Are the shards the twelve?

[Jandor]

Like has been mentioned, I actually wouldn't be shocked if Nald'Thal sharing a body/deity title was because originally there were Thirteen gods for the Thirteen shards, but Thal lost the Thirteenth to the Void.

What about the seven lost due to Hydaelyn eating them after a Calamity?

There are only six shards left, and one of them is the void, leaving us with five really. Yet we've still got twelve gods.

[Jandor]

What about the seven lost due to Hydaelyn eating them after a Calamity?

Zodiarc Hydaelyn lost 7 times to the Ascians Machinations.

I suppose in theory the 7 absorbed gods could still exist as part of Hydaelyn?

[LineageRazor]

There are only six shards left, and one of them is the void, leaving us with five really. Yet we've still got twelve gods.

Do we, though? Discounting Primals, the Gods worshiped by the various peoples of the world do not seem to directly intervene in mortal affairs. The Twelve are no exception to this. There are occasional hints that they might be real, such as their apparent presence when Lousoix called upon the prayers of Eorzea to face down Bahamut - but with all the belief-charged Aether in the air, pretty much ANYTHING could have been made real at that point, while it lasted.

If the Twelve ARE linked to the Shards, it's entirely possible that seven or eight of them HAVE ceased to exist. Would that stop folks from worshiping them? I don't see why - how would the worshipers even know that their god was gone?

[Jaywalker]

What about the seven lost due to Hydaelyn eating them after a Calamity?

There are only six shards left, and one of them is the void, leaving us with five really. Yet we've still got twelve gods.

Honestly I have questions on this too tbh. I think overall we need more metaphysics info haha. Right now I'm kind of drawing links between things that seem suspicious and like there's stuff going on, but as of this moment I don't have a full theory formulated. I do wonder if the shards are truly destroyed or just corrupted or shifted in some way. I also wonder if there's weird fusion stuff going on because again, Nald'Thal. I legit don't have a clear explanation across the board yet though. It feels like something's missing.

I will say though, IIRC there were connections drawn between Sophia the Goddess and both Azeyma and Nald'Thal in terms of iconography. I also remember reading stuff about imagery in I think Sunken Temple of Qarn and Sophia, Azeyma and Nald'Thal. Other people commented to the effect that religious figures seem to be evolving and shifting around archetypes over time, which makes sense, but I think there are holes in our overall understanding. Rn I can kind of go okay x, y, and z seem linked but wouldn't feel confident covering all aspects of that yet.