Is my story lore-friendly?

[Princess_Cassandra]

I'm a relatively new player to FFXIV (First time on these forums) and I fell in love with Coerthas, I like the medieval theme, the music, and the rich amount of strife and conflict there.

Despite being new, I have spent more time looking up lore than leveling so far as well as making a few friends who have deep knowledge of it.

They told me this would work but I am still not confident, I would appreciate it if I could get either some reassurance or tough love on whether it is acceptable or no:

The main character in this story is an Ishgardian Elezen named Fleurent de Gisoreux but I’m not sure its a good name and might change it. Fleurent is a knightly and very martial lesser noble of a small house who has long since disagreed with the ishgardian justice system and eventually goes against it. He does this in a similar vein as dark knights however without dark arts. (He does sort of what Haurchefant does in the MSQ) Fleurent is then witch hunted for his interference but before he is caught he leaves Ishgard entirely to become an adventurer and continues following his own sense of justice.

He would adventure to many lands and take part in numerous conflicts, eventually joining the Eorzean Alliance in Carteneau and miraculously surviving the bloodshed that followed. In the wake of the calamity, Fleurent did his best to help whoever he could but he soon felt the need to return home. In Ishgard, he would redeem himself in the eyes of the holy see on the field of battle as he aided the Ishgardian war effort against the Dravanian horde.

After some time and various displays of rekindled faith and martial courage he was permitted to return to his lands and resume his life in Ishgard. Despite his heroics, Fleurent was still disliked by nearby nobility and the enemies he has made did not forget…

Mixed race relationships are frowned upon in many, if not most places, let alone ishgard...but although ishgardian nobility would never take part in such contemptuous behavior, this knightly noble was an adventurer for many years. This eventually helped in giving Fleurent a different perspective on things and he was already a bit of an oddity compared to his counterparts even before he left.

During his adventuring days he fell in love with a Miqo’te refugee and had promised to one day take both the woman and her daughter off the streets of poverty. Fleurent had the pair brought to his land in Ishgard where he and the lady embraced a secret love life. To the people who knew, the Miqo’te maidens were naught but two lowly servants he bizarrely picked up during his adventures. Only a few would know of their existence and even less so his secret...

If this is deemed acceptable then I would like to expand this story and write in greater detail.

I wanted to create a situation that made playing a Miqo'te character in Ishgard plausible but with consequences. This seems very controversial so please give me reassurance or tough love.

[Enkidoh]

Firstly, welcome to Eorzea!

Your story sounds very interesting and as far as I can see is well and truly within the lore so don't be concerned! The only possible question mark though is a miqo'te being in Ishgard - apparently miqo'te shun the Holy See simply due to it's climate, it's considered far too cold and thus most miqo'te don't stay long in Coerthas if they can help it, preferring to depart for much warmer climes if possible. Having said that, there is nothing stopping a miqo'te from living there, just it's not very common. And that is the thing with the game's lore and setting, it is remarkably vague enough that a certain amount of writer's license can be used to do something a little different but still be in keeping with the lore and setting.

Either way, good work on your backstory, you've done a lot of research and it's apparent in your description. So well done!

[Princess_Cassandra]

Firstly, welcome to Eorzea!

Your story sounds very interesting and as far as I can see is well and truly within the lore so don't be concerned! The only possible question mark though is a miqo'te being in Ishgard - apparently miqo'te shun the Holy See simply due to it's climate, it's considered far too cold and thus most miqo'te don't stay long in Coerthas if they can help it, preferring to depart for much warmer climes if possible. Having said that, there is nothing stopping a miqo'te from living there, just it's not very common. And that is the thing with the game's lore and setting, it is remarkably vague enough that a certain amount of writer's license can be used to do something a little different but still be in keeping with the lore and setting.

Either way, good work on your backstory, you've done a lot of research and it's apparent in your description. So well done!

Yay! Thank you for the helpful comment and warm welcome, I'm happy to be among Eorzea's denizens. That is very true that Miqo'te generally don't like the cold climate so I'll try to keep that in mind.

[Cilia]

While Coerthas is very cold now, prior to the Calamity it was temperate. It's entirely plausible that Mi'qote tribes lived there prior, which could be a source of refugees.

Your story is fine, I'm just trying to throw out more possibilities.

[Princess_Cassandra]

While Coerthas is very cold now, prior to the Calamity it was temperate. It's entirely plausible that Mi'qote tribes lived there prior, which could be a source of refugees.

Your story is fine, I'm just trying to throw out more possibilities.

Oh wow I never thought of that, thanks for the interesting idea/possibility.

[Brightamethyst]

Mixed race relationships are frowned upon in many, if not most places, let alone ishgard

I wonder how true that really is. It's definitely true in Ishgard (especially for the nobility), and probably within some of the miqo'te tribes, but we don't really see evidence of it elsewhere in game. We see a number of interracial relationships and romances play out in game and other NPCs don't think anything of it.

[Princess_Cassandra]

I wonder how true that really is. It's definitely true in Ishgard (especially for the nobility), and probably within some of the miqo'te tribes, but we don't really see evidence of it elsewhere in game. We see a number of interracial relationships and romances play out in game and other NPCs don't think anything of it.

That's true as well, hmmm maybe I was a bit harsh saying that.

[Anonymoose]

Fleurent is a knightly and very martial lesser noble of a small house who has long since disagreed with the ishgardian justice system and eventually goes against it. He does this in a similar vein as dark knights however without dark arts. <...> Fleurent is then witch hunted for his interference but before he is caught he leaves Ishgard entirely

Nothing wrong here. For many in Ishgard, what has mattered most over the years has been the appearance of conformity with the law; the appearance of righteousness. Even the nobles blatantly went against the system, but did so by manipulating narratives and appearances in long-running socio-political games. Even if your character was simply unable to control the narrative of his own refusal to obey the laws of Halone, a rival would obviously turn the narrative of disobedience on them in a way that secures them a one-up position, and the trial /inquisition might not go so well. It might be better to just haul out of there.

He would adventure to many lands and take part in numerous conflicts, eventually joining the Eorzean Alliance in Carteneau and miraculously surviving the bloodshed that followed.

Still good, though you might want to get an idea of how/where they fought, just for the sake of it. Did they join one of the three Grand Companies uniting to fight the battle? If so, which banner did they fight under? If not, how did they get there and where did they fight? The Grand Companies each have a unit of enlisted adventurers, called upon in times of need but otherwise allowed to pursue their own means and ends. These units were given priority in the retreat, with full-time enlisted soldiers defending the rear. If you weren't one of the Echo-blessed, primal-slaying, Darnus-killing elite adventurers standing with Louisoix, it's not to hard to write escaping Carteneau without going into the rift.

After some time and various displays of rekindled faith and martial courage he was permitted to return to his lands and resume his life in Ishgard. Despite his heroics, Fleurent was still disliked by nearby nobility and the enemies he has made did not forget…

This would be the most tricky part to write, I'd think. His flight from Coerthas would almost assuredly be interpreted and presented as admission of guilt to whatever he was accused of (and likely without him there to defend it, these enemies would heap some extra ones on the pyre). How does he bridge this gap? Did someone "hold the fort" within his house in the county and give him a way to take back his story in a "redemption arc" narrative? Does he come as a stranger to a family in another county and gain valorous attention there before admitting who he is and trying to turn the tide of his reputation? Does he embrace the socio-political games and start moving rivals of rivals against one another to re-write what "really" happened? Did he make his entrance with such a grand gesture that it was impossible to deny hearing him out? It's up to you!

Mixed race relationships are frowned upon in many, if not most places, let alone ishgard...but although ishgardian nobility would never take part in such contemptuous behavior, this knightly noble was an adventurer for many years. This eventually helped in giving Fleurent a different perspective on things and he was already a bit of an oddity compared to his counterparts even before he left.

I wonder how true that really is. It's definitely true in Ishgard (especially for the nobility), and probably within some of the miqo'te tribes, but we don't really see evidence of it elsewhere in game. We see a number of interracial relationships and romances play out in game and other NPCs don't think anything of it.

It's true, just not invoked very often. In Eorzea, many are ...traditional... about this, but there's a continuum to it just like in real life. You have your progressives, you have those who offer offense and violence, but most are probably in that "I'm not racist, but..." gray area where they say things like, "Right, but why can't you marry a nice [insert race here] like yourself?" Perhaps it goes back to the middle of the Sixth Astral Era in this case, since many of the races/clans went disproportionately to specific city-states mid-era.

Adventurers just tend to have zero time for this stereotype / distrust nonsense. All that matters in the world is who really has your back, who really helps you survive, and that you live your life to the fullest because your next adventure could be your last.

During his adventuring days he fell in love with a Miqo’te refugee and had promised to one day take both the woman and her daughter off the streets of poverty. Fleurent had the pair brought to his land in Ishgard where he and the lady embraced a secret love life. To the people who knew, the Miqo’te maidens were naught but two lowly servants he bizarrely picked up during his adventures. Only a few would know of their existence and even less so his secret...

If you focus on where she was a refugee from and to and how they met and fell in love, you can work that into the story in a way that just becomes more salient than that she ends up in Ishgard for most of the people who'd analyze it. As far as anyone in Ishgard is concerned, there could be a thousand excuses for her arrival. Maybe they're the wife and daughter of a man who saved your life. Maybe you're righteous for taking care of them. They don't know. They just need to mind their own business and expect the Fury's justice if anything happens to them.

apparently miqo'te shun the Holy See simply due to it's climate

Did we ever find a citation for this one? I've heard it a few times but without a quotation or something my mind immediately knee-jerks to, "Says who? Is it logical? Sure! But so is that over 70% of Ishgard's population is descended from that first group of Elezen, and 20% on top of that is Midlanders who piled into Eorzea whilst the proto-Ishgardians were yet pretty much the only people back from the floods. That leaves 10% of Ishgard to be anything else. Why is it specifically that Miqo'te hate the cold. Don't see many Lalafell in Ishgard. Does that give me carte blanc to blame it on their mass to surface area ratio making it too dangerous to live in the cold? Or that their natural tendency to be first in line to get eaten by anything and everything just drove them into extinction in a war against dragons?"

I know, I know, I'm picky and weird. But I'm also an archivist! And ... I forget if we archived a citation for that one. >___>

[Brightamethyst]

Is it logical? Sure! But so is that over 70% of Ishgard's population is descended from that first group of Elezen, and 20% on top of that is Midlanders who piled into Eorzea whilst the proto-Ishgardians were yet pretty much the only people back from the floods.

That's my take on it too. Ishagrd isn't inherently inhospitable to everyone else, it's just that no one else bothered to settle there before the elezen dug in.

[Princess_Cassandra]

Still good, though you might want to get an idea of how/where they fought, just for the sake of it. Did they join one of the three Grand Companies uniting to fight the battle? If so, which banner did they fight under? If not, how did they get there and where did they fight? The Grand Companies each have a unit of enlisted adventurers, called upon in times of need but otherwise allowed to pursue their own means and ends. These units were given priority in the retreat, with full-time enlisted soldiers defending the rear. If you weren't one of the Echo-blessed, primal-slaying, Darnus-killing elite adventurers standing with Louisoix, it's not to hard to write escaping Carteneau without going into the rift.

Thank you for such an informative post! You have given me many ideas and directions to elaborate Fleurent's story, I think his adventures would have him questing around Thanalan and fighting alongside The Immortal Flames at Carteneau.

This would be the most tricky part to write, I'd think. His flight from Coerthas would almost assuredly be interpreted and presented as admission of guilt to whatever he was accused of (and likely without him there to defend it, these enemies would heap some extra ones on the pyre). How does he bridge this gap? Did someone "hold the fort" within his house in the county and give him a way to take back his story in a "redemption arc" narrative? Does he come as a stranger to a family in another county and gain valorous attention there before admitting who he is and trying to turn the tide of his reputation? Does he embrace the socio-political games and start moving rivals of rivals against one another to re-write what "really" happened? Did he make his entrance with such a grand gesture that it was impossible to deny hearing him out? It's up to you!

You are right about this, his reputation and his house's name would be severely shamed, almost irreversibly so for most. I would like to write this so he makes his first reappearance during a pretty desperate, potentially losing battle against Dravanians and he fights in a way that inspires Ishgardian troops and slays/helps to slay a significant foe. So it happens in a way that kind of makes it impossible to deny hearing him out, he boosts the moral of some of the men, and garners an overwhelming amount of witnesses of him killing Dravanians which would help to dispel the notion of him being a heretic. As an NPC in Camp Dragonhead named Belmont says "I tell you, the high and mighty around these parts don't even see in black and white. They see in "dragon" and "not dragon," you know of what I speak."