Quote Originally Posted by Rydin View Post
Question... Why do YOU think the Garleans skipped over The Black Shroud for Mor Dhona? Looking for some great ancient power there?
I think they went for the aetherytes. Just like you said, the Shroud is not much than a wood with nothing of immediate value in it. There is also the crystal tower that is buried below the lake somewhere. You can see a lot of glowing crystals when they show an overview of silvertear falls and you can see they're really glowing like aetherytes in the scene where the ship is crashing.

Quote Originally Posted by Rydin View Post
Also, the guildhall and gear worn were unlike any we've ever seen...
Was that from Ishgard? Ishgard definitely doesn't employ adventurers now...
But they did 10 to 15 years ago
Or was that some guild hall in Mor Dhona... It makes sense that there would have been a city in Mor Dhona.... a city that wouldn't be there now....
I thought it was Ul'dah at first but nope, no aetheryte in the Quicksand and there are some greenish glass windows in the background like in Caroline's Canopy. I kinda doubt it's Ishgard and it can't be Ala Mhigo since it was conquered at that time already. So it might be some city that was planned to be implemented but never actually made it into the game

I do think the cutscene took part in present time, it doesn't fit the other way because the event in mor dhona took place 10-15 years ago (as told by Eric, the MNK npc). And Ishgard closed her gates around the same time...