The Mysteries of Vana 'Diel

[Myrrh]

Sure, Karbuncle knows everything about FFXI but can he see why kids love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch?

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

how come there arnt any mixed children in the game besides Lilisette?
u know like:
hume + taru
elvaan + taru? O_o wtf?
mithra + taru

Because Tarutaru are the Master Race and don't deign to lie with their lessers.

More seriously, though, Tarutaru are the only ones that have demonstrably procreated. Almost without exception, if there is a mother, a father, and a child together, they're Tarutaru. Most other races have childless couples and single-parent households.

[Karbuncle]

Sure, Karbuncle knows everything about FFXI but can he see why kids love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch?

Because its got the magic of Taru's?!

[Sparthos]

how come there arnt any mixed children in the game besides Lilisette?
u know like:
elvaan + mithra
hume + taru
elvaan + taru? O_o wtf?
mithra + taru
hume + mithra

Cause that'd mean SE would have to pay for unique models and that ain't gonna happen.

[Panthera]

how come there arnt any mixed children in the game besides Lilisette?
u know like:
elvaan + mithra
hume + taru
elvaan + taru? O_o wtf?
mithra + taru
hume + mithra

This is actually a good question.

I'd guess this means that Humes and Elvaans are very closely related. I haven't gone through the entire WoTG missions, but as far as I know, it remains to be seen whether Lilisette is fertile or not.

I think any other combination doesn't work because they are too genetically dissimilar.

Of course, this is a fantasy game where the 5 races come from crystals, or the tears of Altana, or one of those Legendary wild dates between Altana and a drunken Promethia (I don't even want to think about the chains....) or whatever the retconned origin is. So, maybe we don't have to worry about details like compatible genes. Excuse me, I here mitochlorians calling.

[Kojo]

This is actually a good question.

I'd guess this means that Humes and Elvaans are very closely related. I haven't gone through the entire WoTG missions, but as far as I know, it remains to be seen whether Lilisette is fertile or not.

I think any other combination doesn't work because they are too genetically dissimilar.

Of course, this is a fantasy game where the 5 races come from crystals, or the tears of Altana, or one of those Legendary wild dates between Altana and a drunken Promethia (I don't even want to think about the chains....) or whatever the retconned origin is. So, maybe we don't have to worry about details like compatible genes. Excuse me, I here mitochlorians calling.

I'd say it probably the same reason a Great Dane and a Chihuahua can't mate. For one that would be scary as hell, and secondly, carrying and delivering the offspring would probably kill both, mother and child.

[Sparthos]

This is actually a good question.

I'd guess this means that Humes and Elvaans are very closely related. I haven't gone through the entire WoTG missions, but as far as I know, it remains to be seen whether Lilisette is fertile or not.

Some JP have done extensive research on this topic.

[Kojo]

Some JP have done extensive research on this topic.

I wish to join them.

[Horadrim]

The Light Protocrystal is a good question. Alexander is the odd man out with the Celestial Avatars, outside of summoning, he only manifests in vessels. (And even as a summon he manifests in the form of his last vessel.) It is possible that the in-story reason for the lack of a Light Protocrystal is that it was lost when the Gordeus went supernova in the last Ragnarok, but even then he was summoned in a vessel, so it is hard to say. It is possible that the Light Protocrystal could be under Qufim, the basement of Lower Delkfutt's Tower could lead to deeper levels that we cannot reach where it could exist in cannon.

I would hazard a guess that the three non-functioning ancient apparatuses were something that they planned on using but never got around to. Maybe they were going to add a fourth one in an expansion zone and give them level 2 skillchain properties. In the Jeuno quest data files there are unused quests for each of the 8 elements called "Mystery of (Element)". It is thought that this was how we were originally supposed to operate the Strange Apparatuses, but even that leaves out the three non-functioning ones. It is always possible that they might remember that they exist and decide to add in something for them later.

My personal belief is that Carbuncle would have more to do with the Light Protocrystal than any other Avatar. If I remember correctly, Carbuncle is actually supposed to be one of the strongest, isn't he? He just is the least connected to Vana'diel as compared to the others. I may be wrong about this, or remembering it wrong, but the fact that only he is pretty much the only one who has extended conversations with the players makes me feel as though he's the only one who's representative of his true self, and as such, more likely to be significantly powerful. He's only as weak as he is because without a baseline summon Summoner would be too dominating in appearance. The absence of a Light Protocrystal could be indicative of why Carbuncle is weaker than the rest -- because he has no means of fully projecting himself into the real world like the representations of the other avatars do.

Or at least, that's my assessment. I'm pretty sure they said that the other avatars are just shadows or remnants of the real ones.

I could be wrong with all of that, its been ages since I've seen a SMN cutscene.

I'd say it probably the same reason a Great Dane and a Chihuahua can't mate. For one that would be scary as hell, and secondly, carrying and delivering the offspring would probably kill both, mother and child.

This. Half a hume is still twice the size of a Tarutaru.

Tarutaru could have largely dominant genes, though. Anything that is half taru is born looking fully taru -- that's not too far fetched.

I don't, personally, understand what the purpose of making Galka and Mithra completely separate races, myself.

[Sparthos]

My personal belief is that Carbuncle would have more to do with the Light Protocrystal than any other Avatar. If I remember correctly, Carbuncle is actually supposed to be one of the strongest, isn't he? He just is the least connected to Vana'diel as compared to the others. I may be wrong about this, or remembering it wrong, but the fact that only he is pretty much the only one who has extended conversations with the players makes me feel as though he's the only one who's representative of his true self, and as such, more likely to be significantly powerful. He's only as weak as he is because without a baseline summon Summoner would be too dominating in appearance. The absence of a Light Protocrystal could be indicative of why Carbuncle is weaker than the rest -- because he has no means of fully projecting himself into the real world like the representations of the other avatars do.

Or at least, that's my assessment. I'm pretty sure they said that the other avatars are just shadows or remnants of the real ones.

I could be wrong with all of that, its been ages since I've seen a SMN cutscene.

You've got avatar lore a bit mixed up.

Carbuncle is one of the terrestrial avatars like Bahamut, Fenrir, Diabolos and Phoenix. These avatars are called terrestrials because they are merely magical beings created after Altana split the mothercrystal and created Vana'diel.

The celestial avatars however are immortal beings who existed before Altana created Vana'diel but are currently dormant save for Alexander and Odin. The fear the terrestrials have always had is that if awakened, the celestials would attempt to reunite the crystals and destroy Vana'diel thus bringing the world back to "paradise" meaning the end of their lives.

Sound familiar? The Zilart attempted to revert the world to "paradise" but were stopped by the Kuluu who would be destroyed if the plan succeeded. Bahamut assisted the Kuluu because he knew that he too stood to be destroyed if the world were to be reverted.

Skip forward thousands of years and you have Carbuncle's current plan.

Carbuncle believes that by making pacts with the races of Vana'diel, the celestials might change their minds about reverting the world to paradise when awakened by becoming attached to the lesser beings who have flourished in their absence.

Alexander would be the individual with a protocrystal since he is the celestial avatar of light, however I do not believe SE has ever given us a definitive reason as to how he was awakened or even where his protocrystal is.

What we do know is that Alexander has been awake a long time and much like Odin has not attempted to revert the world back to paradise due to their ongoing feud and the ego trip he seems to get from being worshiped by the individuals on Vana'diel. They keep building him physical bodies afterall.

Odin seems to be enjoying himself so much with the concept of building up an army and creating "knights" out of the inhabitants of Vana'diel that he stands to lose if the world were reverted to its original state.

Simply put, Odin and Alexander enjoy Vana'diel because it gives them purpose even though the way they go about their purpose leads to death and destruction for the inhabitants. Very much like kids and their toys huh?