Gerun Oracles

[Anonymoose]

By bet, The 12 origenal Ascian Overlords are The Twelve (where as these are simply semi-mortal substitutes) while Elidibus and THE ORIGENAL Warrior of Light make up the 14.

For a while, I was thinking that 12 "transmigratory" Ascians were the Twelve, and the two "original" Ascians (Elidibus and Lahabrea) made fourteen, but I didn't see a white robe in the Fourteen Overlords cutscene and I couldn't work the math back out to line it all up, again, lol.

Then again, the outfits might not be conclusive. We didn't see white robes until 2.1 concept art, and have you ever noticed that all the Ascians in the first Chrysalis cutscene are the wrong models? They're all lacking their "overlord shoulder pads" and wearing black masks, but speaking with overlord name plates. I can see the masks; perhaps their "real" ones haven't been designed by the dev. team yet. But to just throw them out there in underling robes, too? Anyway, I digress, outfits might not mean jack. Either interpretation (my discarded one, your proposed one) could be accurate.

The thing that really gives me the most pause, though, is that (in addition to the moogles and several NPCs), the narrator had said that members among Twelve have smiled upon / spoken to us recently, and their sentiments imply that they are on Hydaelyn's side. Taken along with "Eorzea, a land loved of the Gods" being the preface of pretty much every PR stint, the idea of Ascians being the Twelve is so irksome. Granted, the narrator was Louisoix, which is a whole other can of worms.

Even today, on some level, I suspect that the Age of the Gods ended when the thirteenth and youngest god (Zodiark) turned out to be the most powerful, threatening to undo the boundaries of Creation held in place by the Crystal (and thus return all to void), and thus the mortal world was fashioned and the Gods banished - and, spiteful, they fell in with Zodiark. But even then, to have the very premise of the world setting be a lie laid over the black-robed miscreants the Crystal told us were evil in the opening cutscene seems just so lame, lol.

It sure would make that French poem poignant, though, yeah? Darkness wants to sacrifice all life to the Gods? Ohooo! (But so, so lame.)

Now that we've set ourselves as enemies and killed 3 of the 12 Overlords, we threaten to disterbe The Ballence in Hydaelyn's favor and destroy Zodiark's. And that nee profacy may hint at a FF3 style "Flood of Light" thus why Darklander and his crew were brought in.

Ever since 2.1, Elidibus has hinted upon this at every turn. I bought into it for a while, myself, but the longer it goes on, the more I suspect that the answer is too easy. Granted, XIV is full of easy answers and "if it quacks like a duck" moments, these days, so I could easily be wrong here, but I find something about it suspicious. I'm really hoping that Elidibus is just trying to fill us with doubt and by the time we realize he's the biggest threat, it'll be way too late to stop him easily.

Let's not forget the last time I had "that feeling" though.
(Rejection of deathlike-slumber Nanamo).

JP Text

Thanks so much! The original translation I was given was quite close (as evidenced by the fact that the English version was itself quite close to that), but I was able to put it back in a similar format (poetic divisions). Each language tends to have an interesting nuance - JP's this year, by far, is the repetition in the latter two lines:

- The Star Fears the Moon / A great many children She sets upon the sea
- The Moon Hates the Star / A great many children He returns to the sea

Seems to reinforces the idea that Zodiark was sent away and He, in vengeance, sends things back.

With regards to the Moon, given the presence of the statue and its significance to the Ascians/WoDs, has anyone considered the possibility that it was once an actual habitable world? Lahabrea has oft referenced Hydaelyn as a parasite or cancer and it wouldn't surprise me to discover she stole the aether from Zodiark's creation and killed it to improve her own. It's an educated shot in the dark but it would explain a lot if it were the case.

It's a solid theory, given what we know. The main thing that makes me cautious is that every association with Zodiark has been about chaos and death and darkness - the exact opposite of hospitable environments. In order to make Zodiark more powerful again, the natural order has to be interrupted and mass bloodshed needs to occur. We need to account for that somehow in "this is inadvertantly all Hydaelyn's fault" theories. I suppose one could work from a basic assumption that Zodiark's current nature is a result of his vengeful state.