The Seventh Umbral Age is Upon Us

[Cairdeas]

Thanks to Fusionx over at GamerEscape Eorzeapedia for compiling the information.

http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/2011/04...lmost-upon-us/

Shows the original Article. As well as all the pictures. But heres some of the contents of the article.

Yesterday people started to find Deaspected Crystals, crystals drained of their elemental aspect. Today, it rained all over Eorzea and the music has disappeared from Thanalan. Urianger Augurelt (a GM Arcanist NPC) has been appearing at random, giving buffs to adventurers before disappearing. On some occasions, he has left a message:

Hear my words if you are in search of truth…
The disaster in Hydaelyn is imminent…
The time of awakening has come for those who are preparing to tackle the chaos in motion…
The future is not immutable… You can still change it…
When the sixth sun will have set and the seventh moon shine in the sky, the ocean of clouds poured a rain of fiery flames and shadows fatal burst forth from the depths of the earth…
The “Seventh Purification” predicted by Mezaya approaches…
You who are in search of truth… wake up and put yourself against the imminent threat…

Some parts of that dialogue may seem somewhat familiar and in fact, this is not the first mention that we’ve had of Mezaya.




This short verse was given to us by Yoshida as part of his New Years message. Notice the name at the bottom? This “Seventh Verse” is the “Seventh Purification” that the mysterious NPC refers to. Our translator Corinth has also pointed out that part of the dialogue from the NPC is a direct translation of the first two lines of the Japanese version of the same verse shown above.

We’ve heard from Yoshida that dangers and threats are coming soon to Eorzea. Ever since patch 1.17 was implemented, the dialogue of certain NPCs has changed telling tales of Ul’dahn ferries being attacked and other messages referring to attacks by the Empire. There has also been dialogue mentioned in some of the recently added quests that aid us in piecing together the puzzle in front of us.

Potential spoilers are contained below taken from the quest “Of Archons and Muses”

Remember all the rain? According to the loremaster’s books there was an “age of shadow and calamity some fifteen hundred-odd years ago, when a great flood drowned the world- the sixth Umbral Era, they called it. Believers say it was the twelve Archons what came to fight the darkness then.”

The entire purpose of Hatching-tide, Eorzea’s Easter event, is to make the Archons return to Eorzea. However, this may turn out to be a bad thing as the quest dialogue goes on to explain:

“Ahldbhar (an Archon in the form of a Roegadyn said to be Rhalgr the Destroyer himself) fought relentlessly against a clan of wicked sorcerers that sought only to wreak havoc on the world through their dark powers. But then, something happened… Something that threw Ahldbhar into deep despair. And in the end, he turned and took up with the enemy, though none can say as to why.”

With the odd rain and the mention of a flood followed by the arrival of the Archons, one thing seems certain: with the conclusion of Hatching-tide comes the Seventh Umbral Era. The Sixth Umbral era as stated above occurred about 1,500 years ago which is also the last recorded emergence of the Grand Companies.

Does this mean we’ll see an update after Hatching-tide ends on May 9th? Perhaps shortly after? Will the Archons arrive in Eorzea? And more importantly, will they be friendly? Given the connections between Grand Companies and the upcoming dungeons/raids, it seems possible that we could find ourselves fighting against the twelve Archons. And of course we cannot talk about this without mentioning Gridania. We’ve already heard that there are plans to re-design the Black Shroud, tying it into the lore of the world would be a great way to do it.

Have you put all these pieces together differently? Give us your version in our forums!

Oh and Congrats to the Eorzeapedia, FFXIclopedia, and Pet Food Alpha Teams on their new venture of GamerEscape

[Eldaena]

Oh noes >.<

[Synapse]

i hope this is something interesting, like area gets under attacked by mythical monsters and not continuation of egg hunt -_-;

also, there is another thread that actually has picture of the NPC GM casting AoE buffs.

edit: ah here it is http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...da-GM-was-this

[Akumu]

Gotta hand it to ya Cair you be on the look out! Great find and great to read.
Will patch 1.18 be the patch to stop these troll threads!! Maybe not since no patch will but it still sounds great.

+1 OP

[BelgianRofl]

I've been let down far too many times to expect something cool to happen. I'll just assume it's going to be lame as usual. This way, if it actually is cool, it'll be a pleasant surprise.

[gifthorse]

The Dreamers are evil sorcerers, perpetrating a scam to destroy Eorzea as we know it.

[Eldaena]

I've been let down far too many times to expect something cool to happen. I'll just assume it's going to be lame as usual. This way, if it actually is cool, it'll be a pleasant surprise.

Well, at any rate I'm pleasantly surprised already. They have thus far been announcing these events before, and even if this is how the hatching-tide event is suppose to end, I don't think any of us saw it coming in this way. Tying into even that little bit from the new year? It's interesting to see things coming together.

[Corrderio]

*Crosses fingers for epic war*

[Betelgeuzah]

There's more to it although a lot is mere speculation.

An NPC has mentioned that the Garleans are planning an attack against the Primals, or eikons as they call them- for they are, according to them, false gods. It is made clear in the missions that the Primals are not friendly to our kind either. Further, some characters even lead us to believe that the Garleans are the lesser of two evils, and that the Primals are the real threat. If the 7th Umbral Era were to begin, it would be likely that the Primals and the beast tribes are the ones to start it. While it can not be said that the Empire is on our side, it is likely that they have started advancing to stop the Primals, and do not consider felling the city-states as their primary objective. Yet they are using us to try to make us and the Primals fight against each other, as that would be beneficial for them.

In the end all signs point out to this being a war between three opposing factions: The allied city-states with the help of the Grand Companies, the Empire and the Beast tribes with the help of Primals.

Who knows how the Wyrmking and Ishgard will be linked to all this. And where do the Archons fit in all this? Will they betray us yet again, causing us to have to fight them? It doesn't seem like they have a clear allegiance.

[Corrderio]

You know... Yoshida did say something about Bahamut awhile back. I wonder if he be invovled in this as a Primal somehow.