New Year's Poem 2020

It's about that time...

English

For what are Warriors of Light

But earnest souls of good intent

Resolved to do that which is right

Regardless of the consequence

Marginalia scribbled upon a history tome in the Cabinet of Curiosity

Japanese

CHARACTERS NEEDED
Throughout history, there have been numerous heroes.

CHARACTERS NEEDED
"Warriors of Light" they have been called, however——

CHARACTERS NEEDED
If this is so, it is because they have dedicated themselves to others that they are called heroes,

CHARACTERS NEEDED
that they ought be called "Warriors of Light".

German

Die Welt kannte zahlreiche Helden
The world has known many heroes,


Als Krieger des Lichts bekannt
known as the Warriors of Light.

Auch er, seinen hohen Zielen ergeben
He, too, who was dedicated to these lofty goals,

Sei unter diesem Namen bekannt
is known by this name.

– Anonyme Notiz in der 'Geschichte Norvrandts', Kabinett der Kuriositäten
– Anonymous note in the "History of Norvrandt", Cabinet of Curiosity

French

Ces héros que l'on appelle Guerriers de la Lumiere
These heroes called Warriors of Light

Se sont succédé au fil de éres.
Have succeeded one another over the years.

S'il offrit corps et âme pour autrui
He offered his body and soul for others,

Alors il mérite ce nom lui aussi.
And so he, too, deserves this name.

– Apostille anonyme dans "L'histoire de Norvrandt" (Archives du cabinet de curiosités)
– Anonymous margin note in "The History of Norvrandt" (Archives of the Cabinet of Curiosity)

Seems to be about our familiar friend from the stinger...

I didn't dare to open this thread and waited patiently.

Most likely Edit incoming, but for now I'll assume Moose includes all languages as usual. Going by German version...

... it's 100% about Ardbert.

Edit:

GERMAN VERSION

Die Welt kannte zahlreiche Helden
Als Krieger des Lichts bekannt
Auch er, seinen hohen Zielen ergeben
Sei unter diesem Namen bekannt
- Anonyme Notiz in der 'Geschichte Norvrandts', Kabinett der Kuriositäten



POORLY TRANSLATED

The world has known many heroes
Known as (called?) Warriors of Light
He too, devoted to his high ambitions
Shall be known by this name
- Anonymous note in 'History of Norvrandt', The Cabinet of Curiosity

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RicaRuin

I didn't dare to open this thread and waited patiently.

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Ahaha, I guess I'm not the only one sentimental for lore forum traditions. ♥

English also sounds like it is about Ardbert, doesn't it?

A road to hell is paved with good intentions, after all...

My thoughts:

I wonder if it's referring to Elidibus?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Theodric

My thoughts:

I wonder if it's referring to Elidibus?

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for some reason i thought of that and also zodiark.

Well... Elidibus has never called himself a Warrior of Light. He does say he's going to be raising up other Warriors of Light from... somewhere... to fight against us, the Warrior of Darkness. Bet you the poem is about whoever that ends up being...

Taking into account all the translations, it seems to be restoring Ardbert's good name in the First, given he and his friends were blamed for causing the Flood of Light (and thus resulting in the very term "Warrior of Light" becoming demonized in turn). We after all had to take on the alias of 'Warrior of Darkness' simply for this very reason, not they were were actually wielding Darkness at all despite what the misleading opening movie made it out to be.

So what if our actions throughout the patch story continue to recast Ardbert and his friends in a new.. um.. light... that the people of Norvrandt beging to change their tune about them and what they did, that it was because of them

(specifically, our favourite ghostly-WAR) that we were able to wipe out all the Lightwardens, bring back the night for good, drive out the Sineaters, and destroy Emet-Selch, the one really responsible for the whole mess.

At least, that's what it seems to me (but then, my theories on these New Years' poems always end up being way off the mark so yeah, take that as just the tired still-haven't-recovered-from-New-Year's-Eve ramblings of a crazy catlady. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kusanagi7

for some reason i thought of that and also zodiark.

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Nah. Zodiark has always been referred to as He and Him with capitalised letters in all languages. But no language has capitalised letters when referring to he or him in the poem.

Seems pretty straight forward this year. The warriors of light have to be careful of their actions. The good they try to do on the shards could easily be used against them without hesitation. Power can't just be aimlessly used without someone checking against them.

I know Garlemald is evil from our point of view, and that the Ascians had a part, but the fact that they tried to show us our weaknesses.. really stands out to me. I don't think they wanted to do what they did, they just felt the need to challenge us. They've been manipulated by Ascians for generations.

Personally, I think it would be compelling if it were more about someone like Ran'jit versus Ardbert, for the reason that what may be 'right' in one perspective could be evil in someone else's. Ran'jit was an excellent example of that. Furthermore, the man was oddly powerful and he had a preternatural sense of awareness (like that time he could sense us in the Exarch's study) that was never really quite explained, but -could- be said to be similar to the WoL.

After all, there's no saying that after Ardbert and pals sacrificed themselves to stay the flood, that there weren't others who filled those roles after they were gone. Ran'jit could have possibly been one of those individuals. Perhaps not far fetched, especially when you consider he was tasked with training many of the Minfillias, that he could have been a WoL equivalent?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Enkidoh

Taking into account all the translations, it seems to be restoring Ardbert's good name in the First, given he and his friends were blamed for causing the Flood of Light (and thus resulting in the very term "Warrior of Light" becoming demonized in turn). We after all had to take on the alias of 'Warrior of Darkness' simply for this very reason, not they were were actually wielding Darkness at all despite what the misleading opening movie made it out to be.

So what if our actions throughout the patch story continue to recast Ardbert and his friends in a new.. um.. light... that the people of Norvrandt beging to change their tune about them and what they did, that it was because of them

(specifically, our favourite ghostly-WAR) that we were able to wipe out all the Lightwardens, bring back the night for good, drive out the Sineaters, and destroy Emet-Selch, the one really responsible for the whole mess.

At least, that's what it seems to me (but then, my theories on these New Years' poems always end up being way off the mark so yeah, take that as just the tired still-haven't-recovered-from-New-Year's-Eve ramblings of a crazy catlady. ;)

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we can already do that though by talking to Moren again after clearing the 5.0 MSQ, we'll even point him out to Cyella if you've cleared all the roll quests

Its interesting that the German version kinda just says that these heroes existed while the english version has the "Regardless of the consequence" sentence in it which kinda makes it a bit more negative?

The implication I get from the JP is that even if Ardbert's body is inhabited by an Ascian and claims to be a WoL and has WoL powers, it doesn't make him a WoL. A WoL is something that one is called because of their heroic deeds. It might imply that "Ardbert" is gonna come around and start flexing himself as the rightful WoL to throw everyone off. But it's someone's actions that make them called WoL

Patch 5.3 bump time because the meaning has become rather clearer, or at least another interpretation has... especially regarding the more specific individual in the French and German versions. At least, assuming it's meant to be one specific individual and not double-referring to multiple people because there are a few.

(Also the credit that it was found in a book in the Cabinet of Curiosity points to it being written by Moren following our conversation with him.)

I'll also add - since I never got around to posting here at the time - that I take "regardless of the consequence" in the English version to be a double meaning as well. One sounds ominous, suggesting that attempts to do the right thing might have terrible consequences, but can also be read to refer to someone willing to do what is right despite the personal cost. Which again could be interpreted to point to a few different people here.