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July 20, 2010

Emotional Journey to the Other Side

Lately, Abyssea has been all the rage for the residents of Vana'diel. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone *not* actually interested in going there, primarily due to the incredible amounts of exp that can be acquired. Oddly enough, I find this area much more enjoyable than any "lolibri" party imaginable.

So far, this place has everything. Challenging enemies, free-roaming NMs, VNMs, incredible armor (even if a bit uninspired in design), and exp setups that are actually designed for large groups. As one person described it earlier this morning, it's a DDs wet dream party.

After a run today, I had quite a bit of time built up. More than the system would allow me to carry over. So rather than waste it, I decided to wander around the zone and unlock all the confluxes as well as see what I could find out there. Besides stating the obvious NMs and other things that you expect to find, I came across something a bit more poignant: Abyssea's emotional state.

You probably wouldn't notice it when you're with a group because you aren't really paying attention to the area. Sure, the zones are eerily pretty and the music is nice for the whole 30 seconds it takes to arrive at camp. From that point on though, I doubt that anyone really gives a damn about what's really happening around them.

As I wandered Tahrongi Canyon, I made it a point to speak with every NPC I could find. As I said, I had a lot of extra time to stick around. None of us really know what has happened, but it's obvious that the people of Windurst have gone through and are still going through hell.

Apparently, everyone that we run into in the canyon was originally stationed in the city of Windurst, and not just some nomadic campers who got caught in the crossfire. The city was invaded by the Abyssean hordes, and when the Star Sybil realized that they couldn't win, she used a teleportation spell as a last resort to transport the survivors out of the city limits and to someplace safe. Unfortunately, the spell didn't deliver the results she was hoping for.

Everyone was transported, but they were scattered about the canyon in small clusters of survivors. So each group made a small encampment and has been doing their best to survive ever since. As you speak with each person, you can get a sense of desperation in their words. At one camp, there is a young Galka sobbing for one of his kind to return, saying "please come back...don't leave me...alone." Further into the zone you find the Galka in question, and for whatever reason, he is determined to tear down a mountain, stone by stone. He mentions that his body is weak, and the skin from his hands are torn away, but he will not stop.

There is much more to be said about the current state of affairs, but it does make you wonder. Just what the hell happened out there, and what are these creatures after? We have two more expansions to find out. I do hope that SE turns this mysterious introduction into a story as epic as Wings of the Goddess, and not just a quick way to farm XP and get items.

3 comments:

CidBahamut said...

Ah, it's nice to see the dev team is still making a point of putting together a real world for those of us who care to take a break from exping and gearing.

Call me an sadist, but the destruction of Windurst fills me with unspeakable glee. Or maybe you'd just call me a Bastokan.

Evilpaul said...

Fellow Bastoker here, but I kind of like Windy. It's Sandy I generally dislike. Then again, I leveled Cooking to 100, so it's sort of like a second home to me.

I'm not going to spoil anything, but the Abyssea story thus far (from what I've gleaned mostly from hearing other people talk about stuff) seems pretty interesting. I really need to get WotG Missions done. >.<

Jacinda said...

@Cid: Yeah, it seems like there's a great opportunity for story with this new expansion. I'm a sucker for storylines, so I'm fairly excited.

Also, stop hating on my City. Windurst Forever!

@EP: I've told you 85 billion times to let me know when you're going to do those fights and I'll try to help. I'm finished with Windurst now so I can do the others at any time.