Au Ra physiology and other lore.

[jomoru]

I don't know. But I'll post mine when I can.

Also, looks like Xaela is really more popular over Raen. Lore-wise, makes more sense. That's a good thing.
I really like female Xaela's skin tones option more than Raen too. But I've the inverse opinion for males.

I would say the opposite while there might be more on this thread look at the "show your Au'ra" thread in General Raen and caucasianish skin seem to be most common.

[Cilia]

Stuff!

Here's the thing though: we literally have no idea how either Auri clan's society works. We know the Raen are settled, reclusive, live among the Domans, and consider themselves more closely related to the Dawn Father. The Xaela are nomads, engage in tribal warfare, and consider themselves more closely related to the Dusk Mother.

... and that's it. We know literally nothing else about Auri societies. For all we know the women are neither cavalry nor infantry, and support purely with spells (don't forget the existence of magic). Maybe they rely purely on their lithe physique for dodging and take up battle roles reliant on finesse over power. Maybe they don't even fight at all and are a rarity (like Miqo'te males, canonically). Or maybe it's the other way around.

We just don't know yet, and we won't until they get around to putting up the naming conventions and the lore behind them. Until then, I don't think it's really fair to say they should be more robust (though I agree on that point) since we don't even know how Auri societies function proper.

Also, looks like Xaela is really more popular over Raen. Lore-wise, makes more sense. That's a good thing.
I really like female Xaela's skin tones option more than Raen too. But I've the inverse opinion for males.

Personally, I prefer the black scales and horns over the white. Makes me feel more like I'm playing a fantasy race, while the white horns/scales makes them look like Midlanders with a skin condition.

But that's just my opinion.

[Samcaesar]

Snip

We don't know much, however this thread is largely speculation anyways, it's why it's so fun!

It still doesn't make much sense for their mages to not also train in physical activities and strive to also be as threatening as possible, after all what's more effective something that can just blast you with magic or something that can blast you with magic then cleave you in half if they miss :P It'd be interesting I suppose if they don't have a close to 1:1 ratio like the Miqo'te, but in the same breath, I'd hope they'd either stick to something more traditional (~1:~1) or something different, not that I could think of an alternative at the moment.

That said, magic in FFXIV is a weird thing.. The Garleans are such a supposed threatening force, yet in the opening cutscene you see a mage decimate one of their Magitek Walkers with what looks like relative ease. It doesn't really seem to have any major disadvantages with the exception of people being wary of them due to the whole War of the Magi thing.

Honestly I just think the huge differences between the boy and girl Au Ra are just bunk and dumb >.> I'm very big on Author's intent and whenever I hear the author's purpose for a girl's character design is "moe" I can't help but get a bit upset.

Still sooo excited for any bit of Au Ra lore though.

[Raminax]

Rawr!

I'm thinking you've misinterpreted me. My original intent was simply to find possible reasons that Raen and Xaela could have similar builds, despite the obvious difference in culture. I wasn't endorsing the current Au'ra female. If I had to choose, female Au'ra wouldn't look like they belonged to an entirely different species. We've already got lots of cute females everywhere, I feel we didn't really need more. So at least with current Auri females, I agree with you. I've never been a fan of excessive dimorphism, especially when fantastic females tend to just look like really beautiful humans for the sake of pandering.

Rawr!

W-Well... Xaela look like Hyur that have necrosis then! D:

#StrongIndependentRaenWhoNeedsNoWoman

(Incidentally, don't google necrosis if you're squeamish. Fair warning.)

[Mahri]

Come on now, you're saying you'd rather fight Merlwyb over Lolorito? Lolorito might plot revenge from the grave, but you'd still destroy his feeble Lalafellian body!

Trachtoum vs. Pipin Tarupin. Go!

(You are thinking too hard about this. Maybe this is what this thread is for, but still!)

[Cilia]

It still doesn't make much sense for their mages to not also train in physical activities and strive to also be as threatening as possible, after all what's more effective something that can just blast you with magic or something that can blast you with magic then cleave you in half if they miss...

Well, maybe. But by that same logic everyone in every army should be trained in every discipline, which just isn't realistic. On an individual level it's easy for us to do so, but soldiers are... y'know... soldiers, and they don't have the time to train in multiple disciplines. When you're part of an army (military or otherwise), it's best to specialize in one role instead of trying to take on multiple tasks. Nothing says they can't, but that's how armies usually work.

So... still no way to know how Xaela hunting / war parties are organized, so no point in fussing over it.

Honestly I just think the huge differences between the boy and girl Au Ra are just bunk and dumb >.> I'm very big on Author's intent and whenever I hear the author's purpose for a girl's character design is "moe" I can't help but get a bit upset.

I don't agree with the intentionally moé design either (that's what we have Lalafell for, dammit!), but instead of being upset I took it as a challenge to make an attractive but still tough-ish woman (without knee-jerking to the "meanfase"), just like I took the Highlander female as a challenge to make a tough but still attractive woman. In spite of the inherently cute body language...

... I think I succeeded.

I think. We'll have to see how many people hit on me in-game (in spite of the fact I'm a G.I.R.L.).

[Viridiana]

It still doesn't make much sense for their mages to not also train in physical activities and strive to also be as threatening as possible, after all what's more effective something that can just blast you with magic or something that can blast you with magic then cleave you in half if they miss :P

Only so many hours in a day. And an archer who can thread an eye slit at a hundred paces is more terrifying to me than one who can hit the chest at fifty paces and open my belly with a sword at three paces.

[WyrahFhurrst]

Well, that's... a bit contextual. As it stands, pretty much any race is going to be a better assassin in Eorzea than the Au Ra, purely because they're so few in number. Assassination requires either being able to blend in or remain undetected; the former is highly difficult for the Au Ra in present Eorzea, even in "casual" clothing. Stealth is something every ninja is trained in, but if we were to go with "realistic" stealth / assassination missions (a la my favorite stealth game ever, Deus Ex: Human Revolution), you'd need to be good at hiding. Otherwise, we've got Assassin's Creed-style assassination / stealth missions, and to do that you need to be able to blend in... which no Au Ra can presently do in Eorzea.

The present "stealth" mechanics don't... don't count. A toggle to be invisible isn't proper stealth. You only get one proper stealth mission as part of one NIN quest.

I'm sorry, are you saying that a magical ability from a people who have access to magic "doesn't count"? The stealth mechanics count just as much as any other because they work in the context of the setting we have. That means that the female Au Ra can do it just fine, being small and lithe and capable of hiding using their magical stealth abilities. The reason I say Male Roegadyn and Male Au Ra would have a hard time is that they're so bulky that it'd be hard to accept them pulling off the animations that a ninja performs.

[lilirulu]

I had a theory why the males are so much larger then the females. It may be because, like deer, the men compete with each other for the attention of the females so they are physically larger to show they are the better mate. It'd, also, go to explain why males horns are larger and more "pointy" then the females.

[Hivernica]

Here is mine. Didn't want her to be too cute, but it's kinda hard :/