Oriental References

[Mjollnir]

So most probably thanks to Romans here on Earth, we refer to everything East of Ancient Rome as The Orient, hence Oriental.

At first, I thought the terminology was a bit out-of-place in Eorzea, and grudgingly suspended my disbelief slightly higher in order that the fantasy remain complete (yeah, looking at you Hollandaise Sauce).

But then it occurred to me that the Garlean Empire is heavily influenced by the Roman Empire, including the use of Latin. The opposite of 'Oriens' being 'Occidens' (West) being familiar nomenclature already.

So happily my immersion hasn't been ruined, as clearly Hydaelyn's Orient lies to the East of the Garlean Empire and hence these goods have come from there (plz insert Moose lore database character quotation below).

Of course that means that the Garleans regard Eorzea as one.. big.. occident!

Still not happy about that sauce though, which is clearly interdimensional in origin.

[WellFooled]

There will always be unavoidable cross contamination between the real world and any fictional world, particularly when the fictional places are rooted in real cultures (as is the case in FFXIV). A fictional world without any influence from ours would be so alien we wouldn't know what to make of it. I wouldn't worry too much about the sauce or references to The Orient.

That said, do we know the location of The Garlean Empire exact enough to know if your theory could be true?

[ExKage]

Well we know that the Garleans originate from the Ilsabard (Northeast of Aldenard / Eorzea) and we've been told that Othard is the eastern-most continent. A lot of the Garlean titles and names seem connected to Roman Empire or latin origins. If not Latin it's, taken from an Anonymoose post, "pre-Latin Proto-Indo-European"

[Aura_Shurifon]

For information :
In french, the "Hollandaise sauce" is named "Sauce Ishgardaise" (same in deutch).
It's named "hollandaise" in english and japanese though.

[DarthSanguine]

That said, do we know the location of The Garlean Empire exact enough to know if your theory could be true?

Yes, the Garlean Empire controls the entirety of the continents of Ilsabard and Othard, as well as the region of Gyr Abania in Eorzea. Their capital, Garlemald, is located on the northern continent Ilsabard located across the Bloodbrine.

[DarthSanguine]

Well we know that the Garleans originate from the Ilsabard (Northeast of Aldenard / Eorzea) and we've been told that Othard is the eastern-most continent. A lot of the Garlean titles and names seem connected to Roman Empire or latin origins. If not Latin it's, taken from an Anonymoose post, "pre-Latin Proto-Indo-European"

Ilsabard is north of Eorzea, Othard is the one to the north-east (we can even see a part of it shrouded in clouds on the Eorzea map labeled "The Garlean Empire").

[myahele]

Here's the known maps thusfar. It's a shame we don't see too much of the north, but we do see quite alot of the eastern continent (othard?) What's interesting is that the Northern Continent where Garleans and Sharlayans originate is called the "Old World" so I am guessing that Eaorzea is probably the youngest settled continent amongst the 3? (excluding the newly discovered western continent)

[Anonymoose]

But then it occurred to me that the Garlean Empire is heavily influenced by the Roman Empire, including the use of Latin. The opposite of 'Oriens' being 'Occidens' (West) being familiar nomenclature already.

Indeed, "Garlean" (Latin) is quite a good excuse, the same way "Eorzean" (English) invites a lot of other familiar terminology into the game.
And that's not even to mention the fact that Eorzea is also based on the Greek city-states!

(plz insert Moose lore database character quotation below).

Ohhh, no need. But, I just toss it on the pile with the other real-world parallels - near east, far east, new world.

Still not happy about that sauce though, which is clearly interdimensional in origin.

It's named "hollandaise" in english and japanese though.

HAAAAA. I'm not the only one who was like, "Wait, what?" Here's my plan, we get Fernehalwes or Corvinoobus in here, and they'll spin us a yarn about how (like Rabanastre is also a city in Othard) Holland is ancient Elezen jargon for a wooded territory (holt-land) from whose inhabitants many recipes descend. Bam. Problem solved. Thanks, Wildwoods.

That said, do we know the location of The Garlean Empire exact enough to know if your theory could be true?

I would think so. Ilsabard is north-east of Eorzea, and Othard is east of that. Either way you spin it, we're headed oriens.

<moon-view resource image>

Here's a cleaned-up version of the "moon map" that I made a while back, just for kicks. I haven't spread it around much, though, because signs point to it being, "Ehhh, good enough for what they used it for but maybe don't take it too literally as the actual definitive map of Hydaelyn."

[ExKage]

Ilsabard is north of Eorzea, Othard is the one to the north-east (we can even see a part of it shrouded in clouds on the Eorzea map labeled "The Garlean Empire").

Both locations "Ilsabard being northeast of Aldenard" and Othard being the "easternmost continent" are taken from Gamerescape's pages http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Ilsabard and http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Othard. I see no reason not to believe that Ilsabard is being shown in the map as "The Garlean Empire" instead of Othard.

[VargasVermillion]

Aldenard is actually meant to be the smallest of the '3 great continents' so I imagine the world extends even farther out from the 'moon map'.