For fans of Gridania and Limsa Lominsa

[Enkidoh]

As a Gridanian since before the Calamity, I can fill in some details about Gridania that I know of.

One of the biggest changes from the 'pre-Calamity' Gridania to the current city is the entrances to and from the Black Shroud were actually different prior to the Calamity. Back then, you had to travel over long bridges that ran across the Jadeite Flood into the city proper. These were destroyed in the Calamity though, and the rebuilding of the city changed the entrances to direct gates into the Central Shroud (and a new gate was built into the North Shroud as well). However a sharp-eyed adventurer can still tell where these bridges once ran by looking out towards the Jadeite Flood between the Carline Canopy and the Blue Badger Gate - the tall stone pylons that formerly supported the bridges remain standing in the lake, silent testimony to the past. I thought that was a nice little nod to the game's past (as the loooong passages into and out of the three cities in FFXIV 1.0 was a major complaint by players).

And speaking of the Blue Badger Gate, the colour coding of the original four gates of Gridania were actually references to the four traditional main 'colour' mage Job classes of the FF series: Blue Badger Gate (Blue Mage), Red Otter Gate (Red Mage), White Wolf Gate (White Mage), and Black Boar Gate (Black Mage). This was subverted in ARR though with the construction of the Yellow Serpent Gate into the North Shroud (referencing the flag of Gridania).

Another little thing often overlooked, is that it was Gridania that was responsible for setting up Eorzea's Moogle Delivery Service in the aftermath of the Calamity - when you speak to a Delivery moogle for the first time they mention that the "little horned ones" (referring to the padjal) entreated the moogles for assistance in restoring communication between the citystates following the Calamity, as most direct communication had been severed due the original aetheryte and linkshell networks being destroyed by the massive overflow of aether in the disaster and the roads being choked with refugees fleeing the chaos.

A final little reference to the past Gridania is the levemete out in Bentbranch Meadows, Tierney, was formerly the assistant levemete at the Carline Canopy's leve counter prior to the Calamity. So now she's been given an assignment of her own out in the field.