Does an Auri Warrior of Light make sense at all?

[SilkaN]

I know this topic has probably been discussed in the past, but now that we are going to Othard, I think we should continue discussing it.

So, I've been thinking about going back to Au Ra (my starting race) before Stormblood.
Then I remembered the reason I fantasia'd into something else. An Auri Warrior of Light does not make sense at all in the context of the MSQs.

We know that
[Alexander spoilers]

very few Au Ra have actually visited Eorzea before. Mide and her group from three years ago, for example.
We also have this description:

Encyclopaedia Eorzea, page 90: "Hailing from the Far Eastern continent of Othard, the Au Ra were a rare sight in Eorzea until most recently, when increasing unrest in their homeland forced a not-insignificant number of their people to journey west in search of asylum."

Additionally, in the scene where Yugiri meets Alphinaud and you in the Quicksand, the following conversation takes place:

Alphinaud: Lady Yugiri, forgive me for observing, but...your choice of attire seems like to evoke feelings of mistrust.

Yugiri: Men are wont to fear the unfamiliar. We know this from experience. We seek only to spare the people of Ul'dah unnecessary disquiet.

So that means while there have been (very, very few) Au Ra in some parts of Eorzea prior to the Doman exodus, they have been so few in number that the average Eorzean citizen most likely has never seen one in their entire lives, hence Yugiri's hidden face.

If you start out as an Au Ra however, everyone treats you like a common sight.
It's like you and your people have been in Eorzea for ages now. But the fact that Yugiri hides her face to not cause any commotion ruins the immersion so much, it made feel like I was playing a character that shouldn't have existed at this point of time.

I really want to go back to being a lizard, but this kind of story inconsistency bugs me so much that I simply can't.
Is there any way to make an Auri Warrior of Light work? Did I perhaps miss something?

Thanks in advance!

[Zojha]

Truth be told, I think you simply interpret too much into it.

NPC interactions are rather rigid - You can be a dark, oathkeeping Azure Dragoon of the 14th chakra casually wielding ancient allagan summoning techniques and primal Egi through town - noone bats an eye. You can do all of the cutscenes naked or in that pig costume - noone treats you any different. Of course noone's gonna treat you special for being an Au Ra either.

Just crack it up to story/gameplay segregation.

[Serilda]

I've always been a Duskwight and NPCs never seem to notice, especially jarring in one early scene where I stood there, maximum height, dark grey skin and all, and had to listen to a major NPC warning me about my own kind as though I'd never heard of them before. I think they're used to seeing all kinds of adventurers and just blank on any common sense when addressing us.

I think you can explain the Yuugiri thing away reasonably enough; she's not only Au Ra, but also a refugee in a city with a major refugee problem already. Overtly drawing attention to her relatively exotic looks might have given her trouble in the past and caused her to think that it would undermine her negotiations.

[Clethoria]

I stood there, maximum height, dark grey skin and all, and had to listen to a major NPC warning me about my own kind as though I'd never heard of them before. I think they're used to seeing all kinds of adventurers and just blank on any common sense when addressing us.

I didn't play 1.0 so maybe, taking a stab here, the NPC interactions are based off the assumption the PC would be some young, common race youth. RIP to anyone who made themselves an older man or their best attempt at a 30+ woman because every NPC treats you like you're mid twenties at max.

Also, maybe it would be simply too much programming to have NPCs react differently to every single race/class/job at any given time like a calculator.

[Belhi]

Early in the story you are generally treated as an outsider regardless of race. Once you make a name for yourself your reputation takes precedence over your race. So basically, while your race might be an odd sight, later on your more recognised for who you are rather than what you are. If Eorzea's greatest hero has horns who is the average joe to question. It wouldn't be the strangest thing.

Au Ra might not be common but likewise they aren't completely unknown and Eorzea is a pretty worldly place outside Gridania. The Limsans pretty much are pretty fine with race and the Ul'dah respect you as long as you have gil or skill. As for the Gridanians, everyone is somewhat of an unnerving sight so gain, they just role with it. It seems though that steadily there have been quite a few Au Ra traveling to Eorzea. Not that suprising since its the largest land mass still free of Garlean control.

[Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

So, I play as an Au Ra.* As a pretty lore-minded player, I usually take the time to think about what my character's various Stoic Nods mean in context, how he'd feel in any given NPC interaction, and all that. I don't outright roleplay, but it's certainly something that I keep in mind when I play.

The Yugiri conversation is the only time I've ever felt that my race has been at odds with what's happening on-screen.** The real world explanation, of course, is that the dialog simply isn't divergent based on race, but that doesn't do much to explain why Yugiri would say that to an Au Ra in game. The most satisfying explanation that I came to was along the same lines as what Serilda said. We're an adventurer - we roll with diverse and accepting sorts as part of our profession, and occupy a place in society that Yugiri and hers don't. As a refugee, she's already subject to prejudice; as a visible minority refugee, her undesirability is likely to increases tenfold. So, even though an Au Ra sits in front of her as bold as brass, she isn't comfortable revealing herself as such until she's more sure of her place in this new land.

And that's really about all there is! Sure, Au Ra are rare, but that doesn't mean one of those few couldn't be the Warrior of Light. Au Ra migration is slow, but it's happening, so that just means you're ahead of the curve.
___________________________________________________________________________
*Which is plural and which is singular, again? I keep losing track; I thought it was Auri and Au Ra, respectively, but then I heard tell it was the opposite recently.
**Aside from the odd moment where it seems like your race SHOULD come up and doesn't, but it's generally easier to ignore the omissions than the outright contradictions.

[Keever]

*Which is plural and which is singular, again? I keep losing track; I thought it was Auri and Au Ra, respectively, but then I heard tell it was the opposite recently.

Au Ra is both singular and plural. One Au Ra, many Au Ra. "Auri" is the adjectival form, like "Hyuran" or "Lalafellin".

[LineageRazor]

If you start out as an Au Ra however, everyone treats you like a common sight.
It's like you and your people have been in Eorzea for ages now. But the fact that Yugiri hides her face to not cause any commotion ruins the immersion so much, it made feel like I was playing a character that shouldn't have existed at this point of time.

The worst part is, this could have been so easily avoided. They could have given Yugiri some reason to hide her face unrelated to her race... perhaps her face is such a mess of scars that even Raubahn would get uncomfortable looking at her. That way, her decision to hide would have made sense both from a meta perspective (she's hiding her race, because it is just a teaser for the players and still in development) and from a lore perspective (her countenance is genuinely shocking).

But of course they couldn't do that because waifu.

[Clethoria]

The worst part is, this could have been so easily avoided. They could have given Yugiri some reason to hide her face unrelated to her race... perhaps her face is such a mess of scars that even Raubahn would get uncomfortable looking at her. That way, her decision to hide would have made sense both from a meta perspective (she's hiding her race, because it is just a teaser for the players and still in development) and from a lore perspective (her countenance is genuinely shocking).

But of course they couldn't do that because waifu.

I dont even think it could have been that complicated. Just hiding her face because ninja and "It's a Doman thing."

[LineageRazor]

I dont even think it could have been that complicated. Just hiding her face because ninja and "It's a Doman thing."

Yeah, that would have been the best way to go, I'd think.