Ishgard, why are you like this?

Ishgard, after Stephanivien be like #ffxiv

// Honourable mention to this family's popoto/cake-based drama

// It's probably not surprising that Tal dreams, and dreams often, about the dragon that ruined his left arm, though never about events as they actually occurred. When he dreams he's slower than he was in life, and the blow hits Eirian instead. After he jolts awake he inevitably spends a while (+)

... huh.

// Since we love a hamfisted metaphor here: it's a bit like losing a limb 😜 Less melodramatic, but still a good metaphor: Eirian maintains and modifies Tal's prosthesis. Tal can keep its basic functions going on his own, but it's very much Surviving not Thriving, keeping things ticking over (just).

// Step 1: Conservatory sidequest, sends you to (falsely) tell his dad he died fighting a dragon Step 2: name on HW leves (metal/leather for prosthesis, food to trade with goblins, potions to dull pain/heighten focus) Step 3: one of the people you convince to buy into Francel's Foundation vision

// Rue, cow bitter, and leather

Yet ever do our aching souls point Heavensward - HAPPY 10TH ANNIVERSARY HEAVENSWARD!!! #ffxiv #ffxivart #heavensward #nidhogg #hraesvelgr

// Tal then joined the Convictors because killing a dragon was one of the routes by which a no-name bastard could hope to make something of himself. After being forced to retire (a one-armed spearman isn't much good to anyone) he fell back on skills he'd learned growing up in Tailfeather.

Dragonsong Armistice Day is THIS Saturday! June 21st! Starting at 1 PM EST until 11 PM EST, there is a plethora of fun activities to choose from! Join us in celebrating the end of the Dragonsong War—and the beginning of Ishgard's new chapter!

// Tal's Dravanian, specifically from Tailfeather; I've modeled his speech patterns on those used by Marcechamp in the MSQ He's relatively fluent in gobbiespeak at this point, due to trading with Idyllshire (his original prosthetic had a very goblinoid influence, though Eirian's modified it since)

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// Tal would absolutely shank me for claiming Dravania is "close enough, right?" but, uh.... close enough, right? 😉

// Not remotely fancy, nor especially complicated, but solidly serviceable. Very specifically the kind you get from a Polish corner shop and not a supermarket own-brand equivalent

// A long, scaldingly hot bath is just about one of the most decadent and selfish things imaginable and an absolute guilty pleasure when time allows; it also helps manage some of the chronic pain associated with his old injuries.

// Tal's from a community born out of a kind of stubborn self-reliance & historically was very rarely been in a position where having someone else look after your gear wasn't either a frivolous expense or a logistical impracticality; not being able to cover the basics himself was never an option.

// Bored while maintenance is happening? I'm a slave to GMT but this is open to multiples - as, unless it's tagged to someone specific, will be most everything I post 💜 Thank you so much to everyone who's engaged with this wretched little bastardman (affectionate) since I threw him at y'all!

Today in "Fun" facts about Ishgard:

// This is where I apologise to everyone who's had to deal with his accent thus far 😉 Very obviously lowborn Dravanian, then, let's say - and more obviously so the more of a prick the person he's speaking to seems to be. Speaks faster than he thinks. Swears habitually, uses a lot of minced oaths.

[ #FFXIVRP] On the whole, life in Ishgard had been better than Tal might have hoped but some days were still more Quickweed than Jessamine. Case in point; this morning some aetherial flare or other meant the airships sat idling at the docks rather than winging their way over to the Diadem (+)

// It's utterly infuriating how much he likes @bladeofhonor.etheirys.social; Tal spent a lot of their early acquaintance waiting for the mask to slip & Eirian to turn out to be as big a bag of dicks as every other Ishgardian prick. Now he's forced to conclude he's genuinely as good a person as (+)

// Tal has an enameled pendant with an image of St Daniffen killing the basilisk & another with St Dhyata tending to her fish, worn smooth by years using them as touchstones. They're cheap mass-produced pilgrim souvenirs rather than anything unique or special but he's never without both.

// Never enough music for character-specific playlists, so: Plucky orphan commoner wants so badly to become famous dragoon but ends up - an arm / + a bunch of complicated feelings about own worth & heroism in general. Currently trying to fit into civilian life alongside much fancier boyfriend.

// [cracks knuckles] Okay, so. Tal does not know who his birth parents are. As a kid, this meant lots of stories he fabricated about the tragic and very understandable circumstances that lead to them throwing him in a river for someone else to find. As an adult, he's adopted a much more 'yeah, (+)

@bladeofhonor.etheirys.social There's a comfortable routine to things now; Talfryn takes the airship to the Diadem, he works, he takes the airship back again. Dinner together, bed, up before it's light most mornings (more out of habit than necessity). Lather, rinse, repeat. The days are for (+)

// Streamer!Tal started off with a simple "with one hand behind my back" gimmick given his disability, and has since branched out, collaborating with @bladeofhonor.etheirys.social to make some crazy custom controllers in the vein of SuperLouis64's content. See also: bsky.app/profile/coer...

// Tal's bashing his head against whatever the latest Soulslike is. He claims he's enjoying himself. Given how much he's swearing you'd be forgiven for doubting it. Once he's got it down the *real* game starts; stupid challenge runs like "can I beat the game naked and armed with just this bread?"

"Dravania: Certified Nice & Normal" Alternatively: Dravania, it sure as shit ain't Coerthas 😉

// Welcome to HW2: Consequences Boogaloo. We're heading back to see how Ishgard's doing. Part of the plot is mentoring next-gen Convictors to become roadwardens rather than dragonslayers (squadrons get a rework). Part of it is expanding Firmament / Diadem. Idyllshire gobbies are the DoH society.

// Tal would like to claim he's a pragmatist; there's not much point letting yourself get emotionally invested when the environments you operate in are various flavours of meatgrinder. This is a lie. Give him a scrap of positive attention and watch him become ride-or-die *terrifyingly* quickly.

Well...the results are certainly results. Blond hair does not suit @coerthan-torment.etheirys.social, but his color palette looks great on Eirian.

E: Contemplate the hideous lapse in judgement that lead to me dating someone who considers familial rock salt normal (sorry-not-sorry @bladeofhonor.etheirys.social )

#GOOBSDAY By @/hersheyfont

Coneflower ❀ in-game version not originally native to Dravania but flourishes there ❀ scientific name means hedgehog/sea urchin (spiky exterior, soft middle) ❀ a type of sunflower, though you wouldn't necessarily think so at first glance ❀ surprisingly versatile ❀ bisexual disk floret 😉

100% heart

Casually physically affectionate with one exception; he's twitchy about letting people touch his left arm (self-conscious about its state / hyperaware of the devices that keep it working) Verbally also quite casually affectionate (high risk environments = you want to make sure nothing stays unsaid)

This may be mostly headcanon but I feel like the spaces Tal grew up in lean into that "group of hormonal young people doing risky shit removed from civilisation" brand of homosocial (if not explicitly homosexual) and as such it never really felt like a big deal to like who you liked. (1/2)

CRP / LTW with a minor in CUL - growing up in Tailfeather it made sense to focus on the things that let you maintain your gear and feed yourself in the field while out hunting, or make a living doing so for other hunters when they returned to town. DoL-wise it's FSH / BTN, for similar reasons.

Little!Tal was all about how Saint Daniffen was really super cool and he was totally going to be just like him (albeit with more of a focus on the 'killed a basilisk' than the 'went on pilgrimage' part in his childhood games); this interest is at least partly to blame for his joining the Convictors

Idyllshire. Accept no substitution.

✮ Places in Dravania to train how St Daniffen did (spearing fish) & what to forage for while you do ✮ Chocobo racing & husbandry ✮ Gobbiefolk: technology & tongueflaps ✮ Reasons his Cool Metal Arm sucks (aka thoughts on Coerthan accessibility/welfare) ✮ Why nobles (with some exceptions) are pricks

#FFXIV community: Let’s find each other here! 🦋 Please like ❤️ and/or repost 🔁 if you’re a FFXIV account looking for more to follow.

Tal's very much a microcosm of how Ishgard is having to adapt after building its identity around hunting dragons for so long; he started as ARC (hunter) & aspiring DRG (Convictor), ended up a DOH/DOL main with most of his combat now using assistive tech (e.g. GNB) to compensate for old war wounds

Talfryn's accent and intonation immediately mark him out as Dravanian (and specifically, from the chocobo hunter community in Tailfeather), especially when contrasted with a more 'traditional' high status Coerthan/Ishgardian accent.

Fished out of the Whilom as a baby, Talfryn was raised in Tailfeather & joined the Convictors the second he got his growth spurt. Childhood dreams of becoming the next St Daniffen, however, were soon shattered, forcing him to seek a different path.... ✮ FFXIVRP ✮ Mun: @eorzea-etc.etheirys.social