Ayatlan

So, the new beast tribe mention this as the floating continent of legends, were the Ixal originated from... has there been any mention of such a place before? I can't recall any lore about it off hand.

The more we learn about hydaelyn the more it sounds like the ivalice story.

A floating continent so high airships can't reach it - giruvegan
12 scions of light/dark - dieties/ascians (with the white ascian being the 13th serpent zodiac)
allagans using ancient tech to control dragons - Occuria controlling dragons

Then you have the Occuria's thousand year war against the espers and locking zodiark away.

I'm not saying hydaelyn is ivalice but i think they might be lifting elements of the story.

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Originally Posted by Kule

The more we learn about hydaelyn the more it sounds like the ivalice story.

A floating continent so high airships can't reach it - giruvegan
12 scions of light/dark - dieties/ascians (with the white ascian being the 13th serpent zodiac)
allagans using ancient tech to control dragons - Occuria controlling dragons

Then you have the Occuria's thousand year war against the espers and locking zodiark away.

I'm not saying hydaelyn is ivalice but i think they might be lifting elements of the story.

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Good point. There was also the Occuria's herretic "Venat", who conspired with the leading men of the Empire. Just like a certain Ascian and Gaius....

It's the first time the word has come up in anything I've saved, for what it's worth (and I've saved a lot).

The Ixal seem to have been inspired by a Mesoamerican language, but I can't tell which. At first glance, I'd say Nahuatl, which would fit in Quetzalcoatl, the only thing I recall from Final Fantasy with a Mesoamerican root. This is further enforced by the feathers on the Ixal at their new camp in North Shroud, as they bear the same colors and patterns as the Quetzal bird. But back to the name, "-lan" seems like a settlement suffix, as in Natalan and Ayatlan, but I haven't been able to break those down into meaningful units yet (granted, I have yet to try very hard, either!).

EDIT:
Ehcatl, as in the name of the new group, is a Nahuatl word meaning Wind.

Nailed it! /fistpump

This is most definitely new. And laying the groundwork for a place that would require airships to access. And an expansion that is related to the sky. This is how I read it.

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Originally Posted by Saikou

This is most definitely new. And laying the groundwork for a place that would require airships to access. And an expansion that is related to the sky. This is how I read it.

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Makes sense, especially how they mention that the new airship Wind Nine are building will be able to fly higher then the Enterprise can.

The two hints given us by Yoshida about the expansion were "related to the sky" and "a war that has lasted 1000 years." Both of those things points to Dragons and Ishgard. We can have no certainty that Ayatlan is anymore than window dressings for the new daily quests, but as we know that building airships is going to be a feature at some point... I predict sky continent on the basis of this new lore and what we already know is in the pipes. It wouldn't even have to be all that big. Implementation wouldn't be all that hard. Click your airship, cutscene, appear at floating continent.

I'll go a step further and predict that we'll be seeing our Beastmen allies in the main scenario at some point. The thing with all of these Beast Tribe quests is that it has proved that there are factions, sometimes small and sometimes significant, within each tribe that wish no ill will upon the Eorzean City-States. The Ixali take this one step further by not just wanting us to do things for them because our goals intersect, but truly wanting to work together with we Eorzeans to create this new thing that neither faction could create alone. I'm hopeful that this - and even the other Tribe questlines for that matter - will have some sort of greater payoff in a future storyline.

It's clear that the pride of collaborating on such a drastic undertaking will create a strong bond with this particular Ixal faction. We continue to have a shared interest with The Brotherhood of Ash in trying to reverse tempering. The Sylphs of Little Solace continue to need all the friends they can get due to the fact that The Touched have essentially kicked them out of The Sylphlands. I have my doubts about how loyal or useful our underachieving Kobold friends could be... I'm still working on Sahagin Rep, but the fact that the friendly faction still worships Leviathan and is still totally cool with the tempering of Eorzean peoples to serve Leviathan kinda troubles me. It would still be fun to see something as small as Beast Tribe peoples joining the Scions and/or the Crystal Braves.

Difficult to see, the future is. We make our predictions and hope...

My first thought at the mention of Ayatlan was that we may see it in the expansion. Given how much the development team have been dropping hints about airships and flight it's safe to say we'll be visiting some sort of equivalent to FFXI's Sky and Ayatlan would fit the bill nicely. We know SE like to lead us into new content with story rather than just suddenly unveiling it.

I've been entertaining the idea that Ayatlan could be more than just the Ixali homeland though. The moogles also claim to have descended from their home in the 'heavens' where the Twelve dwell. It would not surprise me in the slightest if we later come to discover that both their mythologies share the same origin.

We probably won't go to Ayatlan (chances are it probably doesn't even exist is actually known under a different name) but if we do I hope we also get to see where Midgarsormr came/comes from ;o giant dragon came straight down through the clouds to fight the Agrias and the Garlean ships, he's gotta live somewhere. If he lived in Mor Dhona someone would have noticed a giant dragon like that, had to have lived elsewhere. Allagan land in the sky? Possibly.

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Originally Posted by NoloeTazier

...I hope we also get to see where Midgarsormr came/comes from ;o giant dragon came straight down through the clouds to fight the Agrias and the Garlean ships, he's gotta live somewhere. If he lived in Mor Dhona someone would have noticed a giant dragon like that, had to have lived elsewhere. Allagan land in the sky? Possibly.

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Considering Midgardsormr was King of the Dragons and Guardian of Silvertear Falls, he either lived in Dravania, or in Silvertear Lake. (Silvertear lake would make sense as the vein of the World Serpent in Norse mythology where he wrapped around the world living under the oceans.)

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Originally Posted by Falen

Considering Midgardsormr was King of the Dragons and Guardian of Silvertear Falls, he either lived in Dravania, or in Silvertear Lake. (Silvertear lake would make sense as the vein of the World Serpent in Norse mythology where he wrapped around the world living under the oceans.)

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That'd be true if he did come out of the lake but he didn't. If you watch the CS he descends from the clouds and when the Agrias crashes into the Lake, it clearly hits the bottom of the lake or the Primal-Barrier either way it wasn't very deep. Mor Dhona was very lush and seeing as it is the middle of Eorzea, merchants/traders/travelers would have seen the huge dragon. We've seen how the Allagans controlled dragons, Midgarsormr wouldn't be any different.

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Originally Posted by NoloeTazier

That'd be true if he did come out of the lake but he didn't.

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According to Erik, he did, but who knows with that guy.

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Originally Posted by Erik

That tragedy is but ten years old. After invading my home of Ala Mhigo, the Garleans launched a fleet of airships led by the monstrosity Agrius. They flew for Silvertear Falls, knowing it to be the greatest concentration of aether. And then, as those horrific instruments of evil loomed overhead, casting the dark shadow of death, the surface of the lake suddenly parted and burst skyward as Midgardsormr emerged to defend his waters.

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

According to Erik, he did, but who knows with that guy.

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Ah silly retcon.