Anyone here well versed in FFXI lore?

[appledoze]

I've been trying to find information on the story and lore of FFXI but it's rather hatf and what I can find is rather fragmented or not well written/explained.

Particularly I've been trying to find out about the backstory of Promathia and Altana and the Zilart. From what I could gather, the world was created when Altana took energy from the Crystal that birthed the gods to save Promathia from dying due to the Emptiness, which caused the Crystal to shatter into five and turning the realm of the gods into the mortal world. Altana then put pieces of the Emptiness inside the Enlightened races making them mortal. And the Zilart were angelic beings who existed before Vanadiel was created and were made physical when the crystal was shattered, and the Zilart who were given Emptiness became Kuluu. Am I right?

I don't quite understand what the Emptiness is though, and where it came from. Did it come from Promathia? Or did it exist before?

[Dorander]

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Promathia

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Altana

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Zilart

[appledoze]

I have looked at those pages and they're either very empty or the information is fragmented or too vague.

[Obysuca]

I don't quite understand what the Emptiness is though, and where it came from. Did it come from Promathia? Or did it exist before?

Just letting you know, knowing what the Emptiness is and where it comes from spoils the end of XI's story >_>

[Warlyx]

there was a cool video that explained how vanadiel was created , zilart , promathia and what not let me find it ...

spoilers of FFXI of course :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6WC73WCkx4

[appledoze]

Just letting you know, knowing what the Emptiness is and where it comes from spoils the end of XI's story >_>

I am aware of that, I still wanna find out!

there was a cool video that explained how vanadiel was created , zilart , promathia and what not let me find it ...

spoilers of FFXI of course :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6WC73WCkx4

Ah that's a pretty good video. But still left out the part of the relationship between Altana, Promathia, and the Emptiness, which is what I wanna find out about the most.

[Warlyx]

ok let me explaint it in FFXIV terms

Altana = Hydaelyn
Promathia = Zodiark

Emptiness = thats hard to explain with a few words i will quote some1 because kinda explains it

Promathia isn't really the God of the emptiness, the emptiness is its own force that started consuming him... Altana sealed bits of emptiness inside every person to keep it from building up enough to completely consume Promathia. The mother crystals funnel bits of emptiness into souls. The Zilart who draw the short straw and have emptiness put in them lose their powers and become Kuluu. The other Zilart freak and start trying to open the Gate of the Gods to escape that fate. But when the Zilart start using the mother crystals as batteries, the crystals can't process the emptiness fast enough and it starts building up. The built up emptiness eventually sucks up AlTaieu. No more Zilart, so Altana creates the five races to be the new Emptiness containers.

Selhteus, like all the other idiot genius Zilart, thinks this just means "Emptiness = Bad" instead of "Zilart messed up the Emptiness containment system" and makes a pact with Bahamut to destroy the emptiness altogether. Which means destroying mortals that house the emptiness. So Bahamut's rampage is another Zilart screwup.

[Imakun]

Other random bits of information: the Kuluu were a race that existed alongside the Zilart. They were more of a tribal race and were deeply connected to Vana'diel. Being the power-hungry idiots they were, the Zilart began controlling the Kuluu through devices such as the Eye of Altana which could read the minds of the Kuluu and shield the Zilart from them.
Things happen and Qufim goes BOOM! while trying to open the gates to paradise (Qufim being the control center connected to the other crags), the explosion wipes out the Zilart and the radiations mutate the Kuluu into Tonberries which retreat into the Elshimo region where you can find the Temple of Uggalepih and the Rancor Den (this also explains what the rancor thing is all about iirc). Grav'iton (a mutated Kuluu) explains a bunch of this stuff I think during the Zilart mission in the jungle.

Al'taieu was the celestial capital of the Zilart where the mother crystal resided. In an attempt to save Al'taieu from destruction, the Zilart (I think?) hid Al'taieu INSIDE the mother crystal. Which is why Empyreal Paradox exists, because it is a paradox. Al'taieu is the place where the crystal is, but at the same time it is INSIDE the same crystal. Woot!

The whole Altana and Promathia thing is complicated to say the least, but it all come down to the Goddess messing around with Emptiness inside the races, time and space, alternate realities and the likes to prevent the end of Vana'diel as we know it from happening. I wouldn't even know where to begin with that lol

[Obysuca]

I am aware of that, I still wanna find out!

Well, from RoV -

Cloud of darkness is pretty much the emptiness and the final boss of XI

[LineageRazor]

It doesn't help that the in-game explanations are deliberately vague and shrouded in mysticism - and even, at times contradictory of one another, as different factions believe different things about the gods.

For example, something not mentioned on the wiki, but seemed crystal clear to me after completing the game, was the fact that Altana and Promathea were lovers. They were beloved to one another, and while in opposition due to being beings of light and darkness, respectively, loved each other dearly. Promathia, however, wished for his own death, and eventually succeeded. Altana's sorrow at this is what caused her to weep the tears the became the five player races.

Is this the truth the developers intended? I'm not sure; it's what I believed after viewing the cutscenes from the various expansions. Different folks may have different interpretations. And, like almost EVERY aspect of FFXI, the developers aren't telling us anything about what's going on. XD

Here's something significant that I took away from Rhapsodies of Vana'diel:

The metaphorical "wind" generated by the conflict between the two gods is what was keeping the Cloud of Darkness at bay, and the only thing protecting Vana'diel from being consumed by the Cloud, as so many other worlds are. When Promathia died, this wind died down as well - but the conflict between Promathia's children (the beastmen) and Altana's (the player races) was enough to hold the Cloud at bay.

At least, it was until recent times when the races started to find an unsteady peace. Then, the Cloud began to encroach once more, eventually leading to the Bad Future the expansion's heroine had come back in time to prevent. Eventually, the player is able to shoo the Cloud away once again by ascending to "light" godhood and doing battle with his or her future self, who happened to have ascended to "dark" godhood.