Urth

Well, I have been catching up on my side quests, which I hoped will fill in some blanks in the overall lore, however they are not as detailed as I hoped it would be. For example Urth.

Spoilers

So from quests text we know that she, i assume Urth is female, has been in contact with Odin and if i understood correctly she imprisoned him in the crystal after he was defeated by a champion of Allag. But in the same questline it was mentioned that Odin was the demise of Urth and her people

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Does anybody have any more information on who she was or which country did she rule?

Urth is short for Urthdigger. The localization team loves me :)

Speculation: Urth was the ruler of the Allagan empire, much like the sultana in Ul'dah. Odin is actually Allag himself, being a consultant to Urth. One day Urth discovers the primal Fenrir, begins utilizing his power, then becomes enslaved by him. Odin/Allag has to kill her to free her from Fenrir's influence. Which he does, despite how much he cares for Urth. So now he's imposed a self-exile and wanders the shroud as penance.

At least this story sounds a lot more entertaining to me. But it's just my theory.

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Originally Posted by portie79

Well, I have been catching up on my side quests, which I hoped will fill in some blanks in the overall lore, however they are not as detailed as I hoped it would be. For example Urth.

Spoilers

So from quests text we know that she, i assume Urth is female, has been in contact with Odin and if i understood correctly she imprisoned him in the crystal after he was defeated by a champion of Allag. But in the same questline it was mentioned that Odin was the demise of Urth and her people

.

Does anybody have any more information on who she was or which country did she rule?

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Given how Acheron (a great military hero in Allag) was immortalized in the Labyrinth, I would love to see Urth appear as a boss fight in future CT expansions given that she too is a hero in Allag lore.

From what I've gathered of Urth, she seems to have been an Allagan queen (or perhaps Amdapori, given the proximity of Urth's Gift to Amdapor Township and Keep), who she was slain by Odin and, after killing her, he was soon defeated by one of Allag's champions and sealed away in the Shroud. When the Calamity occurred, it weakened the seal on the crystal containing him and he managed to escape.

Admittedly, most of what we know of her this old queen is through Odin, but he does say something interesting should you lose the FATE:

Odin: Urth... One day, I will find thee...

The emphasis in that sentence tells me that either he believes Urth is alive (perhaps he's unaware of the passage of time?), or that she never died in the first place--perhaps both. Was he exacting some form of retribution upon her in the past? Was she a cruel ruler that he felt justified in killing? Until we get some more quests surrounding Odin, or someone from the Community Team fills us in on the Lore, we're pretty well in the dark on this.

Not much to go on, but, from the Sightseeing Log:

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Originally Posted by #046 Urth's Gift

Ancient writings tell that in exchange for her lifeblood, Lady Urth was able to seal the dark divinity Odin in a crystalline prison beneath a bubbling wellspring. To honor her sacrifice, the land upon which she drew her last breath still bears her name.

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Yeah, I'm pretty sure an earlier quest also mentioned Urth was a sorceress who was the one responsible for sealing Odin - I just can't remember where it was exactly. I'll have a look through my screenshots and see if this is correct.

EDIT: well, I found the relevant screenshots, but the dialogue is rather vague - it mentions that Urth was slain by Odin, but as to who actually sealed him is unknown, other than a 'great hero of the Allagan'. So we're back to square one (no pun intended):

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Originally Posted by sidequest 'The Dark Divinity'

O-App-Pesi: "Odin, as the ancient writings have it, rode forth into our world, wielding a dark blade capable of cleaving earth and the heavens. By his fell blade did perish Urth herself, and countless multitudes of her people."
O-App-Pesi: "At long a great hero of the Allag did arise to do battle with the dark god. Odin was slain, and his spirit sealed within a forest spring."

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So, is Urth the actual 'hero of the Allag' mentioned, and that the order of events has simply gotten jumbled over time? Or was someone else responsible? O-App never mentions exactly who it was who did this, and given the fact that the whole story until recent times was regarded by many in Gridania as nothing but a myth, it does make the 'record of events altered over time' idea more logical, especially during that questline after returning to the Waking Sands and speaking to Urianger, he has this cryptic dialogue:

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Originally Posted by sidequest 'All You Wanted to Know About Odin'

Urianger: "Whilst you were afield, I immersed myself in the ancient scriptures. The more I scoured the words, the more I did realize that the writings draw heavily from ancient Allagan historical chronicles."
Urianger: "History is quite a fascinating beast, is it not? One nation's glory is another's suffering - one nation's great hero, another's most abhorrent villain."
Urianger: "I mean not to speak in platitudes, only to say that there is never but a single side to every story - even a story that is presented as historical fact."
Urianger: "To what end did the great hero of Allag seal Odin in a gaol of crystal? What impels the Dark Divinity to ride once again? Cast thine light on the shadows of history, friend, that we might be delivered from the darkness."

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It seems like Urianger is hinting that we should reverse our perceptions. Perhaps Odin was a hero of Allag, and Urth a villain?

From what we know of Allag, they were no heroes.

Technically advanced? Yes.
Aetherically proficient? Probably.
The Good Guys? Not even vaguely.

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Originally Posted by gornotck

From what we know of Allag, they were no heroes.

Technically advanced? Yes.
Aetherically proficient? Probably.
The Good Guys? Not even vaguely.

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Point taken.