Friday night with the help of lassarina and a linkshell-mate, I finished Stormblood, the second expansion of Final Fantasy XIV! As usual, here is my recap of the story. Previous entries in this series:
Some general thoughts:
Onto the summary!
When the post-HW story content had ended, the Eorzean alliance had just retaken Baelsar's Wall at the edge of Grindania and Ala Mhigo, and Yda had revealed that she is actually Lyse, Yda's younger sister. Stormblood starts off in the Castrum beyond the wall, where Raubahn asks the Scions to enlist the aid of the Ala Mhigan Resistance.
So Lyse leads the way to Rhalgr's Reach, a Resistance encampment. There you meet Conrad, the leader of the resistance. Alphinaud relays the Alliance's plans to him, but Conrad says he needs some time to make a decision. While waiting, Lyse shows you around the encampment.
There are two questlines here. The first is with Meffrid, the formerly injured Ala Mhigan you had saved at Quarrymill (I remembered him!). He's tasked with finding new recruits, and decides to go to Ala Gannh. As that is Lyse's birthplace, she's adamant about tagging along.
So you travel there, but the inhabitants aren't too willing to help out. It's suggested that you do some quests to get the villagers to trust you, and so you do. One of the quests involves rescuing a villager, who IIRC was off to pay the Empire their tributum but was waylaid on the way. You save him from a pack of Qiqirn, but he quickly rushes off as the Empire will have his head if he is late.
Lyse insists on following him, so you do. From a distance, you watch him meeting with the Skulls, who work for the Empire but from their accents it is clear that they are Ala Mhigan. They take the tributum from him, but declare it isn't enough and start beating him. Lyse wants to help him but the others know that doing so would make things worse, so you are forced to watch in horror. Eventually, the leader of the Skulls gets a call saying they are needed elsewhere, and so they leave, the courier bloodied but alive.
IIRC, you then return to Ala Gannha and several youths decide to aid the resistance, so you return with them to Rhaglr's Reach.
The other questline is with M'naago, who had once come to the Rising Stones to give the Scions a message. She had been injured while delivering the message, and now thanks you for nursing her back to health. She requests you take her back to the Castrum. On the way you're ambushed but succeed in killing your foes. At the Castrum, you speak with Raubahn and his adopted son Pipin. The latter has a plan to destroy some prototype magitek weapons, so go out to East End and lie in wait for the convoy. The imperial officer charged with overseeing the field testing of the prototype magitek weapons is none other than Grynewaht, the brutish Roegadyn whom you faced on the Carteneau Flats. Needless to say, he is surprised to see you in Gyr Abania, but eager to seize the opportunity for revenge. Spoiler: he does not get his revenge, for you easily vanquish his forces, but he runs off and escapes.
Victory in hand, the Resistance agrees to join the Eorzean alliance in the fight to reclaim Ala Mhigo. M'naago intends to go from village to village spreading the word and getting new recruits.
You return to Rhalgr's Reach, and while there the Scions arrive, along with Arenvald Lentius, whom you recall from your first days in the Waking Sands. Like you and Minfilia, he has the power of the Echo, though his gift seems to be lesser than yours. There's now various quests around the Reach to prepare new recruits and get ready for the next phase of the operation.
The next plan is Crossing the Velodyna. IIRC, the plan was to potentially retake the Velodyna, a bridge in the Fringes. Pipin suggests a reconnaissance team go check things out, and so you do. You're at a cliff overlooking the Velodyna, ready to begin, when there's a loud sound and you turn, horrified, to see smoke arising from the direction of the Reach. You abort your mission and begin the return to the Reach, but outside it you encounter Arenvald and Krile, who say that imperial soldiers are attacking the Reach.
So you head in and manage to subdue the remaining imperial soldiers, but there's been heavy losses. Y'shtola suffered grevious wounds. Alphinaud tends to Y'Shtola as you face the man responsible for the destruction: Zenos yae Galvus, the imperial viceroy himself.
The fight against him is all about survival. After a while he grows bored and sends you flying backward, then takes his leave.
You tend the wounded as best as you can. Unfortunately, Meffrid has fallen, and you give his charm to Conrad. The Reach is no longer safe, and plans are made to leave it.
I do not recall what leads to this next action, and the wiki isn't fleshed out very well, but it has been decided that you go to Doma. To get there, you will take a ship from Limsa Lominsa. So you travel to Limsa and meet your captain, a pirate. There's some time to kill before you leave so you travel to Revenant's Toll to speak with the Domans there about their homeland.
Then it is time to set sail, but trouble arises on the sea as the ship is dragged off course. You are enlisted to take care of the issue, and so you do. I believe it's while at sea that you find out about the Confederacy, a group which controls the sea in the area near Doma, who require a tithe to pass through the waters safely. Because of this, you do not sail directly for Doma but land in Kugane instead.
It's in Kugane where you meet Hancock, a member of the East Aldenard Trading Company. He didn't strike me as being very trustworthy, but he's your contact here. He gives you a tour of Kugane, ending with the Ruby Bazaar, the HQ of the Trading Company in Kugane.
Okay, so IIRC, Yugiri and Gosetsu had left Revenant's Toll early on in the Stormblood storyline, to return to Doma and fight for their country's freedom. Hancock tells you that they have made it as far as Kugane, so you search for them around town, showing an excellent sketch of them that Alphinaud has made.
Most people who have been shown the sketch are not very forthcoming with info, saying only that they turned Gosetsu away. You talk to the last person who might have info: Gyodo, a Namazu said to frequent the Shiokaze Hostelry. He claims to have helped the two secure passage over the sea, and can help you to. It screams TRAP! to everyone, but you agree to meet him on the docks at night. Sure enough, it was a trap, but you succeed in turning the trap against him and capture him while using smoke bombs to escape from the samurai pursuing you. While escaping, you meet Soroban, a Kojin who helps you escape.
Gyodo is questioned at the Ruby Bazaar, and reveals that Gosetsu was captured by the samurai peacekeepers. So you go to rescue Gosetsu, but he has won his freedom in a contest of strength. Reunited, you now all agree to travel together to Othard across the Ruby Sea, though Tataru will stay behind in Kugane to act as a go-between.
The wiki is sparse in details here and I can't quite remember what happens next, but you're on a ship arranged by Soroban and I *think* you encounter the Confederacy, who demands a tithe. I believe you end up doing quests for the Confederacy, who end up waving the tithe because of your help.
This is the point of the story where it ends up being a party of you, Alisaie, and Lyse. ♥ Alisaie is a Red Mage and she has a flashy way of fighting that made me swoon.
You're still in the Ruby Sea area at this point, and I'm straining my brain to remember exactly what happens, but... there are Kojin who fight for the Empire, and friendly Kojin like Soroban. Soroban has you do some fetch quests, and the result is that with the items you fetched, he performs a ritual that lets the three of you breathe underwater.
I recall we had to search for an item underwater, which according to the wiki is the Yasakani–no–Magatama, but I don't recall WHY we needed this item, sigh. It had something to do with the friendly Kojin, i believe...
The Yasakani–no–Magatama is a sacred object, IIRC, and the friendly Kojin want it to be placed in their shrine on the island of Bekko, but the shrine is guarded by unfriendly Kojin. You succeed in infiltrating the island, but the Yasakani–no–Magatama reacts to other sacred objects stored in the shrine, and together they call forth the great kami Susano -- a primal by another name. You do your thing and defeat the kami.
After the fight, Alisaie takes on a bunch of unfriendly Kojin to let you and Lyse escape. *swoons*
Your next stop brings you to Isari. Again, the wiki is slim on data, but IIRC the imperials had been attacking the villagers, led by Yotsuru. She is ruthless. I seem to recall that Gosetsu went to Isari on his own to save the villagers, but was captured and (I think) tortured by Grynewaht, the imperial who had fleed from you earlier and who, as punishment for his failure, was assigned to support Yotsuru.
My memory is hazy, but the wiki mentions the Confederacy at this point, so I'm pretty sure they helped you intervene here and drive away the imperials to save the villagers.
Now Gosetsu leads you to Namai, a village in Yanxia. You approach the village carefully, but the villagers, IIRC, recognise Gosetsu and are not pleased to see him. The villagers have become resigned to their fate at the hands of the empire, and fear Gosetsu will cause trouble for them.
Nearby Namai is the secret headquarters of the Doma Liberation Front, at which you are reunited with Yugiri.
Next is some quests for the villagers of Namai, to help win their favor. One of the quests involves rescuing a young girl, who is the younger sister of the first villager who had spoken out against you. After this, imperials approach the village. From the shadows where you are hidden, you watch as the imperials tell the villagers about the Confederacy's help in Isari and that this act will not go unpunished. The imperials are there to press some of the villagers into labor at a camp, though they promise it will be temporary. One of the villagers chosen is the young man whose sister you rescued. Later on, the villagers taken are told they will be servicing magitek armor, and are horrified to realize that this means they'll be at it for life.
Of course, you're not going to let the imperials get away with this! You use Yugiri's blowgun to dispatch the sentries, then infiltrate the base where the villagers are being kept and free them. I can't remember how the villagers react to being freed, and the wiki doesn't say. Sigh, my memory is not good.
But IIRC, the next thing that happens is that the Liberation Front learns that Zenos will be in the area, and Yugiri makes a decision to assassinate him. You're not about to let her go alone, so you tag along. Together you face Zenos, but Yugiri is quickly cut down (not fatally!) and you're forced to continue the fight alone. It goes better than it did in the Reach, but then he pulls out a katana and crackles with energy and strikes you down (again, not fatally). He recognizes you from the Reach and implores you to live before stalking off.
You return to Namai, where Isse (the young villager) finally apologizes to you for his behavior, and vows to fight. This leads Yugiri to make a decision to find Lord Hien, the prince of Doma. He is hiding out in the Azim Steppe, and vowed not to return unless his people willed to fight. He was ready to give up his head to the empire if that is what the people wished, but now the villagers are ready to fight so it is time to call him back.
So you travel to Reunion, a village in the Azim Steppe. There you meet Cirina, a Xaela of the Mol tribe. You do a quest for her, and it turns out that she knows where Hien probably is. So you travel to the Mol village, and there meet Hien. The Mol had nursed him back to health when he was wounded, and he owes them for it.
From now on, my memory's more clear. The Mol are a nomadic tribe that follows the will of their god, who has decreed that the Mol are to fight in the Nadaam, a battle between all the Au Ra tribes on the Steppe to determine which tribe will by the leader. The Mol aren't really warriors, but Hien is determined to fight for them. But first, he must be recognized as a warrior of the Steppe by undertaking a trial. You and your companions will undergo the trial as well to also be recognized so you too can fight.
There's some quests to prepare for the trial, and then you make your way to Bardam's Mettle. (I was stuck on this dungeon for several weeks as I was too intimidated by the wiki's description to undertake it by myself, plus i was farming mog tomes. I finally did it with [personal profile] lassarina's help, and the wiki made it sound much worse than it actually was!)
Having survived Bardam's Mettle, you are now Warriors of the Steppe. But just as you emerge from the trial, you are surrounded by members of the Oronir tribe, who take you to the Dawn Throne to meet their khan, Magnai. Although Magnai recognizes you as Warriors of the Steppe, he demands tribute, and there are some quests to do to pay tribute to him.
During the quests, you learn more about the various Au Ru tribes. There are two kinds of Au Ru: the Raen, children of the Dawn Father, and the Xaela, the children of the Dusk Mother. Although the Oronir are actually Xaela, they worship the Dawn Father. The Au Ra were put on the Steppe to battle for eternity by the Father and Mother, but the tribes eventually learned to live in peace with each other. This had an effect on the Father and Mother who fell in love with each other.
One of the quests Magnai has you do is to spy on another tribe, nicknamed the Undying Ones. Lyse and Hien are held captive by Magnai and you and Gosetsu are sent to spy on the tribe. When you arrive at the tribe grounds, you find two wounded warriors, one fatally. You strike back the animals who had wounded them, but are too late to save the fatally wounded warrior.
You end up talking to the Undying Ones rather than spying on them from a distance. They believe that the strongest warriors are reborn, and thus do not fear death. Because of their beliefs, they don't really have any sacred death rituals, so the fatally wounded warrior was just set out on the sands for the vultures. This upsets Gosetsu at first, and the two of you go to pay your respects, but as you do Gosetsu comes to an understanding of their ways. Is it not so different from the samurai, who are prepared to die for their lord?
You're allowed to leave the Undying Ones (after doing quests for them, of course) and return to Magnai, who is satisfied that you have done enough to pay tribute to him. He releases Hien and Lyse, and you make your way back to the Mol tribe and prepare for the Nadaam.
The Nadaam is a "capture the flag" type of battle, in this case the flag is a circle of light. Of *course*, you're the one who captures the light for the Mol, and thus are declared khan. No sooner than you do that, guess who arrives but Grynewaht with a bunch of magitek armor. As newly crowned khan, you and Hien implore the rest of the tribes to fight to drive back Grynewaht, and they follow your commands.
Hien then makes a rousing speech afterwards, convincing the tribes to fight to free Doma from the imperials, which was his plan all along.
You pay visit to the Oronir and the Undying Ones on your way back to Namai, and both tribes vow to fight for you.
Now you're back at the Liberation Front HQ, and Alphinaud has come up with a plan to retake Doma Castle. I'll copy his plan from the wiki:
After Lyse and the Doman irregulars carry out a series of diversionary attacks, the Xaela will launch a surprise attack on the castle's airborne defenses. The twins and the shinobi will then disable the magitek field generators within the Dairyu Moon Gates, allowing the Confederate and Kojin naval forces to bombard the castle and secure the Doman Enclave. Finally, Lord Hien's main host will advance upon the castle and deal with the imperial forces within.
Alphinaud needs help from Cid to disable the magitek field generators, so you make a detour back to Kugane to pick up a manual Cid has sent there. Once you return, there's various quests to prepare for the battle. One of the quests involves gathering metal for a metalworker, who at first is not willing to make armor for the villagers but changes his mind upon seeing Hien.
In one of the quests, you're searching an abandoned village for anything that can be of use, and come across a katana. You give it to Hien, who recognizes it as belonging to a childhood friend of his. I believe it's as he is remembering his friend that he comes up with an idea to alter Alphinaud's plan somewhat: he decides to flood the lower levels of Doma Castle.
The others are in agreement once Hien shares this. The flooding will be done by the kojin Soroban.
The day of the battle has arrived, and at first the plan succeeds. The twins quickly dismantle the magitek field and Soroban floods the castle. You infiltrate the castle, running up higher and higher, to the top of the castle where you meet Yotsuyu, who laughs with glee. She had planned for you all to be trapped in the castle with her! The ceiling collapses, but Gosetsu props it up. Yotsuyu had been struck down, but she finds the strength to raise her gun and fire a shot at Gosetsu... who amazingly, still holds up the ceiling. Hien does not want to leave Gosetsu behind, but Gosetsu says that he has always been prepared to die for Hien and urges the party to leave. Cirina and the other Au Ra tribes rescue you on their birds just as Gosetsu loses his strength.
Afterward, Alphinaud is unwilling to believe Gosetsu is gone, and so Soroban goes to search the flooded castle for him, but is unsuccessful.
Doma is no longer under imperial rule. Hien addresses his subjects.
You return to Kugane, where the Confederacy has arranged for passage back to Limsa Lominsa. It's time you've returned to Gyr Abania, for Ala Mhigo is still to be freed...
Returning to Castrum Oriens, Pipin and Raubahn have come up with a plan they named Rhalgr's Beacon. The resistance will infiltrate Castellum Corvi, which is a diversionary tactic from your true goal: M'naago will fly up to the top of the Castellum and using a glamour, change the giant flag hanging there from the Empire sigil to that of the Resistance. The idea is that the imperials, upon seeing the flag, will believe the Casstellum taken by the Resistance and flee Castellum Velodyna as well, allowing you to take it.
The plan goes off without a hitch. Afterward, M'Naago had gone to the Peering Stones, the village in which she was born. Your party agrees to go after her to make sure she is alright.
Upon arriving at the village, it is discovered that Fordola, the leader of the Skulls, has been harassing one of the Anata tribes. Fordola has taken the tribe leader's daughter, and the daughter was killed in front of her mother. Bereft, the mother called upon her goddess. You have no choice but to fight the primal, as that is what you do. (This was the fight that gave me so much trouble).
The next bit takes you to Ala Ghiri, which you succeed in seizing. The Resistance and Alliance then set their sights on Specula Imperatoris, but as they are fighting to take it over, the empire fires the giant cannon (located at Castrum Abania) at the towers at Specula Imperatoris, killing not only many freedom fighters but the empire's own soldiers as well.
Alisaie is distraught because Alphinaud was near the area of the towers that were hit, but eventually find him along with M'Naago and Lyse, unharmed, but bending over Conrad who was gravely wounded. In his last breaths, Conrad charges Lyse with taking over lead of the Resistance, and she tearfully accepts.
There's a series of quests that take you back to Castrum Oriens, I believe, though the wiki isn't fleshed out. I know there's some discussion with Lyse, who becomes resolved to her destiny. Alphinaud is also incensed at the slaughter at Specula Imperatoris, and vows to find out what kind of monster would fire on their own allies.
Also: there's a scene in which Estinien destroys the power supply to the giant cannon. He was acting on his own, so the Alliance is first confused as to why the Empire didn't finish the job by firing the cannon again. Alphinaud and the others decide to infiltrate Specula Imperatoris to find out what happened.
There's also a scene with Fordola (leader of the Skulls) and Zenos. I believe this scene took place before the cannon was fired but I'm just remembering it now: Ferdosa is in front of Zenos because she had failed a mission (I forget what the mission was) but instead of striking her down, Zenos looks in her eyes and sees the fire there, and decides to have his scientists do an experiment on her. This is the Resonant, and artificial means of imbuing the subject with the Echo.
There's some quests around Radiata, a small village made up of Ala Mhigans who had worked for the Empire. You have a contact there that gives you information that will help you infiltrate Specula Imperatoris.
So finally you go to the Specula, and at the top of it you meet Fordola. Both Lyse and Alisaie attempt to fight her, but Fordola's eye glows red with a rune inside it, and the two are unable to strike her. In the attempt Alisaie is wounded. Fordola eventually dives through a window to make her escape, but since it is clear from the infiltration that the cannon can't be fired, the Alliance and Resistance invade Castrum Albania and seize it.
There's now a scene where Raubahn takes you to the village he was born in, and as he tells you the story of his time there, your Echo kicks in and you see a vision of Lyse's father speaking before a group of resistance fighters. "Liberty or Death" is written on the side of Raubahn's house. Raubahn brought Lyse there as he had seen she wasn't herself after Alisaie's injury, but the story has strengthened her resolve and Raubahn is now satisfied she will be an effective leader.
The story leads you back to the Reach, where Lyse dons a red dress that belonged to her older sister Yda. There's also a scene where you spar against Lyse on the palm of the giant statue of Rhalgr. (during this scene there's a close shot of your and Lyse's faces as your rush towards each other, leading me to yell, "NOW KISS!")
So earlier, Y'shtola had been injured, right? And a group from the Reach were transporting the injured away from there, when they were ambushed on the road and Krile was taken prisoner. Thancred tasked himself with searching for news of Krile's whereabouts.
Your next stop is the Lochs. There's a solo duty where you traverse it trying to find Wiscar's grandfather, who apparently told his grandson a story about a key that would open the loch gates. You path takes you through the Saltery where you search for clues, and then ends at the Monastery, which you find the grandfather in hiding. He does indeed have the key! All that remains is to swim through the loch and open the gates. You do this with Lyse (who, like you, was blessed by the Kojin with the gift of breathing under water) and Thancred, who can apparently hold his breath for 10 minutes.
Once the loch gate is open, you infiltrate the city itself until you can open the main gate for the Alliance & Resistance to charge in.
The three of you head to where Krile is being held. There's another solo duty where you rescue her, but before you do you have to take on Fordola again. Luckily, before you had dived into the waters you had had a visit from Urianger, who gives you an aetheric siphon. He doesn't explain the device's purpose other than to say to activate it against Fordola. Doing so interferes with the Resonance, allowing you to beat her and take her captive. Krile is then rescued!
The battle of Ala Mhigo now begins in earnest. Early on in the battle, you hear of a pack of wolfmen who are attacking the Alliance. Knowing them to be Hien's subjects, Alphinaud and you go to speak to them to convince them to lay down arms, but they refuse to believe Hien is alive... until you beat their leader in one-on-one combat, that is. They then change sides and fight for the Alliance.
All that is left is to infiltrate Ala Mhigo itself. A linkshell mate had great fun giving me a tour of the city during this duty, as there's lots of Easter eggs of friends and comrades fighting off to the side as you make your way to Zenos. This time, you beat Zenos, but he escapes to the Royal Menagerie. You give chase.
He gives a speech about The Hunt. I will not remember exactly what he said, but he implied that you and he are the same and are hunters and I really didn't like what he had to say.
Up above Zenos, bound in a sphere of light, is Shinryu, the god who was made when Ilberd used the Eyes in an attempt for vengeance. Zenos strikes the sphere of light, releasing Shinryu, and uses his power as a Resonant to merge with the dragon.
A final trial against Shinryu. You win, and Zenos is left bloodied in a field of flowers. He is smiling, and feels pure joy at this moment. He puts his blade to his neck, and I believe one of the twins tries to stop him, but cannot prevent him from committing suicide.
Ala Mhigo is now freed!
Lyse calls the Scions to the Reach, and there declares her intentions to leave the Scions, saying she can't be impartial. The Scions are understanding, and Y'Shtola says they will always be comrades and will come to her aid should she need it.
There's just a few more scenes:
First, Estenien is in the Menagerie, where he comes across Nidhogg's Eyes which had fallen from Shinryu when Shinryu was destroyed. He drives the tip of his spear into the Eyes, causing them to disperse. They can trouble the realm no longer.
Second: a familiar voice is fishing, and grumbling at how hard it is to catch fish. Eventually the camera widens to show this is Gosetsu, who survived the destruction of Doma Castle. He questions why he is still alive, and says the kami must not be done with him... and looks over his shoulder at Yotsuyu, who is laying prone in front of a fire. The camera then goes overhead to show the two of them alone on an island.
....and this took me three days to write! I didn't want to start the post-Stormblood quests until this was done. I'll probably start tonight, yay!