Ronka/Toral Theory

[Iscah]

Opening a new civilization up to tie new tomes to after ten years would make sense. What if we switched to ancient Torals version of tomes instead of Allagan ones.

Firstly, it's Tural not Toral.

Secondly, changing tomestones is a difficult thing that they've dug themselves into, because unique endgame currency is fleeting and everything reverts to poetics in time.

The only way to get away from the "Allagan tomes are found everywhere" thing in the long run would be to make a permanent breakaway to a different long-term currency, and I'm not sure that they'd be willing to do that.

[Lyth]

I might be missing something, but I can't think of a reason why it couldn't be possible.

My understanding was that Rowena finds markets for the tomestones with rich collectors, who are interested in the 'libraries' worth o' knowledge' contained within them. The reason why Auriana exchanges the older tomestones is because Rowena decides that 'they're not worth the hassle anymore', and then Auriana apparently finds some sort of use for them. Maybe someday she will unveil Etheriys' largest domino collection.

Naturally, there are also plenty of other up and coming mercantile empires that we can trade whatever type of ancient artifact serves as endgame currency on Tural. Tataru's last venture was selling islands in the Cieldalaes, so it wouldn't be surprising to see her expand her business further westward. I'm sure that she'd be willing to let some of her less profitable wares go to Rowena in exchange for Poetics... allowing for a suitable profit margin, of course.

That being said, Mowen also seemed to have started up her own collection of Allagan tomestones on the First, so I suppose these things could show up literally anywhere. But it would be fun to go to something different, at least for a few expansions.

[WellGramarye]

Id like to remind everyone that, the proliferation of tomestones in other places, can be the result of us being in that place in the first place, as far as the npcs go. As for dungeons, we don't canonically find them there, and its just a gamification, since they are granted separately from the actions of the dungeon. EG: You don't get tomestones out of the chest loot that a dungeon contains.

[Denishia]

The roulettes are a gameplay mechanic and not canon that you’re constantly rerunning dungeons- except there is a handwave of Echo visions and the Wandering Minstrel to explain that any non-MSQ or repeat occurrence of a fight can be handwaved as your WoL either remembering and daydreaming about it or retelling what happened (or should have happened) to an audience. So my RP handwave is that we know tomestones are currencies among adventures because we’re not Rowena’s sole provider. Thus the tomestones we receive aren’t from inside the duties but the fee from other adventurers. It’s our consulting fee- we’re telling other adventurers what our strategies were and workshopping with them.

[Cleretic]

Also, reminder that we were getting Allagan tomestones during the expansion set in another dimension. If they weren't gonna change up the endgame tokens for that one, they never will.

[WhiteArchmage]

tbf for that, it was mentioned that the tomestones on the First were very casually found in the Crystal Tower; much like how every state had their own currency until the Exarch appeared and they oh so conveniently decided to use gil as well because of some coins found inside, ofc, Crystal Tower.

The team does like to use winks and nudges that amount to "don't think about it."

[MikkoAkure]

tbf for that, it was mentioned that the tomestones on the First were very casually found in the Crystal Tower; much like how every state had their own currency until the Exarch appeared and they oh so conveniently decided to use gil as well because of some coins found inside, ofc, Crystal Tower.

The team does like to use winks and nudges that amount to "don't think about it."

While I hope for nothing more than a tiny bit of Allagan representation in Tural, they could at least justify use of tomes in that the Allagans were a space-faring empire. At least as in low-Hydaelyn orbit and the Moon.

While what we know says they only conquered the Three Great Continents + Meracydia, they should have had some knowledge about the Western Continent and that could explain the presence of tomes if they keep this up for Dawntrail.

[WhiteArchmage]

Funny enough, they actually DID reach Tural according to EE2. It sounds like a soft retcon since it wasn't mentioned in EE1.

Science and Sorcery: “With the Third Astral Era came the rise of the Allagan Empire, and it was but a matter of centuries before the nation had conquered most of the Three Great Continents, as well as portions of the New World. However, their true prize was not the land and its resources, nor the people and their labor, but the boundless knowledge of a thousand civilizations - knowledge that could be applied, adapted, and improved upon. It was through conquest abroad that the Allagans could further strengthen their cultural core."

I tend to joke that it's Always Allag unless it's Always Ascians (and with the Emet reveal, they're one and the same), so I would facepalm but not be surprised for a secret Allagan facility somewhere beneath Tural... especially given Noah revealed there were other facilities like Orthos around the world...

ETA: Don't get me wrong, I long for the game to divorce itself from Allag, but it doesn't seem like the team has any intention of doing so.

[Mayhemmer]

Was brainstorming after the EU fanfest and decided to do some forums searches for things related to Ronka, and much to my surprise I found this thread.

Even after EU fanfest though, I'd say the threads linking various aspects of Ronka to Tural are tenuous at best, but there are little bits here and there that are fun to think about.

Galuf being a person of interest (to what extent, we shall see), also being a major character in FFV, in which you visit the Ronkan Ruins.

Said ruins being guarded by a large winged serpent, possibly Valigarmanda?

This one is really stretching it, but Viper being the new job, who's namesake is perhaps in reference to the great serpent? Maybe not...

New area design art depicting a large desert with a big fat definitely-not-flying-city-sized [SECRET] smear, notable with trains being present in the scenery.

Directly after such being concept art for a dungeon that, if you hit your head real hard and squint, kind of look vaguely similar to the battle background art in FFV when fighting the Ronkan Ruin's defense systems, with implications of being entered via train (wreck).

Like I said, it's tenuous and really stretching it, but it's fun to consider. It'll probably just be Allagans again

[Mayhemmer]

I noticed this a bit after the JP fanfest dungeon crawl video, and I was hesitant to point it out because there's likely nothing at all to it. At this point, it's absolutely just confirmation bias for me, but y'know... even if it is, it's really making me wonder...

Did anyone else notice these little flame-bearing statues?



A lot of the architecture we see in the Turals draws some pretty obvious comparisons to what we saw in the Greatwood, but a lot of that comes down to both sharing similar real-world parallels. But this? That just straight up looks like an Amaro to me, or what I'd imagine Amaro might have looked like earlier in the First's history, when they might have more closely resembled scaled reptiles.

Granted, they could just be artistic visages of some local fauna, or they could just be nothing at all, but I still see some resemblance.