That's not a Tia! (moonfire spoilers)

[ObsidianFire]

The Nunh of the U tribe is the leader of the Tribe, but even he admits that that is an unusual situation, rather then the normal one. Meanwhile, the M Tribe was large enough that at one point they had two Nunhs.

From what we learn from the M Tribe, saying that the Nunh is the "breeding male" is selling the role short. While it does involve that, it also involves everything else a father does in bringing up kids. That is, the Nunh is supposed to be the father of all the children in the tribe. However, given that the position of Nunh comes down to who is the strongest male in battle, I could see the position often going to men who wouldn't be good father material. I could see female Miqo'te leaving their tribe in such a situation when faced with the reality of having such a person be their child's father and they're expected to be okay with it... On the flip side, if the Nunh is good father material, then everyone in the tribe benefits from it. While Nunhs aren't often the leaders of their tribes, they do probably have a lot of influence on the next generation they are raising.

[Eloah]

Saying a Nunh is a "breeding male" isn't selling the role short at all. Because, all Nunh means is that that individual is the breeding male. Anything after the fact is just the individual themselves and/or "pressure" from the tribe to act in a certain way. It's the equivalent of Garlean ranks, to use an in game example. It doesn't mean anything besides letting you know their role in the group.

Think of it this way, when/if a nunh becomes a tia again, does that logic still work? Did they change who they are or did they just change their role?

[Iscah]

I’ve always been under the impression that “civilized” miqos living in cities had no real tribes. There are older male sun seekers in the arcanist and monk storylines with tia names and I can’t think of a single case where we ever see a nunh outside of the U or M tribes, who still live traditionally.

The discussion's moved past this somewhat, but I wouldn't take the fact there are older tias around (regardless of exactly what the nunh role involves) as any proof the system isn't being followed by the other tribes. There are always going to be males that are not nunhs in any tribe, and/or it seems to be normal for tias to leave and travel on their own until they're ready to challenge the nunh. Perhaps some just decide they're not interested in going back.

It's also quite possible, for instance, that the R tribe is still a functioning tribe while all living and working in Limsa - they could all live communally while going out and having individual 'city' day jobs.


Generally, Sunseeker tribe structure seems to be inspired by that of lions.

[Catapult]

(S'imba, you must take your place in the circle of life...)

Perhaps the thing I find most curious is that IF the writers had been aware that Miqo'te were involved, it would have been taken as an opportunity to tell a uniquely R-tribe story. But it wasn't. And that's sad. And that's why I assume that the writers didn't know.

[Keever]

The self-proclaimed Seekers of the Sun are the diurnal clan of the Miqo'te race. Their preference for the warm light of day pervades all aspects of their culture, as is apparent in their devout reverence for Azeyma the Warden, goddess of the sun. Though relatively few in Eorzea, a small number of them have been accepted into everyday life by the other races in the port city of Limsa Lominsa. Others are known to make their home in the region of the Sagolii Desert.

Unsurprisingly, given their self-bestowed clan name, the Seekers of the Sun count numerous devotees of Azeyma, the Warden, among their ranks. While their overall numbers are not great, their twenty-six tribes are scattered across all reaches of the realm, with small Seeker settlements to be found from the sands of the Sagolii Desert in southern Thanalan to the jagged peaks of Gyr Abania. Yet other Seekers have settled in Limsa Lominsa, drawn to the freedom of pirate life. Many Seekers, particularly those of the younger generation, choose to set off as adventurers, perhaps heeding the same call of the wild their ancestors once heard.

Born in Limsa Lominsa, Commander [R'ashaht] Rhiki left her parents' home before her twentieth nameday to seek her fortune as an adventurer.

We simply must assume that R'fhul, his sister and parents are/were are simply city-living Miqo'te, despite still following tribal naming conventions and perhaps keeping some connections to their old tribe. Compare the J tribe members in Ala Ghiri.

[Niwashi]

They MAY have fixed this issue with the Tuesday update. I'm guessing most of the folks in this thread did the quest before the update? I did not - and when I did the quest the boy wanted to prove himself so that he could go on an adventurer's journey, not so that he could care for his family.

The stuff about "being without a father" was still there, but I didn't really see anything in the dialog that pointed toward him trying to become the breadwinner.

I don't know whether it changed or not, but I did the quest after that update, and the issue was there. After the update, the relevant portion of dialog is this part:

But I am serious about becoming an adventurer! You see, <name>, we don't have a father, so I help our mother look after Majha. I realized that I needed to become a man, to become strong enough to support my family. I just didn't know how.

But when I came to the Moonfire Faire a few years ago, and saw the Cascadiers drive off those dreadful Bombards, I discovered my calling in life—to become an adventurer! If I were as brave as the heroes of the Adventurers' Guild, I could protect my family from harm. I could provide for them.

So, he wants to protect his family and provide for them because his father isn't there to do so. It sounds like a nuclear family consisting of his mother, himself, and his sister, but no longer a father so he needs to substitute for that role. That doesn't sound like a Sunseeker tribe.

[Eloah]

So, he wants to protect his family and provide for them because his father isn't there to do so. It sounds like a nuclear family consisting of his mother, himself, and his sister, but no longer a father so he needs to substitute for that role. That doesn't sound like a Sunseeker tribe.

Not sure that's a fair assessment. We don't know how each tribe operates from one another. The only constant we do know is their Patriarchal Society. From what little information we can gleam, from the small bits of info spread throughout the game, the tribes appear to be individually family oriented but collectively tribe oriented. Meaning that family units are not uncommon. Basically, the father(nunh) has multiple families that are all his, but each "wife" only has one of their own. The boy in the quest chain is only referring to his specific family.

[TinyRedLeaf]

We simply must assume that R'fhul, his sister and parents are/were are simply city-living Miqo'te, despite still following tribal naming conventions and perhaps keeping some connections to their old tribe. Compare the J tribe members in Ala Ghiri.

Indeed! I'm not quite sure why this is confusing.

Consider this: I'm a member of the Chinese diaspora. Both my parents are Chinese. My father came from China, and my mother from another country in Southeast Asia. I became a naturalised citizen of my country at age 11.

I have a Chinese name (alongside an English one, in line with my country's norms), and I can read, speak and write Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese). My family follows most of the common Chinese customs, and observes most of the major Chinese festivals. But, even so, when I first visited my father's hometown at age 12, it was a huge culture shock — because what I thought I knew to be "Chinese" was very different from what it means to be Chinese in the mainland. For one thing, the emphasis on the extended family was much, much more noticeable. The emphasis of knowing one's roots was also very strong (ie, my cousins, uncles and aunts take it as given that I'd trace my genealogy back to China, even though I barely have any emotional ties with the mainland, and remain a passionate citizen of my birth country).

And all the above is even before I discuss all the other customs practised in my ancestral land that I don't even know about, let alone practise.

The R' siblings in the Moonfaire Faire story were, to me, probably just children a miqo'te immigrant family that had settled in Limsa Lominsa for at least two generations or more. They may follow their tribe's naming conventions, but that shouldn't mean that they would strictly follow their ancestral norms. At least, not of all it, any more.

[Miyha]

I mean... there are a lot of possibilities here. It's really not all that confusing/lore-contradicting when you think about it. The mother could have left the main tribe, as many Seekers do, to live outside the tribe's traditional restrictions and taken her son with her, then had a daughter later by someone who wasn't the Nunh. Speaking of, I'm sure many Nunh's aren't exactly "father figures" (especially not in the traditional sense) given their status as the "breeding male" of the tribe; even if they grew up with the tribe, there's still that issue.

This guy was an event character, and a thus far non-recurring one at that. I don't anticipate them writing a detailed backstory for a character like that in the first place. I do not think they totally ignored lore here though; there are plenty of possibilities that make this scenario work if you just use a bit of imagination. :P

[Eloah]

This guy was an event character, and a thus far non-recurring one at that. I don't anticipate them writing a detailed backstory for a character like that in the first place.

Based on a recent document a friend found, I'm not sure how accurate that is. It shows that a lot of the characters we may view as one offs have been placed and used strategically. The document is basically a "where are they now" of former 1.0 npcs; and not just any NPCs, old retainers. Many of them are a bit surprising. Some squad recruits, event npcs, and recent additions are on there. Heck, M'naago's name is on there, so what's in store for these npcs is anyone's guess.