- Final Fantasy XVI Curiosities Guide - July 23, 2023
- Final Fantasy XVI The Dame Guide - July 14, 2023
- Final Fantasy XVI Eikon Guide - July 13, 2023
They say that stars that shine brighter are doomed to fade sooner. At the risk of giving you an instant spoiler, I think this is one of the best descriptions to define Moenbryda. This Roegadyn appears spontaneously in the plot, demonstrating her worth, fleshing out a little more about the then mysterious Urianger, and helping out in a way that would last throughout the rest of the adventure.
As short as her stay was, it was fruitful and will be remembered for all posterity. In an attempt to expand the relevance of this Final Fantasy character, I write this Moenbryda Guide to detail and explain more about her participation in A Realm Reborn and her influence on the course of the story.
Key Features
- Full Name: Moenbryda Wilfsunnwyn, which means Moon’s Bride, Daughter of Wolf Sun.
- First Appearance: Moenbryda arrives in a Chococo caravan from Sharlayan after Urianger sent her a plea for help. Her aetheric research expertise came in handy.
- Race: Roegadyn.
- Gender: Female.
- Playable Character: No.
- Job: I believe her in-game class is Marauder due to the massive axe she carries, though she rarely shows her prowess with the weapon.
- Special Powers: As an Archon, Moenbryda exceeds in specific studies areas. In her case, aetheric research. Her knowledge helped the Scions find Iceheart/Shiva and the Warrior of Light to defeat Nabriales.
- Characteristics: Unfortunately (spoilers), Moenbryda was short-lived. However, her presence was ultimately essential in uncovering how to beat the immortal Ascians. In Endwalker, we met her fathers and watched a heartwarming scene between them and Urianger, showing what I never knew the man could have: feelings.
Appearance
Moenbryda is one of the few prominent female Roegadyn presents within the game, the other being Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn, the Chief Admiral of Limsa Lominsa. Like most Roegadyns, Moenbryda has a tall frame and sturdy structure. She boasts stylish well-trimmed gray hair and has a sharp profile. Weirdly enough, she has beige skin, an option unavailable for players when creating a Roegadyn.
Her outfit is mostly blue, with a trench coat over chainmail, a tiny skirt showing off her Scion of Seventh Dawn tattoo or her thighs, and a gray jackboot. Moenbryda’s Archon’s tattoo is inked on her neck. She bears the Dual Harken axe but rarely employs it in battle. Or at least she didn’t have the chance to before she was… sorry, let’s not talk about it.
Personality
For someone with Moenbryda’s personality, I would never say that she is Urianger’s friend. But since the game wanted to contradict me, she is. Some out-of-game information says that she pestered the quiet, antisocial Urianger until he gave in, and the two became friends.
Although her stature and Roegadyn countenance seem menacing, Moenbryda is a cutie pie, vibrant, and possesses a youthful spirit, according to Urianger. After joining the group, she quickly becomes friends with the Scions of Seventh Dawn.
Her moments of flirtation with Urianger are high points of her stay in the game. Like the moment she meets him again and lifts him off the ground in a hug, mentioning ambiguous and borderline sexual innuendoes, which provides amusing reactions from the other Scions.
Moenbryda Glamour
As with most famous NPCs, we can’t perfectly recreate her glamour. In Moenbryda’s case, it’s a very close lookalike, but to the discerning eye, there will be some differences. To my farsighted-hampered eye, there is no difference at all, so get dressed in the gear I will inform you about and become the reincarnation of one of the most badass women in Final Fantasy XIV.
But hold your horses because we have a problem, my friend. Moenbryda is an axe-wielder, like a Marauder/Warrior. However, her glamour is composed of an Aiming Set, which means only Ranged DPS can equip. Oh no! What should you do?
Don’t give up! Just keep in mind that you won’t be able to wield her axe, the Dual Haken – acquired by trading 3 Rowena Tokens with Aelina at Mor Dhona – Fogfens (X:22.7 Y:6.7) or opening up the Level 90 Weapon Coffer rewarded after completing the MSQ “When Yugiri Met the Fraternity” with a Warrior -, with the Aiming set. So, we have a conundrum on our hands: wear the weapon or the armor? Your pick. But in my humble opinion, I think the armor is a more noteworthy glamour.
How to acquire them
The body is called Saurian Tabard of Aiming, and you can get it in three ways. The first one is crafting. To craft with a Leatherworker, you must learn the recipe by reading the Master Leatherworker I book. The second one is getting the armor as a reward from the level 50 Machinist quest, “The Power of a Tourney.” Buying it directly from the Auction House is the third option if you’re in a hurry and loaded. You may need to dye it blue to closely resemble Moenbryda’s gear, but know that the chainmail isn’t dyable, so your metal rings won’t have the blue hue as hers.
The hand is called Weathered Halfgloves, and as the name implies, it sucks. It’s the starting Marauder equipment, and you probably threw it away. While you can get it back from a Calamity Salvager, as you may have guessed, the starting hand gear isn’t dyable, so I suggest getting an alternative: Linen Halfgloves. It’s a level 33 Weaver recipe, but you can buy it from several merchants in the city-states. To honor the Roegadyns, give profit to the NPC Iron Thunder by going to Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks (X:8.1 Y:11.6).
Moenbryda’s legs gear shows a lot of skin, highlighting her Scion of Seventh Dawn tattoo on the thighs. It’s considered special equipment, and there’s no perfect replication, but you can go for the Uraeus Skirt. You can get the skirt by crafting with a level 50 Leatherworker. The Uraeus Leather material is a bit tricky to get by, so you can try your hand at the Auction House and dye the skirt with a Royal Blue pigment.
Finally, the boots. Once again, Moenbryda shows her desire to become a Ranged DPS by wearing the Saurian Boots of Aiming. You can get it practically the same way as the armor. Either from crafting with a level 50 Leatherworker or by getting the Machinist armor coffer from the level 50 Job quest. That’s it! Congratulations, you’re pretty much cosplaying Moenbryda with all this gear. Just remember to hide your weapon if you’re not a Warrior.
Story
Arrival of the Aetheric Researcher
Moenbryda is the type of character that makes you fall in love at first sight. Not to say that I’ve fallen in love with a game character – cough, cough, Tifa – but for sure, the Sharlayan researcher was much more striking in Final Fantasy XIV than other side characters. Point in case, I still remember her sacrificial scene years after the patch’s release. In contrast, I barely remember the name of that cowardly bastard who captained the Crystal Braves.
The tall, funny, charismatic, and beautiful woman arrives on a Chocobo Caravan at Revenant’s Toll to aid us with her expertise in aetheric research. She was invited by Urianger and had been working and researching for a way to ensnare and destroy the Ascians. When we return to the Rising Stones, Moenbryda is socializing with the Scions until Yda appears, recognizing her from earlier days (which, to be honest, was a moot point for me if you know Yda’s true identity.) Then, Urianger appears, and Moenbryda acts in one of the funniest scenes of the games, heightening the Shakesperian eloquence of the man to the next level.
Minfilia keeps Moenbryda in the loop, explaining that Iceheart teleported to an unknown second aetheryte. The Roegadyn describes how they could track the current of the aetheryte to find Iceheart’s destination. I won’t elaborate further on it because I didn’t quite grasp the magical physics of it, and I would probably bore you to death. I believe it’s similar to airplane highways; you don’t see or understand them, but they are there to guide the aircraft safely to its destination.
After convincing the Scion of her theory, we searched for the currents using white auracite as an aether catalyst to discover Iceheart’s teleportation destiny. Some Scions channel their aether on the auracite, who then ferries this massive concentration of energy on the aetheryte, allowing the Warrior of Light to attune to it and find Shiva’s vessel whereabouts.
Read also: Minfilia Guide.
How to Capture your Ascian
As the Scions have seen, Moenbryda explains that the white auracite can store vast amounts of aether, albeit briefly. With it, we can keep the Ascian soul and destroy its villainous essence alongside the auracite. She then elucidates on how the Ascian ethereal bodies and survival works, something very welcoming at the moment since I’ve never quite grasped their anatomy. Rather odd that I was more interested in learning about biology within a game than in school, but it is what it is.
Moenbryda concludes that to prevent the Ascians from using infinite life cheat codes, the key would be to trap their soul in white auracite and destroy the stone. To do this, a burst of aether would be necessary. The problem is, a few moments before her lesson, the father of all dragons, Midgardsormr, removed the blessing of light from the Warrior of Light, making the task of condensing aether way more challenging.
However, in a room full of nerds, the brainstorming was enthusiastic. Scions say that condensing aether is technically easy, mind you. To do that, we need to use a staple resource of the franchise: crystals. But for the amount needed to destroy an Ascian soul, it would become unproductive to transport loads of heavy crystals all around. Y’shtola worried that tapping into the land aether would corrupt Eorzea. So Moenbryda’s solution was to take advantage of the corrupted crystals spearing from the ground.
There was still the matter of distance and the fortunate eventuality that an Ascian would appear near the corrupted crystals. To get around this problem, Moenbryda created a device, a sort of wand that could siphon aether from a distance. When we, Warrior of Light, accompany her to a corrupted crystal to test her instrument, we are greeted by Nabriales, a pesky Ascian.
The man babbles; Moenbryda tries to do what Thor did with Thanos’ head in Endgame, but she’s shoved away by a finger. The Ascian then detects the absence of the Blessing of Light. He teleports to where Minfilia is, hoping to steal the staff of Louisoix, the Tupsimati. Warrior of Light and Moenbryda hurry back to the Rising Stones. There, we find Nabriales strong-arming Minfilia to deliver the magical weapon. Moenbryda rushes into the fray once more and is struck by a beam of darkness, falling to the ground but still kicking.
A hot take: in these moments, I feel that our hero of Final Fantasy XIV fails. The technical limitations of game development may explain why we always stare dumbfounded at events unfolding rather than taking arms and smacking our enemies. I imagine creating a scene for each Job would be arduous. Even so, I always feel that my character lacks a bit of proactivity, and all this standing and nodding around don’t add up to the title of champion.
Nabriales then kidnaps Minfilia and enters a rift that we also traverse, unlocking a new trial. A boss fight that to this day still wipes the unaware party that doesn’t know how to soak the meteor correctly. After the victory, Minfilia and Warrior of Light return to the Rising Stones. Moenbryda still groans in pain on the ground. Nabriales reappears, barely scathed because of their Ascian cheat code of immortality. He gloats, claiming his return is inevitable. Then, Moenbryda throws the white auracite to Minfilia, who uses it to entrap the Ascian.
The imprisonment works, but they are on a timer. Using Tupsimati to gather aether, Warrior of Light directs the burst towards the white auracite, hoping to implode it. The aether is insufficient, and Hydaelyn is nowhere to aid us. So we fail. And that failure takes a massive toll. Moenbryda jumps amidst the aether blast, sacrificing herself to fuel the energy, thus destroying the white auracite and the Ascian Nabriales with it. Dear Moenbryda, you shan’t be forgotten.
When Minfilia informs the Scions of Moenbryda’s noble sacrifice, Urianger’s cracking voice gets to me. He still speaks in that enigmatic manner that requires a dictionary, to understand. Still, it’s just his method of expressing feelings. He reminisces about Louisoix and Moenbryda, sharing a little about their backstory and how the master felt the necessity to hide from his disciple the true intentions to let her carve her own path. The irony was that both used the artifice of sacrifice to aid the world.
Urianger Closure
It took approximately seven years for our Elezen to gain his long-desired closure. At Sharlayan, Urianger does his best to stay in the shadows to avoid Moenbryda’s parents. Until he cannot anymore. The man is stunned when faced with her parents and loses his words, an unusual event for our Elezen Shakespeare.
Urianger was distraught, ready for a spanking, when Moenbryda’s mother, Bloewyda, envelops him in an embrace, discoursing on her concern for him. Her father, Wilfsunn, says that the day the Scions asked Moenbryda for help was one of the happiest days of her life. In a spectacular moment of character development, Urianger returns the hug to Bloewyda, something he didn’t do when Moenbryda hugged him years before.
It’s moments like these that make Final Fantasy XIV my favorite game. It has the luxury of being a long-running game to create narrative arcs that go on for years. Luckily for us, Square Enix has a cast of the best storytellers in the gaming industry that never fail to amaze.
Moenbryda Minion Description
After completing the Post-Dragonsong Main Scenario Quest “An Ending to Mark a New Beginning,” players earn the Wind-up Moenbryda minion. So cute and charming. However, the description of this minion caused people an uncomfortable itch.
I don’t know why Square decided to move forward with this description. Despite trying to keep a low profile, a twelve-year-old would understand the insinuation invoked by the definition even more if they knew the relationship Urianger had with Moenbryda. Such description changed with the arrival of patch 6.1, A Newfound Adventure, but fans – myself included – will never let this blot be removed from the story lest Square make future mistakes.
The old description was the following: “This anatomically accurate representation of Moenbryda was secretly crafted by none other than Urianger immediately following the untimely passing of his beloved companion. What he did with it before it passed to your hands is a tale best left untold.”
That last sentence, oh wow. Simultaneously it dishonors Moenbryda’s image and the reputation of Urianger, who has never shown himself to have attitudes on that level. But happily, the new description of the minion is much more endearing and heartwarming.
“This finely detailed tribute to Moenbryda was crafted in secret by none other than Urianger following the untimely passing of his beloved companion. Though known for her warm and jovial nature, the resolve within this doll’s eyes perhaps speaks to the strength he admired in her.”
Much better. I feel that the first description was made by some staff member who disliked Urianger and wanted to discredit him in front of his peers and players. After seeing Scholar’s reaction to meeting Moenbryda’s parents, the staff must have repented and changed the post-mortem homage.
FAQ
Question: Who is Moenbryda to Urianger?
Answer: Publicly, they were best friends while both studied in Sharlayan, as denoted by their dialogues and Urianger’s conversation with her parents. Secretively, I and the fandom suspect there were more than meets the eye in their relationship. One, due to Moenbryda’s constant nagging and flirting with Urianger. Two, because of her minion’s former description. Well, they were practically in college, so booty calls were expected.
Question: Was Moenbryda a Scion?
Answer: Yes! As a member of the Circle of Knowing, she was automatically enrolled in the Scions of the Seventh Dawn cast. When Moenbryda arrived at Revenant’s Toll, Yda was already acquainted with her, whom she called sister. (That’s quite a stretch because we know Yda is Lyse Hext, and they still act intimately.)
Question: What happens to Moenbryda?
Answer: Ouch, tough question. After she helps the Scions with aetheric research, finding Iceheart/Shiva, and creating a means to trap the Ascian, Nabriales pressures her, Minfiila, and the Warrior of Light. We manage to capture the Ascian in the White Auracite, but the aether harnessed isn’t enough to destroy both Ascian and the crystal. That’s when Moenbryda understands Master Louisoix’s sacrifice and uses herself as fuel for the aether, killing the Ascian in the process.
Conclusion
Moenbryda, as I initially said, was a star that shone the brightest but quickly faded. However, her passage through the Scion of Seventh Dawn provided the means for Warrior of Light and companions to face the Ascians and also contributed to humanizing one of the most insensitive characters in the franchise until then.
Despite her presence being fleeting, she was remarkable. Moenbryda is and always will be remembered by players for her vibrant personality, stylish appearance, and noble sacrifice. May her reunion in the pantheon of heroes be as glorious and warm as her smile.