Au Ra physiology and other lore.

[Samcaesar]

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It's ambiguous currently. Concept art that says Race_Dragon for the design that's closest to the in game model and the staff during the European press conference claimed them to be reptilian. On the other hand, there's been repeated "There motif is demons" sort of stuff, but people aren't sure if that was just their initial design theme, them going too far with the "Succubus like look" comment, or something else. Early in the thread someone posed the idea of them being based off the creation myth of the Vietnamese children, being born of dragon and Voidsent/Aetheric being in FFXIV's universe, which might actually have some credibility. Currently in game their exact nature is debated among scholars.

Personally I'm going with (and hoping) a draconic nature simply because I like dragons over demons >.>

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Harley Quinn isn't a bad example, however the character herself has also been written rather terribly at times imho >.> Plus she's fictional, therefore certain characteristics like muscular strength can be thrown out of the window for artist interpretation and wants with how they wish the character to look. That's still no excuse due to the fact that if we are to expect things to be a bit believable and immersive then they should function in a similar way, ie physically tough people have a body that shows muscle growth and density.

Honestly a better example would be Samantha Wright, a professional weight lifter, the issue is Au Ra girls clearly don't have her body shape at all.

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Psycho =! Tough though. Sure they could be /scary/ but the question is why aren't the girl Xaela as imposing and tough looking as the men? It's less of a "petite/cute girls can act tough!" issue and more of a "Why aren't the warring nomads tough looking?" issue.

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That's a reasonable answer on why the Raen and Xaela don't look very different actually, however it doesn't answer the question of why are the Au Ra so different structurally/anatomy wise between their men and women. Segregating your armed forces like that isn't the smartest ideas tactics wise, it means entirely separate training camps for people who should be learning the same skills to be as effective as possible.

Plus, cavalry still need to go through intense training in other forms of combat anyways, otherwise if you're without your horse or bow you're a sitting duck. Bringing it back to the mongols' cavalry troops, while their main weapon was the bow, it was generally the idea that they'd also have a sword or hatchet to also use to also use in the field or as backup. Arrows will have a limited supply, but a dull sword still has a sharp point and all.

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Well, look at the Hyurs, the Highlanders growing up in a much more tougher environment therefore had to develop to be larger in appearance, while the Midlanders grew in more moderate environments and therefore had less of a sociological/biological reason to bulk up. Why shoulder the Xaela, growing in a tougher environment, be tougher anatomy wise?

I really don't get why people want that >.> The other concept art for the Au Ra (specifically the girls) isn't too different, just weird arms/feet, massive horns, actual ears, it's not too different that what we've got.

Heck, because I'm enjoying learning about Mongolians, everyone in the thread might be interested to read up on a Mongolian warrior by the name of Khutulun! She was immensily strong in combat and also pretty darn beautiful from what I'm been reading, while her story is a little bit mythological-like, it's still kinda interesting.

Do you all expect any difference on character creation from Benchmark to the actual expansion?

No, I'm saying it makes little sense from most perspectives that the Xaela girls are so petite and waifish. I don't expect them to change it ever, but it sure as hell would be nice if they did.