So...Dalamud in Othard?

[heiligeharmonie]

So there are two things that I've been wondering about, and they both pertain to Dalamud.

First: We know that after the loss of Dalamud's true nature, Eorzeans took to believing that Dalamud was servant to Menphina, but what about civilizations outside of Eorzea? Doma, Hingashi, the Kojin, and the Xaela of the Azim Steppe have incredibly different belief systems and mythology, and some of them have had little meaningful interaction with Eorzea, so what did they make of the lesser moon? I'm especially curious about the Xaela, because the moon is such an integral part of their own mythology.

Second: What the hecking heck did they think when it just disappeared? Hingashi probably knows the gist of what happened, thanks to trade through Kugane, and it's possible Doma may have heard something, though that's probably dependent on how much information the Garlean forces let through, but I'm not sure if the Steppe has enough contact with people who would know much about it. So, if there are people in Othard who don't know about Dalamud's fall, what do they think made it just disappear?

I've been waiting for some kind of mention of Dalamud to come up in side quests, but so far I haven't seen any (though I haven't done them all so who knows). Anyone else seen any? Though it is possible that it's not something people would mention off-hand anymore, since it's been 5-6 years. And if there are no NPCs who can enlighten us, maybe possibly our lovely community reps could slide this to our wonderful loremaster?

Edit: So someone just reminded me of the one Xaela tribe who worshiped Dalamud, but thus far that's little more than a single line blurb. I mean, it's something, but it doesn't tell much.

[YianKutku]

Edit: So someone just reminded me of the one Xaela tribe who worshiped Dalamud, but thus far that's little more than a single line blurb. I mean, it's something, but it doesn't tell much.

The description for the Dalamiq tribe is as follows:

One of only a few Xaela tribes which has abandoned the nomadic lifestyle and built a small village on an islet in the middle of a two-malm-wide span of the great inner river. It is said they once worshipped the now-fallen lesser moon.

Which raises the question of how long ago they worshipped Dalamud, and whether it was recent enough that the fall of Dalamud was a huge deal to their belief system, or if it was one of those things that only mattered in the distant past, and they were no more or less puzzled by the disappearance of Dalamud as any of the other Xaela tribes.

What does interest me is their name, which is very close to "Dalamud", and has to be more than mere coincidence. Which is significant, because we know the Xaela (in general) do not worship the Twelve. So where did they get the name "Dalamud" from? Dalamud was, in Twelve mythology, the "loyal hound" of Menphina, the goddess of the moon. Did Nhaama in Xaela mythology also have a Dalamud?

(If anyone's wondering, the 51 Scales fanart of the Dalamiq tribe focuses on the "islet village" part of their description.)

[Naria]

If I'm recalling correctly the name Dalamud itself is theorized to be a corruption of the word Bahamut. I think the actual ship/space station was called the Ragnarok. Honestly the lore on the origin of "Dalamud" is probably always going to be a bit wonky since the moon was ret-coned into being a space station in the first place.

[ObsidianFire]

Ragnarok is the class of starship that forms the internment hulks. Those things holding all the Mericidians that keep Bahamut summoned out of the Lifestream/aether even after Phoenix killed him. There's at least four of them inside Dalamud.

As far as Dalamud in Othard goes... Othard is on the other side of the planet from Aldenard. Assuming Dalamud stopped orbiting the moon and started falling towards the Lunar Transmitter, the only thing they would have really noticed about the Calamity was that Dalamud disappeared one day and never reappeared again. Which if the Astrologin quests are anything to go by, is a big deal for any magic system that uses celestial aether. One of the things the AST quests say about Dalamud is that Nocturnal stance still makes use of it's projected trajectory even though Dalamud itself isn't there anymore. So Dalamud being gone is probably a big deal somewhere... However, that was 5+ years ago. It's probably not big news anymore and word would eventually get to Othard about what happened in Aldenard.

Actually, that's probably true for most of the Calamities. Aldenard is where the Source (of aether) is so it probably gets hit way harder by the effects of the Calamities then the other continents do.

[JepMZ]

If I'm recalling correctly the name Dalamud itself is theorized to be a corruption of the word Bahamut. I think the actual ship/space station was called the Ragnarok. Honestly the lore on the origin of "Dalamud" is probably always going to be a bit wonky since the moon was ret-coned into being a space station in the first place.

Yeah, I used to have a problem with this too. Yet the astrologians job still feature a similar picture of Dalamud powering a tower. I'd like to think the allagans meddling is pre-ordained throughout all of history by the stars.

[ObsidianFire]

If it's the Spire Card you're referring to, that's not what's going on. The Spire is Bryegot's Clockwork Tower which is being hit with Rhalgr's thunderbolts. Only Bryegot (being the craftsman he is) has designed his tower to use Rhalgr's thunderbolts as a power source. The reason all this is happening? Rhalgr is jealous of his adoptive son.

It is interesting how well that story fits into what the Crystal Tower's original purpose is though (giant solar collector/power generator). As far as I can tell though, it never received energy from Dalamud itself until Xande tried to summon the Cloud of Darkness and triggered the 4rd Umbral Calamity.

[JepMZ]

Yeah, I'm aware. It just fits with the Xande situation perfectly since the Tower tarot card can also mean destruction or great change in Tarot readings

[Erendis]

I was looking for a thread about second moon in Othard and found this. Seems like there is serious lack of mentions of in Au Ra lore. Perhaps someone asked about it in an interview?

One of the things the AST quests say about Dalamud is that Nocturnal stance still makes use of it's projected trajectory even though Dalamud itself isn't there anymore.

They got rid of Dalamud and now they are getting rid of Nocturnal stance...

[Zohar_Lahar]

There is a fan theory that the Dawn Throne may have once been the remnants of the launch pad for getting Dalamud into orbit.

That said, it is rather strange how little the Calamities come up in Othard. You hear how the Fourth Calamity related to Bozja and Heaven-on-High, but no mention of the Endless Frost or the Great Flood occur at all. Every history in Othard is given such vague timelines you never know how to align it to the Eorzea calendar.

[Iscah]

It is interesting how well [the Spire card] fits into what the Crystal Tower's original purpose is though (giant solar collector/power generator). As far as I can tell though, it never received energy from Dalamud itself until Xande tried to summon the Cloud of Darkness and triggered the 4rd Umbral Calamity.

I thought there was a reference in the game to Dalamud being designed to transfer power to the CT? In any case the lorebook talks about Dalamud being launched specifically to gather concentrated energy to power the voidgate, though it doesn't mention regularly transferring energy to it, which was the system I had in mind. But I don't have quotes on hand.

And doesn't the scale-model CT housing item have a mini Dalamud circling the spire? That would suggest they're two pieces of a system.

They got rid of Dalamud and now they are getting rid of Nocturnal stance...

I'm interested to see what they make of the stances, lore-wise. They're talked about a lot in the Stormblood storyline - particularly using the shielding of Nocturnal Sect to mend the wards.