Pre-allag history.

[Morningstar1337]

So is there anything we know about the 1st Astral era to the 3rd Umbral era?anything at all. I'd thought Id ask because The Allagans seem to ebt he earliest point in history where we know a lot about, but the earlier eras seem to be more scare information-wise.

I ask both becuase of certain forumgoers disdain for see Allag as the scapegoat for everything and because Heavenswards seems to have "History being written by the winners" and supressed truths as themes. That ad the whole Origin thing being connected to Hydealyn, the Ascians and maybe even the Twelve.

[Enkidoh]

To be really honest? Not much, in fact, very little is known of pre-Allag Eorzea/Hydaelyn. A very bare-bones creation story of Eorzea has existed since 1.0 (the most recent revision appeared pre-release of ARR on the Lodestone), basically stating that the Twelve existed 'in harmony with the early tribes' in Eorzea, until a war brought about an end to the 'Age of the Gods' and caused the First Umbral Era, the end of which ushered in the 'Age of Man' and the First Astral Era, resulting in the Twelve abandoning Eorzea for another realm (the Heavens?). From there the 'early tribes' spread out across Eorzea and took individual members of the Twelve as their guardians, waging wars of attrition against each other in a zealous interpretation of their faith.

Between that point and the rise of the Allag, nothing is known - we know the Allag Empire rose in the 4th Astral Era, so what happened before then is still a mystery. One of the Loremasters should be able to clarify and add to this further though.

[Frederick22]

snip

3rd astral era.

[StarDrake]

Yes, Allag is Third Astral. Though funnily enough, the Fourth Astral is another weird void spot in the timeline - player knowledge only really picks up in the Fifth Astral, with the rise of the combatants in the War of the Magi.

But yes, our knowledge of pre-Allagan history is limited more or less to myth. One gets the impression this may even be true in-universe, as the pre-Allagan era was a good six thousand plus years or more prior to the present day. Even today our understanding of history that old is very limited due to how little survives in the archaeological record, and Eorzea doesn't have all of the modern tools that have helped drive our understanding of ancient history in the past century or so. It may just be that there isn't much to know.

Midgardsormr and the other surviving First Brood might be able to shed a little light on how those eras went down, but we have more pressing things to ask them about than a history lesson right now.

[Enkidoh]

Doh, you're both right, my bad - it is indeed the Third Astral Era, not Fourth. My mind is like mush at the moment due to medication making me drowsy. Anyway, thanks for that clarification.

[Fenral]

Considering what's been said on the subject of the transition out of the Seventh Umbral Era, I suppose we should also consider the possibility that any of the first, second, and fourth astral/umbral eras could have been extremely short. Then again, the Seventh Umbral Era is kind of an oddity, in that 1500+ years of development weren't actually lost, and the land was at least partially restored by a very quick-thinking Louisoix. But he can't be the only hero to get the job done right, can he?

[Razem5791]

I may be wrong but the more I played FF14 since a realm reborn, the more I believe pre-allags were highly intelligent and much more advanced than any civilization until now. Since we know almost nothing about that era, who knows what was their downfall... The more I look at it, the more they remind me of Atlantis and Mu empires. They destroyed themselves apparently. But in the allag case, did they disappear because of the primals ? Doubtful, if u remember Ultima Weapon. That leaves possibly the ascians ? Why not ? It is said they had some blame on the Hishgard 1000 years lie...

[Cilia]

Simply put, no.

The only thing we know about pre-Allagan history is that supposedly a reeeeeeeeeeeeally long time ago the Twelve lived on Hydaelyn with men, but the men started to war, causing the Twelve to leave to the Astral Sea and sparking the first Calamity and Umbral Era. Since then, Hydaelyn has gone though cycles of Astral and Umbral Eras.

History from the First Umbral Era through the Third Umbral Era is undocumented.

The Allagan Empire is the first bit of known, recorded history, as they were so technologically advanced their crap still functions to this day (~5000 years after their civilization was destroyed). They were from the Third Astral Era, and seem to have conquered almost (if not) all of Hydaelyn, seeing as their crap is everywhere. Civilization was destroyed by the Fourth Calamity.

History from the fall of Allag (Fourth Umbral Era) to the War of the Magi (Sixth Astral Era) is undocumented.

During the Sixth Astral Era, there were three city-states: Mhach (Black Mages), Nym (Scholars), and Amdapor (White Mages) who eventually got into a war - the War of the Magi. This war was cut short by the Sixth Calamity, the Calamity of Water, which flooded most of the world. (The Void Ark is supposedly a desperation tactic the Mhachi used to escape it... supposedly.)

History for the Sixth Umbral Era is undocumented.

Then begins the Sixth Astral Era, which saw the rise of modern civilizations in Eorzea, ending with Dalamud's fall, and then the Seventh Umbral Era and now the Seventh Astral Era we are currently in.

That's about all the history we have. Kinda makes you appreciate history textbooks a bit more, doesn't it?

[Frederick22]

I'm starting to think that the allagans destroyed almost everythig that was older than them, leaving only just vague myths.

Cilia we know that the fifth umbral era was an ice gae. In their desesperation, men re discovered magic and use it as means to survive the long winter. With time their masterise the magic and use it on many ways, with time we know that 3 civilisations were born where magic was being used too much. The war of magic during the FITH ASTRAL ERA ( not sixth astral ). I think the fith astral era started once the ice age finished.

[Kaiser-Ace]

Edit:Accedentally posted the same info as Frederick in my 1st statement. lol

Cilia we know that the fifth umbral era was an ice gae. In their desesperation, men re discovered magic and use it as means to survive the long winter. With time their masterise the magic and use it on many ways, with time we know that 3 civilisations were born where magic was being used too much. The war of magic during the FITH ASTRAL ERA ( not sixth astral ). I think the fith astral era started once the ice age finished.

That's also when Miqo'te came to Eorzea from Myracidia,

The Moogles seem to have a genetic memory of the 2nd Calamity how ever because they mention their original home being destroyed by "Fire Falling from the sky" which could be inferred to be the calamity of fire. So Moogles them selves may date back to the 1st Astral Era.