Where, exactly, is Mhach?

The in-game description describes it as the "Yafaem Saltmoor," and looking at the map of Eorzea in-game, I came to the conclusion that the most likely place is northeast of Sharlayan, on or near the northern coast. However, I remember reading in the cutscene about how it was along Abalathia's Spine, which implies it's more north/northeast of Ishgard, which would put it more east of Sharlayan instead of northeast.

But I haven't heard anything about this "Yafaem" area prior to this. Maybe I'm just not paying attention, but is there some other place that would fit the bill?

Northwest of Mor Dhona, I believe Cait Sith said it was.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cilia

Northwest of Mor Dhona, I believe Cait Sith said it was.

---

Not just that, it's on the map of Eorzea as well.

You can see Yafaem in the official map of Eorzea. It's hard to spot, but it's written in Eorzean and is located NW of Mor Dhona.

http://ffxivmaps.com/img/region-eorzea-small.png

Above is a map from a while back, but you can see the area "Yafaem Halfmoon" it's probably a misspelling

Here it is on the maps. It says "Yafaem Saltmoor"

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...52&oe=57CA3015

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...bd&oe=57FAEA69

Awesome, thanks folks!

Anyone else kind of bummed that its not an explorable region? I hope that the City of Mhach is just a part of the area and it will be opened up in the future but I doubt it. It makes me sad that all these areas are just thrown into instances. I wouldn't be surprised if Ala Mhigo turned into an instance dungeon at this point.

I have to wonder how the city was apparently so close to Mor Dhona and closer to all of the other city states than Ishgard, yet seemingly went undiscovered for millenia...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Alberel

I have to wonder how the city was apparently so close to Mor Dhona and closer to all of the other city states than Ishgard, yet seemingly went undiscovered for millenia...

---

Swamp/marshlands tend to be incredibly hard to travel over, especially when the wildlife is exceptionally large and aggressive. The Voidsent present probably didn't help either.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Alberel

I have to wonder how the city was apparently so close to Mor Dhona and closer to all of the other city states than Ishgard, yet seemingly went undiscovered for millenia...

---

Was it really "undiscovered" though? We didn't hear hide nor hair of it during the 2.X and 1.X series, this is true. I chalk this up to it not being a thing in 1.X series, but considering Nym did have roots in 1.X, I could be mistaken. Since 3.0's release though, Mhach has seemed to be common knowledge. It never felt like this was a brand new discovery when Forlemort rattles "Mhachi" off along with Nym and Amdapori.

We, as players, had no knowledge of Mhach but the more learned NPCs apparently did. It just never came up before.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PArcher

Swamp/marshlands tend to be incredibly hard to travel over, especially when the wildlife is exceptionally large and aggressive. The Voidsent present probably didn't help either.

---

Those alligators were huge. And they were just normal alligators. I wouldn't want to go anywhere near that place.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rocl

Was it really "undiscovered" though? We didn't hear hide nor hair of it during the 2.X and 1.X series, this is true. I chalk this up to it not being a thing in 1.X series, but considering Nym did have roots in 1.X, I could be mistaken. Since 3.0's release though, Mhach has seemed to be common knowledge. It never felt like this was a brand new discovery when Forlemort rattles "Mhachi" off along with Nym and Amdapori.

We, as players, had no knowledge of Mhach but the more learned NPCs apparently did. It just never came up before.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Heliantheae

Those alligators were huge. And they were just normal alligators. I wouldn't want to go anywhere near that place.

---

I believe this is the narrative intent. Mhach's location may have been known about for a long time, but remember that a second-order voidsent was having trouble getting into the place. Until fairly recently, I doubt Spoken had any hope of getting into the central pyramid, if they could even reach it.

Remember also that we get there by airship, which is a relatively new invention. It seems very likely that the geography of the moor is such that overland travel is very difficult (it is a swamp).

And so that answers the earlier question: modern Yafaem isn't going to be a zone because there's just not much there to make up a zone. Outside of Mhach itself, there's just... a whole bunch of crocodiles and salt. While it sounds like during Cait Sith's time it was more prosperous (probably as the Yafaem Floodplain), after suffering the brunt of the Sixth Umbral there simply isn't a whole lot left.

(also, blast it all, forum, show me in my regained lalafell glory)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StarDrake

I believe this is the narrative intent. Mhach's location may have been known about for a long time, but remember that a second-order voidsent was having trouble getting into the place. Until fairly recently, I doubt Spoken had any hope of getting into the central pyramid, if they could even reach it.

Remember also that we get there by airship, which is a relatively new invention. It seems very likely that the geography of the moor is such that overland travel is very difficult (it is a swamp).

And so that answers the earlier question: modern Yafaem isn't going to be a zone because there's just not much there to make up a zone. Outside of Mhach itself, there's just... a whole bunch of crocodiles and salt. While it sounds like during Cait Sith's time it was more prosperous (probably as the Yafaem Floodplain), after suffering the brunt of the Sixth Umbral there simply isn't a whole lot left.

(also, blast it all, forum, show me in my regained lalafell glory)

---

Hehe, all good points. Yeah I guess Mhach has been known about for some time from a lore perspective, it just feels like it came out of nowhere due to how it was introduced to us in 3.0 onward.

Mhach had some mentions in 2.x, though those were limited to the BLM questline (esp. Relic Weapon - a replica of Shatotto's old staff). Not much mention was made of Mhach except that it was part of the War of the Magi and developed Black Magic as well as used Voidsent. It got a little more presence in 3.0, with the SCH quest explicitly dealing with the Voidsent that infected Nym with the Tonberry plague.

Their amazing technological prowess (even if it's powered by Voidsent) and the full extent of their capabilities, however, was not made apparent until we set foot on the Void Ark.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cilia

Mhach had some mentions in 2.x, though those were limited to the BLM questline (esp. Relic Weapon - a replica of Shatotto's old staff). Not much mention was made of Mhach except that it was part of the War of the Magi and developed Black Magic as well as used Voidsent. It got a little more presence in 3.0, with the SCH quest explicitly dealing with the Voidsent that infected Nym with the Tonberry plague.

Their amazing technological prowess (even if it's powered by Voidsent) and the full extent of their capabilities, however, was not made apparent until we set foot on the Void Ark.

---

I was under the impression the city wasn't actually named until the AST quests in 3.0. I distinctly remember people here on the lore forum making a big fuss about it shortly after the release of the expansion. We had characters like Shatotto in the lore who later turned out to be Mhachi and we knew there was a third, unnamed, faction in the War of the Magi but there was no actual use of the name 'Mhach' until 3.0 as far as I'm aware.

Correct, Mhach was not named until 3.0. We actually knew about Amdapor and Nym in 1.x, even (although Nym was only briefly mentioned; it's Amdapor that ties in tightly to Gridanian history, as Gelmorra and Gridania are basically direct successor states to Amdapor) but "the third combatant in the War of the Magi" remained a bit of a question mark until 3.0, when more was explained about them in the SCH questline and a few other spots.

Err no, Mhach already had mentions in 2.0 and I believe 1.x as well since the job quests are all remakes of those that were added in late 1.x after the implementation of jobs, tho yes it's only since 3.0 that we get more info on it

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Phyllo

Err no, Mhach already had mentions in 2.0 and I believe 1.x as well since the job quests are all remakes of those that were added in late 1.x after the implementation of jobs, tho yes it's only since 3.0 that we get more info on it

---

I have to agree with StarDrake here, Mhach was not named whatsoever in 1.0 or 2.0. We knew there was a third nation who used voidsent and Black Magic in the War of the Magi. We knew it wasn't Nym or Amdapor. We did not know where it was (though Aldenard was assumed) or what it was called. For the longest time the best guess we had was Belah'dia or a proto-Belah'dian society (which I suppose the latter is technically true). We knew Shatotto lived in the Fifth Astral Era and was a pioneer of black magic.

You can go back on this very forum and find discussions about the mysterious third city:
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...f-the-Magi-era

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...-you-on-anyway

Yes, that's what I meant. We knew the Third Combatant City existed, and we knew it was apparently Black Magic Town, but details beyond that were scarce. It was absolutely not named until Heavensward was released.

Okay my bad when you said named I understood it as mentioned, Hence the little confusion

Then where do the Belah'dians fit in? The guys who made Qarn? For some reason I was under the impression that they were the 3rd player in the mage wars. Am I just connecting the wrong dots?

Belah'dia was formed in the Sixth Astral Era, after the floods receded, by mages fleeing persecution. The fact that it later split into Ul'dah and Sil'dih makes it really easy to mistake for being earlier than the Sixth Astral, but it was just earlier in the era. While Qarn is known as a Belah'dian site, it predates them by far (they simply moved into and added onto it).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jamafore

Then where do the Belah'dians fit in? The guys who made Qarn?

---

There is not confirmed source. But given the small hints plus what we know on the THM/BLM quests, is that there are high chanses that the mages who founded Belah'dia were descendants of what remained of Mhach.