Il Mheg 1/2 of two mirrored zones?

[MrThinker]

Nice diagram, I like it.

Some more questions that I think need to be answered:

Are the shards fully fledged universes in their own right with their own cosmology, or are they localized dimensional anomalies?

Do shards all experience calamities at the same time? or do the Ascians pick a single target for the rejoining at a time, because coordinating the advent of calamities in more than 2 worlds at roughly the same time is a major pain in the head?

What role does the balance of Light and Dark in a shard have in the formation of its social structure and history, if any?

Are there actually alternate versions of people we know existing on the other shards?

[Zohar_Lahar]

Personally, I have a feeling Mullonde might be on our plane, rather than on the 1st shard. The spell back in FFT teleported the party to an existing area within the game, which is the same thing that happened here. If it is the 1st, then that would mean that there are *two* Mullonde, one on each world. Or that our world's Mullonde was transported to the 1st the first time Ultima appeared. That seems unlikely to me.

On the other hand, the bright light does give it an otherworldy aura. This might be a preview of the Flood of Light that's been hinted at in the last few MSQ, and perhaps even a hint that Ultima is close in nature to it. Or something along those lines.

I recall seeing a video of the deepest floors of the Palace of the Dead, and it seems to have the same otherworldly aura as Mullonde.

[ObsidianFire]

Oh boy... the part in that diagram about the 1st and 13th Shards is pure fan-fiction at this point. So is a lot of the information about the way things work in general in the rest of it.

The 13th Shard is called "the Void" because the Shard no longer exists. There's essentially a hole in reality where the Shard should be and no longer is.

The 1st Shard has partially been Flooded with Light. The Flood has not completed however and as far as we know, will never be completed as Hydaelyn is absorbing the excess light.

Anything about "Sealed Splinters of Shards" is fan-fiction and should be treated as such. All Shards so far are treated as one "object" and have never been presented as being able to be separated from themselves.

Shards do not have a similar timeline of events as the Source. They were split off from the Source over five thousand years ago and have had divergent histories ever since. The only reason why the WoD look like they do is because they are possessing the bodies of people from the Source.

The Aetherial Sea (where all aether eventually ends up) is like a giant aether blender. The different kinds of aether are stripped of their different attributes and is then reborn in the living world as something else. The Seven Shards that have been Rejoined to the Source are totally gone and their aether has probably been reborn by now into the still existing Shards.

Making a diagram of what the Source and the Shards look like is weird since by all rights you'd need something in three or more dimensions. The Shards all occupy the same "3D space" as the Source does. They are just "out of phase" or are on different "frequencies" with each other. Traveling from one to the other involves giving up your body (and the phase/frequency it is associated with) to posses a body of the phase/frequency you want to travel to. And in order to do that you need the Echo.

[MrThinker]

The Shards all occupy the same "3D space" as the Source does. They are just "out of phase" or are on different "frequencies" with each other. Traveling from one to the other involves giving up your body (and the phase/frequency it is associated with) to posses a body of the phase/frequency you want to travel to. And in order to do that you need the Echo.

Has that actually been 100% confirmed? I mean its the idea that makes the most sense to me, since I made a very long post about it some time ago, but I dont think its ever been stated to be objective fact.

[UniKoRn]

Oh boy... the part in that diagram about the 1st and 13th Shards is pure fan-fiction at this point. So is a lot of the information about the way things work in general in the rest of it.

The 13th Shard is called "the Void" because the Shard no longer exists. There's essentially a hole in reality where the Shard should be and no longer is.

The Aetherial Sea (where all aether eventually ends up) is like a giant aether blender. The different kinds of aether are stripped of their different attributes and is then reborn in the living world as something else. The Seven Shards that have been Rejoined to the Source are totally gone and their aether has probably been reborn by now into the still existing Shards.

Making a diagram of what the Source and the Shards look like is weird since by all rights you'd need something in three or more dimensions. The Shards all occupy the same "3D space" as the Source does. They are just "out of phase" or are on different "frequencies" with each other. Traveling from one to the other involves giving up your body (and the phase/frequency it is associated with) to posses a body of the phase/frequency you want to travel to. And in order to do that you need the Echo.

I definitely didn't mean to present the entire diagram as fact as it's just a combo of ideas from the thread, which is why I labelled it with World Theories. It was more for myself than anything but I thought I'd share it so people could fill me in if I've misunderstood anything. Which is highly likely because my memory on earlier events in the game is rather fuzzy at this point and then we are adding fan theories on top of that which does make my head spin!

I'm not about to go making fully 3D rendered animations just for a forum thread... but yeah it would be more ideal for a representation of alternate dimensions.

Sorry for all my dumb questions that follow:

Since the Aether should be somewhat evenly divided between all the worlds (after a rejoin), is there something that could tip the balance so it becomes uneven? Like say feeding the Aether into one world specifically?

If the 13th Shard is totally destroyed by darkness and never rejoined into the source, then technically the Ascians could never revive Zodiark? Or perhaps they only need some of the pieces and not every single one?

So I just realised that a few of the Scions that were "called" and have lost consciousness don't actually posses The Echo? So technically they shouldn't be able to hop dimensions the way the Warriors of Darkness did... so it would have to be another method if they did indeed go to another shard. Could Hydaelyn herself facilitate that if she regained power?

Thanks ahead

[LineageRazor]

Nice diagram, I like it.

Some more questions that I think need to be answered:

NONE of your questions have confirmed answers; it's all speculation at this point, and many here would be happy to share their personal theories.

So here are my personal theories!

Are the shards fully fledged universes in their own right with their own cosmology, or are they localized dimensional anomalies?

It is my feeling that the Sundering was a local event that affected THIS star and little or nothing beyond it. It was caused by a clash between Hydaelyn and Zodiark, and what we've seen of Hydaelyn's abilities and limitations doesn't really paint her as being a god capable of galactic-scale manipulations. It's not impossible that the whole universe was copied, but I find it unlikely.

Do shards all experience calamities at the same time? or do the Ascians pick a single target for the rejoining at a time, because coordinating the advent of calamities in more than 2 worlds at roughly the same time is a major pain in the head?

At this point, is hasn't been confirmed that Calamities even happen on the worlds about to be Rejoined. We currently have no idea what actions take place on a Shard during a Rejoining. We know that Ascians go there to do SOMETHING, but it might simply be maintenance work, to preserve the Balance of Light and Darkness so that the world doesn't Flood before a Rejoining can occur.

If the Voice and its Call really are transporting the Scions to another Shard, perhaps we'll have a few of these answers in the upcoming patch and/or expansion.

What role does the balance of Light and Dark in a shard have in the formation of its social structure and history, if any?

I haven't really thought about this one. Unhulkai's world was apparently darkness-rich (though how much of that was Ighorym's doing is unclear), and he seems to be a relatively nice person. Apparently others from his world were rather power-hungry, embracing the power of the Primals, but that could have started out of necessity to stand against the overwhelming Darkness. The Warriors of Darkness, on the other hand, from a light-rich world, seemed like a pretty arrogant bunch, but that might be a natural result of them curb-stomping every threat that came their way on their own world. They certainly have some ability, though, as they were able to polish off Ravana without too much trouble.

Are there actually alternate versions of people we know existing on the other shards?

I hope not. These aren't recent copies; there's something like ten THOUSAND years of divergence from the point the Shards were created. The odds of an identical person cropping up are astronomically low - and if it happens, it will strain suspension of disbelief considerably. If it's the case that the entire universe was copied for each Shard, it's possible that Omega and Midgardsormr and his brood could have copies there; each of them was alive/functioning a considerable amount of time before they came to this star, so they may well have existed before the Sundering.

[ObsidianFire]

"The Balance of Light and Darkness" is not something that really exists. One of the very first things the Warriors of Darkness tell us is that each of the Shards have different amounts of Light and Darkness. However, the only shards that have ever had trouble with Floods have had direct Ascian involvement on them in some way. And the 1st Shard only had problems being Flooded with Light after Hydaelyn was severely weakened by Ultima. From the looks of things, the amount of Light and Darkness on each Shard isn't something to be overly concerned with so long as the Ascians are not messing with things.

Further confusing this mess, is that no one knows what "Light" and "Darkness" really are. We know that Hydaelyn likes increasing Light on the Source through us. However, we also know the Asicans like increasing Darkness since that helps bring about a Calamity. We also know that the things mankind does contribute to the growth of both Light and Darkness and the Hydaelyn (and presumably Zodiark) do not have direct control over what Light and Darkness do.

Since the Aether should be somewhat evenly divided between all the worlds (after a rejoin), is there something that could tip the balance so it becomes uneven? Like say feeding the Aether into one world specifically?

We don't even know if the Aether was evenly divided between all worlds in the first place. Or if that is something that even needs to be balanced. Generally speaking, aether is added to a Shard/Source whenever new life is born. Aether in its pure form is really only found in the Aetherial Realm where Hydaelyn is.

If the 13th Shard is totally destroyed by darkness and never rejoined into the source, then technically the Ascians could never revive Zodiark? Or perhaps they only need some of the pieces and not every single one?

There's a few different pieces of information that goes into this one. Zodiark himself is not "split" between the different Shards. He is imprisoned in the Moon on the Source and it was the act of imprisoning him in the Moon that led to the Shards being created in the first place. Before Zodiark was imprisoned in the Moon, he was in the Aetherial Realm with Hydaelyn. What the Ascians are trying to do is not "reconstruct" or "revive" Zodiark. They are trying to either strengthen him or weaken his prison to the point that he can break out of it. So it's very likely that they don't need to Rejoin all the Shards anyway.

Further supporting that view is how at the NA fan-fest, the keynote address says that the next Calamity is going to be the "last one". So apparently the devs know that whatever happens due to the incoming Calamity means there won't be anymore. This would nicely line up with how over half the Shards have been Rejoined, so Zodiark's power/prison might have hit a tipping point, and now he can't really be stopped from getting out of the Moon. He might just need one more "push"...

So I just realised that a few of the Scions that were "called" and have lost consciousness don't actually posses The Echo? So technically they shouldn't be able to hop dimensions the way the Warriors of Darkness did... so it would have to be another method if they did indeed go to another shard. Could Hydaelyn herself facilitate that if she regained power?

None of the Arcons from Sharalayn have the Echo. In fact, most of the Scions don't have the Echo. There's only four of them (Minfillia, Krile, Arevald, and us) at the moment and none of those people have been Called... yet...

We have no idea. Minfillia can hop Shards, but she had the Echo herself and she is now dead and doesn't really have a body anymore. If anyone without the Echo were to Shard travel, it would require a completely new form of Shard travel to be introduced into the story. Which the devs could totally do, don't get me wrong.

One of the things to realize about Hydaelyn is that she seems to be the entity who is responsible for the individuality of just about everything. And most of that individuality comes from how there are uncrossable barriers between things. That goes from everything from Shards to Souls. The Echo is a way to get around those barriers in various ways. In ARF, we see Lahabrea and Igyorum use what they call the "true power of the Echo" and it completely removes all barriers between the two of them, to the point that they are no longer two individuals, but one person. Most of what we see the Ascians doing with the Shards is that on a larger scale. They are breaking down the barriers that keep the Shards both separate from the Source and maintains their "identity" as Shards. That is also what Zodiark was trying to do to Hydaelyn before she imprisoned him in the Moon. For Hydaelyn to be the one to facilitate Shard travel, she would have to go against something that seems very fundamental to her own nature.

It just seems like there would have to be a lot of new additions (or maybe even outright retcons) to the lore for Shard Travel to be something that happens in the next expansion. There also is a few more possoblities for where things could be located that are both more mundane and do not require making exceptions to previously established lore for those locations to work out.

[UniKoRn]

I really hope we get Biggs bellowing "wake up princess" at G'raha Tia waking him up, and his 1st waking image as he opens his eyes Biggs and wedge doing a pucker up emote at him lol

hahaha G'raha Tia is best Disney Princess XD



I was actually really sad when G'raha Tia got written out by being sealed in the tower and I do hope he comes back. With that said, I'm not entirely convinced about the character on the poster being him either because the markings on the face are different. But I do feel like the Allagan technology could play a part in the story if we are indeed going to be hopping dimensions to other shards.

[fay2]

hahaha G'raha Tia is best Disney Princess XD

lol >_< indeed this has to happen >_<. I'll replay to this thread properly later this image has me laughing too much atm >_<

[fay2]

On the other hand, the bright light does give it an otherworldy aura. This might be a preview of the Flood of Light that's been hinted at in the last few MSQ, and perhaps even a hint that Ultima is close in nature to it. Or something along those lines.

Fran mentions the guardians seem to have been sealing the aetheric mist that was leaking from where we find the imprisoned Ultima.

So it may be an avatar of the Flood of Light?
much like when we fight the cloud of darkness we only defeat its "avatar" which the cloud "quickly" remakes and we escape from.

The World of Darkness is our only confirmed instance of dimensional travel so far.

confirmed that we do for the 24person raids

lets not forget it is not / be read that it is the only time we have been off the source.

2 other times we have left the source are

Here as we head to the Chrysalis


and the majority of Omega's "bend in time" raids happen off the source on a pocket dimensions created by Omega.

it took a lot of energy to get to the Void,

No the crystal towers gate to the 13th was using a tremendous amounts of energy because it was trying to open up a gate big enough for the entire Cloud of darkness to pass over from the 13th to the source. This is from Xande's pact with the cloud of darkness. Something so big that it has engulfed the remains of 13th shard.

from what we've been told traveling the Aetherial Sea to reach another Shard requires sacrificing one's physical form.

"Told" and again we have 5 examples where sacrificing one's physical form is not the case to get to another shard.

World of Darkness
◾WoL
◾G'raha Tia
◾Nero
◾Unei
◾Doga
- lesser extent Cid with him poking his head in to save Nero

The list gets longer when you add all the other times dimensional travel has happened to pocket realms.

Chrysalis
◾WoL again
◾Minfilia
◾Nabriales' claimed body?

omega's pocket realms
◾WoL again
◾Cid
◾Nero again
◾Biggs
◾Wedge

Only three/four form those lists of those have "the echo" WoL, Minfilia and G'raha Tia /Nabriales?


it also brings into question whats happening here. Is it us going to this location dimensional? like a Calling maybe?

I'll reply more later a few things to do 1st