Minfilia (spoilers ahead)

Ok, I admit that I missed a very large amount of 1.0s early lore (I only had very infrequent access to a computer that could run the game until about halfway through its lifetime). So you'll have to bear with me a bit here. It involves Ul'dah's starting plot, which I, being Lominsan, didn't experience.

Who is Minfilia? Is she Ascilia? I'm only part-way through the current (2.1) story quests, so I only just found out about her and her adoptive mother. But...why is it that Minfilia is a child at the start of 1.0, but then later in the very same quest-line, she is an adult?

Now, I only read a synopsis of this plot arc, so I may be missing a large amount of details. I can only guess the Echo is involved, but that still leaves a lot of gaps. I also guess that she changed her name due to Garlemalds pursuit of her and her mother, but I'm still left with a "why?"

So, is there a lot of background on Minfilia/Ascilia right now? Or is that where the future plot arc is going? Am I asking a lot of questions?

Minfilia is grown up Ascilia. This was hinted at in 1.0 quests apparently, in which due to the Echo looking at the past you were able to see her young i believe.

Required reading :

http://chrysaliswiki.com/people:ascilia

One of the projects I'm working on is a restoration of the Version 1.0 introduction stories, however, too much crucial information remains missing and I haven't been able to coax it out of anyone just yet; the summaries remain unfinished. I can help you out a little, though.

Somewhere between 1557 and 1562, possibly in 1562, an Ala Mhigan resistance member came to Ul'dah with extremely valuable information. His cover, it seems, was that he was simply a man traveling to a nearby hamlet with his daughter. However, he never got to deliver his warnings; as part of a scheme to increase their own fame, Niellefresne, a famous goldsmith, and Greinfarr, a famous gladiator, broke the spell subduing a Goobbue being transported to the Coliseum for a spectacle fight. It was expected that Greinfarr would put down the goobbue and save the day - but, in the rampage, Warburton was killed, leaving his daughter, Ascilia, orphaned. Nielle was also killed as this conspiracy unraveled, and his lover, F'lhaminn, the songstress of Ul'dah, took in Ascilia as her own (considering that both had been left soul-crushingly alone). In 1572, Ascilia had changed her name to Minfilia, likely to hide from the Imperials who knew of Warburton's mission. There's a lot more to the story, and I hope to tell it completely someday, but too much remains unanswered as of right now.

So, to be clear, that opening parade was an Echo flashback, and you weren't actually there?

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

*snip*

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Wow! This explains stuff but confuses me at the same time. So we're too assume that years passed during the intro + those quest that revealed the conspiracy up to when we first encounter Minfillia?
No wonder I couldn't follow the storyline and was left confused to hear that F'Lahminn was Minfillia's adoptive mother.

Pretty much - Ferne basically came out and stated that (and confirmed the Ascillia-Minfilia connection) on the old forum. I can't remember the link but it was in the huge 'CG Midlander' thread that went on for something like 80 pages. :p

But yeah, most of the starting city story cutscenes in 1.0 had actually already happened some ten years earlier - the player wasn't actually directly experiencing it but instead living it through the collective memories of different people.

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Originally Posted by Vydos

Wow! This explains stuff but confuses me at the same time. So we're too assume that years passed during the intro + those quest that revealed the conspiracy up to when we first encounter Minfillia?
No wonder I couldn't follow the storyline and was left confused to hear that F'Lahminn was Minfillia's adoptive mother.

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It's because that scene at the beginning is actually nothing but a huge Echo dive, yeah. You are having visions of the past during that

Hmmm....Doesn't explain why our Archons are still as dashing as ever 15 years later..... :P

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Originally Posted by Wolfandre

So, to be clear, that opening parade was an Echo flashback, and you weren't actually there?

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Correct. As your player comes in on the chocobo carriage, there's a swoosh, and right after you see the starshower. This is the exact moment Hydaelyn awakens you.

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Originally Posted by Vydos

Wow! This explains stuff but confuses me at the same time.

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Imagine how much I'll be able to clear up once I know what I need to... lol

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Originally Posted by Vydos

So we're too assume that years passed during the intro + those quest that revealed the conspiracy up to when we first encounter Minfillia?

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Roughly 10 years, yes. If you watch the scenes again, look for gentle SWOOSH sounds. This is perspective shifting to and from ten years ago via the Echo, which the player had been unaware they even had at the time.

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Originally Posted by Wolfandre

Hmmm....Doesn't explain why our Archons are still as dashing as ever 15 years later..... :P

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This remains a mystery, lol.

I really hope they start moving forward in ARR's story and stop referring to things from 1.0 without really explaining the pasts of all these people. It must be pretty confusing for new folks who haven't read all the stuff on 1.0 plots.

There are far more players now who've never seen the stories from 1.0 and have no idea of the significance of any of these people, and imo ARR is not fleshing them out very well for newcomers.