✶ imeeji: memory
Apr. 9th, 2021 06:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scattershot➤ Part 1 | Part 2
Though you children may speak in earnest, overtures of peace ever ring hollow in my ears. So long as man seeks to profit from his neighbor's suffering, war is inevitable.
The Last Bastion
Summary
✶ Deep in Garlean territory, the Warrior of Light is charged with to accompany an Imperial soldier, Julius - who has been caught stealing supplies from an Alliance camp - to treat with his commanding officer. Over the objections of Y'shtola and acting somewhat against advice, Alisaie and Alphinaud volunteer to accompany them.
✶ Things go poorly practically from the start. Julius is suspicious and hostile from the first, and turns down the offer of aid after the group is attacked by tempered Garlean soldiers. He does not trust the 'cure' for tempering Alphinaud offers - even if he trusted it to actually work as advertised and not simply cause them to become fanatically devoted to Eorzea, he no longer considers the tempered to be his countrymen. When Alphinaud admits that there are limits to what the cure can achieve and that it would be unable to reverse physical changes, Julius dismisses it out of hand and urges them onward.
✶ The surviving Garleans are sheltering in Tertium, an abandoned subway station, and a mixed group of soldiers and civilians have set up camp in the concourse and carriages. Alphinaud notes that the Garleans must be almost out of supplies. Julius cautions them to be quieter - the others will not take kindly to their presence - and escorts them to his commanding officer, Legatus Quintus van Cinna of the 1st.
✶ Quintus, like Julius, is extremely skeptical of the Scions' claims that they bear the Garleans no ill will. He reminds them that the Garleans were driven to the frozen wastes of their current homeland, that only their command of Magitek kept them save from further invasion, and conquest and empire were their sole defense.
✶ Alphinaud speaks up, telling Quintus that he only wishes to offer them aid. Though he feels Alphinaud personally might mean it, Quintus feels the wider Eorzean contingent must have baser motives. Accepting help now will only leads to concessions and compromises that will lead to Garlemald's humiliation. Alisaie retorts that she wouldn't stand by and let that happen, and knows she's not alone in that. All she wants from the Legatus is for him to tell her what he wants. Alphinaud concurs, asking if they cannot work together: the Telophori are a threat to all of them, Garlemald as well as Eorzea.
✶ Quintus demands to know why they would reject Garlean subjugation if unity was truly all they wanted, and that all he hopes for is that Garlemald stay true to herself until the bitter end. Declaring the conversation over, he signals his troops inside the carriage, taking the three Scions prisoner. Quintus assures them that no harm will come to them if they cooperate, and orders that magitek collars be affixed to the twins' throats, to make certain of that fact. The Warrior of Light is spared, but it is made plain that any troublemaking on their own part will see the twins punished in their place.
✶ Julius is ordered to serve as the group's gaoler during their time in Tertium. Alisaie reassures the Warrior of Light that they will soon forget all about the collars, and the three set about trying tom ascertain the situation for the refugees in the station. Alisaie busies herself trying to assist the sick and wounded in the other carriages, and it soon becomes obvious that their condition is every bit as perilous as was feared.
✶ Alphinaud approaches Julius to enquire about the refugees' supplies. He confesses that keeping everyone warm is a pressing concern. Alisaie offers to have some sent over from their own supplies, but Julius refuses their charity: the Garleans simply have to wait it out.
✶ The Warrior of Light asks if he is referring to a mysterious group of fellow-countrymen, and Julius sees no harm in elaborating to prisoners. He believes the Imperial palace - a nightmarish edifice towering over the ruined capital - is the seat of the Telophori and the tempered Imperials both. Quintus has alerted surviving Garlean forces, who will rout the Alliance contingent, put paid to the Telophori, and reclaim the capital. Alphinaud tells him the refugees need help now: many of them will die long before any reinforcements could arrive. Julius agrees to speak to Quintus, but he is turned down flat. Instead he is ordered to search for ceruleum outside, taking his prisoners with him.
✶ The group search a local park for fuel. The wrecked magitek armor has long since been drained dry, and a search of the park at first seems as if it too will be fruitless. Alisaie notes that Julius is staring at the pond, and asks if anything is the matter: he explains that he used to bring his younger siblings there to play. A chance remark - that the water was heated - leads Alphinaud to realize there might still be fuel in the furnace, but Julius points out that the water is filthy and freezing, and he wouldn't know where to find the hatch.
✶ Alisaie asks Julius how he feels about magic. Having served with foreign mages, Julius says he's used to it. Taking that as permission to use it, Alisaie asks Alphinaud to fetch some firewood then announces she's going into the pond to search for the tank - something Julius thinks frankly insane. She and the Warrior of Light successfully search the pond and retrieve the ceruleum.
✶ As the four warm up by a magically-kindled fire, Julius speaks a little of how Garlemald was before the Capital fell. He fondly recalls his family and friends, and the warmth and safety of home and hearth. He repeats again that they simply need to hold on a little longer - even though those friends are dead and the city is in ruins, he still believes that the Garleans will be able to turn things around alone.
Notes
✶ Garlemald is Russia. There are no two ways about it. Forget the gratuitous Latin names and the magitek, it's Communist Russia right down to incipient hypothermia and borscht.
✶ Alisaie has absolutely no context at all for why she should be in Garlemald all of a sudden, still less why it's the Garleans this is proving most uncomfortable for. Far from the mighty Imperial capital her previous memories might have led her to expect, the city - and the countryside around it - is an icy, devastated war zone where a handful of survivors scrabble to survive amongst bombed-out ruins. This really doesn't feel like winning.
✶ The 'cure for tempering' Alisaie was looking into earlier now both exists and works reliably.
✶ The Scions now feel that their enemies are not the Garleans but a separate group known as the Telophori, who pose an existential threat to absolutely everybody. Unity, in these circumstances, is almost a necessity.
✶ The player-character Warrior of Light, who accompanies Alisaie, is seen as a humanoid shape made up of blinding white light surrounded by a rainbow corona, of indeterminate age, race and gender. None of their individual features are discernible, and though they can be seen to be speaking their voice cannot be made out.
✶ I FUCKING HATE THIS FUCKING QUESTLINE OH MY GOD. It was really uncomfortable to play through and revisiting it is no fun either, JESUS.
Though you children may speak in earnest, overtures of peace ever ring hollow in my ears. So long as man seeks to profit from his neighbor's suffering, war is inevitable.
The Last Bastion
Summary
✶ Deep in Garlean territory, the Warrior of Light is charged with to accompany an Imperial soldier, Julius - who has been caught stealing supplies from an Alliance camp - to treat with his commanding officer. Over the objections of Y'shtola and acting somewhat against advice, Alisaie and Alphinaud volunteer to accompany them.
✶ Things go poorly practically from the start. Julius is suspicious and hostile from the first, and turns down the offer of aid after the group is attacked by tempered Garlean soldiers. He does not trust the 'cure' for tempering Alphinaud offers - even if he trusted it to actually work as advertised and not simply cause them to become fanatically devoted to Eorzea, he no longer considers the tempered to be his countrymen. When Alphinaud admits that there are limits to what the cure can achieve and that it would be unable to reverse physical changes, Julius dismisses it out of hand and urges them onward.
✶ The surviving Garleans are sheltering in Tertium, an abandoned subway station, and a mixed group of soldiers and civilians have set up camp in the concourse and carriages. Alphinaud notes that the Garleans must be almost out of supplies. Julius cautions them to be quieter - the others will not take kindly to their presence - and escorts them to his commanding officer, Legatus Quintus van Cinna of the 1st.
✶ Quintus, like Julius, is extremely skeptical of the Scions' claims that they bear the Garleans no ill will. He reminds them that the Garleans were driven to the frozen wastes of their current homeland, that only their command of Magitek kept them save from further invasion, and conquest and empire were their sole defense.
✶ Alphinaud speaks up, telling Quintus that he only wishes to offer them aid. Though he feels Alphinaud personally might mean it, Quintus feels the wider Eorzean contingent must have baser motives. Accepting help now will only leads to concessions and compromises that will lead to Garlemald's humiliation. Alisaie retorts that she wouldn't stand by and let that happen, and knows she's not alone in that. All she wants from the Legatus is for him to tell her what he wants. Alphinaud concurs, asking if they cannot work together: the Telophori are a threat to all of them, Garlemald as well as Eorzea.
✶ Quintus demands to know why they would reject Garlean subjugation if unity was truly all they wanted, and that all he hopes for is that Garlemald stay true to herself until the bitter end. Declaring the conversation over, he signals his troops inside the carriage, taking the three Scions prisoner. Quintus assures them that no harm will come to them if they cooperate, and orders that magitek collars be affixed to the twins' throats, to make certain of that fact. The Warrior of Light is spared, but it is made plain that any troublemaking on their own part will see the twins punished in their place.
✶ Julius is ordered to serve as the group's gaoler during their time in Tertium. Alisaie reassures the Warrior of Light that they will soon forget all about the collars, and the three set about trying tom ascertain the situation for the refugees in the station. Alisaie busies herself trying to assist the sick and wounded in the other carriages, and it soon becomes obvious that their condition is every bit as perilous as was feared.
✶ Alphinaud approaches Julius to enquire about the refugees' supplies. He confesses that keeping everyone warm is a pressing concern. Alisaie offers to have some sent over from their own supplies, but Julius refuses their charity: the Garleans simply have to wait it out.
✶ The Warrior of Light asks if he is referring to a mysterious group of fellow-countrymen, and Julius sees no harm in elaborating to prisoners. He believes the Imperial palace - a nightmarish edifice towering over the ruined capital - is the seat of the Telophori and the tempered Imperials both. Quintus has alerted surviving Garlean forces, who will rout the Alliance contingent, put paid to the Telophori, and reclaim the capital. Alphinaud tells him the refugees need help now: many of them will die long before any reinforcements could arrive. Julius agrees to speak to Quintus, but he is turned down flat. Instead he is ordered to search for ceruleum outside, taking his prisoners with him.
✶ The group search a local park for fuel. The wrecked magitek armor has long since been drained dry, and a search of the park at first seems as if it too will be fruitless. Alisaie notes that Julius is staring at the pond, and asks if anything is the matter: he explains that he used to bring his younger siblings there to play. A chance remark - that the water was heated - leads Alphinaud to realize there might still be fuel in the furnace, but Julius points out that the water is filthy and freezing, and he wouldn't know where to find the hatch.
✶ Alisaie asks Julius how he feels about magic. Having served with foreign mages, Julius says he's used to it. Taking that as permission to use it, Alisaie asks Alphinaud to fetch some firewood then announces she's going into the pond to search for the tank - something Julius thinks frankly insane. She and the Warrior of Light successfully search the pond and retrieve the ceruleum.
✶ As the four warm up by a magically-kindled fire, Julius speaks a little of how Garlemald was before the Capital fell. He fondly recalls his family and friends, and the warmth and safety of home and hearth. He repeats again that they simply need to hold on a little longer - even though those friends are dead and the city is in ruins, he still believes that the Garleans will be able to turn things around alone.
Notes
✶ Garlemald is Russia. There are no two ways about it. Forget the gratuitous Latin names and the magitek, it's Communist Russia right down to incipient hypothermia and borscht.
✶ Alisaie has absolutely no context at all for why she should be in Garlemald all of a sudden, still less why it's the Garleans this is proving most uncomfortable for. Far from the mighty Imperial capital her previous memories might have led her to expect, the city - and the countryside around it - is an icy, devastated war zone where a handful of survivors scrabble to survive amongst bombed-out ruins. This really doesn't feel like winning.
✶ The 'cure for tempering' Alisaie was looking into earlier now both exists and works reliably.
✶ The Scions now feel that their enemies are not the Garleans but a separate group known as the Telophori, who pose an existential threat to absolutely everybody. Unity, in these circumstances, is almost a necessity.
✶ The player-character Warrior of Light, who accompanies Alisaie, is seen as a humanoid shape made up of blinding white light surrounded by a rainbow corona, of indeterminate age, race and gender. None of their individual features are discernible, and though they can be seen to be speaking their voice cannot be made out.
✶ I FUCKING HATE THIS FUCKING QUESTLINE OH MY GOD. It was really uncomfortable to play through and revisiting it is no fun either, JESUS.