Heavensward Lore Tours: The Aery

Lore Tour! Dragons!
This video extensively contains my own commentary and editing and is intended for educational purposes.

[@chillsahoy2640]

That Skype alert reminded me that this video is from 2015. Oh boy how much has changed! Well I just wanted to thank you for all your lore videos, and I'm going through them in chronological order while also exploring the MSQ in Endwalker.

[@jehutydark6658]

So, obviously it's not so simple but I do consider Nidhogg a tragic figure. I don't condone what he's doing, a simple war to destroy Ishgard would be actually LESS destructive than what he's at. But the reason I find him tragic is that the war isn't about him, his own wounds, and post-main story, his own DEATH do not bother him. It's about his sister, and in some twisted way there's a sweetness to his commitment to avenge her. I also flip flop a lot about whether I think he's completely lost his sense or not, but if he did that'd make it a little more sad to me. I'd love to see some pvp stuff from you though, since I only just got into pvp with seal rock as well. Keep up the great work!

[@patrickdonoghue9151]

I'm disappointed you didn't talk about Gyascutus's move-set, to me it is one of the most interestingly named in the game. The AoE he uses that sets down the gas clouds is named "Fall of Man", his targeted disease debuff is called "Original Sin" and his tank-killer move is named "Serpent's Apple". I thought it was quite interesting to have such oblique references to the Garden of Eden tale especially when we consider the history of the Dragonsong war, which I find has a lot of direct comparisons to the whole idea of "The Fall" in abrahammic belief.

[@l3onprid3]

I do sympathize with Nidhogg. I hated most of the HW story cuz I had no choice but to basically work for the bad guys. Think of having a sister that you love dearly. Now think of her having a friend or lover that brutally murdered and mutilated her and stole her belongings. That's what happened to Nidhogg.

[@dariusd2003]

I totally agree. I couldn't help but want to join his cause and raze ishgard to the ground. As you said, I related to the loss of a sibling due to violence. When you put into context for dragons a thousand years is like yesterday, you can see why his rage is so real.

[@espional7598]

I mean if you murdered my sister so I murdered your innocent children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and all your other relatives even if they'd never met you, it wouldn't be fair to them, and that's what he's doing. It makes sense to him, and I feel bad that you know his sister got murdered, but he's still hurting innocent people to spite people who've been dead for literal centuries. I can't justify that kind of 'revenge'.

[@Beredaman08]

Along with the Scarlet Price continuing the use of color names, I wonder if it's meant to invoke the (admittedly not subtle) idea of a blood price, and by extension blood money, which is typically money or some sort of compensation paid by an offender (usually a murderer) or his/her family group to the family or kin group of the victim. So you have the attack that is based on his continued mourning, and another that is based on seeking restitution from the actions of others, namely the Ishgardians.

[@Exaltable]

God damn I have totally seen that tank before. Pretty fucking hilarious run. I immediately felt bad for you when it started.

[@DennisJQ12]

When you talked about how the aery used to be a place where humans and dragons lived together, I thought it would be cool if the hard mode version of the dungeon took place with the use of the Echo and it took us back to the time when nidhogg went in and corrupted us. They should do more with the echo and dungeons. Like use the echo to relive an event in the past rather than just watch the scene.

[@SquallyZ06]

I noticed those allagan ruins too the first time I did The Aery. To me, they look like pieces of Azys Lla, the "airship port" you zone into particularly.

[@SylverHummingbird]

According to a certain floating eyeball on the forums, [n]ehd sor[n] ga[h]r means Hate/anger Army Leader, and dra[n] sor[n] ga[h]r means hate/anger army dragon, which could indicate that they're just higher ups of Nidhogg's brood, at least in comparison to the enemies found in the Churning Mists.

[@thecoyle1980]

Fun fact Tolken hated the french word fairy so he just used the english translation of elf when he created his elves in his writings.

[@DerettoAlexiel]

Maybe next you can talk about the fates in the churning mists, notably the story line between the two dragons fighting there (and maybe a bit about the moogles too.)

[@dariusd2003]

New to subscriber to your channel. Awesome content. I always figured dragons were natural repositories for aether. Like living crystals that have a natural symbiotic (almost like those acacia ants) relationship with Hydaelyn. Especially given beyond Nidhogg we weren't task with their total elimination like the primals.

[@Azdaja13]

Since I wanted my character to be a Dragoon primarily, I gave my character a Welsh name (Selyv Fardd) since the dragon is on the Welsh flag.

[@RaysofLight98]

0:26 as a (clumsy) drg main, how dare. Also do a lore tour of the Ala Mhigan palace - because it has it's own unique twisted lore.

[@timmyh3035]

Actually, Ethys, there's a difference between Biasts and Drakes in game: Biasts use electric attacks, while drakes use fire attacks.

[@memecita]

I'm not into lore but I enjoy your videos. Anyhoo, was wondering something about PvP. Few times I've done Frontline roulette, someone has stated that the Ultima weapon is buried on that map. I can't remember if it was Seal Rock or the previous Frontline map (guessing the latter) but I'd like to know if this is true? Would be cool to see lore videos about both Frontline maps though since there's Allagan structures on the first Frontline map also.

[@vfaulkon]

I think that Nidhogg WAS a tragic figure at one point (and in some ways still is - a dragon's memory is a LOT longer than a human's, after all) but it's clear that by this point in the story his rage and grief have completely overtaken his mind. His desire to avenge his sister has been almost replaced by this deep, unyielding, seething hatred of Ishgard, to the point where he's actively antagonizing his own kind for not participating. It weakens his argument that he wants to get revenge for his family when he's in the same breath attacking his own family, despite them not doing anything to hinder him. If he had more control of his anger - if, for example, he was focused solely on toppling the High Houses of Ishgard and the church specifically - I think he'd still be tragic, but at this point he doesn't intend to spare anyone at all, even the lowly commoners who had no say or power in any of this, and had we not stopped him it was likely he'd take his war to every single person on Hydaelyn because we 'let it happen' or are 'just like the Ishgardians' or something.

[@cheesepuffsthings]

I would like to request the Aeteriochemical Plant for a Lore tour. It's definitely an interesting place.

[@RyuNoZero]

I will remember this Final Boss Fight in that Dungeon because I told the Healer to "keep an eye on Estinien" after seeing Estinien's Pose xD

[@kayomarsali]

Well since this had a bit on character names, my character name is Aluena Mahri. Aluena is actually just a short form of Aluendalee my Miqo'te's name in Legacy before Naming Conventions came out, but it's also in a way a Miqo'te spin on Luna the Latin word for the moon and if I recall the name of the goddess of the moon in the ancient roman religion. Mahri which was just how I spun Mary/Marie into a Miqo'te style. :3 and another Miqo'te character I know who has the Mahri surname got it from Sulaiman al-Mahri who was an Arab Navigator in the 15th or 16th century.

[@JulianSkies]

Another note! What you mentioned are weirdly sized dragon eggs? Notice how they are similar to the floating ovoid things in the Churning mists, that are nothing but rock. I am /fairly certain/ those are not actual eggs but ovoid crystal formations, some of which were harvested already.

[@dirkdeschepper735]

Pity Nidhogg or not? First off, I think he's a perfectly understandable figure. He had been imprisoned for thousands of years by humans before escaping. He finds humanoids and dragons coexisting peacefully and in stead of taking revenge, he somehow finds it in him to stay out of the way until the betrayal and death of his sister. I think I would fly in a rage too. His near death consolidates his anger. I think he's perfectly in his right to pursue bloody vengeance on Ishgard, and as long as Ishgard refuses to recognize that they started the war by a despicable betrayal for venal reasons, he is in his right to continue it. The only thing he is really wrong in is that he seeks unconditional surrender or even total obliteration of the enemy. Understandable considering how he has been treated by humanoids, but wrong. I am not sure I pity Nidhogg at this point, though. I have been rooting for him for most of the story so far, but Rhaesvelgr has played the role I expected him to play at the end. If Nidhogg is able to go onto the sidelines again to give peace a chance, he'll be the ultimate hero of the expansion pack. But as his father observed, he seems to have lost all reason. Hopefully the restoration of both his eyes helps him see the bigger picture.

[@SilverHeimdall]

I believe the origin of the Wyvern is French as I've heard before that the original word is the French one "Vouivre" and that "Wyvern" is a translation of "Vouivre".

[@gbtygfvyg]

+Pierre-Yves Duval The word Wyvern is English but it came from the word Wivre which came from the latin word Vipera.

[@madeindar]

i'm a Balinese and i chuckled the first time i met the first boss of The Aery. i see what you did there, SE. one thing about Leyak, the visual image of them being flying heads (as depicted in one cult movie titled 'Mystics in Bali') isnt really accurate. people who practice Leyak can turn themselves into almost anything: animals, trees, other people, but the most well known form is fireball. i even heard stories from elders about someone who turned himself into a bicycle.

[@aqj2014]

22:25 yeah, ive noticed em a lot, and ive tried to get my party to notice so we can discuss the lore impications. never works though

[@NinaFelwitch]

Yeah I have the same issues with character names. It takes like five minutes to come up with a half decent name for a character, but then there are people running around with names like you mentioned or other shit.

[@BrianJoyce]

OMG tank ran the wrong way Love it

[@awworrell]

To answer a couple of your questions, I do in some sense feel bad for nithog in this story. It was mentioned a couple times that dragons live on a different timeframe than the humanity. If one were to consider that perhaps 1,000 years for a dragon is roughly equivalent to 1 day for ishgardian's then for nithog the amount of time passed or the amount of time it would take to cope for losing your sister is very very small. Granted for the ishgard that sense of time is different which is why they are now rebelling. Nithog reminds me to some extent of a teenager who has lost someone important to them but do not know how to cope with the loss. On the subject of Gyascutus. did you have any thoughts on the abilities it uses during battle? In past final fantasy games, they usually take up the notion of a religion or some sort of ruling thought that turn it around to show how wrong it is. This boss is no different though I appreciated the imagery that came with it. For example, when the poison appears the first time a message in the chat box appears saying something along the lines of "Gyascutus is excited as the poison is released from it's body." It then uses an ability I think called Original Sin that poisons the target with a poison that isn't able to be taken away.

[@EthysAsher]

+Allen Worrell I really like where you're getting at with his abilities here, I'll definitely go back and have a closer look at that

[@awworrell]

+Ethys Asher No problem let me know your thoughts. I would be interested to hear them. The poison I mentioned when running as white mage isn't removable with esuna. i assume leeches is the same but do not have a scholar high enough to test that. The imagery is interesting since it foreshadows what we learn after the aery. They did a really good job on moving the story forward in ways that I hadn't thought about at the time.

[@soullessmoon159]

Mch feels like a bard mixed with a summoner

[@scarletyami]

Really curious about those allagan structures there... would be really cool if it was something else and not just a piece of dalamud. Nidhogg's vengeance is justified however he went too far with it with wanting innocent parties to suffer as well. However even if he did not go that far.. the war would still go on due to the lies fed to the people. I also liked that during heavensward the main character is given a choice of dialog to choose between the greater good, vengeance or silence after the vault. PvP Talk? Yes please. Haven't had the time to do em and i really want those mounts :

[@Beredaman08]

+scarletyami I'm thinking I remember a reference or comment about a dragon that escaped its binding/prison in Azys Lla, but I don't think there's any additional detail with that to make a solid connection beyond the origin of the Allagan piece of ruin possibly being there as a result of Nidhogg's escape if he was in fact the one who escaped (the one I think we can cross off the list is Tiamat, as I'm pretty sure the escape is mentioned to have happened sometime after the fall of the Allagan empire and Tiamat has been there since before it fell according to her and her staying imprisoned is a self appointed situation). It could just as easily be one of those of Midgardsormr's brood we haven't met yet, or even a lesser dragon that was simply among the children of those seven. Other than the piece being a part of Dalamud that made it allllll the way to the Churning Mists and got stuck there somehow (which I find incredibly unlikely), that's the only other Allagan/Dragon connection I can think of that would possibly explain why it is there (though does little and less to explain how it would have made it to the Aery).

[@dirkdeschepper735]

+scarletyami Yeah, I don't buy that as part of Dalamud. The impact of Dalamud happened very close to the surface, and I don't buy that parts could have gone all the way inside the Aery and embed themselves there. I did notice it on my first run and have been looking for an explanation ever since. To me the ruins are probably not "proto-ishgardian" but they are of the same ilk as the ruins in Azys Lha, i.e. part of Allag's history. If I'm pushed, I would guess that the Aery is basically a floating island from Azys Lha that Nidhogg was held on and somehow escaped with. Maybe it fell or floated through the protective barrier.

[@thetynmanfromoz6887]

I agree with your peeve, I hate seeing old FF names... It's a new FF, and needs new heroes to go with it. I was tempted to give my character the last name Gabbiani, but after seeing the thousand Strifes, Highwinds and Farrons running around I'm glad I didn't. Top contenders I've seen for best name though are 'Pvt Parts'(Hyur, I think), 'Return T'cenda' (A Miqote) and 'Ding Dong' (A Lala). Hunting idea: Two men are needed. One catches the creatures attention and draws it in. The other hides with a lasso. As the first person (the bait) runs past the second (the snare), the snare lassos the creature and pulls it off balance and perhaps facing the other way..? I do sympathise with Nidhogg, and while his revenge was extreme it was warranted. At least he was honest about it; Hraesvelgr meanwhile was a dodgy prick who wanted revenge but didn't want to get their hands dirty, so gave Nidhogg the tools to do it instead of doing it themseves. The Allagans had automatons, so perhaps they had platoons that were sent out to colonize uncharted territory. The remains could be what's left of an attempt to build an outpost, destroyed once it was discovered but not before it gained a foothold. Doesn't even need to be automatons, there could have been people sent out as well, and the remains could be floating around inside a dragons belly. Love the videos and seeing you on State Of The Realm (Aussies represent!), keep up the great work. And if you're ever on the European Ragnarok server, there is a spot for you in the Eorzean ANZACs FC! :D

[@YazzPott]

Small "suggestion", can you make your cursor visible?

[@SarahExpereinceRequiem]

My character's name is totally lore friendly but if you got the joke you'd probably hate mine too. It's basically a pair of puns.

[@Svoorhout85]

+KatayokoNoTenshi My characters last name is the last name of a character of a much older square game. (Brea) Im sure most people dont knowthe reference. Though ive seen another Brea on my server.

[@EthysAsher]

+Stefan Voorhout Those kinds of references are totally fine by me, just to be clear

[@crimson60634]

+Saiah Brea parasite eve ps1 good game

[@YazzPott]

+KatayokoNoTenshi As a Pale Duskwight named "Yazz Pott" my lore doesn't make much sense. So I just made it up! His family had left the ruins of Gelmorra much earlier than most. It is unknown whether they were exiled or not. This is when they shifted to a nomadic way of life, that is until one day they were attacked by a band of crystal hugging Ixal. Yazz's grandfather being the only true combat ready person we had, was taken off guard by an arrow as the assault began. Needless to say, it was a massacre, with the only survivor being a sickly pregnant woman. Thankfully, a group of Gridianian citizens frequented this path to and from a regional berry picking site. This woman, close to death, was rushed back to the nearest Inn where lo and behold, she went into labour. Already bleeding out from wounds, this was a death sentence. A nameless, homeless and pale looking Elezen was now born, with nothing but the bits of a story told on the dying breath of his family. His adopted parents were going to give him a classic Wildwood name, but decided that when he became of age, he could assign his own name. While this is only a brief summary of the story, am i cheating?

[@ShinobiDaNinja]

So, why dont you stream Ethys I musta missed that explanation at some point.

[@EthysAsher]

+ShinobiDaNinja internet in 90% of Australia is of a third-world standard :/ to give you some indication, it took over 6 hours to upload this video during which I could do pretty much nothing else online.

[@ShinobiDaNinja]

Ethys Asher Wow, that really sucks.

[@VorpalTiger]

mmm that party you had...my fucking god ignored every mechanic

[@SpiritSpellweaver]

I see bad names all of the time and it just drives me crazy to be in an RPG with people named "IM PICKLERICK" etc.. I just think they're unimaginative souls, don't really add anything to the environment and I won't group with them.

[@neron8497]

I don't understand Nidhogg's plight. Taking and losing are natural parts of life that we must all come to terms with. I don't see the point of his endless quest for revenge or penance. When is it enough? Are dragons allowed free reign simply by virtue of being dragons? Are the countless lives a dragon takes in vengeance, for some reason unquestionably worth 'less' or irrelevant compared to what was done to Ratatoskr and Nidhogg? Because dragons perceive and feel differently? You're different, therefore you can act with impunity? I don't follow. Vengeance as a concept in itself is not very interesting, but it's especially strange coming from beings purported as being wise beyond measure. .. is how I see it, but I probably don't understand it very well. You however seem to have a more elaborate opinion lurking behind the question you asked, in regard to sympathizing with Nidhogg. How do you feel about it Ethys. Definitely would like to see a PvP-themed video. I used to be into it a lot, but felt that the Slaughter mode was qualitatively inferior to Secure in most ways. Seal Rock seems similarly.. 'eh', and the area itself looks really bland imo. Though the lore behind the place is fascinating. Curious to know how you feel about the current state of PvP and Seal Rock.

[@YraelNunh]

+neron Nidhogg's angry because his kind are ageless, unable to die unless their eyes are removed.In that sense i can understand his need for revenge.To trust people enough to tell them your weakness only for them to turn on you for power well, all the power to him.

[@Leuk0s]

CLEAR OUT YOUR INVENTORY HOLY CRAP

[@obigweyo]

Sorry for asking if you answered it which I'm sure you have just a pounding migraine right now is making me stupid, could you link your white mage friends twitch unless they don't want it linked.

[@EthysAsher]

twitch.tv/ladyrewind

[@obigweyo]

thanks! sorry lol know it was a rather dumb question but still thanks.

[@EthysAsher]

obigweyo don't apologise, it's not a dumb question :P I should probably have a link to her somewhere on the channel

[@turgidbanana]

Wtf is a ninjer?

[@JulianSkies]

First important note, wether I sympathize with Niddhogg or not means nothing regarding to how wrong he is in his actions, and how much he made himself deserving of a terrible fate. That said, yeah, I can sympathize, who wouldn't go nuts after what happened to your family like that? Hell, Estinien himself flipped his own everloving shit over it. But even then, no matter why, for whatever reason, there is a limit to how far you can go, and Niddhogg went past it, way beyond past it. You just don't involve innocents.

[@Lady_Moonsong]

@10:55 semen bridges

[@EthysAsher]

+SirBlueWizard I was trying to resist the urge to posit that they were big stringy bridges of Nidhogg jizz, glad I'm not alone.

[@joshuadavid6965]

id love to see how pvp is over on your data cluster. aether adders have killed my desire to play it anymore. im the odd duck that doesnt like the way they have tried to entice the player base into playing pvp. back in the secure days, when they introduced lights... oh my did it start to go south. and now it just seems like people just show up for tomes and whatnots. id rather have a super small focused niche group of players doing pvp than the herd of stupid soloist tome raiders.

[@EthysAsher]

+Joshua Cline well the ping issues are obviously there, but the general attitude here with pvp as with so many things seems to be much better.

[@joshuadavid6965]

+Ethys Asher i kinda figured it would run a little smoother over there, like most things. i think eventually i will have to move to a jp server if im going to continue playing. there was a little gem of a game, white knight chronicles 2, that i fell in love with years ago. played on na servers and it was ok, the game started to shut down and a few of us made the switch over to the jp side and i was astonished on how different and better the entire game was. now if only SE would allow me to move my house over there.. id transfer this second.