Estinien Wyrmblood

Estinien Wyrmblood is a non-playable character from Final Fantasy XIV.

The current Azure Dragoon, and mightiest hero of Ishgard. Bearer of the Eye, an ancient relic plucked from the great wyrm Nidhogg, he wields the power of dragons. Long absent from his post, he has returned to Ishgard to drive back the ancient enemy of his people.

Originally a character introduced in the Dragoon job quests, he has a greater role in the events of Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward.

Appearance
Estinien is a young Elezen man wearing a full set of Drachen scale armor befitting the Azure Dragoon. His facial features are largely obscured by his helmet.

A Realm Reborn
Estinien first appears in the quest "Eye of the Dragon," where the Adventurer is asked to track him down by Ser Alberic Bale due to him stealing an important relic of the Holy See. In the initial confrontation at a small Ixal encampment east of the Observatorium, the Eye of the Dragon artifact he took shines in the presence of the Adventurer, much to his shock. This leads to Ser Alberic training the Adventurer as a dragoon, in hopes of eventually confronting Estinien.

In subsequent quests, Alberic reveals Estinien was an orphan of the town of Ferndale when it was ransacked by Nidhogg twenty years ago. Ser Alberic took him in and trained him as a dragoon, and in time Estinien was selected as Azure Dragoon.

In the quest "Double Dragoon," Estinien sends word to Alberic asking for a parley at Boulder Downs. There, he confesses his true reason for taking the Eye: the wyrmking Nidhogg is about to awaken again, and he hoped to remove the artifact from the Holy See to redirect the great wyrm's wrath away from the Holy See. He then expresses his hope to join forces with the Adventurer, as he believes two Azure Dragoons could put an end to Nidhogg. Under this advice, Alberic and Estinien send the Adventurer on trials to obtain Drachen armor.

Shortly after completing the trials, Ser Alberic confess the truth about Ferndale: when he engaged Nidhogg in battle twenty years ago, they locked eyes and Alberic felt a torrent of emotions from the wyrmking. Fearing he would fall under the sway of the dragon, Ser Alberic relinquished his dragoon powers, and in doing so left the town helpless against the wyrm's rampage. All he could do was save one child: Estinien.

In the quest "Into the Dragon's Maw," Estinien sends word that Nidhogg is about to awaken and requests a rendezvous at the Steel Vigil. Ser Alberic accompanies the adventurer intent on coming clean with the truth of what happened in Ferndale. Upon arriving, Estinien points his spear at Alberic, angrily denouncing him. Having learned from the Eye of what happened, Estinien began to lose control of his emotions. The Adventurer clashed with him at the ruined vigil. Losing the duel, Estinien began to call out for power and - in response - the wyrmking began to offer power to enraged youth. At that point, an image of the first Azure Dragoon, Haldrath, appeared in the adventurer's place, and in a burst of light banished the wyrmking's influence.

Estinien's fate is left ambiguous after this, with Ser Alberic hoping he's still out there.

He makes a reappearance in Patch 2.55 for the Main Scenario, where he joins Ser Aymeric at the defense of Ishgard. If the player has already completed the Dragoon job quest, he will acknowledge them as a fellow Azure Dragoon, and comment that he is not prepared to cross blades with them again at the time. Following the defeat of Vishap at the Steps of Faith, Estinien notes that Nidhogg himself did not join the assault, and vows to hunt down Lady Iceheart for damaging the wards around the city-state.

Heavensward
Estinian returns in Heavensward, during which he becomes a major character during the main quest line. After learning that the Adventurer and Alphinaud Leveilleur are planning to meet with Lady Iceheart in order to attempt to parlay with the Dravanian Horde, he volunteers to go with them. After successfully making contact with Iceheart, who goes by her true name of Ysayle while with the group, the four of them begin the long journey through Ishgard and Dravania. During the journey, he often clashes with Ysayle over their differing attitudes of the ongoing war between Ishgard and Dravania. They are eventually led to meet with Hraesvelgr, Nidhogg's brother and the beloved of Saint Shiva, who tells them the true history of the war.

After learning that Nidhogg was motivated by pure vengeance, and thus could never be reasoned with, the group comes to the conclusion that the only path remaining to them is to slay him. Estinien travels to Nidhogg's lair, the Aery, alongside the adventurer. The two of them face Nidhogg in battle together, with Estinien using his own stolen eye against him in order to weaken him. Although Nidhogg threatens to possess him again, as he had done during the Dragoon storyline, Estinien is able to resist his influence and slay him. During the course of the battle, his armor is stained by Nidhogg's blood, changing to a deep crimson color. After the battle, Estinien remarks that, though slaying Nidhogg had been his goal his whole life, he feels no satisfaction upon doing so. Learning Nidhogg's past made him realize that the two of them were very much alike, both driven by vengeance.

After the group returns to Ishgard, they share the truth of Ishgard's past with their allies. When Ser Aymeric insists on confronting the Archbishop with this knowledge, he is arrested and imprisoned. Estinien joins with the Adventurer and others in a successful rescue. But after Thordan has fallen, Estinien retrieves Nidhogg's other Eye. But Estinien ends up being devoured by Nidhogg, who regains his sight and full power.