Ask English Localization Lead Kate Cwynar Lore & Localization Questions

Wll there ever be an explanation as to what the pixies really are, and why and how they keep turning into unintelligent beavers? (They're clearly not the souls of children, as a pixie shows up in Elpis and turns into a beaver later, so they're presumedly an Ancient creation, but the reasearchers there didn't even seem to know what they were or where they came from).

And on a similar note, what was up with the infamous shoebill which followed us around the First in Shadowbringers? I know it was long theorized that it was either Emet-Selch's familiar, or an avatar of him (given weight by the shoebill minion that drops in Amaurot), but it also again shows up in Elpis under test, and again no one knows who created it or why. So this mystery is another thing I'm dying to uncover the truth of! :D

Are there any plans to update the ARR Tribe Quest NPCs' dialogue to account for the shift in the status quo when it comes to their people? I know it's a small thing but I really want to see what Novv thinks about the Sahagin having better relations with Limsa...

Thank you for the opportunity.

So, the EN localization team is known for their "improvisation", for example: firmament item's description and sidequest/FATE name, which is good and all. However, some of us noticed that lately (to be more specific since ShB, though I do know about the case of EN middgarsomr being different than his JP counterpart) this "improvisation" has reach into the MSQ as well. It's not so obvious that it create different story, but some contexts have been either missing, added, or changed entirely. This resulted in confusion among us because some dialogue meaning and nuances are now different compared to JP, FR, and DE. Just a small example is Tempest's sidequest "Community Cohesion". The sidequest feature 2 NPC, namely <Patronising Amaurotine> and <Gentle Amaurotine>. Turns out in other localization, <Patronising Amaurotine> isn't their name, but actually it's (the equivalent of) <Charitable Amaurotine> (or "likes to help"). And they have additional line "The eyes of the collective are ever watching and weighing your worth" which, as far as I know, is absent in FR localization.

To summarize, I am wondering if the EN team will address this issue with us players or if they will do something about it for future contents?

Hi Kate, since we've gained access to Old Sharlayan within Endwalker, will we ever get any additional Roegadyn lore due to the close proximity of both Aerslaent and Nagyn/Origin?

Any lore for both Seawolves and, frankly the Hellsguard / Lohengarde in particular would be fantastic, particularly about the traditional culture within their homeland!

Due to the flavour text within select items like the Puk Wings noting that they are carried as a talisman and/or good-luck charm by Dunesfolk girls, and the same for Rat Tails for Dunesfolk boys, is there any information to go with as to the how and why they became seen as good-luck charms?

If not, are there any other such charms for the other races?

Thanks for the opportunity again, Kate!

The circumstances with Elidibus are still otherwise up for interpretation as of Patch 6.4, but I was hoping to ask: despite Elidibus's condition, will there be any more elaborations upon his unique relationship with his pupil, Unukalhai? Their bond as an unsundered mentor and sundered apprentice has always been so fascinating, and it would be neat to see more of it touched upon!

Iroha's presumably been running around Eorzea ever since the last Final Fantasy XI event. Will we ever see her in content again, be it a sequel event or otherwise? Maybe sometimes she could be seen chilling around in zones like Alpha and Omega do?

During Shadowbringers, the large Sin Eater that we see as the first boss in Holminster Switch (as well as the xpac trailer movie) had a lot of people talking, since we had seen a similar construct in Amdapor - there was mention that it's a "higher being" and perhaps the Amdapori got some inspiration... but how would they have seen what is essentially a celestial being when what they were doing was creating constructs and then animating them with the gemstones? Is this something that may be addressed in the future, or can a crumb of Amdapor lore be given while I'm at Fanfest? :)

While the game is 10 years old now (happy almost birthday, ARR!), the Ever-Present Time Bubble(TM) is still somewhere between "the Dalamud Calamity was still about 5 years ago" and "well, some time HAS to have passed so maybe about a year? Two?" and some areas are still inaccessible, such as the West Shroud and Eastern Coerthas Highlands (I won't count the Coerthas Lowlands... for now :) ) - will we be seeing them sometime? I know from some passing dialogue that West Shroud was damaged heavily during the Calamity, same as Eastern Coerthas, but we've got PvP maps (still used for Shatter and now unused from the Feast) that take place in these areas. Are they still heavily damaged, and that's still keeping us out? Why have PvP maps in these areas if we wouldn't normally be visiting there?

During the Myths of the Realm, after Euphrosyne, we learn a little about the Marks of the Twelve, and that they're to keep the secrets of the Twelve, but they're used for worship purposes now. Most people thought they were dropped near where their points of worship would be largest way back when, and I myself was under the impression that the Amdapori perhaps worshipped Althyk because of where the stone is situated now (it was still in the Shroud in 1.0, in the very northern part of E Shroud)... but then the Lore book mentioned they worshipped Nophica. Well... okay! Sure! ...but then, when in Euphrosyne, upon going to meet Althyk in battle, the background changes into... Amdapori buildings?! So... who did they truly worship? Was it a mix of both with one being more worshipped than the other, or was it really Althyk and the historians of the Encyclopedia Eorzea have been wrong? :D (not me looking for more Amdapor crumbs, couldn't be me...)

How high into the air can Estinien jump? Is there a maximum height to a dragoon's jump, or is it simply "as high as needed"?

Were the Elementals of the Twelveswood a creation of the Ancients? Or did they come into being after The Sundering?

Two more Questions :)
Garlean Royal Family
In the lodestone story A Question of Death, we finally learn the names of the rest of the major players in the Royal family (Lucius (called it!), Hypatia, Carosa(!), and Arrecnina.) What was the name of Solus’ wife? Is there any chance that we will learn more about the royal family, or better yet, get to see pictures of them? Maybe a family tree in the next Encyclopaedia Eorzea? Any chance of seeing the picture in the newspaper clipping Jullus took in the story? I’m still sad we never got to see Nerva properly, even in a flashback or Echo :(



Ultima the High Seraph
Any chance of learning more about the world or dimension Ultima came from? It was said in the Pandaemonium quests that her influence could be felt through the ages and that Hydaelyn sealed her once. Is that true, or did Venat seal her in the World Unsundered? We know the name of the spell is derrived from her, but is there any connnection between her and Altima of the Convocation?

My question is with characters like Fordola, Hilda, Ryne, Gaia etc will we see more of them in the future or are they're stories over ?.... it seem's like so much can still be explained.

In the cutscenes near the end of Endwalker when Venat sundered Ethyris I was thinking we would get a cutscene on par to The Flames of Truth cinematic from ARR my question is was that ever a idea or was that never thought of and could it be something to think of going forward ?

Thank you for all the work you and the team do to bring this world to life!


My question... what happens to a voidsent's soul when it dies on the Source? Is it Rejoined or does it join the aetherial sea on its own?

Please give explain the origin of certain artifacts such as Tupsimati, Enigma Codex, and the "horns" that Travanchet in 1.0 was after? These are all vastly powerful artifacts in the world of FFXIV that are given very little explanation. Are they of Ancient design from the unsundered world?

Aether comes in 6 aspects (earth, fire, wind, water, ice, and lightning) and 2 polarities (light/umbral, dark/astral). Can you touch on what types *Dynamis* can come in? I think these are alluded to in Endwalker MSQ with the colors of the Elpis flower the Warrior of Light carries. Is it similar to "elemental aspect" e.g: Joy (yellow), Anger (red), Sadness (blue), Despair (black), Hope (white)?

Did the Ancients evolve their capability of Creation Magic over time or was it inherent to their being from the start? In other words was there a point in their long history where they were seemingly ordinary mortals who had to do things manually like Eorzeans?

If other alien species visited Etheirys, would they notice any spatial or dimensional related to it being a sundered world? It seems like Midgardsormr and Omega didn't notice the inhabitants having fractured souls or 14 reflection worlds around it?

Magical Foci and Casting

Conjurer and White Magic requires "A wand or cane made from unworked wood", Thaumaturgy and Black Mage requires a "scepter or staff, within which is housed a medium—a natural stone imbued with magical properties". How is it then that Ystola and Graha'Tia can cast magic from both schools using only one type of staff? How do some characters cast magic without any apparent weapon -- can high level mages simply forgo their foci and cast with their hands?

Unaspected Magic

From an in-lore standpoint, how exactly do spells like "Holy", "Foul", "Communio", and "Ultima" differ? For example Holy appears light aspect but it's considered Unaspected, while Foul and Communio appear "Dark" but they are also unaspected. How do these unaspected spells differ from Ultima? Is it simply just a different of the source of their aether or just different magnitudes of magical non-elemental explosions?

Years ago, Koji Fox explained in a prior Lore Q&A that Ramuh has knowledge of Hydaelyn and Zodiark and the true state of the world that is beyond the ken of the Sylphs, and that we would soon learn why. This was never followed-up on and Ramuh knowing these things is never addressed.

A mysterious primal halted the Empire's advance after Ala Mhigo?

Encyclopedia Eorzea states that after Garleans took Ala Mhigo, they began to advance deeper into Eorzea but were halted by the unanticipated appearance of a primal. Koji Fox told us in 2018 that he cannot reveal the name of this primal but it's one we have not yet encountered. Will we ever learn what Primal this is and who summoned it?

Gaius's two Ascian masks

Yoshi P in an interview revealed that Gaius is wearing the masks of Deudalaphon and Altima but the Warrior of Light never asks Gaius anything about this. We are dying to know how this encounter happened (aren't Ascians generally invisible to mortals as Elidibus told us in 2.1??). Will we ever follow-up on these 2 Ascians?

Garleans and Gougians
So we have not seen any Garleans on The First and it's alluded to that Garleans may have descended from Gougians, who were a tech-savy nation in Ivalice. How did Gougians become Garleans and aquire their "third eye"? Are Garleans technically an Ilsebardian tribe of Hyur or are they genetically distinct?

Ascian Titles in Japanese
The Japanese version of FFXIV gives titles to Ascians based on FFXII titles. For example "Lahabrea, The Abyssal Celebrant" and "Nabriales, the Majestic". These are alluded to in the Hades EX fight with some of his mechanics "Again, The Majestic", "Again, The Abyssal Celebrant". How did these titles come about in-universe though?

Echo and Blessing of Light
For years we thought it was the Echo that allows us to resist Tempering, but Venat in Elpis remarks it is her Traveler's Ward (Blessing of Light) that prevents aetheric corruption. Given that other echo users can resist Primal Tempering as well as us, please explain this discrepancy?

The Ancients and their Echo

Since Echo was a power that was ubiquitous amongst all the Ancients, do they all possess the ability to voluntarily peer inside eachother's pasts like how the WoL can (involuntarily)?

Ancient Language

When we first encounter Lahabrea in Toto-Rak, he speaks to us in a distinctly strange language before he deigns to speak in a tongue we can understand. Ancients in Amaurot, The Watcher and Hythlodaeus on the Moon also speak in a distinct tongue, characterized by a black dialogue box+red text font. However, everyone in Elpis speaks to us normally with white text boxes. What gives?

Was it always the plan to have Fandaniel take Asahi's body? If not, were there other options proposed?

Due to being descended from Thordan and his Knights, all Ishgardians are susceptible to the potential of draconic transformation by drinking dragon blood. Is there any way to reverse this transformation, either temporarily (i.e. change between forms) or permanently?

As a side question, does the type of dragon blood affect the transformation (i.e. would it be different to drink Wyvernblood versus, say, Vidofnir's blood, or would there be differences between people who drank from different Firstbrood lines - i.e. a difference in Niddhogg's blood versus Hraesvelgar's versus Vrtra's?

In Endwalker, the Summoner gets an upgrade to their summons allowing them to call upon Gem Summons - reshaping their Egi into full-sized versions, reminiscent of the primal that they are based upon. What is the idea behind this expansion - is this based on a certain scene in Endwalker, or is there another factor that led to the Egis being able to grow in size so much?

The Firebird Trance is in large part due to the connection between Bahamut and Phoenix from the Seventh Calamity and its aftermath. However, could a summoner create more than one trance beyond such connection - that is, could a summoner already trained in Dreadwyrm Trance also attune to, say, Alexander, or another large primal, and use that connection to empower themselves in a different way?

Thanks to the Fractal Continuum dungeons, we've learned that the Ixali were genetically engineered in Azys Lla. However, the Vanu Vanu have some recollection (very fearful in nature) of that place as well, and were keeping a key to bypass its barrier, indicating some form of history with it that makes it terrifying to them.

What was the Vanu's connection to Azys Lla? Were the Vanu Vanu taken to Azys Lla and used as experiments that created the Ixali? Were they created from the same program? Or is there something else going on.

Is there any explanation for languages from the Source, the First, and the Void being mutually intelligible, despite the myriad different languages that co-exist (at least on the Source) and evidence of those languages having evolved over 12,000 years?

is there an explanation on why the golems of amdapor look like the sin eaters of the first?

How did Zenos turn Zero (A voidsent) into a Voidier looking (tm) Voidsent (With or without Fandaniel’s help) and why?
Why did Zenos choose to become a Reaper and why did he choose Zero as his pact instead of an archfiend, or Golbez?

Why do fish desynth into finesand? Where did all the sashimi go?

And Lastly , Zenos (Huge Surprise)
This one is going to be a long set up:

And finally, Last February when asked about the likelihood of Zenos’ return, we were told three things (in the Liveletter and Famitsu)
1. He stopped breathing and his heart stopped breathing, right?
2. The laws of Ultima Thule are different which would effect his return even if he survived
3. Watch the scene again, go back and see how you feel

Since then we’ve learned (Through MSQ, Omicron quests, etc.) the following
1. Cutting his head almost clear off didn’t stop him last time
2. The laws of Ultima Thule seem geared towards creating new life, specifically the life captured in the very egg/star that Zenos is captured in (Life that can travel to the Source, as was confirmed in the Omicron quest (At least their inorganic items can) )
3. As of 6.4 the WoL, unbid by any other character, seemed to have a scene where they did exactly that.

To that end, the question becomes Based on the above, what precedent set by in game established lore/rules would imply that Zenos is permanently dead? And even if so, is this the last we’ll see of him in the story? (Hades died in ShB and was in a third of EW)