Everyday Life in Ishgard (HW Spoilers, sorta)

[SirPhoebos]

There's something I've been wondering about: I never played 1.0, but the impression I get of Coerthas was that it was much more arable before the calamity, particularly in Western Coerthas with the abandoned hamlets. Then once the calamity hit, Coerthas quickly becomes a frozen wasteland. Without any farmland left, what exactly do the people of Ishgard eat? We get a few quests showing that those in the Brune are struggling sure, but with the level of devastation presented, one would think that even the High Houses would be hit by the sudden loss of agricultural production.

[SirPhoebos]

(edit: there's a 1000 character limit? weird)

Ishard could of course import food, but that would contradict the isolationist narrative presented. "No one is let in Ishgard anymore. Well except the large daily caravans that ensure they don't starve." The only other possibility is that Ishgard has been surviving off its siege larder for the last five years. This of course means that Ishgard would have had siege provisions to last five years. Much longer too, because otherwise it's leaders would have been more eager to reestablish relations with Eorzea a lot sooner out of sheer necessity. Now, given the amount of militancy we see, a ++5 year siege supply doesn't sound completely absurd, but it's still a finite supply, and ultimately this explanation diminishes the Warrior of Light's achievement of bringing Ishgard back into the alliance if it was inevitably going to happen anyway.

[Alex_W]

This intrigued me a bit. I guess they could live off the meat of the monsters in the central/western highlands. There is also some minor vegetation and fishing areas. It does seem a bit odd. Also, by editing your original post, you can bypass the character limit.

[WhiteArchmage]

I see about three options.

First is the Sea of Clouds, since it has a farm, but: a) it's pretty recent, much like the colonization of Camp Cloudtop, and b) it's pretty small and isn't quite sure what to grow.

While it's possible that no merchants are allowed IN, no one says Ishgardian merchants aren't allowed OUT, they could certainly go from Coerthas Central to their closest neighbors (either Gridania or Mor Dhona) either trade or buy supplies and head back, the cold weather would stave off spoiling for a while (also in CCH, Eft meat! granted, one of the sidequests has you get said meat because the soldiers are sick of rations). This would also widen the gap between the classes, since the lowborn would barely be able to afford this food.

And lastly, Ishgardians ARE paranoid b-tards, they could probably endure a 10 year siege

[SirPhoebos]

This intrigued me a bit. I guess they could live off the meat of the monsters in the central/western highlands. There is also some minor vegetation and fishing areas. It does seem a bit odd. Also, by editing your original post, you can bypass the character limit.

Thanks for the forum tip. While hunting can be an important part of the diet for small populations, you run into issues supporting a city like Ishgard where you have a dimishing return on calories as you go from grazing ->herbivore -> predator. In short, there would need to be huge herds to be able to support those numbers Dangerous monsters have an additional problem: the process of subduing it would leave you at a net loss of calories. And then you have the additional factor that many of these monsters are dragons, and are not just animals but effectively part of an enemy military force. If there were enough of them that the people of Ishgard could live off their meat, then they could just overrun them.

While it's possible that no merchants are allowed IN, no one says Ishgardian merchants aren't allowed OUT, they could certainly go from Coerthas Central to their closest neighbors (either Gridania or Mor Dhona) either trade or buy supplies and head back, the cold weather would stave off spoiling for a while (also in CCH, Eft meat! granted, one of the sidequests has you get said meat because the soldiers are sick of rations). This would also widen the gap between the classes, since the lowborn would barely be able to afford this food.

That's certainly possible, and I hadn't thought about traders from Ishgard. One of the consequences of this would be that the merchant classes become empowered, and would soon be competing with the traditional nobility for status and power. It would not be far-fetched that in the future Ishgard's society becomes more like Ul'dah.

[Heavensword]

Oh, come on! Who needs farms when you have this?!
BEHOLD!



騎士オルシュファンのとてもイイ・・・！鍋 (Kishi Orushufan no Totemo Ii...! Nabe, lit. Knight Haurchefant's simply FANTASTIC...! Hot Pot)

It's nutritious, warm, patriotic and most important of all... SIMPLY FANTASTIC!! Only for 1,580 gil... Heretics and heresy not included

Come, friends! Taste the might of Ishgard and House Fortemps!

[SirPhoebos]

Oh, come on! Who needs farms when you have this?!
BEHOLD!



騎士オルシュファンのとてもイイ・・・！鍋 (Kishi Orushufan no Totemo Ii...! Nabe, lit. Knight Haurchefant's simply FANTASTIC...! Hot Pot)

It's nutritious, warm, patriotic and most important of all... SIMPLY FANTASTIC!! Only for 1,580 gil... Heretics and heresy not included

Come, friends! Taste the might of Ishgard and House Fortemps!

That...looks yummy. Do you have a recipe?

[PArcher]

We haven't been to the eastern Highlands or any of the lowlands. It's possible they (or at least one area) are relatively snow-free still.

[Aurou]

Ishgard, even prior to Heavensward, was trading with the other nations. This can be seen at Benchbranch and the chocobos. All the chocobos are from the Hinterlands, and would be Ishgard's leading export. Tailfeather self sustains, more then likely, on the predator creatures that roam the area so that the Chocobo population doesn't decline to far. The chocobos are then sold to Ishgard, who sells them to the other city states. (The people of tailfeather mention they make gil off of all the chocobos they capture and it's noted that all chocobos hail from Ishgard.)

So with chocobos being their main export, it would make sense that they bought supplies on their way back home. So Ishgardian Caravans would make the most sense. There's also a range of wild life out there to slaughter, so that could be some of their meals as well.

[Dalvy]

Looking at the HW cooking recipes, you will notice that there's a lot of high calorie content in their diet. Creme Bruleé, ishgardian tea being prepared with a heavier milk, lots of meat dishes, etc. By comparison, the other city-states have a wider variety of lighter dishes due to having access to milder climates. Goes without saying that mutton, Chocobo, dhalmel, etc are staples .

Also, if I recall, Coerthan food is said to be very bland compared to the heavy, sweet, meaty Ishgardian diet. Homely country faire versus city stuff. There's also a quest that says some poor Coerthan commoners can't even drink shitty beer because it's being used in nobleman Chocobo feed