Ask Questions to Main Scenario Writer Banri Oda

The DRG job NPC Estinien was really important during the MSQ in Heavensward (due to obvious reasons) and it made DRG players resonate a bit more with the plot. When Stormblood came out some of us thought that the MNK job NPC Widargelt would be playing a significant role as well, however it never really came to be. Same thing happened with the NIN job NPC Oboro. Were there any plans to have them more involved at one point? Or are there any plans to do something smilar with other jobs in the future?

Some people have found some links between beast tribes and real world sources, like with the Vanu Vanu dances being similar to certain Maori ones, the Ananta having the Hindu godess Lakshmi as their primal, or the Ixal following naming convenvtions similar to Aztec/Nahuatl ones. Are there any other real life sources that may have inspired other beast tribes? And if so, which ones?

Can a Fattest Cat be worked into the game as an S-Rank?

Were the Qiqirn in Gyr Abania originally meant to have a larger role than they ultimately ended up playing? Do they have a primal?

Please explain this help text on the Wind-Up Cid:

Quote:

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When asked, if he had a granddaughter, what would he like to see her named, the Ironworks founder replied, “Gertrude.”

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Is there any lore significance to this? Is the name 'Gertrude' significant to Cid in some way? Was Gertrude the name of his childhood nursemaid whom he briefly mentioned in the Ivalice storyline? And why 'granddaughter' and not just 'daughter?'

… Or is the whole thing simply Koji Fox referencing an obscure meme?

Do the 'rungs' on the voidal hierarchy of twelve indicate the social standing they originally had back when their world was the Thirteenth?

For example, would a peasant become a low-tier voidsent like an Imp or a Bomb, while rulers and royalty become upper-rung beings like the Cloud of Darkness and 'Queen' Scathach?

Can Garlean Purebloods take up classes/jobs which rely on abilities which release aether in short bursts rather than being woven into magic?

The last seconds of the Rak'tika Greatwood preview video showed a settlement that greatly resembles Eruyt Village from Final Fantasy XII. Is this a Viera settlement? (And will there be any Viera NPCs that wear pants?)

Is there a list of where all the Sun Seeker Miqo'te tribes are located, and what the status of the tribe is? (Similar to the list of Xaela tribes from the first lorebook.)

Is there a complete "detailed world map" planned out of all the individual area maps and how they physically fit together?

(I know there are the area maps in-game, but they are more stylised and not to scale.)

If you look east from the beach at Costa Del Sol, you can see Ul'dah on the horizon.

But on the world map, Mor Dhona is east of Vylbrand, and Ul'dah should be further south.

Which is correct?

Is Cape Westwind supposed to be the peninsula (west of the 'Thanalan' label and southwest of 'Mor Dhona') that is cut off from Thanalan by the large inlet? Or is it on the south side of the inlet?

The world map shows that the One River flows through the Azim Steppe.

Is this supposed to be the deep ravine along the eastern edge of the playable zone?

(and now, moving from map questions to Ishgard lore...)

Are we going to get more information on House Dzemael in future? They seem very under-represented compared to the other high houses.

We hear about, but never see any flashbacks of, Chlodebaimt de Haillenarte.

I understand it's possible to find his ghost in the Palace of the Dead, but haven't been able to get any screenshots of him, so I don't know if he appears as a unique character or a generic knight.

Does he have a proper character design, and are you able to show it please?

Is Tedalgrinche from the MCH questline supposed to be part of the Dzemael family?

I assumed he is, but it's not actually stated.

Does Zodiark currently grant all or some of the Overlords the Blessing of Darkness? If only some, which and what limits him to grant this gift more widely?

How do Hydaelyn's "chosen" actually receive their Crystal of Light?

Are we going to see Unukalhai become part of the story again?

He became a member of the Scions at the end of the Warring Triad storyline, and it seems like he should be important to the story now, but he's still alone in the other room and nobody talks to him.

How close do Ascians need to be to be able to form an Ascian Prime type union?

Must they be close in mindset, goals, and emotion? Or could Ascians more hostile to each other, like Lahabrea and Nabriales, do it?

Further to the above, could just one Ascian Overlord feasibly undergo a transformation to a form like the Ascian Prime, and if so, how would they achieve it?

What is the lore behind the White Magic spell, Raise? The reason I ask is (aside from plot points and plot progression) is why would a White Mage Warrior of Light let a character die? For example, couldn't a WHM WoL heal/raise a character that's dying in a cutscene?

Hydaelyn's continents are generally based on real-world continents - eg. Eorzea=Europe, Othard=Asia, New World=Americas. (I assume Ilsabard is a Europe/western-Asia mix, but perhaps I'm wrong about that.)

Is Meracydia based on a specific continent as well? Is it meant to be equivalent to Africa, Australia, a combination of the two, or something else entirely?

How and when did the Raen become a diaspora?

If the Salve-Maker job is to be introduced in a future patch or expansion, where in Hydaelyn would it originate from?

During the war of the Magi, what were the population breakdowns of Amdapor, Mhach, and Nym respectively? For example were they majority midlander hyur, duskwight elezen, seeker of the sun miqo'te, plainsfolk lalafell, hellsguard roegadyn, etc? It can be easy to just assume the majority is some variation of hyur but that isn't always the case.

Did you design the lore of Viera before or after you had a basic concept of what they look like?

Who is your favorite npc and why?

Could you elaborate please on how great the power differential between a Paragon of the Source and those hailing from the other shards is (Gaius suggests it is significant), and to what extent the restored Blessing of Light played a critical role in withstanding Lahabrea’s final fight?

With all the different varieties of dragons there are, it's easy to assume that there's many different subspecies that evolved to adapt to various environments; for example, the "coeurl dragon" Imdugud in Final Coil T1 who has a brood of near identical children.

However, we also see so many examples of sibling dragons taking on vastly different physiques: Hraesvelgr's children Vidofnir & Vedrfolnir, Ohl Deeh the dragonet & his brother Whei Ahf from the Moogle Beast Tribe story, and even the first brood themselves all have unique appearances. Is there a particular reason for these differences to occur?

Though certainly not on scale with the first brood, do the eyes of common dragons possess similar aetherial power? Would a human, in theory, be able to wield a dragon's eye as an enhanced aether conduit and were they to consume one, would they also be capable of transforming with the consumption of dragon blood?

Chakha Zoh in the Azim Steppe is a monument dedicated to a warrior who slew a dragon, but the only dragons we've seen in Othard (outside of the SB DRG quests, who was a migrant Dravanian) were only in depictions of myths and legends and not actual dragons. Is it possible there's actually an active dragon population nearby that we haven't seen, was this particular dragon a migrant, or is it possible it was a different creature altogether?

A very silly question, but... wouldn't those gators in Coerthas Central Highlands make for excellent sources of fiber and leather for crafters, or is there a reason why they're a yet-untapped resource? /makeyougohmmm

In page 100 of Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume 2, there are a number of books recommended by Seigetsu the Enlightened. These books include Edmont's memoirs of Heavensward, and The White Yonder, a book that Honoroit wrote about his adventures in the Sea of Clouds, along with several books on various Othardian cultures. Will we ever get the chance to read any of these of these books in-game? Perhaps this calls for another foray into the Great Gubal Library?

(Or possibly, a real life publication?)

Is the Monster Hunter event canon? Do Rathalos and our Palico friend fit into the lore?

(This sort of wraps around Alphinaud)
Since Alphinaud can summon Moonstone and Obsidian Carbuncles, will we ever see our own summoners learn a 4th summon? Will we ever have Egi glamours for these two Carbuncles also? Last but not least since our other Scion friends are in the Mogstore, will we EVER see Alphinaud and/or Alisaie's glamour in the Mogstation Store?

I’d appreciate more lore on the origins, history and culture of the Au ra, as well as that of the other races – will more be added in a future lore encyclopedia?

In the Sea Wolf dictionary provided to the players, the list doesn't include the ancient Roegadyn words for 'rock,' 'stone,' or 'boulder.' This seems odd thing, considering there are words for:
-Specific kinds of rocks (Slate, marble, chalk)
-Things that are or might be made from stone (Mountain, castle, village)
-Various words that are just strange to include (Duck, sausage, goblin, wax)

Why is this?

Father Iliud lost his son and daughter-in-law in the Seventh Umbral Calamity, finding and taking in an amnesiac Cid not long after. It was at that point that Cid began going by the name 'Marques.' Obviously from an out-of-game perspective, this alias was a reference to Cid del norte Marquez from Final Fantasy VI, but what about the in-game perspective? Was 'Marques' the name of Iliud's son?

Was Thancred was awake and aware the whole time Lahabrea was possessing him or not?
If he was, I imagine he'd have a lot of info about Ascians that would be very useful to know at this point, but if he wasn't, he's probably a lot happier.