6.0 Predictions: Will it be Garlemald, Sharlayan, or Meracydia?

We're going to go to the moon eventually but I doubt it'll be any more than a dungeon and trial. Still, I'll be upset if the way we get there isn't via the Lunar Whale.

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Originally Posted by JeanneOrnitier

We're going to go to the moon eventually but I doubt it'll be any more than a dungeon and trial. Still, I'll be upset if the way we get there isn't via the Lunar Whale.

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The Lunar Whale reveal from FF4 surprised me. Granted I was a kid then and I was riding on high of a no school day (it was a 2 hour snow delay that folded into a cancellation). If it was the whale I'd feel like my Final Fantasy journey had come full circle.

If we go to the moon, I hope the IVth's legion will feature.

Not that this would ever happen in FFXIV, but what if someone dear to us gets killed? And I don't mean like Haurchefant. I mean like Tataru. What if she gets brutally killed by Zenos as a way to draw us out and then we basically burn Garlemald to the ground. So it would be like a vengeance story. But SE would have to all in with an extremely dark and brutal tone. The game would become MA rated pretty quickly. Would certainly be different! :p

But I think fans would probably revolt for a variety of reasons. Not the least of which, it's not very original.

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Originally Posted by Lium

Not that this would ever happen in FFXIV, but what if someone dear to us gets killed? And I don't mean like Haurchefant. I mean like Tataru. What if she gets brutally killed by Zenos as a way to draw us out and then we basically burn Garlemald to the ground. So it would be like a vengeance story. But SE would have to all in with an extremely dark and brutal tone. The game would become MA rated pretty quickly. Would certainly be different! :p

But I think fans would probably revolt for a variety of reasons. Not the least of which, it's not very original.

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Although I feel the vibe that we are about due for a character death, I doubt that death will lead down a dark vengeance path where we burn the empire to ground. I mean at that point, we'd be no better than the empire and not worthy of the title hero.

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Originally Posted by Kesey

Although I feel the vibe that we are about due for a character death, I doubt that death will lead down a dark vengeance path where we burn the empire to ground. I mean at that point, we'd be no better than the empire and not worthy of the title hero.

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Yeah. Although that would be sort of the point. We become death as Elidibus saw us. Destroyer of worlds. Plot twist. Hydaelyn has been watching over us not because we are a hero, but because of our destructive potential. But after what we learned about who we were in ShB that wouldn’t make sense.

Plus, I think some of this is cultural. The Japanese, as I understand it, are not very fond of super dark stories when it comes to fantasy. And if the protagonist taps into dark or “evil” powers of some kind, it is almost always used for heroic purposes.

Look at DRKs and SMNs as an example.

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Originally Posted by Lium

Look at DRKs and SMNs as an example.

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There is a actual lesson for these stories and even Shadowbringer being that the concept of Light and Dark along with Good and Evil are not as straight as people believe them to be.

The powers used by Dark Knight and Summoner are not evil themselves but people often relate them to Evil because the people who use them are commonly Evil.

It is the same for Darkness and Light concept being shown in Shadowbringer. Light is commonly seen as Good and Darkness seen as Evil to a point of pure bias and disregard of the reality of what is happening. The Avatars of the countless warriors of light is a example of how such blind belief of light and darkness can be evil in itself as the burning passion to get ride of evil from these warrior of light also reflect how they view light and darkness being in their eyes light is always good thus the person fighting for the light is good and darkness is always evil thus the person fighting for darkness is assumed evil.

Even certain people in the player based began with a certain belief before Shadowbringer is released that our character may do Evil things because they will be the embodiment of Darkness in the First which is just how strong the bias belief of Light and Darkness is even in reality to a certain degree.

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Originally Posted by Lium

Yeah. Although that would be sort of the point. We become death as Elidibus saw us. Destroyer of worlds. Plot twist. Hydaelyn has been watching over us not because we are a hero, but because of our destructive potential. But after what we learned about who we were in ShB that wouldn’t make sense.

Plus, I think some of this is cultural. The Japanese, as I understand it, are not very fond of super dark stories when it comes to fantasy. And if the protagonist taps into dark or “evil” powers of some kind, it is almost always used for heroic purposes.

Look at DRKs and SMNs as an example.

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And when said dark powers are tapped into, it's often revealed that they're only dark because the powers are so dangerous they can overtake you. DRK itself in this game is powered by the emotions of the user, both good and bad, meaning it's possible to overtake the wielder if their negative emotions go too out of control. Similarly, SMN is summoning an avatar of a primal while using themselves as the avatar's power source of aether, meaning one wrong step can basically result in you dying from the avatar siphoning too much aether from you. And that's not taking into account the Trances SMN can use to make their body a conduit for a primal's power.

I'm not really sure. My gut tells me we're finally gearing up to go to Garlemald but I thought the same for 5.0 until it turned out we were going to the First instead.

I also wouldn't be too shocked if we had another Kugane situation. With the bulk of the expansion taking place in Garlemald, but because we don't have a friendly city there and it's a war zone, the expansion main city is Radz-at-hahn or something while the expansion zones are Garlemald related. Similar to how Kugane was neither Doman nor Ala Mhigan.

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Originally Posted by JeanneOrnitier

We're going to go to the moon eventually but I doubt it'll be any more than a dungeon and trial. Still, I'll be upset if the way we get there isn't via the Lunar Whale.

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They teased the Lunar Whale so hard this expansion with Bismarck 2.0. I was sooooo certain when I explored Lakeland fresh into SHB release that the final zone was gonna be The Moon, but alas, it was not to be. Though the spires of Amaurot, both in The Tempest and in the Raktika cave paintings remind me of:

http://www.almarsguides.com/AlmarsIm...20Location.png

I think chances are good the last area of 6.0 is the moon, if the last encounter will be against Zodiark. But this seems the most obvious of the choices. Maybe the final encounter might just be on the moon and it won't be an area at all.

Still doesn't answer what we are doing and where we are going in the mean time.

Maybe the rising will have a hint for us in two days.

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Originally Posted by Kesey

Maybe the rising will have a hint for us in two days.

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Pretty unlikely as its adapting one of the Tales from the Dragonsong War IIRC...

which might explain that "heavesnward refresher" comment

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Originally Posted by Morningstar1337

Pretty unlikely as its adapting one of the Tales from the Dragonsong War IIRC...

which might explain that "heavesnward refresher" comment

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Actually its one of the "Tales from the Calamity". Anyways, what gives a hint for the future is the poem sung by the minstrel traditionally at the end of the event quests, rather than the core of the quests itself.

There's definitely a lot of nods to Old Sharlayan lately but I think a more likely "Crystarium" for 6.0 is Radz-at-Han. It has been firmly established as a peculiar place right next to Garlemald, yet completely independent. If we are to set foot on Ilsabard, I would think it would be through Thavnair.

I think the expansion will be split in some way between Thavnair, Garlean Empire and Meracydia. Thavnair will be our vector of attack/home base and we'll see 1-2 areas in southern Garlean Empire that will be used to humanize the average Garlean. Following this I believe Garlemald will be invaded by a third party that had thus far been kept in check while the empire had real leadership.

I believe this will be the Meracydians, mainly due to YoshiP's advice to brush up on HW's story. HW's most interesting revelation for the future of the plot would have to be that Meracydia is both the source of the "original" (not quite so anymore) primals/eikons and the home of Bahamut, both of which even the Allagans struggled to defeat. I think we will travel directly to Meracydia to confront this new threat and in the course of that learn all manner of new things about the world that will become relevant for the next story arc, as well as information on how to deal with Zodiark. The fact that Meracydia is the birthplace of modern primals, the Garlean Empire has a core mission of destroying primals and we now know it was established by Emet-Selch, who is himself beholden to a primal, may suggest that Meracydians have access to magicks that would threaten Zodiark's existence.

This is a little more out there, but I think there's a strong possibility of most of the empire being destroyed by a calamity.

As far as I know, Zodiark is currently lying dormant inside/as the moon and needs one more rejoining to tip the balance and reawaken. I doubt they would wrap up this story without letting us fight Zodiark himself. Since nothing in the game world can ever change in a meaningful way, large-scale destruction can only happen on Ilsabard, as it's unexplored territory. Doing this would also allow them to wrap up Ilsabard in one expansion, even though it's roughly the size of Aldenard and Othard combined. Since Zodiark is trapped inside the moon and presumably awakens soon, it could potentially mean that the moon itself crashes into Ilsabard much like the fall of Dalamud. Thematically, this would mirror the start of the arc, foster reconciliation between the powers through a shared experience and potentially let us take on the role of Louisoix by preventing complete annihilation.

Or, a more simple option, it could just be destroyed by the attacking Meracydians.
The final/??? map in the game could be in the north around a destroyed Garlemald, with the significantly ravaged city itself acting as our endgame hub and slowly restored through "Garlemald Restoration".

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Originally Posted by JetoJotar

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The problem is, is that Thavnair is neutral, and Ala Mhigo is both closer to Garlemald and already the city closest to our army in the Ghimlyt Dark. Instead of a city we’ve never been to, I’d rather have a fully realized visitable Ala Mhigo, considering their importance to the story going back to 1.0.

As far as Meracydia goes, the Lominsans have been there already and do some trade with the locals, but I don’t think any world-wide threat will come out of that place since the current lore says that it’s just an empty wasteland with some scattered tribes.

While I haven’t read all the posts I have to say so many people are focused on the obvious references in Heavensward... there was another that is already being set up and has been for awhile..

The void. Everyone is expecting to return to the source, to go for Islabard or Garlemald or whatever else. But we have Eden, we have two oracles (who we have no reason to presume can’t cross between the shards <even Y’shtola said she would work on a method for travelling between shards.>) restoring the void or going on an adventure through the shards to learn the truth of the ancients would be fitting leading to a confrontation with both hydaelyn and zodiark.

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Originally Posted by Darkpaw

While I haven’t read all the posts I have to say so many people are focused on the obvious references in Heavensward... there was another that is already being set up and has been for awhile..

The void. Everyone is expecting to return to the source, to go for Islabard or Garlemald or whatever else. But we have Eden, we have two oracles (who we have no reason to presume can’t cross between the shards <even Y’shtola said she would work on a method for travelling between shards.>) restoring the void or going on an adventure through the shards to learn the truth of the ancients would be fitting leading to a confrontation with both hydaelyn and zodiark.

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I think or very much hope that they will keep the next adventure to the source, after all it is the finale of the season 1 story line which has mostly taken place on the source, also it would not make sense to do another shard hoping expansion right after this one.

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Originally Posted by MikkoAkure

The problem is, is that Thavnair is neutral, and Ala Mhigo is both closer to Garlemald and already the city closest to our army in the Ghimlyt Dark. Instead of a city we’ve never been to, I’d rather have a fully realized visitable Ala Mhigo, considering their importance to the story going back to 1.0.

As far as Meracydia goes, the Lominsans have been there already and do some trade with the locals, but I don’t think any world-wide threat will come out of that place since the current lore says that it’s just an empty wasteland with some scattered tribes.

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But wouldn't a wasteland make the most sense to be the location of the path to Zodiark or the spot for the showdown? A hero would want it there to avoid any innocents being killed, a villain would want it there because nobody would dare think of going there, it's a wasteland.

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Originally Posted by MikkoAkure

The problem is, is that Thavnair is neutral, and Ala Mhigo is both closer to Garlemald and already the city closest to our army in the Ghimlyt Dark. Instead of a city we’ve never been to, I’d rather have a fully realized visitable Ala Mhigo, considering their importance to the story going back to 1.0.

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The lore book heavily implies that it was left neutral in order to facilitate the smuggling of Eorzean goods into Garlemald. Now that Zenos is at the helm, who knows what the future holds? Radz-at-Han losing its independence is not an unlikely scenario and would be exactly the kind of thing that would move us to intervene.
Besides, didn't the conflict at Ghimlyt Dark stop recently? There's any number of reasons why we wouldn't want to go through there, such as the city-states not wanting to rekindle the conflict just yet, or the need for our operation being covert.

I do get the desire of seeing an actual Ala Mhigo but I really don't think they're gonna remake a location that technically already exists when we have all of Ilsabard, as well as Old Sharlayan and Thavnair, to explore.

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Originally Posted by MikkoAkure

As far as Meracydia goes, the Lominsans have been there already and do some trade with the locals, but I don’t think any world-wide threat will come out of that place since the current lore says that it’s just an empty wasteland with some scattered tribes.

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I found the reference to this, it's from a few levequests in 1.0. I would argue this has been retconned, as the lore book states not even basic geographical information is known.

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Far to the south of the Three Great Continents, beyond the equatorial line, lies the second of Hydaelyn's three landmasses-Meracydia. Five millennia ago at the close of the Third Astral Era, the Allagan Empire [...] began an invasion that would end with nearly the entire continent being rendered a wasteland. While some areas remain uninhabitable even today, those which have been repopulated remain recluse and very rarely welcome contact with the civilizations of the northern hemisphere, ofi:times attacking any who approach, whether it be by sea or by air. Because of this, very little of the region is known, including even the most basic of geographical information.

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Just from this blurb we know that the inhabitants do in fact have the capability to take out airborne invaders, so they must have access to significant magicks or technology. Does that include fending off Garlemald as well?
It was turned into a wasteland some 5000 years ago - that's enough time for Eorzea to experience 4 additional calamities and recover from them to the point of advanced civilization. Consider also that all or most of the calamities may not have affected the world outside of the Three Great Continents at all or as much, meaning Meracydia could potentially have experienced 5000 years of uninterrupted growth.

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Originally Posted by JetoJotar

Just from this blurb we know that the inhabitants do in fact have the capability to take out airborne invaders, so they must have access to significant magicks or technology. Does that include fending off Garlemald as well?
It was turned into a wasteland some 5000 years ago - that's enough time for Eorzea to experience 4 additional calamities and recover from them to the point of advanced civilization. Consider also that all or most of the calamities may not have affected the world outside of the Three Great Continents at all or as much, meaning Meracydia could potentially have experienced 5000 years of uninterrupted growth.

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There is also the New World to the west or east really, the americas.
Meracydia is also a South Emisphere but ecuatorial continent, there could be even more continents beyond the ecuator of the planet.

I honestly thought 5.0 was gonna be Ilsabard till 4.4 and this whole out of nowhere anime filler that was ShB. But well, now we seem to be back into the MAIN STORY.

Probably not the Void. While we still have two patches to go I find it hard to imagine such a drastic change as that happening between now and then. It also is very much a sidequest kind of feel, and they already did that once with Shadowbringers. It's rather hard to deal the final blow to the evil empire without actually being on the Source, regardless of any other factors.

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Originally Posted by MikkoAkure

The problem is, is that Thavnair is neutral, and Ala Mhigo is both closer to Garlemald and already the city closest to our army in the Ghimlyt Dark. Instead of a city we’ve never been to, I’d rather have a fully realized visitable Ala Mhigo, considering their importance to the story going back to 1.0.

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As much as I would like to see Ala Mhigo be its own city (and seriously Square, you missed the boat with that city in Stormblood) it will at this point probably have to be restoration content. To be fair, the Ishgard restoration has shown to extremely popular and Ala Mhigo feels like prime location for that content to continue in 6.0.

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Originally Posted by Kesey

As much as I would like to see Ala Mhigo be its own city (and seriously Square, you missed the boat with that city in Stormblood) it will at this point probably have to be restoration content. To be fair, the Ishgard restoration has shown to extremely popular and Ala Mhigo feels like prime location for that content to continue in 6.0.

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A restoration COULD redeem the city and country as a whole for a lot of people, especially if there's some solid character building and lore.

Another thing that makes me think we may be going to Sharlayan for 6.0 is they made a full in game model for the twins's father yet he doesn't even get mentioned not even a name in game, yet they made a full model and stuck it in the 1st Lore Book, another character they did a model for that never shows up is High Voidmage Cessair.

I could see Cessair model have been used for a single scene and they decided to cut it out for whatever reason, but the twins's father seems like a much bigger plot point they decided to remove especially considering he is part of the forum which is the leading body of Sharlayan. Given that a model was made the cut of his addition to the game was later into development, could also be a good point of contention for the twins going forward.

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Originally Posted by Crushnight

Another thing that makes me think we may be going to Sharlayan for 6.0 is they made a full in game model for the twins's father yet he doesn't even get mentioned not even a name in game, yet they made a full model and stuck it in the 1st Lore Book, another character they did a model for that never shows up is High Voidmage Cessair.

I could see Cessair model have been used for a single scene and they decided to cut it out for whatever reason, but the twins's father seems like a much bigger plot point they decided to remove especially considering he is part of the forum which is the leading body of Sharlayan. Given that a model was made the cut of his addition to the game was later into development, could also be a good point of contention for the twins going forward.

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I can see the Leveliur patriarch as a potential antagonist, maybe not part of the world domination factions that I'm somewhat hoping will exist in Sharlayan, but still someone that would aid them in some capacity and would hold a grudge against the Scions for them and his father "misusing" their knowledge.

Bonus points if he's the emotionally distant type and Louisoux was the one who effectively raised the twins.

The twin's father is a moderate Sharlayn. While he himself wants nothing to do with other countries, he doesn't forbid other Sharlyans from leaving if they want to. He'd probably be proud of the twins for at least making it work and really coming into their own and growing up.

There is a party that doesn't want any Sharlayn information getting out though, as evidenced in the 3.0 AST quests. So I could see everyone in that movement being very much against the Scions, the Sons of St. Coniach, etc.

To also add I could see the father entering the scene as if word that his children collapsed of a unknown at the time reasoning just reached him, his short bio definitely paints him as someone with different ideals to Liousioux and his children, but not really begrudges them for it, hence why the Levilliers never had the Levava treatment of trying to silence them.

However I think given someone like him the news his children collapsed and there seems to be no cure, would spark a response by him even if was to ensure the safety of his children. I could certainly see him go the overprotective father troupe but with a genuinely good reason to do so, he let them do as they wished, they collapsed, he wants to now bring them back home and safeguard them.

The end of 5.3 story implies future character development for Alphinaud and Alisaie so what better location than Sharlayan. But just like Gyr Abania in Stormblood, Sharlayan might be a bit too small for an entire expansion to take place. So my prediction is that the developers will prepare something grand and send us to the moon. Seeing as Sharlayan is a nation of magical scholars, I wouldn't be surprised if they prepare an airship in the form of a giant whale to send us to the moon. We might even end up going to the Lunar Subterrane as a throwback to Final Fantasy IV the same way the Crystal Tower was a throwback to Final Fantasy III.

This would save Ilsabard or a section of Ilsabard (since it's a very big place) for when we reach level 100.

I'm currently running my very first alt through (at least) Heavensward's story arc (2.4 - 3.3) and 3.X's major side content to get more ideas as to where 6.0's story is going to go. I'll include a full personal analysis on Fandaniel's character along with it once I get that far. (Currently in 2.1, but I'm taking my time to run all the Lv50 dungeons for tomestones.)

(Apropos of nothing, completing "The Ultimate Weapon" now gives you a Fantasia. So that's cool.)

To be honest, I am side-eyeing the Sharlayans with open suspicion at this point. They are pretty much the equivalent of the Vatican archives: they hoard all knowledge that-supposedly-should-not-be-known, and the Forum has this bad habit of pursuing those who might want to share it, sometimes with lethal intent, as Leveva could attest.

Keeping the truth of the world from the people is one of Hydaelyn's penchants. And I shall not lie, at this point I am a little bit eager to kick some giant Light-aspected crystal in... well. You get the idea. From Sharlayan came many people rather biased towards Hydaelyn, Louisoix and the Scions for starters until the latters had their adventure in the First...

However, for the time being, it would seem we are heading into Garlemald, and I am fine with it. It is coherent. I think everyone would agree that leaving Zenos in the throne is a terrible idea not just for the Alliance but for the Empire itself. I have other reasons to believe it would be rather poetic and meaningful to "reverse conquer" Garlemald, but whatever. Let us just say, I believe it is the time to explore Garlemald and Ilsabard in general. I, for one, have been looking forward to it for a long time, and after certain 5.x shenanigans, even more. :)

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Originally Posted by ShadowMeowth

To be honest, I am side-eyeing the Sharlayans with open suspicion at this point. They are pretty much the equivalent of the Vatican archives: they hoard all knowledge that-supposedly-should-not-be-known, and the Forum has this bad habit of pursuing those who might want to share it, sometimes with lethal intent, as Leveva could attest.

Keeping the truth of the world from the people is one of Hydaelyn's penchants. And I shall not lie, at this point I am a little bit eager to kick some giant Light-aspected crystal in... well. You get the idea. From Sharlayan came many people rather biased towards Hydaelyn, Louisoix and the Scions for starters until the latters had their adventure in the First...

However, for the time being, it would seem we are heading into Garlemald, and I am fine with it. It is coherent. I think everyone would agree that leaving Zenos in the throne is a terrible idea not just for the Alliance but for the Empire itself. I have other reasons to believe it would be rather poetic and meaningful to "reverse conquer" Garlemald, but whatever. Let us just say, I believe it is the time to explore Garlemald and Ilsabard in general. I, for one, have been looking forward to it for a long time, and after certain 5.x shenanigans, even more. :)

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My personal theory is Sharlayan is the sister city of Amarout.

A few of the side quest npcs in Amarout mention a sister city that is suffering. We also know little of the Hydaelyn faction of the Ancients. I've also noticed a strange coincidence where Sharlayan places in and around Idyllshire and Sharlayan dungeons are often based in Greek routed words and all of the Amarout locations and dungeons also are Greek routed words.

So I'm thinking Sharlayan is the city founded by followers of Hydaelyn and their isolationism is a means to hide that information from the rest of the world.

Also all of our scion friends are either from Sharlayan, were educated in Sharlayan, or recruited and educated by people from Sharlayan. So the subtle hint is Sharlayan.

But if the Rising is any indication, I expect 5.4, 5.5 to give the appearance of an Empire expansion (just to mess with us), only to find out in the last quest of 5.55 at the very last minute we are going Sharlayan.

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Originally Posted by Kesey

A few of the side quest npcs in Amarout mention a sister city that is suffering. We also know little of the Hydaelyn faction of the Ancients. I've also noticed a strange coincidence where Sharlayan places in and around Idyllshire and Sharlayan dungeons are often based in Greek routed words and all of the Amarout locations and dungeons also are Greek routed words.

So I'm thinking Sharlayan is the city founded by followers of Hydaelyn and their isolationism is a means to hide that information from the rest of the world.

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Not too long ago I solo-ed Gubal Library and Saint Mocianne's Arboretum to check stuff because Sharlayan architecture and patterns are suspiciously similar to those we find in Amaurot. More simplified, aye, but similar. I found particularly interesting that one of the rooms in Gubal is called the "Convocation House". Not an unique term, but after ShB I am eyeing everything with suspicion.

So I am not alone thinking they do know about the true story of the world and they are purposefully keeping it from being known. We do know that many fervent Hydaelyn believers come from Sharlayan as well, like Louisoix Leveilleur. And the Scions before the First shenanigans. We might be onto something there. Old Sharlayan is an island if I recall correctly, so perhaps it is a bit small for an expansion, but for a surprise final zone? It could be the case.

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Originally Posted by ShadowMeowth

Not too long ago I solo-ed Gubal Library and Saint Mocianne's Arboretum to check stuff because Sharlayan architecture and patterns are suspiciously similar to those we find in Amaurot. More simplified, aye, but similar. I found particularly interesting that one of the rooms in Gubal is called the "Convocation House". Not an unique term, but after ShB I am eyeing everything with suspicion.

So I am not alone thinking they do know about the true story of the world and they are purposefully keeping it from being known. We do know that many fervent Hydaelyn believers come from Sharlayan as well, like Louisoix Leveilleur. And the Scions before the First shenanigans. We might be onto something there. Old Sharlayan is an island if I recall correctly, so perhaps it is a bit small for an expansion, but for a surprise final zone? It could be the case.

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I was leaning toward Sharlayan being the new Crystarium or Kugane and the last zone of the expansion will be either an Allagn ruin (much like Ayzs Lla) but have a means to go to the moon (unless the moon is that final area, but I guess it could swing either way) ultimately to the final showdown with Zodiark. But I like your idea too.

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Originally Posted by Kesey

I was leaning toward Sharlayan being the new Crystarium or Kugane and the last zone of the expansion will be either an Allagn ruin (much like Ayzs Lla) but have a means to go to the moon (unless the moon is that final area, but I guess it could swing either way) ultimately to the final showdown with Zodiark. But I like your idea too.

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To be honest we have been hammered so much that our final battle will be with Zodiark that I am suspecting it would be too predictable. So now I am expecting a plot twist like Elidibus-aka-Heart-of-Zodiark being the true inspiration behind the concept of "Warrior of Light". Besides, with Elidibus inside the Crystal Tower of the First, Zodiark is... fragmented and core-less. With Zenos eating Him, aye, that could make Zodiark a real issue. But that too has been told to our faces too early. So consider me skeptical. :')

Whatever. I do want to see more Allagan stuff. Azys Lla was amazing, and there is never enough Allagan lore.

I also think Sharlayan is going to play a big role in 6.0. Their nation seems to have many similarities to Amaurot and the Ancients, like the Greek terms mentioned. They also share many themes, both being isolationist nations made up of academics, debates being a pillar of their society, etc. Louisoix's departure to Eorzea is mirrored by Azem's departure from the Convcation (hell, maybe he was inspired by some remnants of Azem's writings). And when you're in Amaurot, I'm pretty sure the WoD could potentially quote Louisox when talking to the people arguing about whether Amaourot should help the other places fighting the Sound or stay isolationist. Maybe their nation was founded on some Ancient ruins but then you have to wonder why the Ascians would allow them to stay. Or maybe they've been collecting and hoarding Ancient info and lore; I think there's something like there's some knowledge that only people born on Old Sharlayan has access to, and they don't allow it to be shared with outsider academics.

And then there's the things like the Ancient dungeons having jazz music and Gubal Library being distorted jazz... The nautilus being on the Sharlayan flag and a big nautilus statue at the top of Akademia Anyder... I don't think we're done with the Ancient story, and Sharlayan just has too many connections, thematic and otherwise, to just be world flavor. IMO anway.

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Originally Posted by tarifu

And then there's the things like the Ancient dungeons having jazz music and Gubal Library being distorted jazz... The nautilus being on the Sharlayan flag and a big nautilus statue at the top of Akademia Anyder... I don't think we're done with the Ancient story, and Sharlayan just has too many connections, thematic and otherwise, to just be world flavor. IMO anway.

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... I am feeling incredibly stupid for not having connected the jazzy themes that Amaurotine and Sharlayan dungeons share. (As one of my podcast companion mentioned, "elevator music".) But I have not even seen the nautilus statue in Akadaemia Anyder. I will check tomorrow because it is 3:24 AM but welp. If I was suspicious of Sharlayan before, now more than ever.

I kinda wonder if the Sharlayan dungeons and ruins have an art deco aestethic as I think that was prominent in Aumarot (one of the reasons I liked the place)

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Originally Posted by Morningstar1337

I kinda wonder if the Sharlayan dungeons and ruins have an art deco aestethic as I think that was prominent in Aumarot (one of the reasons I liked the place)

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I have gone through them solo not long ago to check, and my conclusion is that Sharlayan aesthetic is a very simplified version of art deco / Amaurotine aesthetic. This, besides the whole Sundering thing, might be due as well by the Sharlayans' practical mindset; while the Ancients probably richly decorated their constructions artistically because they /could/ and without hardly any effort, Sharlayans would not bother with details if they do not serve a purpose: see the infamous Archon loaf where what it matters is the nutritional value and flavor is considered a superfluous aspect.

If 6.0 is truly the end of the Garlemald/Zodiark vs. Hydaelyn story arc, I sincerely hope we'll actually be going to Garlemald and I think we probably will. I know a lot of people took Yoshida's comments of looking back at Heavensward to get an idea for what is coming next to mean we'll be dealing with more dragons and that Meracydia would be the next location, but I thought of it more as a continuation of theme of HW of not just defeating villains but also mending relations.

While killing Thordan and Nidhogg were integral to ending the Dragonsong War, convincing the citizens and noble houses of Ishgard that the thousand year war every level of society focused on was wrong and that change must come was another huge step and I think a similar sentiment would be carried in a hypothetical Garlemald campaign. Going into Garlemald means not just facing the military, but the civilians for the first time and so far we've only heard only some thoughts that they have toward the empire, such as truly believing that they are helping the "savages", they don't like the conquest but ending the eikon menace is truly a benevolent thing, and fear of speaking out against the empire in general. I think actually going through Garlean territory to stop whatever machinations Zenos and Fandaniel have planned will allow the Eorzean Alliance to actual make their case directly to the people and help stabilize the chaos the empire has been thrown in to.

I know there is some sentiment that Garlemald is too "obvious" of a next expansion and that there will be another curve ball like The First was for Shadowbringers, but now that we are in 5.3 I think of Shadowbringers as less of curveball and more as the long thought of "Ascian expansion" when all is said and done. For the immediate threat of Ascian machinations, the end of the Unsundered has pretty much tied up all the original plans they had for the rejoinings in restoring the world that was. With Fandaniel gleefully acknowledging their absence and freedom to do whatever he feels like, while there are still ascians around, I feel like the "Ascian" part of the "Ascian/Garlemald" storyline has concluded.

As for Sharlayan, I strongly suspect whatever caused the sound that ended the world of the Ancients will be the next "story arc" as the Ascian/Garlemald menace was for ARR (and before) to 6.0 and I think Sharlayan will probably have a role to play in discovering what that is all about. For all their reputation of collecting knowledge, they might have the greatest repository of information about the world of the Ancients since Amourot itself and they have seem to keep Ascian interference out of their society if Emmeroloth is any example. I wonder how interacting with them will turn out if they are truly hellbent on keeping all their secrets to themselves.

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Originally Posted by Hank_Hotspur

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I just worry if the empire is downed in the same patch expansion as Zodiark, we will create a power vacuum that will make the next narrative arc too slow to start.