Which Ascians are left? (Spoilers up to 5.4 obviously)

[Cleretic]

Am I the only one that thought that there is more to this map selling guy (Zasshal) than meets the eye?
At first glance he just seems like a swindler that sells maps that may or may not be real.
But not only was his map legit, it also contained magic that literally opened up the way to Vrtra's hidden vault, which I believe no one would have expected.

Let's also not forget that Emet Selch knew of Alzadal's legacy, and if Emet knew about it, chances are that other, surviving ascians also know about it.
My theory is that Zasshal might be a sundered ascian that wanted us to find the void gate, for whatever reason.

Also: is it just me, or is this guy's face / hair unique? I haven't seen any other NPC that looks like him
https://imgur.com/44P713t

Apparently Zasshal is also a character from FF11, which I don't think is a coincidence.
There must be more to this guy than just being a throwaway character.

While I would agree with you that this guy's accuracy is sus in retrospect (beyond being an actual criminal suspect), I'm sorry, I'm not gonna pull punches on this: I will say that I'd be EXTREMELY disappointed if he was an Ascian. If he were a voidsent puppet, I'd be interested, that suggests a bigger voidsent plan; if he were a plant from the Satrap's agents, I'd be interested, because that would suggest Vrtra wasn't completely caught aback. But another Ascian plot? Frankly, I'd completely check out of the story he'd be linked to, Ascians are so thoroughly worn out at this point that, if even the central MSQ right now was Ancient/Ascian-related despite them saying their story was over, along with both raid stories being related, I'd check out of the whole story because I'd be convinced the writers have literally nothing else in the tank; that despite everything in FFXIV, they can't possibly write a core story without it being about Ascians.

Sorry, that frustration isn't really aimed at you, but I really am just extremely tired of Ascians and think the story needs as much time away from them as it can get before I'd be even remotely interested in hearing about them again.

Also: both Gamer Escape and Garland Tools report that Zasshal is entirely stock, no unique assets at all. (He's a face #6 Midlander, which might explain your unfamiliarity since Face #6 is new.) His outfit is a mashup of healing and gathering pieces, but even they're stock.

[Thighland]

Alzadaal's Legacy itself is a XI reference to the Alzadaal Ruins so...I'd say probably not.

But the fact that his magic map did exactly what it needed to do to lead us to a treasure / voidgate that no one should know about except Vrtra and his closest servants still remains.
That Emet knew about the vault is also a fact. If Vrtra's vault was irrelevant to the Ascian's interests, why would they know about it?
It's too convenient to be a coincidence, I don't buy it.

Ascians are so thoroughly worn out at this point that, if even the central MSQ right now was Ancient/Ascian-related despite them saying their story was over,

Yeah, the ambitions of the Ascians ended with the defeat of Zodiark.
But that doesn't mean that the remaining convocation members can't have their own interesting stories to tell, stories that don't necessarily have to be about being another villain like Lahabrea / Emet / Elidibus / Fandaniel.
Who knows, maybe the remaining Ascians are our allies, and that would be refreshing enough for me.

[Cleretic]

Also worth pointing out: It's been rather established in-universe fact that magical treasure maps that open gateways to ancient treasure vaults are a reasonably known thing in the world of FFXIV. Hell, a bunch of them lead directly into Radz-at-Han's canals, of which we can just walk up to the gate of, and multiple quests directly acknowledge.

I remember when that was the first hook announced for 6.1 I was pleased at how not only was it refreshingly normal, but it folded in a part of the game that actually makes complete sense for where everyone are as characters after Endwalker. Straight-up, the opening hook for 6.1 was 'the WoL and Estinien start a map team on a lazy day when they had nothing better to do', and that tracked completely.

[Thighland]

Also worth pointing out: It's been rather established in-universe fact that magical treasure maps that open gateways to ancient treasure vaults are a reasonably known thing in the world of FFXIV. Hell, a bunch of them lead directly into Radz-at-Han's canals, of which we can just walk up to the gate of, and multiple quests directly acknowledge.

I remember when that was the first hook announced for 6.1 I was pleased at how not only was it refreshingly normal, but it folded in a part of the game that actually makes complete sense for where everyone are as characters after Endwalker. Straight-up, the opening hook for 6.1 was 'the WoL and Estinien start a map team on a lazy day when they had nothing better to do', and that tracked completely.

True, though that still doesn't explain why the map exists.
Until now treasure maps have only been a lore excuse for a certain type of minigame, and for that it was enough.
But now that it's actually relevant to the MSQ I'd like to have some more information than just "Magical Maps just exist in the lore and that's why we can go to a place that is supposed to be a really close guarded state-secret"

[SannaR]

It still would have been just a side thing we the players do until they started hinting that treasure map nights were an actual thing in the story and that a few people did them in their spare time. As when you're exploring Radz -at-Han with Estinien there's an opportunity to have a chat with him about the all too familiar gate. That he hints that he's done a few of them himself. Can't be too close of a guarded state secret if there were stories about the treasure vault throughout the ages. Just what was really hiding in said vault on the other hand. Most people don't think about trying to explore a place that is known to have no one come back from.

[Seraphor]

Alzadaal's Legacy itself is a XI reference to the Alzadaal Ruins so...I'd say probably not.

I'm more curious about what the deal with that voidsent-obsessed Gridanian dollmaker is given that we've now gotten two optional MSQ references to them in 6.1 and 6.3 via the restricted archives and a note in Laps Manalis.

Hmm... remind me, when exactly did Azdaja get lost in the Void? Was it before or after this dollmaker supposedly disappeared?
Just wondering if there's any connection to Golbez...

[RyuDragnier]

Hmm... remind me, when exactly did Azdaja get lost in the Void? Was it before or after this dollmaker supposedly disappeared?
Just wondering if there's any connection to Golbez...

Long ago, as in 4th Era and Allag long ago.

[Cleretic]

True, though that still doesn't explain why the map exists.
Until now treasure maps have only been a lore excuse for a certain type of minigame, and for that it was enough.
But now that it's actually relevant to the MSQ I'd like to have some more information than just "Magical Maps just exist in the lore and that's why we can go to a place that is supposed to be a really close guarded state-secret"

I could get you a map to Area 51 right now. I don't recommend following it, but I could. 'Closely-guarded state secret' doesn't mean 'absolutely unfindable', it usually means 'you get killed if you try to get close'. And... well, as you might recall, the defenses did try that!

Given that Thavnair's government actually did send people to Alzadaal's Legacy to maintain its defenses, and that it's existed for a very long time, I can very easily imagine that there were maps to it. Hell, that might be a map from Thavnair's government that fell out of their hands; you might recall, Thavnair had a bit of trouble that led to a lot of panic fairly recently at that point, I think it'd be absolutely understandable that some government official dropped a map.

[sidurgu-12]

I could get you a map to Area 51 right now. I don't recommend following it, but I could. 'Closely-guarded state secret' doesn't mean 'absolutely unfindable', it usually means 'you get killed if you try to get close'. And... well, as you might recall, the defenses did try that!

Given that Thavnair's government actually did send people to Alzadaal's Legacy to maintain its defenses, and that it's existed for a very long time, I can very easily imagine that there were maps to it. Hell, that might be a map from Thavnair's government that fell out of their hands; you might recall, Thavnair had a bit of trouble that led to a lot of panic fairly recently at that point, I think it'd be absolutely understandable that some government official dropped a map.

Best part of that dungeon was getting reprimanded for destroying the golems lol.

[Iscah]

Best part of that dungeon was getting reprimanded for destroying the golems lol.

And then finding out that Estinien did it a second time.