The Raimdelle Codex Alces

[tymora]

Yeah, my first thought was...Pandemonium Warden is here. (On Forgall)

[anubisgod89]

Just noticed that the Hippogryphs appear to have accidentally migrated over to the Voidsent category instead of the cloudkin one (not sure if that was intended?)

Also, the megalotragus is in voidsent as well - I'd have figured it to be beastkin, but maybe not? I'm a bit curious about them in general - in the Aquapolis they're always grouped with an auroch, so I'm assuming the floors are trying to match like-creatures with like-creatures....

....although bilokos arrive with baby sasquatches, so maybe I'm entirely off base.

Since I'm in the voidsent section, I presume entities like Anantaboga in Amdapor Keep NM are also dahak, along with the Valefors in Labyrinth of the Ancients?

[Rocl]

Just noticed that the Hippogryphs appear to have accidentally migrated over to the Voidsent category instead of the cloudkin one (not sure if that was intended?)

This is actually a point of contention between me and Moose, so I can assure you that it is wholly on purpose. I cannot recall his reasoning (nor mine against) but I have memory of the discussion.

Also, the megalotragus is in voidsent as well - I'd have figured it to be beastkin, but maybe not? I'm a bit curious about them in general - in the Aquapolis they're always grouped with an auroch, so I'm assuming the floors are trying to match like-creatures with like-creatures....

Megalotragus had previously only appeared in Amdapor Keep (Hard) and based on their aldgoat model skeleton, the assumption of being some sort of voidsent possessed beastkin didn't seem unreasonable. With their use in Aquapolis I too had been pushing for their reclassification. However we have to be careful with Aquapolis though because....

....although bilokos arrive with baby sasquatches, so maybe I'm entirely off base.

There's some odd mixing in Aquapolis for sure... a dullahan arrives with polis magus, viking and centaur which are carbon copies of their Antitower brethren. Another wrinkle to the rather annoying anomaly of those animated armors.

Since I'm in the voidsent section, I presume entities like Anantaboga in Amdapor Keep NM are also dahak, along with the Valefors in Labyrinth of the Ancients?

This sort of answers Morningstar1337's musings as well: the genus is rather model specific. Kuribu and Winged Lion are probably some form of golem, aye, most soulkin would be similar. Anantaboga and Valefor both use the same model, and based on the Summoned Dahak in the Weeping City of Mhach we know that their name is "Dahak." A Moraby Mole and a Snapping Shrew are both moles, non? The same is true here.

Since Kuribu and Winged Lion are (so far) a unique golemization of statues, they remain unique in the bestiary due to the model difference. The only time different models are listed in the same Genus are when they're clearly stated to be the same creature in different life stages. Wamoura/campas, anzu and cockerels and pullets, etc. (And I mean, the way the bestiary is currently set up the young zu are listed are a different species than their mother, which is clearly probably not how real science works.)

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT MOOSE. I just try to help him with this project and I know he's having a bit of technical issues lately so I'm trying to be useful!

[Anonymoose]

Just noticed that the Hippogryphs appear to have accidentally migrated over to the Voidsent category instead of the cloudkin one (not sure if that was intended?)

This is actually a point of contention between me and Moose, so I can assure you that it is wholly on purpose. I cannot recall his reasoning (nor mine against) but I have memory of the discussion.

Don't worry, the private version of the sheet has an extra tab for [Evidence For / Against] where I made sure to note everything from that debate, lol.

As you could guess: Hippogryphs continue to be a headache. They seem related to Griffins, right? Just very mangy cloudkin? And yet I couldn't actually find any evidence of that when I tried to support it. Rather, I found more to the contrary - that they're griffin-like voidsent - essentially voidhounds. For starters, if you look at a griffin and hippo side-by-side, their biology isn't as similar as you'd expect. Their wings are in different positions and have different structures, and they don't even have the same number of digits (griffins have 2 toes, hippos have 3).

Next, you have where they appear - almost always alongside voidsent. Primary, back to 1.0, you find them in Coerthas, where plasmoids, bogies, and ogres, and in 2.0, tauri, wisps, and vodoriga, too, are pouring out of the caves. This extends into Mor Dhona, where they appear alongside plasmoids and ogres and have a FATE called Another Day, Another Demon. Notice that they aren't really a common sight in Northern Thanalan, either, ... until the Chimera shows up. Hippos also appear during Necrologos levequests, going all the way back to being the bosses of Lords of Skyey Realms and The Moons' Mistress of 1.0, and also popped up during the Black Mage quests. They turn up in Copperbell Mines (alongside bombs, ghosts, slimes, and wisps), Amdapor Keep (alongside ... just everything), and the Dzemael Darkhold (alongside bogies, ahriman, demons, gnats*, ogres, skeletons**, and a gargoyle. When it comes to treasure maps, they're filed away next to taurus, bomb, grenade, vodoriga, and ahriman.

The real anomaly is the Dravanian Forelands, where they seem to have nothing in common with anything. And the FATE Cerf's Up, in that very zone, says "Not quite a hippogryph and technically not a griffin, the hippocerf is the awkward little cousin in the lion-eagle hybrid family."

Like I said ... a headache. I don't recall Eorzeans making a claim either way, but I found more evidence towards voidsent than away from it (for now).

* Gnats were vilekin for all of 1.0 and have been voidsent for all of ARR. It bothers me and I haven't worked it out, yet.

** Skeletons are not voidsent, but ashkin. However, I believe ashkin to be corporeal remains of the dead animated by any outside force, and I believe that, oftentimes, that outside force is a low-ranking voidsent. I believe this to be especially true of skeletons and fell knights. Time will tell!

Also, the megalotragus is in voidsent as well - I'd have figured it to be beastkin, but maybe not? I'm a bit curious about them in general - in the Aquapolis they're always grouped with an auroch, so I'm assuming the floors are trying to match like-creatures with like-creatures....

I strongly agree with you here. The megalotragus first appeared in Amdapor Keep, which is swarming with voidsent. But it did so at an early stage of the dungeon - the area where most dungeons are exhibiting mobs that just happened to wander in from outside. The only weird part was ... we've never seen one outside. They certainly look like "void-goats". Because there is now doubt on the nature of both the Amdapor and Aquapolis appearances, we must keep a very close eye out for the megalotragus' third appearance.

Funny story, Polis Griffin doesnt' appear with cloudkin, either. /tableflip

Since I'm in the voidsent section, I presume entities like Anantaboga in Amdapor Keep NM are also dahak, along with the Valefors in Labyrinth of the Ancients?

Correct. I called them Dahak at first, after FFXI, where they were summoned from the underworld by the Shadow Lord. However, I ended up changing the name to "Shadow Dragon" for clarity and because a Dahak had never actually appeared in XIV. One just showed up, though! \o/

Seem you need a name for the White Aevises. Since the Aevis mobs come from XII, how about Archaeoaevis?

Unfortunately, because Archaeoaevis is a name that was assigned to a red and black aevis in a Coerthas FATE. /tableflip

Alternatively we could call the subgenus Jura Aevis

Agreed. I'm caught between Jura (first appearance) and Bone (more accurate). I thought I was onto something when I noticed that black aevis mostly show up with the hate-filled minions of the Horde under Nidhogg, while the white aevis mostly show up relating to the heretics and their faith under Ysayle, who is closer-aligned (at last in her mind) with Hraesvelgr. But that doesn't seem to fully apply... Screw it, let's go with Jura for now. Meaning "one who has taken the oath", it seems fitting enough for now. [UPDATED]

I think the "Genus" of Kuribu would be a Golem (though more advanced then the usual rock monsters), the Winged Lion might be the same

Agreed. Even for the sake of my own chosen naming conventions for the like of zombies, verge dragons, and golems, those are better names. At the same time, it seems like a good idea to change it now (for clarity and consistency), but a bad idea to change it now because (for now) there's only one example of that mob in the game at all.

[Zarpd]

*Waves hand from back of class* Ooo, oo oh! Teacher, teacher!

Hi~ Question!

I'm not a monsterologist, but I noticed a few little oddities and wondered how they came about.

1. Wouldn't artificially created life be classified as a bloodborn forgekin? I notice here ( http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Category:Bestiary ) the mirrorknight is listed as a forgekin, but on your list they are unclassified. What are your thoughts here?

2. Similarly, cyclops' are in your "unknown" category, where as they are voidsent on that list. Is this the same situation?


You've clearly put a lot of thought into this, so I have no idea which source is more reliable at this point! But either way I would love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks!

[Anonymoose]

1. Wouldn't artificially created life be classified as a bloodborn forgekin? I notice here ( http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Category:Bestiary ) the mirrorknight is listed as a forgekin, but on your list they are unclassified. What are your thoughts here?

The main purpose of the master chart is actually to better inform the update of Gamer Escape's bestiary (a neverending project in and of itself). It's easier to track the generation and correction of errors this way.

As for the Mirrorknight (aka Owlbear), they, like most (all?) Chimeras, are technically dumped as a whole into the wastebasket taxon Unclassifiable by modern Eorzean naturalists (because of the inability to reach anything resembling consensus). Codex Alces needs a few such updates, but the lore book is coming soon and I'm looking forward to editing any revelations in at once. In the meantime, I'm focused on just keeping 100% of the entities in the game represented somewhere.

Similarly, cyclops' are in your "unknown" category, where as they are voidsent on that list. Is this the same situation?

Quite right. There was no knowledge of the Allagan creations when that page was created, whereas Turn 7 seems to reveal their true origin. I believe them, like the minotaurs, to be Allagan bioweapons of Generation II or perhaps III, after they had sorted out the sterility factor but before progressing beyond brutish, uncontrollable abominations and prioritizing intelligence and obedience.