Astrologian storyline - Ishgard vs Sharlayan

As we all know, there are Astrologian NPCs already in-game in Coerthas, and it's been confirmed that the playable Job's origins are from Sharlayan and the differences in the two spellings have been pointed out, and so forth.

But the latest letter from the producer confirmed that the job quests for all three of the new Heavensward jobs will be based in the new Ishgard hub, which raises some questions as to what the storylines will be like.

Personally, I'm really hoping that the AST storyline will go into detail about the philosophical differences between how the two city-states view astrology - for example, it might be that Ishgard uses it in a primarily tactical manner for military operations (similar to SCHs) while the ancient Sharalayans saw it as more of a psychic divining tool that could be used for all matter of predictions including psychological balance and gaining insight into the nature of the Twelve.

Obviously we don't know how the storylines will unfold at this point, but one of the things I really liked about both ACN and NIN's storylines was that even though they started out working in Limsa, ultimately they were revealed to be far deeper and much more "on their own side" in the end.

Ishgardian "Astrologians" are just astrologers - they can divine the future from the stars (apparently) but lack the magical abilities of the Sharlayan Astrologians.

Their professions are still the same, but Ishgardian astrologers doubtless do not take to the field like their Sharlayan counterparts.

I don't think there will be any versus going on.
Don't forget that on the Eorzean map modern day "Sharlayan" is still located within the Dravanian region. So, I think we'll see some small differences but not too much.

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Originally Posted by MercuryD

Don't forget that on the Eorzean map modern day "Sharlayan" is still located within the Dravanian region.

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What you're seeing is actually a Sharlayan outpost, abandoned when peace talks with the Garlean Empire failed. The nation of Sharlayan is an island not currently pictured on our map.

I'm on wait and see mode with the Astrologian (though I'm quite excited to play it). After all, the Warriors come from Abalathia's Spine, and we've never been there. Our connection to the job might be just be a wanderer, or a small group of them, from the Sharlayan island homeland in the north that just happens to be hanging around one of the new zones.

When thinking about the Sharlayan lands, realize that the city-state in Eorzea was just a colony bearing the same name as another established locale. It would be like if people from Portland (Maine) took the Oregon Trail and established Portland (Oregon), but then Britain comes into the Great Lakes and Oregon is like, "Let's just talk about this," but Britain sends in Magitek, which riles up a dragon in Wisconsin, and Oregon takes off back to New England so they're not caught on the wrong side of a border after war breaks out just in case Britain wins and swings west and... and this is slowly turning into a steampunk alternate history of the War of 1812.

Anyyyyroad, I'm thinking the Astrologian will be from the homeland giving insight into the fallen colony's history and relation to Sharlayan proper.

Not to say I'm not interested to hear more about the hidden histories of their chronicling the eras and such, but Sharlayan's major roles in that seem to be revealed in exposition from the Students of Baldesion / Circle of Knowing types, which seems too big to put behind the job quest wall since not everyone will do it.

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

Not to say I'm not interested to hear more about the hidden histories of their chronicling the eras and such, but Sharlayan's major roles in that seem to be revealed in exposition from the Students of Baldesion / Circle of Knowing types, which seems too big to put behind the job quest wall since not everyone will do it.

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Though, it would interesting to include some info on a certain missing prophetic scholar...one who possesses many upon many a metaphorical eye.

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

When thinking about the Sharlayan lands, realize that the city-state in Eorzea was just a colony bearing the same name as another established locale.

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Hey Moose, didn't the NPCs mention somewhere that Sharlyan's Magic Rivaled Garlemauld's Magitek? If that was true then why (Other than being pacifistic to a fault) would the Sharlyans not go "Now See Here!!!" When the Garlens came knocking at their door? Then again I guess Dravania being Semi-Hostile might have made it not worth fighting over as well. Might of just been more practicle to pack up and leave then defend hostile territory from being invaded by an Army that would be in the same boat as you even if they did claim it.

Yeah, I seem to remember it said that the Garleans thought of the Sharlayans as a threat. With good reason!

Lousoix and his students helped unite Eorzea helped repel not only 1 Garlean invasion, but 2. And that's just a handful of Sharlayans, just imagine a whole army.

I am curious WHY Sharlayan chose to just leave Eorzea mainland and watch as all the other city state be conquered. I'm sure there's probably a reason behind it than just being pacifistic observers

That actually does seem to be the case. Louisoix's son, Fourchenault, is a member of the Sharlayan council and attempted to negotiate with the Garleans. When that failed, the city of Sharalyan was abandoned overnight. In his words:

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“War is the favored resort of the uncivilized and the ignorant, Father. The wise abjure it. As Sharlayans, it is our task to observe—to chart the course of history, not to change it. Civilization shall not be advanced through petty conflict, but by the passing of recorded knowledge from generation to generation.”

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So it is mostly that they're pacifistic and have a general policy of noninterference. Louisoix and the Circle of Knowing are the exceptions to this rule; he and his son debated the topic multiple times prior to his leaving for Eorzea.

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Originally Posted by RomildaRayne

That actually does seem to be the case. Louisoix's son, Fourchenault, is a member of the Sharlayan council and attempted to negotiate with the Garleans. When that failed, the city of Sharalyan was abandoned overnight. In his words:



So it is mostly that they're pacifistic and have a general policy of noninterference. Louisoix and the Circle of Knowing are the exceptions to this rule; he and his son debated the topic multiple times prior to his leaving for Eorzea.

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Alisae and Alphinode seemed to imply that it was that same conflict that ended their Father and Grandfather's relation on a sour note with their father refusing to take action and Louisoix chosing to defy Sharlyan Law/Creed/Tradition by directly aiding Eorzea through the Circle of Knowing and the foundation of The Path of the Twelve.