What exactly do we know as of 5.3 about the sound that was heard before Amaurot fell?

I'm trying to compile some lore for this particular question, yet am running into a few walls between not knowing what cutscenes to re-watch and if I'm even misremembering what happened to begin with. The wikia isn't helpful at all either sadly... :(

Could someone please give me a run down of what we know?? When did it happen? DID it happen or am I misremembering it? If it did how long until the destruction began? Etc. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. <3

Pretty sure the extent of what we know is from Emet-Selch's recounting of the Final Days of Amaurot in the eponymous dungeon from back in 5.0. Though admittedly my interest in the story has largely waned, so I could've missed some mention in Anamnesis Anyder or forgotten details and such. Sound came from the earth, Ancients' creation magicks started going haywire and giving birth to their fears and nightmares, rocks fall and most everyone dies. In so far as I am aware, they've yet to elaborate in any way on what the sound is supposed to be, with the only possible source of potential information off the top of my head being the Scions' trip to Anamnesis Anyder since the MSQ has largely been more concerned with getting the Scions back to the Source than anything. I seem to recall mention that the calamity which befell the Ancients started on the "mainland" and took some time before it reached Amaurot. Long enough that rumours of what was happening abounded and they'd (the folks at Akadaemia Anyder) gathered specimens to research.

We have no new information on what the Sound was since 5.0. All we know is what it did. There are various theories floating around on what it could be, but we have nothing concrete as of this moment. We're basically going to have to wait for 5.4 at the earliest, 6.0 at the latest to get more info on the Sound.

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Originally Posted by Wyssahtyn

Pretty sure the extent of what we know is from Emet-Selch's recounting of the Final Days of Amaurot in the eponymous dungeon from back in 5.0. Though admittedly my interest in the story has largely waned, so I could've missed some mention in Anamnesis Anyder or forgotten details and such. Sound came from the earth, Ancients' creation magicks started going haywire and giving birth to their fears and nightmares, rocks fall and most everyone dies. In so far as I am aware, they've yet to elaborate in any way on what the sound is supposed to be, with the only possible source of potential information off the top of my head being the Scions' trip to Anamnesis Anyder since the MSQ has largely been more concerned with getting the Scions back to the Source than anything. I seem to recall mention that the calamity which befell the Ancients started on the "mainland" and took some time before it reached Amaurot. Long enough that rumours of what was happening abounded and they'd (the folks at Akadaemia Anyder) gathered specimens to research.

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Awesome, thank you for your help!

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

We have no new information on what the Sound was since 5.0. All we know is what it did. There are various theories floating around on what it could be, but we have nothing concrete as of this moment. We're basically going to have to wait for 5.4 at the earliest, 6.0 at the latest to get more info on the Sound.

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Alright so I didn't miss anything extra then, thank you for the help!

To add to this, I think it was implied that this Sound was in response to the overuse of creation magic by the Ancients.

Here's my theory: The Sound was brought into being as a result of the Ancient's creation magics. The way it's described, the very nature of life and the aetherial sea became endemic to living things - The Lifestream literally started killing itself, and wherever the noise screamed (And indeed it appears to have systematically targeted every civilization on the planet one by one), all life in the area started twisting and dying in horrible ways. People tend to speculate that the Sound was some sort of defense mechanism from the planet, activated due to the transgressions of the Ancients breaking the cycle of life and death, but from the fact that the entire world would have been rendered a lifeless husk without the Ancient's intervention, I think we can rule that out.

Now, we're told that a single stray thought can bring about unexpected results when the Ancients were creating, and that seemingly all of them, even as small children, are inherently capable of that sort of magic. From what we're told of how it works, isn't it possible, then, that the Ancients may have created things unknowingly, unconsciously? That something may have been born from thoughts, feelings, or desires that they were not actively aware of? Something that may have accumulated over time, stirring in the depths of the Lifestream, until finally one day awakening and bringing an end to all things?

Two more particular details stuck out to me when reaching this conclusion - First, both Emet-Selch and Elidibus (His lyrics especially) heavily imply that it was the ancient's own sins that ruined them. Secondly, that Venat states the Convocation's solution was not permanent, and wouldn't last. We take it as a given that this describes Zodiark and the necessity for sacrifices, but in reality this does not explain why they summoned Hydaelyn with the capability to sunder the world, and split the souls of all things into lesser forms. Could it be the true purpose of this was not only to kill Zodiark, but instead to ensure that creation magic would forevermore remain beyond the reach of any sapient beings?

Such a proposition as I've described also ties neatly back into the first main conflict of the Primals. Effectively, they come about because of man's self-destructive nature, a result of a self-perpetuating cycle of violence.

Lastly, going into truly radical speculation here, but I think at least some of the Convocation were (at some point) enthralled to whatever force the Sound was. With what we now know about the Calamities and Rejoinings, many of their earlier plans, well, they don't make sense.

What does Lahabrea instigating the summoning of Primals have to do with the Ascian's long term plans to rejoin the First with a Calamity of Light? In 1.0 it had a purpose, to empower Dalamud and bring about a Calamity of Darkness of all aspected elements together, but he continued it in 2.0 - In fact he drastically stepped it up and provoked way more summonings than ever before. And as we now know, summonings are a very primitive form of creation magic. This was also partially used (Though importantly, continued afterwards regardless) to empower the Heart of Sabik, which Lahabrea describes as a "sliver of my god's power".

It tends to be overlooked, but when Lahabrea is describing all this, and the necessity of Primal summonings to resurrect "the one true god", he never names Zodiark. And what is Ultima, something which is created by the fragment of his god? A form of magic described as endemic to creation, defying the laws of reality, something which should not exist. And, what is the raid storyline introduced off the back of this ending? The Coils, where it's revealed that a sufficiently powerful Primal is capable of overwriting the tempering of others. And now who are our modern antagonists? Right, two guys who quite literally just want to cause as much death and destruction as possible, one of whom is seemingly described as the beast of the apocalypse, who has seen the Final Days of Amaurot with perfect clarity every night since he was a child even before acquiring the Resonant, a guy who says this,

https://i.imgur.com/150g0B1.png

While we only know so much about the Sound, Zenos could not be a more perfect living incarnation of the force it's described as.

I do not consider that the Ancients' use of creation magicks was the cause of the Sound and the Terminus; Y'shtola notes that they had enough intrinsecal aether to do that without harming the Lifestream, and whenever they needed to do greater things, they resorted to their own life energy, like the researcher in Akadaemia Anyder who surrenders his very soul in summoning Quetzalcoatl, or the collective summoning of Zodiark. The sins of the Ancients, the way I see it, are more related to being responsible of the greatest catastrophe in mankind's history: the cycle of eternal war and mistrust. Zodiark's summoning upset the balance, aye, but I would argue that was the only solution they had for what it was coming, and it was Hydaelyn's summoning what caused the first war in history, because fear had taken root in the Ancients. Fear of the unknown (at this point it was unknown, because Venat and her followers knew not what Zodiark might do, and yet they were willing to, and they were well aware, doom their people) begets violence. And it has been mostly the cause of many, many wars; to put it in Emet-Selch's words: "A war without knowledge of the enemy is no war—it is mere bloodletting."

But I digress. What I consider interesting is something that is generally overlooked and it could be a clue about the nature of the Sound and the Terminus: the DNC quest, specifically the Kriegstanz and the Totentanz. The "dance of the damned" is negative feelings taking hold of people and controlling their bodies, and the Kriegstanz forces those energies out, and curiously, the forms they take are eerily similar to the Terminus monstrosities. Now, the narration of Amaurot mentions a passage of the Book of Revelations that goes more or less like: "But it was neither fang or claw, but our very sins, stacked to the heavens where they took root." The Ancients' society tried actively to get rid of any negative feeling, to foment peace and cooperation, but going by Azem's role, they were not strangers to issues and threats. Perhaps, subconsciously, they "stacked to the heavens" their fears until they burst and caused the Terminus and the Sound, which could be the collective suffering and fear of the Ancients throughout the ages that they cast aside. We would need further insight into the Ancient society, true, but to me that sounds (no pun intended) rather similar to the Totentanz phenomena.

One thing that I find kind of interesting is that there's no indication that Emet or any of the Convocation had ANY CURIOUSITY AT ALL about what the Sound was, what was causing it, or how to stop it. They're all, "Yup, it all started with the Sound," but from that point on they do nothing but talk about the damage control.

I'm guessing that the whole reason the Dissenters stood against the Convocation is because they had a better understanding of the Sound, and realized that the Convocation's plan was not going to accomplish anything to solve the underlying problem.

The Sound is one of the great remaining mysteries of the Final Days, and I doubt we've heard the last about it.

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Originally Posted by LineageRazor

One thing that I find kind of interesting is that there's no indication that Emet or any of the Convocation had ANY CURIOUSITY AT ALL about what the Sound was, what was causing it, or how to stop it. They're all, "Yup, it all started with the Sound," but from that point on they do nothing but talk about the damage control.

I'm guessing that the whole reason the Dissenters stood against the Convocation is because they had a better understanding of the Sound, and realized that the Convocation's plan was not going to accomplish anything to solve the underlying problem.

The Sound is one of the great remaining mysteries of the Final Days, and I doubt we've heard the last about it.

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I doubt it were Venat and her followers who had a better plan. The Convocation was formed of the greatest sages of their kind, and if they did not know, then the dissenters probably did not have more knowledge. Their priority with Hydaelyn was subduing Zodiark, they mention nothing of the Sound. As for the Convocation, I assume they had their hands full on trying to prevent the ongoing catastrophe.

I would say, if anyone might have had any idea about the Sound's origins and the determination to quell it, that would be Azem. It was part of their role as Wanderer, to know the star and any threat to it. If Hydaelyn had meant to be a solution, Azem would have not rejected Venat's invitation to join them. No, I think Azem set out to find the origin of the Terminus, but as we know, whatever they might have uncovered was lost when they were sundered. Yet, who knows. Perhaps the key resides in us and whatever memories of Azem we possibly regain. That would be certainly interesting.

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Originally Posted by Kesey

To add to this, I think it was implied that this Sound was in response to the overuse of creation magic by the Ancients.

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This is what I've always assumed. Their magic pushed the world too far.