Question about the Raen

Sorry not to clued up on the lore here; do all of them come from under the sea? Are there more towns under there? Asking as I have a Raen character and don't know much about them, there seemed a lot more lore on Xaela.

They originally lived on the steppe with the Xaela, but for reasons unknown decided to abandon the nomadic lifestyle and settle throughout Othard.

Sui-no-Sato is just one particularly reclusive settlement and they're said to be found all over the continent.

Ah okay, thank you for the information.

I play a Raen and was very confused when the only Raen settlement was under the water so I refreshed my knowledge on the subject.
Prior to Stormblood what we knew about the Raen was that they lived in "the Savage Peaks of Othard" but also it was stated that they integrated themselves into other communities.

Drawing on this we can basically deduce that Raen come in 2 varieties of their own. The ones that absorbed themselves into other cultures like Doma or Hingashi after leaving the Steppe, and the ones that created their own reclusive settlements away from prying eyes such as the ones of Sui-no-Sato. It seems likely that there would be a few Raen settlements in the mountain ranges around the Steppe too, as well as maybe a few other underwater settlements around the coast of Othard, although I'd be more willing to believe the underwater ones encompass the minority of reclusive Raen villages.

There are also some Raen among the Malaguld Xaela tribe (notable for being the only Xaela tribe willing to accept Raen among their number). Of course, these Raen tend to be exiles, so they COULD have originated from Sui-no-Sato.

Still, as others have noted, Sui-no-Sato is likely NOT the only home to Raen. Yugiri's leaving the underwater settlement was noted to be an unusual thing - and yet there are many, many Raen to be found in places like Kugane, and they're scattered here and there in other places, as well - even Eorzea has a few. This seems like far too many to have all originated in that same underwater town.

Thank you both for the information; it would be interesting to see if there were some remote mountain Raen settlements; all the lore for the Xaela was interesting, hoping the Raen get more lore later as well.

Had no idea there were Raen in one of the Xaela tribes, that's pretty awesome.

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Originally Posted by LineageRazor

There are also some Raen among the Malaguld Xaela tribe (notable for being the only Xaela tribe willing to accept Raen among their number). Of course, these Raen tend to be exiles, so they COULD have originated from Sui-no-Sato..

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Okay quick question:

is being accepted as an honorary member of the Mol tribe something that happens for raen players?

It happens for everybody.

Xaela are the only race/clan that get any kind of changed dialogue at the steppe, and only two lines of it to boot.

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Originally Posted by Dualgunner

Okay quick question:

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Originally Posted by KageTokage

It happens for everybody.

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Yup. Bear in mind, though, that the Warrior of Light (and hir friends) are an exception to a LOT of traditions and rules throughout the game. If anyone is going to get an honor from which their race/gender/class is normally excluded, it would be the WoL. It's not really fair to use the player character as a counterexample.

Speaking of the Raen reminds me of a few questions I had:

- Do the Raen living underwater also all have the Kojin blessing? (going by the Ruby Princess sidequests, I assume so)
- If they do, is this blessing a lifelong, permanent thing, and that's also applicable to us?
- Seriously, magic that is capable of changing our respiratory system so much that we can breathe water as easily as air? Why does this secretly sound like a primal's influence to me?

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Originally Posted by Mysterysword

- Seriously, magic that is capable of changing our respiratory system so much that we can breathe water as easily as air? Why does this secretly sound like a primal's influence to me?

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I was about to say I doubt even a Primal could give us that water-breathing blessing so easily, but then I'm reminded of the gasps and shock when we did Sastasha Hard, and saw how Leviathan corrupted his followers.

More likely than not, the Raen came to the Ruby Sea, befriended the Kojin, learned the needed magics and basically just kept using it among themselves ever since. It's likely that the first settlement, Sui-no-Sato, was a combined effort between the two peoples and the later Royal Temple was a construction by later Raen for the ascendant Royal Family.

All Rae of Sui-no-Sato are blessed with the water breathing magic. This allows their hunters and gatherers to go out and get new supplies from the surrounding reefs. One Raen woman we encounter is found floating in the water and presumed dead by a Confederate who spotted her, but when we get to her she gets up as if everything is fine and says she was stung by jellyfish and went into a state of shock. She was gathering clams underwater when this happened, but since she didn't have to worry about breathing she did not drown while she floated to the surface. The surrounding bubble areas where we see snails may have been created early on as places to try and grow crop or to mine rocks and ore before being given up as places where animals might be found and hunted.

I always wondered why the Royal family of Sui-no-Sato had their Palace built on the other-side of the bay and so far from the village. Space would be at a premium down there, but maybe it doubles as a military headquarters as well? Shisui of the Violet Tides is quite large, much more so than the village. The entire setup seems very idyllic, if a tad constrained at times.