Solution 9 - Unfounded Speculation!

[Cleretic]

If S9 exists and is known,
1) why isn't IT the dominant nation on the continent, or the seat of power if incorporated into the wider Turali people?
2) why would the "Evil" claimant wanted conquest, why choose to sail across the seas and do arguably a much more complicated conquest/expansion INSTEAD of just marching north?
3) and on that, why move their armies away so they couldn't defend against potentially aggressive actions from S9?

1. Not interested in being that, and/or perhaps just not politically active enough to take that crown. Tulliyolal is the throne of the guy that unified the continent, after all.
2. Already part of Tural as a society.
3. Already part of Tural as a society.

Your reading seems to assume that Solution Nine would inherently be the head of Turalian society if it was involved at all, and so since Tulliyolal is, Solution Nine must therefore be uninvolved. But honestly, my read is that Solution Nine is a goddamn repository of high-tech combat-ready equipment, and the warmonger is going 'We have all this firepower RIGHT HERE, why don't we just go overseas and USE IT'. And everyone else is just telling him 'no, war sucks, knock it off'.

[kaynide]

1. Not interested in being that, and/or perhaps just not politically active enough to take that crown. Tulliyolal is the throne of the guy that unified the continent, after all.
2. Already part of Tural as a society.
3. Already part of Tural as a society.

Your reading seems to assume that Solution Nine would inherently be the head of Turalian society if it was involved at all, and so since Tulliyolal is, Solution Nine must therefore be uninvolved. But honestly, my read is that Solution Nine is a goddamn repository of high-tech combat-ready equipment, and the warmonger is going 'We have all this firepower RIGHT HERE, why don't we just go overseas and USE IT'. And everyone else is just telling him 'no, war sucks, knock it off'.

If S9 is part of the nation, why is it not the seat of power? Why would you live in what is essentially monster-hunter “bone-punk” conditions when you have NeoTokyo with whatever amenities they have right down the street.

[Cleretic]

If S9 is part of the nation, why is it not the seat of power?

I dunno, let's ask the people who live in Washington DC. Or Canberra. Or Beijing, or Ottowa, or Hanoi. Or perhaps the best people to bring in, Brasilia.

There are plenty of real-world nations that have made this exact choice. The original reasons usually stem from either tactical (Ottowa was the most defensible city in Canada back when they picked) or political (Canberra was founded to be the capital of Australia mainly so Sydney and Melbourne would stop fighting over it), but in a lot of cases it eventually becomes historical; this city's the capital because it's always been the capital. Honestly, I think it's more realistic if Tural is exactly the same; Tulliyolal is the capital for reasons that probably made perfect sense 80+ years ago, and even if they don't apply anymore, does anyone really care enough to change it?

[kaynide]

I dunno, let's ask the people who live in Washington DC. Or Canberra. Or Beijing, or Ottowa, or Hanoi. Or perhaps the best people to bring in, Brasilia.

There are plenty of real-world nations that have made this exact choice. The original reasons usually stem from either tactical (Ottowa was the most defensible city in Canada back when they picked) or political (Canberra was founded to be the capital of Australia mainly so Sydney and Melbourne would stop fighting over it), but in a lot of cases it eventually becomes historical; this city's the capital because it's always been the capital. Honestly, I think it's more realistic if Tural is exactly the same; Tulliyolal is the capital for reasons that probably made perfect sense 80+ years ago, and even if they don't apply anymore, does anyone really care enough to change it?

Your argument would work if, say, Washington DC's level of tech/etc was grossly under, say, New York's...but fact of the matter is there isn't much of a technological difference, and a large bulk of USA's military/international power is around Washington DC (the Pentagon; Langley AFB; Norfolk Naval Shipyard, CIA). People in DC aren't stuck with handcarts and ye-olde Wagons with oxen.

Moreover, in the modern real world with Air-Power/mobilization, it's a significantly different scenario than Medieval-Spear-and-Sword troops riding on living mounts vs, again, what can arguably be the most advanced -living- civilization we've seen to date.

So, as I see it, the Yurali are either choosing to live primitively for no real logical reason, or there's some reason they aren't taking advantage of the tech from S9 (aka the 3 reasons listed).

[Iscah]

You're assuming that the futuristic-looking stuff is inherently "better" than the jungle setting. There's no particular reason for it to be, especially in a magical setting where the difference in the two may be mostly aesthetic rather than comfort or even function.

Tuliyollal is central on the continent and is their traditional culture.

Solution Nine at its most mundane interpretation is a city built to fit into an otherwise gloomy and inhospitable region in the far northwest reaches of the continent. Nothing we've seen so far presents a specifically compelling reason for people to move there.

[kaynide]

You're assuming that the futuristic-looking stuff is inherently "better" than the jungle setting. There's no particular reason for it to be, especially in a magical setting where the difference in the two may be mostly aesthetic rather than comfort or even function.

In a world of high sorcery, that's the most fair argument I think we have;

Like, real world who could argue a society without proper medical facilities or air conditioner or paved roads would be equal to one with... (and this is my mindset)

...but then in FFXIV you can just Blizzard up some cool air and Medica away all your troubles, I guess. And my flying roto-tiller-motorcycle is a thing..so...


Fair point!

[Cleretic]

In a world of high sorcery, that's the most fair argument I think we have;

Like, real world who could argue a society without proper medical facilities or air conditioner or paved roads would be equal to one with... (and this is my mindset)

...but then in FFXIV you can just Blizzard up some cool air and Medica away all your troubles, I guess. And my flying roto-tiller-motorcycle is a thing..so...


Fair point!

And on the other hand, I can guarantee you that when we inevitably see Solution Nine-origin weapons, they're gonna include a bunch of swords, an axe, and a bow.

[SannaR]

And on the other hand, I can guarantee you that when we inevitably see Solution Nine-origin weapons, they're gonna include a bunch of swords, an axe, and a bow.

Well of course they're going to have those weapons. It doesn't mean they can't end up looking high tech. Or very modern.

[Cleretic]

Well of course they're going to have those weapons. It doesn't mean they can't end up looking high tech. Or very modern.

Oh, absolutely, I'm just pointing out that we're in a setting where tech isn't exactly following real-world example. Just as Tulliyolal can absolutely use magic to provide resources we'd in the real world lean on modern tech to do, including producing a presumably very cool aztec-y styled gun for Machinists, Solution Nine's gonna come out to show that the biggest, craziest tech in the FFXIV setting is still gonna be producing A Really Cool Sword.

In a setting like this, more tech doesn't supercede anything, it's just a different approach.

[Denishia]

And this is the assumption of what range of hi-tech Solution Nine actually has - if any of it translates into anything that has force projection or military or trade application. Considering it’s still unclear what in lives (if anyone) in Solution Nine’s cyberpunk matrix vibes, it’s a step far.