A Feast of Iron

The Iron Feast was once a place of respite for those who would climb Sohm Al on spiritual pilgrimages. After the betrayal of man, however, it was yet another place ravaged by dragons in their rage. Its name in the present alludes to the abundance of beasts flocking to drink deep of the pure waters which flow forth from the structure - which the dragons then hunt with abandon.

- Heavensward sightseeing log

About

An ongoing long-term storyline about the restoration of the Iron Feast.

Act One

'With wine and hope, anything is possible.'

Lucius de Guiscareaux, second son of the famed wine-producing house, is approached one night by a viera with a business proposal: partnering with the obscure House de Balencroix to create an ice wine unique to the region. With Coerthas showing no signs of returning to its former fertile state, and reserves dwindling for both families, she argues that taking advantage of the new climate is sure to have them rolling in wealth in no time.

Lucius agrees to hear a more detailed proposal, and invites the viera to meet his business partner, Gaelle de Favagenieur, to meet in La Noscea, where his family is now forced to grow their grapes at great cost. An engineer by trade, Gaelle sees this as an opportunity to test new devices that will harvest vast quantities of grapes in the short window granted to them by the weather. By extension, this will let them produce and sell more, increasing the income of the venture. An agreement is struck: House de Balencroix will provide land and manpower, while the de Favagenieurs and de Guiscareaux will provide machinery and expertise.

There's just one problem: House de Balencroix has yet to secure any land. The viera in their employ, Mjelle Virtan, takes a trip to Dravania to find a suitable plot, then takes the Ishgardians and two adventurers, Skoenraet Thotaelilfrut and Fallon Rivensail, to bargain with the dragons of Anyx Trine for it. They are led to Gullinkambi, who has no interest in selling them any land, but does have a counter-proposal: Vidofnir has been unsuccessful in negotiating with Ishgard for the reconstruction of the Iron Feast, a ruin to the north that served as a rest stop for pilgrims before the war. She would have it restored as both monument to the new friendship between dragon and man, as well as meeting its original, more practical purpose. Gullinkambi is certain that should they take on the project, it will make no difference what they choose to grow upon the land, so long as it is given freely to those seeking respite on their journey to Sohm Al.

Though this makes their project all the more ambitious, the group agrees to Gullinkambi's terms, and begin to make their plans in earnest.

Act Two

'It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.'

The Vamplate, home to a recently disbanded Free Company, goes up for auction in Ishgard, and representatives of the Iron Feast venture attend in the hopes that it might be suitable as a base of operations until something more permanent can go up in Dravania. Also in attendance are Solaine Durremont and Ulysses de Rosiers, old friends of Lucius and Gaelle who have been travelling the wilds for some time. Neither have the intent nor means to buy, but the house once meant something to Solaine, and it is that which spurs Gaelle to buy the building in spite of its many issues: most pressing of which, according to the auctioneer, is that it is haunted.

The Vamplate takes some time to settle into, as in addition to its ghost problem, it is also invaded by the dragonet Heoforon, who speaks in a strange dialect of Draconic understood only by Ulysses and Mjelle, and who claims that the grounds are his family's home. Mysterious assailants known as the Swans attack the Vamplate and leave one of its staff for dead in an attempt to lure its new owners out, almost filling them with arrows as they rescue the fallen Master Jerault. The hauntings only continue, drawing the attention of mysterious woman named Ianthe, who seems undisturbed - even delighted - by the strange goings-on of the home.

But it is not completely hopeless. A ghost is slain, for however long that may be, and Heoforon settles into the home. Zephyrine de Balencroix sends her sons to help with repairs, with both warming to the group in their own way. At the prompting of Gullinkambi, Mjelle takes the opportunity to assemble everyone at the Iron Feast to discuss next steps, and it is decided that the party will split to seek aid from the different residents of the Hinter and Highlands. A rough plan for the layout of the Feast is devised, beginning with a smaller structure complete with bridges and floating gardens in the Dalmascan style, so that crops can be planted within a year.

Solaine and Ulysses agree to treat with the Gnath upon Mjelle's suggestion, unaware that she has confused them with the Vath. They go sky-fishing to collect gifts in hope of easing over their diplomacy efforts.

Players

Progress

Restoring the Iron Feast is a long-term project, and one with many moving pieces. Here's where we'll keep track of them all.

Security

Threats to the Iron Feast and countermeasures against them.

▰▰▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱

  • Guiscareaux soldiers patrol the roads

Structure

Progress made rebuilding the ruin, its roads and the dam.

▰▰▰▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱

  • The rubble is cleared

  • Floating gardens are finished

Support

Be it financial or the court of opinion, you'll need both to see this project complete.

▰▱▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱

Supplies

You can't magick a new one out of thin air, after all. Nor the means to stock it.

▰▰▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱ ▱▱▱▱▱

  • 50 grape vines planted

NPCs

Important characters you'll meet along the way as you help to restore the Iron Feast to its former glory.

Dravania

Be they dragons, gnath, or the hunters of Tailfeather, you'll need to balance all their needs as you make your plans.

Gullinkambi

The dragon who brought the issue of the Iron Feast to the attention of the party, proposing they carry out Vidofnir's request to see it rebuilt after Ishgard was unable to prioritize the endeavor.

Her children took a keen interest in the party during negotiations, and are sure to want to be involved as time goes by.

Ishgard

Though they may not be able to contribute to the Iron Feast as a nation, nothing is stopping interested individuals from taking part in the restoration.

House de Balencroix

Recent business partners to houses de Guiscareaux and de Favagenieur. Entirely unprepared to rebuild such an ancient monument, their matriarch is looking for assurances that the three families have a prosperous partnership for generations to come.

OOC

Feast of Iron was made for a group of friends who wanted to get back into RP with some of their Ishgardian characters. It started off as wine talk, and spiralled from there pretty quickly.The plot is more a big jumble of hooks and threads that people can pursue on their own time and as things grab their interest than it is fixed and linear. Some sessions may be between me and one other person, and some may be open to larger groups.Basically, whenever someone wants to do a session, I try to think of who's involved, what they want to do, and what elements of the broader storyline would interest them. They're then free to do whatever they want with what they got from the session on their own time.

Important

In coming up with this plot, I wanted to continue on the themes of healing old wounds and reforging alliances that are prominent in Heavensward (and a lot of FFXIV, really). This means that the direction the story will take is one of partnership with the Dravanians, not Ishgardian expansion.Your characters may not be of this opinion, and that's fine, but it's important that you take this into consideration when planning your next moves. There's a pre-existing ecosystem to think about, as well as the fact that Ishgard doesn't own the land, even if the Dravanians give permission to some of its people to restore and look after it. Overstep your boundaries, and they'll take that permission away.