Why was Sharlayan abandoned?

I've been going through New Game+ to brush up on lore that I've forgotten, and just arrived at the Dravanian Hinterlands. Now, I thought I remember reading that Sharlayan was abandoned because the Garlian empire had invaded it, but they're not here whatsoever. If the empire didn't take it over, then why did the Sharlayans leave? Did I miss something?

once the garlean empire tried to invade eorzea (battle of silvertear skies + the fall of ala mhigo) they got scared and ran

edit: i know they did this to preserve "neutrality" but i still think theyre cowards

From the EE1

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The Dravanian hinterlands attracted students from all across Eorzea, and grew as a beacon of knowledge and wisdom. Yet this was not to last. In 1557, tidings that Garlemald had captured Ala Mhigo reached the city. To the Sharlayans, the Empire was a threat to their very way of life. They had spent an age stubbornly resisting all war, and the imperial invasion of Ilsabard and Othard was a bane to the values they had held since Nyunkrepf's time. Sharlayan sent ambassadors to Garlemald with entreaties to stop their advance. They even strove mightily to parlay a peace, but all these pleas fell on deaf ears, and the envoys returned home empty-handed.

In the wake of the failed negotiation, Fourchenault Leveilleur and the faction he led within the Forum elected to forsake their colony. Following five years of elaborate and painstaking preparation, the plan to evacuate the settlement's entire population to the northern archipelago of their homeland was put into motion. In 1562, the city of Sharlayan became a maze of empty streets and buildings in the space of a single evening.

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I wouldn't be surprised if there was a "hidden motive" to abandoning the colony that isn't revealed until Endwalker.

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Originally Posted by Kesey

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a "hidden motive" to abandoning the colony that isn't revealed until Endwalker.

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I'm fully expecting it – and wondering whether it has anything to do with the Antitower and what they found by burrowing into the aetherial sea.

The whole thing seems way too important to discover and then just abandon.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

I'm fully expecting it – and wondering whether it has anything to do with the Antitower and what they found by burrowing into the aetherial sea.

The whole thing seems way too important to discover and then just abandon.

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Agreed. Even if this is a retcon, it still comes out smelling sus.

The Antitower was constructed after finding deep subterranean tunnels (circa 1311) that seemed ideal for studying the aetherial sea. During the 1562 exodus, some had planned to destroy it on the way out but, as it was so valuable, they ultimately decided to lock it behind a ton of wards instead. After all, if you've been using it as a research observatory for over 200 years, how long could it possibly take - relatively speaking - for a war to wrap up? If y'all end up speaking some "Venat left the Mothercrystal if 1320 and has been hanging out in Sharlayan ever since" into existence... <shakes fist>

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

The Antitower was constructed after finding deep subterranean tunnels (circa 1311) that seemed ideal for studying the aetherial sea. During the 1562 exodus, they had planned to destroy it on the way out but, as it was so valuable, they ultimately decided to lock it behind a ton of wards instead. After all, if you've been using it as a research observatory for over 200 years, how long could it possibly take - relatively speaking - for a war to wrap up? If y'all end up speaking some "Venat left the Mothercrystal if 1320 and has been hanging out in Sharlayan ever since" into existence... <shakes fist>

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Left the Mothercrystal in 1320 and immediately put into Sharlayan Shackles, more like. I swear, I stand by my inclination that she's chained up in the basement of Old Sharlayan.

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Originally Posted by Lihtleita

once the garlean empire tried to invade eorzea (battle of silvertear skies + the fall of ala mhigo) they got scared and ran

edit: i know they did this to preserve "neutrality" but i still think theyre cowards

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I'm someone who really like a 'no hidden motives, just raw politics' angle every so often (especially in a setting where sometimes things are secretly weirder than that, it's nice to get confirmation it doesn't always turn out that way), so I honestly really want to just find out that it turns out that Sharlayan are just cowards who 'remain neutral' by running away from conflict.

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

The Antitower was constructed after finding deep subterranean tunnels (circa 1311) that seemed ideal for studying the aetherial sea. During the 1562 exodus, they had planned to destroy it on the way out but, as it was so valuable, they ultimately decided to lock it behind a ton of wards instead. After all, if you've been using it as a research observatory for over 200 years, how long could it possibly take - relatively speaking - for a war to wrap up? If y'all end up speaking some "Venat left the Mothercrystal if 1320 and has been hanging out in Sharlayan ever since" into existence... <shakes fist>

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I'd missed the given date for the establishing of the colony (from the history page) but was looking at the description of the aetherial sea on page 11 – saying that the tower was built, allowing them to open a window to the aetherial realm and "direct contact with the Mothercrystal was the next step in Sharlayan's research before the scholars were forced to flee Eorzea" following the Garlean invasion. That's ambiguous whether they made contact or were just looking into how to do it, but in any case it sounded like a more recent project than "ongoing since 1311".

Where are you getting the exact details that they found tunnels there and that they planned to destroy it on the way out? I can't see that noted in the lorebook.

Also, the whole Sharlayan history sounds fishy to me. Nyunkrepf's ark set out from the northern islands, accidentally teleported to Gyr Abania, and instead of staying in the new location they made the massive journey back to where they started from to establish a new home for themselves.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but there's certainly room for something strange and ancient to be going on with this.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but there's certainly room for something strange and ancient to be going on with this.

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Like perhaps...somebody with a powerful enough Echo who is able to glimpse the future much like how Mikoto does in the Ivalice and Bozja content, except on a grander level?

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

Like perhaps...somebody with a powerful enough Echo who is able to glimpse the future much like how Mikoto does in the Ivalice and Bozja content, except on a grander level?

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By gum, you're right!

It's Misija! Again, somehow! Queen Gunnhildr, back at it again!

Makes me wonder what they would do if Garlemald tried to invade Old Sharlayan. Like would they try and just up and move somewhere else or would they FINALLY acknowledge 'actually maybe it's okay to defend yourself against aggressors.'

At a guess, Sharlayan will never acknowledge the need for defense until the damage actually assaults them directly in their oh-so-pure city.

(Still wrathful at the destruction of the Dancers in Radz-at-Han during the Endwalker trailer).

Seeing as Sharlayan has no issues sending assassins and mercenaries after rogue Sharlayans, I'm sure they wouldn't have any issue defending themselves if attacked. They aren't pacifists at least, and probably would justify defense of the mother land as Not War if attacked.

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

The Antitower was constructed after finding deep subterranean tunnels (circa 1311) that seemed ideal for studying the aetherial sea. During the 1562 exodus, they had planned to destroy it on the way out but, as it was so valuable, they ultimately decided to lock it behind a ton of wards instead. After all, if you've been using it as a research observatory for over 200 years, how long could it possibly take - relatively speaking - for a war to wrap up? If y'all end up speaking some "Venat left the Mothercrystal if 1320 and has been hanging out in Sharlayan ever since" into existence... <shakes fist>

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Too late, by acknowledging it you've made it fanon. By this time next week I predict at least 3 threads about Venat secretly working with the Sharlayans, only differing by having her be benevolent or malevolent.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

Where are you getting the exact details that they found tunnels there and that they planned to destroy it on the way out? I can't see that noted in the lorebook.

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In the other lorebook!

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In the year 1311 of the Sixth Astral Era, scholars from the northern nation of Sharlayan discovered natural caverns that descended deep into the subterrane of the Dravanian hinterlands. Judging the site ideal for observing the aetherial sea—the heart of Hydaelyn Herself—they constructed an observatory, the Antitower, and proceeded to study the fate of the very star. As the tower underwent expansion, so too did the little settlement that serviced it grow. This settlement came to assume the role of a waypoint for successive scholarly expeditions to Eorzea before eventually blossoming into the city-state of Sharlayan.

Generations later, as the exodus drew near, there were calls for the Antitower to be demolished in order to prevent its misuse. However, its immeasurable academic value ultimately prevailed, and instead it was locked behind a slew of protective seals, whose care was left to the lone individual who chose to remain behind, the Archon Matoya.

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I feel like Sharlayan's public motives for abandoning the colony are their primary ones; maybe Sharlayan had some secret ulterior motives but I have to assume they're secondary. Firstly, the evacuation was something that was planned out for a long time; you have to remember that they basically abandoned the colony literally overnight, it wasn't something that just happened. Secondly, they did make serious attempts at trying to court Garlemald for peace/neutrality and we've seen they aren't completely opposed to the idea as shown by countries like Radz-at-Han and Koshu who maintain their independence despite being located very closely to Garlean-controlled territories. Finally, and most importantly to me, they allowed people to remain behind in the evacuation if they wished to. We've seen that Sharlayan can have an extremely strict laws imposed on their citizens and are not unwilling to assassinate or torture their own citizens to ensure that they follow their perceived ideals; while it could be argued that this is just an extremist faction with the country, we know that this group does have seating within the forum empowering it. For this reason, I cannot imagine them allowing someone like Matoya, who is both a powerful and knowledgeable individual and was a frequent critic of the Sharlayan forum to stay in the ruins of the colony for years following the evacuation if they were trying to cover something up there.

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Originally Posted by Cleretic

I'm someone who really like a 'no hidden motives, just raw politics' angle every so often (especially in a setting where sometimes things are secretly weirder than that, it's nice to get confirmation it doesn't always turn out that way), so I honestly really want to just find out that it turns out that Sharlayan are just cowards who 'remain neutral' by running away from conflict.

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Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was a purely political move. They are currently willing to let the rest of the world burn to stay neutral, so I'm not surprised that they'd retreat from Eorzea to avoid war (even though ironically Ishgard was largely untouched by the Eorzean/Garlean war).

With all their divinity they thought it best to lead a exodus away from the idylshire colony rather than bend at the knee for the empire.

They are hyper neutral to conflict and looking forward to see what’s up with that

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Originally Posted by GoldStarz

Finally, and most importantly to me, they allowed people to remain behind in the evacuation if they wished to.

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That's the strangest part, if anything. They were on the verge of making contact with Hydaelyn Herself – a phenomenal achievement – and not a single scholar opted to stay behind and complete that research instead of fleeing? Or return at the first possible opportunity once the Garleans had been driven back?

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Originally Posted by Iscah

That's the strangest part, if anything. They were on the verge of making contact with Hydaelyn Herself – a phenomenal achievement – and not a single scholar opted to stay behind and complete that research instead of fleeing? Or return at the first possible opportunity once the Garleans had been driven back?

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The Garleans weren't driven back until at least the calamity, arguably not even until ARR or SB. Keep in mind that it wasn't the invasion of Eorzea that set them on guard but the capture of Ala Mhigo/Gyr Abania. Also, we don't have any information on how many chose to stay behind, all we know is that at least Matoya did.

I don't think it's too strange that most people would chose their immediate safety over the Antitower, especially since given the breadth of Sharlayan's fields of studies I doubt the majority of people there were aetherologists.

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Originally Posted by GoldStarz

Also, we don't have any information on how many chose to stay behind, all we know is that at least Matoya did.

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Actually we do, from the quote Moose posted earlier, which describes Matoya as "the lone individual who chose to remain behind".

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Originally Posted by GoldStarz

I don't think it's too strange that most people would chose their immediate safety over the Antitower, especially since given the breadth of Sharlayan's fields of studies I doubt the majority of people there were aetherologists.

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Most people, certainly. But I find it potentially suspicious that not a single person involved in the project would want to stay and work on it as long as they could, even if the overall colony was evacuated.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

I'm fully expecting it – and wondering whether it has anything to do with the Antitower and what they found by burrowing into the aetherial sea.

The whole thing seems way too important to discover and then just abandon.

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yeah it's definitely pretty shady to me. The idea of digging down into the core of the world, discovering what is essentially a direct line to a being you consider a god, and then just... leaving it there seems really strange to me.

I'm just not sure if there's anything down there we don't know about. We've already been down there, so surely we've seen everything the Sharlayans did.