Revelations from JP Fan Fest (January 2024)

[Mayhemmer]

One thing I hope gets revealed on Tuesday is who all is at war because it’s pretty obvious there’s open conflict going on across both halves of the continent from the art of Urqopacha with scorch marks on a cliff wall to the flaming bits of Solution Nine architecture.

I’m hoping a mention of Solution Nine will come up to shine a little bit more light on it so we won’t be left in the dark until summer but I won’t hold my breath. I’m also wondering how early we’ll go there. SB, ShB, and EW all had their endgame hub accessible in the very beginning of the expansion which is why I’m thinking they revealed it to us this early.

By flaming bits of Solution 9, do you mean the dungeon concept art they showed during the NA fanfest?



Can't say for certain, but it looks like a train smashed straight through one of the walls at the base of the big pillar we see next to Heritage Found. We know there are trains that travel through that area and maybe even back and forth to Shaaloani. My guess is this is how the WoL and crew will get into S9, working their way up the pillar and into the city(?) proper. Would probably be a dungeon.

I am very interested in the battle sites we see in what looks to be Yak T'el. We know that area is home to the primary settlements of Tural's Hrothgar, so I wonder if they're in conflict with one another, or another people or beast tribe.

Those big craters blown out of the cliff in Urqopacha are interesting. I don't think we've actually see them in any of the in-game footage yet, but we do see the same cliffside present in the concept art. Wonder what did, or ends up doing, that.

My first thought was detonation of cerulean deposits in the cliffside, as I'm willing to bet that imposing mountain we see in the background of the area art will end up being the site of the dungeon where we see all of the flowing crystal formations. To me, that looks like what crystalized, or frozen, cerulean might look like. That dungeon itself looks very volatile, so I wonder if it's having an effect on the surrounding area.

My other thought was some big thing blasted the mountainside with weapons, and my mind went to the Eliminator, since we saw both at the fanfest. Very interested in that, and especially for whatever politics are going on in Yok Tural, which is not something I thought I'd be hyped for going into Dawntrail, but the more I see the more I want to know.

[MikkoAkure]

Can't say for certain, but it looks like a train smashed straight through one of the walls at the base of the big pillar we see next to Heritage Found. We know there are trains that travel through that area and maybe even back and forth to Shaaloani. My guess is this is how the WoL and crew will get into S9, working their way up the pillar and into the city(?) proper. Would probably be a dungeon.

If a Shaaloani catboy doesn't yell "yeehaw!" before jumping from the train about to crash into the gates then this expansion is a disappointment.

[YianKutku]

I'm really curious as to what the reasons could be for the Scions interfering in the affairs of state of a completely different continent. It would be a bit ironic for them to officially announce their separation so that Eorzea has to take matters into their own hands, while they help with the succession shortly after. It's also interesting why they, of all people, were chosen to do this.

So far, I still find it very hard to believe that this situation could lead to a conflict between the Scions. We've been through so much together...hopefully there are good reasons for it.

Officially, they're not going as the Scions. They're going as Sharlayan Archons, plus various hangers-on.

Thancred and Urianger mention this back in 6.4: the client was specifically looking for Archons, particularly ones who happened to be well-travelled. This kind of narrows it down to the Scions, being the largest group of Sharlayan Archons who bother to travel the world.

Possibly this is also why we're going to be introduced to Wuk Lamat via Erenville, a gleaner: also a full-fledged scholar of Sharlayan, and very much well-travelled.

And then there's the mysterious letter Krile found, which might allow for the non-Archon members of the Scions to tag along. Or maybe we'll repeat the Endwalker gag of Estinien not quite knowing how to describe his employment, eventually falling back again on "bodyguard".

[Cleretic]

We'll know more on Tuesday. My thought is that Gulool Ja Ja may have sent Wuk Lamat to the Students of Baldesion in the hopes of gaining Galuf's wisdom on how to conduct the succession. Given his previous letter, Gulool may be unaware of Galuf's fate.

While I'm cautious about taking anything in a trailer that's there for pure flash as actually canon, I do think it's worth noting that we're fighting Galool Ja Ja. And we don't really know much about the Mamool Ja culture, but my general gathering is that while they respect a strong combat record, they might not be the 'trial by combat' sorts. While I feel like we're inevitably gonna fight Galool Ja Ja just by virtue of 'always gonna fight the big guy', it's entirely possible it might not be as a friend.

Officially, they're not going as the Scions. They're going as Sharlayan Archons, plus various hangers-on.

Thancred and Urianger mention this back in 6.4: the client was specifically looking for Archons, particularly ones who happened to be well-travelled. This kind of narrows it down to the Scions, being the largest group of Sharlayan Archons who bother to travel the world.

Possibly this is also why we're going to be introduced to Wuk Lamat via Erenville, a gleaner: also a full-fledged scholar of Sharlayan, and very much well-travelled.

And then there's the mysterious letter Krile found, which might allow for the non-Archon members of the Scions to tag along. Or maybe we'll repeat the Endwalker gag of Estinien not quite knowing how to describe his employment, eventually falling back again on "bodyguard".

I think Thurianger's client and Wuk Lamat give us the general cover for meddling of 'well, they asked'. It's not really us interfering with rite of succession so much as Tural deliberately calling in an assist.

Doesn't exactly leave us out of a grey area, I'd say that we're probably looking bad if we break off from any known faction to call our own shots, but if you want a comparison this sorta puts us in the range of William Adams or Yasuke, samurai from foreign nations that served under major shoguns.

[YianKutku]

I think Thurianger's client and Wuk Lamat give us the general cover for meddling of 'well, they asked'. It's not really us interfering with rite of succession so much as Tural deliberately calling in an assist.

Doesn't exactly leave us out of a grey area, I'd say that we're probably looking bad if we break off from any known faction to call our own shots, but if you want a comparison this sorta puts us in the range of William Adams or Yasuke, samurai from foreign nations that served under major shoguns.

I can see a plausible way for us to "break off from known factions", in that the Scions have generally (I want to say always, but I'm sure someone will bring up some stuff I've forgotten) followed what the "common people" want, after calm and reasoned consideration (eg not bloodthirsty mobs calling for death to all dragons). So if all the powerful people of the known factions are detrimental to the safety of the common people, possibly due to being too wrapped up in their own concerns, then I can see the Scions going their own way and unilaterally calling off the succession contest.

Which might also lead into the narrative excuse to fight Galool Ja Ja.

[Lady_Silvermoon]

I'm really curious as to what the reasons could be for the Scions interfering in the affairs of state of a completely different continent. It would be a bit ironic for them to officially announce their separation so that Eorzea has to take matters into their own hands, while they help with the succession shortly after. It's also interesting why they, of all people, were chosen to do this.

So far, I still find it very hard to believe that this situation could lead to a conflict between the Scions. We've been through so much together...hopefully there are good reasons for it.

I took it to be more of a "shirts and skins" division rather than us actually being in conflict with each other. I doubt the Scions would seriously make their political decisions through Mortal Kombat.

[Cleretic]

I can see a plausible way for us to "break off from known factions", in that the Scions have generally (I want to say always, but I'm sure someone will bring up some stuff I've forgotten) followed what the "common people" want, after calm and reasoned consideration (eg not bloodthirsty mobs calling for death to all dragons).

That 'after consideration' is a fairly big asterisk, because it generally turns this read into 'they do what the common people want unless the common people are wrong'. But you are mostly right, the exceptions so far have been:

-Ishgard (as you mentioned)
-Eulmore (Scions basically left them alone until Vauthry forced their hand)
-Garlemald (Complicated, but they largely abide by Garlemald's wish to be left alone outside of Tower of Babil stuff)

However, I'll point out that the situation we're looking at is, from all the evidence we have, how Tural selects its leader. If so, we're effectively looking at an entire expansion of the Nadaam. I know people who are already a bit shifty on what we did there since our influence was basically the combat-trial equivalent of election tampering, but us throwing in with a particular side, especially on request, would at least be within their society's accepted boundaries. Deciding to completely overturn the whole process because we've decided that Everyone Is Bad Actually? Yeah, that's probably a bad look.

Especially because I refuse to imagine Wuk Lamat ever being wrong

[Heroman3003]

-Ishgard (as you mentioned)

With Ishgard it wasn't even Scions as a whole, it was basically us accompanying and being connective tissue between Estinien and Ysayle as the two uncover the truth behind the war; and we do help the 'wish of common people' by killing Nidhogg the first time. The revolution happens as result of us revealing the truth and scions were just choosing to support people trying to fix the mistakes of the past, rather than those trying to capitalize off of them to keep eternal war going.

I know people who are already a bit shifty on what we did there since our influence was basically the combat-trial equivalent of election tampering, but us throwing in with a particular side, especially on request, would at least be within their society's accepted boundaries. Deciding to completely overturn the whole process because we've decided that Everyone Is Bad Actually? Yeah, that's probably a bad look.

Isn't there some lore revealed in Wanderer's Palace (Hard) that basically tells us that proving a good leader by winning by actually any means necessary is THE way, and if the way is by finding good allies it'd be just as valid as being the strongest? Especially since it seems, both 'sides' are requesting aid of the specific ex-scions as form of official hiring, rather than scions coming around and going "hey this guy seems good, I'll support em".

[T-rexpectation]

There’s also the fact that the Xaela were EXTREMELY principled about the Nadaam. I suspect that in most real life cases, the biggest tribes would have just made up rules about outsiders on the spot when it seemed they might have an impact. We don’t yet know what the people of Tural will feel about the succession process as we get involved.

[Cleretic]

Isn't there some lore revealed in Wanderer's Palace (Hard) that basically tells us that proving a good leader by winning by actually any means necessary is THE way, and if the way is by finding good allies it'd be just as valid as being the strongest? Especially since it seems, both 'sides' are requesting aid of the specific ex-scions as form of official hiring, rather than scions coming around and going "hey this guy seems good, I'll support em".

There is, but it's all kinda vague and hard to read anything into. Especially given it's so old that there's a good chance a bunch of it could get quietly reframed and recontextualized anyway.

(I'm not gonna say retconned, I know how the writers write and they'll write something that makes perfect sense with it, it's just not likely to be exactly what you'll expect.)

There’s also the fact that the Xaela were EXTREMELY principled about the Nadaam. I suspect that in most real life cases, the biggest tribes would have just made up rules about outsiders on the spot when it seemed they might have an impact. We don’t yet know what the people of Tural will feel about the succession process as we get involved.

I feel like the trick with the Nadaam there was that the people who gave the okay were... let's be honest, pretty self-important and stupid. I think if Magnai ever saw us as a legitimate threat he would've stopped us getting involved,but he was never going to see us as that.

Meanwhile, at least two people in Tural know the people they're calling in are the real deal; probably three, but we don't have proof yet that the mysterious 'client' isn't just Wuk Lamatt or Galool Ja Ja again.