Ask English Localization Lead Kate Cwynar Lore & Localization Questions

[SannaR]

When we first hear about the early signs of the original Final Days and what happened right before Khalzahl transformed into a Blasphemy we get told there was a sound or a keening coming from the direction of deep within the planet. What was this sound and what role if any did it have in both Final Days?

[Iscah]

The current lore for Hrothgar claims that the rarely seen women are revered as "queens" and there seems to be a Queen for each small tribe of Hrothgar...

Uh... make that red-marked Q a lower-case "q" if you pick this question. It is an annoying battle against the phone autocorrect to stop it from capitalising things that don't always need capitalising, and I swear it goes and switches things again after I've already reversed it once.

[Iscah]

Is the term "blasphemy" supposed to apply to all monsters spawned by the Final Days or only to certain significant individuals? The script seems somewhat inconsistent about this.

[totally-skelebones]

You and the team have done an amazing job in giving us diverse and varied cultures in game, and a big part of that is the diversity in language! We've been given some vocabulary in a variety of languages of Etheirys, but has there been any thought on fleshing some out into full Constructed Languages like some other fantasy and sci-fi stories have done?

[SannaR]

Now that you finally threw a bone to those who kept asking about the Heart of Sabik could you please finally tell us what the presence at Silver Tear Lake is? We were told many a year ago we'd get told what it was soon, but that was back during Stormblood.

[Iscah]

Why was the name "Ultima Thule" chosen for the final zone of Endwalker? I know it's been used historically to refer to a "place beyond the borders of the world", but (to me at least) it feels a little too linked to real-world geography and the expectation that it refers to an island, not a cluster of planets.

Did you consider any other names for this location?

[radelgirl]

What happened to the memory crystals that we gave to Elidibus? Did he keep them or did we take them back?

[glitteringcosmos]

There are certain times where the English localization doesn't line up with the Japanese (for example, in 5.3, the title card switching from "Crystal Exarch" to "G'raha Tia" in the post-SOS cutscene, or Urianger calling out to Moenbryda in Trusts upon defeat). What prompts the decision to make these differences, and what prompts the decisions to go back and retcon them so that they DO line up (for example, changing the minion description of the Wind-Up Moenbryda)? For the former examples, would you consider going back to make those line up?

[glitteringcosmos]

In the great ARR culling of 5.3, the quest "The Warden Works in Mysterious Ways" got removed, along with dozens of others. From a technical standpoint, I get why they removed it, but it provided a nice hit of lore. Are there any removed quests you would consider bringing back for lore reasons rather than their gameplay?

[glitteringcosmos]

How was Thancred able to channel his aether into the crystal in 5.3, teleport using the experimental aetheryte to Thavnair, and go invisible in Garlemald? This confused me because as far as we know, Thancred is still unable to use magic, but we have these random instances of him being able to do things he otherwise shouldn't be able to. We also never got an explanation as to how his eye went back to normal, so if you could clear that up I'd appreciate it!