The Raimdelle Codex Alces

[twilitfall]

It's really late for me, but I seem to recall a particular Aevis in Snowcloak called the Dove Aevis. (I'll revisit this when I'm not dead tired.)

[Phyllo]

This a great project here and i love how it really gives off an encyclopedia feel, however I'm not really fond of the Google sheet looks, I can't guarantee much (because I suspect it'd require a tremendous amount of work) but if you ever want to give it some better appearance, like a pseudo old grimoire styled encyclopedia looks, I have a few notions of infography and other stuff, I could look into it if you're interested

[Anonymoose]

I can't guarantee much (because I suspect it'd require a tremendous amount of work) but if you ever want to give it some better appearance, like a pseudo old grimoire styled encyclopedia looks, I have a few notions of infography and other stuff, I could look into it if you're interested

I can at least explain the why for the spreadsheet presentation and you can tell me if you have any ideas.

See that (Public) at the end of the sheet name? There's also a (Private) version that is much, much bigger and much, much, much more complicated. It lists all 5000+ mobs in the game and the 1500+ unique visual variants that are potentially different species (the number of actually different species is a fraction of that). The private version allows me to ensure that all the new mob names / species are added during a new patch, sort the complete list by virtually any variable, and make expedient edits. The (slightly) more publicly presentable public version, which is organized more by how we think than how machines think, is then generated directly from it.

Detaching it from spreadsheets entirely would likely require a third jump. I've just yet to figure out a way to do that that's not, like... a lot more labor.

That said, this public sheet is more or less a reference guide for wikis and databases (if they so choose to use Codex Alces as their foundation for mob classification). The sheets took a while to build, but it's nothing compared to using it to build the larger bestiaries. But (at least at Gamer Escape) we're gonna try!

[Phyllo]

Alright fair enough, I knew there was a lot of work behind it as I said I already suspected it but I didn't thought it'd be to that extent x3
As for the idea I had in mind was a way to make an actual website out of it, with proper design while keeping all the backstage work as close as it is to avoid unnecessary additional workload, but now that you have told me this, even without seeing tho whole private part I can already imagine its size and it makes me start to wonder if it can be and how to make that without requiring a massive amount of work as you said.

That said if you ever find a way I'd be glad to help if it's within my abilities of course x)

[Anonymoose]

I do believe the reference chart is just about updated for 3.3, minus the BOLO mobs marked with a ◎. We didn't add very many this time around, which is nice. However, we still have a decent chunk (35-ish) of mobs that I've never seen or don't have a complete pool of names to pull a best-guess from. Please let me know if you find any.

MUSING AHEAD

Wind-aspected flans I still don't have a good name for; I've been calling them meringues, but that's meaningless headcanon.

I'm not very comfortable with the name or taxonomy of the persona (black ghost made of faces). The Hunter-scholar of northern Thanalan seems sure it's an ashkin, so that's where I've put it for now. Still, Weeping City added a second version of this (in white) and called it a Mhachi Ghost. There are too many ghosts and not enough information for what they are (or even what they're thought to be). We've got the bogy (and revenant subspecies), which are called voidsent and assumed to be restless spirits. We've got the bhoots, whose genera names are still murky and how they differ from the bogies I have no idea. And we've got the "personas" ... maybe ... depending on the Hunter-scholar. And that's not even mentioning wisps. I dunno. Keep an eye out.

The slimes are starting to be cleaned up a bit, though I still don't have a good name for the yellow or purple ones. Despite the fact that they're probably voidsent related to the pudding and hecteye, I've been naming them after various bodily fluids as seems the trend.

I still can't settle on a name for the white aevis. That is all.

Did anybody notice Forgall's movements closely resemble the FFXI Dvergar? ... Chair-demons incoming?

ANYROAD...

As always, I encourage you all to correct me, report bugs, or argue cases.

Polish polish polish.

[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?

[Morningstar1337]

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

Alternatively we could call the subgenus Jura Aevis (Assuming that Stone Vigil HM is their first appearance in the game)

On a side note. 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

[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.