An Eorzean Timeline.

[Mjollnir]

What the hell is going on here!?!?

Clearly, Grand Company members have been Echoing back a long way!

[NoloeTazier]

BULLSEYE!

So Ishgard was founded about a thousand years ago, Limsa was founded seven hundred years ago, Gridania was founded five-something years ago (my bet is on hundreds, since thousands would be far too Allagan by my reckoning), and only Ul'dah remains without a date.

That's at least three out of six cities founded after the last appearance of the Grand Companies of Eorzea.
Yet the foundation day events spoke of the "reformation" of the grand companies, not simply their inception.

What in the seven hells is going on here!?!?

Ok so...uh. Kinda throws a wrench into things. At least with the Gridania thing it could be taken as the Twin Adders symbol didn't appear till 500 years ago. But if Gridania was apart of the Eorzean Alliance 1500+ years ago..what was their Grand Company? Scratching my head here.

If Ul'dah was founded until around 972 6A.E. which is the time the Sultan Sworn were formed to protect the Sultan. This becomes even more confusing for me, I just naturally assumed that Shatotto (a Thaumaturge) would be apart of the Thaumaturge guild. Then you have White Mages that abused their power and practically destroyed the art, which would be Gridania..all of these 1500+ years ago.

I wonder if this is too much of a ARR Lore thing for Fern to pop in and give us a little explanation.

[Naria]

/wave I mostly lurk around here but I just wanted to say how much I enjoy reading the lore forums and the posters here.:-)
On the Grand Companies being older than the cities, I'm probably missing something but does it ever say directly when they disbanded? I mean they may have been formed 1500 years ago but that doesn't mean they weren't active organizations for centuries. They could have been formed in association with older civilizations in Erozea, eventually become associated with the three starting city-states and declined and disbanded fairly recently (only a few centuries ago).

[NoloeTazier]

/wave I mostly lurk around here but I just wanted to say how much I enjoy reading the lore forums and the posters here.:-)
On the Grand Companies being older than the cities, I'm probably missing something but does it ever say directly when they disbanded? I mean they may have been formed 1500 years ago but that doesn't mean they weren't active organizations for centuries. They could have been formed in association with older civilizations in Erozea, eventually become associated with the three starting city-states and declined and disbanded fairly recently (only a few centuries ago).

Welcome, feel free to join in the conversations and threads.

It most likely is, but the history and npcs tell us that Eorzean Alliance has been reformed. The way it's talked about is as if Ul'dah's Immortal Flames, Gridania's Twin Adders, and Limsa Lominsa's Maelstorm were the Grand Companies that came together at the end of the Fifth Astral era in preparation for the Sixth Umbral era. The revival of the Flames, Adders, and Maelstorm again. But currently there's no Lore stating those 3 Grand Companies were part of different civilizations and the current city-states adopted them.

Sixth Umbral and Seventh Umbral have a lot in common. The Grand Companies forming the Eorzean Alliance and involvement of Archons (at least the rumor/myth is Archons 'causing' the Sixth Umbral).

An alliance was formed between Gridania, Ishgard, Ul'dah, and Limsa Lominsa but there's no involvement of the Grand Companies so that rules out that being the first formation of the Eorzean Alliance, so it has to be the Sixth Astral era.

[Myranda]

Hmm I'm curious and confused now. The OP timeline lists the Grand Companies as forming to face the 6th Umbral Era catastrophe, but just thinking back on memories from playing the game I thought they were formed to respond to the initial push of the Empire into Ala Mhigo before the sudden halt of their advance?

Am I just misremembering things? Is the Eorzean Alliance so far separated from the foundation of the GCs? Can anyone provide a direct quote from the game stating one way or the other? I never saved any of the game text myself for later reference...

[NoloeTazier]

Hmm I'm curious and confused now. The OP timeline lists the Grand Companies as forming to face the 6th Umbral Era catastrophe, but just thinking back on memories from playing the game I thought they were formed to respond to the initial push of the Empire into Ala Mhigo before the sudden halt of their advance?

Am I just misremembering things? Is the Eorzean Alliance so far separated from the foundation of the GCs? Can anyone provide a direct quote from the game stating one way or the other? I never saved any of the game text myself for later reference...

That's the question now that we're realizing WHEN the 3 City-States were founded. The Lore tells us the "first" (I quote first because it may be the freshest memory we have of the Eorzean Alliance/GCs united) time the Grand Companies came together was in preparation for the Sixth Umbral era. Then we adventurers with help of the Circle of Knowing reform the Grand Companies and then the Eorzean Alliance.

But if Limsa Lominsa wasn't founded until 700 years ago and Gridania 500 something (though I still say it may just be the Twin Adders, but then that questions what their Grand Company was at the time of the Sixth Umbral era) and right now there's no date for Ul'dah. It kinda jumbles things up unless Grand Companies existed before the 5 City-States (Ishgard and Ala Mhigo included) were founded. But when we have to ask..what were the civilizations before Ul'dah, Gridania, and Limsa Lominsa that came together with their Grand Companies for the Sixth Umbral era. There's no Lore of any kind of other civilizations except for Gelmorra, possibly Lym, the Allagan Empire, Sil'dih (which existed ALONG side Ul'dah).

[Catapult]

We'll need to keep a close eye on ruins around Eorzea for anything resembling a sigil of a Grand Company. For instance, if we can see a Twin Adder mark or variant inside Gelmorran ruins, we'll know that the Order pre-dates Gridania.

That whole story around the Galladion still bugs me though. The Maelstrom may have existed before the foundation of Limsa, but it would have been on the Southern continent and not a grand company of Eorzea.

[Llysander]

Viola!

Edit: image is from Peace Garden in the Northern Shroud. There are Ixali banners everywhere, but it is empty.

Edit Edit: Maybe it's an underground flower of some sort? Perhaps a Duskwight symbol? As opposed to the above ground Gridania (Lily) one?

[Catapult]

Viola!

Why thank you. I think we might be getting somewhere.

If you look closely, the "flower" between the adders is different to the arms of Gridania.

We might be looking at the arms of Gelmorra and the original Order of the Twin Adder. Call it a hunch.

[NoloeTazier]

Viola!

Why thank you. I think we might be getting somewhere.

If you look closely, the "flower" between the adders is different to the arms of Gridania.

We might be looking at the arms of Gelmorra and the original Order of the Twin Adder. Call it a hunch.

It definitely seems like an older version of the current Twin Adders standard. Did it come from Tam-Tara Deepcroft or the Mun-Tuy Cellars? If it's from the Tam-Tara Deepcroft then I think I might have found some interesting markers.

The Ak-Inik Tomb, the Ak-Mena Tomb, and the Tomb of King Galvanth the Dominator. The last is the most interesting. I doubt he came by the name "The Dominator," in a good way. Now looking at the Elezen Naming Convention thread, Ak-Inik and Ak-Mena, are immediately ruled out as Elezen names and instead are Padjal. Galvanth is not a Padjal name but it may still be an Elezen name even though it doesn't follow the rules of the thread. I had to dig deep for this one..the only creator/map maker I could find was Orrick Ballard, which is a Hyur name. So this means the maps and names were 'created' well after the time of Gelmorra (or at least probably). But all that aside, I think the Tam-Tara Deepcroft is an important place, but it's not part of the Gelmorran ruins. Most of Tam-Tara is referred to as chambers and tombs and there's only 1 connection to Tam-Tara and that's from the Twelveswood. Gelmorra would have had multiple entrances/exits and more evidence of hospitable environments. Also we know Gelmorra is in the north eastern part of the Black Shroud. Tam-Tara is essentially in the middle. And the naming conventions of at least 2/3s of the major points in Tam-Tara are Padjal(i) so I'd assume this site has more to do with the Padjal than Duskwight Elezen.

As for the Twin Adder logo it makes perfect sense now. The Padjal Seed-Seer is in charge of the Twin Adders and is the only one who can reform it. So Tam-Tara being a Padjal (tomb) and having an old Twin Adder banner seems very very likely. I would just then question, who was Galvanth? Maybe Galvanth crowned himself King with support from Ak-Inik and Ak-Mena and made war against whoever and whatever civilizations was here at the time...maybe other Padjal backed by Elementals and Gelmorrans? Maybe a Duskwight and Wildwood Elezen war? The Official Site says the Duskwight Elezen split from the Wildwood Elezen during the founding of Gridania...so maybe Galvanth was a Duskwight Elezen who went against Gridania and Padjal participated in the conflict.

If you were to blow that picture up and show the entire artwork, I wonder if the 5 flowers have a significant meaning. Maybe meaning the Fifth Umbral/Astral era? A reasonable time for the Twelveswood to have begun to be occupied by the Elezen. Also the flower on the current Twin Adder logo resembles a gardenia...Gridania...Gardenia. The old one just looks like dandelions, of course I'm not a botanist (least irl).

Edit: It's Ak-Mena and not Ak-Meng, just a mistranslation on their map lol.