Lore questions about Miqo'te

[myahele]

Did someone say popoto soup?

[AriaEnia]

the only question anyone needs to know about filthy cat peoples.

do they have flea's and many horrible diseases?!

yes lots in fact they are covered in fleas and nearly every disease found (even some not found becareful)

You know, once I found a worm inside a potato when cooking, it was disgustig.

[Sounsyy]

Do the Miqo'te pur lore-wise like real life felines?

There are several examples of Miqo'te purring in dialogue. Some do, some don't. In regards to "hissing" Miqo'te Naming Conventions mentions a harsh aitch sound found commonly in names that comes from the ancient Miqo'te language that other races are apparently unable to pronounce/replicate.

Heehee, the guildmaster has more than his fair share of lovers, that’s no secret. They say he only employs women he means to bed. Purrr, heehee!

Sounsyy, is it? What business do you have with meow? Apologies—a slip of the tongue. When I say “with meow,” I mean “with meow”… Grrr. Not meow—meow! …Bah! What do you want!?

Welcome, dear. Come to see to the furnishing of your basement, hmm? Purrrrrr… Come, look all you like. And feel free to touch the merrrchandise.

The extra aitches we see in names such as “Bhee,” “Kuzh,” and “Pahsh” represent a slight hissing/spitting sound that is made when the name is pronounced by the cat-like Miqo’te. Many of the other races in Eorzea cannot accurately reproduce this sound, so the aitches end up going silent when read (Bee, Kooz, Pash).

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Is their tail and ears (and arguably hair) the only furry parts of them?

When you put on the Dreadwyrm Tonban of Casting/Healing, the answer if very obviously yes lol. I mean, unless Miqo'te religiously shave/wax their entire bodies. Ow.


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Do they have a superb sense of balance like RL cats? Do they have a superb sense of smell/hearing? Do they have night vision? (I'd imagine that moon ones would at least)

The old racial lore should help answer these questions:

The ancestors of the Miqo'te made their way to Eorzea during the Age of Endless Frost, traversing the frozen seas in pursuit of the wildlife upon which they subsisted. Adaptation to a hunting lifestyle has fashioned them with a keen sense of smell, powerful legs, and a tail which provides them with exceptional balance. Miqo'te are known to be very territorial, and many individuals tend to lead solitary lifestyles, particularly males. The few Miqo'te who have made the transition to life in Eorzean society are predominantly female.

The Seekers of the Sun are a true miracle of evolution at work. Though lean and flexible, they possess immense strength and stamina, and excel at near any physical act─be it bounding amongst the treetops or swimming in rough waters. Above all that, their powers of expression are also second to none.

The nocturnal among the Miqo'te have dubbed themselves the Keepers of the Moon. Shying from the garish light of day, they revel in the shroud of night, with most offering their piety to Menphina the Lover, goddess of the moon. They are distinguishable from their diurnal cousins by their darker fur, larger ears, rounder eyes, more pronounced canines, and longer, skinnier tails. The ritual application of war paint to the face is still regularly practiced, as it is believed the vivid colors grant lunar powers. The Keepers are known for their reticent and brooding personalities, but are also respected and sometimes feared for their tenacity.

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What is their average life-span? Comprable to Hyur?

According to the Las Vegas Lore Panel, all Eorzean races have a similar lifespan to real world humans, with the exception of Elezen living a little bit longer and having a slightly prolonged development stage. So biologically, Miqo'te can live to be 100~120 years old, however, because Eorzea is a harsh environment with war, plague, poor healthcare, and hygiene most Eorzeans have a significantly lower life expectancy of only 30-50 years.

Here's the quote from Fernehalwes:

Q: What are the age scales of every race? How long do they live and how long does it take them to become an adult?

Fernehalwes: Okay, yeah I asked about this and I was told that age-scale wise the five races biologically have the same lifespan as we do here on earth. They can live one hundred, one hundred and twenty biologically. The thing is, here we have modern medicine, we have jobs that don't take us on to the battlefield, we have food in refrigerators not sitting in a barrel. And so we can live that long, whereas, in Eorzea its a much harsher realm. I wouldn't expect most people would live longer than like thirty years. That's the thing, so you get an average lifespan that is a lot shorter, y'know in the forties, fifties.

That said, Elezen actually do have a longer lifespan than the other four races. And this also appears when they go from child to puberty to adulthood. So which is why you'll see in 1.0 there was a bunch of Elezen children that appeared in some of the quests and they appear again in 2.0, and they're still children. And you think well it's been five years why are they still children? It's because again that childhood for Elezen can last much longer. And they end up living longer as well. Um, but for the most part it's pretty much just the same as us, but with more... fatality.

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It is likely they evolved from a cat like species that also evolved into modern cat like animals like the Coerl. So they could still have traits from that.

Are Miqo'te descendant from cats? Naturalists say yes, Miqo'te say no:

Despite convincing research by top academics from around the realm and beyond, most Miqo'te scholars refuse to believe that there may be some ancestral connection between their race and cats (fat or not).

Hope this helps!

[Mahri]

When you put on the Dreadwyrm Tonban of Casting/Healing, the answer if very obviously yes lol. I mean, unless Miqo'te religiously shave/wax their entire bodies. Ow.

The in-game graphics are a very poor indicator of body hair, seeing as how every single person, all races, all sexes, are shown 100% hairless below the neck. This is a (disappointing) graphical shortcut.

Yes, people in Eorzea have body hair. This includes the cats.

If you disagree, look at people IRL with thick eyebrows, and then look at my eyebrows here. What do they tell you? Exactly.

[reiichi]

The in-game graphics are a very poor indicator of body hair, seeing as how every single person, all races, all sexes, are shown 100% hairless below the neck. This is a (disappointing) graphical shortcut.

Yes, people in Eorzea have body hair. This includes the cats.

If you disagree, look at people IRL with thick eyebrows, and then look at my eyebrows here. What do they tell you? Exactly.

I believe the question OP had was more in tune with "are Miqo'te covered in so much hair so as to resemble having cat fur?" Much like the Mithra in FFXI.

That doesn't appear to be the case here in FFXIV. It's not a complete lack of body hair that is being argued for. Just that you know, we see people's skin/skin color, not a blanket of hair/fur covering their bodies. Why else give Miqo'te a skin tone option if they were so hairy?

[Noxifer]

According to the Las Vegas Lore Panel, all Eorzean races have a similar lifespan to real world humans, with the exception of Elezen living a little bit longer and having a slightly prolonged development stage.

...I'd like to contrast this with in-game conversations that state a certain Lalafell has been studying for centuries, and has been locked up in jail for about 200 years. Said lalafell still looks "adult" and not "ancient". And there's no apparent expectation that the PC should react with shock to that statement alone, which leads me to believe that the mentioned time periods would be within reasonable for a lalafell.

[Sounsyy]

...I'd like to contrast this with in-game conversations that state a certain Lalafell has been studying for centuries, and has been locked up in jail for about 200 years. Said lalafell still looks "adult" and not "ancient". And there's no apparent expectation that the PC should react with shock to that statement alone, which leads me to believe that the mentioned time periods would be within reasonable for a lalafell.

Sorry, I had truncated Fernehalwes statement down to the bits that were relevant to the OP. The full statement does actually mention said Lalafell, named Ququruka, who lived in Ul'dah's Oubliette/Marasaja Pit for 100 years. Ququruka entered a deep state of meditation and whether by shear force of will, plot armor, or just really good genes, was able to survive his self imposed gaol sentence. In the full quote, which I'll throw up below, Fernehalwes specifically mentions that Ququruka is an exception, not the rule.

Q: What are the age scales of every race? How long do they live and how long does it take them to become an adult?

Fernehalwes: Okay, yeah I asked about this and I was told that age-scale wise the five races biologically have the same lifespan as we do here on earth. They can live one hundred, one hundred and twenty biologically. The thing is, here we have modern medicine, we have jobs that don't take us on to the battlefield, we have food in refrigerators not sitting in a barrel. And so we can live that long, whereas, in Eorzea its a much harsher realm. I mean you've got raptors roaming the jungle. "I need to go out and pick an ogre pumpkin!" "Oh sorry, daddy got eaten by a raptor as he was picking our dinner pumpkin so it looks like we're having nothing for dinner tonight." And so daddy dies of raptor and children die of starvation because they couldn't get the pumpkin.

On top of that you have wars and people are fighting Ishgard, I wouldn't expect most people would live longer than like thirty years. That's the thing, so you get an average lifespan that is a lot shorter, y'know in the forties, fifties. I mean there was the one quest about, back in 1.0... there was the Lalafell that was put in the Oubliette in Ul'dah, and he was in there praying and because he did this zen thing and he focused and he slowed his breathing and he lived for hundreds of years or whatever. Other than that people aren't going to live that long.

That said, Elezen actually do have a longer lifespan than the other four races. And this also appears when they go from child to puberty to adulthood. So which is why you'll see in 1.0 there was a bunch of Elezen children that appeared in some of the quests and they appear again in 2.0, and they're still children. And you think well it's been five years why are they still children? It's because again that childhood for Elezen can last much longer. And they end up living longer as well. Um, but for the most part it's pretty much just the same as us, but with more... fatality.

For reference, here's some of the quest text which talks about Ququruka. He claims to be hearing the voice of Nald'thal, and most of the Order believe he's finally gone senile after spending so much time in the gaol. But to be 100% fair, he only spent 100 years in prison, and was only 30-50 years old prior to his self-inflicted incarceration. So 130-150 years old when he was released (and subsequently died like almost immediately after he got out of prison), which is still only 10-30 years longer than normal biological 100-120 years old statement from Fernehalwes.

In prison, a man will do most anything to keep his mind occupied. Indeed, of late one of the inmates claims to hear the voice of Nald'thal. No doubt he has lost his mind after serving one hundred years of his life sentence. I've never seen anything quite like it. Of course, I make it for nothing more than the maniacal ravings of a cellcrazed, sweatytoothed madman. His name is Ququruka, and as if his story were not proof enough of his lunacy, he also styles himself a black mage. But such magic was lost to Eorzea centuries ago. Who does this senile charlatan think he will fool with such rubbish?

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And as far as the body hair goes, yes I'm pretty sure everyone has body hair that is not displayed. But Highlander models don't have eyebrows because culturally many shave them off. You can either extrapolate that Eorzean beauty standards include full body waxing/shaving or that it's just more likely that Miqo'te aren't actually covered in the same kind of hair that their tails are, meaning, no fur covered bodies, which was what the OP was asking more or less. Take from it what you will, but I've personally never seen a Miqo'te complaining about shedding underneath their clothes.

[Noxifer]

Sorry, I had truncated Fernehalwes statement down to the bits that were relevant to the OP. The full statement does actually mention said Lalafell, named Ququruka.

Right... But the very quest text you quoted, and especially this part:

No doubt he has lost his mind after serving one hundred years of his life sentence.

...It kind of indicates that "serving one hundred years of your life sentence" isn't something too out of the ordinary. I mean, sure, life sentence normally means "you will be in jail until you die, no ifs buts or maybes", but if it had been that unusual, I'd have expected Yayake to be a bit more... you know, shocked. As it is, it just seems to be an indicator that "yeah, Lalafellin lives can totally be up to twice that of a Hyur -- barring stuff like wars and accidental deaths, of course".
I mean, if someone would comment about some criminal in our world, they probably wouldn't say, "Well, he's probably gone insane after having been in jail for a hundred years." In such a case, it'd be more like, "You know, most people would be dead by now, why isn't this guy dead yet!?" Especially since Yayake in the same breath completely discounts any claims of black magic that would, you know, account for him having a longer lifespan.

[Sounsyy]

Right... But the very quest text you quoted, and especially this part:

...It kind of indicates that "serving one hundred years of your life sentence" isn't something too out of the ordinary.

Umm, if you say so?

I've never seen anything quite like it.

Seems kind of contradictory to "isn't something too out of the ordinary"? And that statement clearly isn't talking about his crazy talk, because she says prisoners in general will do/say anything to keep their minds occupied.

If you want to believe that Lalafell live a little bit longer than the average Hyur, by all means, but I've got a statement from Fernehalwes and quest text that implies this singular Lalafell, who was emboldened by magic and isolated from any danger for 100 years, is an exception to normal Lalafell. The five races biologically live 100-120, but most do not make it to that age. And Ququruka seems to be the one and only person who's reached that max life capacity. He also dies, mere days after being released from prison. But all of this is irrelevant anyways, since the thread was about Miqo'te?

[ExKage]

Snip

Word of God (Fernehalwes) just said that you were mistaken and made a poor assumption... His life span is an anomaly. You can even make the case that there was no surprise because a) Black magic is forbidden and unknown so that may just be how he expanded his life this is crazy!! and b) Dude's lived a long time...in solitary. No doubt that he lost his mind.

Well, man I almost quoted Yayake.