Lack of lore on the Raen Au Ra

[yuurei94]

You can actually bypass the limit in your posts just by editing it.

Thank you for letting me know.

Both Xaela and Raen have their origins in the Azim Steppe. But in fact, the Azim Steppe belongs to the 51(?) Xaela clans. Raens are spread over the world, integrated (or adapted) within the culture of Doma and Kugane. There is no REAL (big) hometown or country for Raen only, but that may count for Lalafells as well. The only Raen-only area is that small bubble underwater (Sui No Sato).

This is one of the important points I was referring to. A lack of community and consanguineous identity really makes the Raen bereft of, well, an identity of their own. It seems in most cases that their identity is someone else's.

As I mentioned earlier, there are isolated Raen communities in the mountains of Othard, so perhaps these settlements may have their own unique culture.

For the Drahn (Au Ra of the First) its even worse. I dont expect a hometown for the Drahn, because the flood of light destroyed 90% of the planet.

I was referring to Voeburt, before the Flood of Light. The First's equivalent of Xaela seem to be most populous in the Rak'tika Greatwood.

I assume, Xaela stay in the Azim Steppe to keep their traditions alive, while Raen gave them up to explore the world outside of it. I kinda hope to see more Raen in Sharlayan, which would make the Xaela a more traditional/wild tribe, while the Raen would be more intellectual/open minded.

This runs counter as to how they are described by their in-game blurb:

Unlike their sister clan, the Xaela, who bloody the land with their endless tribal conflict, the Raen have embraced a life of tranquility and solitude, long abandoning the nomadic lifestyle of their ancestors to settle the deep valleys of Othard's mountainous eastern reaches. Only on rare occasions will one emerge from the valley mists to seek adventure in realms afar.

To be honest here, there is not much information about the Au Ra in the enzyklopedia books, especially for Raen. Xaela got a bigger part in the books, because of the description of every clan.

I hate to say it, but it is particularly lazy and careless to completely fill so much lore on one clan and severely neglect the other. It makes playing them feel rather shallow and imbeds a sense of not belonging to the world one is playing in. I've tried playing Duskwights and Keepers of the Moon, who have more lore and the Keepers even having their own naming system and smidgens of clan culture observable in the Black Shroud and some of the class/job quests, and they've felt more represented than the Raen.

On the Source, having Raen in your service was seen as a boon in the Age of Blood so many of them got scooped up by established sub-cultures around Hingashi and have since assimilated completely into those cultures; Sui-no-Sato is probably the closest we can get to an authentically Raen culture for now.

Yes, I remember reading this as well, and that's how they got their reputation as excellent swordsmen. I suspect that these Raen's descendants are the ones we see in places like Hingashi and the open settlements of Doma.

The Raen naming convention is Edo-period Traditional Japanese names. It's not even just Japanese names, it's names specific to the Edo Period.

Do we know that this is exclusive to the Raen? The humans of Doma and Hingashi also have many archaic Japanese names.

Worship of the kami is a religion in itself, not a vague spirituality in addition to something else. Specifically it is an import of Japanese Shinto, or something close enough to it that perhaps the writers don't see a need to go into further detail.

I'm very familiar with Shinto and have a personal copy of the Kojiki myself, so there isn't a need to explain it. The kami in Othard are very vague, with only some primals having equivalents to the Amatsukami and other divinities from Japanese mythology.

[Iscah]

I'm very familiar with Shinto and have a personal copy of the Kojiki myself, so there isn't a need to explain it. The kami in Othard are very vague, with only some primals having equivalents to the Amatsukami and other divinities from Japanese mythology.

So how was I supposed to know that from you asking "what religion, other than a general belief in kami" the Raen might follow – implying that kami worship doesn't qualify as a religion in itself and there should be something else in addition to it?

And no, I don't think it needs describing in great detail in the game itself, especially if what we know of it has a clear real-world analogue. It's a Japanese religion in a Japanese setting, so assume they are alike unless details are clearly incompatible.

It's something that might get a page in the lorebook (I haven't read volume 2 yet; not sure if it does) but it doesn't necessarily need time dedicated to it in the game unless it's a plot point. They haven't gone into the religions of the Twelve in much more detail than we've heard of the kami, either.