#ffxiv lore crafting

[therealdesastrffxivpast]

RP Lore?! CRAFTED! And on my carrd :D

Hi there!

I created some lore for the FFXIV universe. Particularly for roleplay. It is now all organized in a neat little carrd! This lore is open and useable for those who like the ideas. I only ask that you please link my carrd in your backstory should you use it, if possible.

It's been super fun to write, and I am very proud of my ideas.

Here's the carrd, enjoy!

[tandeeee]

On the Garlean Third Eye -

Made of keratin, the third eye is the unique distinguishing feature of the Garlean race. Thought to be a subset of Hyur at first, Garleans found their home in Goug until pushed out of their homelands and into the cold, harsh environment of Ilsabard proper.

The third eye is an organ used for superior spatial recognition, assisting in dexterous tasks such as aiming or detecting aetherical or environmental disruptions.

The eye itself is sensitive to the touch. A soft hand to the organ can be pleasant, even intimate to the comparison of a kiss, whilst a more aggressive blunt force to it could place a person unconscious or severely motion sick.

It is far more common to see Garlean couples use their third eye in acts of intimacy than their lips. The cold weather of Ilsabard can chap lips yet the pearly third eye finds pleasure in being warmed by another's breath or touch.

Size, shape, and color are all variable. Those of Garlean pure blood only have this organ and thus at times it is used as a way to signify social standing. Those with rounder third eyes are of a high caste and even rarer - those with a color beyond the pearly white seen in most are believed to have particular luck or skill. Those of common family ties share qualities in their third eyes - the imperial family in particular known for their perfect shape and pure color.

Garleans are born without the eye visible a majority of the time, children not named until it breaks thru flesh around the second week of life. Another thought on its emergence at 2 weeks of age - if it hasn't shown by then many parents opt to cut and reveal the third eye, leading to quite a number of scars or half shown eyes as well as drama when the child is revealed to obviously not be of thought parentage.

Garlean armor is commonly designed around the use of the third eye, and in some circumstances may even heighten its abilities.

[zylphiacrowley]

Well okay then! I guess I should've expected that result lol. So now for the follow up nuance (no polls tho since there's a few questions here):

If your WoL has canonically killed people:

Have they taken pleasure in any of their kills?

Do they only kill people when they deem that they must or have they ever gone out of their way to do so?

If your WoL has not canonically killed anyone:

How do you work with the storyline of XIV (e.g. someone else is always there to deliver the killing blow/they just have the Kiryu Kazuma-like ability to maim people so bad that it puts them out of commission forever without actually straight up ending their life/canon is merely a guideline/something else entirely)

[dovalore]

new clothes for the new year!

[eriyu]

cosmic exploration has like truly rewired my brain in record time but im so glad i finally feel motivated to get really into crafting

[ooeygooeyghoul]

Shiun Kazumasa Fun Fact!!

The red paint around his eyes from ARR up to the events of Shadowbringers is a traditional mark of the Malaguld to symbolize family! It's worn by the Raen outsiders they take in to mark them as members of the tribe amongst the other Xaela. Red for a bond of chosen blood, in flowing loops around the eyes, so all can see it plain and know they are one of the Malaguld.

When he got Hydaelyn's call to come to Eorzea, he had to leave his adoptive tribe behind for the greater good. So as a sign of love and respect for the Xaela that saved his life and raised him after he went into exile as a child, he would apply fresh paint every day before he'd go out on his adventures. It didn't have much meaning for the people of Eorzea, who were mostly unaware of Au Ri and their customs in general, but he did it anyway.

Then during the events of Shadowbringers, the Light that built up inside him became so intense, so bright, that it ended up permanently searing the design into the skin/scales of his face. Pretty convenient in a weird way.

The white marking is slightly pearlescent and glows faintly in dim light- much like the intense glow of his also-corrupted limbal rings. He's kind of spooky at night lol.

[mizunosuzuka]

Okay, so I've been having some brain worms/thoughts about Shadowbringers/Endwalker Emet-Selch, Warrior of Light, and lastly, Azem that keep me up at night and I'd like to just theory-craft/spew these thoughts before they take over my brain.

BEAR IN MIND THERE WILL BE SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT!!

Alrighty so, during Endwalker's Elpis questline, the WoL is initially teleported into the hub/entrance to Elpis, and is transparent , unable to be seen by those around them, nor are they able to interact with anything in their environment, and all seems pretty hopeless until a pleasantly familiar voice reaches their auditory sensors and lo and behold, the younger, far less theatrical Emet-Selch and their old-new friend Hythlodaeus have arrived to Elpis to conduct their business, and who is the first one to glance in their direction, obviously noticing the WoL despite how small and transparent they seem to be?

Emet-Selch. The WoL is perceived in these cutscenes, at least from my perspective, as being both shocked and very aware of the presence of this man, who, by all accounts, looks identical face wise to the Emet-Selch they are familiar with. Younger, less jaded and maniacal, sure.

And he notices the WoL almost immediately.

Now where the brain worms begin... Or continue. Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus can "see" the color of the soul, perceiving it in a way that allows them to uniquely pick out different people based off their soul alone, rather than their physical appearance, something that the people of present day Eitherys are unable to do.

Because of Amaurot's policy against individualism whilst about in public spaces, most Amaurotian are regarded by their job or station, with little that defines them from the next, save from the Convocation, all of whom are recommended for their office by a prior seat., Thusly, their people avoid conflict, as they are all found to be essential, and on equal footing.

Except... For those that have the soul sight.

It's considered a valuable gift even in Ancient times, and while Hades imparts that his is inferior to Hythlodaeus, whom he feels should have taken the seat of Emet-Selch, he yet still is able even while focused on other tasking and conversation, to immediately take note of the thin speck of a soul that is, by all accounts, identical to Azem's. (Because they are, in fact, an 8 times rejoined Azem)

This sets up for the inevitable question of, exactly how close is Emet-Selch to Azem? How intimate a relationship must they have (and not necessarily in a sexual way, this can be kindred spirits, familial, platonic, or romantic, however you feel to justify it) that his peripheral senses caught onto the Warrior of Light before Hythlodaeus had a moment to push Emet-Selch into slipping them some aether. Because I don't know about you, but when I'm out and about I don't always take full stock of everything, unless something or someone feels or looks familiar to me, in which I might do a double take, but this man straight up ZEROEs in on the WoL and you have to think... Was he expecting Azem? Was he hoping for Azem?

Now, let's dissect this from another standpoint.

When first it's spoken about the WoL's soul on the first Emet-Selch has just finished observing them just after Ryne's (then Minfilia) rescue and subsequent escape from Ranjit and from Eulmore. He notes its curious quality from afar and states that it may be of use after all. At this point in Emet-Selch's very extensive life, he's already experienced the Final Days, then the destruction of Amaurot, lost one of his best friends, as well as was [betrayed/left] by his other best friend, who was then sundered before they could even attempt to reconcile. Additionally, he has witnessed the fall of man and been tempered by a God beyond that of which we have any understanding of to this point, because it's a creation of and manifestation of the very "Will of the Star", whose heart is literally his youngest, and most innocent(to a degree that we understand) coworkers.

In other words, he is in the full throes of trauma, depression, and the hopeless burden of a life led too long.

Now, I believe somewhere in the questline, Emet-Selch reveals that once his duty is complete, his plan was to return to the star. This insinuates that, upon reviving all those lost and sundered, bringing everyone back that had been sacrificed etc, he would seek to end his life, despite finally having those he loved returned to him. The true burden of grief indeed. But I think, that he realizes that the man he has become, what he has done to bring back his people, the ones he cared about? No longer has a place in ancient society. A peaceful society, that by all accounts abhorred crass terminology such as death and disapproved of violence and hurtfulness, instead focusing on healthy debate and being "stewards of the Star". But Emet-Selch here, he has been warped by millennia of despair, by the aching of his heart, of Zodiark, who has been a voice in his ear so long it may as well be an extension of himself. He's endured so much loss, so many horrors, that he cannot conceive of that peaceful place anymore where he can peacefully coexist. He cannot resolve a place in his perfect society for himself any longer, and I think deep in his heart, it may even be shame for the deeds he had to commit. Despite his repeated attempts at degrading the Scions for their existence, calling the residents of this first "half-men" and denoting that he doesn't see any of them as "truly alive", this comes into question when the Scions and the WoL arrive in Amaurot, and the shades do not call them familiars, or wonder what type of creatures they are.

No, they are called children. They are the precious lifeblood of Amaurot. They are the innocent, the curious, the lives that must be taught and protected.

And who made this version of Amaurot?

Emet-Selch.

Now by this point you might be wondering, Suzuka, what do you mean, that's super irrelevant, Emet-Selch merely created Amaurot to be as it was in the final days, the only distinction being Hythlodaeus. And I would offer you this.

So why would this not present the same in Emet-Selch's recreation of Amaurot? Unless... Unless he knew. Unless he felt it, deep down in his own soul, after so very long, that they were his people. Broken they may be, small, and far thinner in the aether than before, but they were trying, and actively pursuing the strengths that his people once embodied.

When the WoL is in Elpis, what is everyone's immediate assumption? That they are a familiar. A non-human entity, something of the arcane, not alive, not truly, and merely a representation of their creator's imagination, knowledge, and creativity.

Which brings me to my final point, and I thank you for even reading this far because my brain has been so warped by this it runs around in my brain rent free.

Emet-Selch of ShB timeline would not have been able to allow himself to try and be with a restored Azem of his time. Azem's innocence and attachment to the people, their care, their mischievousness, their tenacity, Emet-Selch himself was too broken to reconcile with the though of that. If you are an EmetWoL shipper like myself, then you've probably approached their dynamic like this once or twice before, even if you never wrote it down, or drew it up; that only the WoL in their only seven/right times rejoined self, could possibly understand or even think to care for him with all that he has done. Because they have done things too, no? Killed hundreds, or perhaps thousands in war for freedom, watched their loved ones perish before them. Lost friends, family, perhaps even tasted death themselves. Yet, they are not alone, as he feels he is. As in reality, he is, before WoL strikes him through the chest with the axe of Light. And the only one who might even have the most basic of understanding as to why he is the way he is, is the Warrior of Light. The same soul that he saw that day in Elpis and thought was his friend, his love.

Even for just a moment.

TL;DR Emet-Selch of ShB and the WoL are meant for each other and there's a reason that crotchety old man loves them see essay above lol

[apathmakerstale]

Heavensward and Onward Spoilers.

Lorewise a Reaper’s Avatar devours their enemy’s aether while killing them. Either fully or only partially, since we are fully in synch with our Avatar and can control them- more so than any other Reaper in history since we are Them.

Theoretically does this mean that a Reaper can permanently kill an Ascian then like Thordan did to Lahabrea? By using their Avatar to drink their aether entirely? That would make us way more dangerous and for us at least eliminate the need to use white auracite for them.

There is also the little lorehook in the encyclopedia that heavily implies our avatar is the voids Azem shard fragment since the theory states that it might be because of identical souls from the sundering.

Which honestly is super cool and I hope that’s the case since it makes our 13th shard fragment just as cool as us and give a Ardbert and Frey a emo roommate in our soul.

[drowxiv]

When angels deserve to die

Fun fact about Viedyn: He's canonically dead! As Captain of the guard, he died the night his noble house fell. His final act was to save his younger brother and ensure his escape, although it was not done out of selflessness. It was done out of spite. Viedyn was a cunning strategist and in saving his brother, who was the most capable of evading capture, he stole a perfect victory from their enemy. So long as one noble survived, their house remained, if only in name. So Viedyn was quite content at the end. When I started playing FFXIV I wanted to create a character I already had an attachment to so I was more likely to stick with the game, so I brought him into Eorzea. FFXIV is sort of like his "AU".

[caffeinated-moogle]

W E A V E R: Her main canon crafting class. Aeryn doesn't necessarily excel in it, but she is committed, and she loves the satisfaction of completing something that will bring someone else comfort or joy. She does occasionally sew or mend her own clothing, but I do focus more on the weaving element of this for her (she both knits and crochets).

A L C H E M I S T: Stupid Severian and his stupid quests that I love and that make me cry every time. Aeryn's inability to use magic means she relies heavily on potions for energy, healing, and other buffs, and so she seeks a means of crafting them herself. She takes to it fairly well and doesn't struggle to keep recipes in her head with alchemy the way she does with cooking.

G O L D S M I T H ?: I go back and forth on this one. I think Aeryn would express an interest in embellishing some of her weaving, and Redolent Rose might point her Serendipity's direction, where she could learn to weave bracelets and chokers. She'd be good at it, but she'd be more of a hobbyist and would never fully dip her fingers into metal- or gem-crafting.

Honorable Mention

B O T A N I S T: Starting in Gridania, Aeryn does befriend Fufucha and help the botanists' guild by scouting for supplies while out on her adventures. She is useless at growing things on her own except a select few extremely resilient specimen of plants, but she's quite good at finding things when needed.

What gathering and/or crafting jobs does your WoL excel in?

[impossible-rat-babies]

ALSO I did manage to get all my crafter/gatherer gear melded ;—;

[anonymouscomrade]

i get that mechanically, FFXIV's crafting recipes are set up like that so materials from previous expansions and the base game aren't all entirely obsolete or completely worthless on the marketplace when a new patch or expansion drops

but it's still kinda weird lore-wise when the game's like "tacos al pastor are the most popular order at my restaraunt and we can't make them fast enough, please help us out and make a few for us so we can keep up! one of the ingredients is a lemon that only grows in a parellel universe and another is an onion from a collection of dead worlds at the edge of outer space"

[anneapocalypse]

I must correct one critical misapprehension on my part. In Endwalker, when meeting Puddingway, Urianger remarks, "A name of deep and abiding significance, I am sure, but one perhaps better communicated through delicious deeds than tasteless words. A judicious application of fae magicks at a later juncture may be appropriate..."

Later, dismayed with his apparent failure to secure an acceptable pudding, Puddingway exclaims, "Marvelous, they say, yet not an onze of pudding to be found! I must suffer Urianger's inferior works no more..." So dissatisfied is he with Urianger's no-doubt sincere efforts that he appoints himself "Chief of Pudding Research." This is according to Cookingway, who later remarks in idle dialogue: "Mmm, muffins... I wonder if this is how Puddingway felt the first time Urianger made pudding? Though I'm not sure that actually was pudding, come to think of it. Something about it seemed a bit...off..."

So, I think it's fair to say our beloved Archon and Archon Loaf Appreciator has not become an accomplished culinarian. 😛 In fact, given that mention of fae magicks, it sounds to me like his solution to the problem of pudding is about the same as his solution to the problem of crossing the lake in Shadowbringers: he bypasses the practical solution entirely and tries to use magic instead. 😂 With perhaps equally questionable results!

Further thoughts from reviewing Shadowbringers dialogue:

Urianger's gifts to the pixies in MSQ are biscuits, milk, and honey.

Urianger has some kind of treat in his home that the pixies serve him with tea when they think they're pranking him.

There are sheep in Il Mheg, which the pixies canonically get milk from.

There are bees in Il Mheg.

Urianger does go back to the Crystarium sometimes, but he seems to go long stretches without, and when we meet him he says it's been a while.

Therefore:

It seems likely that Urianger has learned to milk sheep and collect wild honey while in Il Mheg.

He has probably also learned how to bake.

[diardri]

Dia's FFXIV Art Reference Notes, A possibly long post

Hello! I made this as a thread on my twitter but I might as well post a version of it here. For the record this will be a thread linking to the resources I use when drawing commissions or fanart, I have not made Any of these and whenever I can I will note the creators and link directly to their resources.

GPose Reference First and foremost, if you're drawing a WOL or ordering a commission of your WOL the most important thing is to take a proper reference GPOSE. I use the method in this post, to make sure I got all the angles. Clean refs are super important when drawing armor/intricate outfits so take care to take simple standing poses like the one in the tweet above. Cool dynamic poses might be fun but they're not really useful for referencing.

Gear/Weapon Reference

If you need good references for a weapon/outfit that you don't have a GPOSE for, I recommend using the attire website

This is a japanese website maintained by @/chiyo_asa on twitter and if you've ever looked up a piece of gear in the lodestone you've almost definitely come across their pictures.

This is a super rough translation in english of the menu of the website. While it is in Japanese it's very easy to navigate and all the pictures in the site are super high quality and very useful for referencing.

This is my number one source for gear references I haven't taken myself

The "mirapuri" button afaik is for glams they made themselves that they want to showcase.

An important note about this site specifically is that I believe it's currently undergoing an overhaul so Some weapons/gearsets might not be completely transferred in yet.

That being said, the majority of sets from dungeons/crafting/alliance raids/job gear sets etc are sorted like so, which makes it super easy to look for.

There IS also a search function but I'm pretty sure it works only for japanese input.

NPC reference sheets

@xivrefsheets Offers really detailed resources of npc models. They also occasionally accept requests on their ko-fi (closed at the time of writing this)

These are super useful and really high quality, especially for some of the boss refs they've done. As someone who doesn't use anamnesis I go back to their refs very often

Convocation of the Fourteen refs

Maintained by @/Igeyorhm on twitter this site has a nice list of Ascian refs per character in addition to some lore bits for each of them. Also some very useful closeups of the Ascian clothes.

Even more NPC and Boss Refs

I believe maintained by @/MlNRATHOUS on twitter, this site has a really nice array of major NPC and boss references in various angles and with colourpicks for skintone and hair which is super useful. I use them a Lot

Lalafell centric refs

Norirow Note is a super cute blog that showcases glam items/ weapons/ chocobo barding and more.

It is NOT meant to be an art reference, however if you play a lala like me, I find their showcases useful when drawing gear on lalas.

Even if you don't use it as an art ref it's a super cute blog that's just fun to go through AND fully translated in english so I recommend just having a fun time reading through it anyway.

Bonus- Au Ra Scales.

I literally found out about this today but @/saficchi on twitter has made a super detailed angled ref sheet for both male and female au ra scales and I love them for it

Bonus 2 electric boogaloo- TextTools

I use this to import 3d models of specific weapons into CSP if I'm drawing them.

I don't know how useful this is for other art software but it's saved my ass from freehanding titania weapons so in the thread it goes

That's the full list of refs I personally use, if there's more that people want to add please feel free to do so in the comments. I hope it helps people out in their creative endeavors!

[gatheredfates]

SEA'S COMMUNITY COMPENDIUM UPDATE

We have a massive one today! Huge thanks to a close friend of mine who sent me every single bookmark of xiv resources she had. 💖

Additionally, a good handful of these resources were sourced from a list originally created by @rinhkitty, which you can find here. I have tried to include the more recent/active of the lot, so it's not a one-for-one. Thank them for a lot of the large scale resources you'll find below! ✨

As of 04/12, I have added the following resources (in no particular order) to Sea's Community Compendium for FFXIV Creatives:

LARGE SCALE

GARLAND TOOLS — Contains XIV resources such as Garland Data, everything database, crafting lists and equipment calculators; Garland Bell, gathering timers, collectable resources and hunt windows; and FFXIV Fisher, daily fishing windows, bait paths and catch checklist. Maintained by Clorifex Ezalor of Zalera.

TEAMCRAFT — Create crafting lists and collaborate with others, set gathering alarms, simulate crafting rotations, and more!

CAT BECAME HUNGRY - FFXIV ANGLER — Contains everything and anything to know about fishing including specific fish guides, location, baits, aquarium fish and more!

FFXIV - CRAFTING AS A SERVICE — Crafting information and planning for FFXIV!

FFXIV GARDENING — The FFXIV Gardening Database is a collection of everything related to gardening in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. It was created to organize and visualize the results obtained from crossbreeding.

SIGHTSEEING LOG HELPER — This tool will help those trying to complete their pesky Sightseeing Log by letting them know upcoming weather patterns for each zone!

EUREKA TRACKER — For everything and anything to do with Eureka mobs, tracking and weather patterns.

FFLOGOS — for tracking of items/actions related to Eureka.

FFXIVSQUADRON — A comprehensive tool that helps you assess the success rate of various squadron missions.

FFXIV CHOCOBO COLOUR CALCULATOR — Will calculate what chocobo feed you will need to get from your current colour to your desired colour. *rng not included.

FFXIV HOUSING — A site specialising in the documentation of all housing items available in game.

HOUSING SNAP — A compilation of player-made housing designs. Can be used for inspiration or places to visit!

MISC

NPC CHAT BUBBLES — Would you like more NPC chat bubbles for edits? Say no more! Created by @alexoisxiv.

OLD TUMBLR LAYOUT BY PIXIEL — While not XIV specific I know a lot of people aren't fans of the new Tumblr layout, so this is a fix that will revert it to an as close as possible approximation of the new one. I won't tag the creator as I don't think they're in the xiv community, but it's run by @/pixiel!

HOW TO CURSE LIKE AN ISHGARDIAN — Do you want to make the church blush? Do you want to incur the wrath of Halone? @stars-and-clouds has compiled a list of appropriate curses/swear words for you!

FINAL FANTASY XIV SIDEQUEST GUIDE - HEAVENSWARD EDITION — maintained by @chatty-moogle, this guide explores interesting sidequests in Heavensward that will give you more information about the lore, titbits about locals and other interesting information!

TRUST BANNERS FOR XIV — If you have ever wondered how people mimic the Trust banners used in XIV, look no further! @locke-rinannis has a template for you.

MAKING USE OF RECOMMENDATIONS — created by @autumnslance, this guide will help you make your recommendations tab useful rather than annoying.

BOTANICA EORZEA — A guide to the flora of Eitherys and her reflections, including fungi and seedkin. For reference in writing and roleplaying. Maintained by @tinolqa.

GPOSE TIPS — A tutorial on how to achieve clarity and detail in your XIV screenshots! Created by @aryalaenkha.

UI MACRO MENUS — A guide on how to use macros to create small UI menus for XIV. Written by @diskwrite-ffxiv.

TYPHON GATE RESEARCH — Created by @mcstronghuge, these are the statistically best places for your character to stand for the Typhon Gate!

CHANGELOG

HYDAELYN HEALTH HAVEN has been removed at the request of the owner.

Moved THE BALANCE higher on the list to reflect alphabetical sorting, excluding names that start with The.

Misc formatting as needed.

Added some additional clarification around large-scale discords/spaces; in particular: Large-scale community discords such as the XIV Reddit Discord, Hunts, GPOSE promotions and broad-space roleplay servers that harbour a large number of people and are publicly available to all. These may not have an RP focus but will assist in other aspects of the game. Also includes well-known tools/resources that are utilised by large groups of people and assist in gameplay elements.

Added a quick-jump menu to the bottom of each of the table of contents menus to assist in navigation.

Want to submit? You can either fill out the google form here, send me an ask with the relevant information contained on the Compendium, or join my Discord at SEAFLOOR (21+ only)!

I am sure there's probably a couple of things I have missed or links/formatting that might be broken. Please don't hesitate to let me know if anything is out of place. I'm going to take a break now. I'm pretty sure that's the biggest edit that's ever going to occur on this document!

[galpalaven]

man fkn. got thaleia for alliance roulette jsut now and its sO...

like Dragon Age took the Dalish gods and went "haha idiots fuck you your gods are evil and youre dumb for ever worshipping them"

FFXIV also took the gods and instead said "actually they were just people once upon a time but out of love for you and your world and because of your love for them they became something else. here is a beautiful storyline to send them off with love and to say goodbye because they have served their purpose and are now passing off the safekeeping of the world to you."

it is so nice when a game sees the lore they have crafted over 10+ years and, even in finally revealing things weren't what they seemed, did not in fact make the people who have loved that lore feel like the devs Hate Them Actually