Ask English Localization Lead Kate Cwynar Lore & Localization Questions

[Enkidoh]

Wll there ever be an explanation as to what the pixies really are, and why and how they keep turning into unintelligent beavers? (They're clearly not the souls of children, as a pixie shows up in Elpis and turns into a beaver later, so they're presumedly an Ancient creation, but the reasearchers there didn't even seem to know what they were or where they came from).

And on a similar note, what was up with the infamous shoebill which followed us around the First in Shadowbringers? I know it was long theorized that it was either Emet-Selch's familiar, or an avatar of him (given weight by the shoebill minion that drops in Amaurot), but it also again shows up in Elpis under test, and again no one knows who created it or why. So this mystery is another thing I'm dying to uncover the truth of!

[ranrannerson]

Are there any plans to update the ARR Tribe Quest NPCs' dialogue to account for the shift in the status quo when it comes to their people? I know it's a small thing but I really want to see what Novv thinks about the Sahagin having better relations with Limsa...

[Kozh]

Thank you for the opportunity.

So, the EN localization team is known for their "improvisation", for example: firmament item's description and sidequest/FATE name, which is good and all. However, some of us noticed that lately (to be more specific since ShB, though I do know about the case of EN middgarsomr being different than his JP counterpart) this "improvisation" has reach into the MSQ as well. It's not so obvious that it create different story, but some contexts have been either missing, added, or changed entirely. This resulted in confusion among us because some dialogue meaning and nuances are now different compared to JP, FR, and DE. Just a small example is Tempest's sidequest "Community Cohesion". The sidequest feature 2 NPC, namely <Patronising Amaurotine> and <Gentle Amaurotine>. Turns out in other localization, <Patronising Amaurotine> isn't their name, but actually it's (the equivalent of) <Charitable Amaurotine> (or "likes to help"). And they have additional line "The eyes of the collective are ever watching and weighing your worth" which, as far as I know, is absent in FR localization.

To summarize, I am wondering if the EN team will address this issue with us players or if they will do something about it for future contents?

[Ekoko]

Hi Kate, since we've gained access to Old Sharlayan within Endwalker, will we ever get any additional Roegadyn lore due to the close proximity of both Aerslaent and Nagyn/Origin?

Any lore for both Seawolves and, frankly the Hellsguard / Lohengarde in particular would be fantastic, particularly about the traditional culture within their homeland!

[Ekoko]

Due to the flavour text within select items like the Puk Wings noting that they are carried as a talisman and/or good-luck charm by Dunesfolk girls, and the same for Rat Tails for Dunesfolk boys, is there any information to go with as to the how and why they became seen as good-luck charms?

If not, are there any other such charms for the other races?

[morika]

Thanks for the opportunity again, Kate!

The circumstances with Elidibus are still otherwise up for interpretation as of Patch 6.4, but I was hoping to ask: despite Elidibus's condition, will there be any more elaborations upon his unique relationship with his pupil, Unukalhai? Their bond as an unsundered mentor and sundered apprentice has always been so fascinating, and it would be neat to see more of it touched upon!

[TheGrimace]

Iroha's presumably been running around Eorzea ever since the last Final Fantasy XI event. Will we ever see her in content again, be it a sequel event or otherwise? Maybe sometimes she could be seen chilling around in zones like Alpha and Omega do?

[rainichan]

During Shadowbringers, the large Sin Eater that we see as the first boss in Holminster Switch (as well as the xpac trailer movie) had a lot of people talking, since we had seen a similar construct in Amdapor - there was mention that it's a "higher being" and perhaps the Amdapori got some inspiration... but how would they have seen what is essentially a celestial being when what they were doing was creating constructs and then animating them with the gemstones? Is this something that may be addressed in the future, or can a crumb of Amdapor lore be given while I'm at Fanfest?

[rainichan]

While the game is 10 years old now (happy almost birthday, ARR!), the Ever-Present Time Bubble(TM) is still somewhere between "the Dalamud Calamity was still about 5 years ago" and "well, some time HAS to have passed so maybe about a year? Two?" and some areas are still inaccessible, such as the West Shroud and Eastern Coerthas Highlands (I won't count the Coerthas Lowlands... for now ) - will we be seeing them sometime? I know from some passing dialogue that West Shroud was damaged heavily during the Calamity, same as Eastern Coerthas, but we've got PvP maps (still used for Shatter and now unused from the Feast) that take place in these areas. Are they still heavily damaged, and that's still keeping us out? Why have PvP maps in these areas if we wouldn't normally be visiting there?

[rainichan]

During the Myths of the Realm, after Euphrosyne, we learn a little about the Marks of the Twelve, and that they're to keep the secrets of the Twelve, but they're used for worship purposes now. Most people thought they were dropped near where their points of worship would be largest way back when, and I myself was under the impression that the Amdapori perhaps worshipped Althyk because of where the stone is situated now (it was still in the Shroud in 1.0, in the very northern part of E Shroud)... but then the Lore book mentioned they worshipped Nophica. Well... okay! Sure! ...but then, when in Euphrosyne, upon going to meet Althyk in battle, the background changes into... Amdapori buildings?! So... who did they truly worship? Was it a mix of both with one being more worshipped than the other, or was it really Althyk and the historians of the Encyclopedia Eorzea have been wrong? (not me looking for more Amdapor crumbs, couldn't be me...)