Possible mistakes on unfolded map of Othard

[ClaireKriess]

Hey everyone

So I have noticed some mistakes on the unfolded map of Othard revealed in the last part of Return to Ivalice.

As you can see, the name above Rabanastre says "Dalmasca", this is wrong since that is the name of the country, not the city-state.

Furthermore it's said in part 2 of Return to Ivalice, that an inland sea known as the Valnard Sea is south of Rabanastre, and contains the Ridorana Cataract. This piece of information is nowhere to be found on the map.

[Astarotha]

as with most maps often the knowledge of the mapmaker is key to what actually ends up on a map, something to remember is nothing ingame is done from a gods eye perspective, that particular map may have been chosen by fran because it had the feature on it she needed, and didnt care whether the ridorana was on it or not

what im more curious about is when we get the final updated world map for 5.0 (the one we as players will actually use) will those details be included in the map, and are details being intentionally omitted from that map by devs to prevent potential spoilers later

also super SUPER happy valnain is on that map for reasons

[Sounsyy]

Furthermore it's said in part 2 of Return to Ivalice, that an inland sea known as the Valnard Sea is south of Rabanastre, and contains the Ridorana Cataract. This piece of information is nowhere to be found on the map.

Dalmasca should say Rabanastre, I'll agree. Though there's likely some mapmaker confusion similar to the Ruby Tide/Sea at play here that I'm sure we'll find out about.

That said, the Valnard Sea is not an inland sea. It's just the sea far to the south of Rabanastre. So the Valnard Sea is shown on the map, it's just not labelled. Curiously, this map doesn't label a lot of the finer geographical points of Dalmasca which we've discovered from the new lore book and the Ivalice raids. This may be for a clean map image or to reduce clutter. Though I am curious why Valnain is labelled but not Lea Monde, which is the current capital of Dalmasca Inferior. I wonder if this means we might visit Valnain in 5.0.

[Astarotha]

lea monde is supposedly somewhere to the north of rabanastre

[Sounsyy]

Lea Monde is somewhere to the southeast of Rabanastre, in "Dalmasca Inferior," which is made up of Greylic's Bend and the Golmore Jungle regions. "Dalmasca Superior" is made up of the Dalmascan Desert (Westersands and Estersands).

Encyclopedia Eorzea II - From Nagxia to Yanxia: “Following their victory, the Empire divided the conquered Kingdom of Dalmasca into two regions. The desert south of the Skatay Range was dubbed Dalmasca Superior, with Rabanastre to serve as the seat of the provincial government, whereas the Golmore Jungle and Greylic’s Bend were named Dalmasca Inferior, with Lea Monde as its capital. Together, they would comprise the Diocese of Dalmasca, the Garlean Empire’s foothold in the Far East. Rabanastre became a key staging ground for imperial forces in the campaign, and from there the Empire advanced into Nagxia.”

[Astarotha]

well lea monde is coastal, so best places for it is west of valnain probably on the tip of greylic, or lea monde got lesaliad (moved to fit ff14 geography) with valnain being the 'country' and lea monde being the 'city' similar to dalmasca is in that map

[Theodric]

Lea Monde is likely to endure an ill fate if it's to mimic its Vagrant Story counterpart. It's odd that it isn't located on the map itself though there's the possibility that the map is a fairly old one. Of course, it could be a very recent map and Lea Monde has already been plunged into chaos without us, specifically, being told. Either way, I wouldn't be surprised if it plays a part in 5.0 as a zone, dungeon or raid.

[Astarotha]

if it does, im going to lose my shit cause i love vagrant story so much

[Sounsyy]

well lea monde is coastal, so best places for it is west of valnain probably on the tip of greylic, or lea monde got lesaliad (moved to fit ff14 geography) with valnain being the 'country' and lea monde being the 'city' similar to dalmasca is in that map

While I can't find anything that narrows down Lea Monde's location beyond Greylic's Bend/Golmore Jungle region, we can at least scratch that Valnain isn't the country. It is described as a port city.

Encyclopedia Eorzea II: "The mention of Dalmasca conjures images of a kingdom rising from the desert, but at the edge of the sands lies the port city of Valnain, known for its history as a center for shipping. In the Valnard Sea to the south, a lighthouse perches on the lip of the Ridorana Cataract - a gaping maw in the ocean believed to lead into the seventh hell. This spire illuminates the path to the northern sea routes, and thence to the docks of Valnain. With advances in Gyr Abanian navigation techniques, overland caravans slowly gave way to merchant ships, but Dalmasca’s hold on the shipping lanes ensured its continued prosperity.”

[Iscah]

Lea Monde is somewhere to the southeast of Rabanastre, in "Dalmasca Inferior," which is made up of Greylic's Bend and the Golmore Jungle regions. "Dalmasca Superior" is made up of the Dalmascan Desert (Westersands and Estersands).

From the quote you posted, if the "Superior" and "Inferior" labels were only imposed by the invading Garleans, then it makes sense that the Dalmascans themselves - and especially the Resistance! - are unwilling to use those labels. Either the map predates the invasion, or the mapmaker simply won't acknowledge the division.

On the choice of the label "Dalmasca" rather than "Rabanastre", it could be to do with what we 'normally call' the region politically. For the Eorzean cities we often talk about Gridania or Ul'dah as if the name represents the entirety of the Shroud or Thanalan. Dalmasca doesn't have the same oddity, and is correctly used to describe the country, while (from what little it's been discussed) Rabanastre only seems to refer specifically to the capital.

It's possible that the mapmaker (in-world or out) was thinking along these lines, equating the label "Dalmasca" with the city-name labels elsewhere on the map, and didn't realise the mistake until later. At which point, in-world at least, the map is 'done' and the error can't be fixed without making a mess of it.

It's possible we'll get a second-edition map with the name fixed, though!

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On a related note, is Doma supposed to be the capital of Yanxia?