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Well, after the excitement of last time, this update probably won't hold up. The intro to this game is pretty slow, if realistic. Just because she helped the Sultana once doesn't mean that Ginger is now a known adventurer. It gives her a leg-up, sure, but she's still a nobody.
You're an adventurer, yes? If you're not otherwise occupied, I've a favor to ask. I've resolved to repay a debt of gratitude, which I owe to the owner of the Coffer & Coffin. For this purpose, I've purchased from the Royal Plantations a prodigiously plump pumpkin-a particularly popular piece of produce. Alas, I cannot part this place to procure and proffer the pumpkin. You see, the scheduled shipment from the Nanawa Mines, for which I wait, is late. I would prevail upon you to pick up the pumpkin in my stead, and see it safely to the Coffer & Coffin. Present this receipt of purchase to Gagari at the Royal Plantations, and she will yield it to you. I apologize for asking you to attend to this time-consuming task, but I truly appreciate your assistance!
It's not glamorous, but it does point us along the path.
Also just pointing out that I'm doing sidequests in the background. This one wants us to kill some shrews that are burrowing underneath the pumpkin patch. Now you know and now you may forget it exists!
If Cicidoa doesn't come calling soon, this spectacular specimen shall sadly be past its prime... Oh, so you're to deliver this decadent delight? I can say with confidence that any gourmand would be grateful for such a grand gift. Here is the pumpkin. I hope it meets with Roger's approval. Fresh produce is somewhat scarce in these parts, and as such we are always deluged with demand. You know the way to the Coffer & Coffin, correct? It is beyond the bridge to the northwest. Look for a place where local laborers lounge.
While making our way over to the Coffer & Coffin, we run into our first FATE. While it stands for something that is, I'm sure, profound, it ultimately doesn't matter what it means. FATEs are the FFXIV equivalent of public quests. A small area indicated by a blue circle on the minimap is where the FATE is active. And all you have to do is kill the indicated enemies before time runs out. Most FATEs last for 15 minutes, but some (harder) ones last for 30.
I don't really go out of my way to do them, but I do wnat to show at least one off for this LP. So...
Most FATEs have some sort of tiny story. In this case we need to kill some monsters so this nice Hyur father can feed his family.
See the Eft with the pink icon next to its name? That means it's a FATE target. These are the monsters we need to kill.
With each one we kill, the progress bar in our quest tracker goes up. Simple enough, right?
A few minutes later...
FATEs give you proportional rewards to how much you contributed. If you make an active effort to kill as many targets as you can, you'll get the gold medal reward. Moderate efforts get a silver medal, while barely trying or joining in late gets you a bronze medal.
FATEs are constantly spawning in every zone of the game. So if you need a quick influx of XP, they're pretty decent ways to go about it.
Continuing on past the FATE area, we find the road and start following it...
The C&C is the wooden building just ahead!
While killing something for a sidequest, we level up again and get our first Role Action. Ginger is a THM, so her "role" is magic DPS. Every magic DPS in the game gets access to the same list of role actions. In our case, we just learned Addle. A spell that I'm pretty sure nobody has on their bars.
Here's a peek at the magic DPS role actions.
Addle reduces the target's INT and MND by 10%. That's, uh, nice. I guess.
Swiftcast ensures your next spell is cast instantly. It's invaluable, especially for a turret spellcaster like THM/BLM.
Lucid Dreaming is a strong mana restore and a threat dump. I've been informed that Lucid Dreaming is no longer a threat dump, making it fairly useless for THM/BLM. Welp.
Surecast ensures you don't suffer pushback when you're casting spells. Useful for soloing, but arguably pretty useless in group content. I have also been informed that Surecast is the "fuck you I'm a caster" button! Basically, much later on in the game, there are a lot of mechanics in dungeons that throw you around. Surecast roots your ass to the ground so you don't get tossed around. That's pretty handy, actually! Shows what I get for not reading tooltips, right?
But enough about all that. Let's concentrate on the story.
So odd to see a normal name in a Final Fantasy title.
Drink fer ye, lassie? Ye won't get better ale or spirits fer yer coin than at me place. What's that? Wee Cicidoa asked ye to bring this here to me? Ha! Heh, so even that foul-mouthed drunk knows the meanin' o' remorse. Reckon this is fer the time I carried his drink-sodden arse back home. But hells, an honest to gods pumpkin from the Royal Plantations! I can't wait to see what the cooks'll do with her. The lads here scoff down beastly amounts o' meat, an' it's startin' to tell on their health. It'll be good to get more vegetables in their bellies-assumin' I can get the stubborn bastards to try somethin' new. Thanks fer the help, lassie!
We got some food for delivering the pumpkin, which is always nice. Food gives you a 30 minute buff that boosts some assorted stats. But, more importantly, most food gives you a minor boost to EXP earned!
Ye know, lassie, if yer just gonna stand around with yer thumb up yer arse, I can give ye something to do. Thanks to me unbelievably low prices, we've no shortage of customers here at the Coffer & Coffin. But by the same token, I can't afford to hire much help. We're chronically understaffed. What's more, there's those lazy-arsed types what refuse to come an' order at the counter. It'd be a great help if ye could attend these customers for me. Mark their orders on these here slips, then bring them here. Oh, and don't forget about ol' Adalfuns outside and up top.
Ginger leads such a glamorous life. She's now a waitress. Or, hostess, I guess. Just gonna skip over this quest because it's a glorified sidequest. The TLDR version is "Ginger went and got everyone's orders" great now I've saved you some bandwidth.
That's all the orders, then? Let's see here... Ale, brandewine, grilled dodo... And for Adalfuns... Lemme guess-one tankard of ale. Right bleedin' miser, that one. I oughta put me boot up his arse. Anyroad, ye did good, lassie. By way of thanks, I'm gonna tell ye something what ought to prove to yer profit.
It's not even worth showing the dialogue for this. Roger is sending us to the next quest hub. We need to kill 5 gigantic ants on the way over.
The ants are just up the hill.
Then we just head up the hill from the Coffer & Coffin, up to the settlement with the Aetheryte.
Warin is happy to see that we've killed the giant ants and brought proof of the deed.
This next quest is actually somewhat interesting in that it's wholly a gameplay thing.
Basically this is a "have you been equipping all that stuff you've been given?" quest. We could technically finish this immediately, but...
Equip your head, body, hands, legs, and feet with gear of item level 5 or above and present yourself to him for inspection.
Your starting gear is all level 5. So you only need to get a level 5 hat and you're good to go. We'll come back to this, because this is a perfect opportunity to go back to Western Thanalan to do some errands.
First things first...
Teleport was already on our bars, but by attuning to a second Aetheryte we can now actually make use of it.
Back at the C&C, there was another path heading to the west.
Neat ruins. They'll be important later on! For now, let us continue onward.
And just like that, we're in the Western Thanalan!
We're not too far away from somewhere we've already been. Scorpion Crossing is just in view in the distance thanks to the fog.
Along the way we nuke some hunting log marks.
And after an eternity, we finally arrive at the designated spot for our THM quest. The little glowing Destination marker shows where we need to place the dried fish.
And then another marker appears in the distance where we need to wait in order to lure out our target.
We're level 9. This vulture is level 5. It's a tad one-sided!
Just down the hill is the Silver Bazaar, with the guy that we need to deliver our "sorcery blasted bird flesh" to.
You're done making use of my "testing grounds," are you? Cough up the fee, then.
*hands over bird meat*
Hee hee! There's nothing so tender as a bit of meat pummeled with wanton wizardry. Nice doing business with you, thaumaturge.
...Did you say "thaumaturge"? Has this mage just completed a guild trial?
Ah, Master Alchemist, what brings you out to our bazaar this fine afternoon? This lady here just slew herself a plump vulture. You'd be surprised at how many of these scepter-wielding sorcerers end up sliced to ribbons by beak and talon. And that's not the sort of flesh I've a taste for, you understand.
My brothers... Not again!
We're headed back to the guild to get paid. And to ask Cocobuki some questions. By the way, none of the dialogue for this quest is on the wiki. So I have to hand transcribe all of it. Fucking lazy editors.
Aaah! Ah, welcome back, Ginger. You seem to have done well. Both eyes intact. Face appears unshredded.
It truly is the most terrible feeling to have one's casting interrupted by heinous injury.
Hmph. It's one of the easier trials, if you ask me. Keep well away from pointy, slashy, bashy things if you want to reach the end of an arcane utterance that's just common sense.
Fortune favors the fighter who flings fire from arar! I simply love the look of loathing leveled at me by the distant duelist distressed by my deadly downpour! Bwahahahaha!
<cringe> We thaumaturges excel at offense, but fail miserably at defense. Our most effective strategy is to topple our adversaries with overwhelming force before they have a chance to respond. Honor is for knights... and dead mages.
Hm hm hm... Ginger, your studies appear to be progressing nicely. It won't be long before you dominate the battlefield as an avatar of sorcerous destruction.
So it's true, Buki! Don't try to hide from me, Bygo! Or you, Bani! Or Bezi! Or Boha!
C-Cocobusi!? What are you doing here!?
You promised! You promised you would teach me next!
Well, yes, of course we did, Busi, but-Ginger here was most insistent!
Hey, fuck you buddy! Don't throw us under the bus like that.
<sniffle> And once again you brust me aside in the hope that I abandon my heart's desire! Why do you deny me!? I hate you! All of you!
This is the same reason I stopped playing the Ace Attorney games. I can't stand the "dramatic anime outburst" thing. Especially when it's paired with "runs off without giving the other side a chance to react" finisher.
Please, Busi! You shouldn't say such hurtful things. You know how delicate Bygo is!
Cocobuki has shown that he's willing to throw anyone under the bus if he can come out the other side looking good. He's an asshole.
<cough> Erm. That was Cocobusi, our youngest brother. He so dearly wishes to become a thaumaturge like the rest of us, but it simply isn't possible. The poor boy's aetheric levels are pitifully low. We thought we had convinced him to accept fate's cruel quirks when he entered the Alchemists' Guild, but he yet yearns to walk the path of thaumaturgy.
Such is Cocobusi's determination that he spends all his waking moments experimenting with alchemical concoctions, seeking a method by which he can expand his capacity for arcane manipulation... Ahem, well, this is obviously not your concern. Back to the abyss with you, young thaumaturge! ...And I mean that in the most encouraging manner possible!
We get some new robes and a brand new staff! Also this is how the class and job quests work. The first quest is a gimme that tests your ability to hit buttons consecutively. Starting with the level 5 quest, the story kicks in. In this case, it's about Cocobusi and his desire to be a spellcaster despite the fact that actually casting any spell will literally kill him.
Warning, I'm about to skip about 45 minutes of playtime. Ginger's appearance will change, but it was all sidequests.
This robe covers our head slot. With it equipped we can't actually complete the quest from earlier about "equipping a level 5 item in every slot." Because the head slot is forced to be empty.
Anyway, the story arc in the Bazaar was pretty milquetoast. The Bazaar was past its prime and land developers wanted to buy the land so they could build housing. And so they tried to post fake writs of seizure on the houses. You tear the writs down and then drive off the land developer by giving them back. Then the two people who, earlier, were like "god I hate this place" are now like "let's make the Bazaar as great as it used to be! We used to hate it, but now we love it."
And then everyone stands up and claps and Momodi gives you a new shirt.
Because we're now level 10, back we go to Cocobuki. If it feels like I'm skipping around a lot, it's because I am. The early game is like 90% sidequests and all the MSQ stuff is glorified sidequests. So I'm giving the heavily abridged version of events. Just imagine that in between each quest, Ginger is going out and getting 5 bear asses for four different people.
Yes, Ginger, yes. The aura of power surrounding you is palpable. The glare begins to blind my thaumaturge's eye. Your lesson. Today shall be taught by Cocobani. Go to him and hear from the chapter entitled: "The Threat of Paucity."
Aha! So, Ginger you have come to learn at the foot of the third eldest brother, have you? I promise you, however, your education shall not be third-rate! Let us read from the second chapter shall we? Are you settled? No last moment trips to the privy? Very well. "The Threat of Paucity. Ah how magnificent the ruthless power we wield. Flame devours, ice entombs and lightning courses through the stricken bodies of our foes. But oh such desperation when the wellspring runs dry. Flame sputter out, ice melts into slush and lightning sparks no longer. Know you this threat, and mind you the limits of your mortal vessel."
A terrifying thought isn't it? A thaumaturge who has exhausted his arcane reserves is naught but a man with a stick and a funny hat. For we mages you may as well equate the aetheric energy flowing through our veins with our very lifeblood - should a battle find us lacking in this precious resource we are as good as dead.
Now, with the concepts of aetheric balance and efficient casting foremost in your mind, I bid you go forth and slay... Eight efts! Pray do you best to stay alive - it reflects badly on me when the mauled corpse of one of my pupils is returned to Ossuary.
I cut out three paragraphs that were him explaining the Astral Fire/Umbral Ice mechanic. The fact that the level 10 quest is dedicated to teaching you about something you've been doing since level 2 is suspect. But some thaumaturge players aren't very bright. Legends speak of the fabled "frost mage" who only wants to cast Blizzard spells.
We'll work on that in the coming updates. This quest is kinda rude because it asks you to go visit the level 15 zone when you're level 10.
We're back in Black Brush Station, the place we were earlier in the update. The place where the guy asked us to get a bunch of level 5 gear. This is something I want to point out. Do you see the oddly shaped exclamation mark over top of this Chocobokeep? This isn't a quest!
Well met, traveler! Might I interest you in a chocobo porter? Ah, do not tell me, this is your first visit to this stop. I shall update my register with your name, so that you might access this location in the future.
The oddly shaped mark means that it's a taxi point we haven't yet unlocked. These are pretty important in the early game before you have your own mount. And even later on if you don't want to pilot the whole way manually.
So you are ready for inspection? Good. Everything appears in order. Yet know that naught is guaranteed in this world. Fate is a fickle mistress, after all. At any rate, capable adventurers like you are few and far between, and I would not have you throw your life away. I have had to bury too many comrades who brushed aside cracks in their hauberks and dints in their helms. No matter what you face, do not disregard the importance of gear.
I'm cutting this one here and letting it be a short update.