scholarofnym

[scholarofnym]

Bringing this back, since Niellefresne’s plot is FINALLY going to become relevant again in 4.0!

I love that they still mention Niellefresne in 2.0 - he was honestly one of my favorite characters from 1.0 and I was very sad how that ended. But something that always bothered me, as you can see in the second picture.

“My Nielle, who sleeps even now - looking for all the world as if that cursed blade had taken his young life mere moment’s ago… not years. Ye gods, I could almost bear it if he were truly gone… but here he lingers.”

I always thought he died, but it seems that might not be true. He might just be stuck in a slumber due to a curse?! If that’s true will he somehow come back? Why would they talk about him off and on (I think he’d been mentioned at some point before as well)  if there wasn’t a chance of that - and for her to say that. If they brought Nielle back I would be so happy~! :)

[scholarofnym]

This marks both the very first mention of the Sixth Umbral Calamity, and the first (indirect) mention of the War of the Magi.

And on a slightly obvious note, Thancred recognizes you if you began the story in Ul’dah. There’s two other similar quests in Gridania and Limsa Lominsa that involve confronting Urianger and speaking with a member of the Circle of Knowing. (Papalymo actually appears without Yda!!!)

Today’s cutscene cap harvest - In which a certain rogue waxes poetic:

-The adventurer successfully defeated the familiars summoned by Urianger, only to be approached afterward by Thancred, claiming to be a bard and offering to tell about the prophet.  Instead of speaking at all about the prophet, he told a tale of the great flood, and the purpose of the prophet’s words.

[scholarofnym]

More than about 1500 years ago in the Eorzean calendar, three great mage capitals thrived: The Mhachi, the Nymians, and the Amdapori.

The start of the 5th Astral Era began with a rediscovery of magic, and a great mage Shatotto discovering a way to utilise the Aether surrounding them instead of their internal Aether to cast magic. Hence, the first Black Mage was born(This Shatotto also called down Meteor and used the starshards from that to create the Stardust Rod). The Mhachi primarily resided around northwest of Mor Dhona, around the Yafaem Saltmoor.

In the city of Amdapor lived the bastions of White Mages. The White Magic relied on the balance with the environment to provide succor - a comfort, a relief, in response to the development of Black Magic that utilised the Aether around them.

The Nymians lived on Vylbrand, and while they were a small maritime nation, they were considered superb tacticians. It has been said that,“A single scholar can fully support a party of marauders.”

Initially the three Mage nations lived in Harmony but everything changed when the firenation Mhachi attacked. 

Well, to be fair we don’t have concrete statement of who started the war, but what evidence we do have points to the Mhachi as the instigators.

As the war progressed, what Surito Carito and Alka Zolka in the SCH questline tell us, was that some Nymian seafaring traders got shipwrecked and landed on a desert island inhabited by a tribe of Lalafells. The seafarers got assitance from this tribe to set them afloat once more, but not before gifting them an ampoule as a gift (why are a lot of images for a googe image search of ampoule a lightbulb)

This looks about right.

So the seafaring Nymians went back to the City of Nym and then had the vial put on display in the royal hall. Slowly however a taint had spread throughout the city of Nym, and one by one the Nymians fell into a curse, transforming into the Tonberries we know of today. Through Surito Carito and Alka Zolka’s research, we find that the ampoule contained a voidsent, which was then finally cleansed through the 50-60 scholar questline.

With the Nymians out of the picture, the Mhachi turned their full attention to the Amdapori, continued their assault on the White Mage capital. From what we know, the Mhachi were proficient with summoning/utilising Voidsent, and thus had sent their voidsent to assault the City of Amdapor. At some point in time, the Mhachi grew desperate and summoned what E-Sumi-yan had described as a “King among demons”, Diabolos.

Lets pretend that diremite is a voidsent, okay?

This is why in the Lost City of Amdapor Hard Mode, corpses of Amdapori and Mhachi are shown wearing the AF gear.

In the chaos, the White Mages seemingly had abused their own power and thus the Elementals grew disappointed and angry at man’s actions, and their rage gave form to Oha-sok, akin to an elemental primal. It was this collective rage of the Elementals that ushered in a Great Flood that caused the Sixth Umbral Era.

BUT WAIT!

Turns out the Mhachi somehow got wind of the Great Flood and had prepared a means to try and survive it. The had created the Void Ark, to be powered by the Voidsent to weather it out.

This does mean that some Mhachi survived somehow, as it is speculated by Surito Carito that the remnants of the Mhachi ended up founding the nation of Belah'dia, which then separated into Sil'dih and Ul'dah.

Many thanks to Anwyll/Anonymoose of Gamerescape and FFXIV official forums, and to @folkenface for proofreading <3

Also thanks to Y’mir Tia (BLM), Roxy Migurudia (SCH), and the random Roe and Au’Ra for providing the roles of MRD and WHM respectively. This does not likely accurately depict what races actually were those nations however, as far as we know.

[scholarofnym]

More than a thousand years past, a great calamity was visited upon this world. Across the sky, a terrible blackness spread till no light could be seen, and then descended, seeping into the very hearts of men. Thus was he sorely afflicted, and his ways perverted. Chaos was in all places all at once, and myriad creation was destroyed. Avarice reigned supreme, and civilization was thrown into a lawless struggle for wealth and power─the mighty taking as they saw fit with complete disregard for nature and fellow man alike. Evil begat evil and ripened unchecked, taking on the sickly sweetness of rot, near to bursting and rank with the promise of decay. It was then that the Twelve, grieved by the corruption and sin that had gripped their creation, decided to purge the world of its evils with a cleansing deluge, proclaiming: “Behold the power of pure water!” And thus began the sixth of the Umbral Eras. There is a moral in this story for those wise enough to find it. You see, it was we mortals who brought the great flood upon ourselves and our world, having left the gods no recourse. And so if our faults ushered in an Umbral Era in the past, then our strengths can prevent the coming of another in the future.

The very first in-game mention of the Sixth Umbral Calamity; the War of the Magi and the three city-states which participated in it are only indirectly implied.

[scholarofnym]

It occurs to me now- are people aware of the Ashcrown Consortium? Like, what it is, what it does, etc?

[scholarofnym]

Oh.

Bismarck isn’t the Vanu term for their own primal, it’s the name imposed on it by Eorzeans because he matches the description of the whale from Sea Wolf mythology.

The Manukmanai is the proper Vanu name for the primal.

[scholarofnym]

Final Fantasy XIV : Lore Facts II

Did you know? Senõr Sabotender at the Golden Saucer is actually a Lalafell in a costume. At specific intervals (a notable one is at the Monster Toss game) he will stop and perform a Lalafell-specific emote.

Did you know? The English localisation team can’t decide what a goat, sheep or antelope is on Hydaelyn. In several places, they refer to antelope as “goats” and aldgoats as “sheep”.

Did you know? Yoshida’s avatar - The Wandering Minstrel - mentioned Voor Sian Siran as far back as Legacy, in the quest to obtain a Goobbue whistle. Voor Sian Siran is a location in the Sea of Clouds, also referred to as “the floating lakes”.

[scholarofnym]

Episode 8 of Duty Commenced began a special lore segment entitled the ‘Lore Lowdown,’ the first installment featuring the infamous Republican Monetarist Lolorito Nanarito. (Misspelled in the powerpoint)

[scholarofnym]

Pterygotus

The Thaliak River is a shining symbol of the Dravanian hinterlands—the great mother who blesses the land with the gift of water.

But where the gentle and generous mother brings life, the cruel and merciless father—an oversized crustacean who rules over the Thaliak with an iron claw— brings only death.

The great glutton will pounce on anything that moves, and chop up his prey with his tail pincers faster than you can say “ouch.” If you don’t keep an eye on that tail of his, you’ll be feeding the fishes in bite-sized chunks. 

Gigantopithecus

Time and again, the residents of Idyllshire have come under attack from a huge, hairy beastkin—imagine if you crossed a Roegadyn with an opo-opo, and had it row a ten-tonze galley for a twelvemoon.

I scoured the Sharlayan annals for a record of such a monster, and finally found it—it’s a gigantopithecus, a fierce beast native to the tropical jungles of the Cieldalaes.

It was brought here as a youngling by a Sharlayan scholar, who raised it in a specially constructed glasshouse in some vain attempt to research its ecology. But when the exodus came, the callow whelp didn’t think of taking his pet with him. Now it falls to the Clan to pick up the pieces.

Slipkinx Steeljoints

Have you heard of the Illuminati? They’re a secretive fraternity of goblin scholars who are particularly active in this area, engaging in experiments that run the gamut from the unusual to the downright unnatural.

Slipkinx Steeljoints’s studies fall towards the latter end of the spectrum. He’s a notorious scoundrel who thinks nothing of slaughtering innocents to test the effectiveness of his experimental weaponry.

The brute dresses himself in a suit of mechanical armor that is nigh on impenetrable, and sets about passersby with technologically enhanced gusto. Honestly, these scholars are completely incorrigible.

Stolas

You’ll never guess who put the bounty on Stolas’s head—it was sent by a Sharlayan astrologian, all the way from his homeland across the seas.

He lived here before the exodus, conducting his scholarly experiments. In one such trial, he used his magicks to bind an owl to him as a familiar. The test succeeded, but by some quirk of fate, the owl gained a prodigious intelligence, outstripping even that of its master.

But when the exodus came, the owl revolted. It attacked its master, stole a tome of forbidden knowledge, and escaped into the hinterlands. It seems the tome contains secrets of such cataclysmic power that, for the safety of the realm, this owl cannot be suffered to live.

The Pale Rider

Another request sent by a Sharlayan scholar from the safety of his homeland. The fellow’s uncovered an ancient prophecy, saying that in the end of days, a deathly knight will rise from the grave and bring death and destruction to Dravania atop an ashen steed.

If the scholar is right, and this “end of days” does indeed refer to the Seventh Umbral Calamity, then this supernatural horseman should already be among us, but I don’t see any death and destruction around here. Well, no more than normal, anyway…

Honestly, I think it’s all a pile of chocobo plop. There was an adventurer passed through the other day, said she’d seen a headless horseman out in the hinterlands when she was hunting for treasure…but believe you me, you can trust those looters as far as you can throw them!

[scholarofnym]

Like knowing your geography? Can’t read Eorzean script on the fly? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. Here’s a properly labeled version of the big map of Aldenard, so you can now comprehend where things like the Carteneau Flats and Xelphatol are in relation to everything else.

[scholarofnym]

Vista Records - Dravanian Hinterlands [Sharlayan]

[scholarofnym]

A very important levequest has been edited thus I must notify the lore community.

(This is the latest in-game version of the text - it may have varied between patches.)

“……”

[scholarofnym]

Twintania first appeared as a Demon of the Rift in V.

The first time the name ‘Nidhogg’ showed up in the Final Fantasy series was in the Japanese version of FFVII, as the enemy ‘ニーズへッグ’ romanized as ‘Nīzuheggu’. The English version of the game simply names it ‘Heg’. And in Final Fantasy X and X-2, Nidhogg shows up properly translated as another random encounter, a powerful drake-class fiend. Nidhogg in FFXII was a Rank I mark found in the Lhusu Mines in Bhujerba. He’s also a snake instead of a dragon, for some reason.

As for the other names, 'Maracco’ is Italian, ‘Safat’ is Arabic, ‘Svara’ is Sanskrit, and ‘Chudo-Yudo’ is suspiciously Plainsfolk-like.

Admittedly I didn’t know until I looked it up, but so many of the names of major boss dragons in FFXIV are taken from notorious monsters in FFXI! Like. Pretty much all of them, other than Midgardsormr and a couple who are named for FFXII enemies (Twintania, Giruveganus)

Anantaboga, Biasts, Koschei, and Vishap were all dragons (specifically the type whose model is used for the XIV incarnation of Anantaboga and the Valefor enemies in Labyrinth of the Ancients- though the model in question is now a type of voidsent, rather than a dragon, and most of the dragons named for this category use different models.)

Seps was a type of puk- though the puks in FFXI looked like the dragonflies in FFXIV, rather than the puks we have now.

Naul, Isgebind, and Nidhogg were wyrms.

Aiatar and Gorynich were wyverns.

(Svara, Chudo-Yudo, Maracco, and Safat are not names taken from FFXI.)

[scholarofnym]

This is what Yuhelmeric used to look like before, by the way.

        –✖– Dusk Vigil Journal  | FFXIV: Heavensward

[scholarofnym]

[scholarofnym]

Aye, I’ve heard the tale afore─that of the boy and the dragon. As I recall, the lad was snatched from the forest by bandits of the north before he was a man grown. Spirited him away to the mountains, they did. Yet dragons fly the northern skies, and the eyes of one such beast came to rest on our bandits and boy. It swooped down upon them from on high, wings beating and teeth gnashing. Screams of terror and blinding dusts filled the air, and as the young lad’s chocobo reared and took flight with fear, he was flung from its back, and tumbled from the narrow pass and down the mountainside. Yet the gods spared his life, and he awoke sometime later at the base of a great, rocky ledge, wounded and broken and unable to move. Hours passed, and before long the foul beasts what roam the crags caught scent of his blood and began to close in all around. It was then, as the boy was making his peace with the Twelve, that another dragon, small and feeble, came upon him. Yet instead of tearing him flesh from limb, it charred and maimed and chased off the circling beasts, saving the boy’s life. The tale ends with the dragon bearing the wounded boy on his back, and the two flying through the blue skies of the north together. A beautiful enough story for an Ul'dahn audience. But milord would do well not to regale a soul with it around these parts. For it has been branded a heresy by the archbishop in Ishgard, and his Holiness has ears even in this very wood.

The Boy and the Dragon Gay, told by the bard Penelope in the eponymous quest. (via scholarofnym)

(Dialogue taken from the LVL 54 Dark Knight quest.)

. . . Oh. Well then.

[scholarofnym]

For all the folks curious about the non-highlander Ala Mhigans prior to 3.0:

J’moldva the Hellfire Phoenix was a flame-haired Ala Mhigan miqo’te that originally appeared in the 1.0 Gladiator Questline Unalienable Rights when you hit level 30.  She and another gladiator named Greinfarr (now known as Bronze Bull in 2.0 - the roe who introduces all the fights in Halatali HM) were both extremely well known gladiators in their prime.  When they finally were matched up in a fight, most of the wealthy bet on Greinfarr while a huge chunk of money from the Ala Mhigan refugees naturally was bet upon J’modlva. Unfortunately, the sheer amount money bet upon Greinfarr (some folks were betting entire houses) was enough that if J’moldva won, the ensuing riot that would follow could have torn Ul’dah apart.  J’moldva threw the fight, accepting defeat in order to save the city - and had to flee to Gridania with Greinfarr’s help not long after.  Greinfarr promised J’moldva that the Coliseum would do all it could to protect the Ala Mhigans.   Since then, J’moldva has never returned to the bloodsands, as Greinfarr made her promise she wouldn’t get herself killed trying to be a gladiator again.

She and Bronze Bull also feature as your clients in 2.0 at the level 50 Blacksmithing quest.  The Moldva - “King of Ala Mhigan Fighting Fish” is named after her. The Ala Mhigan Resistance in 1.0 featured all races, roegadyn, elezen, lalafell, miqo’te, and both-types of hyur - however the leader of the group your character interacts with is a Highlander, linking back to the fact that they made up the main population of the nation.

Little Ala Mhigo in 2.0 is mostly comprised of highlander hyur with a small smattering of midlanders - but there’s at least three Hellsguard roegadyn out there who are clearly not just passing through.