FFXIV Lore- What it Means to be a Dragoon

the air in kurthus was cold and unforgiving as the temple knights huddled around a makeshift fire they had been assigned to perimeter scouting a respectable post but not a comfortable one they were expecting things to be uneventful the horde of dead hog had just recently ended a skirmish with them after all but unfortunately that was a faint they were simply gauging the strength of this position and the temple knights began to hear deep wing beats against the chilly air their hearts sunk at the sound only to hear roars accompany it as the surprise attack had begun they'd received no information from the astrology sites that the dragonstar even suggested a tactic like this they were completely unprepared and ready to face massive casualties the dragons were clever using hit-and-run tactics that took full advantage of their aerial abilities every missed shot from their cannons and ballistas was a major loss as they began to run low on munitions just as they were about to call out for a full retreat a whistling sound began to race through the air the captain of the knights called for everyone to brace themselves but the noise was not an attack instead the wind began to fill with the sound of a dragon's pain-filled roars the temple knights looked up to see a singular knight had landed on the dragon lance buried deep in its hide they pulled their lance free damaging one of the dragon's wings and forcing it to land before jumping off and landing near the temple knights this lone knight stood up straight lance at their side as everyone present knew what had arrived this elite weapon this token few took a crouching stance before leaping through the air once more like an arrow shot from the truest bow they struck another dragon that was battering their soldiers the dragons had officially lost their aerial advantage and their surprise attack with it the arrival of this single knight had tipped the scales as they whistled and raced through the air with great precision and lethal grace the battle was now fair as the temple knights rallied behind this the pride of ishgard welcome back my friends today we'll be discussing a discipline that has had a thousand years to refine itself into the profession we see it as currently a job that was born out of misery and strife it has a bloody history and that alone has allowed it to gain a stigma in some circles however this role is one of great risks and tremendous rewards they're always in the most danger as they rush their enemies in ways that no one else can never giving their opponent a chance at escape as they dash through the air with deadly elegance today my friends we will understand what it means to humble the great dragons of our world today we will discuss what it means to be a dragoon like stated before the history of the dragoon was born out of conflict to truly understand its origins we must turn back the pages of history to the dawning days of the dragon song war you see dragoons didn't exist before the war while it's true that there were knights that had befriended and rode on the backs of dragons they were never the dragoons we know them as today it wasn't until the great betrayal of king thorden and the rampaging of nidhogg that the core of what makes a dragoon was born after king thorden and his knights 12 murdered ratatoskr for her power nidhogg went into a blind rage he began killing hundreds of innocent elizan who knew nothing of what thorin had done these ellison were scared and confused not knowing why the dragons they'd long called friends and allies were suddenly butchering and burning them alive putting their new powers to the test thordan and his knights tried to end nidhogg's life as well but nidhogg alone was the strongest of mcgartzmars children and was all too eager to return the pain over losing ratatoskr during their battles nidhogg would kill four of the knights 12 and king thorden as well in a fit of rage and disgust one of the king's twelve nights his son haldruth used all his new strength and soared through the sky to plunge his lance deep into nidhogg's hide their battle was gruesome but eventually halldreth emerged the victor and took both of nidhogg's eyes before leaving the great wire to die even after winning the battle against nidhogg haldreth was completely disillusioned his father four of his brother knights and countless innocent elizan were now dead because of their betrayal of the dragon's trust instead of assuming the throne of ishgard like his father before him he felt he needed to atone for the sins he and his father committed as penance he chose to fight until the hells took him he would partake of the power given by the eye of nidhogg combining it with ratatoskr strength and using it to soar through the skies slaying any dragons that attempted to harm ishgard or her people because of nidhogg's extreme and swift reaction to ratatoskr's death the noble houses convinced the people of ishgard that the dragons had betrayed them with unprecedented ease to that end they even spun the stories that prince haldruth was making the most noble of sacrifices as heir to the throne by fighting on the front lines for the rest of his life these stories painted haldrath as the most noble of knights and greatest of ishgard's champions eventually making him the father of dragoons and with the eye of nidhogg he became the first as your dragoon prince haldruth kept his word he fought with the dragons over and over in the skies above karthus till the day he died over that time he honed his skills as a dragon slayer giving birth to the techniques and traditions that would eventually be inherited by the first generation of ishgardian dragoons this is why dragoons never existed before the dragon song war to be a dragoon was to be the greatest dragon killer but eventually prince haldroth did die and his secrets along with him however what he left behind was the legacy of the dragoon and the eye of nidhogg that he had been carrying over the long course of ishgard's history there have been many statues made in honor of the dragoons that had performed some form of miraculous deed going above and beyond their station and being regarded as saints but what does it take to become a dragoon and be gifted with haldrath's techniques to put it bluntly the process of becoming a dragoon is harrowing you see only the best of the best from ishgard's nights are selected for this special training and even after that they're lucky if they get so much as three new dragoons out of it this is because the training to become a dragoon is beyond difficult which is why only those with the resolve and skills to wear the mantle are ever chosen out of ishgard's thousands of soldiers the highest count of dragoons at any one time in the country's history was about 30. but during the end of the dragon song war only about 10 dragoons were in active service but even after becoming a dragoon there was one seat higher in the order the title of azure dragoon the azure dragoon was never decided by ishgard but rather nidhogg's eye instead it's said that only the strongest of dragoons the one closest to the might and ferocity of dragons would be acknowledged by nidhogg's eye and gained greater might as their powers would be brought closer to that of the dragonkin by tapping into this draconic force the azure dragoon was capable of incredible feats mixing their professions already lethal art with traconic wrath but this power didn't come without cost nidhogg's eye would ever whisper into the ears of those possessing it filling their minds with malice some azure dragoons have been driven mad by it while others willingly step down from their position before they could do any harm however with the dragon song war over the long line of azure dragoons was finally broken once the eyes of nidhogg were destroyed that isn't to say that dragoons have lost their place in the world far from it while begrudgingly some dragons do accept the strength of dragoons almost viewing them as equals in the sky to this end some dragons have begun to work with dragoons in time they may become an unbelievably efficient combo possibly turning the once murderous dragon slayers into heroic dragon riders now that you understand the history and traditions of a dragoon let us discuss the powers and abilities that make them so fast as we all know the dragoons of ishgard are most well known for one particular technique which is simply referred to as jumps this ability is often what weeds out those who aren't truly worthy of becoming a dragoon but why is that the answer is a combination of etheric control and airborne acrobatics while not technically a mage a dragoon is able to consolidate and direct the aether inside their body to empower their movements and strikes this added power is what allows them to rocket into the sky within human levels of speed at the apex of their jump they pivot and rotate their bodies mid-air to make sure the greatest amount of force and weight is behind their strikes the dragoons that master this technique are even able to stimulate the aether around their feet allowing them to launch themselves mid-air and remain airborne for longer periods of time however as swift and devastating as this ability can be it's extremely dangerous once a dragoon launches themselves with their jump they're committed meaning if they miss their mark they're wide open for counter-attack usually ending in the dragoon's death this is why dragoon fatalities are so high throughout asgardian history only a handful of dragoons master this ability to the point they never leave themselves open for attack it's important to remember that a dragoon is jumping not flying so if they fail to dismount their target or land properly they are falling however while jumps are the most powerful and recognizable ability in a dragoon's arsenal it's not all they have they are masters of the lance using its reach and piercing potential to not only make wide sweeping motions but also drive their strikes deep into their target reaching vitals that other weapons would have difficulty doing not only that but the azure dragoon was also known to take these abilities one step further by tapping into the power granted by the eye of nidhogg they are able to stimulate their bodies with a dragon's fury granting them a killer instinct there are some dragon-like abilities they can access while under the influence of this technique but one of the most interesting ones is called gear skogel by focusing a vast amount of aether into their next thrust the dragoon is able to unleash a blast of draconic energy in front of them what makes this technique interesting is that on an ethereal level it's almost the same technique dragons use to combine magic with their exhaled breath which they used to unleash their elemental breath attacks now that we've discussed their draconic powers and acrobatic abilities let us move on to their choice of weapons and armor pole arms have always been the staple dragoon weapon since it was this weapon type that prince haldrath used to perfect the combat arts of a dragoon spears lances hallbirds and similar pole arms have been used by many martial arts throughout the world's history dating as far back as the first astral era however as stronger and lighter metals were discovered and superior smithing methods were developed wooden spears have slowly become somewhat outdated when compared to a master crafted metal pole arm what makes this weapon perfect for the dragoon is the fact that it creates almost no drag or wind resistance when held properly mid-jump since it doesn't interfere with their fast and agile movements the pole arm will always be brought to its peak in the hands of a master dragoon while providing superior reach and fluid movements to its wielder it's entirely possible that the dragons themselves saw the aerial potential in this weapon type since pole arms like rio nojige were created during the times when man and dragon lived in harmony lastly let us discuss their choice in attire the armor of a dragoon has seen a few different iterations in its long history but the most popular by far are the sets modeled after the armor that prince haldrath once wore it was difficult and painstaking for ishgard's armors to recreate and improve upon this armor set that is because it provides superior speed and flexibility without sacrificing too much in the terms of defense eventually they discovered that they could quench the hot mithril used to make the armor in dragon's blood instead of water this allowed it to remain lightweight but also reinforced its defensive capabilities but this is also why some parts of the armor exposes particular parts of the body since any interference with a dragoon's range of motion mid-air could be fatal at the end of the dragon song war this smithing technique fell out of fashion since using vast amounts of dragon's blood for anything was seen in poor taste however this made way for the re-emergence of an old smelting technique that the dragons reminded ishgard of by smelting the oar for weapons and armors in dragon fire they were infusing the metal with the dragon's arcane breath enchanting the metal on an ethereal level this is why it was assumed to be impossible to recreate prince haldrath's armor since the smithing techniques used to make it during the era of peace would have been lost during the dragon song war nowadays dragoon armor is made using this ancient smithing technique while also decorating the armor with scales gifted to the armorers by the dragons that they fell off of now you understand the dragoon from its creation history powers and revolutionary smithing techniques they've had a long and bloody history but it's entirely possible for modern dragoons to evolve in a way that would have been impossible without the dragon's willing cooperation after all it's said that power given willingly is so much stronger than power that is stolen to those that walk the path of the dragoon hear me now your domain is and always will be that of the sky do not hesitate when you commit to your leaps but do not rush in without reason either you are your spear and should you soar through the air with the might of a true dragon your will could even pierce the heavens themselves hello everyone thanks for staying to the end of the lesson if you enjoyed this and want to see more subscribe and like this video to let me know i'm doing well if there is a topic you'd want me to cover in the future leave a comment about it and i'll see what i can do until next week me i'll be researching even more of our world's rich lord to share with you till then stay safe my friends

Channel: Synodic Scribe

Views: 59,423

Keywords: ffxiv, FFXIV, Final Fantasy 14, mmorpg, mmo, lore, gaming, educational

Id: tR1zIgdjEE8

Length: 17min 21sec (1041 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 17 2021