Exploring Eorzea's Existing Lore

[ChaseNetwork]

I'm actually pretty curious about how we're going to be expanding moving forward. Except for some very minor nations like Thavnair, we don't really have much to explore anymore. We *should* be exploring Garlemald, which pretty much reveals the entire map we've been given.

There's still 2 more of the 1st Brood who have not been introduced into the story - our only source for even what their names are coming from the encyclopedia. And Meracydia itself being the "homeland" for Dragons. Dragons are aliens, so that's great. We know there are other intelligent lifeforms within our galaxy. Ala Dragons and Omega. So I *guess* we have reason to go say hi to these people. I want to say we don't have the means, but we apparently can get submarines running. So as long as we can break the atmosphere, we have the means. And apparently Dragons can break the atmosphere. So yeah. I guess we somehow have the means to travel through space. :facepalm:. Yoshi did say "maybe 7.0" for going to the moon... Great...

Then there's the New World. We don't actually have much left on our world to discover. >_>;

[Jaywalker]

Yoshi did say "maybe 7.0" for going to the moon... Great...

This is delayed, and while I know you were unenthusiastic about this bit my god I have been wanting Lunarians and seeing this I'm just going !!!!!

[Iscah]

I am a bit ??? on Hellsguard in Doma (character model-wise), and at this point am wondering if they’re technically supposed to be a separate subrace from both Gosetsu and Eorzean Hellsguard but without model differentiation to make four known subraces there or if it’s supposed to be the same as Gosetsu but SE didn’t make the models? XD Here I was figuring player options in character creator were largely what was just available in-world with a few exceptions, this is a funny reveal for me.

The Doman 'Hellsguard' are presumably a separate subrace, though I figure it's possible they share ancestry - perhaps having spread along the northern mountains until they were too far apart to maintain a single culture, and this eastern group broke away and merged into non-race-specific Doman culture instead.

Gosetsu definitely complicates things though - introducing him as a visibly separate subrace and then using nothing but standard Hellsguard models for other Far Eastern Roegadyn seems like a strange decision. Doubly so as it would be quite viable for them to create a complete (non-playable) "Gosetsu's clan" using Sea Wolf models and customised skintones. There's precedent for this in the game already - specifically Curious Gorge from the WAR questline, who is canonically a Hellsguard but is programmed as a Sea Wolf NPC with an off-the-chart skintone, thus his lacking the usual Hellsguard 'beast nose'.

Though the stranger decision was having Far Eastern Roegadyn at all, or at least so prominently, while not giving Raen Au Ra a bigger role.

(If nothing else, that Confederate leader guy would have worked well as a Raen character. I've also seen someone suggest that Hien could have been Raen rather than Hyuran, which would have been interesting.)

Also omg yeah now that I think of it you’re right on about Edmont using Xaela design. I thought his face looked familiar but couldn’t place it. I think it was just for aesthetics and all (suspect you were looking from that angle too) but pfff imagine if it turned out Haurchefant’s whole family had a little Au Ra heritage mixed in.

I had the same thought pattern - "I'm sure it's just reusing the character model, but what if they actually had some Au Ra heritage...?"

That would go down really well in Ishgard, I'm sure. Heavens help the poor child who happens to redevelop ancestral Au Ra traits that the family didn't even know existed.

...let's just go with "recycled character model", okay?


I have to wonder which one came first though, or if the one model was designed with both purposes from the start. They were both being implemented at the same time of course. Clever double-use of assets anyway.


This does also remind me that a while back someone from my FC was saying that Aymeric had an Au Ra-ish face? Which I didn't get at the time, and still can't really see, but I guess it's possible in the same way. It would probably be face 3 with the 'hammerhead shark' horns, if it is indeed the same sort of situation.

(EDIT: Played around with Au Ra designs and... maybe. Not the same definite "yes that's him!" recognition I got when setting the other one to resemble Edmont, but it's in the general zone of looking similar. Might be a matter of finding the right settings, or could just be a result of the same artist making both characters.)

Lol I did hear about Carvallain before that scene! Still funny though and appreciate the recap.

Funny thing with that - I figured it out myself, but I'd sailed past a number of hints without picking up on them, only to catch on by noticing the family resemblance! Combined with remembering that the AST quest had alluded to a missing family member, anyway.

I'm greatly looking forward to whatever resolution we eventually get to this. At least I hope there's a resolution coming - and some more dancing around it in the meanwhile. All sorts of potential interesting interactions.

That is really interesting on House Durendaire though. It makes me wonder a bit about Elezen history/evolution some and if there’s still lore/civilizatons that the devs haven’t revealed yet.

There's definitely one more potential Elezen civilisation in Ilsabard - using Duskwight models, interestingly enough, though we'll have to wait and see if they're actually linked or not.

The destroyed rebel camp we briefly see at the end of 4.4 seems to have a number of Duskwights there, and one of Shadowhunter's companions is also a Duskwight.

Hydaelyn's Africa is actually Eorzea itself, or at least, very loosely anyway (Aldernard's shape is a close match for Africa, right down to Vylbrand being a mirror-flipped Madadasgar), and that it was, in 1.0 anyway, mostly a 'wild frontier' between a few pockets of civilization (this is why Eorzea to this day is still regarded as 'savage' by the European-stand-in Garleans, besides obviously parroting how ancient Rome regarded other nations other than themselves as barbarians) - albeit one where Europe has detached itself completely from Africa other than Greece and relocated to the other side of the planet and the Middle East is now an isolated island in the middle of the ocean).

I've seen this brought up before, and I disagree. The only real support for it is the shape of the continent, which I really don't see as that close - and equating Vylbrand to Madagascar is particularly stretching too far. (It's not the same shape, it's much larger relative to the continent, and it's not in the right place.)

I actually appreciate that you can't simply look on a world map and point out the shape of Eorzea on it. Othard is far too traced from a map of Asia, mountain chains and all - except for the strange decision to cut off Russia entirely (and presumably slide it over into Ilsabard), which is why its northern coast has an odd shape and that very right-angled peninsula. It's traced from a river course, not a coastline.

Eorzea's cultures are clearly inspired by Europe, not Africa. Gridania's fairytale forests, Ul'dah's Byzantine architecture, Ishgard's medieval European architecture, dragons named after Norse mythological figures.

The climate also generally matches Europe's placement in the northern-hemisphere temperate zone, stretching into arctic north and desert south, rather than Africa's location across the tropical equator with desert on either side. (Vylbrand's patches of tropical jungle are a puzzle, and one that bothers me regardless of whether it's supposed to be equivalent to anything. It literally doesn't line up with the climate of Aldenard. Perhaps it's due to the volcano, or an ocean current warming up the area? I'm only running off high school geography lessons here, so I don't know if there's a realistic explanation for such a thing.)

The little we know of Meracydia, besides its unplaceably fantastic elements of dragons and such, is that the plants aloe and sesame originate from there. In reality both are native to Africa, not Australia.

For all intents and purposes from what we do know of Meracydia it appears to actually be Hydaelyn's Terra Australis Incognita - mysterious island continent in the far south of the planet that is a inhospitable wasteland populated by dangerous wildlife, although Ala Mhigo/Gyr Abania of all places also shares some elements with modern Australia - equally hostile environment with it's inhabitants earning a reputation for being tough-as-nails and gave rise to more than a few talented soldiers - even it's national anthem 'The Measure of His Reach' shares musical (but not lyrical) similarities with Australia's national anthem. (No surprises then that as an Australian myself I had Enki be Ala Mhigan by birth ).

I'm also Australian, and I disagree about Gyr Abania having Australian elements. It's too much of a stretch, just on the "reputation" of its people - you could apply that to all sorts of places, I'm sure.

As for the anthem... sure it sounds a bit like ours, but I don't know any others. Is it really "like ours" or is it just the sort of music used for an anthem? Would someone from another country perceive it as similar to their anthem?


Meracydia could have Australian elements as well, but we haven't seen any direct signs of it (other than a potential "frilled dragon" -> Meracydian dragon connection).

I can confirm the koala joey minion at least says nothing about Meracydia (or even where on Hydaelyn it comes from for that matter) - it's description in the minion guide is just an extended joke about drop bears.

Ahaha, well played, lore team.

There’s a giant covered portion of Ilsabard to the south right next to Nagxia, that may be Dalmasca and I wouldn’t be surprised if this may be our course of travel if something happened in Gyr Abania

Dalmasca is shown on the new section of the map recently revealed during the Ivalice raids.