[Spoilers] Lore of the Steppes

[LystAP]

I came into this expansion expecting a focus on Ala Mhigo and Doma. I was pleasantly surprised by the sheer amount of Xaela lore crammed into the expansion, alongside a distinct Raen culture.

Anyone counted the number of Xaela tribes that showed up in the in-game Steppes? Will SE try to account for more tribes as Stormblood continues on? With the Yols we earn having a place as the Alliance air forces, I can see vast possibilities:

Alongside the Magnai and Sadu shipping. The Mol are adorable, the Oronir arrogant but impressive, and the Dotharl fearsome, yet noble? (except the part where they murdered the greater part of an entire tribe).

[Cilia]

While I was pleased to go to my race / clan's homeland, it felt... weird the whole time. I don't think anyone acknowledged me as a Xaela, except perhaps for Hien just before Bardam's Mettle and the buuz meat merchant in Reunion in very throwaway lines. One would think they'd acknowledge kinship, but nope... you're "not of the Steppe," an "outsider," "traveler" etc. just like everyone else. (Granted I did not expect to have my specific tribe acknowledged, but kinship seems like a pretty big thing to overlook. Even for tribal nomads.)

The Mol struck me as a reasonable people, if a little quirky due to their consultation of the elder gods before doing anything. (Totes amused the leader, Temulun Khatun, had my old given name.) The Oronir felt like arrogant jerks the whole time, while the Dotharl were... well they didn't seem bloodthirsty, just proud and fierce.

I have to start putting things like "The Xaela are a warrior race!" into macros for things like Dark Arts Bloodspillers now though. No bets on who goes Super Xaela first.

[LystAP]

While I was pleased to go to my race / clan's homeland, it felt... weird the whole time. I don't think anyone acknowledged me as a Xaela, except perhaps for Hien just before Bardam's Mettle and the buuz meat merchant in Reunion in very throwaway lines. One would think they'd acknowledge kinship, but nope... you're "not of the Steppe," an "outsider," "traveler" etc. just like everyone else. (Granted I did not expect to have my specific tribe acknowledged, but kinship seems like a pretty big thing to overlook. Even for tribal nomads.)

The Mol struck me as a reasonable people, if a little quirky due to their consultation of the elder gods before doing anything. (Totes amused the leader, Temulun Khatun, had my old given name.) The Oronir felt like arrogant jerks the whole time, while the Dotharl were... well they didn't seem bloodthirsty, just proud and fierce.

I have to start putting things like "The Xaela are a warrior race!" into macros for things like Dark Arts Bloodspillers now though. No bets on who goes Super Xaela first.

Hoping to see more mention of the Hotgo, Mide's (the main girl of the Alexander raid chain) tribe that the Dotharl massacred. As you said, the Dotharl seem way too 'reasonable' for the description in the lorebook and naming thread; those descriptions seem to imply they murdered every man, woman and child they could get their hands on.

With Mide Hotgo's role in Alexander the Creator - the Heavensward 8-man raid, I hope there will be a tie-in during Stormblood as with the Coils during Heavensward. It was a Xaela that designed Alexander, and the one that created the Enigma Codex that the goblins borrowed. I hope we will learn more about them as the expansion goes on.

[Daralii]

Hoping to see more mention of the Hotgo, Mide's (the main girl of the Alexander raid chain) tribe that the Dotharl massacred. As you said, the Dotharl seem way too 'reasonable' for the description in the lorebook and naming thread; those descriptions seem to imply they murdered every man, woman and child they could get their hands on.

With Mide Hotgo's role in Alexander the Creator - the Heavensward 8-man raid, I hope there will be a tie-in during Stormblood as with the Coils during Heavensward. It was a Xaela that designed Alexander, and the one that created the Enigma Codex that the goblins borrowed. I hope we will learn more about them as the expansion goes on.

There's supposed to be a crystal at the bottom of the House of the Crooked Coin that has part of Nhaama's essence, and I'm wondering if that could be connected to the Codex somehow.

[LystAP]

There's supposed to be a crystal at the bottom of the House of the Crooked Coin that has part of Nhaama's essence, and I'm wondering if that could be connected to the Codex somehow.

One of the quests says that it's where Xaela go to commit suicide to become one with Nhaama again. I had to do a double take when I realized what I've helped that Dotharl do.

[Rosenoire]

I understand gameplay and story segregation, I really do. And I realize that putting in even a few lines of separate dialogue for the handful of Xaela WoLs could lead to all kinds of development nightmares. But wow, it was weird being in the homeland of my people after spending years among the hornless, (mostly) tail-less spoken races of the West, and having NO ONE acknowledge that. Especially when Lyle kept pulling her Clueless Westerner act and asking Yugiri why there were so many Xaela and not the big Xaela dude standing right there, or when she patronizingly asked the kids from the nomadic tribe if picking up and moving was hard. (Her portrayal in the Othard sections of the story did not endear her to me, but that's another rant.)

Especially since the writers set up the "Au Ra are misunderstood and persecuted in the West" thing with my favorite edgelord Sid, and what's her name from the WHM 50-60 quest, it felt wrong that my Au Ra WoL finally gets to be around his own people who don't look at him like a freak, and there's no recognition of that.

[Kyran-Varlsen]

I understand gameplay and story segregation, I really do. And I realize that putting in even a few lines of separate dialogue for the handful of Xaela WoLs could lead to all kinds of development nightmares. But wow, it was weird being in the homeland of my people after spending years among the hornless, (mostly)tail-less spoken races of the West, and having NO ONE acknowledge that. Especially when Lyle kept pulling her Clueless Westerner act and asking Yugiri why there were so many Xaela and not the big Xaela dude standing right there, or when she patronizingly asked the kids from the nomadic tribe if picking up and moving was hard. (Her portrayal in the Othard sections of the story did not endear her to me, but that's another rant.)

Especially since the writers set up the "Au Ra are misunderstood and persecuted in the West" thing with my favorite edgelord Sid, and what's her name from the WHM 50-60 quest, it felt wrong that my Au Ra WoL finally gets to be around his own people who don't look at him like a freak, and there's no recognition of that.

I think it can be inferred that your Au Ra does not hail from that Steppe Region, same way that no player Highlander seems to be Ala Mhigan for some reason. Not all the Raen and Xaela Au Ra come from the areas we find them in the game so your Au Ra simply hailed from elsewhere - and Lyse would have known you to be a foreigner to these lands like she herself.

Also telling is that your guardian deity is an Eorzean God, not one of the eastern deities like Azim. Whether that means you worship the Eorzean gods or you merely gained the favor of one is up to you. We do meet Xaela and Raen Au Ra in Kugane so many Au Ra seem to have moved from the steppes and vales to cities to make a new life for themselves. Your Au Ra may come from such a family. So to these hardened steppe people, you would be as much kin to them as an Ul'Dahn Lalafell - because you are just another outsider. In the end you prove yourself a worthy Khagan, and that should resonate well with your Xaela.

[LystAP]

I think it can be inferred that your Au Ra does not hail from that Steppe Region, same way that no player Highlander seems to be Ala Mhigan for some reason. Not all the Raen and Xaela Au Ra come from the areas we find them in the game so your Au Ra simply hailed from elsewhere - and Lyse would have known you to be a foreigner to these lands like she herself.

Also telling is that your guardian deity is an Eorzean God, not one of the eastern deities like Azim. Whether that means you worship the Eorzean gods or you merely gained the favor of one is up to you. We do meet Xaela and Raen Au Ra in Kugane so many Au Ra seem to have moved from the steppes and vales to cities to make a new life for themselves. Your Au Ra may come from such a family. So to these hardened steppe people, you would be as much kin to them as an Ul'Dahn Lalafell - because you are just another outsider. In the end you prove yourself a worthy Khagan, and that should resonate well with your Xaela.

I also think there are technological limitations. I'm sure they could have stuck in a text recognition program for your last/tribal name, but that seemed like a fair bit of work for a small section of the game (although it feels really awkward talking the Dotharl on my Hotgo).

And it would be unfair to the other races, such as miqo'te (we get some lore of Seekers, but the Keeper clans are almost all ignored.)

[Rosenoire]

I also think there are technological limitations. I'm sure they could have stuck in a text recognition program for your last/tribal name, but that seemed like a fair bit of work for a small section of the game (although it feels really awkward talking the Dotharl on my Hotgo).

And it would be unfair to the other races, such as miqo'te (we get some lore of Seekers, but the Keeper clans are almost all ignored.)

Well, yeah. As I said, I understand gameplay and story segregation, and I realize that putting in even a few lines of separate dialogue for the handful of Xaela WoLs would be difficult and complicated from both a development and a writing standpoint. However, as a player, it feels awkward, like there's a seven-foot-tall elephant with horns, scales and a tail that everyone in the party is pretending not to see. It's kind of like Dragon Age 2, when my mage Hawke stepped off the boat in Kirkwall and immediately gets into a fight on the steps of the Gallows--the Templar headquarters--where he's flinging fireballs around and no one notices because that's how the game has to work. I get it.

I'm curious though: how do other Au Ra players incorporate current canon into your personal canon for your characters? Do you even bother, or am I just incredibly OCD? I've decided that the Mol and Haragin made a temporary alliance. The Haragin don't care all that much about the Naadam, since it means coming inland and doesn't involve fishing; they think it's hilarious that one of their own ends up as khagan.

[Daralii]

I think it can be inferred that your Au Ra does not hail from that Steppe Region, same way that no player Highlander seems to be Ala Mhigan for some reason. Not all the Raen and Xaela Au Ra come from the areas we find them in the game so your Au Ra simply hailed from elsewhere - and Lyse would have known you to be a foreigner to these lands like she herself.

Also telling is that your guardian deity is an Eorzean God, not one of the eastern deities like Azim. Whether that means you worship the Eorzean gods or you merely gained the favor of one is up to you. We do meet Xaela and Raen Au Ra in Kugane so many Au Ra seem to have moved from the steppes and vales to cities to make a new life for themselves. Your Au Ra may come from such a family. So to these hardened steppe people, you would be as much kin to them as an Ul'Dahn Lalafell - because you are just another outsider. In the end you prove yourself a worthy Khagan, and that should resonate well with your Xaela.

It's a little bit different with the Raen in Kugane, since they're a diaspora apart from Sui-no-Sato. If they were willing to exile Yugiri for deciding to leave to aid the Doman Liberation Front, it's not surprising that they don't see a Raen WoL as one of their own.