Where, exactly, is Mhach?

[PArcher]

I have to wonder how the city was apparently so close to Mor Dhona and closer to all of the other city states than Ishgard, yet seemingly went undiscovered for millenia...

Swamp/marshlands tend to be incredibly hard to travel over, especially when the wildlife is exceptionally large and aggressive. The Voidsent present probably didn't help either.

[Heliantheae]

Swamp/marshlands tend to be incredibly hard to travel over, especially when the wildlife is exceptionally large and aggressive. The Voidsent present probably didn't help either.

Those alligators were huge. And they were just normal alligators. I wouldn't want to go anywhere near that place.

[StarDrake]

Was it really "undiscovered" though? We didn't hear hide nor hair of it during the 2.X and 1.X series, this is true. I chalk this up to it not being a thing in 1.X series, but considering Nym did have roots in 1.X, I could be mistaken. Since 3.0's release though, Mhach has seemed to be common knowledge. It never felt like this was a brand new discovery when Forlemort rattles "Mhachi" off along with Nym and Amdapori.

We, as players, had no knowledge of Mhach but the more learned NPCs apparently did. It just never came up before.

Those alligators were huge. And they were just normal alligators. I wouldn't want to go anywhere near that place.

I believe this is the narrative intent. Mhach's location may have been known about for a long time, but remember that a second-order voidsent was having trouble getting into the place. Until fairly recently, I doubt Spoken had any hope of getting into the central pyramid, if they could even reach it.

Remember also that we get there by airship, which is a relatively new invention. It seems very likely that the geography of the moor is such that overland travel is very difficult (it is a swamp).

And so that answers the earlier question: modern Yafaem isn't going to be a zone because there's just not much there to make up a zone. Outside of Mhach itself, there's just... a whole bunch of crocodiles and salt. While it sounds like during Cait Sith's time it was more prosperous (probably as the Yafaem Floodplain), after suffering the brunt of the Sixth Umbral there simply isn't a whole lot left.

(also, blast it all, forum, show me in my regained lalafell glory)

[Alberel]

I believe this is the narrative intent. Mhach's location may have been known about for a long time, but remember that a second-order voidsent was having trouble getting into the place. Until fairly recently, I doubt Spoken had any hope of getting into the central pyramid, if they could even reach it.

Remember also that we get there by airship, which is a relatively new invention. It seems very likely that the geography of the moor is such that overland travel is very difficult (it is a swamp).

And so that answers the earlier question: modern Yafaem isn't going to be a zone because there's just not much there to make up a zone. Outside of Mhach itself, there's just... a whole bunch of crocodiles and salt. While it sounds like during Cait Sith's time it was more prosperous (probably as the Yafaem Floodplain), after suffering the brunt of the Sixth Umbral there simply isn't a whole lot left.

(also, blast it all, forum, show me in my regained lalafell glory)

Hehe, all good points. Yeah I guess Mhach has been known about for some time from a lore perspective, it just feels like it came out of nowhere due to how it was introduced to us in 3.0 onward.