A couple questions about Au Ra

[KaivaC]

*sigh* Gonna take a break from this conversation (interesting talk so far...liking what I'm seeing thus far). Seems a particular twitter has shitposted my post about Auri tails on the other page. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Sounsyy]

So Raen are integrated into Hingan culture, what about Doman? I don't recall any Doman Raen npcs in the game other than Yugiri, who herself is not FROM Doma herself. So I wonder if they're just not reresented in game or if Raen are more a Hingan thing and less a Doman thing.

From Encyclopedia Eorzea II:

Hingashi Racial Distribution:
Far Eastern Hyur - 50%
Far Eastern Roegadyn - 15%
Raen Au Ra - 10%
Other - 25%

Doma Racial Distribution:
Far Eastern Hyur - 60%
Far Eastern Roegadyn - 20%
Raen Au Ra - 10%
Other - 10%

And from Fanfest:

According to Oda-san, the Au Ra Raen are actually very central when it comes to Doman and Hingan culture. A lot of the Au Ra that live in Doma and Hingashi are of the Raen clan. They make up a great deal of those two cultures. We see a lot of it in the Ninja quests, common clan names that we hear about in HIngashi and Doma in the side quests, a lot of those are mainly Raen families. When we see anything in the game that’s talking about just kinda in general - in general Hingans are like this, in general Domans are like this - most of the time that’s actually talking about the Au Ra Raen. So that can actually be used as that lore backstory for Au Ra Raen.

[SannaR]

Like we know both the ninja clan Oboro and friends are apart of is near Doma if not in it as Oboro's master helped in the fall and Yuki who's a princess for her clan seems to be just as close since it's brought up that her clan knows about Oboro's clan or something like that. Just wish most of the Raen we know about aren't off screen.

[Rosenoire]

Depends on the type of tail, I'd think. The thicker tails seem like they're not very flexible, but it you thwapped someone with one of those, it would probably hurt.

[Rosenoire]

The Orben tribe is noted as using their scales to reinforce their boats, so either the scales are an outer layer that can be harmlessly removed or that tribe is hardcore.

Which makes me wonder if they molt, or shed their scales on a regular basis. I'm imagining my WoL being abnormally cranky, and someone waving a hand. "Oh, he's just molting, don't mind him. Or he's going all Dark Knight. You'll know if he tries to cut your head off."

[LineageRazor]

It looks to me that their tail flexibility might be limited by their scales - they are quite large and visible, not lots of tiny scales like a reptile, and it would depend if (and how far) they can lift away from the underlying skin, or if each 'segement' of tail has a fairly limited range of movement. I think it would have to restrict their movement a fair bit.

Given the placement of some of the scales, though - specifically, the neck, as some have mentioned - it seems to me that rigid, inflexible scales would be wildly impractical. It's likely that most of the scales on the body allow full freedom of movement. The scales on the tail may be an exception, certainly, so the stegosaurus theory may be possible.

Unless they're functional and not ceremonial in that they're made for any under water fighting. Look at blitzball players where many wear clothes that won't restrict movement or made from fabrics that would weigh them down. As until recently I want to say only the royal family wasn't allowed to leave the palace.

I don't think it's a great idea to use Blitzball as an example. Many of the recruitable players wear hilariously unsuitable garments, like full robes.

As far as the underwater gear, maybe. But again it doesn't seem like something designed for protection. It covers very little, and doesn't look like it would be practical. That said, it 'could' be armor. Not all armor designs are or have to be practical in the real world I guess. I mean the female dragoon af1 has a 'stab me here' window in the belly and that's definitely supposed to be armor. But looking at it, even in the water I don't see it being any kind of practical for defense. Or particularly good for swim speed either.

Folks have long complained about the female DRG's belly window, and I think we can basically chalk that one up to a model designer shoehorning in some sexy where it really isn't appropriate (or, really, even all that sexy). I agree that the Shisui garments are probably ceremonial, and that armor in general is eschewed while fighting underwater. The amount of protection it affords is simply not worth the loss of buoyancy or mobility. If the Shisui armor DOES grant protection (and its stats seem to imply that it does), the protection likely comes from enchantments cast on the garments rather than the garments themselves.

Of course, allowing for the possibility of magical enhancements opens up a whole other can of worms. Why would anyone ever wear plate mail if they could get the same degree of protection from a cloth shirt and breeches, clothes which allow much more freedom of movement? Perhaps only the undersea Raen have the knowledge of how to cast such enhancements? Or maybe doing so is too costly to be practical on a large scale, and so mundane armor is much more commonplace?

[Bright-Flower]

Given the placement of some of the scales, though - specifically, the neck, as some have mentioned - it seems to me that rigid, inflexible scales would be wildly impractical. It's likely that most of the scales on the body allow full freedom of movement. The scales on the tail may be an exception, certainly, so the stegosaurus theory may be possible.


I don't think it's a great idea to use Blitzball as an example. Many of the recruitable players wear hilariously unsuitable garments, like full robes.


Folks have long complained about the female DRG's belly window, and I think we can basically chalk that one up to a model designer shoehorning in some sexy where it really isn't appropriate (or, really, even all that sexy). I agree that the Shisui garments are probably ceremonial, and that armor in general is eschewed while fighting underwater. The amount of protection it affords is simply not worth the loss of buoyancy or mobility. If the Shisui armor DOES grant protection (and its stats seem to imply that it does), the protection likely comes from enchantments cast on the garments rather than the garments themselves.

Of course, allowing for the possibility of magical enhancements opens up a whole other can of worms. Why would anyone ever wear plate mail if they could get the same degree of protection from a cloth shirt and breeches, clothes which allow much more freedom of movement? Perhaps only the undersea Raen have the knowledge of how to cast such enhancements? Or maybe doing so is too costly to be practical on a large scale, and so mundane armor is much more commonplace?

I have nothing against sexy armor, but the DRG set in particular kinda bothers me partly because dragoons seem like practical people that wouldn't do something like that with their armor, and it's female armor only. The monk af3 set doesn't bug me because it's close for both genders, and feels like something a monk would wear to me. Or just having the occasional 'sexy' set like the Shisui or sky rat stuff for fun. Come to think of it I suppose the ninja set has a similar issue with the boob window but I guess that didn't bother me as much because I wasn't as big a fan of the set overall.

[Aggomarr]

Late to the party, but the scales on the male Au Ra's neck also seems to be different based on the face you use. My Au Ra's scales cover the entirety of his neck, even the under of his jaw and chin, further reinforcing that the scales are very likely flexible.

[Kidria]

Only face 3 has the neck scales that don't cover all the way along the chin. Kind of odd it's only one face, but yeah, I imagine the scales around joints or constantly moving sections of the body to be flexible, at least.

[Raiu]

From Encyclopedia Eorzea II:

Hingashi Racial Distribution:
Far Eastern Hyur - 50%
Far Eastern Roegadyn - 15%
Raen Au Ra - 10%
Other - 25%

Doma Racial Distribution:
Far Eastern Hyur - 60%
Far Eastern Roegadyn - 20%
Raen Au Ra - 10%
Other - 10%

And from Fanfest:

It's pretty much confirmed (well, not really) that Au Ra was created only with Xaela in mind, but since the game so far "needs" two clans in character creation, the Raen was plastered on to it, and given very weak, non-imaginative lore as to not spend so much time on it. It was way easier to say they just copied Doman and Hingan traditions and call it a day.

But then there is the fact that they say they are in Doma, and Hingashi, but the lorebook only states there is 10% of Raen in both Hingashi and Doma. Then there's the whole Doman Enclave Reconsctruction, and we don't see a single Raen around. What do we see instead? Buduga Xaela.

Also, in Kugane Castle instance, what do we see in there? Guess what, Xaela samurai at the very beginning.

There's also that lore for Raen that says they believe themselves to be of the blood of the Dawn Father, but who gets all the Dawn Father lore in game? Xaela. There's not a single Raen "priest" or whatever that speaks about the Dawn Father. None. Everything is given to the Oronir Xaela.

Raen is non-existent outside of Sui-no-Sato, who itself brings nothing to the Raen lore. It could very well have been an underwater Doma village, and nothing would change.

Raen was the clan that got the short end of the stick, because Au Ra was created with Xaela in mind only, and that's why they get all the lore and story focus, as well as even more lore on their fifty-one tribes in the lorebook.