Lore - Mor Dhona and the 2.0 Cataclysm

[Akoree]

The thing is, we haven't been told ANYTHING about what the Beast Tribes think of this whole meteor, impending doom, aetheric clusterf**k thing... We might assume that they don't know - I assume, however, that they're to blame. There's a reason all those deaspected crystals started showing up en mass right before Dalamud went red and all this sh!t got started.

Well, given Ifrit and the other Primals are described as aether-devouring entities (Read that somewhere but can't find a direct quote, thanks empty wikis) we can presume they've got their hand in the aether-devouring moon which is about to land on our pretty heads.

That being said, I don't know what the Beastmen tribes or even the primals could gain from the destruction of nearly every living thing in Eorzea.

Unless...

Let's say that the moon actually falls on Sivlertear lake, where all the aether is meant to gather and that the Primals can easily evade the destruction which would result. Could it provide them with a direct route to the Aether ressources of the planet? Or maybe even feed from the Aether which could be produced by the death of all the nearby creatures.

This is only based on a quote I cannot find however, maybe they don't even feed on aether.

[Anonymoose]

This is only based on a quote I cannot find however, maybe they don't even feed on aether.

If I remember correctly (no promises; I can check for you in my lore records later on tonight if so requested), but in the main storyline I believe it was that summoning them is what required aether, and thus the beast tribes hoarded and tried to directly control the supply of all the crystals they could manage to. This is what threw up red flags to me when the deaspected crystals started popping up.

In the main storyline, we went out to Mor Dhona to purposefully drain crystals of their aspect (whether Deaspected Crystals and Unaspected Crystals are the same remains to be officially stated, but they are DEFINED by the same exact definition) in order to trick the Ixal into re-opening their crystal trade, we got a pretty good look at what the claims were on each side.

The beast tribes claimed that they were taught to summon the primals from the void by a group called the "Paragons" who arrive in times of darkness to lead those in need to the light of the primals. That sounds awful familiar doesn't it? A bastardized version of the followers of the teachings of Nald and their Archons, perhaps? OR, are those like Urianger playing both sides?

When the empire caught wind of the unaspected crystals and summoning of the primals, they took action on Eorzea QUICKLY, immediately dropping linkpearls on our cities that broadcast the message that the beast tribes would summon the primals and lay waste to the world of the Woken (us). Garlemald offered us the full protection of their empire if we would accept their rule.

Yet again, we must ask - WHO DO WE TRUST? Urianger - who may be playing both sides? The empire, who clearly has no regard for our wellbeing even if they DO want to protect the land? Or the beast tribes and their primals - who... well, by this point are probably not going to be our allies anytime soon.

It may not be that the primals want to destroy EVERYTHING in Eorzea, but just lay waste to those who don't share in their beliefs; not just the Woken, but also eachother (Remember the amal'jaa and ixal threatening eachother with the full force of their God) -- never underestimate what some will do for religion - ESPECIALLY if Urianger is playing the field.

We've been warned about the Archon Urianger from day one: The primals have these mysterious paragons, the grand companies demanded him hunted down, when he FIRST APPEARED as a GM, he came with a herald who shouted to ignore the words of the false prophet. So, does he really want to fight the seventh umbral era, or did he bring it with him when he came?

These are the questions we've gotta be figuring out.

[Akoree]

If I remember correctly (no promises; I can check for you in my lore records later on tonight if so requested), but in the main storyline I believe it was that summoning them is what required aether, and thus the beast tribes hoarded and tried to directly control the supply of all the crystals they could manage to. This is what threw up red flags to me when the deaspected crystals started popping up.

If you do have lore records (pretty neat idea of yours to have these) I would very much like to see what they hold when you'l have a free minute. But don't you think that if summoning them requires a large amount of crystals it could also be the fuel of their power? I've heard Ifrit glows during the fight, a possible clue. We can also see a similar glow on the chest of thee Leviathan concept art from 2.0.

When the empire caught wind of the unaspected crystals and summoning of the primals, they took action on Eorzea QUICKLY, immediately dropping linkpearls on our cities that broadcast the message that the beast tribes would summon the primals and lay waste to the world of the Woken (us). Garlemald offered us the full protection of their empire if we would accept their rule.

I must have been away when this occurred or perhaps have forgotten it if I have seen the event. The thing is that the Empire seems to have been on our doorstep before the beastmen began collecting the crystals, hence the Wyvern in Mor Dhona.

Even if we cannot currently know their motives as to being in that region, it seems clear that they were not at peace with the Primals and the large Wyvern (I don't wanna call him Bahamut yet ). Although perhaps they were at war with them entirely and as you suggest the city-states are only "in the way" of their war. In that case, maybe the primals are trying to get back at the empire by making one of the moons crash.

Those questions must be figured out by us (the players) mostly, it could be hard to find clues to back up any theories at this point until they further expand the GC storylines.

[Anonymoose]

I would very much like to see what they hold when you have a free minute.

They pretty much encompass everything that's ever happened to me in-game...so... you'd need to be specific about a topic /blush

I must have been away when this occurred or perhaps have forgotten it if I have seen the event.

Check out the quest "Forever Taken."

I agree with your assumptions here; but I do have one piece of evidence in the other direction. In the opening video, when we see the Empire at war with (supposedly) Bahamut, they are over a beautiful and alive Mor Dhona. We know today that Mor Dhona is nothing like this AT ALL now; and the airship (still where it crashed) has deteriorated considerably.

It's likely that the intro sequence (and probably most of our first quests) were largely Echos (can you count how many times the sky bled fire in those? We know that that means now.)

From this, we can make a guess that the fight over Mor Dhona was part of the Empire's initial conquest 10 years ago, after they took Ala Mhigo. (I have a thread around here somewhere analyzing the intro vid pretty closely). After this, the empire went dormant until now.

My guess? We're both right. The empire was always at war with the false gods (and their king), but when they downed Bahamut they had no reason to fight any longer...

At least not until the Paragons showed up and taught the beast tribes how to drag them back through the aether and set them loose...

That might sprun the Empire back into action and account for everything that's happened since up until the Seventh Umbral Era began with the arrival of Urianger (POSSIBLY THE SAME ENTITY THAT TOUGHT THE PRIMALS TO SUMMON THE FALSE GODS IN THE FIRST PLACE.)

Not to harp on Uri so much; I like him - I hope he's not a bad guy. Still, he's sketchy as sh!t when you look back on it.