Serpents of the Twelve: Slaves of the Allag?

[Mysteltain]

Keep in mind that we never met who Nael van Darnus really was. By the time he came to Eorzea, he'd been absorbed in the will of "Almighty Dalamud" for ten years. Who's to say how much of him represented the "real" him. There's a chance that the Nael beside Louisoix is the true van Darnus freed. I suppose we'll have to wait and see...

Really? I never played 1.0, myself, but I assumed that Nael was only under the influence of Dalamud when his eyes turned red and he got that weird aura around him. That definitely changes my perspective on him.

[Anonymoose]

Really? I never played 1.0, myself, but I assumed that Nael was only under the influence of Dalamud when his eyes turned red and he got that weird aura around him. That definitely changes my perspective on him.

It was a progressive thing. (Here's hoping I word all this right.) Bahamut officially got in his head when they first turned on the Lunar Transmitter (not really knowing what it was for), and everything he did from that point on was warped by the will of Bahamut. He was misled into believing that he served "Almighty Dalamud" itself, who was leading him to free the world from the Astral/Umbral cycle by "purifying" it. From this destruction could arise creation, and through House Darnus the knowledge of the ancient Allag would be restored. Pretty twisted version of the truth, no? Anyway, Nael obeyed Dalamud's will to make the moon descend, using the promise of Meteor to bring the Emperor around to the cause. The closer Dalamud got, the more magickal power he was given. This is the source of the glowing early on, and during the final battle he gives his body over as a vessel entirely.

Keeping self-promotion to a minimum, if you haven't read it yet, I wrote a summary of the gone-forever story of Nael's rise and fall, with a focus on the Garlean perspective, that may be of interest to you if you're really into that part of the lore. SE really went all out crafting Eorzea, using the best of the Final Fantasy library as inspiration - preserving information about the world and story as I go is my favorite part of the game ^^

[Mysteltain]

I remember reading through that when the 2.0 forums first went live, and even now I've gotta say: that's a damn good read! Reading through pieces like that always make me want to pay more attention to NPC dialogue, quest storylines, etc. There's only so much of the story they can put in through the questlines, and I always feel a little bad when I roll through the dialogue without really paying attention, haha! Guess I just need to get into that Demons' Souls/Dark Souls mindset, but without the quick-reference of item and spell descriptions. So, more committing to memory and less reading through casually =P

But I digress a bit. What strikes me as interesting is that Nael simply coming into contact with the Lunar Transmitter the first time directly lead to Bahamut imprinting his will upon him (ie, Tempering). So from that, I assume the purpose of the Transmitter was originally meant as a way to 'communicate' with Bahamut, or at the very least establish some form of contact. But then, if the Allagans tried--and failed--to control Bahamut, thus leading to his imprisonment and exile to space, why would they develop a machine to remain in contact? To make sure the jail they constructed still held? Which leads me to another thought: is the signal from the Lunar Transmitter one-way or two-way? Were the Allagans aware of just how far reaching Bahamut's influence was and they underestimated it (although outer space would seem like a great idea, regardless), or did Bahamut manage to hijack the signal sent from it? Heck, were they aware of the Tempering process of Primals to begin with?

Bah, now you've got me thinking and rambling random ideas off xD It's moments like these that I wish I'd be able to go through the 1.0 world and look up this stuff, because right now I feel like I'm spitballing to people who already have a good handle on things, haha!

[NoloeTazier]

The Lunar Transmitter the Allagans had may have been what sent Bahamut/Dalamud into orbit, a little reverse engineering by Cid's father and blammo it could be made to bring Dalamud back. As for the events after Turn 5, I agree with Moose and others, I highly doubt Louisoix is still alive (in terms of aging/breathing/all that good stuff). If aether has the ability to affect memories and can create images, then its reasonable for Louisoix and Nael van Darnus to be there, but does it mean Louisoix was absorbed by Bahamut? I don't know and we probably won't know until further Turns inside the Coil. One thing that is odd to me is if Dalamud was created to imprison Bahamut, why were there monsters (Mirror Knights) and defense drones (ADS) in or on the structure. Did Allagans plan or have made spaceships to visit Dalamud? If the very nature of Dalamud's orbit was enough to be a defense from Eorzea, why the Defense Nodes...its like the Allagans planned defenses so if people traveled into space that Dalamud would be potentially protected while protecting the prisoner inside.

[axemtitanium]

I suppose it's not uncommon for prisons to have defenses. Do we assume that the ADS nodes came from the Dalamud shard that pierced the Binding Coil, and not from the Binding Coil itself? It's still not clear what the order of operations is. After the Calamity, was Bahamut moved into some cavern in La Noscea, and that became named the Binding Coil of Bahamut? Or did the Dalamud shard land there first, and Bahamut was moved inside after?

[NoloeTazier]

That's the thing about Dalamud's defenses, they clearly weren't there to keep Bahamut in. But to keep people out, but shouldn't sending Bahamut into space be defense enough? Or maybe the Allagans were so far technological wise that they viewed a way for transportation to Dalamud and maybe study Bahamut while he's in a stasis without a supply of aether? After all if it all it took was for reverse engineering of the Lunar Transmitter to bring Dalamud back, why bother for defenses on/in the structure at all. There's definitely more to Dalamud than just a prison for Bahamut and we're currently seeing it with Turns 1 to 5.

It's not that the Binding Coil of Bahamut was in La Noscea, its that the Garlean base uncovered it there. The BOC is clearly so far under ground that you could reach it from Thanalan/Mor Dhona if you dug far enough. La Noscea is a volcanic island, the soil is perfect for digging.

For those who haven't tried Turn 1, spoiler:

For Louisoix to have the power (perhaps) to dissect Bahamut into multiple parts inside the Binding Coil, he definitely had/has powers that no other Scion knew about or was told about. Perhaps knowledge and power passed down directly in line to those who assume the Allseer title.

[Magnesium02]

There's a chance that the Nael beside Louisoix is the true van Darnus freed. I suppose we'll have to wait and see...

Hahaha. Now I am picturing them like the ghosts of Obi Wan and Darth Vader hanging out watching the party at the end of Return of the Jedi XD

[Toranja]

Hahaha. Now I am picturing them like the ghosts of Obi Wan and Darth Vader hanging out watching the party at the end of Return of the Jedi XD

I was expecting someone to make a Star Wars reference. Have my like.

[Ferr]

Coil is not a prison. Alisaes says in a Turn 5 cutscene

#10 Alisaie It is all but certain, then... After Bahamut disappeared five years ago, he hid himself deep beneath Carteneau, and has since lain dormant, regenerating.

http://xivdb.com/?quest/66696/Alisaie%27s-Pledge

[Urielparadox]

I have a question that might be answered by someone who has done the summoner storyline. If the allag created the art of summoners and those who did were respected and seen with aww, as stated on page I think 3, Then how were they able to summon anything in the first place? The allag had to be able to be return a primal to it's aether, so how did these first summoners come about doing this without being tempered themselves? What is carbuncle exactly in this game, is he a primal? we never beat him so how can we summon him, I know hes not an egi but what is he?