of the "teleporting with jet lag" affair should RP send me back that way.

[Wemrys]

Bear in mind the Scions and WoL were also trying to go to Othard and work mostly in secret. It wouldn't have done to get found out by some Garlean spy discovering a number of people matching names and descriptions of the Warrior of Light and the Scions clambered aboard a chartered boat that travels regularly along known shipping lanes. That would be a quick ticket to getting surrounded by the whole Garlean Navy.

 

Imagine the message that would send... "We took out your trump card AND your attempt to go behind our back to liberate Doma, Eorzea. Now what will you do?" Taking a smuggler's ship along less traveled routes (hence running into trouble in the Sirensong Sea) was the much safer option given they wanted to hide their involvement in the Doman Liberation Front until they were ready for a head on attack.

[Momo]

I am having my characters take an extended stay in the region rather than traveling back and forth. I think with the interest and number of people likely moving into the area, that there won't be RP lacking unless you corner yourself with plot, and traveling back and forth to me, seems...well as admitted, hand-wavey, but to a level I'm not comfortable with as I have never seen Aetheryte travel as a very very common thing.

 

I think there is a certain amount of fear and uncertainty for many who have been in Eorzea for so long, that some do not want to create a story that forces them to stay for a little while. That is okay, I just think for me, it is better to try out a new venture and not allow myself to go back on it so as to force me a little out of my comfort zone, so I took a boat on my characters who aren't from there (or rather living there already). If I am there a long while and it doesn't work out, I will return...though I view Ul'dah as a home since 1.0, I admit I am a little tired of bars events, same old fights, and the QS and sand in every place imaginable.

[Lydia Lightfoot]

If anyone's looking for a way around the long sea voyage without handwaving, I have an a small plot wrapping up soon in which Lydia will be discovering, wholly by accident, the ruined site of an old Allagan transportation facility. She won't know quite what the place is, but, being a treasure hunter and doomed to die as a cat might (by curiosity), she'll end up activating it somehow, and... BAMF.

 

When she materializes, she'll be in a similar ruin somewhere else, though one in far, far greater disrepair - as in, unlikely to ever conceivably be functional again. She'll be unaware of it, but it's the sister site of the Eorzean chamber, and had been built there at the tail end of the Allagan civilization as a way for them to potentially begin exploring Othard, and then subsequently forgotten when their society collapsed. 

 

A day or so of travel later and she'll find her way to Namai, and can use the aetheryte to go back and forth thereafter (albeit taxingly, as some have mentioned it really ought to be, given the distance).

 

Back in Eorzea, she'll discover that the teleportation device can still be used again, though it takes time to recharge itself and is only useful in a very limited capacity. Even were the likes of Cid himself to get to work on it, at best it'd be useful transporting individuals occasionally one-way to Othard, and not so potent as to, say, relocate an entire army. Worse, the Othardian side of it is totally beyond repair. 

 

OOC, it'll be a convenient way for Eorzean characters to go get attuned on Othard and put the travel issue behind them. It's also lore-plausible, given that we see on Azys Lla that the Allagans certainly did create teleportation devices, and each had a specific destination point, just like this one does. 

 

Anyway, if anybody else wants to get behind it, feel free to say - starting August 1st - that your Eorzean character made their first trip to Othard by way of the Allagan teleporter.

[Kieron Lohengrin]

If anyone's looking for a way around the long sea voyage without handwaving, I have an a small plot wrapping up soon in which Lydia will be discovering, wholly by accident, the ruined site of an old Allagan transportation facility. She won't know quite what the place is, but, being a treasure hunter and doomed to die as a cat might (by curiosity), she'll end up activating it somehow, and... BAMF.

 

When she materializes, she'll be in a similar ruin somewhere else, though one in far, far greater disrepair - as in, unlikely to ever conceivably be functional again. She'll be unaware of it, but it's the sister site of the Eorzean chamber, and had been built there at the tail end of the Allagan civilization as a way for them to potentially begin exploring Othard, and then subsequently forgotten when their society collapsed. 

 

A day or so of travel later and she'll find her way to Namai, and can use the aetheryte to go back and forth thereafter (albeit taxingly, as some have mentioned it really ought to be, given the distance).

 

Back in Eorzea, she'll discover that the teleportation device can still be used again, though it takes time to recharge itself and is only useful in a very limited capacity. Even were the likes of Cid himself to get to work on it, at best it'd be useful transporting individuals occasionally one-way to Othard, and not so potent as to, say, relocate an entire army. Worse, the Othardian side of it is totally beyond repair. 

 

OOC, it'll be a convenient way for Eorzean characters to go get attuned on Othard and put the travel issue behind them. It's also lore-plausible, given that we see on Azys Lla that the Allagans certainly did create teleportation devices, and each had a specific destination point, just like this one does. 

 

Anyway, if anybody else wants to get behind it, feel free to say - starting August 1st - that your Eorzean character made their first trip to Othard by way of the Allagan teleporter.

 

This is pretty cool actually. I enjoy ruins exploration / treasure hunting shenanigans in general.

 

For me, I decided to have my own character be wandering around already in Othard even before the events of Stormblood kicked off. He had the vague notion of visiting Dalmasca, but then got sidetracked and mainly enjoyed hanging out with the Xaela in Azim. If you want to have your character meet an Eorzean when she gets lost, we could arrange a fun scene