The Lore Behind Starlight

[Vyrerus]

What's the lore behind the Starlight celebration in Eorzea? Or is it across all of Hydaelyn? Is there much about it in the lore books? Teach me Mogster!

[MrThinker]

What's the lore behind the Starlight celebration in Eorzea? Or is it across all of Hydaelyn? Is there much about it in the lore books? Teach me Mogster!

When they first introduced these special events that are canonically a part of the in-game world's lore to a degree, there was an info box on the event page explaining what they were. IIRC, the First Starlight was from back in 2013, the first year of the games relaunch.

EDIT: I found the page after a quick google search, here it is:
Starlight Celebration 2013

This has a good background on what the Starlight Celebration is lorewise.

But in case you don't want to open it up:

The Starlight Celebration is a time of generous gestures and festive fellowship, reminding us that even a customary courtesy can be a bounteous benevolence. It also reminds us of darker days in Eorzean history, which serve to make such deeds shine all the brighter.

Several generations ago, a sanguinary struggle claimed countless lives and left full as many orphans homeless and hungry. Taking pity upon their plight, a company of Ishgardian knights sought out these children each night, furnishing them with food and shelter within their barracks.

As doing so was positively prohibited, however, the knights had the children slip in while swathed in their scarlet jackets. Thus were they spared the worst of the cruel cold. These orphans survived the winter, and, later in life, they went on to convey the same kindness to others that they had once received. On the coldest week of the year, they took to sporting scarlet and passing out presents to the children of the realm. And over time, their deeds developed into the favored festival known as the Starlight Celebration.

As for what said struggle was, I can only say it had to have been in the last 1000 years, because Ishgard had to exist, maybe a dragon attack?

[Vyrerus]

When they first introduced these special events that are canonically a part of the in-game world's lore to a degree, there was an info box on the event page explaining what they were. IIRC, the First Starlight was from back in 2013, the first year of the games relaunch.

EDIT: I found the page after a quick google search, here it is:
Starlight Celebration 2013

This has a good background on what the Starlight Celebration is lorewise.

But in case you don't want to open it up:



As for what said struggle was, I can only say it had to have been in the last 1000 years, because Ishgard had to exist, maybe a dragon attack?

Cool :O so no Starlight in 1.0?

[Rannie]

They had the Starlight festival in 1.0 it was done once. I just can't remember if they gave lore for it or not

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes...nt/detail/486/

It was also how you got the reindeer full body suit to begin with (the date of 08/16/2013 was just the main place holder they did for all Legacy achievements for the page after 2.0 and recoming back


12/18/2011

Rannie Lfey has earned the achievement "It's Reining Deer"!

12/18/2011

Rannie Lfey has earned the achievement "It's Reining Deer"!

12/18/2011

Rannie Lfey has earned the achievement "Seasonal Events"!

[Enkidoh]

Well, like many other seasonal events in FFXIV, it actually originated meta wise in FFXI, where the vague lore of the Starlight Festival in Vana'diel from what I remember was the 'smilebringers' would bring presents to children, with the original 'Smilebringer' believed to have been a goblin, but like much of FFXI's story and lore, it was very vague and obtuse. As FFXIV 1.0's original development team featured the same original producer as FFXI (Hiromichi Tanaka), it made sense FFXIV shared the same events more or less, but with lore altered to better fit the new game's setting and story.

Also the Ishgardian connection to the holiday's origins in Eorzea doesn't quite make sense (the references to "cold"), given that Coerthas and Ishgard were actually rather temperate originally (i.e., during 1.0), and it was only due to the Seventh Calamity that caused the new ice age the region finds itself locked in, so I regard the 'holiday started by Ishgardian knights help orphans during the bitter winter' thing as just a retcon. But that's just my own theory either way.

[Iscah]

If you talk to the "Starlight Celebration Criers" at the event spots, they give the history of the event.

[MikkoAkure]

Well, like many other seasonal events in FFXIV, it actually originated meta wise in FFXI, where the vague lore of the Starlight Festival in Vana'diel from what I remember was the 'smilebringers' would bring presents to children, with the original 'Smilebringer' believed to have been a goblin, but like much of FFXI's story and lore, it was very vague and obtuse. As FFXIV 1.0's original development team featured the same original producer as FFXI (Hiromichi Tanaka), it made sense FFXIV shared the same events more or less, but with lore altered to better fit the new game's setting and story.

Also the Ishgardian connection to the holiday's origins in Eorzea doesn't quite make sense (the references to "cold"), given that Coerthas and Ishgard were actually rather temperate originally (i.e., during 1.0), and it was only due to the Seventh Calamity that caused the new ice age the region finds itself locked in, so I regard the 'holiday started by Ishgardian knights help orphans during the bitter winter' thing as just a retcon. But that's just my own theory either way.

Coerthas was always cold. Just because there wasn't snow on the ground in 1.0 doesn't mean it never got cold there in winter. The 1.0 lore for the holiday also mentions Ishgard being freezing. It's just that now there's snow year-round and it sucks. Current NPCs mention that it has always been cold in Coerthas just not THIS cold. Anyone who's lived in the mountains can tell you that it can still be hot in the summer but you'll get feet of snow in the winter.

The 1.0 lore for the holiday is the same as it is now. According to the 1.0 Lodestone: Knights on patrol in Ishgard would try to help children orphaned by war living on the streets in the colder parts of the year. They would disguise them in their scarlet cloaks and bring them into the barracks. When the war died down, there were fewer orphans but the grown up ones decided to pay tribute to the guards that helped them and steer the tradition in a new way by dressing up in red cloaks again and giving gifts to the children of Ishgard during the coldest week of the year.