Black lines covered Little Winter's head. He was visibly displeased with Thancred's name for him, but Thancred found it endearing. When they first met, the stranger didn't display anywhere near this range of emotion. It made Thancred feel warm in a way. Little Winter had opened his heart. Trust had been born and it had bloomed into a flower Thancred had never expected to receive.
'A brother. Hehe, I've obtained a brother.'
Thancred had no complaints. His brother was stronger than one would give him credit for. He was fast on his feet and sharp of mind. He'd be a great wing-man on Thancred's next misadventure. He couldn't wait to tell Master Louisoix.
"Now then Little Winter. Pray tell, did you notice anything strange?"
"Besides you?"
"..."
His dearest brother truly did begin to resemble the proud tavern owner.
Little Winter tilted his fluffy pink cloud of a head from side to side slowly, as if rolling dice and looking for an ace. Thancred wanted to hold it still, but refrained. Everyone had their habits.
"Well, I wasn't sure how much of this was normal but-"
Little Winter brought up 6 points that he could call "strange".
1. A parade with no holiday. Thancred digested then dismissed the thought ere long. While it did seem strange, spontaneous festivities were not an odd thing to see in Ul'dah.
2. Lack of Town Guards. One could say this was because the guards of Ul'dah were useless louts, but Thancred knew better. At the very least, you could find Brass Blades posted at checkpoints within the city, however they were absent for the parade. Of course, now they were swarming, looking for someone to blame for the incident no doubt.
3. Mammot Escorts. It required a look. While the caravan having escorts was not strange, these escorts just so happened to be associated with the Goldsmiths' guild. The mammots were their creation. And who had beholden themselves during the fight? The guild leader's scion. Curious.
4. Those White Flowers. The monster avoided attacking those holding one. While Thancred didn't see that as being entirely true, but it probably wasn't far from the truth either. Those flowers were handed out by the Songstress of Ul'dah. The same songstress that was aided by the Goldsmith's scion. The powder that ultimately brought the Goobbue to its rampant state was also the same shade of sickly white. It was only conjecture that connected those themes in Thancred's head, but Master had a saying-
"Thine endth oft most conclusionary closest to the dawn of thout end praythee hath been the answer."
At any rate.
5. The collar. It didn't look like any technology Little Winter had seen. Thancred on the other-hand was very familiar with the nature of this tool. Magitek. A product of the Empire. That alone did not mean they were involved. After all, how many broken, stolen or salvaged Empire items had he seen on the market? Thancred planned to dig deeper into it.
6. The horn.
"A horn? Are you certain?"
Little Winter nodded seriously.
"I could scant identify its origin, but I saw the beast break from its shackles shortly after it sounded."
Thancred was somewhat baffled. He had been on the street not too far from said horn. It was blown by one of the mammots. He needed to investigate further. At no point did he consider the 2 things to be connected. Music was played up and down the avenue all morning long. Who dared to declare an out of tune and minor instrument the catalyst of disaster?
7. Your massive forehead. The sun's strong image could be seen from even the highest-
Thancred dismissed the surprise 7th as nothing but myth. His forehead was of an average size. Thancred almost put his hand up to touch it, but he stopped. That'd play directly into Little Winter's hands.
6 clues. 3 he himself noticed. 2 he did not. 1 seemingly minor miss. Thancred would double check anyways. Little Winter was full of surprises after all.
It was almost an immediate instinct that drove Thancred to point his finger at the Goldsmith scion, however Thancred had jumped to an incorrect conclusion before. It led him to meet Master Louisoix, but he wasn't eager to repeat his mistake.
"You've proven to be a most irreplaceable aid, Little Winter."
"The pleasure is all mine Thancred. Pray tell, do you require me to come investigate with you?"
Thancred remembered Little Winter's horrible shaking form after the fight was over. It squeezed his heart and reminded Thancred of his weakness.
"Nay, this bard will manage on his own."
"Good, I promised Momo-nee that I'd rest. I wouldn't have gone even if you asked me to."
His half lidded eyes complimented his relieved smile with infuriating accuracy.
Thancred stayed stone still, restraining himself from jumping on his younger brother and strangling him.
---
Over the next 6 agonizing days I lay in that dark stone chamber, slowly being imbued with Aether via small crystals that lay above my bed. Crystals that I could not figure out how I didn't see before.
My incoherent rage at Henry's incompetence must've blinded me.
Momo-nee came in each day despite me telling her not to. The walk from the Quicksand to the Thaumaturges' guild was not a short one. Those insane developers didn't even have an inter-city fast travel system. Something that would change come 2.0 I assumed. In addition, now that I was living here, seeing and living within the immense size of Ul'dah, it drove me mad with worry.
"Kyaaa! Why is my little brother so cute?! Who told you to worry so much about your big sister ey?!"
Perhaps it was my modern sensibilities, as Momo-nee wasn't at all concerned.
---
Many things happened in my absence. Thancred was exiled from the city. While I was slightly scared for him, I knew he wasn't that difficult to get rid of. That dog wouldn't let go without answers.
I was awarded 50,000 gil for the subjugation of the Goobbue. With this, I had enough to pay for the 7,500 gil Guild Fee to join one or the 5,000 gil cost to use the city's main Aetheryte. I finally could leave Ul'dah if I so chose.
However, roots were not easy to cut off. I wasn't a fan of leaving Momo-nee. I knew I'd have to eventually but I had only just gained my bearings. I set aside the idea for now. I'd need to leave to train with other classes, but I wouldn't waste my gil for no reason. I had to be sure that whichever city I visited had a class I absolutely required. I also needed to calculate the amount to save for a trip back.
'Wasn't there an alternate way to travel in between city-states? I never used it because I wasn't a role-player.'
I was too embarrassed to ask and expose my lack of common sense, so I decided to foot the bill for the Aetheryte.
The man who protected his daughter was dead. It was sad, but I didn't know him enough to grieve. Momo-nee said that he might have been hiding secrets beyond our understanding. Neither of us understood what such a thing meant. His daughter, Ascilia, would be sent back to their home in Ala Mhigo. Did she have other family there? It was none of my business I supposed.
There was something kicking my instinct gland about that girl, but I couldn't figure it out at all. I prayed the answer would come to me if I saw her again and thought no more of it.
I informed Mono-nee of Thancred's surprise nickname for me.
"Winter?! I love it!"
Her eyes sparkled with the radiance of the sun. I had to cover my eyes as the room's brightness matched the midday sky of the desert.
Well it couldn't be helped. My name was now Winter. No last name. Thancred got Waters from Louisoix. If I asked, would he declare me Winter Grasses? I shivered at the thought.
"... Winter Modi."
I muttered it under my breath without thinking, but when I looked up I saw my little big sister petrified and as red as a lobster.
My worry disappeared when she jumped from the ground to my bed in one leap and rapidly rubbed her face on my cheek like she was trying to start a fire.
---
I, Winter Modi, Master of Blizzards and Bringer of Storms, sat in bed, on my back and continuously kicking my legs up and down. This exercise wasn't given to me, but I understood the concept of muscle atrophy. I was already a scrawny thing, anymore loss and I'd be a vegetable.
While doing my exercises I thought of what to spend my new found wealth on. I had enough for proper protein-diet, but more importantly, I could grab classes now.
Each city-state was the home to multiple classes and occupations. Assuming I teleported to both Limsa Lominsa as well as Gridania and came home. That would leave me with 35k. I had already saved 6k through work so I had 40k to spend. That was enough for 5 classes. This question haunted me from the first day I arrived in Eorzea.
What do I pick?
I had an obvious talent for manipulating Aether. I could feel my affinity for it. However, I needed a martial class to survive the hunts against the Primals I'd be dragged into in the future.
In XIV, every Light Party was composed of 1 Tank, 1 Healer, and 2 DPS.
For a Full Party, it was 2 Tanks, 2 Healers, and 4 DPS.
An odd thing about the Scions is that unless the Warrior of Light picked a Tank class, they simply couldn't fill the role.
It was an issue that later expansions addressed by allowing you to actually fight alongside the Scions. Baffling that we couldn't before.
Then what about me? If my Warrior of Light was one that was willing to sit in queue for 6 hours as a DPS only player, how fucked would I be?
Best case scenario, I get the Canon Warrior of Light from the trailers. He was a Warrior class after the Calamity. But for a full party, he'd still need an off Tank at his side.
Worse than that, the canon changed every expansion. He became a Dragoon, a Monk, a Samurai, a Dark Knight, a Paladin then a Viper I assumed with the latest expansion before I crossed over.
I flipped over and started pulling my feet behind my back, stretching the muscles in my thighs and pushing my feet to stretch the muscles in my arms.
Another question I wrestled with were class mechanics. Without a wand or staff I could cast Blizzard. In game this simply wasn't possible. Your selected class was determined by what weapon you had equipped. Yet, I did it.
There were also certain actions restricted to your Job. A Job was the evolution of a class. You had to equip that job's Soul Crystal for it to function.
My Blizzard cast doubt on the rules I'd be restricted to. In the early days of 2.0 certain Class Abilities could be shared. Blizzard was not one of those.
I asked myself if what I had the potential to do was Multi-class. A concept from Tabletop RPGs such as Dungeons and Dragons. The ability to use all classes at once.
Of course such a thing likely wasn't possible for martial classes as each one had special weaponskills associated with them. But for magic it was a different story.
There were characters who could use all 6 elements at once for example. If I picked one weapon, I could reach heights that even a Red Mage would weep over.
I rolled to my side and started kicking my leg up again. It felt like I was doing 80's aerobics.
In 1.0, the class selection was limited. While later classes looked cool, such as Viper, as someone who was not locked into one class, I didn't see why I couldn't do something like, wield 2 Paladin Swords and replicate their moves.
I rolled to my other side and repeated my action. Push ladies, push!
I narrowed the classes I could choose by their weapon types, their synergies and of course whether I could actually live as them.
A Warrior was fun and all, but I wasn't excited to feel the direct punch of Titan using just my body as my shield.
I also had to remove classes that could only function if I had a special weapon in my hands. A Dark Knight could fight with any longsword, but a Summoner needed their book. A Gunbreaker needed their Gunblade.
The list I came back with was the Paladin, Dark Knight, Viper, Dancer, White Mage, Sage, Black Mage, Red Mage, and of course the Job I still hadn't given up on, Blue Mage.
The Paladin and Dark Knight represented a sharp divide in how I would be able to fight. Both classes were equally attuned to Magic in their own ways. The biggest question was if I wanted to fight with a 1 handed or 2 handed sword.
'Not that I had a choice.'
Guess who was in Ul'dah and during 1.0? Not the Dark Knight.
The Viper, as I understood, could use either twin blades or a single double blade. It worked just fine with Paladin or Dark Knight.
I almost added Ninja to my list however I needed my hands free to use the signs. I couldn't afford that.
The Dancer used Chakrams, however their real skill was their ability to, well, Dance. Depending on their steps they could evoke different phenomenon.
The White, Black, Blue and Red Mages were self explanatory. The Red Mage would be a fantastic addition as Red Magic added Dual Casting. The ability to cast a second spell for free, and instantly. Their Swordplay was also 1-Handed. I could weave in Paladin and Single Handed Viper skills as well. They also had a method to channel their spells to cast from their swords. If I could learn this, then I could use 2 Paladin Swords and double down on my Viper Skills.
The last, Sage, I almost didn't include. I assumed the weapons it used were special in some way, but if they were just a special looking staff, then I could perhaps replicate their function like I did with staves.
I laid on my back and relaxed. I had my plan. For now, I had to travel to Gridania to pick up the Conjurer. Then here in Ul'dah I could pick up the Gladiator and Thaumaturge.
I held my hand in front of my eyes. I didn't know how it would all pan out, but it would. I just have to see the Calamity to its end. Not too much longer.
Oh how wrong I was.