Gathering Lore Questions for the Fan Festival in Las Vegas!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Belhi

As to my question:

I am curious on what the current state of Meracydia is.

---

Seconded as a question. I'd gotten the impression it was the magical version of a nuclear wasteland, but then again, it's been thousands of years since then, so it might be habitable again. And, as one of my FC mates pointed out, in 3.4's Sophia questline, Urianger has a strange commentary on the words of the thralls:

"'Twas a Meracydian dialect[...]though one that beareth scant resemblance to any spoken in recent times." This seems to imply that either there are people living in Meracydia, or that ancient Meracydian languages still exist and are spoken today.

What lies beyond Griffin's Crossing (or whatever the gate is in Coerthas Central Highlands)? Will we ever go beyond that gate? And what about other areas that are closed off? Will we ever have a chance to go beyond those areas with a new setting and storyline?

As for my questions:

Is there any particular reason for Menphina, the Greater Moon, and Dalamud, the Lesser Moon, to both be antagonistic? One is Zodiark, the other an Allagan prison for Dalamud. Me and my friends joke that Yoshi-P has a grudge against moons in general, but it does strike me as strange.

In 1.0, what appears to be an Ascian Prime appears solely for the purpose of spooking the Amal'jaa. Why did this necessitate two or more Ascians to fuse for what isn't even a combat purpose? I'd think this would be a leftover weird lore bit from whatever the original plan for XIV was, but the reappearance of the weird skeletal creature described as an Ascian in 1.0 as the final boss of the Aetherochemical Research Facility, and being explicitly confirmed to be an Ascian despite that particular appearance not having been used since 1.0, makes me wonder.

Speaking of 1.0 and possible lore leftovers:

Can you share with us any of the original Tanaka-era plan for XIV storywise? I remember hearing something about how Dalamud was still going to have a large part, possibly even with the player going to its surface like the moon in FFIV.

What happened to the Path Companion after Futures Perfect? We never saw them again. Speaking of that quest, how were Y'shtola and the other Circle of Knowing members able to appear before the player afterwards while not physically being there? Were they intended to be dead and appearing as ghosts?

What do we make of the Garleans a) somehow being able to brainwash Eorzeans in a way suspiciously similar to Primal tempering and b) Doing this despite their opposition to Primals and everything they do and stand for? (I forget which quest this was, but I think it was in between hitting level 40 and unlocking Futures Perfect)

Who killed Niellefresne and why? Also what happened to Nielle's brother, Colbernaux? The current GSM guildmaster mentions that she took over after some sort of sordid affair, but what?

What was the deal with Corguevais? Was he supposed to be an Ascian like Travanchet? I remember we were told to look closely during cutscenes with him in them, but IIRC he DID have a shadow, so I don't know...

The final tier of Alexander's questline has the return of the horn from the 1.0 Limsa storyline. Is this not the same horn as the other "key" besides Tuspimati that Nabriales mentioned in 2.5? I remember that the horn was referred to as a "key" by Travanchet. Speaking of which, what was his deal? Was he a minor Ascian with Travanchet as his actual name, or one of the 13 major ones possessing the real Travanchet's body?

Will the Gridanian 1.0 questline ever come up again? Ul'dah has, as Ascilia/Minfilia and F'lahminn referred to it plenty. And as of 3.4, Limsa's has as well.

Is there any particular reason for Emperor Xandes, mentioned in 1.0, becoming Xande in ARR, other than to make the direct reference to FFIII? Or was that retconned into "The Tomb of Xandes" or whatever it was called housing two Allagan emperors named Xande? Though seeing as the latter Xande was a resurrection of the original, and he didn't die (and therefore wasn't buried) until we, the player, killed him, that still doesn't make sense.

Can you confirm once and for all Nael van Darnus' original gender and race?

Is the catastrophe that wiped out the Students of Baldesion bar Krile ever gonna be revisited? Or are we just assuming it was Ascians preventing research into the Rejoining and just leaving it at that? (I'd ask the same for Omega Weapon, but the last main scenario cutscene in 3.4 makes me think that's definitely gonna come up again.)

If every quest happens in the patch it's released in, what of quests released more than once? Did the ARR job quests (minus SCH and SMN, which definitely happened in 2.0, and NIN, happening in 2.4) just happen in 2.0, and not in 1.21, and are an exception to the rule? (I'd think so, but I thought I'd bring it up)

Was Gaius' name originally Gaius? He wasn't given a name till the Seventh Umbral Era storyline, IIRC, and people called him Zulvan for quite some time. (Not to be confused with Zurvan, the Demon of the Warring Triad)

Where was the WoL before coming to Eorzea in either 1.0 or 2.0? Surely they must have been coming from somewhere else - they apparently aren't native to Eorzea. I know you can't give too much details on such matters, lest it conflict with people's ideas for their characters, but isn't the fact that they came to Eorzea from somewhere else already in contradiction with many players own backstories? And I don't know a lot of successful RPers who actually have their characters be the WoL that the main scenario portrays them as, either.

I bring the last question up because some people theorize that the canonical WoL backstory might be "construct created by Hydaelyn" (tempered by Hydaelyn through the Echo is another popular one), and the Word of the Mother's dialogue near the end of the patch implies that you, the Word herself, and the Warriors of Darkness are the equivalent of the Ascians, which would make us an embodiment of Hydaelyn, if not to the extent that the Word became after Hydaelyn absorbed Minfilia. (How that happened is unclear...though if what the Warriors of Darkness said about immortality is true, Minfilia could have stayed behind when the WoL fled Ul'dah only to die and have her aether absorbed by Hydaelyn directly instead of just dissipating into the lifestream.)

That's all my questions for now.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by synesthetic

I just fought the Warriors of Darkness, which I thought were essentially the Warrior of Light and his band from the trailers. Their black mage spoke. And it was not female.
Just.. what happened?

---

A mistake was made when making the End of an Era trailer. The Black Mage was supposed to be the male Elezen, but they used the female's model instead. (Like how we have Hraesvelgr attacking Ishgard in the Heavensward trailer instead of Nidhogg.)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Naraku_Diabolos

What lies beyond Griffin's Crossing (or whatever the gate is in Coerthas Central Highlands)? Will we ever go beyond that gate? And what about other areas that are closed off? Will we ever have a chance to go beyond those areas with a new setting and storyline?

---

The Fields of Glory, formerly known as the Coerthas Eastern Lowlands.

In Thanalan, there are two roads, named the Royal Allagan Sunway and Starway. How did these roads get their names, and why are they still named such on modern maps? As the Allagan had some familiarity with moons, was there a Royal Allagan Moonway?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DarthSanguine

A mistake was made when making the End of an Era trailer. The Black Mage was supposed to be the male Elezen, but they used the female's model instead.

---

Is there a source on this? Because if the BLM in the trailers (and everything thereafter) is supposed to be the male Elezen, then what Ferne detailed in his post that I linked was either wrong or overturned. In which case, again, I'd want to know what happened. Because I really enjoyed reading that BLM was actually the female Elezen. It was a surprise.

There are a number of portraits and landscape paintings available as furnishings for housing, yet common to all of them is the description "Artist unknown." At the Bobbing Cork in Fallgourd Float, there are several large canvases unique to that inn. As it is not currently possible to craft a painting as a Disciple of the Hand, these items stand out to me. Can you shed light on those responsible for these works? Might we see any quests regarding Eorzea's reclusive anonymous artists?

Were the Mamool Ja migrating to Vylbrand the reason for the discovery of the new world? How did they get here if Merlwyb was said to discover the safe route though the Indigo sea? Was it the Momool Ja who showed it to her?

The last boss for Xelphatol did not look like your average Ixali. His face and upper body reminded me more of an Amal'jaa. Who is this Tozol Huatotl? His TT card said he is of the four great bloodlines of the Ixali but he doesn't look like a normal ixali. Is this an Aetherial overdose like we saw in Satasha Hard?

and please let us know more about those 88 sins of sasamo :)

Questions for the Lore Primal cont.
All about the dragon lizard demon people . . . those ones with horns.

7) There are a number of Xaela npcs (Sid, Alaqa, Mide, etc) that have ended up in somewhat isolated areas of Eorzea several years before the start of Heavensward. Where these npcs part of the same migration of Xaela? How and why did they end up in those regions in the first place?

8) Where do all the Raen npcs running around Idyllshire come from? Where they part of Yugiri's group?

9) Just how good is Auri hearing? I'm assuming that the horns are hollow.

10) Care to elaborate any more on the "Dusk Mother" and the "Dawn Father"? Are they considered gods or something else?

Due to the tower which holds the triad being a clear reference to Kefka's Tower from FFVI, is there any chance Kefka was involved with the Asceans and might actually be trapped in the tower as well? Also noticed that the tower has multiple relations to Kefka's, the most obvious being the smokestacks and the wing sticking out.

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/...20080301153027

We know that calamities is a thing in Eorzea, but does calamities also happen on the other continents?

Can you tell us about citystates outside of Eorzea that we barely or don't know about, like the city Bozja Citadel (which was turned to dust 20 year past)? Something about history (past and present), human races, traditions?

And the most important question, do you prefer puppies or kittens?

I'll just... link this here (sorta relevant): http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...wes-Fanfest%29

I would love the story behind this sometime. Been wondering about it since 2010. I would love an official detailing, and not fan speculation.

Would love to have any information(in depth that is) you can share further on Mhach. For example the leadership structure, its most renowned figures, social structure... the list goes on. From what little we know of them they clearly, to me at least, have potentially the most interesting lore to follow. I also have a vested interest in whether or not Black Mages will ever have to revisit Mhachi history or the ruins of Mhach in the future for respective Job quests. So many ways to use this.

I wanted to know a little more lore behind the warrior ability Fell Cleave, can you explain what the chainsaws are/how and where they derived from

Elementals are supposedly an intrinsic part of nature, and we see sprites in every place in the game, even barren locations like Azys Lla, Northern Thanalan, and the Churning Mists. But only in the Black Shroud do they express such aggressive behavior towards living things and impose their will and their wrath upon them. What is the reason we don't see things like Woodsin and Greenwrath in places like Raincatcher Gully or the Dravanian Forelands, which are similarly lush in terms of nature?

Given that we now know the Void is the Thirteenth Shard drowned by Darkness, how do Voidsent originate within said Void? Besides growing more powerful, do they have any particular goals?

Excluding the events leading up to and surrounding him, could Alexander really have intervened in the timeline and stopped the Calamity, since doing so would radically alter the flow of history and plausibly cause his summoning by the Illuminati to not happen? Moreover could Alexander have done anything outside the time loops surrounding him? (Even if he is a primal, it's kind of sad when you think about it and realize Alexander never really had any choice in what he does and ultimately seals himself outside of spacetime, essentially committing an elaborate form of suicide.)

There are enemies in Azys Lla that look similar to XIII's Pulsework Soldiers and Dreadnoughts where exactly did their designs come from if they're Allagan made the resembelence is 1:1 and there's even some left over pulsian text on the mounts in Fractal Continumm.

I love Alexander. I love all of his robots. Who made Blaster, Swindler, Vortexer, Brawler, and Cruise Chaser? The tech used in these seems to differ pretty significantly from the Oppressor, Manipulator, Onslaughter, Gobwidows etc. Was one gobbie braincase responsible for these? Was it a team of goblins? Did Alexander himself create these unflinching servitors? Will we ever meet the goblinthinker who bangybuilt these great walkymachines?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Yasuhiro

There are enemies in Azys Lla that look similar to XIII's Pulsework Soldiers and Dreadnoughts where exactly did their designs come from if they're Allagan made the resembelence is 1:1 and there's even some left over pulsian text on the mounts in Fractal Continumm.

---

It's just model reuse to cut down costs. There is nothing more to it.

I have a couple more questions.

How was Quickthinx able to augment himself into a cyborg? His body should have rejected such implants unless the Illuminati have a drug that prevents the immune system from acting against them. (Wouldn't surprise me if this is the case.)

More humorously, now that we know cybernetics are totally a thing, is it likely the goblins will make a cybernetic arm for Raubahn, or is that kind of tech an Illuminati only thing?

What sort of magics or trickery were in place that allowed a seemingly average bear to fly in the Coerthas Western Highlands?

Could you tell us anything about how Nophica and Halone came to be rivals? Or how Oschon and Halone became companions?

Spoilers for 3.4

The Warrior of Darkness BLM elezen is named Naillebert, a male. Previously in 2012, it was stated that the End of an Era BLM Elezen is female. Can we use this to infer that the First was more like an alternate universe or split timeline type of thing? The WoD party is not the CG Midlander party no matter how similar they all look?

Thank you everyone for your questions! Oda-san was genuinely surprised and delighted by the sheer number submitted.

Oda-san and I will spend the next few days deciding which we can cover at the Fan Fest. As for those we cannot, I'll look into seeing if it's possible in the future to post replies here on the Lore Forums. (It may take a while. Oda-san has been extremely busy lately. *wink* *wink*)