#that by using i think an elezen model as the original base for his first little character art sheet i did

[warlordfelwinter]

dnd is a dress up game right

[autumnslance]

Lmao I got three I'm particularly curious about for you on the character meme. Thancred, Lahabrea, Igeyorhm. XD Feel free to do as many or as few as you'd like of course!

You asked for it. We’ll start with That Damned Rogue. The Ascians will be below.

This of course got long, so behind a cut it goes:

Thancred

First impression: I started in Gridania and took like 2 years to finish ARR 2.0, was already spoiled on the possession angle (I spoiled myself, no big), and had just @erickgage‘s affectionate joking summary of Thancred being the guy who shows up 5 minutes late with Starbucks to all the early battles. So I didn’t really get to meet the guy ‘til the Waking Sands.

And honestly, he was stereotypical generic bland anime prettyboy competent guy. His 1.0/ARR model is…just sorta there. He was a flirt, also generic as heck. Really didn’t register too much, until I finished 2.0 finally and then went hard on the MSQ through the patches and into HW and StB 4.0, when I finally caught up to content.

Impression now: Godsdammit.

My first replay through the game was on PunchyCat, starting in Ul’dah, which meant I got to meet Thancred much earlier. I was immediately amused by his nickname for Nanamo, and Papashan’s assessment of the witty Archon. I was more into the lore, getting the first lorebook and reading the short stories on the main site, and playing through all at once instead of piecemeal over months/years made things make more sense. Thancred hits a lot of tropes I commonly like in a lot of characters, so he jumped up to being a favorite.

Gunbreaker suits him as a tank job (thank goodness he can stop trying to tank warmachina as a rogue, ffs Thancred), and tanking in general suits him when it comes to fighting for those he cares about.

I’m interested in the ShB story mentioning why he wears white in all his gear iterations; I’d previously made a post about his color choices and that aspect of character design, but having a lore explanation for his affinity for that color was interesting. I didn’t think his HW model suited him, honestly; way too rough mountain man hobo. His model in ShB is closer to his ARR model, but different enough, and imbued now with actual character, that he’s a bit more visually interesting and while still pretty typical handsome anime protagonist in appearance; his true personality just comes through a lot more.

I’m still forever mad about the unintentional character ‘ship with Aeryn, tho. It took a 3rd playthrough for it to happen.

For myself, mind, when I got into playing and learned his canonical age, it was at the time the same difference between myself and my younger brother. My assessment of the Scion “family” with Thancred being the middle child (esp his behavior pre-HW) maybe helps that. I’m getting to a point, really, where I look at the characters under 35 and think “OMG disaster children, all of you.”

Favorite moment: Oh goodness. There’s some good ones.

‘How was I supposed to know all my girlfriends would track me down and show up at HQ all at the same time: a master class in how to not to deal with multiple paramours by Archon T. Waters.’

His dramatic reappearance and duel with Ardbert in HW 3.1.

Taking out his frustrations by soloing the Coerthas cyclops boss so we can get on with the Tournament and fight Raubahn. (Side Bonus: pre-tournament when he jokes about fighting for the other team to even up the odds, and then: “It looks to be a veritable who’s who of the Eorzean Alliance. The only question is: who came to watch and who came to fight? Hmm…Nanamo. Definitely Nanamo.”)

Making sure Urianger knew he was still part of the team post-Soul Surrender climax.

“All right, which one of you triggered the obvious trap?” Also learning he can hold his breath for 10 freaking minutes–but still gets to be jealous of the WoL, Lyse, and Alisaie for their kojin blessing.

That dramatic teamwork with Urianger to knock Ran’jit down the pit in Rak’tika.

That frickin’ Trolley duty and it’s aftermath with the completed checklist of anime death markers and then just sitting there battered and bleeding and smiling and then giving Ryne a name and a headpat and “You’re family.” Bastard.

Idea for a story: Have you seen my Ao3 account? *grumbles*

Unpopular opinion: While he likely used drinking as a bad coping mechanism at times in ARR’s patches, I doubt he ever really went to blackout, as losing control to that extent, after having been controlled and probably losing a lot of time while possessed, would be awful. We see him drink a few times, but I don’t think he is/was an alcoholic.

I also agree with @ahlis-xiv that his flirtatious persona was mostly adopted. While he probably does have a healthy libido and enjoys time with paramours (that Urianger keeps a handy list of), there’s a lot that’s likely exaggerated, allowed to be assumed, and otherwise used as a cover, given his specializations. It’s also noteworthy how he’s mostly acting the same even after being lost in the wilderness, right up until our foray into the Antitower. The wit/humor gets toned down a lot, but the flirting is cut out entirely after that. He still charms some ladies in the First, based on incidental dialogue, but that seems a general reaction to him being a handsome hero type rather than any intentional flirtatious act on his part.

Favorite relationship: Thancred and little sister types. I do wish we’d seen more of his relationship with Minfilia outside of informed moments and the short stories. I feel like he has a semi-older-brother relationship with Lyse, too, given their antics in the 2.0 patches (particularly the “Hoary’s fighting the WoL, come watch!” and Thancred not even considering how one of his girlfriends would see him sending Lyse to retrieve an item until after and going “oh yeah, whoops”). And now there’s Ryne, and she is totally running things if you watch their background conversations/body language. But that’s kind of where Thancred likes it; find a girl who needs a protective older brother and do what she asks and whatever she needs.

I do have a special place in my heart for the expanded broship with Urianger that Shadowbringers gave us, though. I’ve already spoken on that one.

Favorite headcanon: Everything people assume about how he spoils the nutkin. And really, focusing on taking care of and doting on a pet would be good therapy. Goodness knows he needs it.

Also I assume he and Hilda hooked up at least once during the HW patches. Part of that expectation and cover, sure, to immediately flirt with the pretty, tough, half-elezen guard captain. But also, he spent however long mostly alone, and then only with the Vath and a nutkin for company; the guy was probably touch-starved and lonely and just needing a connection to another person he could relate to (that wasn’t a bug).

Otherwise, again, have you seen my Ao3? Ugh. Damned snarky smart rogues…

————

Lahabrea

First impression: Laughing Organization XIII-wannabe is obvious villain. Wonder what their deal is.

Impression now: So much lost/wasted potential thanks to being stuck as the ARR villain when it was so hastily rewritten and acted, and so little was decided on the Ascians and their motivations yet. A lot of what we learn now retroactively makes him more interesting. The fact he was a workaholic who looked at the workaholic Scion and went “ah yes; that one will do, perfect” makes me laugh.

Favorite moment: I like his interactions with Elidibus. And I am actually fairly fond of his theatrical reveal in Praetorium about the Ultima Weapon, the Heart of Sabik, and casting Ultima.

Idea for a story: Maybe stuff while he’s possessing Thancred. Maybe stuff between then and the Reactor. I dunno; I’ve been enjoying a lot of others’ stories about our first Ascian antagonist.

Unpopular opinion: Dunno if this is unpopular, but some of the retroactive information is to excuse why he seemed so much less powerful than other, later Ascians, but I do think the Speaker could be quite devious and powerful, if he had better writing around him. He suffers for being from ARR.

Favorite relationship: I am not ashamed to admit I am a Lahabrea/Igeyorhm shipper and Hades Ex seems to agree with me so there.

Favorite headcanon: The Speaker likely also had a good singing voice. Another thing good about possessing a man whose primary cover was a bard–excuses to indulge that.

————

Igeyorhm

First impression: Wannabe-Organization XIII also hires women, cool. Wonder if she’ll get to do anything?

Impression now: I’m sad so much got cut from HW; as great as it was, a lot got left on the editing room floor and it shows in spots–particularly where the Ascians connect with the plot. We learn much about her retroactively as well, including how she worked for/with Lahabrea thanks to being the one to wreck the Thirteenth, and change Ascian policy on how to bring about Rejoinings. I still wanna know more about her.

Favorite moment: You beat the whale, good job–thanks, that’s my key now. It’s such a perfect dick move. Excellent timing and taunting. 

Idea for a story: Maybe some of her inner thoughts working for/with Lahabrea. She was a raised up shard, so does that mean they found the scattered pieces of her original soul and force-merged them? I doubt it, since Emet-Selch mentions raising up those who are a piece of the previous office holder, but I wonder if it came with imbuing the new title-holder with some of those memories and knowledge. Perhaps she wonders if some of her interactions/feelings/whatever with Lahabrea are her own, or her tapping into her previous life’s memories. Something to think about, anyway.

Unpopular opinion: I dunno, she shoulda gotten to stick around longer? Or been allowed to do a lot more? Should have been much more of a presence in HW, but I don’t think that’s unpopular so much as unconsidered.

Favorite relationship: Lahabrea is really the only one she gets significant interactions with. Though I wonder about her interactions with the other few women in the Ascians.

Favorite headcanon: See above with the story ideas, really; she didn’t get a lot of time onscreen so there’s a lot of room to make things up, and retroactive info from ShB to make her more interesting, or at least her situation as an upraised Ascian.

[hasty-touch]

On Elezen populations

alternatively: Behold My Long-Winded and Speculative Answer To Questions Pertaining To Duskwight In Coerthas.

I got thinking on this originally to answer the related questions "Are there Duskwights in Coerthas?", "Can I play an Ishgardian Duskwight?", "What do Ishgardians think of Duskwight Elezen?" but the process of considering an answer led me to contemplate the larger history of Elezen populations and migrations.

WHAT WE KNOW:

Elezen History and the emergence of the Clans.

Our knowledge of history prior to the Sixth Astral Era is patchy, and it is interesting that our knowledge of racial history is even more patchy. Today (that is, in the present day of the game setting) it seems most Eorzeans believe that the races of Spoken (Hyur, Elezen, Lalafell, etc.) have always been distinct and perhaps were created roughly as they are today by the gods during or before the First Astral Era. We as players, however, need not believe this ourselves:

The great forgetting of the Fourth Astral Era seems to have included much of the history of previous civilizations; practically no records survive from those times to tell us how ancient peoples described themselves, how they delineated "races" (if they even did such a thing at all,) if they considered racial identification important, or what views they held of interbreeding. Consider how we players have had to speculate about the racial makeup of even the relatively recent Mhach (Lalafellin?), Nym (Lalafellin?), Allag (Hyuran, at least at its core?), etc., based on small numbers of NPCs from quests.

The ideology of race we see today may be a relatively recent development, a result of the wars of Hyuran migration in the early Sixth Astral Era. Sharp race- and Clan-based distinctions, the stigma against interbreeding*, and so forth, may all be peculiarities of the Era in which our characters live today and may not hold true across all history.

By virtue of being a video game in which many characters share a small number of base models, Final Fantasy XIV is at a disadvantage in showing a racial complexity and intermingling.†

So although we have been told that in traditional Elezen histories, the Elezen have been people of Aldenard (the people of Aldenard, perhaps) since the First Astral Era, I think we should take this with a grain of salt. Not only might this history be mistaken, we don't even know what "Elezen" might have meant tens of thousands of years ago, what the ancestors of today's Elezen even looked like, or how permeable (or impermeable) the boundaries of that population might have been.

So in this post I will treat pretty much exclusively with the Sixth Astral Era, for which we have the best documentation.

In the early Sixth Astral Era, Elezen lived "across Aldenard." Where, exactly, I can't say; reference is made to "vast, fertile plains" in Encyclopedia Eorzea and other sources. I also don't know what distinctions might have existed within this population of Elezen or exactly what their relationship was with the other races of Aldenard (as Hyur, Lalafell, and some Mi'qote also lived there) and to what degree genes flowed between groups of Elezen and non-Elezen.

The early Sixth Astral Era saw three major waves of (foreign) Hyuran migration from Ilsabard to Aldenard. During the first, around 350 6AE, a group of Elezen were displaced from "central Aldenard" into the relatively uninhabited region of Coerthas. It is likely that these Elezen had already chosen Halone as their favored deity, as communities in Eorzea had already begun forming around a single favored deity of the Twelve in the Fifth Astral Era, and these communities re-formed or stuck together during the Sixth Umbral Calamity. These Elezen migrating to Coerthas very quickly built a shrine to Halone on the mountain that would later become Ishgard.

The second major wave of Hyuran migration around 660 6AE displaced another group of Elezen -- of whose previous home I'm not sure -- to the Black Shroud, or rather to the caverns below it due to the presence of the hostile elementals. Not long after, Hyur, too, began to colonize the Shroud, and though their initial relationship was fraught, these Hyur and Elezen eventually made peace and together built the underground civilization of Gelmorra.

Around 1020 6AE, the Ixal, the major Spoken inhabitants of the above-ground Shroud, were expelled by the elementals (for murky reasons, though the Gridanians teach that the Ixal cleared too much forest.) At this time, some of the Gelmorrans decided to attempt to commune with the elementals so that they could move in to the now-vacated regions. The Hyuran conjurer Jorin succeeded in contacting the elementals and secured the right of the Hyur and Elezen to live above-ground in 1076 6AE; Jorin's son was the first Padjal. However, some Elezen families (though apparently not Hyuran families) chose not to leave Gelmorra and retreated "deeper underground." Those Gelmorran Elezen who emerged with the Gelmorran Hyur to found Gridania are the ancestors of the Wildwood Elezen, while those Gelmorran Elezen who did not leave to join Gridania are the ancestors of the Duskwight Elezen.

So to summarize:

Elezen first migrated from "central (lowland?) Aldenard" to Coerthas around 350-360 6AE -- about 1200 years ago.

other Elezen began to live underground in Gelmorra around 660-710 6AE -- about 700 years ago.

Wildwood and Duskwight lines split at the founding of Gridania in 1076 6AE -- around 500 years ago.

Who is a "Wildwood" Elezen?

Given this history, I personally find it odd that Ishgard is described as "mainly Wildwood Elezen."

"Wildwood" is a term that has a distinctly Gridanian flavor. The ancestors of all Elezen did not, after all, live in the wild woods -- the flavor text instead suggests that they favored open plains, perhaps as hunters or pastoralists. "Wildwood" seems instead to be a description that explicitly aligns such Elezen with the Black Shroud and the elementals -- that defines its bearer as one of the Elezen who expressed fealty to them and lived in their woods.

Meanwhile, Elezen were living in Coerthas for 700 years before Gridania existed and Elezen lived above-ground in the Shroud (in the wild woods.) Calling Coerthan Elezen "Wildwood" thus seems absurd. Perhaps it's a bit of Gridanian ethnocentrism that has caught on: calling any Elezen who isn't a Duskwight "Wildwood."

On the other hand, Coerthan Elezen do seems to resemble Gridanian Wildwood Elezen more than they do Duskwight Elezen. Almost all Coerthan and Ishgardian Elezen NPCs use the Wildwood model and color options.

Who is a "Duskwight" Elezen?

Duskwight Elezen are descendants of those Gelmorran Elezen who did not join Gridania at its founding. They differ in appearance from the other Elezen we see in Eorzea ("Wildwood" Elezen) though mainly just in their skin and eye color; they are said to have particularly acute hearing as well.

I am not sure exactly when "Duskwight" Elezen began to come above ground and integrate (or not) into Gridanian society, nor am I sure if Duskwight continue to come above ground today -- but the Duskwight we meet today are not, at least, the first generation to do so. It seems plausible to assume that any Elezen whose ancestors came above ground from Gelmorra after the founding of Gridania would be considered a Duskwight and be treated with contempt by the Wildwood Elezen (and forestborn Hyur) for their supposed disobedience to the will of the elementals.

There are no Elezen called "Duskwight" who do not bear this specific Gelmorran heritage. Duskwight who appear outside the Shroud are all emigrants, or descendants of emigrants, from the Shroud.

There is, of course, a good reason for a Duskwight to move out of the Shroud: the forestborn (Wildwood and Hyur, but mostly the Wildwood Elezen.) The prejudice a Gridanian Duskwight has to face can be pretty extreme, and so leaving for some other society must be an attractive option. Even Ishgard, with its own sort of xenophobia, is probably more accepting of Duskwights than Gridania is. This is the reason Fernehalwes gave Tumblr user gelmorra and their friend in an in-person chat a few years ago for Duskwights living in Coerthas. (Though that same chat seems to have contained some timelines that were contradicted by later lore.)

There are a very few apparent Ishgardian Duskwights we can see in-game ourselves. Jandelaine appears to be a Duskwight, and his family is Ishgardian; Ser Janlenoux of the Heaven's Ward also appeared to be using a Duskwight model. There was once heavy fan speculation that the High House Dzemael was Duskwight due to dark and pale skinned members and its preference for building in caves, but most of its members appearing in-game actually use Wildwood models. Nevertheless, Ishgardian Duskwight do exist. (There are also Duskwight Elezen elsewhere in Eorzea, but my focus is on Coerthas.)

AND NOW I SPECULATE

Why do Duskwight look the way they do?

The in-game lore and Encyclopedia Eorzea tell us that Duskwight are the way they are because they're adapted to underground living, having evolved over generations.

I don't like this explanation.

Elezen are said to live longer and mature slower than Hyur; Hyur lifespans seem to be roughly similar to real-world human ones. Scientists define a human generation as about 25 years‡, so if I define an Elezen generation as 30 years:

Elezen first went underground about 22-24 generations ago.

Wildwood Elezen split from Duskwight Elezen only about 15 generations ago.

Evolution can happen over a relatively small number of generations, and severe selection pressures can speed up evolution. But 15 generations is not long, and after Gelmorrans lived underground successfully for 200 years, it wouldn't make much sense for the ancestors of Duskwight to suddenly lose those technological and cultural adaptations after the Wildwood-Duskwight split and so suddenly start struggling much more to survive. Furthermore, the most obvious outward traits of Duskwight -- dark-colored but desaturated skin -- doesn't really make that much sense as a cave adaptation.

I personally much favor the idea of genetic drift as being more responsible than natural selection for Duskwight appearance. In this theory, the traits characteristic to today's Duskwights -- pale skin, allegedly better hearing, etc. -- existed in the parent population of Gelmorran Elezen (and probably also in the original Elezen of Aldenard.) It happened that these traits ran in the relatively small number of families that refused to join Gridania, and when these families became reproducively isolated from other Elezen, these traits came to dominate in their descendants, not because of their evolutionary advantage but because of random chance.

I also like this theory because it explains why Gridanian Wildwood and Coerthan Elezen look similar despite their separation in time being just as great or potentially greater than Wildwood and Duskwight; the populations of Gelmorran Elezen and later Wildwood Elezen were large enough not to experience the same dramatic drift as the Duskwight.

Why do Wildwood look the way they do? Alternate explanations.

We can also consider that even though the Coerthan Elezen split from the ancestors of the Gelmorran Elezen 500 years before the latter went underground and 700 years before the Wildwood came back up, they need not have been reproductively isolated from each other for all of that time.

Elezen may have continued to travel between Coerthas and the rest of Aldenard between 350 and 660 6AE, and although Gridania has been known for being closed-off and hostile to outsiders until very recently, there could have been some amount of travel between Coerthas and the Shroud between 1076 6AE and the relaxing of the Shroud's borders. And although since Gridania's founding it has been forbidden to return to Gelmorra, it may have been possible for Coerthan Elezen to join the Gelmorran Elezen, or Gelmorran Elezen to leave the Shroud for Coerthas, between 660 and 1076.

Meanwhile, Gridanian policy has reproductively isolated the Duskwight since 1076, so while Duskwight may have left to interbreed with Gridanian Wildwood (unlikely) or Coerthans (possible,) there haven't been recent infusions of genes to the underground from outside.

How much interbreeding is there? Interracial relationships.

How much Hyuran ancestry does your average Elezen have?

I would guess that since the beginning of the Sixth Astral Era, interbreeding among the races has been taboo. I find it very interesting that despite 700 years of living in extremely close proximity under a shared culture and sometimes quite tenuous, isolated conditions, the Gelmorrans and later Gridanian Elezen and Hyur have remained apparently reproductively isolated from each other. Despite a flag that celebrates the unity of their peoples, intermarriage is apparently a union too far.

We know that Hyur and Elezen are interfertile, and the story of Heavensward gives us good reason to believe that first-generation hybrids of Hyur and Elezen are themselves interfertile with pure(-r) Hyur and Elezen. That is: almost all Ishgardians, including lowborn and apparent Hyur, are descendants of the surviving Knights Twelve, who were all Elezen. Although there is a stigma against Hyur-Elezen interbreeding in Ishgard today, this may not have been true for all of Ishgardian history. (Even if there has always been a stigma, it could also be that hybrid children who can pass as one race or the other would have been able to marry and spread their genes with relative ease.)

Gridanian Wildwood (and Duskwight, from their time in mixed-race Gelmorra) could also be carrying a secret mixed-race heritage, despite observing, like present-day Ishgard, a social system that views the races as distinct and impermeable.

Inter-Clan relationships.

One would imagine a considerable stigma against Duskwight marrying in to Gridanian Wildwood families. And yet the shared ancestry of Ishgardian Elezen and Hyur -- despite the stigma there -- suggests that such interbreeding might just be possible, if the resultant children were able to pass as one or the other. The enduring racism of Gridania makes this possibility a bit of a stretch, though.

I would speculate that it is much more plausible for Duskwight immigrants to Coerthas to marry in to "Wildwood" families there. While Ishgardian Elezen might still be prejudiced against Duskwights -- as foreigners, for their strange looks, because of judgments of their (and Gridanians') cave-dwelling history as barbaric -- we do not see much evidence of it in-game. Nor do we see Ishgardian NPCs identify as "Wildwood," a label from the Gridanian context.

What Ishgardians do discriminate between are highborn and lowborn (above all,) Elezen and Hyur, native and outsider, faithful and unbeliever -- and to a lesser extent, Ishgardian and Coerthan. A Duskwight Elezen newly arrived in Coerthas might fit into some unfavorable categories among these, but -- especially if they assimilated religiously -- might also fit into the same categories as lowborn, marginal "Wildwood" Elezen, and so be able to find mates in this group.

And so an alternative explanation for why the vast majority of Ishgardian Elezen appear to be "Wildwood" proposes itself: Duskwight immigrants to Coerthas, if able to integrate with the Elezen population already there, simply marry in, and their characteristic traits are diluted over the generations, leaving few descendants who look recognizably "Duskwight".

How are Duskwight viewed outside of Gridania?

Although it is my own speculation, I would guess that an Ishgardian might care more about an Elezen's titles, faith, and connection to the noble houses (and how old and prestigious a house) over whether they are "Duskwight" or "Wildwood."

I think there is plenty of room in the lore to have a Coerthan or Ishgardian Duskwight looked down on by the native "Wildwood" Elezen -- for their own Ishgardian reasons or perhaps even out of prejudice absorbed from their Gridanian neighbors -- but there is also room to have a Duskwight who experiences little to no discrimination based on their Clan.

And outside of the Elezen-heavy regions of Coerthas and the Shroud, Duskwight would join Wildwood as minorities. Depending on their generational distance from Gridanian culture, Wildwood and Duskwight might continue to observe prejudices against each other, or they might no longer consider such distinctions important, especially if they feel the majority races view both as the same pointy-eared dhalmels.

So in conclusion: should we consider there to be 3+ clans of Eorzean Elezen?

i.e. Is it “more correct” to refer to Alpine, Wildwood, and Duskwight clans of Elezen, with perhaps additional minor clans representing those Elezen who stayed in or migrated to other parts of Aldenard besides Coerthas and the Shroud?

Well... I wouldn’t say so, necessarily.

Clans of Elezen are separated by relatively small numbers of generations and superficial physical traits. They are interfertile and sometimes hard to distinguish. So I’d say the division of Wildwood from Duskwight is not so much a scientific, fact-based classification but a result of the particular history and culture of Gridania, a racial ideology developed during the later Sixth Astral Era that identifies Wildwood with “real,” “normal” ancestral Elezen and Duskwight (itself an arbitrary category fixated on a family’s relationship to the year 1076) with “different” and “evolved” (and not in a complimentary sense.)

I’d instead say that a three-Clan classification system for Elezen makes as much sense as the two-Clan system. Gridanian Wildwood are, after all, separated by more time and arguably more cultural changes from Coerthan “Wildwood” than from their closer-related Duskwight brethren. A two-Clan system has probably been able to gain acceptance merely because it is convenient to political and social narratives for Gridanians (and perhaps also Coerthans, who despite a lack of self-identification as “Wildwood” definitely seem in no hurry to identify with the Duskwights.)

Perhaps by splitting Elezen up into more Clans we’d more accurately describe their population history. But perhaps by doing so we would also be lending more support than deserved to the idea that Clans (and races) are distinct, impermeable, and unchanging. For while these different populations have been isolated by culture, religion, and geography, these don’t form petri dish walls -- the isolation has never been perfect.

My own conclusion right now is that Clan labels are suspect and have sociopolitical baggage. As a player, you can form your own opinion. And for our characters we can choose from a huge variety of interpretations, depending on their upbringing, self-concepts, political stances, and so forth.

This is an area of lore with a lot of room for reasoned interpretation, even application of real-world sociological and anthropological theory, and I find that really stimulating.

* While there are many mixed-race couples in Eorzea, there is reason to believe the stigma against interbreeding (a dehumanizing term, yuck, sorry) and intermarriage is real, based on the backstories of Hilda and the Blundering Treasure Hunter/Stalwart Companion and also the conspicuous absence of resultant mixed-race children. However...

† The developers of Final Fantasy XIV decided to allow the players a race-based system for character creation -- which is very common, even traditional, in fantasy MMOs, and XIV's is clearly descended from XI's. An advantage of such a system over, say, an entirely slider-based system for character customization, is that it allows dramatically different body shapes and animations, giving players diverse choices. A disadvantage, though, is that depicting anything outside of rigidly defined racial boxes becomes difficult. Both we players and NPC designers cannot, for example, depict a half-Wildwood half-Duskwight character without choosing either a Wildwood or a Duskwight model to base them upon; player characters cannot create half-Elezen half-Hyuran characters even though we know they exist in lore; similarly, we cannot depict characters who deviate bodily from the ideal(?) figures given to us for each of the races, and we cannot depict characters who don't conform to the binary male and female gender options we're given. So while we can interpret the almost total absence of visibly mixed-race characters as evidence that such characters are rare, we don't have to; it could just be a consequence of a limited number of character models available in-game. Perhaps the developers would show more mixed-race characters if they could, but the time and money hasn't (yet) been spent on creating the unique models these characters would require. For this same reason, I personally interpret the appearances of NPCs from Allag, Nym, and other ancient civilizations as approximations based on the available models, and not necessarily as evidence that the appearances of today's races are unchanged since those times.

‡ Actually, different scientists define a human generation as various different lengths, not only because they disagree but because the questions they're asking are different. Some reading that may be of interest.