Assorted press tour tidbits discussion [Light Stormblood spoilers and speculation]

[Chewy2nd]

Thought it'd be a good idea to make a thread on this to discuss any lore tidbits we learned from the tours.

The most interesting thing I've heard so far is from Ethys' Kugane tour

An Ul'dah Embassy and a Garlean embassy sharing the same street

Garlean Embassy


Thavniarian Embassy


Ul'dahnian Embassy (or perhaps an office of the East Aldernard Trading Company owned by Lolorito)

[KageTokage]

One of the preview photos from the instanced dungeons section of the official Stormblood page shows that there's an instance that takes place within Kugane, so I think it's safe to assume things are going to get ugly between the Garleans and Eorzeans there.

I'm thinking Zenos is going to take a trip there for some manner of diplomatic meeting, and some of the more opportunistic minds in the rebellion will see it as a chance to end the conflict swiftly, though it's obviously not going to work.

It kind of looked as though Yugiri was fighting with him in Kugane in the Revolutions trailer.

On a side note relating to Kugane, I'm surprised by how few Raen Au Ra there are there (I only noticed two or three of them).

They do however, have an entire town to themselves beneath the Ruby Sea (With some children present, if anyone was curious as to whether or not we'd see any smol lizards) which is presumably where the Shisui of the Violet Tides instance is located, as it appears to be their royal palace (Though a voidsent invasion has left things in a state of disarray).

[YianKutku]

I'm thinking Zenos is going to take a trip there for some manner of diplomatic meeting, and some of the more opportunistic minds in the rebellion will see it as a chance to end the conflict swiftly, though it's obviously not going to work.

I really hope we're not expected to follow up on hot-headed rebels haring off and messing everything up again, after Baelsar's Wall. Once is quite enough.

If we're forced by the MSQ to try to assassinate Zenos in the middle of a diplomatic meeting, the only way I would not be raging at that development is if it turns out Zenos was already planning some kind of betrayal of diplomacy, and so we are justified in shutting that down before Kugane gets pissed at both of us and throws everyone out.

On a side note relating to Kugane, I'm surprised by how few Raen Au Ra there are there (I only noticed two or three of them).

I suspect Kugane will be populated by more NPCs by the time of release, and they just haven't had the chance to code in all the ambient interactions yet. Still, I don't think we'll be seeing a great deal more Raen; probably mostly Hyur, like usual.

[Belhi]

They are going to allow us to have housing in the area so I don't think we will fall foul of the leadership in Kugane.

[LystAP]

They do however, have an entire town to themselves beneath the Ruby Sea (With some children present, if anyone was curious as to whether or not we'd see any smol lizards) which is presumably where the Shisui of the Violet Tides instance is located, as it appears to be their royal palace (Though a voidsent invasion has left things in a state of disarray).

It appears that the lore for the instance:

The Shisui of the Violet Tides seem be us going to rescue the Ruby Princess (2nd boss) at the behest of her little sister (whom we will probably meet somewhere in the zone). We appear to stop the final boss from seizing control of the princess, although the in-instance dialogue seems to note that the voidsent didn't manage to completely corrupt the princess.

[VargasVermillion]

I like how they made the ala mhigan and doman aspects of garelmald shine through in their respective forces, it's closer to what a real life empire on a large scale would do. I also remember hearing garleans don't completely homogenize culture, even the flag emblem has a doman inspired motif.

[Theodric]

The Garlean Embassy is promising, I've stated in the past that I was hoping for Kugane to have something along those lines so perhaps it will be used for the sake of diplomacy once Zenos is out of the picture. It's unlikely that Garlemald as a whole is ever going to be wiped out - and the story would be very stale if the Warrior of Light and his allies managed to accomplish such a feat in the first place. It'd also bring chaos to almost every corner of Hydaelyn and result in a lot of innocent lives being lost on all sides. I imagine we'll be introduced to a 'Larsa' type character at some point during 4.0 or the patch series and we'll work alongside them to eliminate the corruption within Garlemald but also bring forth stability and prosperity. Hopefully in such a way as to ensure that we don't get another Aymeric apologising for what his people did for the sake of their continued survival.

[KageTokage]

I look forward to getting some more insight into the tension that exists between the Xaela and Raen, namely because a Raen NPC mentions that they were driven out of their ancestral homeland as opposed to having left of their own accord like I had thought, which would imply that the Xaela forced them out for some reason (Differing ideals would be my first guess).

I think it's bound to come up with Yugiri being present during the Azim Steppe portion of the MSQ.

[Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

I look forward to getting some more insight into the tension that exists between the Xaela and Raen, namely because a Raen NPC mentions that they were driven out of their ancestral homeland as opposed to having left of their own accord like I had thought, which would imply that the Xaela forced them out for some reason (Differing ideals would be my first guess).

I think it's bound to come up with Yugiri being present during the Azim Steppe portion of the MSQ.

Racial tensions between the Xaela and the Raen have been pretty downplayed in any of the lore surrounding them, in-game or otherwise, so it would actually be a legitimate surprise to me if it was emphasized as an extant part of their cultures (especialy to the extent that it gets brought into the MSQ). I don't imagine they're friendly, but didn't the Raen turn to secluded mountain dwellings and otherwise integrate with Doman/Hingashi culture centuries ago, with whatever drove them from the Steppe being a distant memory, if it's remembered at all?

[Belhi]

We know only one Xaela tribe accepts Raen Au Ra. It might be linked to their origin story. The myth goes that the Dawn Father and Dusk Mother made them to basically be soldiers in their feuds, but finally made peace. Perhaps the original split had some religious origin if the Raen were driven out. There is also a notable cultural difference with Raen generally far more diplomatic. Xaela can be downright hostile to outsiders which will be interesting when we go there.

What is curious was previous mention of a third Clan. I wonder if we will learn something about that. They hinted at it but gave the impression talking about it would potentially be spoilery.

/snip

I would say its almost inevitable we will establish some link to Garlemald during this expansion. I am firmly convinced when we head to Garlemald, it won't be to destroy it. Yoshi P also hinted that he is looking to his writer team to start broadening the threats and foes. I don't think we will ever see anything displace the Ascians as the primary meta threat but perhaps we will see them try something different. Invasion from another shard perhaps? Who knows. Might give that opportunity for working with the Garleans against and external threat. I am not entirely convinced as its hard not to make that seems forced narratively speaking and FF14's narrative has been pretty smooth and cohesive.

That said, I still bet that 5.0 will be us heading to Garlemald to work with at least some of the existing institution. Varis's uncle was supported by a faction that seemed to be more moderate (anti conquest at least). I certainly don't see the loss of a couple of border provinces as leading to the collapse of the Empire, even if the current emperor and his heir die. At least not immediately. That could be interesting. We get caught up in the power struggle set to a background of strange assaults buy an unknown enemy. Maybe the enemy's appearance is due to one of the competing factions trying to get an edge and messing with something they shouldn't have.