2015 14-hour Anniversary Broadcast Lore Panel Wrap Up

[Hempen_Kecks]

Am I the only person thinking that the Void Ark is just another facility associated with Azys Lla, merely the one associated with research into Voidsent?

Very glad to hear the details about Mhach, but, I'm sticking with my awkward little headcanon about the War of the Magi. I propose that the antagonists each praised one of the Warring Triad above the other: the Amdapori and their White Magic revering Goddess, the Mhachi and their Black Magic revering Demon, and the Nymians with their Arcane Magic revering Fiend. The Amdapori prayed so hard to Goddess at the end of the conflict that her spirit possessed the Flagship (much like we're seeing now with Alexander), and the three cities had parts of them ripped right out of the ground. Nym is largely composed of floating bits of masonry with corrupted crystals by this point, and Amdapor Township is sited in the trunk of a massive tree.

Before the revelation that Mhach was in the Yafaem Saltmoor, I supposed that it was like to have been sited in the chasm where the Invisible City is, now; the ruins there hanging out over the drop as though something "calamitous" happened to them.

As an aside, the areas we've seen the Void Ark aren't particular to the Dravanian side; it's been spotted plenty of times on the Abalathian side as well.

[Belhi]

Am I the only person thinking that the Void Ark is just another facility associated with Azys Lla, merely the one associated with research into Voidsent?

Very glad to hear the details about Mhach, but, I'm sticking with my awkward little headcanon about the War of the Magi. I propose that the antagonists each praised one of the Warring Triad above the other: the Amdapori and their White Magic revering Goddess, the Mhachi and their Black Magic revering Demon, and the Nymians with their Arcane Magic revering Fiend. The Amdapori prayed so hard to Goddess at the end of the conflict that her spirit possessed the Flagship (much like we're seeing now with Alexander), and the three cities had parts of them ripped right out of the ground. Nym is largely composed of floating bits of masonry with corrupted crystals by this point, and Amdapor Township is sited in the trunk of a massive tree.

Before the revelation that Mhach was in the Yafaem Saltmoor, I supposed that it was like to have been sited in the chasm where the Invisible City is, now; the ruins there hanging out over the drop as though something "calamitous" happened to them.

As an aside, the areas we've seen the Void Ark aren't particular to the Dravanian side; it's been spotted plenty of times on the Abalathian side as well.

We really have had nothing to indicate that the three nations worshiped the Warring Triad and we know they worshiped the twelve (ie. The Wanderer's Palace). The other point is that we know the Warring Triad are already summoned and contained and half of the point of the Allag containment of Primals was that it kept them from being resummoned.

As for the Invisible City, didn't it get revealed during the Calamity 5 years earlier? Its been a while but I was under the impression that the mess Bahamut made caused that chasm.

[StarDrake]

For a long time, I myself had been thinking that the Santoshin had to be connected to the Fifth Astral cities - three combatants, a War of the Magi, each city ruined in a unique way, it seemed almost too obvious.

And apparently, it was, because it's rather difficult to reconcile any worship, even in Mhach, of the Triad since they were probably not even known, and even if they were would not be able to answer any kind of summons, which would absolutely put a damper on this sort of worship. Still, the Void Ark should be interesting, as should that list of Heavensward Primals~

(I am a little surprised to hear that Mhach was out in Yafaem, though. Nobody's even talked about that area much and it's easy to forget it's even on the map. I know everyone prior to now had figured The Third WotM Combatant City That Wasn't Named During 1.x And 2.x Discussions must have also been in Thanalan, or maybe Paglth'an. It'll be interesting to see if we get to visit Yafaem in this content cycle. Maybe!)

[Hempen_Kecks]

What's problematic about Azys Lla is that whether The Cathedral's textures are Mhachi, Belah'dian, or Sil'dihn, they are either an indicator of major activity well after the fall of the Allagans, or the single largest and most egregious continuity error in the entire game. I realize what I've suggested involves a bit of mental gymnastics, and I look forward to the actual answer being revealed.

[AriaEnia]

What about the theories "Miqo'te was a race created by Allagan Empire, as one of those life mixing / crossbreeding / chimeras result."?
About how G'raha Tia has an Allagan eye, which means he descended (or probably created) from an Allagan ancestor?

Eh, one thing I'm still wondering about, the shinobis, the very first trash mobs in Syrcus Tower, are they human? or clones created by Allagan? Or were they from Doma?

[Belhi]

What's problematic about Azys Lla is that whether The Cathedral's textures are Mhachi, Belah'dian, or Sil'dihn, they are either an indicator of major activity well after the fall of the Allagans, or the single largest and most egregious continuity error in the entire game. I realize what I've suggested involves a bit of mental gymnastics, and I look forward to the actual answer being revealed.

Not really. You simply could have it the other way round meaning the Mhachi simply copied Allag architectural concepts. Considering the Garleans are copying other specs of Allag design and aesthetic, its not a stretch to think the Mhachi might of as well.

[Daralii]

What about the theories "Miqo'te was a race created by Allagan Empire, as one of those life mixing / crossbreeding / chimeras result."?
About how G'raha Tia has an Allagan eye, which means he descended (or probably created) from an Allagan ancestor?

Eh, one thing I'm still wondering about, the shinobis, the very first trash mobs in Syrcus Tower, are they human? or clones created by Allagan? Or were they from Doma?

G'raha doesn't need to have an Allagan ancestor. IIRC the text said the blood was imbued in his forefather using "The most advanced technology of Allag."

[Fenral]

What's problematic about Azys Lla is that whether The Cathedral's textures are Mhachi, Belah'dian, or Sil'dihn, they are either an indicator of major activity well after the fall of the Allagans, or the single largest and most egregious continuity error in the entire game.

The Allagan Empire is far too advanced to be constrained by your technologically inferior notions of proper continuity.

Eh, one thing I'm still wondering about, the shinobis, the very first trash mobs in Syrcus Tower, are they human? or clones created by Allagan? Or were they from Doma?

Clones, like Unei and Doga, but without an individual will, just tools created to be disposed of for the greater good of all mankind at the time their creators see fit. So, pretty much exactly the same as Unei and Doga, actually.

What about the theories "Miqo'te was a race created by Allagan Empire, as one of those life mixing / crossbreeding / chimeras result."?
About how G'raha Tia has an Allagan eye, which means he descended (or probably created) from an Allagan ancestor?

G'raha doesn't need to have an Allagan ancestor. IIRC the text said the blood was imbued in his forefather using "The most advanced technology of Allag."

Well, he'd need at the very least to have an ancestor who was in Allag at the time of the fall, which probably means Allagan by citizenship, if not birth. The Eye itself is not a hereditary trait of all Allagans, but the physical expression of the presence of a certain biomechanical something carried in the blood of the Royal Family and their most trusted advisors.

G'raha being rather cruelly treated as a child because of his one red eye is outright stated in his post Syrcus Tower Small Talk, but never elaborated on, though I imagine he was treated not unlike Hilda, our first known mixed-race character. It raises more questions than answers, considering Seeker family structure, and that his father and his father's father also had the eye, and all this implies there being more to the story than what they told us. Or may ever tell us. But who knows?

[Cilia]

What's problematic about Azys Lla is that whether The Cathedral's textures are Mhachi, Belah'dian, or Sil'dihn, they are either an indicator of major activity well after the fall of the Allagans, or the single largest and most egregious continuity error in the entire game.

Not necessarily. While this is a very story-heavy game, I've seen way too many people looking for way too much in way too small details (like this). The simplest answer is "the designers didn't have the resources to put unique textures into Azys Lla's Cathedral, or they didn't want to spend the resources to do so," and the simplest answer is usually the correct one. If you take a step back and look at it from a game design perspective, it's... not that big a deal.

Now, does this make prior activity on Azys Lla impossible? Well, no. ~5000 years passed between the fall of Allag and our arrival; it's highly unlikely nobody ever went there before us, given Bismarck is confirmed to not be an Elder Primal (so the key couldn't have been in his stomach that whole time). Maybe that's where the Mhachi learned Void arts...?

[Nalien]

Now, does this make prior activity on Azys Lla impossible? Well, no. ~5000 years passed between the fall of Allag and our arrival; it's highly unlikely nobody ever went there before us, given Bismarck is confirmed to not be an Elder Primal (so the key couldn't have been in his stomach that whole time). Maybe that's where the Mhachi learned Void arts...?

I can't recall the times given, but didn't the nodes given an indication of that last time Azys Lla was visited/used?

And we know Bismark didn't have the key the whole time, I recall the quest telling us that the key was kept on a specific island. When Bismark was summoned and started eating islands, it ended up in him.

I wonder if the Vanu daily quests might shed some light on their history some what... I still find it very odd how much they know of Azys Lla... They may not have known specifics, but they knew it was a bad place and they seemed to have been guarding the key for generations. There has got to be some connection between them and the Allag, with that in mind... Unless a kindly Ascian just happened to deliver them the key, but that just seems odd (more so given the Ascians then needed key to get the pope access to Azys Lla...).