Lore Book Revelations

[myahele]

They mentioned Xaela and Raen specifically, but what of the much much older Au Ra clan mentioned by Oda last year? Though I suppose "lore-wise" they are hidden and not known for the time being since the book is based off of npc knowledge.

[FJerome]

They mentioned Xaela and Raen specifically, but what of the much much older Au Ra clan mentioned by Oda last year? Though I suppose "lore-wise" they are hidden and not known for the time being since the book is based off of npc knowledge.

Is it just me or does that sound suspiciously like Zodiark vs Haedalyn, filtered through about 10,000 years of garbled historical record?

[Knahli]

They mentioned Xaela and Raen specifically, but what of the much much older Au Ra clan mentioned by Oda last year? Though I suppose "lore-wise" they are hidden and not known for the time being since the book is based off of npc knowledge.

So the two clans get along? That's.... interesting.

[Morningstar1337]

Speaking of Lalafells has anyone looked at their section yet> I still want to see their clans lore and if I'm likely to have Azys Lla's mutant fish in my family tree :P

[MiniPrinny]

I gotta join in on the racial lore requests: I've theorized for a while about Au Ra being related to demons in some way or another, is there anything in the lore book about their physiology that may hint at this? I've heard about their horns and tails, but what else is there?

[StarDrake]

I gotta join in on the racial lore requests: I've theorized for a while about Au Ra being related to demons in some way or another, is there anything in the lore book about their physiology that may hint at this? I've heard about their horns and tails, but what else is there?

If anything, the absolute opposite is true.

Careful reading of certain bits of the Allagan lore, especially the bits concerning Meracydia, stop exactly short of confirming the Au Ra are related to dragons. Two rather prominent dragons, at that.

But no, there is absolutely no discussion of "demons" in relation to the Au Ra.

A couple things of note so far:

-Ozma is, astonishingly, not mentioned anywhere. The section on the War of the Magi is quite lengthy, but aside from an appearance in an illustration of the Pyramid, everyone's favorite superboss is completely MIA. This seems odd, considering it swallowed a huge chunk of Nym; you'd think that would at least get a mention, even if Ozma itself was unknown to the author.

Yeah, the lack of Ozma was a little surprising. It still seems like Ozma was used as a knockout blow against Nym (and maybe it just isn't widely recorded even now, as we're the only ones who saw inside of it), but there's no sure way of knowing. Curiously, none of the three major cities were completely wiped out before the flood came and did form Grand Companies out of the battered remains of their militaries.

By the way, the book essentially confirms that the main bulk of the War of the Magi was between Mhach and Amdapor - with satellite states, cities and townships being brought in on one side or the other. The Nymians were the main "neutral" power that tried to fight them both off, with some but not total success (until they proved to be too annoying for Mhach to just leave alone...)

Also, Dunesfolk are uniformly the descendants of Mhachi Lalafell. While I figured they were related, I hadn't expected it to be so clearly sweeping, but the book makes no bones about it.

This is all kind of making me want to go lalafell again - my main job is now confirmed to have started with the Plainsfolk (and I was sort of right about the Nymians integrating into Limsa and influencing it - you just need to add a step of "returned to the islands for a few centuries" in between the Sixth Umbral and the founding of Limsa. And it is a bit unclear just how "Nymian" they still were after all that time, though I doubt a Lalafell being the founder of the Arcanist's Guild and of Mealvaan's Gate is just coincidence...) And then of course I also BLM a whole bunch, and the black mages were explicitly founded by the ancestors of the Dunesfolk...

-Quite a few interesting tidbits out of the 6th Astral Era timeline, too. So it seems that, while Rabanastre is an Othardian nation, Dalmasca is located in Ilsabard. And speaking of Othard, it seems the Bozja Citadel is located there; is that something we already knew? I feel like it wasn't.

? I need to check again, but I distinctly remember "Doma and Dalmasca" being listed as Othardian nations, Dalmasca even being inferred as a neighbor to Doma. I would imagine Rabanastre is just the capital of Dalmasca, same as XII.

[Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

? I need to check again, but I distinctly remember "Doma and Dalmasca" being listed as Othardian nations, Dalmasca even being inferred as a neighbor to Doma. I would imagine Rabanastre is just the capital of Dalmasca, same as XII.

There are three dates in the timeline that heavily imply it:

1517: The Republic first employs airships in its military conquests, easily conquering the small nation of Dalmasca in a display of terrifying power. Over the coming years, the Garleans seize control over the majority of the northern territories.

1522: The northlands of Ilsabard are unified under Garlean rule.

1528: The imperial legions of Garlemald launch a military campaign on the Eastern continent.

Taken together, this implies that Garlemald didn't make a play for Othard until after all of Ilsabard's nations were conquered, and since Dalmasca was taken before that, it's not a stretch to assume it was among them. There's kind of room for ambiguity in there - after all, taking Dalmasca apparently required airships, and could have always been an early foray into Othard before committing to a full campaign - so I cheated and skipped ahead to the proper Garlemald section, and lo and behold:

As if to avenge every wrong ever done to them, the Garleans invaded the countries of northern Ilsabard and annexed their lands. [...] The same year [1517], the republic attacked Dalmasca, a small country nestled in the central mountains, and rained fire down upon it with their new airships.

Now, I initially assumed the same as you because of this Gamer Escape interview that explicitly states Rabanastre as being in Othard, and then says "There’s also a line in the Japanese version where they name-drop Dalmasss—<throat clearing>." The implication I took from it was that Dalmasca was also in Othard, but it seems that's not the case and Koji was conflating them on being FFXII references, rather than geographic neighbours.

I'm actually curious about something you said earlier in your last post, though:

Careful reading of certain bits of the Allagan lore, especially the bits concerning Meracydia, stop exactly short of confirming the Au Ra are related to dragons. Two rather prominent dragons, at that.

What bits do you mean? I know the Au Ra creation myth has the Dawn Father and Dusk Mother "return[ing] to the heavens" after settling the strife between the Raen and Xaela, but I can't find anything in the Allagan section on Meracydia that even kind of hints them to be offspring of dragons.

[StarDrake]

Taken together, this implies that Garlemald didn't make a play for Othard until after all of Ilsabard's nations were conquered, and since Dalmasca was taken before that, it's not a stretch to assume it was among them. There's kind of room for ambiguity in there - after all, taking Dalmasca apparently required airships, and could have always been an early foray into Othard before committing to a full campaign - so I cheated and skipped ahead to the proper Garlemald section, and lo and behold:

Yeah, I saw that part in the Garlean section too, and now I'm confused, because in my initial skimming I know I saw "Doma and Dalmasca" mentioned together as being states in Othard in another part of the book, but now I can't find it. Vexing.

What bits do you mean? I know the Au Ra creation myth has the Dawn Father and Dusk Mother "return[ing] to the heavens" after settling the strife between the Raen and Xaela, but I can't find anything in the Allagan section on Meracydia that even kind of hints them to be offspring of dragons.

Look on page 26 again.

I am also curious about Yda's actual age. She arrived as a refugee in Shalayan 20 years prior after having travelled their from Ala Mhigo. Since it seems to imply she was old enough to forage, she would have to be around 30 at least.

Yda's seems to be the only age being deliberately obscured. Most curious, isn't it?

(Near as I can tell, her age is not given in any part of the book.)

[Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

Look on page 26 again.

Ah! Yeah, there it is.

Although I do agree that the naming scheme implies a connection of some kind, I don't know that it implies they're outright DESCENDANTS of dragons. It would also contradict everything we know (and everything in the book) regarding dragon life cycles and reproduction, and that's aside from it having been nixed by Koji Fox in a past interview/thread (that I conveniently can't find at the moment) where it was said that they decided against a draconic connection due to them appearing in an Ishgard expansion. Nah, I'd need more evidence than an apparent conflation of Bahamut and Tiamat with the Dawn Father and Dawn Mother of Auri myth to consider them anything more special than the other 5 Races.

[boredomisboring]

Yeah, I saw that part in the Garlean section too, and now I'm confused, because in my initial skimming I know I saw "Doma and Dalmasca" mentioned together as being states in Othard in another part of the book, but now I can't find it. Vexing.

This confused me as well-- as in the Garlean section, it is implied to be a part of Ilsabard but in the 'Othard' section, it states that after the advent of airship technology, this opened the metaphorical doors to the Far East, a region that had been isolated up until that point-- and that the Garleans then set their sights on Doma and Dalmasca as a result.

So if the timeline from the other section is correct, could Dalmasca have been conquered before all of Ilsabard had been claimed?