Nael Van Darnus -- A Love Story

[Anonymoose]

That's... actually pretty damn plausible, isn't it? I mean, I maintain that Bahamut was the one influencing Nael in the end; Nael wasn't using Bahamut's personal special attack (Megaflare) for nothing. But the rest of that... yeah, that's extremely possible.

If I were to take a more refined stab at it, I'd say that Nael originally intended to ...

Wait, wait, wait wait.... wait.

Wait.

Bahamut was never allowed to roam free. He was locked to the Labyrinth, and chances are he been stuffed right back into it by 5 years after his appearance, which is possibly what we're going to see in our unique openings and why it's so calm when we get there.

Xandes, was stored in some sort of hypersleep until he could be reawakened (a legend which became he died until he could be resurrected, over time). Tower of aetheric crystal under the center of the world as far as the planet's soul is concerned...

OH, HOLY HELLS!

What if Odin was related to the Allagan? For a time, Bahamut would have been locked in the Labyrinth until the power struggle became too much for the land to take, so the Allagan built a machine and exiled him. That has to be related to why Xandes is sleeping and why Odin reappears now. They have to be connected.

Perhaps Nael saw himself as fulfilling the prophecy by reawakening the Allagan to crush the short-sighted fools in Garlemald who would surely win this war and take over the Allagan's homeland, unimpeded? By calling back Bahamut, he would force Xandes and Odin to return and purify the situation...

Ohohoho, but if Odin has Bahamut's number so easily, who will stop Odin?

Let's bring that right back around to my theory that the Garleans are trying to create a bastard fusion of Primal essence and magitek... and we're right back to the golden Final Fantasy Online standard of Odin v. ALEXANDER. As the last-primal-standing on the elemental wheel, Odin would have to go up against something - why not the mechanistic creation of a force that seeks to wipe out the primals, perhaps by fighting fire with fire?

... Okay, so maybe that last part is a little out there...

Unless it's the other way around? Alexander might be the Allagan's; when Odin appeared in Final Fantasy XI, it was the Alzadaal that built Alexander to defeat Odin... similar names. Or maybe a red herring? Or maybe a crazy Moose?

[Alaltus]

Yeah... Alexander would probbably be better suited to defending a tower than Odin though plus.

"Housed on the Red Moon, the Giant of Babil is summoned to the Earth by gathering the Crystals at the Tower of Babil to activate a dimensional elevator. The connection with Alexander is cemented by the battle with Proto-Babil in the remake version, which uses Divine Judgment, Alexander's signature attack."

Maybe we already saw Alexander and we just didn't know it? The Allagan may have been forced to send Alexander up with Bahamut to make the plan work (the twelve failed to copy the Allag's success) or may even have just wanted to put him some where out of reach. I may just be looking at it too deepky though.. But i could totally see it going either way from what we've seen so far. Oh and Alexander is quite well placed if it is the case because he has fought both Odin and Bahamut in the past iterations. As well as Alexander fitting with Allag's purity and Odin could fit the sword of might. Though i want to see a Magitek Doom Train!

The other one in the picture is Fenrir, he has concept art but theres been no clues as to his part in all this if he has any at all. I could believe he might have some connection to the Allag given his usual affiliation with the moon, otherwise i have no idea what they could be planning with him.

[HiirNoivl]

Master Xande was originally one of Great Magus Noah's students, along with Master Doga and Master Unei. Both Master Doga and Master Unei were given great magical powers. Master Xande was given a much stranger gift, the gift of mortality. Unable to appreciate his gift, Master Xande was driven mad by the thought of dying. In a blind rage, Master Xande sought to disrupt the balance of light and darkness, by draining the crystals of their power. By doing so, the world would be flooded in darkness, and time would freeze. Thus, he would no longer have to fear death.

He set up base in the Crystal Tower, and successfully drained the Earth and Water Crystals. This created an imbalance of power, summoning a tide of darkness to cover the world. A portion of the world was ripped from the planet and sent into the sky above the tide, as time froze on the surface world. The two remaining crystals were on this new floating continent, but it mattered not to Xande: the surface was frozen, and immortality was his again. However, he became wary of the prospect that the floating continent's residents might some day return to the surface, and began sending monsters there to try and destroy the continent.

When the Warriors of Light manage to dispel the tide of darkness, they confront Master Xande in the Crystal Tower. He has managed to drain all the crystals now, but the tide of darkness has not returned. Though Xande catches them with the Curse of the Five Wyrms, the Warriors are rescued by the appearances of five pure souls. Without any more tricks to use, Xande fights the Warriors of Light and is killed, but his actions have had an unknown side effect. By creating such a huge imbalance in light and darkness, the Cloud of Darkness appears, revealing that it was commanding Xande all along wanting to return everything to nothingness.

Xande is mentioned by a Gulgan in Replito when it is stated that someone is attempting to create an imbalance of light and darkness, not knowing that this will destroy the world.

Source:

From Like Father, Like Son:

Cid: These changes across Eorzea of late - The deaspected crystals, the red stain of Dalamud, the Garlean offensive. All of this is part of the Empire's grand scheme. They mean to harness the Meteor magic of ages past, and with it the power to cast down the stars and visit vast ruin upon this world -- a world they believe tainted by the primals. In the twisted minds of men like van Darnus, it is an act of deliverance. Should they succeed in resurrecting that great power, they will turn it on Dalamud and lay waste to all of Ul'dah... I mean Eorzea.


.....Freudian slip... >.>

[HiirNoivl]

... I wonder if Xandes is a portmanteau of Xande and Golbez.

[Yrusama]

How did the Allag become to tied into Dragon gods? Who knows... (Yet.)

This is an interesting question, but I'm going to respond to it with another question: How do we know that Nael was aware it was Bahamut? To me it seems more likely that Bahamut fed Nael abstract ideas telepathically, without ever giving his actual name. Nael continued to refer to the presence as Dalamud, when he was otherwise so candid toward the player about his plans. Perhaps the word "He" came from an abstract awareness that the presence within Dalamud is male, alongside an equally abstract awareness that the presence needs Aether, just like any other "god" in Hydaelyn.

As far as I can tell, Bahamut, from within Dalamud, sought a man with Allagan blood and fed him only enough information to carry out his escape from Dalamud. But I haven't pored over the dialogue nearly as much as you have.

While I'm here pestering you, Mr. Moose, do you have any thoughts on the Paladin job quest NPC who exclaims "Bahamut's Fang!" when you happen to have the soul stone?

[Bowen]

Jenovah's

That's an unfortunate misspelling.

Still trying to read through all of this, y'all are too fast for me. x.x

[Alaltus]

Thanks fixed that hiccup.

[Belisaire]

(Forgive me if a lot of this may have already been discussed, I haven't had a chance to read up on everything yet)

This is all just speculation (but a lot of this is),

I've often considered Nael to be just crazy, pure and simple. A guy who lost his mind and thought that burning the world would purify it, but I half wonder if there was almost a much greater (and almost, noble?) purpose to it? Like others have talked about him being Allag, and I know this was confirmed, and him fulfilling the prophecy of his people.

I've also found it slightly unbelievable just how quickly Eorzea seems to recover (only five years) after experiencing what would certainly seem like the world's end. Five years really isn't much time at all for Eorzea to recover from all that Bahamut unleashed on the planet, at least not plausibly to me. From the alpha videos we can see that a lot changed in the Shroud, in terms of the canopy being not nearly as thick, but compared to what could have been, it seems to be doing relatively alright. I think it was dicussed in a Japanese magazine and I don't have the source but I believe Yoshi-P said this was intentional, and that there is a reason why Eorzea recovers so relatively quick.

So the question becomes, why does Eorzea come back? Why is the realm reborn? I have a theory that, perhaps through catastrophe, the land must bounce back. If the Mother Crystal is really at the source of it all, perhaps for Eorzea to usher in a new age, a new rebirth, something terrible had to happen to land for the Mother Crystal to step in and pump god loads of aether back into the planet, changing it entirely. Like a human body taking a severe wound, the body would allocate more resources to rebuild it.

The question becomes, did Darnus know this would happen? Did he know that razing the planet would prompt a response from the Mother Crystal, to give birth to a better, more powerful Eorzea? Because I don't think Bahamut is around in quite the same capacity; something happened to him (He's stuck in a Labyrinth and fightable? Sounds like he got his power drastically turned down somehow...). Perhaps the Mother Crystal struck him directly? Curious too where Dalamud chose to fall (in the Mor Dhona/Carteneau Flats region).

[HiirNoivl]

So the question becomes, why does Eorzea come back? Why is the realm reborn?

Papalymo: Channeling even a tiny portion of a deity's strength will tax you greatly.

Papalymo: Fortunately, no more than that should be needed to stay the red moon's advance. At the very least, it should be sufficient to nullify Dalamud's power and ensure Eorzea's preservation.

Papalymo: For an added blessing, the process should see some aether returned to the land─aether that Dalamud had absorbed from the primals.

Papalymo: There is yet a future for Eorzea. I, for one, believe this to be true.

The question becomes, did Darnus know this would happen? Did he know that razing the planet would prompt a response from the Mother Crystal, to give birth to a better, more powerful Eorzea?

[Nael Van Darnus:Ah, yes! The song of life resounds!

Nael Van Darnus: Its joyous strains herald the coming of a new world─a world free of man's creeping corruption!

Nael Van Darnus: In the name of House Darnus, I shall bring the wisdom of ancient Allag to bear and make ready a feast in honor of the divine!

Nael Van Darnus: Bear witness as the curtains rise upon new creation! Ahahahaha!

* * * *

I don't think what happened is what he had in mind though.

I have a question if the Ala Mhigo has any connection with Allag since it's just a few letters difference and the god of Ala Mhigo is Rhalgar whose symbol is a streaking Meteor. Ala Mhigo was a very strong country when the Garleans ran it over.

[Yrusama]

Edit: Meh came back and realized it was actually sil'dih that did the zombification thing, wrong civilization D:

Where does it say this? I read that on a website but it sounded so ridiculous I thought it was fanfic!