Final Fantasy XIV: The Winter Calamity

Kan-E had temporarily returned to the guild to retrieve some sketches she had made many moons ago for a greenhouse she wanted to have built. As she walked out of her office she saw Master Yan seeing off a guest and going back into his room. Her heart beat with a sweet joy.

Kan-E half skipped over and spoke softly. 

"Darling~"

Winter turned around with surprise on his features that slowly melted into a pleasurable smile. 

kiss slurp kiiisss sluuurp mm slurp pop

The special greeting that she has with her beloved alone. Winter leaned forward as if going for a second meeting kiss but instead wiggled his nose against hers playfully.

"Hehehehe~"

"Hahaha~"

Kan-E was a bit too ticklish to things like this.

He then smilingly brought her into his embrace. A chaste and warm affair that she silently accepted. She could hear his strong heartbeat. One that hers matched in pace. Kan-E closed her eyes, letting the moment seep into her. Her Winter's gentle hands stroked her forehead and rubbed her back.

While Kan-E certainly enjoyed getting roughly pounded and fucked into a dirty cum soaked mess, feeling her man's thick meaty cock jam into her walls and breed her till she was full of his milky seed, swapping saliva greedily while feeling her lover grab her fat ass and wildly drill and gyrate her honey pot, she loved this too.

She felt safe and oh so warm. She was comfortable enough to fall asleep. How could love ever be this sweet? 

Winter slowly started to rock her, side to side. Ahhh~ it was too comfortable! Her man was very happy today. Training must have gone well. Kan-E was simple in this aspect. Her darling was happy, so she was happy.

She enjoyed inhaling his smell and soaking in it. A scent that she always wanted to remember. This silent and affectionate love, ahhh!

---

Kan-E explained to me what she and Minfilia had been up to all day. It sounded like the house's architects were getting hell from my girls. They were meticulously picking every detail out and carefully putting together something beautiful. 

Kan-E and I sat in her office comfortably. I was feeling great for some reason. My Kan-E's love recharged my batteries.

I told her about my day and E-Sumi-Yan's assumption about my power. She was my woman after all. I didn't feel a need to hide that much. 

"Rivers?"

"Mhm."

I had activated my domain, but she couldn't see them. I supposed it was a 200 year old power, hidden in the shadows, thing.

We snuggled for as long as was reasonable. Minfilia probably shouldn't be left to her own devices for too long-

"Else she'd bring a house down."

"Hehe~ True... I must walk back. sigh~"

My Kan-E face planted into my chest and I kept rubbing her back. It's a long walk! I get it! It makes me sick to my stomach!

Eventually, we worked up the nerve to stand. I had more theory to read and she had a home to get built.

sluuurp kiss kiss kissss slurp mmn

We joined lips with each other once more. I was thankful for her. Far too thankful.

---

I spent more time studying the Aether of Earth and Wind. The library paled in comparison to what the Sharlayans had, but it was more than enough for me to study.

I was flipping through another old tome that drew my instinct. I was careful not to believe everything I read. Authors are fallible right? But this... It was too detailed. 

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Spirit Dart, Stoneskin, Trace Chant, Drown, Shell, Levinbolt. 

Tens of spells that I had never seen. A handful that I had, but were removed in later patches. 

What were these? 

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Some of these didn't even exist in other Final Fantasy games. Then, that could only mean they originated from XIV...? Wow, they've come a long way.

I flipped through the long forgotten tome. It's yellowing pages were rough on my fingers and the particles of it's cracked ink tickled my nose. The pages shared stories of these elder ways. 

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They explained the incantations, how to sound out every word. They patiently taught what each spell did. And what they could not. I disregarded the latter advice. I would be the one to determine their limits.

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I started to notice patterns. The spells were...repeating.

'Ah. I see now.'

In the tome were the spells for Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Water, Stone, and Aero. But they all did the exact same thing. It was all the same spell, but with different aspects. It was simply an attack with a somewhat larger range.

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There were no special effects nor secondary statuses. If you erased some of the lettering and made me colorblind, perhaps I wouldn't have been able to tell that they were different at all.

'The spells were reworked for this very reason. It must've been a chore.'

I did find it strange that Thaumaturge spells were written within this book. Once upon a time, the White Mage could use all six elements. Then perhaps they were the original Sorcerers?

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The spells could be summed up as Spell, DOT, Debuff, Heal, Spell Level 2, Spell Level 3, and Misc. Misc wasn't even that special. One misc spell I found within the depths was called Purge. Supposedly, it could render a target's elemental alignment to neutral.

I supposed back in those days, every monster had to be fought like it was Pokémon. A tragic fate for any MMO.

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Another strange spell, Silena, could remove Silence from party members. In non-cave man times, we'd just use Esuna. It removed every debuff. Or rather, it removes any debuff until you get into the harder fights and the developers sincerely wish to see you dead. Willing to kowtow and beg for the gods to make it happen.

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Wait... Wait a second, go back.

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Silena. No. Once more.

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Purge. Holy shit. Could I remove a Primal's element with this?!

I suddenly jumped up from my chair almost sending it clattering to the floor. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Something like this existed?!

"Shocked, are we?"

A voice I didn't recognize greeted me.

"A-Apologies. I didn't mean to disturb-"

The child held a hand up to halt my speech.

"Think nothing of it. I end up like that sometimes too."

He sported 2 small bovine-looking horns on his head, white in color and black on the tips, just like E-Sumi-Yan. He wore the same childish clothes as well. A purple garment with a strange plant shape plastered onto it's chest.

"Sometimes, these old books hold more wisdom than fancies of newer scholarship."

He was talkative and sociable, unlike E-Sumi-Yan.

"It's nice to finally meet your acquaintance, Winter. I am O-App-Pesi. Brother E-Sumi-Yan has spoken much of you as of late."

I didn't know who this was.

"It is a pleasure to meet you too sir O-App-Pesi. I do hope he spoke well."

"Hahaha! Of course! He said you were an intriguing young man. That's not an easy thing to get out of Brother Yan. And please, call me Pesi. I understand that Padjal names can be cumbersome for those not of these woods."

He felt younger in spirit. His brown eyes glowed with a fervor that E-Sumi-Yan's eyes lacked. Perhaps he wasn't that old? But I didn't recognize him at all. Was there such an easy going character in this city?

Pesi leaned over to glance at my studies.

"Ah, the previous age of magicks."

Pesi smiled in appreciation. He seemed to know the book well, though it was gathering dust.

"Sir Pesi, I was wondering if you had any insights on this tome? It's magicks are so..."

"Useless?"

"...Strange."

"Hahaha! Don't be afraid to critique. Our magicks only gain in potency with careful inspection and refinement."

Once again, I was struck with his jovial nature. Was he in a good mood? Or perhaps he was just like this? It was refreshing.

"Hmm, these are the studies of an ancient White Mage from the Sixth Calamity. The Calamity of Water. In that time, the War of Magi had ruined the land and those who lived to see past it, felt the results of the Magi's reckless abuse of the elements."

Pesi traced the gold-trimmed edges on the border of the pages with his finger.

"As we are all to do, following the events of a Calamity, we read the words of scholars who remain and thoughtlessly destroy and ruin everything that the old Era had left behind, lest we repeat their mistakes. This book is one of those mistakes. The first part of a White Mage's studies. Only the Conjuration part however. The White Magicks that summoned the living statues of Amdapor were lost within the depths of the flood."

The Lost City of Amdapor was a dungeon that unlocked after the Calamity. Shards of Dalamud flew across the realm and sunk the land. Under that land were secrets and the ruins from civilizations past. Sometimes it was a simple thing to tour on a weekend. Other times, those civilizations held ancient and dark evils.

The Lost City of Amdapor was one of those dungeons.

The Fifth Astral Era was one of Magic. Raw and Unfettered. White Mages studied the elements, and Black Mages studied the void. They grew their civilizations much the way the Allag did. They built Utopias. But as always happens, the Black Mages grew arrogant. They contracted with Voidsent. Monsters from beyond space and time to do their bidding.

The story had a sad ending. The White Mages built constructs of white stone and bid them to protect the city of Amdapor when the Black Mages would inevitably invade. They built and built and built.

The War of Magi, 250 years of struggle and death that was witnessed by the entire realm, ended with the invasion of Amdapor by an extremely powerful Voidsent. Diablos. In a final bid of desperation, the demon was sealed within the halls of the ancient city.

Then came the rest. The Calamity of Water.

The city was flooded, sunk into the waters and earth. And now it sat, buried under the earth, gathering mold and rot. When the Calamity hit, the city was unearthed. The city in which Diablos still lay in wait.

I would have to clear that dungeon out before Diablos found a way to break out of his prison. One dungeon amongst so fucking many. Damn it.

"Was there something within these pages that struck you?"

"Yes, I noticed a spell called Purge. I was wondering what it's effect would be upon beings that are purely elemental. A Water Sprite for instance."

Pesi carefully picked up the book and carefully eyed its pages.

"Hmm, It's unlikely to do much at all. You see, Purge could only *reset* the Aetheric balance of a creature. However, all things are permeated constantly with Aether. Whatever was out of balance, would be restored ere long."

I thought on it for a bit and Pesi continued to guide me while flipping through the old pages with practiced ease.

"Here. This is Purge II. Notice that it's main difference is the amount of Aether it draws and not in its incantation. Many spells were like that in those times. They couldn't carefully tune the amount of Aether they used. If it couldn't be standardized, they usually failed to use it."

Pesi paused to catch his breath slightly.

"It's like Purge, it's effects are the identical, however it shall last for a bit longer."

I stayed silent. Then a thought bubbled to the surface.

"So if you were to cast this just before a Water Sprite were to be hit-"

"With Water? Yes, it would be hurt. However, the practical usage is questionable. You'd need perfect coordination to time the usage of Purge just before the Sprite is hit."

Or I cast Purge while I strike. I weave spells with my swordplay. That's what a Rune Knight does. Dammit this is it! This is what I needed to hit Ifrit!

"I see. Thank you much for your insight Pesi. Pray tell, do you know if the Thaumaturges had a similar book? It is very interesting to read about how these old magicks were structured."

Pesi shook his head lightly.

"I'm afraid not. If such a thing existed, then the Black Magi would undoubtedly have lost it within the ruins of Mhach."

"Mhach?"

"Never heard the fae tale? Mhach, Mhach, beware the dark, keep away or lose your heart."

"That's...chilling."

"Hahaha! Indeed, it is quite morbid."

The Weeping City of Mhach was a piece of the Shadow of Mhach raid series in 3.0. I didn't do that one either. I could never work up the nerve to tackle the majority of raids. As a Warrior, there was a pressure on my shoulders to lead my partition of the party alongside my off-tank.

A pressure that I wasn't great at handling unless I studied the instance extensively beforehand. I still recalled the markdown document I wrote with rotations, boss patterns and strategies for so many dungeons and trials. Everything to do my job well. 

At the time, I didn't have a Free Company that was large enough to do those crazy raids with just us. An Extreme Trial or two at most. Instead of trying harder, or using the Party Finder, which could only connect to those within your server at the time, I just decided to move onto other content. I was already drowning in it.

I...I wouldn't have to go in there would I?

It was too bad, but not that big of a deal. My current repertoire was enough to handle the immediate dangers of XIV. I just needed time to practice them.

"I see, it's no matter. Thank you again Pesi."

A small smile grew on his face.

"Of course! I'll be off now, enjoy your studies, Winter."