Stormblood page updated with new lore.

[Belhi]

There's actually a NPC who remarks about hearing that Lalafells aren't trustworthy if you talk to him at a particular point in the HW storyline.

If you're playing as a Lalafell, he'll instead remark about Tataru's popularity at the Forgotten Knight, before mentioning he's heard rumors that they aren't trustworthy and unconvincingly claiming he doesn't believe any of it when he remembers he's talking to one.

So it is present to some degree, just very rarely. They mentioned wanting to have more class-specific dialogue/options in Stormblood, so I can only hope race will be included, too.

I can see the Au Ra favoratism complaint threads already:P

Thing is, we've seen a lot of evidence that, although the ruling echelons of Sharlayan are isolationist, and that there is a -group- of individuals known as the Bibliothecs who are so strongly against the sharing of Sharlayan knowledge that they'd go so far as to kill (and remember, if there had been any solid evidence to link the death of Levava's father to the Bibliothecs, she could've pursued legal action against them, meaning this extremist group does not represent the total nation), there are still a number of Sharlayan groups that are perfectly willing to share their knowledge. The Scions of the Seventh Dawn make ample use of it in the defense of Eorzea. The Sons of Saint Coinach actively teach the art of summoning to others, rather than hoarding that knowledge, taking it home, and reviving it there. Even the Students of Baldesion seemed to be more in that camp, being a group to freely support the scions.

I think a compelling narrative could've been the defection of the Red Mage Order from Sharlayan as a gesture of revolt against the archaic and often damning isolationist policy. Such a thing would've paved the way for some interesting internal conflict in the nation that would've led brilliantly towards an expansion in which we go to Old Sharlayan as well. Heck, the cinematic for that expansion would've probably featured Derplander as a Red Mage, similar to how they've been a Dragoon for Heavenwards, and a Monk for Stormblood.

Instead, we're seeing Red Mage as some kind of hidden society that has existed since the Flood, doing... something? Red Magic isn't even known about by most Eorzeans (or really, any), nor has there been any mention or hint of it from Sharlayans (outside of various speculation linking it to Sharlayan, falsely). It hardly seems that Red Mages are really the opposite side of the coin here, if anything, they'd have to be more isolationist and against sharing their magic than Sharlayan has been in order to remain hidden for so long.

I am going to have to disagree on that one. The background for Red mages makes perfect sense since Red Magic as always been described as a combination of White and Black. We know from the Lore book that Ala Mhigo was settled by refugees from Mhachi and Amdipor that fled the floods. It would make sense that their magicial arts would have developed since then.

As to why the seclusion? It might just be they aren't a large order or that they have historically never travelled far out of Ala Mhigo. Just cause we don't know about them doesn't mean others don't. Further, both White and Black Magic are forbidden in most of Eorzea. Only a select few are taught White in Gridania and the Black Mage 50-60 quest deals with a magistrate who finds out that the WoL is actively practicing BLM. Its possible the Red Mages didn't want to draw too much attention to themselves and the origins of their art.

More to the point really since this expansion has a focus on Ala Mhigo it makes sense to have one of the new Jobs come from there. It would be odd to have an expansion focused on a country and yet have more Jobs from a country not even visitable in the game than the land we are working in for half the expansion.