Let's talk about Tomestones. (Theories and Spoilers)

[TinyCat]

We love tomestones don't we?
Special little plates we hand over for better gear, you might have too many, you usually want more of them, once 2.1 starts they're everywhere.

But what do we know about them?
1. Rowena wants them. She'll exclusive-ise things that you want BEFORE you think to want them just to get them from you.
2. They're Allagan. Well, that explains #1.
3. They come in at least 6 different flavours, each with distinct names/patterns.
4. They're somewhat stone-like.
5. They're somewhat tome-like.

So we know this;
1. They're valuable to outsiders.
2. They're more advanced than what even the Garleans know how to make.
3. There's a variety of them.
4. They're hard.
5. They contain information.

Allagan tomestones are Hard Disk Drives. Usually when an outsider accesses enormous amounts of HDDs, that's for something called Data Mining.

(Pt. 1)

[TinyCat]

I know that you or I, in the real world, would have a pretty tough time accessing a HDD's data without a compatible PC. But what if there was some sort of ability exclusive to Eorzeans for interpreting information? Just so happens that magic is just that. Chants, the stories and names of gods, incantations. That's all information.

A slow process to be sure but with a bit of probing, magic can theoretically pull data out of a tomestone.
But what about compiling it?
If it was little bits of data like Philosophical beleifs and tales of Mythos then that'd be easy to record.

(Pt. 2)

[TinyCat]

But a full account of all War and Culture? You'd need a database of your own and a computer to interface it.
I'm not up to 3.0 myself yet but my bottom gil says Rowena's got an Allagan 'Library Node'.

What's it all for? Probably ultimate power, right now we're helping compile the fragmented database that held all records of Allagan justice and government, and lastly a compendium of every Allagan secret.

Government and secrets? But the Allagan were a monarchy. That'd mean that the databases coming together would contain everything that Xande did and knew?

(Pt. 3)

[TinyCat]

Like I said before, I'm not even up to 3.0 yet but I thought I'd share this all with you. My best guess is that the Law tomestones will reveal some equivalent of 'launch codes' and that the Esoterics will reveal the second thing you need to launch your nukes, the head honcho's approval.

Anyroad, I'm keen to hear what you all think!

Addendum; I forgot to mention the trend of particular tomestones becoming obselete. Essentially, when you've compiled 100% of a database, you don't need HDDs native to it any more. With a tomestone monopoly, Rowena can lend back Poetics for Soldiery because it's essentially a coupon for whatever you're saving your Poetics for, incentivising you to bring in more!

Also, post-Heavensward thoughts from myself on page 3!
(Final part)

[Galaticus]

Rowena the true end boss of the game confirmed?

[CodeCass]

This is a really interesting theory! Absolutely interested in seeing how others weigh in on this.

[Fenral]

Rowena's been selling them to Cid, who provided her with exclusive distribution rights on Ironworks Gear in exchange. Cid is supposedly working on fast-forwarding our level of tech to something closer to Allagan levels, so would need as much data as he can get to accomplish that. All this leads to the grand prize: Syrcus Tower, an energy source so powerful that not even the people who built it could handle it without far-reaching consequences.

Assuming something doesn't go horribly wrong before then.

[Galaticus]

Rowena's been selling them to Cid, who provided her with exclusive distribution rights on Ironworks Gear in exchange. Cid is supposedly working on fast-forwarding our level of tech to something closer to Allagan levels, so would need as much data as he can get to accomplish that. All this leads to the grand prize: Syrcus Tower, an energy source so powerful that not even the people who built it could handle it without far-reaching consequences.

Assuming something doesn't go horribly wrong before then.

However with the latest expansion Rowena is selling Doman gear in exchange for tomestones, she may not be dealing exclusively with Cid- even before Poetics she dealing with tomestones which leads me to believe that she has her own motivations.

[Fenral]

However with the latest expansion Rowena is selling Doman gear in exchange for tomestones, she may not be dealing exclusively with Cid- even before Poetics she dealing with tomestones which leads me to believe that she has her own motivations.

Cid (rather, the Ironworks) has an exclusive contract with Rowena over that particular set of gear, but it doesn't go both ways. She gets all sorts of stuff for all sorts of clients, presumably Sharlayans and Garleans as well.

[Anonymoose]

Tomestones are basically flash drives; they're chunks of quartz used as a storage medium for information (French name for Tomestone: Memoquartz). Now that we know where Allag ruins are and we're digging them up and waking up whatever still works, we're just finding flash drives everywhere. Some of them are useful, others not so much. If a civilization collapses and loses its technological progress and know-how of how to get it running again, the whole thing gets buried. Whoever figures out how to read the information storage medium, however, has quite a bit of power.

Rowena once worked for an Ishgardian benefactor, but seems to have branched out on her own. How she got the ability to extract the information on tomestones, we're not sure. She claims that she sells them to "rich eccentrics," but she seems to be getting some of the information herself.

A lady merchant's been posting a whole stack of bills of late, based on some unlikely information she's gathered from an unlikelier source. Seems a pebble fell from the sky and told her all about these monsters living above the clouds. If I were you, I'd take these tales with a pinch of salt.

Maybe after we kicked Darnus off his cloud, the XIVth went back to Ala Mhigo, and the VIIth entrenched themselves at Cartenau, Rowena went back to Novum and plundered his kit, lol. Or, more likely, perhaps with all the gil she's raked in, she's simply managed to get one of the growing number of people who can read them to toss something her way - hints, techniques, her very own reader... There are plenty of potential sources; the XIVth Legion, Cid, the Sons of Saint Coinach...