Hydaelyn at large (is there a compilation of info yet?)

[Kyan]

Hello all.

I'm loving the little tid-bits of information you get about the beastmen tribes from the daily quests, are you enjoying them? Particularly the Amalj'aa (although, I have loved the sylph since 1.0!). I am starting to jot down notes and quotes and screenshot-ing dialogue (I love I can take screen shots in cutscenes on my PS3 now, yay!) and really loving the amount of effort put in.

I have a question though, arising from the Amalj'aa quest lines. I will be paraphrasing and not using direct quotes, but it is all based on a daily quest and item information provided in game.

Amalj'aa seem to use fire and items in divinations - these predictions are a traditional method of choosing the best strategy for war or battle (and I can assume other things in their culture). They seem to have an honour based code of ethics as warriors, and are also capable smithies, as demonstrated by the wares for sale and some of the npcs forging weapons. Seen in the fishing log item description, and reinforced in their daily quests, they are a nomadic, tribal race, which has a somewhat spiritual connection to the land.

Back to the divinations, the items you are required to collect for the Circle of Ash are giant tortoise shells (I believe the Iron Tortoise, specifically), which are burned with wildfire sprite cores. It is mentioned that this is a traditional, long used custom. As we know from the fish guide and the adamantoise shell description, Adamantoise are actually a foreign species to Eorzea, introduced from the Near East. How long have they been in Eorzea for? I'm not sure. But long enough to be incorporated into Amalj'aa traditions? Or, did the Amalj'aa also originate from the Near East, and migrated over to Eorzea?

Edit: On pondering further, you can actually mine adamantoise shells in Northern Thanalan. So, this makes me think that the giant tortoises have indeed been in Eorzea for a really, really long time - and that there was a mass tortoise grave, or an event that caused a lot to die around Camp Bluefog. I wonder how they were first introduced?

[Anonymoose]

I wonder how they were first introduced?

Now that you mention it, that is kind of weird...

Also from the Fishing Log (Tiny Tortoise):
Not native to Eorzea, the first adamantoise to arrive in the realm is believed to have been mixed in with a shipment of dodo eggs from the Near East.

Interestingly, in 1572, the very first Hatching-tide was celebrated with eggs shipped in from Radz-at-Han (capital of Thavnair, an island of the Near East), and it was frequently commented on that these eggs were supposed to be unfertilized dodo eggs, but they were clearly fertilized not-dodo eggs. Could this have been an early hint of Adamantoise to come? But then how the hell did they get so big? One FATE, Bigger Than Life, says that they can take upwards of 80 years to reach this size. Should we assume that they've just been hiding on us the whole time? A mixture of hidden ones, long-dead ones, and recently re-introduced ones? Hmmm...