The Masked Mage

Good stuff.

SE will probably rewrite it all! Thanks guys, you uncovered the mystery of it al,lol! (joking)

It's really a Garlean cover-up and everything you've learned through the cut-scenes are misleading. ;)

The truth can be far greater that fiction because I see ARR as true allegory of the RL investigations of Atlantis, ancient civilizations and the Nephilim. It's abstract to current life.
The elite[Garleans] want power to control the world but I think they are being used by a superior race and it's seen through all of the XiV BETA.

I believe the mask-mage is not just the summoner of Bahamut but also a cult leader who gained immortality through extreme compromise. Primals are false gods but on essence of the Aeyther like some may say. I haven't played in a while so let me go back and reference this... it could be much deeper that what's already revealed.

My conclusion:
This story can have no real surprises for me and it would need more twist and expansions to explain it all to be on par with RL human history/ lore.
The corruption of the world and the efforts to claim this world for their own through manipulation and deceit.
Nothing now in real life seems to be far fetch from fantasy anymore when everything we know now was used 3000 years ago already.
Though the plot of the main scenarios are interesting, it could much more grand if it was to compare fantasy and reality.

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Originally Posted by Mtoto_Wamoto

Decided to copy/paste this from another thread I replied in as well as additional bits that may help.

With the confirmation that the Ascians are indeed the Paragons, this opens up a long since questionable door that may be the sole connecting factor to basically figure out the motives, origins, and the nature of the Ascians, the Primals, and the fate of Eorzea.

Before I get into the meat of things, let me regale you lot with things we already know to be true of the Ascian, the Paragon, and the Primals.

The beastmen fear the Ascians. They fear them so much, they are willing to halt their quarrel with one another when one of them appears in the 1.0 Main Quest line and the Sylphs are asked to shroud the group in protective magic to hide them from the creature.

The Paragons are the ones who taught the beastmen how to summon the Primals. The current Primals didn't appear until recently, post Tragedy of Silver Tear Falls when the Agrius and Midgardsormr crashed into the lake in Mor Dhona, creating a huge imbalance of aether throughout the realm and freeing the lesser primals. In fact, the lesser Primals didn't assume corporal form until about 1564 when Ifrit and other Primals began to appear.

The Ascian we see in ARR remarks something to the extent of "To think that I would live to see Bahamut once again". We know Bahamut was sealed away sometime in the 4th Umbral Era, during the fall of the Great Allagan Empire. Dalamud is a construct of Allagan technology and magic. For the Ascian to have last seen Bahamut, he would need to be several thousand years old.

The 6th Umbral Era was brought about by the rise of immortal mages who made a pact with the demon lords of the seven hells for immortality in exchange for full dominion over the realm and sacrificing (I believe it was, I'll have to find the line of text) 2 million souls. The Archons, men and women who are believed to be reincarnates of the Twelve themselves, rose to fight against them. It can be speculated that these mages are the Ascians.

"Almxio: Paragons? The Paragons are not of the feathered ones, nor are they of the scaled ones, or even these ones. It was the Paragons who taught all tribal ones the means of summoning the primals from the aether."

"Zoxio: Legends say the Paragons arrive in times of strife to lead those ones in darkness to the light of the primal ones. These ones have heard rumors that the Paragons have already called upon the groves of the feathered ones and scaled ones."

"Almxio: The tribal ones will listen to the Paragons."

"Zoxio: If these ones can speak with the Paragons, perhaps a pact can be forged. Perhaps the Paragons will help convince the tribal ones of their folly."

http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Foreve...ot_Details

We see the Ascians in two different forms in 1.0 and they are directly given two different titles - The Shadoweaters and the Ascian.

Ascian means someone or something that is without a shadow.

Paragon means someone or something that is a model of excellence, a perfect example of a particular quality.

Taking that further and to a literary stance, a shadow can only appear where there is light. To be shadowless means that there is an absence of light and that you stand in the dark. A dark place...hmm hmm. Light, dark...good, evil. Pretty classic Final Fantasy tropes if you ask me. Perhaps the Ascians present themselves to the beastmen tribes as Paragons because they believe they are the example that they should follow. The spoken races, of which we fall under, can be said to walk in the light. Hell, we are the Warriors of Light after all. Seems to me the Paragons/Ascians have simply been fueling the fires between the various groups of man and beast to set the stage for what they are planning.

This brings up the interesting point on Primals and exactly what they are. We know that Primals aren't destroyed when they are defeated. They simply return from whence they came. There are two sources that NPCs say they come from, and in some instances, they use these two places together - the Aether and the Void, or the aetherial void in some cases. Again, we stumble across a situation where words are used interchangeably like the Ascian/Paragon situation. We also know Primals require aether to sustain their form in our plain of existence and that the land itself is slowly being drained of aether.

Louisoix: Alas, they paid no heed to the consequences of its use. You see, in order to remain in our plane of existence, a primal must needs devour prodigious amounts of aether─the energy bound in crystals and at large throughout all creation.

Louisoix: Consequently, the land is slowly but surely being drained of its aether, and the day fast approaches when the fount will run dry. Should that happen, what then? Why, all life in Eorzea will end. Even as we speak, the land bleeds, with every passing moment another ilm closer to death. And die it surely will─unless we purge it of its blight. Aye, I speak of the primals.

Louisoix: It is to bring about their downfall that I have journeyed to Eorzea. Ifrit, fell primal of the Amalj'aa, shall be the first. I should welcome your help in this.

http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/It_Kil...ot_Details

In ARR we discover a couple things in the opening story line. We find out that the planet's "spirit" itself is manifested in the form of the Mother Crystal and is the source of all aether on Hydaelyn and that we are Warriors of Light if not the second coming of the Warriors of Light. We discover, within the first five minutes of the game's opening, that the Ascians have quarrel with the Mother Crystal and seek to destroy it. We also discover that the Ascian duo is present during the battle of Carteneu and are quite pleased with the happenings, going so far to say that things are going according to plan. Their plan. Finally, we learn that the story line makes it seem that we are the chosen ones to stand against the Ascians as they send creatures to attack us because they feel we are meddling in their plans. Bloody hells, they treat us like the only threat to their plans.

My theory is that the Ascians were once Allagan mages who made a blood pact with the ruling creatures of the void in order to become immortal and gain power. In exchange for their power and immortality, the Ascians were bound to completing their blood pact by destroying the mother crystal, in effect creating a huge imbalance in the aether of Eorzea, possibly expanding the rift between the Void and our own realm and killing off several thousand, if not millions, of people in the process by returning the world to nothing (A common Final Fantasy bad guy theme). The Ascians were likely the ones to have summoned the Elder Primals in the first place which brought about the 4th Umbral Era and ended the 3rd Astral Era. In a last ditch effort to save the realm from destruction, heroes (possibly the Archons) sealed away Bahamut inside Dalamud and casted him into the heavens. They may have also imprisoned other Elder Primals as well (such as Odin).

Having failed that time, the Ascians may have tried another catastrophe in the 4th Astral Era to bring in the 5th Umbral Era. Not much is known here aside from the tidbit that darkness descended onto the hears of man, but I speculate the Ascians managed to bring about war between the various nations that rose up after the fall of the Allagan Empire (Nym, Gelmorra, etc.) The Twelve may have intervened and stopped them somehow (again, possibly Archons)

The 6th Umbral Era was known for the Great Deluge brought about by the Twelve to purge the lands because of the dark magic that was consuming the realm by a group of "dark mages". The Grand Companies rose and the Archons came back. They succeeded in driving back the Ascians and the 6th Astral Era came out, this was about 1572 years ago prior to the start of 1.0...

It was in the 6th Astral Era that the Ascians, now calling themselves the Paragons, went around and taught the beastmen tribes how to summon the Primals and use crystals to feed them energy. This created a huge schism in the balance of aether in the realm, which was likely the Ascians goal in the first place.

The 7th Umbral Era was brought about by the rise of the lesser primals (this is a term I use, not a term used ingame) and the fall of Dalamud along with the return of Bahamut. I suspect that Nael van Darnus (who was of Allagan descent) was corrupted by the Ascians to get the events which would bring back Bahamut. Because of the aetherial imbalance, the world was thrown into chaos. The archons (the Circle of Knowing) attempted to do what they could to save the realm while the powers of Twelve once again intervened before Bahamut could actually destroy the realm for good. To be honest, I think that the Twelve is simply a thing that the five races created to explain the divine powers of the Mother Crystal, so when Louisoix 'called upon the Twelve' he was simply using the power of the Mother Crystal...which if I recall, calling upon the Twelve uses a great amount of aether...and aether is the lifeblood of the mother crystal...
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Anyways, now that the Mother Crystal is weaker and vulnerable, the Ascians might be approaching what is their endgame and plan to destroy the mother crystal once and for all to fufill their several millenniums old blood pact.

This is all speculation of course, but I think its pretty solid based off what we know...

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Pretty good theory and a nice job of putting things together.

However a little nitpicking: Bahamut was sealed away in the Third Astral Era, which may or may not have brought about the destruction of the Allagans. Not info history yet.
As for the Sixth Umbral Era, SE has told us it was caused by White Mages abusing their power. Which ultimately made the art fade away until it was revived by the Padjal and shared with the Adventurers.

Also I think it would be a huge cop out by SE to show us Ascians/Paragons corrupting Nael van Darnus into bringing down Dalamud and ultimately freeing Bahamut. Nael van Darnus was obsessed with his own legacy and the destruction of Eorzea with the Meteor Project. Sure he has Allagan ancestry but I think this is more so associated with the knowledge of the Lunar Transmitter and Dalamud itself and nothing in the way of Ascians and Bahamut. However at the end, as Dalamud grew closer, Bahamut may have been able to gain control or corrupt Nael van Darnus, something very similar to Nidhogg and Estinein.

As for the Ascians/Paragons and Bahamut during the Allagan reign, they may have indeed been the ones who summoned or help summon Bahamut. After all they helped the Beastmen summon lesser Primals and are capable of summoning creatures from the Void. So possibly through an Elezen (Allagans were probably Elezen) with Eorzean magic they were able to summon Bahamut. After all in-fighting is always an issue when it comes to civilizations with vast power, so it's definitely reasonable for someone to seek power and the Paragons gave it to him.

The Allagans may also have helped or been helped by the Archons. The sealing of Bahamut was very similar to the technology used to seal Bahamut during the Allagan reign, so this knowledge could have easily been passed down to each Allseer (Archon leader title) incase it happened again. And in Louisoix's case it did indeed. We have no art or idea what Sharlayan looks like except that it is an island so it could be a very old city that was built during Allagan times and given to the Archons. Considering SE has given us more history with the Allagans than other civilizations (even though they're probably the greatest Eorzean civilization) it may indeed be that they're leading us to this similarity. Archons vs Ascians, the names may be familiar for a reason. If there are 12 Ascians, it would be even more so.

The Allagan Empire may have existed well after Bahamut was sealed. The Allagan Empire was able to exist for at least 1000 years during the Third Astral Era and we don't know if Bahamut was sealed earlier in the reign or at the end. If it was at the end, then indeed Bahamut may have been what caused the Allagan's destruction. If not, then the Allagan Empire reign was able to withstand BECAUSE of Bahamut's sealing and it allowed them to be very prosperous.

Over all, I'm glad more and more people are getting into the storyline.

Can I just drop in here to say that this line;

"To think that I would live to see Bahamut once again"

can be interpreted another way. The masked mage could quite easily have studied legends or heard stories of the power of Bahamut, and he could simply be commenting that he is lucky/fortunate to live to see confirmation of those stories. He (or she) doesn't necessarily have to have been there in the past.

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Originally Posted by NoloeTazier

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However a little nitpicking: Bahamut was sealed away in the Third Astral Era, which may or may not have brought about the destruction of the Allagans. Not info history yet.

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The Allagan Empire may have existed well after Bahamut was sealed. The Allagan Empire was able to exist for at least 1000 years during the Third Astral Era and we don't know if Bahamut was sealed earlier in the reign or at the end. If it was at the end, then indeed Bahamut may have been what caused the Allagan's destruction. If not, then the Allagan Empire reign was able to withstand BECAUSE of Bahamut's sealing and it allowed them to be very prosperous.

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I feel this may be incorrect. From what I could gather, we don't know exactly when Bahamut was sealed away. We only know that he was sealed away by the ancient Allag. If there is solid confirmation that can be provided, please point me towards it as I can't seem to find anything confirming that.

As a point of reference, if the release of Bahamut from Dalamud was the tipping point that threw us into the Seventh Umbral Era, wouldn't you think his first appearance was enough to throw the realm into an Umbral Era as well? That being said, we know that the Allagans prospered and flourished throughout the Third Astral Era. If Bahamut were to appear, the realm would have likely fell into an Umbral Era, bringing about the Fourth Umbral Era which we know would be around the time the Allagan Empire fell. Of course, until we can get confirmation as to when, this is all subjective. However, it doesn't make sense to me to have a Elder Primal flying around the skies wrecking havoc on the realm forcing the Allagans to seal him away and then the people still walking around like it was another day in an Astral Era.

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Originally Posted by NoloeTazier

As for the Sixth Umbral Era, SE has told us it was caused by White Mages abusing their power. Which ultimately made the art fade away until it was revived by the Padjal and shared with the Adventurers.

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There are actually several sources which tell us how the 5th Astral Era ended and how the 6th Umbral Era came to rise.

In the quest, Of Archons and Muses, Tyago has this to say.

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Tyago Moui: According to the loremasters' books, there was an age of shadow and calamity some fifteen hundred-odd years ago, when a great flood drowned the world─the sixth Umbral Era, they called it. Believers say it was the twelve Archons what came to fight the darkness then.

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Tyago Moui: They say Ahldbhar was the mightiest of the twelve Archons. Rhalgr the Destroyer himself, taken form in Roegadyn flesh─a bloody mountain of a man, and a fearsome warrior, besides. Not unlike our friend at the Coliseum, eh?

Tyago Moui: You must've seen renderings of Rhalgr at some point─in paint or stone. Looks like a bag of angry muscles in a mage's robes, right? Aye, well, those are done in the likeness of Archon Ahldbhar.

Tyago Moui: Ahldbhar fought relentlessly against a clan of wicked sorcerers that sought only to wreak havoc on the world through their dark powers. But then, something happened... Something that threw Ahldbhar into deep despair. And in the end, he turned and took up with the enemy, though none can say as to why.

Tyago Moui: What came of him after his betrayal? Well, I confess I haven't heard the end of the tale myself. That bard's a wily bugger, see, and he only ever gets part way through before his throat dries out. Meaning I have to give him yet another bloody ale─free of charge, of course.

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The great flood she speaks of is known as the Great Deluge, but what caused the Great Deluge?

In the quest, The Price of Integrity, Walcher has this to say.

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Walcher: Perhaps you, too, have heard the legend of the Sixth Umbral Era, and how the great deluge that ushered in the dark age was in fact conjured forth by a band of immortal mages who forged a blood pact with the demon lords of the seven hells to deliver a thousand thousand souls in exchange for sole dominion over Eorzea.

Walcher: I believe that the false prophet Urianger is one of those mages, awoken from fifteen centuries of slumber to complete the fell pact left unfinished so long ago.

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Y'shtola has this to say further along in the quest line.

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Y'shtola: Good. Now, perhaps you would begin by telling me what it is that brought you here. Might it be that you have an interest in the Archon's prophecies? Curiosity is known to have killed the coeurl, yet it is the thirst for knowledge that drives Man to the truth. You have taken a great risk this day─but I would expect naught else from an adventurer such as yourself.

Y'shtola: Or could it be that you are merely afraid? Afraid of the surging darkness that nears our borders, even as we speak? You have no doubt heard the whisperings of the Sixth Umbral Era and the cabal of mages at its center.

Y'shtola: Yes, there are those who claim it was the mages and their unholy pact with the demon lords of the seven hells that triggered the cataclysm, but there are others who believe it was the mages who led the realm out of that dark age.

Y'shtola: Who now can say which is true? No man alive. Yet one thing is certain─the rise of a Seventh Umbral Era is inevitable.

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Thancred goes on to tell us a bit more in the quest, Career Opportunities.

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Thancred: Ne'er till land consumes sun can sea bear moons,Heavens spew crimson flame, hells seep black dooms.
Thancred: You seem shocked. I am a bard, I'll have you know, and not utterly devoid of talent. The verses of Mezaya should pose no significant problem.

Thancred: I confess, I am glad to have journeyed so far in search of my inspiration and muse. For the noble display you have shown me this day, I shall repay you with a kindness. I shall tell you of the prophet.

Thancred: More than a thousand years past, a great calamity was visited upon this world. Across the sky, a terrible blackness spread till no light could be seen, and then descended, seeping into the very hearts of men. Thus was he sorely afflicted, and his ways perverted. Chaos was in all places all at once, and myriad creation was destroyed.

Thancred: Avarice reigned supreme, and civilization was thrown into a lawless struggle for wealth and power─the mighty taking as they saw fit with complete disregard for nature and fellow man alike. Evil begat evil and ripened unchecked, taking on the sickly sweetness of rot, near to bursting and rank with the promise of decay.

Thancred: It was then that the Twelve, grieved by the corruption and sin that had gripped their creation, decided to purge the world of its evils with a cleansing deluge, proclaiming: “Behold the power of pure water!” And thus began the sixth of the Umbral Eras.

Thancred: There is a moral in this story for those wise enough to find it. You see, it was we mortals who brought the great flood upon ourselves and our world, having left the gods no recourse. And so if our faults ushered in an Umbral Era in the past, then our strengths can prevent the coming of another in the future.

Thancred: So what say you, <Name>? Will you pledge yourself to the side of good and fight to save the world? Know that you cannot rely blindly on others in things such as this. The road to victory must be found within yourself─as it must in all of us.

Thancred: Gods, speaking to you has given me the most sublime idea for a poem! You are my muse, <Name>! Truly, you are!

Thancred: But I shall take up no more of your time─nor you of mine. Until our paths cross again, be good and be well.

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Lastly, in the White Mage quest line, The Wheel of Disaster, Raya-O-Senna tells us this.

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Raya-O-Senna: I take from your silence that you are not. No matter, it shall be my pleasure to educate you. The Fifth Astral Era is said to have begun approximately three millennia ago.

Raya-O-Senna: The ice age that ushered in the Fifth Umbral Era made the land a barren and merciless place, and man was pushed to the limits of his resourcefulness in the struggle to survive. Yet survive he did, through the discovery of magic as we know it─an event which marked the dawning of the Fifth Astral Era.

Raya-O-Senna: At first, man was well pleased just to have the means to keep the cold at bay and compete with the other races. But man is nothing if not an ambitious beast. It was not long before he began to seek mightier magicks, hoping to win greater glory.

Raya-O-Senna: It was this desire that brought forth black magic, the arcane art of destruction, into the world. In order that this force of chaos be kept in check and balance preserved, at roughly the same point in history, white magic, the arcane art of succor, came into existence.

Raya-O-Senna: Emboldened by magic, man went on to reach the zenith of glory. But his hunger knew no bounds. Over time, even they who donned the white began perverting their powers for the sake of self-gain, and in this single-minded pursuit scrupled not to sully the sanctity of the Twelveswood.

Raya-O-Senna: In his pride and avarice, man brought down the wrath of the elementals upon himself.

Raya-O-Senna: A great deluge was sent to cleanse the land of his wicked presence, in the wake of which the forest rose to swallow up all that was not washed away. Thus did the Six Umbral Era begin...or so it is told.

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With that, here's my interpretation and what I believe brought about the Sixth Umbral Era.

In the Fifth Astral Era, a darkness began to spread across the realm, filling the hearts of men with darkness and corrupting them, causing them to pervert the powers they had gained. This corruption of man brought about chaos and destruction upon Eorzea, avarice reigning supreme and greed for power clouding the hearts of man. As the Twelve watched and grew sick of their creation, they sent upon man the great deluge, flooding the realm to purge it of its sins.

A cabal of immortal dark mages, said to have made a blood pact with the demon lords of the Seven Hells, soon rose to wreck havoc across the realm during this time of chaos in an attempt to deliver a million souls to their masters in exchange for full dominion of Eorzea.

The Archons and the Grand Companies rose to battle the threats that plagued the land, but through a course of events, Alhdbhar, the incarnation of Rhlagr, turned sides and joined the dark sorcerers.

The long and short of it is that I believe there was more to the Sixth Umbral Era than just the perversion of magic by man, though it most definitely played a role in the descent from the Fifth Astral Era.

Forgive me if anyone brought this up, but wasn't Urianger accused of being part of a circle of mages responsible for the 6th Umbral Era? If these Ascians are as old as they seem to be, maybe Urianger was mistaken for one of them?

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Originally Posted by Yrusama

Forgive me if anyone brought this up, but wasn't Urianger accused of being part of a circle of mages responsible for the 6th Umbral Era? If these Ascians are as old as they seem to be, maybe Urianger was mistaken for one of them?

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Mhm! He was in fact. He's also referred to by Nael van Darnus as a false prophet.

The possibility of him being mistaken for one of the dark sorcerers from the Sixth Umbral era, Ascian or not, is definitely there I think. Especially since stories can become twisted over time as they're passed down and no normal person from the last umbral era would still be alive.

Again I point to a line a text Y'sthola provided.

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Y'shtola: Yes, there are those who claim it was the mages and their unholy pact with the demon lords of the seven hells that triggered the cataclysm, but there are others who believe it was the mages who led the realm out of that dark age.

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Perhaps the stories of Archons and Ascians* got mixed up and twisted over time, hence why some people believe mages led them out of the umbral era, those mages actually being the Archons and not the dark mages they fought.

When we confront Urianger about the rumors in the quest An Officer and a Wise Man, he has this to say.

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Urianger: The Twelve have willed that our paths cross once more, and for this I give thanks.
Urianger: For that which came to pass when last we met, I do beg thy pardon. Though I called upon my familiar, I swear I meant thee no lasting hurt.

Urianger: Upon these once taintless shores lurk Garlean devils, dizened in darkness─their object, to bestrew venomous falsehoods anent my person and purpose.

Urianger: They claim me one of a cabal of malign mages whom erst summoned forth a terrible doom unto Eorzea. They covet my knowledge of the Seventh Moon, deeming it a threat to peace, and have ventured so far as to call for my death, luring would-be abettors with the luster of false riches.

Urianger: I have pled mine innocence to them that would hear it, but what is one voice of truth amidst a chorus of calumnies? So, that my message might be delivered, I was compelled to brave a less trodden path. I had need of them that could discern good from evil, though each be clad in the cloth of the other.

Urianger: And it was with this in mind that I did test thee, knowing that when thou hadst overcome adversity, thou wouldst awaken anew to the light of truth.

Urianger: From thy feats that day, I know I have found one of them I seek. Thou art blessed with the fortitude to endure the blight that will descend upon Eorzea anon. Aye, thou shalt prove a boon in the battle to come, and any of the Grand Companies of Eorzea would be fortunate to count thee in their number.

Urianger: Yet...though thou hast hitherto endured much, thou must needs apprehend all this as but the beginning. The fate of the realm rests upon thy shoulders and the shoulders of thy compeers. Shirk not this burden, for if thou dost, Eorzea will perish ere the first flame falleth from the heavens.

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Originally Posted by Mtoto_Wamoto

Mhm! He was in fact. He's also referred to by Nael van Darnus as a false prophet.

The possibility of him being mistaken for one of the dark sorcerers from the Sixth Umbral era, Ascian or not, is definitely there I think. Especially since stories can become twisted over time as they're passed down and no normal person from the last umbral era would still be alive.

Again I point to a line a text Y'sthola provided.



Perhaps the stories of Archons and Ascians* got mixed up and twisted over time, hence why some people believe mages led them out of the umbral era, those mages actually being the Archons and not the dark mages they fought.

When we confront Urianger about the rumors in the quest An Officer and a Wise Man, he has this to say.

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Thanks! I figured as much. Maybe both existed in the 6th Umbral Era - the Circle of Knowing and the Ascians - and one group averted the calamity that the other had caused, only to have history lump them in the same category.

Edit: Another possibility as that they were the same group, but some members defected to found the Circle of Knowing and save the world, and thence dedicated themselves to preserve the world thereafter.

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/world/threats/key-enemies

The Ascians
http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/static.../chara_070.png

The reason he has a shadow is because the ARR team hasnt tied loose ends with the beta. Hopefully they really kick it into gear before release and get as much taken care of as possible. Not that releasing the game early is a game breaker like 1.0 this time around, but more time would have been beneficial to them in cases like this.

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Originally Posted by Daniolaut

The reason he has a shadow is because the ARR team hasnt tied loose ends with the beta.

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I certainly hope this is the case.