Quote Originally Posted by EaraGrace View Post
Normally I’d agree. But our visit to Elpis makes clear that the common sufferings of our lives are not at all common to the Ancients. They don’t want for food, face war or death, or seem to be left wanting for anything really. The few who do suffer largely fall to the margins unnoticed.



The volcano incident is a great example. In my mind there exist two possible interpretations, given we lack any real detail on it. In one, the Convocation largely abandoned a village of people to fend for themselves when ostensibly they could’ve intervened. In the other, the volcano never posed a threat to the inhabitants and thus the Convocation didn’t abandon anyone, but then that would mean it’s another example of how the Ancients never faced any real threat or strife. Either is not great imo.



Well that creates an issue in my mind if that’s true. If the Ancient world was only marginally better than the Sundered one, then not only are the Unsundered terrible at describing their own civilization, but they also have little reason other than selfishness to want to see the Rejoining through. They couldn’t argue that life was perfect or so much more enjoyable, because it wouldn’t be right? If the Scions lived lives that were better than the Ancients then we’ll, the whole argument Emet gave in Shb kind of falls apart.

I’d also point out there’s nothing to indicate the Ancients longevity or creation magicks were hard fought, especially considering even children easily wield those powers.
When i say they fought through it i mean mainly the final days part, and them stopping it with Zodiark, a feat that even the wandering minstrel says himself required bravery and sacrifice and what have you. I’m not saying the ancient world was only marginally better. In the end i think it’s subjective whether people like it or not, personally from what i see both in game story wise and also from an outside pov i think it’s incredibly better. That’s not me saying it’s perfect or the best ever, but compared to the sundered world of countless war and strife and also shorter lifespans, hell ye i’d pick the unsundered world over that one. Also if i’m not mistaken in the volcano story, they sent Azem didn’t they? The way i saw it they didn’t want to interfere with the natural laws of things, and a volcanic eruption is a pretty natural phenomenon. They cared for the planet and didn’t want to affect it in crazy ways. Also tbf, we don’t know anything about their past. Who knows what they faced back then as well, perhaps it’s something that contributed to their “current” way of life, who can say. There are also other ancient civilizations afaik outside of elpis and amaurot.