I would take the canonicity of the Skybuilder material "facts" such as that one with a chunk of communal rock salt, especially since I think they only exist in the English version and smell like a bored translator having fun. There's other instances of the flavor text being a little too flavorful and at least one case of it having been walked back. But don't let that get in the way of your fanfic or headcanon where your WoL and Aymeric share a salty indirect Ishgardian kiss at the banquet scene in Heavensward.


My favorite FFXIV lore are the really small local legends or daily life tidbits.

One fun fact is that the first aetheryte camp in La Noscea most adventurers would bump into in 1.0 was Camp Bearded Rock, which was more or less where Summerford is now. It was destroyed in the Calamity, but it had its own little lore tidbit about how it was named. In the aftermath of a failed attempt at the Trident (Limsa's potentially literal obstacle course election process), the loser was chained by his rival against a rock in La Noscea. But he was so stubborn that he refused to die and his beard kept growing and growing until it wrapped around the rock. I played in 1.0 and don't remember seeing the rock or a pile of hair though.

Another "fun" fact related to Limsa Lominsa is that Carvallain is today mostly a butt of jokes with him and Rhoswen, but despite being a runaway Ishgardian noble, he's one of the more despicable pirates in the city since he controls the "pleasure" trade and an NPC mentions that pretty girls often "end up" on his barges which implies it's under less than willing circumstances. Though it feels like the scale of how "gritty" the pirates of Limsa are at any moment of time, from real life history to Lazy Town, depends on the writer.