Meaning of a text

[Mirch]

What is the meaning of the text written on the fountain in front of the thaumaturges guild?

"divinity is the colour of gold"

[Enkidoh]

It makes sense, given Ul'dah's mercantile status and the fact that their guardian deity (Nald'thal) is the god of fire, the underworld, and importantly commerce and transactions (Nald'thal's glyph after all is the cowry shell, which in ancient times was used as a form of money.) So basically that line is just referring to Ul'dah's love of money and making it (as in business and commerce).

Phrasing it in another way, it's pretty much an Eorzean spin on the phrase 'the almighty dollar'.

[Anonymoose]

To tack a footnote onto Enkidoh's (correct) explanation:

THM's lore took a beating when they had to tether BLM to it. It hasn't fully recovered, to be honest, lol. The true beliefs of the Order of Nald'thal, of which the Arrzaneth Ossuary makes up one half, make the fountain a lot easier to understand.

The core teachings of the Order are rooted in virtue and sin, and their relation to power. Virtue comes form using your wisdom to direct your power, which will result in increased wealth. Thus, so long as you are living within the teachings of Nald'thal, your wealth is a direct indication of your virtue.

Thaumaturgy is rooted in the astral and umbral polarities, which have associations with philosophical "light" and "shadow". You can't truly know yourself unless you embrace and understand both the pleasant and unpleasant things in this world, thus you must know - not avoid - the burdens of sin. You must know the good and evil inherent to every heart. In knowing the truth of yourself, you can see the world for what it really is, and glimpse beyond this realm of Nald and into the realm of Thal, and see the secrets of life, death, and magic.

Through joy and sin, you increase your wisdom, and thus your power, and thus your virtue in the eyes of Nald'thal, and thus your wealth.

Divinity is the color of gold.

Keep in mind that ill-gotten wealth doesn't count (the sin is no burden, your world is deception, your wisdom and power, and thus your virtue, are inhibited). But that doesn't stop people from co-opting religion for personal gain, as they always have and always will in every culture. The last guildmaster was so unrepentant, so ridiculously corrupt, that the Sultana herself cast him down for his behavior during the Calamity. (You can find him in gladatorial slavery to this day. He's the last boss in Halatali.)