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We're back with Ginger now. So let's continue her adventures in Ul'dah!
Hihito is part of the continuing story of Ginger turning into hired muscle.
How can the Ossuary demand such exorbitant contributions every single moon!? It's outrageous, I tell you! Don't they understand that a woman had needs? How do they expect me to pay for rouge and Sunsilk dresses, and feed my marmot? Oh, if only I'd had the foresight to marry a more ambitious man! This is all his fault! If he just worked harder and showed some initiative, surely he would be rewarded-maybe even promoted! If things don't improve, it won't be long before I join the beggars in Pearl Lane. Save me from this cruel fate, I beg of you! Speak with my husband, Bobonima, and find some way to motivate him! You should find him at the Coliseum entrance, wearing one of those ridiculous outfits.
This town sucks.
These steps in front of us lead to the coliseum. So let's head that way. If you squint at the minimap, you can see a quest marker there. That's Hihito's henpecked husband.
...Aye, I'm Bobonima. Congratulations, you've found the world's worst husband. That is, if you believe that harpy I have for a wife. She never cooks, she never cleans, she just gallivants around spending my hard-earned money. And now I see she's speaking ill of me to bloody strangers! Well, if you're hells-bent on meddling in my affairs, you can assist me by taking some of these flyers and posting them on the walls inside the Coliseum. I've got a long day ahead of me standing out here, so I won't be getting to it anytime soon. When you've finished, go and tell Wolkan at the Gladiators' Guild. He should give you something for your trouble.
This is an introduction to another type of quest. Let me just blow up the quest tracker real quick...
We're getting a lot of kill quests that we'll have to address before too long. But more importantly, do you see the one on top? Let me just blow it up again...
Do you see the little scroll icon next to the words Unholy Matrimony? That's a thing we can click. In this case, Bobonima wants us to put up some fliers for him. So let's go do that!
These blue shapes mean that we're at a zone transition border.
I've been playing this game off and on for years. I will never remember which are the Stepls of Nald and which are the Steps of Thal.
This bit of Exposed Wall looks like a likely spot for a flyer!
All we have to do is target it and hit the little button on our quest tracker. We could also right click it and select the item from our key items inventory. Either works!
We just have to put a couple more up and then we're done. They're not glamorous sidequests, but they are paying, at least.
Two...
And three!
And Genevieve here has a quest for us as well. Handy!
Ah! What have you done!? Your kind has no business to even look at a lady such as I. Such shocking, unbelievable insolence! And now look-look at how my gil is scattered across the ground! Pick it up, right this instant!
Charming.
This is another bit of tutorializing. We just have to right click on all her dropped gil and Ginger will slowly pick it up. I'll save you all the bandwidth and we can safely assume that I picked it all up without having to show five pictures that are mostly identical!
My gil...now! And there had better be naught missing! Hmmm, this appears to be everything. ...What are you still staring at? Are you expecting some kind of reward? The insolence! Hmph!
We got paid almost half of the total we've made so far just to go away! 
The door behind Genevieve is the Gladiators' Guild. I mentioned it several updates ago, but Gladiators are a sword and board class. Unsurprisingly, they're tanks. Though I do like the conceit that students are trained to be gladitorial combatants. As you might expect, Ul'dah's Coliseum is a popular attraction for the rich and poor alike. People love them some bloodsports, no matter the setting.
Have you come to wish me luck? I appreciate the thought, but there's no need to worry. What!? You don't know who I am!? The next biggest thing that's coming to the Coliseum!? Zazarikku is my name, and you'll be hearing all about my exploits in the coming days. I've even thought of a title for myself: the Garnet Gladiator! Ah, which reminds me-I have yet to collect the circlet I commissioned from the Goldsmiths' Guild. You wouldn't mind picking it up for me, would you?
If you do the quests in the order that I do them, then you pretty much get led through all of Ul'dah on a pretty efficient route with almost no doubling back needed! This guy's quest is more subtle tutorializing, teaching us where to find both one of the crafter jobs and one of the gatherer jobs.
Both, coincidentally, also have aethernet nodes nearby. So by spending the extra time to do these quests, we go on a tour of the whole city and get led pretty much by the nose past all of the in-city fast travel points. It's pretty slick and subtle as hell!
While we're here, let's get paid for putting up those fliers on the walls.
Ye helpin' Bobonima? Well, ain't that charitable of ye! Franz's gotten pretty popular of late, and his fans keep stealin' these flyers and takin' them home as souvenirs. ...Ahhh, so ye've met Bobonima's wife. Now I understand. Sorry to hear ye got caught up in all that. If ye ask me, they're made for one another. Not that it's my place to judge, mind. Anyroad, we appreciate yer help.
No money, but potions can be helpful, too! Also Franz is the big name at the Gladiators' guild. He's a local celebrity, though I don't actually think we'll meet him until much, much, much later in the LP. Like, we'll be working on what I would call the post-game stuff of A Realm Reborn before we ever get to meet him.
We also level up after we put the posters up! 1 down, 78 to go! There's a few pop-ups, so let's take a moment to look at them. Though both of them deal with the same thing.
Ginger learned to set things on fire with her mind. So now we get introduced to the primary mechanic of THMs: Astral Fire and Umbral Ice. Again, I'll explain this more in-depth once we actually get to fight enemies. The quick explanation is that THMs and BLMs are jobs largely built around burn and regenerate phases. Astral Fire is your burn phase, and you only want to cast fire spells. When you run low on MP, you cast ice spells to put you in Umbral Ice, which makes your MP regeneration super quick.
It's a mite hard to explain, though with three minutes of messing around with it, you get a pretty intuitive grasp of the mechanic.
While we're here, Wolkan has a kill quest for us. We're getting quite a bunch of these!
Carried yer arse in here lookin' for work, eh? Well, yer in luck. Just so happens I've a deed what needs doin'. Wild ladybugs've been wreakin' bloody havoc on the outskirts of town. Somethin' in the air of late's made 'em ornery as an aurochs in rut. Ain't much for fightin' on their own, but in numbers they're more than a match for any merchant who's seen more days at the teat than he has on the battlefield. Well, what'll it be? Fancy puttin' down four or so of the bloody buggers, or don't ye?
This quest, as you might have seen above, actually rewards us with some gear. We won't be able to wear it until level 5. But we're taking our first steps on the road to being a better geared adventurer.
Let's continue on our way. This part of Ul'dah is massive, so we still have a lot of ground left to cover.
There's an aethernet shard just through the doorway. This services the GLD guild.
Here's a map of the area. Just next to the aethernet shard is some stairs up, but that leads to an area we'll be exploring later. For now, we're going to hang a right just ahead and head toward the Goldsmiths' Guild (GSM), and then follow the outer edge of the city past the Miners' Guild (MIN), to the Weavers' Guild (WVR). And only then finally head upstairs to Hustings Strip.
Each sub-area, you can see, has some local quest for us to do.
Like I said, there's an aethernet shard at every stop we're making on the journey. This is outside the GSM guild.
Zazarikku's circlet? Just a moment, miss. Oh dear, this is so embarrassing. I am afraid crafting the circlet to Zazarikku's specifications has proven somewhat difficult. We ran out of garnets halfway through our work, and we are still waiting on the next shipment. I hate to impose, but would you explain the situation to Crooked Haft at the Miners' Guild? My records indicate that he was supposed to deliver the gemstones yesterday. Mayhap it slipped his mind?
Simple enough. We need to get the MIN aethernet shard anyway, and it's right along the way. Also say hi to Erik. He's a jerk that I didn't even realize was hanging out here before the quests he's in occur. We'll just leave him to his oh-so-important job of making sure the floor doesn't float away.
Down this hallway, we're on our way to the MIN guild.
What could be keeping her? My beloved! Yellow Moon and I promised to meet at this very spot, but two bells have passed and I've nary a word from her. Gods, I hope she's all right... As much as I wish to go off and find her, I simply cannot. What if she were to come in my absence? Please, would you search for her in my stead? It's possible she's somewhere near the Weavers' Guild. She always enjoyed watching the- By the gods! Do you...do you think she's left me for someone more...dapper? I try not to look a bumpkin, but I've no mind for fashion!
We'll get to this, uh, lovesick man in a moment. First, we have a thing to do just down the hall from here.
Whoops. Don't wanna forget this!
Crooked Haft is our man for the garnets for the gladiator quest.
I've a mind to drain a pint, so hurry up an' speak yer business. ...She wants how many bloody garnets!? Seven hells, lass, they don't grow on trees! But more than that, this lad what fancies himself the next Franz the Fair ought to worry less about style an' more about swordplay! Anyroad, I'll do my part to ensure the little bastard gets bedecked in all the godsdamned garnets he can afford. And if he dies in the first fight, well, at least he'll leave a pretty corpse.
It's XP at the very least. 
Back out in the main area and going past Bitter Snow, we can find an outdoors area.
This area becomes more important later on when the Blue Mage (BLU) and BLM quests get hubs in the area. For now, it's mostly notable because the Calamity Salvager can be found here. If you lose irreplacable, unique items from quests, he's the guy to talk to. High level job quests offer unique armor, for instance. If you "lose" it, you can buy it once again from him for a pittance.
This little hub area is outside of the WVR guild.
Two sidequests to pick up, and one that terminates here! Impressive.
We'll talk to Juliana through the railing.
If it is work you seek, the Weavers' Guild welcomes you. Indeed, your timing is impeccable. A soiree is to be held with all of Ul'dah's elite in attendance. Once the invites went out, the orders came in, and that with a fury. Every lord and lady from Cape Deadwind to Cinderfoot is demanding the latest fineries. I need hands, and I need them now. Yet I cannot spare the time to go off in search of them. Would you care to aid us, friend? I ask no more than you welcome to our doors any willing souls you might find. Come, let us see how you fare. Show me your warmest welcome.
Many quests ask us to use emotes on NPCs. So this is introducing those. We'll /welcome Juliana in a moment. First...
Something in a cream...? Oh, whatever shall I do? This dress... I just can't seem to finish it. Oh, the design is flawless. Absolutely flawless, of that I have no doubt. But I simply cannot settle on a color for the life of me! How would you like to conduct a bit of field research for me? I'm dying to know what color the ladies of Ul'dah are wearing these days-especially on the Hustings Strip. And when you're finished, please call on Leucu at the Alchemists' Guild. The woman is a wizard with dyes. Have her cook up whatever color you find is most popular.
Talk to some people and get their opinions? Sure!
And then finally...
Byregot be good, just look at me! This hair... This outfit... They don't match at all! I look atrocious! What was I thinking!? Oh, I can't let Bitter Snow see me like this. Maybe that last tunic was best, after all. Or no... Perhaps the blue? Hm? Bitter Snow is waiting for me? But I haven't anything to wear!
And then the quest just ends. Sure, why not?
Back around to Juliana, let's /welcome her!
Also known as the gesture that Momodi gave us previously.
Excellent! I daresay I would work for you myself. Now hurry off! We need those people!
There's a bunch of NPCs just standing around outside the guild. So we just need to /welcome them.
We'll start with these two ladies.
Work at the Weavers' Guild? Hmmm... I'd be lying if I said I weren't interested. To whom might I go inquire further?
The weavers are recruiting!? Finally, my chance to become a famous designer!
We have to welcome them individually, but whatever. That's 2/5!
/welcome
Weavin' work? Take a look at me, friend. I'm a bloody guard, and on duty no less! Move along, now.
/welcome
So, the weavers need help, do they? Sorry, friend, I'm all set for coin.
I appreciate the offer, but I must refuse. I'm all thumbs when it comes to stitching and whatnot.
Two outta five ain't bad. I guess. It'll have to do, at any rate!
You've returned! Well, how did you fare? ...Two potential recruits, you say? Welcome news! I only hope their zeal for fashion will show in their efforts for the guild. What we do here may seem all silk and satin, to be sure, but the work within these walls is far from easy. In that, I suppose our trade is not unlike any other.
Not bad for a few minutes of work, eh?
There's a few sidequest markers on the stairs leading up, which brings us to the upper levels of Ul'dah. We're making pretty good progress today!
Oh, a Sultansworn, no less. If you see anyone wearing armor like Aubelet here, they're the personal bodyguards of the Sultana. They're highly trained fighters and their order were founded by Paladins. Indeed, you become one of them when you transition from GLD to PLD at level 30.
The most popular color of late? Well, all colors have their merits, of course. But, if pressed, I'd have to say red.
Why, any color is perfectly fine for a dress, you silly thing. So long as it comes off easily at the end of the night!
Classy.
Hustings Strip are the upper levels of Ul'dah. Just from looking around you can tell it's the rich part of town.
What color is in fashion? Well, I must say, I'm just back from Gridania, and I find there's a certain verve to verdant livery... <sigh> Green, you bloody idiot!
There are Sultansworn everywhere up here.
Best color for a dress? Well, you know what they say: once you go black, you never go back.
Black dresses are pretty classy for evening wear.
Yellow. What fairer color than that in the name of the fairest maiden? Yellow Moon... Oh, Yellow Moon, how my heart pines for you!
I guess Yellow Moon is a popular lady.
Here's our map for the upper floors. We came up the right side and have come down the hallway. The Vox Populi quest have three more stops up here, and then we'll find ourselves in front of the Alchemists' Guild (ALC). From there, we'll have to warp back down to the WVR guild and turn the quest in, and then continue on to the markets.
There's never a shortage of white dresses on our Ul'dahn ladies. Surely, it is the most comfortable color to wear under this murderous sun.
Even dark colors can be better than white if the material is light. Take me, for instance. I'm wearing a cream-colored tee, but the sucker is so heavy that it's not smart to wear in the summer when the weather "feels like 94F" and is "60% humidity". Like today is. If you don't use Freedom Units, that's 34.4C.
The point is it's really fucking hot here today and clothing material means a lot.
Personally, I have always had a thing for a motley of red and green overlaid with stripes of purple and dark brown.
I'm pretty sure I've seen some posters in the Warframe thread in Games with the same color scheme.
You can tell the ALC guild is important, because it's so high up in the city next to all the nobles.
Red, ever and always! This is Ul'dah, my dear girl, where the sun beats on your back with fiery fists, and the sins and sands are hot and unforgiving and everywhere at once. We Ul'dahns live for our passions, and our lust for life is surpassed only by our lust for lust!
I believe that's two for red.
Always get aethernet shards.
Leucu here, conveniently enough, is who we turn in the Vox Populi quest to. And hey, if you did it like we did, that was all 8 people spoken to before we reached this point!
You are here on behalf of the Weavers' Guild, are you not? Yes, Aethelwine said you'd be along. Well, what color is it to be, then? It sounds as though you have two votes for red, one vote each for green, yellow, white, and black, one abstaining, and one vote for...a motley of red and green overlaid with stripes of purple and dark brown. By no means a resounding victory, but I suppose red it shall be.
I have some catalysts I've been saving for just such an occasion. Mark my words: I'm going to concoct the most vibrant red Ul'dah has ever seen! Alchemy may look arcane and esoteric to the uninitiated, but it is grounded in naught but science and experimentation. Indeed, I daresay it does more to advance culture and civilization than nigh any other discipline.
ALC is a pretty cool crafting job. During raid times, your potions are in heavy demand. And outside of that, you can make a wide variety of other stuff!
Oh, neat! We just got our first achievement. Let's see what it's all about, shall we?
10 quests already? Not bad. Most of them were probably from this very update, even!
Yes, yes... Yes! At last, my work is complete! Mark my words: this formula will revolutionize alchemy as we know it! With just a sip of this tonic, even raging fevers will be instantly extinguished! But I must needs test it, adventurer! While I produce more, I bid you take this batch to Pearl Lane, to a man there named Landebert. He is trusted by the other refugees. Persuade this Landebert to take my tonic and give it to his people. I require nothing in exchange-after all, if it is truly effective, it will be a tremendous boon to the advancement of the alchemic arts..and uh, mankind at large!
There's no shying away from it. Ul'dah is a fucked up place. This guy wants the refugees to test his potion because they're poor and homeless, and nobody (important) would miss them if they suddenly died or went blind from drinking something improperly mixed up. Nobody in Ul'dah is a philanthropist. Every seemingly charitable act has an ulterior motive.
Even Ginger here is helping out for both pocket change and to get her name out there as someone willing to do odd jobs.
Now that we've gotten all but two aethernet shards in the city, we can see that our fast travel options are pretty wide. We can instantly teleport to any other shard we've attuned with. So let's just return to the WVR guild.
Handy!
If we keep heading through this hallway, we'll reach Pearl Lane.
The sun's already coming up. We've been at this all night!
This is taken from the Gamerescape Wiki, the site from which I've been copying all this quest text so I don't have to do any transcription. Each Eorzean day takes a little longer than an hour. It was 6:46 when I recorded this. So if we continued playing until 7:21 AM, we'd see the sun setting, and then at 7:56 the sun would rise again.
Anyway, Pearl Lane is full of refugees from Ala Mhigo living in poverty. Several years before Bahamut nearly ended the world, Ala Mhigo was invaded by and then subjugated by the Garlean Empire. Many, many of its people fled from the fascists and drifted into Eorzea. The poor areas of Ul'dah are positively overflowing with them.
Ala Mhigo is a name to keep in the back of your mind as the LP goes on. Because we'll be seeing a lot of refugees as our adventuring career continues.
Eh? Medicine for the sick? Hah! We're not fools, lass. We know full well what that bastard Alewyn is up to. ...But we'll accept his medicine nonetheless. Look at us-beggars can't be choosers. Might be as it's a mere experiment to him, but to us it's a matter of life and death. If we've got to choose between this bastard's swill and nothing at all, is it really a choice?
The sultanate doesn't really care about the Ala Mhigan refugees. The Monetarists would rather be rid of them, but they don't really have a way to do that and still come out looking slightly good. So instead they just ignore the problem and offer them no support.
Few come here by choice, and fewer still bearing medicine. Your kindness shouldn't go unrewarded. This vase is important to us, but I want you to have it. It's just some old pottery, I know, but it might be valued by...collectors of cultural artifacts. There are men who are willing to pay good coin for such objects. If you go to the Sapphire Avenue Exchange, chances are you'll find one of them.
Just from the sea of blue names in front of us, you can tell we're somewhere important.
One more aethernet shard after this one, and it's one we've already seen, even! In fact, it was the very first one I pointed out.
The market board is the auction house equivalent. There's some good stuff to be found here, but you almost never want to buy leveling gear from it. That's a mistake I made way too often as a new player. You will get price gouged quite badly if you do!
Seseroga is the man that Momodi wrote a letter to. He's the master of the markets and will explain the avenue to us. But the short version? There's merchants all up and down the street, all selling different stuff. Plus the market boards up and down the street as well.
Get ready for a mouthful, because like other MSQ speeches, Seseroga likes to hear himself talk.
And you are? ...Ho, a newly come adventurer. But of course. Yes, I am Seseroga. What can I do for you? Ah, you would have me teach you the ways of the marketplace? Very wise. As for my fee... What? You expect me to do it for free!? Surely you jest. My dear adventurer, when you ask an Ul'dahn for a favor, you should at least try to make it worth his while. Judging by your garb, I rather doubt you could afford my services, but the fact you offer nothing is laughable.
Oh. Mistress Momodi instructed you to seek me out, did she? Hmph. Consider yourself fortunate to have such influential friends. I shall be brief, and you shall be attentive. You stand in the Sapphire Avenue Exchange, the busiest and most profitable marketplace in the sultanate. Being advantageously situated in relation to the other city-states, Ul'dah's markets have ever served as both the literal and figurative centers of Eorzean commerce.
All the great overland trade routes lead to our city, and the majority of maritime trade between Vylbrand and Aldenard passes through our ports. Because of this, countless companies and consortia have chosen Ul'dah as their base of operations. They see to it that this marketplace is awash with merchants and moneylenders, day and night. Anything a man could ever desire can be purchased here-provided as he has sufficient funds. Surely there's something you seek, adventurer? A deadlier sword, perhaps, or a shinier trinket? Whatever it is you want, the exchange will have it.
To the north, you will find merchants peddling armor and accessories, curatives and crafting materials.
And to the south, you will find weapons, tools, and an assortment of other useful items for sale.
Seek out a particular merchant, or browse to your heart's content. But do try to remain aloof should you find something that piques your interest. Decisions made in the heat of the moment are usually unwise, especially where coin is concerned. Ahem. That is all the complimentary aid you shall have from me-and far too much for my taste. My regards to Momodi. Now, off with you!
At least Seseroga was somewhat polite. The guy in Gridania is downright nasty to you. I've never done a Lisma start, so I can't speak to what they're like, but probably much in the same vein as the other two.
That's the first MSQ (singular) of the game finished! Just gotta turn it in to Momodi. So let's work our way back to the Quicksand. Thankfully, it's just down the street from where we are now. And, yes, we can finish a sidequest along the way.
I can't even pretend that I can pronounce that.
Welcome, welcome! What might a discerning lady like yourself be looking for today? Hmmm... Permit me to examine this vase of yours. ...I hope you did not spend too much coin on this trash! A flood of like items brought in by refugees has destroyed what demand once existed. The markets are fickle, my friend. If you lose sight of current trends, you stand to lose everything-as I once did. Market wards once bore my name, until fate and hubris reduced me to this. For your sake, I pray that you do not have to learn this lesson the same way I did.
111 gil is our largest payout yet!
Just down the street from, uh, that guy are the market boards I use the most often on Balmung. And just past those...
Yeah, I'm gonna hide my chat log when next I record.
There's the last aethernet shard and it's right next to the Quicksand.
You have attuned yourself to all the Aethernet shards in Ul'dah. The gate of Nald, the Gate of Thal, the Gate of the Sultana, and the airship landing are now accessible as Aethernet destinations.
When you attune yourself to all the Aethernet shards in a major city, you can use them to teleport freely to any of the zones bordering the city as well! It's quite handy!
We'll close this update out by talking to Momodi and actually finishing our first main story quest.
How was your tour of the city, Ginger? Get lost, did you? Aye, well, Ul'dah's a big place with lots to see and do-but wanderin' around aimlessly don't pay the bills. If you're serious about makin' a livin' here, you'll need to remember where things are. So when you go explorin', explore like you've got a purpose, eh?
All right, then! All that's left is for you to work hard, make money, and spend it here at the Quicksand!
I like Momodi. She's a really sweet lady.
And that's the first step on the FFXIV MSQ down! And, unsurprisingly, we've already hit a level gate.
Even though we, ourselves, have hit level 3.
We can't start Momodi's next quest until we're level 4. So this is a perfect opportunity to tackle all those kill quests we picked up while exploring the city. And we'll do just that next time!