Silly question

[Kolsykol]

Their horns are hollow and act as their ears; supposedly to an extent that's more effective then that of the more conventional races like the Hyurs, but it's anyone's guess how they stack up compared to the Viera or Miqo'te.

This makes Au'Ra having their horns outside of helmets even more ouch lol.

[Mirhd]

I'd like to see those sources too, since their features can't possibly be from being descendants of dragons because

the First

has Au Ra but no dragons.

Yup. People tend to forget that dragons are not indigenous to Etheirys - Middy traveled with his clutch of eggs to our world (post sundering) went "Yo, can we crash here?", to which Hydaelyn went "K." He pretty much tells you this in HW/SB (minus the sundering part).

[Hysorn]

More than one source identifies Au'Ra as the progeny of dragons. As well as the cranial projections (horns) are how they hear and have spatial recognition.

The descendance is supposed to be in dispute in the lore, as to whether or not they actually are, which I think adds a nice touch to the story for them. It's never been confirmed nor denied really.

I remember when I began playing and before doing Heavensward I thought they were elves that got mixed up with Dragons considering the direction of the story at around the level 40 mark.

[CrunchyMilk]

Interesting. I'd love if SE added more lore content for them. I love lore. I'm a lore nerd. Yep. I've been hunting down bits and pieces of lore for all the races but sadly, Au Ra seem to have very little. Not finding much there.

[KageTokage]

Interesting. I'd love if SE added more lore content for them. I love lore. I'm a lore nerd. Yep. I've been hunting down bits and pieces of lore for all the races but sadly, Au Ra seem to have very little. Not finding much there.

The Au Ra honestly have a lot more lore then most of the races due to having their own settlements and an entire zone in the case of the Xaela, with only the Viera and Miqo'te also having much of a culture to themselves still.

That said, it would be nice to visit the homelands of other races like Aenslaent and the southern isles to get a picture of what the native Roegadyn and Lalafell culture is like. Both were mentioned in Endwalker, so I assume it's just a matter of time.

I could see one of them potentially being the locale that the trial series for Endwalker is focused on, personally.

[CrunchyMilk]

Ooh, that would be cool. Who am I kidding? I'd welcome anything for any of the races that lets us see just a little more of their cultures!

Edit* I really need to go back to those areas and quest and read more. I think I've largely missed a lot because I came from another mmo that cherishes rushing to end game so a lot of the stuff from the base game and first few expansions I "escape key'd" through before realizing I was missing the best parts of the game in doing so.

[Asari5]

there was even an official statement that they are NOT related to dragons

[Recon1o6]

Au Ra being somewhat draconic is plausible. The auri race share some traits with dragons, but the horns could be an independant genetic change. Descended from and being 100% draconic are separate. For reasons why they are draconic:

-they have a minor version of the adaptation trait dragons have when growing up (at certain stages of their lives, dragons in ff14 change shape and size depending on their life and nearby crystals)
Sui no sato and a tribe in the steppe can explicitly survive underwater far longer than is normal
A northern glacier tribe, the Aogurs have a unique skin tone explicitly caused by the nearby glaciers and the refracted light from them
the quiil tribe also communicate through song and melody for similar reasons dragons do- to attach emotion to meaning

-On the first, Au ra are known as Drahn. Drahn means dragon in dragonspeak
-There are the falak or serpent like dragons at the bottom of the tempest on the first. There's the hydra dragons in the world of darkness which is the 13th.
-One of the gwibers explicitly states it was an attempt to recreate dragons. Given Vrtra confirms that the shards had been split before Middy arrived on the source, this means at least some dragons found their way to the first before the flood of light.
-Ratatoskr was "A wanderer and bearer of dragon's songs" and has been implied to have gone to the furthest reaches of the skies to bring messages between her kin. Given the above its not unfounded that she found a way to the other shards at some point. Nearly all au ra are nomadic or at least have a sense of wanderlust. Dragon broods do take after their lineage fairly strongly and unlike other migratory tribes that are slowly stopping like the miqote, the auri are still going.
-Au ra have no set age or maturity rate (the statement about races not mentioned living like hyurs was made before the auri race) So do dragons

[Recon1o6]

This makes Au'Ra having their horns outside of helmets even more ouch lol.

Tbf Au Ra horns are probably much sturdier than those silly ears

[Kolsykol]

Tbf Au Ra horns are probably much sturdier than those silly ears

They're still attached to your face tho and they're still basically your ears.
Even if your ears were solid imagine someone slams you in the ears with a sword.

It's the same with tails it's kinda silly honestly to have them out they wouldn't last long xD.