Its about the Duskwight Elezen.

[Sla1n]

There are probably two (main) reasons for this:

First, as you noted correctly, the Duskwight Elezen live in caves, to be more specific: In caves/ruins that were once the underground city of Gelmorra, where the elezen were forced to live when the elementals kicked them out of the forest. When they finally struck a pact with the elementals that allowed them to return to the overworld and built Gridania, some stayed behind, not wanting to abandon what they've built and those are the ancestors of the Duskwight, who are still upholding this belief. Or in other words: They have no desire to live in big cities and the like, so naturally we dont see them there.

Secondly due to their... life-style, a lot of Duskwight resort to stealing, so they're not really well liked by the "civilized" cityfolks. Thats especially the case in Gridania, with the Wildwood elezen looking down on their supposdly "lesser" brothers (yep, a bunch of xenophobic nazis, thats what Gridania is, basically) but also for other citystates - I recall a questline in Ul'dah (maybe one of the mail-moogle ones? Or Hilli even? Or the Beasttribe-quest? Not sure anymore) that involved something being stolen with the suspicion being cast immidiatly on a Duskwight Elezen. They pretty much have a bad reputation everywhere.
So they're not excatly very well liked, but outcasts.

They dont seem to have a desire to live/stay/be in the cities and the cities have no desire to have them around either. So its no surprise to rarely see them...


Edit: I did some digging and the quest I had in mind is "Sudul Eht Nioj", indeed a Delivery Moogle Quest involving the gladiators from Halatli HM. Langloisiert, the lancer, is a Duskwight elezen aswell - I dont wanna spoil the rest, but you might wanna do that quest to get an idea about how Duskwights are treated in the cities!

Hmmm oke thanks for the info though i think SE should put some love into them too. I am sick of the Cat's and how much screen time they get.

[zuzu-bq]

Funny enough the player population on miqo'te also reflects their lore decently. Miqo'tes are literally everywhere around Erozea. It's like SE knew cat people would be a popular race :^)

[Vidu]

Hmmm oke thanks for the info though i think SE should put some love into them too. I am sick of the Cat's and how much screen time they get.

While I wouldnt mind seeing less of the cats, I kinda like how "diverse" and, in a sense, consistent the game is. I think the only reason that I remember that quest is that I was still playing a Duskwight Elezen when I did it and actually felt a little "offended" by it, which was great!

I totally wouldnt mind finding a hidden entrance to parts of Gelmorra and a small Duskwight civiliuation within it to learn more about their lore without contradicting that by putting them in places that they "dont belong".

...also... for HW you mainly had Elezen screentime! Not Duskwight but Wildwood, but almost no cats thanks to Ishgards xenophobic nature.
...which makes me wonder right now if (Wildwood) Elezen just have a gene for xenophobia...

[Jaycil_Haukke]

...also... for HW you mainly had Elezen screentime! Not Duskwight but Wildwood, but almost no cats thanks to Ishgards xenophobic nature.
...which makes me wonder right now if (Wildwood) Elezen just have a gene for xenophobia...

Years later, but might as well mention that thanks to lore books, we now know that Duskwight and Wildwood only applies to Gelmorran Elezen. Ishgardian Elezen relocated in Coerthas when Hyur pushed Elezen off their previous lands. Those Elezen that went to the Shroud were a different group that split into Wildwood and Duskwight after the emigration from Gelmorra.

More unrelated, but I've also seen a theory based on the lore book info that the Hyur and Elezen that created Gridania rededicated Gelmorra (or what was left of it) to the elementals even though there were likely still people (Duskwights or their ancestors) living there. Not sure how that would be done (maybe breaking the warding pottery, hence broken Gelmorran potsherds), but it would explain the enmity between clans if that were an ancient Duskwight's perspective.
Honestly, so much is uncertain surrounding Duskwights that you can theory-craft or make up just about anything. It's just as likely to be canon-compliant. A true blessing and curse for Duskwight lore seekers. The sad thing is that, at this point, we're unlikely to ever get any concrete answers about Duskwights. They just won't get as much attention lore/narrative-wise.

[Cleretic]

More unrelated, but I've also seen a theory based on the lore book info that the Hyur and Elezen that created Gridania rededicated Gelmorra (or what was left of it) to the elementals even though there were likely still people (Duskwights or their ancestors) living there. Not sure how that would be done (maybe breaking the warding pottery, hence broken Gelmorran potsherds), but it would explain the enmity between clans if that were an ancient Duskwight's perspective.
Honestly, so much is uncertain surrounding Duskwights that you can theory-craft or make up just about anything. It's just as likely to be canon-compliant. A true blessing and curse for Duskwight lore seekers. The sad thing is that, at this point, we're unlikely to ever get any concrete answers about Duskwights. They just won't get as much attention lore/narrative-wise.

I always got the idea, or at least had the preference, that the Gridania-Gelmorra conflict was entirely mundane. No magic wards, no secret truth about the Elementals Gelmorra holds against them, just a campaign of straight-up abuse followed by a campaign of straight-up neglect, with constant background noise of bigotry. The Duskwight that still stay/stayed in Gelmorra weren't doing it because of some deep special reason, but just because it's their home.

Until they actually write anything about Gelmorra they can't tell me I'm wrong!