Lore Book Revelations

[Naria]

There was speculation immediately following 3.4 that all the ruling tier voidsent were the 13th's WoLs that Unukulhai spoke of. The lorebook has at least confirmed one such to be true. I wonder if the Cloud of Darkness and Scathach may be corrupted warriors as well.

Well I guess we will find out in 3.5. with the new 2.4-man.

[IlSire]

I'm very confused about Keepers nomenclature, which one is right?
According to the one posted here on the forums a male and female Miqo'te siblings would be something like "Okhi'a Nbolo" and "Nhaja Nbolo", while sharing the same family surname "Nbolo" the female would get her own name while the male would be given his mother's name with a suffix.
However in the lorebook it says that they all share the mother's name and then have a given name instead of a surname, which answer is the canon one?
That would mean that those siblings should instead have names the like of "Okhi'a Naji" and "Okhi Nhaja" if I understood it right.
I know a Miqo'te family who may now have their names wrong because of this, they wont be happy.
Did I get it all wrong? Could anyone help me please?
I'm very confused.

[FJerome]

I'm very confused about Keepers nomenclature, which one is right?
According to the one posted here on the forums a male and female Miqo'te siblings would be something like "Okhi'a Nbolo" and "Nhaja Nbolo", while sharing the same family surname "Nbolo" the female would get her own name while the male would be given his mother's name with a suffix.
However in the lorebook it says that they all share the mother's name and then have a given name instead of a surname, which answer is the canon one?
That would mean that those siblings should instead have names the like of "Okhi'a Naji" and "Okhi Nhaja" if I understood it right.
I know a Miqo'te family who may now have their names wrong because of this, they wont be happy.
Did I get it all wrong? Could anyone help me please?
I'm very confused.

It's already been brought up in the bug reporting thread, unless Koji says otherwise we're assuming it's a mistake. It also contradicts what we know of in-game Miqo'te siblings, like Nashu and Masha Mhakaracca.

[Morningstar1337]

There was speculation immediately following 3.4 that all the ruling tier voidsent were the 13th's WoLs that Unukulhai spoke of. The lorebook has at least confirmed one such to be true. I wonder if the Cloud of Darkness and Scathach may be corrupted warriors as well.

Uh, which one was confirmed to be a corrupted WoL again?

[Fenral]

The tatoo is for sages of Sharlayan, The Circle of Knowing (and by extension the Scions) just happened to have a lot of Sages. Maybe G'raha is a Sage of Allagan research or archeology or something?

Who do you think I am?

The neck tattoo is the brand of the Sharlayan Archons, as featured in the Great Gubal Library's decor, and is for masters of a field. That much has been known for a while. Y'shtola, Thancred, Yda, Papalymo, Moenbryda, and G'raha have it on their necks; Louisoix, Urianger, and Matoya on their faces; and Ramnbroes on top his head.

The other, eye-looking symbol, called the "Crest of Sharlayan" in the only piece of artwork it's ever been shown in (the Viangaa concept art, of all things), only appeared post-Calamity, and was supposedly the symbol of the Scions (according to Moose, he got actual confirmation of this at some point, but never cited anything in particular). Up until 2.1, it only appeared on the outfits of the Scions themselves. Y'shtola has it on the left sleeve of both her her old and new outfits, Yda, Paplymo and Thancred on their old outfits' left shoulder, Moenbryda on her inner thigh, and G'raha on his bare left shoulder, and he's still the only non-MSQ character ever introduced to bear that mark. More confusingly, Urianger and Minfilia never had it, Thancred doesn't have it on his redesign, and Krile doesn't either. It's suddenly exclusive to Y'shtola, even though she's supposedly on the same tier as the rest.

Is it (finally) written down in the lore book as having the same meaning as the neck brand? I don't have it, so I have to ask.

[Morningstar1337]

Snip

I apologize. I didn't notice that G'raha had the eye sigil too.

I don't have the book either, so I can't confirm (or deny) if either share the same meaning.

[Fenral]

I apologize. I didn't notice that G'raha had the eye sigil too.

I don't have the book either, so I can't confirm (or deny) if either share the same meaning.

I also apologize for coming at you with the full extent of my research. It's just an answer I've been after for a while...

I have a theory as to what it actually indicates, but it's the sort of thing that should be simple enough to have written down in a comprehensive compendium if there's really no hidden meaning to it.

[Anonymoose]

<...> according to Moose, he got actual confirmation of this at some point, but never cited anything in particular

I use explicit quotes as citations wherever I can, but only if they're publicly available and/or reproduce-able. Things that do not fall under that umbrella (examples: private conversations, emails, recordings that aren't part of a finished podcast, interactions on an expo floor) are still from developer sources, but are not reproduce-able. In my humble opinion, it's also incredibly bad form to directly quote / post those interactions without permission.

That said, the confirmation was direct from Banri Oda-san, so I don't see any reason to call it into question (barring retcons). To use Moenbryda as an example, the tattoo on her neck is the Sharlayan Sage tattoo, now commonly known as the Archon mark. The tattoo on her thigh is the Scion brand - some people get it inked, some people put it on their clothes (lookin' at you, Sthola).

G'raha Tia is descended from a Third Astral Era Miqo'te remembered only as "Desch", from a minor Seekers of the Sun clan from the outskirts of Ilsabard. Desch was conscripted into the Allagan Imperial Army and (somehow, eventually) became a trusted confidant of Princess Salina. She entrusted the royal bloodline unto him to steward forward, foreseeing that the Crystal Tower might one day return and the Cloud of Darkness need to be put in check (via the covenant with the bloodline). Maybe he one day became a Nunh; that'd sure keep those genes alive, eh?

As of the late Sixth Astral, about one child in every generation of his family had the Allagan Eye, and it was something shunned rather than envied. This was his motivation to travel to Sharlayan, as he had nothing but stories from his family as pertains to the history and meaning of the eye. This obsessive pursuit of historical knowledge eventually earned him a spot in the Students of Baldesion, led by Archon Galuf Baldesion.

Galuf not only ran a research organization, but an orphanage on the Isle of Val. From this orphanage he adopted Krile. At the age of twelve (1567), Krile was discovered to have the Echo, and Galuf redirected the Students of Baldesion to begin looking into this phenomenon, which is how (once Krile joined officially as a member) she came into contact with Minfilia.

So the Students of Baldesion under Archon Galuf already had ties with Echo research and the Archons; it's not surprising they would end up cooperating. And because Minfilia inherited Louisoix's legacy, it's not so odd to contemplate that perhaps the Baldesions became at the very least an allied faction if not a distant branch of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.

Anyroad, G'raha Tia was dispatched from the Baldesions to the Sons of Saint Coinach / Garlond Ironworks team so that they didn't alter the course of history by accidentally arousing something within the Crystal Tower.

So G'raha is a sage historian focusing on all matters related to the Allagan eye, inducted into the Students of Baldesion, which have been studying the Echo, Ascians, and all things under that umbrella of threats to the world - thus aligning directly with the goals of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn and perhaps formally being brought under that umbrella, as well.

It's just impossible to pin down for sure because G'raha has marks and Krile has none. If I had to guess, I would say Krile is the outlier. The ears on her robes are meant to symbolize the Echo, so she's comfortable with those. But she also spent a good deal of time being the focus of attention and experiments - she might just not want brands.

[Belhi]

It's possible Krile's studies didn't lead to whatever tests earn the tattoos. Simply studying in Sharlayan doesn't get you the tattoos. I always assumed they were kind of like getting a professional title like doctor. She just hadn't sat the specific tests.

To be honest I am kind of confused on the title Archon as I though it had to do with being someone who tried to stop calamities happening.

[Anonymoose]

It's possible Krile's studies didn't lead to whatever tests earn the tattoos. Simply studying in Sharlayan doesn't get you the tattoos. I always assumed they were kind of like getting a professional title like doctor. She just hadn't sat the specific tests.

I was just about to ninja-edit that to say "brand"; not everyone who graduates from the Studium gets a sage tat, I assume, lol. I more meant the Scion brand. If G'raha had one and was a Student of Baldesion, you'd think Krile would - she was better friends with Minfilia, even. But looking back at 3.4's ending cutscene, it doesn't look like Krile ever saw herself as being part of anything but her grandfather's group.

Well, my main purpose in coming here was to see the Scions of the Seventh Dawn restored and my dear friend found... Nevertheless, having involved myself in your struggles, I feel compelled to see them through to the bitter end. For Minfilia's sake. That is, if there are no objections?

Maybe she'll brand up later...

To be honest I am kind of confused on the title Archon as I though it had to do with being someone who tried to stop calamities happening.

I'd thought so, too! (That Archon was a name Louisoix used, but Sage was the true name.) I was really confused when Nabriales said,

By your brand, I see you are an Archon of Sharlayan. Keeper of knowledge. Seeker of truth. Meddler.

However, it's revealed in the book that Sharlayan (the main one up north) was founded by a true Sixth Umbral Era Archon.

Perhaps he kept the name and used it for all who were masters of knowledge in Sharlayan?