Dalamud

Just a silly question... maybe it was explained and I missed it (I try, but since the game is not in my native language, sometimes I don't get every detail in the game).

Does Othard think something about Dalamud's dissappearance from the sky five years ago? Or everyone there already knows about the Eorzean's seventh Calamity?

The Calamity was never brought up while visiting Othard, and the only group of people who we know for certain would have cared (the Dalamiq Xaela tribe) aren't encountered.

It's not unreasonable to believe Othardians are aware of Dalamud's fall, but what they think about it and how it affected them is unknown.

What I want to know is how its disappearance affected astrology. I know Sharlayan astrology is based mainly on stars and constellations, but still, you'd think having a moon fall out of the sky would be a big deal.

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Originally Posted by Brightamethyst

What I want to know is how its disappearance affected astrology. I know Sharlayan astrology is based mainly on stars and constellations, but still, you'd think having a moon fall out of the sky would be a big deal.

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The low level Astrologian quests mention in passing that the lack of Dalamud has affected Sharlayan astrology's readings. It shouldn't really bother Ishgardian astrology since they focus on the movements of the Dragon Star. In the opening Astrologian quest Jannequinard rattles off a tarot reading using Dalamud, in fact:

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It is as my morning reading predicted. Dalamud was in detriment in the House of the Spire while ascending over the ecliptic!

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And Levava reiterates it is still used in the Noctural Sect readings:

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The nocturnal sect contains those celestial bodies ruled by the two moons. I say two, because since the dawn of astrology, disciples of our field have used Dalamud in their readings. Now, even after the false moon's fall, its position...or should I say, its absence, yet has influence over our fates.
Whereas the sun and the diurnal stars represent the self, expression, the active─and the moon and the nocturnal stars represent the unconscious, the passive─Dalamud represents, and still does represent the uncontrollable. Its power has the ability to quicken the senses, as well as provide added protection from the unknown─things beneficial when pursuing one's fate.

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It's rather unthinkable that your average Othardian citizen wouldn't know of the Calamity. They would've seen the turn red, 'grow,' and disappear. We also know that the sundering of Dalamud was visible from Old Sharlayan via telescope, so it's possible it'd be observable from Othard as well. Given the Imperial presence in most of the Othardian places as well, there's definitely a steady stream of information coming into, like Kugane and Doma. The Auri tribes are least likely to know/care about the fall--the aforementioned Dalamiq would've certainly noticed, but given the past tense in their description I'm curious how long ago they stopped worshiping Dalamud, lol.

Additionally:

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Dalamud’s spectacular demise gave rise to a tidal wave of aetheric energy which rendered linkshells all but useless for a period of many days.

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Seems like it'd impact things on a global scale.

From what I understand, while Dalamud isn't in the sky anymore it's still used in astrological readings. Its former position can still be tracked, so its influence on fortunes can still be felt.

How far Dalamud's explosion would have rendered linkshells inoperable is... debatable. Assuming it functions like a high-altitude EMP burst, it would depend on the altitude and strength of the explosion... Dalamud looked pretty close to impacting the surface, though the amount of aetherial disruption had to be very high. I'd wager it affected Eorzea and nearby areas (the surrounding seas and near parts of Ilsabard), but that's going on science... which is faulty when it comes to fantasy physics. I doubt it would affect the whole planet, but... fantasy physics, so who knows?

Interesting. It's been forever since I did the lower level AST quests. I must have missed or forgotten about that.

As expansions take us further afield, I begin to wonder just how limited in scope any era's calamity may have been. Going through HW, I don't really remember hearing any mention of the Calamity outside of Coerthas. Dravania and beyond seem fairly unscathed.

As far as I can tell from 1.0 screencaps, Dalamud stays in place once it starts falling past a certain point as it can be seen at all times of day or night. It stops rotating around the main moon and the planet and goes into geosynchronous orbit over the Lunar Transmitter (or whatever Nael ends up being). One it gets low enough, gravity does the rest.

Othard would most likely have seen Dalamud stop orbiting and freeze in place and then slowly drop over the horizon line all while the main moon acts as normal. Given how far Othard is from Aldenard (three months of sea travel at least (EDIT: whoops, two moths actually)), they probably wouldn't have seen Dalamud get anywhere near as big as Eorzea saw it get. It would probably be like watching something drop onto Rome from orbit from the point of view of Tokyo. It's possible that for a lot of people, Dalamud just vanished over the course of a day and was never seen again.

As far as Calamities go... Aldenard probably gets hit the worst. Silvertear is apparently the source of all aether and it's in Eorzea. It also probably depends on what Calamity is being talked about. The first five Calamities (Wind, Lightning, Fire, Earth, Ice) seem to have effected much more then just Aldenard in their scope. The sixth Calamity (Water) seems to be a lot more localized. I think it's still too early to tell if the last Calamity (Space) is large-scale or not. There does seem to be a trend of the Calamities becoming more and more localized until the 7th Calamity.

The Calamities of Wind (1st), Lightning (2nd), and Fire (3rd) all have to do with atmospheric conditions. The Calamity of Wind apparently destroyed everything and is what kicks off the Umbral/Astral Era dating system that is used everywhere. The Calamity of Lightning is the result of large-scale volcanic activity that lasts an entire year and is so intense humanity moves underground. The Calamity of Fire is the result of the sun getting bigger or burning hotter for a prolonged period of time. All of those would effect all of Hydalyen no matter the location, if in different ways.

The Calamity of Earth is a little different. The immediate earthquake effected the Mor Dhona region the most (the Allagan Capital is swallowed up), but the impact of that is worldwide. By then, the Allagans had conquered the three continents at least and Dalamud powered the Crystal Tower which powered the entire Allagan Empire. So in a single instant, the entire Allagan Empire lost power. It's not a world-wide geographical impact, but a world-wide sociological impact this time around.

The Calamity of Ice is said to frozen over the Bloodbrine Sea, north of Aldenard. It shares borders with Old Sharlayan and the southern Ilsabard Coast. It's also said that icebergs were found as far south as the Jade Sea which is South-East of Gyr Abania. It seems likely that Ilsabard was hit as hard (or harder) then Eorzea as it's further north then Eorzea is. I can't find anything about how Othard was effected by it.

The Calamity of Water is probably the most localized. It seems to have primarily effected the Twelveswood, Gyr Abania and Mor Dhona with overflowed rivers, lakes and tidal waves. Vylbrand is effected as well, mainly by tidal waves, but it seems to be more as a result of everything happening in Aldenard then the focus of the Calamity itself. What makes this one tricky to judge is that we hear more about the Mage Wars that lead up to the Calamity then we actually do about the Calamity itself. This is also the first Calamity that we hear of people who may be that era's Warriors of Light. While they couldn't stop the Calamity from happening, there are records of them saving a lot of people who would otherwise have died.

The Calamity of Space? maybe? Also known as the 7th Umbral Calamity. Parts of this Calamity are very localized, other parts are very widespread. While the debris field of Dalamud's fall is contained entirely within Eorzea, there's a lot of other, more subtle effects that will probably be felt the world over for centuries to come. Dalamud falling changed the heavens for everyone on the entire planet regardless of where they were. For one thing, Astromancy will forever be changed. Dalamud's position is important in star charts and Astrology and still needs to be calculated for everything to work out right. This Calamity was also partially blunted by Louisoix, the WoL, etc. It's safe to say the Calamity would have been even worse then it turned out to be if they hadn't gotten involved.

Basicly, Aldenard is always part of the effected region of the Calamities. The Calamities more often then not are large enough to effect places well outside Aldenard's borders though. Just because we don't have records of the Calamities happening in those areas, doesn't mean they weren't hit. Calamities almost always lead to the break down of the current society and records are really, really hard to find thousands of years after they're created... unless it's Allagan records...

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Originally Posted by ObsidianFire

Given how far Othard is from Aldenard (three months of sea travel at least)

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Off on a tangent, but.... three months. We were travelling on Carvallain's ship for three months (or even, let's say its a particularly fast ship, one month) and that time just doesn't exist from a player perspective. Very strange when I stop to think about it. How much character interaction should have happened during that time?

Which raises a whole bunch of other questions as well. Let's assume it took three months to get to Kugane the first time at level 60. Once there getting back was easy because of aetherytes and telelporting, but what about everyone else? After Doma was there a few months worth of waiting around on Hien and Co. sailing to Eorzea before all the stuff went down in Ala Mihgo?

This game is really bad about showing the passage of time between story events. There's a big disconnect between us seeing everything happening in quick succession and logic saying that it must be days or weeks in between.