Encyclopædia Eorzea ("Lore Book") Bug Report Thread

[Sounsyy]

PAGE: 95
HEADING: Limsa Lominsa's Founding a Retcon?
SECTION: History


I had actually hoped to bring this question up at Fanfest, but when I got my hands on the lore book and saw this key difference in stories, it raised more questions.

The first, and northernmost, is a remote archipelago known as Aerslaent - homeland of the Sea Wolf tribe of Roegadyn. It is from these islands that the first inhabitants of Limsa Lominsa are said to have hailed - arriving on Vylbrand after a failed raiding attempt in the southern Rhotano Sea.

In 874 of the Sixth Astral Era, the Galadion set sail from the isles deep in the northern seas - the last of a mighty armada which turned on its nation in the name of the people, only to meet defeat at the hands of those they meant to free. The Sea Wolf crew of this noble vessel, who could no longer abide the rule of tyrants, steered her crippled hull south though unknown waters in search of a new home. After a yearlong voyage cursed by many troubles, the ship drifted to the southern coast of Vylbrand, and there ran aground.

To start, even these two passages on Limsa's founding in the lore book conflict somewhat, but comparing them to the original story has me very confused.

You hear the legend of how this city was born? Well, years ago, there was this mighty kingdom far to the south–so far, they say that it would take a man half his life to sail to her shores–and it had an invincible armada of twenty score times ten unsinkable battleships. They conquered nigh on every city for a thousand leagues, and were the unchallenged master of the sea…until, that is, an armada just as invincible as their own invaded their waters.

Both sides fought with the courage of lions and the ferocity of sharks, but the kingdom’s fighters, so used to doing the attacking themselves, were unsure how to defend against onslaughts of a similar nature. And so their fleet was nearly destroyed and their cities were completely razed. Only a small fleet of their fastest dromonds was able to escape the carnage under cover of nightfall. It pained the crews to abandon their lands, of course, but they knew flight was the only way to ensure their people lived on.

And so they sailed and they sailed, until one day a terrible storm–some say sent by Llymlaen herself–picked up the few remaining ships and tossed them down upon the rocks of La Noscea. The ships were too badly damaged to be rebuilt, though by this time the men were weary from their journey, and no longer wished to run. And so they salvaged the remnants of their ships and built a tiny settlement on the rocks. Over time that settlement grew…and transformed into the city you see here today.

Obviously, taking into account that NPCs are wholly unreliable narrators and legends being even less reliable sources of historical fact - this story closely resembles the first passage from Pg13, but nothing like the one from Pg95. Obviously this "southern kingdom" isn't half a lifetime away, but the southern continent of Meracydia is implied to take quite some time by boat.

Its name meaning “stalwart” in the Lalafellin tongue, this deep-sea predator is not only massive, but deceptively fast. Some sailors swear that a mahi-mahi can make the journey from Meracydia to the Cieldales in less than a fortnight, though knowing most sailors, that claim may be slightly exaggerated.

This information, as well as the many citations of trade between Meracydia and Limsa Lominsa I mentioned in my previous post, guided a theory that Limsa Lominsans might have originated from Meracydia and then been conquered by the Sea Wolf armadas of the north - giving rise to the ARR text citing Sea Wolves as the founders of the city-state after enduring horrifying raids along Eorzea's coastlines.

Every child has heard frightening bedtime tales of fearless, bloodthirsty vikings who would stalk the five seas in their longboats, mercilessly reaving and pillaging costal villages until the shiploads were overflowing with plunder, and the villages with their bastards.

This has sparked several questions: If the Galadion and Limsa Lominsa are of Sea Wolf origin, why then are three out of the four named crew members Elezen? Why does the Galadion not have a Sea Wolf name? And where did the name Limsa Lominsa come from? It just strikes me as extremely odd that a city supposedly founded by Sea Wolves has almost nothing named in the Sea Wolf tongue or at least named after the Galadion's admiral, Elilwaen, the as yet only known Roegadyn aboard the ship. But they named several important things in Limsa after the Elezen crew.

But I guess the most important question, is this a retcon?