What's the point with that quite lackluster story in Endwalker?

[CrownySuccubus]

I'd say Venat's death count is higher by far if she didn't tell anyone about Meteion (and that seems to be the case in the story) since that makes her ultimately responsible for any deaths caused by Meteion during those 12,000 years. Even if she'd told the ancients, the unsundered Ascians, any of the WoLs and / or anyone along the way and it turned out nothing could have been done, I'd feel that Meteion's death count would be higher than Venat's because at least she would have tried instead of waiting for her 'chosen one'.

Completely agree with you. I told a friend of mine while playing Endwalker that my biggest criticism of the Elpis storyline was that "It felt like everything that happens for the next 12,000 years would have been preventable if the characters were competent."

Mass death isn’t needed though. People need to realize, the sundered world is unnatural. It isn’t the norm in this game setting. The ancient world is what is considered natural, so while it may seek unnatural to us because of the real world, in the game setting that isnt the case. The sundering wasn’t a natural event. Dying to illness isn’t a natural thing.

Was this always the case, or did they simply learn how to eliminate disease through science?

Venat's "mankind was spared suffering for a short time" statement makes me believe that the Ancients might have been more mortal and vulnerable once.