Ascian Questions (May be spoilers afoot!)

[Grimmel]

So maybe someone can assist me here... I really appreciate the Ascian's as a group of villains and we even have some Ascian RP'ers on our server. But so little is known about them, key things like their language and age, how they came into being. So here's some questions about Ascians I feel need to be answered.

How old are the Overlords and the Emissary?
We can kind of summarize that Unukalhai is fairly young in terms of paragon years as he's from the 13th world and that world became the void, I believe it was said, during the 5th astral era. But what about the Overlords such as Lahabrea, Nabriales, Igeyorhm, Mitron, Pashtarot, ect? How old are they and did they come into being at different times than each other or did they all technically ascend at the same time?

The language they speak is very interesting to me, why is it we haven't gotten a translation guide for it like that of dragon tongue and other language translation guides? What is this language even called?

Since the Overlords follow the same naming conventions as the Scions of Light from FFXII, Can we assume that each Overlord also excels greatly at the command of a certain element while also being able to cast other types of elemental magic?

When was Mitron defeated on the first world?
We never really got a confirmation on when the first world fell into eternal light and thus we're left to ponder. If it was say for example, a thousand years ago, would the Ascians not have already figured out that they can be defeated when Mitron died? Was Mitron even truly defeated? In the Cutscene where we can assume all the Overlords are present on platforms, all platforms are filled by a body baring the Overlord Regalia. There are 12 platforms and we can assume these are all 12 Overlords of each fragment. No platform is empty so we're left to assume Mitron was not yet defeated.

When an overlord dies before their world can initiate a rejoining, what becomes of that world?


What becomes of the position of an Overlord when they fall in battle? Does another take their place?

There's so many holes in the lore in concern of the Ascians that I feel need to be cleared up. It's confusing when some of us lore buffs run into these holes. D:

[Anonymoose]

So here's some questions about Ascians I feel need to be answered.

I'd just pass this one right up to the devs; none of the rest is confirmed, lol.

My headcanon as of right now, right now? <takes a deep breath>

How old are the Overlords and the Emissary?

UNKNOWN!

I suspect that however old mortal life is, the Ascians are slightly younger. What we know of Lahabrea and Elidibus suggests they were once mortal. That the other overlords are "not of this world" and there are fourteen total overlords (and the worlds were created in the great division itself) suggests that one mortal was raised from each world to be Zodiark's influence within it.

OR we can go up one tier on the House of Cards (requiring that another tier of assumptions be true) and posit that perhaps the overlords are something above mortals - a type of being no longer seen, corrupted during the Age of the Gods before the First Umbral Calamity (aka first rejoining).

But who knows!?

We can kind of summarize that Unukalhai is fairly young in terms of paragon years as he's from the 13th world and that world became the void, I believe it was said, during the 5th astral era.

If the Thirteenth fell during the Fifth Astral Era ... how did Allag use voidsent? *crazy eyes*

The void is thus at least 6,000 years old. I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of the very first targets of the Ascians, and thus highlighted the need for Elidibus to act as an arbitrator (COUGH babysitter COUGH) lest Zodiark keep losing out on his precious aetherial dues.

Why is Unukalhai still so young? As far as mortality goes he's dead. Undead? Never quite dead, but almost dead, now immortal? Whatever. The immortal undead don't age. Why is he still so naive if he's got six millennia of experience? Oof, there's the rub. Perhaps Eli has been giving him strategically-chosen busy-work that helps promote confirmation bias.

But who knows!?

why is it we haven't gotten a translation guide

I think the point of it is to be mysterious and threatening. There is much more to be feared in the unknown. To me it sounds like language from the cradle of civilization - something Sumerian or a little post-Sumerian. If I had to put money on a wild, unconfirmed, shoot from the hip guess? Akkadian. Why would I guess something that specific? 10 gil to the first person to correctly guess that.

But who knows!?

What is this language even called?

UNKNOWN!

It's marked as ANCIENT. Sooo ... the Ancient Tongue? Language of the Ancients?

Who knows!?

Since the Overlords follow the same naming conventions as the Scions of Light from FFXII, Can we assume that each Overlord also excels greatly at the command of a certain element while also being able to cast other types of elemental magic?

UNKNOWN!

It wouldn't line up very well considering the differences in the elemental wheels, and the Ascians seem to have a healthy grab-bag of abilities every time we encounter one ... but who knows! Maybe they do canonically have an affinity.

My suspicion has long been that the hint is less about XII specifically and more a nod to the retcons that XII imposed on Final Fantasy TACTICS, where a cabal of immortal demonic mages called the Lucavi tried to resurrect their fallen leader through chaos and bloodshed. The Lucavi all have twisted "true" forms ... just like the Ascians ... and one of them is skeletal and has wings ... just like the Ascian Prime.

But who knows!

When was Mitron defeated on the first world?

UNKNOWN!

I'd assume it was relatively recent. Elidibus was able to put a false binary forward to the Warriors of Darkness, that their only options were Rejoining or void, period. He was able to keep them acting emotionally, and impulsively, and desperately following orders. That they never figured him out, that they never contemplated another way, that they kept going along with the plan until Urianger nudged them off course and swept a few pawns off Eli's chess board tells me that they didn't have centuries or decades or even years to mull it over.

would the Ascians not have already figured out that they can be defeated when Mitron died? Was Mitron even truly defeated?

Are we sure Mitron was defeated and killed, or just vanquished from The First? When we see the Echo via Darklander, we're basically seeing what we went through with Lahabrea. We didn't kill Lahabrea when that happened. I'm not entirely sure Mitron isn't just off-screen being mopey and nursing his pride like Lahabrea was during 2.1. Confirmation would be super.

But who knows!?

There are 12 platforms and we can assume these are all 12 Overlords of each fragment. No platform is empty so we're left to assume Mitron was not yet defeated.

There are fourteen platforms. During the cutscene, 13 are occupied and Lahabrea fills the final mid-way through the meeting. Elidibus does not have a platform, he is in the center. I assume that, yes, it is one from each shard and Elidibus, like Lahabrea, is from our world. It's the Source, it's where Zodiark's emissary should come from. "The Word of the Father" so to speak.

When an overlord dies before their world can initiate a rejoining, what becomes of that world?

UNKNOWN!

Let's find out!

What becomes of the position of an Overlord when they fall in battle? Does another take their place?

Not that we've seen so far, otherwise "Lahabrea's loss will be keenly felt." would be "We're going to need to replace that guy ASAP." Do you think The Summoner killed the last of the black-masks wandering around?

Who knows!

[Viridiana]

Not that we've seen so far, otherwise "Lahabrea's loss will be keenly felt." would be "We're going to need to replace that guy ASAP."

Losing a General is still "keenly felt," even if they get replaced quickly. Nevermind if that General is trying to wage a campaign across an entire world instead of just one continent. Could be that his replacement is hatching plans on the other side of the globe from where we are because direct confrontation didn't work out so well last time.

[Anonymoose]

Losing a General is still "keenly felt," even if they get replaced quickly. Nevermind if that General is trying to wage a campaign across an entire world instead of just one continent. Could be that his replacement is hatching plans on the other side of the globe from where we are because direct confrontation didn't work out so well last time.

No arguments from me! Anything could be true.

I was only saying that Elidibus seemed to be saying that an Ascian from the Source, thus having partaken of Zodiark's power, was irreplaceable in a realistic timeframe and has been (ostensibly) doing things himself ever since. It's a lack-of-precedent kind of thing; a rollin'-with-Occam kind of thing.

In the same scene, he does the mission "falls to me" (or "us", in reference to the Warrior of Darkness), but for all we know they've tried to raise someone else - for all we know a blackmask has been promoted - for all we know others are packing up Lahabrea's slack without technically, officially being his "replacement" and we'll debate which is more accurate for years to come, lol.

[Belhi]

I have a feeling Unukalhai has pretty much been on ice, a tool on the shelf, for Elidibus till he was needed. As a result for him it might not truly feel as if that much time has past. We don't even know how time works in a place between worlds.

[Viridiana]

No arguments from me! Anything could be true.

I was only saying that Elidibus seemed to be saying that an Ascian from the Source, thus having partaken of Zodiark's power, was irreplaceable in a realistic timeframe and has been (ostensibly) doing things himself ever since. It's a lack-of-precedent kind of thing; a rollin'-with-Occam kind of thing.

In the same scene, he does the mission "falls to me" (or "us", in reference to the Warrior of Darkness), but for all we know they've tried to raise someone else - for all we know a blackmask has been promoted - for all we know others are packing up Lahabrea's slack without technically, officially being his "replacement" and we'll debate which is more accurate for years to come, lol.

Most definitely. I don't think immortals would do much "quickly" as mortals see it. I mean, think how long it takes to elect a new Pope and multiply that out, right?