CG Midlander

[NoloeTazier]

Hello all, and (an embarrassingly belated) Happy New Year!

I just wanted to pop in and let you know that we're all still alive here (barely), and apologize about the relative drought of lore/localization bombs and bomblets (lorelocalization...lorlocalize...Lorloc! New monster confirmed for release! ). After a well-deserved summer vacation (yeah, I said summer), we returned to find our data stockings stuffed with a veritable cornucopia of new quests, Lodestone and benchmark goodness, and naming requests...in addition to all that spiffy stuff we aren't allowed to talk about yet (oh, and Pinurabi had some coal in his, as he's been quite naughty). We're currently in the process of pounding everything out, and so far we're right on schedule to meet our Beta Test deadline. Unfortunately, until Beta is released, we might not have as much time as we'd like to devote to fielding questions on the forums. That isn't to say we aren't following your threads and jotting down things that need to be addressed in the future! Just that we ask you bear with us a bit longer while we hit the final stretch!

Oh, and about that Lore page in the new Lodestone forums... We're in the process of escalating the issue right on up to Yoshi-P, so he knows how important this is for you guys. And we won't stop until we get that page up and running.

Until then, keep the speculation mill in good working order, and I'll see you all in Beta (but hopefully before then)!

Thanks for the heads up Ferne, definitely looking forward to beta and any scraps of Lore tidbits I can find here and there to piece together the Eorzean history and geography.

Questions I'd like to re-bump that I had on page 59.

Yeah, definitely think we should get an explanation of how the Eras work.

• Are Umbrals Eras short? Or does it depend on the destruction?
• 1500 years ago the Grand Companies got together in preparation for the Sixth Umbral, then it happened and the world was flooded, when did the Sixth Astral Era officially begin?
• Does time reset for each Era, ie when Umbral Eras happen, does it become Year 0?

Then I have a few questions about the Ul'dah storyline:

• Will we learn about what happened to Corguevais? Was he an Imperial spy or just the scapegoat of the Syndicate?
• Will we learn about Warburton's mission and what information he carried to his death?
• Will we learn about what Niellefresne saw in the coffin?
• Will we learn who the left-handed hooded Hyur was that stabbed Nielle? Did Lord Lolorito hire him because Nielle stole the dagger? If we was hired by Lolorito because Nielle stole the dagger, why didn't he take the dagger back? So if it wasn't Lolorito will we learn who they are associated with?
• Will Nielle finally be able to "rest in peace?" Possibly with the help of Greinfarr?
• Ascilia is Minfilia? Rightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightright?
• Will we learn about what happened to the Horn Corguevais stole? Is it the same or a brother to the Horn from the Limsa storyline? Why didn't the Ascians or their helpers go after the Ul'dah Horn?

[Fernehalwes]

Okay, let me do a quick pass over your questions while I take a breather from all this Beta madness...

Are Umbrals Eras short? Or does it depend on the destruction?

It depends on the destruction. The Umbral Eras are the periods of chaos and regrouping that follow the cataclysms that end each Astral Era. The regrouping can take several years, to several decades. More on this, and what happened during the 7th Umbral Era, will be laid out in detail in the 2.0 storyline.

1500 years ago the Grand Companies got together in preparation for the Sixth Umbral, then it happened and the world was flooded, when did the Sixth Astral Era officially begin?

'1500 years ago' is merely a rough estimate here (in retrospect, "somewhere between 15 and 16 centuries ago," would have been a better way to put it). I can assure you that the Grand Companies got together right at the end of the 5th Astral Era to prepare for the coming of the 6th Umbral Era, not in the (1572 minus 1500 equals) year 72 of the 6th Astral Era. Sorry about the confusion on that one!

Does time reset for each Era, ie when Umbral Eras happen, does it become Year 0?

Yes. Timers for each era (both Astral and Umbral) reset (but at year 1, not 0 ).

Will we learn about what happened to Corguevais? Was he an Imperial spy or just the scapegoat of the Syndicate?
Will we learn about Warburton's mission and what information he carried to his death?
Will we learn about what Niellefresne saw in the coffin?
Will we learn who the left-handed hooded Hyur was that stabbed Nielle? Did Lord Lolorito hire him because Nielle stole the dagger? If we was hired by Lolorito because Nielle stole the dagger, why didn't he take the dagger back? So if it wasn't Lolorito will we learn who they are associated with?
Will Nielle finally be able to "rest in peace?" Possibly with the help of Greinfarr?
Will we learn about what happened to the Horn Corguevais stole? Is it the same or a brother to the Horn from the Limsa storyline? Why didn't the Ascians or their helpers go after the Ul'dah Horn?

The quest team has promised me that sometime in the near future (maybe not exactly at release) they will look into introducing a quest line that will help clear some of the haze and tie up at least a few of the loose ends regarding Corguvais, Warburton, Niellfresne, and the whole gang. The story is already there, so it's really only a matter of getting the resources together to tell it.

Ascilia is Minfilia? Rightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightright?

Maybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybe...alright, you got me.
Yes, Minfilia is Ascilia. There, I shall allow you some time to properly gather those pieces of your mind that were splattered across your monitor.


Now it's back to work!

[Duuude007]

Maybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybe...alright, you got me.

Hellofa quote

[Vilhem]

Okay, let me do a quick pass over your questions while I take a breather from all this Beta madness...

Are Umbrals Eras short? Or does it depend on the destruction?

It depends on the destruction. The Umbral Eras are the periods of chaos and regrouping that follow the cataclysms that end each Astral Era. The regrouping can take several years, to several decades. More on this, and what happened during the 7th Umbral Era, will be laid out in detail in the 2.0 storyline.

1500 years ago the Grand Companies got together in preparation for the Sixth Umbral, then it happened and the world was flooded, when did the Sixth Astral Era officially begin?

'1500 years ago' is merely a rough estimate here (in retrospect, "somewhere between 15 and 16 centuries ago," would have been a better way to put it). I can assure you that the Grand Companies got together right at the end of the 5th Astral Era to prepare for the coming of the 6th Umbral Era, not in the (1572 minus 1500 equals) year 72 of the 6th Astral Era. Sorry about the confusion on that one!

Does time reset for each Era, ie when Umbral Eras happen, does it become Year 0?

Yes. Timers for each era (both Astral and Umbral) reset (but at year 1, not 0 ).

Will we learn about what happened to Corguevais? Was he an Imperial spy or just the scapegoat of the Syndicate?
Will we learn about Warburton's mission and what information he carried to his death?
Will we learn about what Niellefresne saw in the coffin?
Will we learn who the left-handed hooded Hyur was that stabbed Nielle? Did Lord Lolorito hire him because Nielle stole the dagger? If we was hired by Lolorito because Nielle stole the dagger, why didn't he take the dagger back? So if it wasn't Lolorito will we learn who they are associated with?
Will Nielle finally be able to "rest in peace?" Possibly with the help of Greinfarr?
Will we learn about what happened to the Horn Corguevais stole? Is it the same or a brother to the Horn from the Limsa storyline? Why didn't the Ascians or their helpers go after the Ul'dah Horn?

The quest team has promised me that sometime in the near future (maybe not exactly at release) they will look into introducing a quest line that will help clear some of the haze and tie up at least a few of the loose ends regarding Corguvais, Warburton, Niellfresne, and the whole gang. The story is already there, so it's really only a matter of getting the resources together to tell it.

Ascilia is Minfilia? Rightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightright?

Maybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybe...alright, you got me.
Yes, Minfilia is Ascilia. There, I shall allow you some time to properly gather those pieces of your mind that were splattered across your monitor.


Now it's back to work!

/mindblown!!!!

So does this mean we'll also see other loose ends, such as the Fye/Dunstan story, maybe Brother Morys from the Conjurer quests?

[Catapult]

Yes, Minfilia is Ascilia. There, I shall allow you some time to properly gather those pieces of your mind that were splattered across your monitor.

*ding ding ding*

We have a winner!

Ten year gap between events confirmed. Hermit = Krimm and Rostnstahl = Stahlmann inferred.

/boogie

[Warlock]

Yes, Minfilia is Ascilia. There, I shall allow you some time to properly gather those pieces of your mind that were splattered across your monitor.

Now it's back to work!

All that speculation paid off !!

[HiirNoivl]

So the umbral era ends when we show up I guess.

[Rocl]

i still need confirmation that rowena was actually unknowingly a pawn in an imperial plot for my life to be complete ;-;

[Anonymoose]

Hello all, and (an embarrassingly belated) Happy New Year!

Happy new year, Ferne (and LOC squad as a whole, of course)!

Oh, and about that Lore page in the new Lodestone forums... We're in the process of escalating the issue right on up to Yoshi-P, so he knows how important this is for you guys. And we won't stop until we get that page up and running.

That and I'm betting there are a few in the office who'd appreciate the subtle distinction between needing to clear up lore ambiguities and actual pure-blood text and dialogue errors - both localization issues, arguably, but definitely different species. Can't wait!

Ten year gap between events confirmed. Hermit = Krimm and Rostnstahl = Stahlmann inferred.

The good news is that Rostnsthal = Sthalmann is confirmed a few times if you know where to look, the best example being his referring to himself as "Rostnsthalmann" when trashed out of his mind - but you get a few tidbits from the "[Adjective] Adventurer" NPCs, such as the translations of his name, Man of Steel and Rusty Steel, etc.

I'll look into Hermit/Krimm when I get there - but the Loremonger for Treasures of the Main is going to be untwelvely long. I'm not even done with the raw transcript yet - which is coming after I go through the backlog of existing quotations and update to the new template format (old one was causing some issues, so now "link=" for no link, "link=y" for link is same as speaker, and "link=[Whatever Pagename Here]" is required).

Interestingly, if what you say is true, then all three city states experienced investigations headed by The Circle of Knowing at the exact same time, and these occurred shortly after the Battle of Silvertear Skies. Granted, the Fall of the Keeper and the breaking of the aetheric seal are grand reasons for the Sharlayans to get involved - just amazing that all of these very important things happened in such a short time span.

EDIT: Wait a tick... do you think the breaking of the aetherial seal is what made Seal Rock rise from the depths in the first place?

All that speculation paid off !!

I've gotta hand you this one, Warlock - your speculation can be as trigger happy and schizophrenic as my own at times, but you NAILED that one, lmao.

i still need confirmation that rowena was actually unknowingly a pawn in an imperial plot for my life to be complete ;-;

I half expect her to still be roaming Ul'dah peddling back-alley deals in A Realm Reborn. If I remember correctly, it was an Ishgardian noble that she was assisting - perhaps there is a turncoat in their midst?

[Lucke]

Okay, let me do a quick pass over your questions while I take a breather from all this Beta madness...
Ascilia is Minfilia? Rightrightrightrightrightrightrightrightright?

Maybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybemaybe...alright, you got me.
Yes, Minfilia is Ascilia. There, I shall allow you some time to properly gather those pieces of your mind that were splattered across your monitor.


Now it's back to work!

What the wark?! Hold your chocobos Ferne! Is Minfilia from the future? I mean, we meet Ascilia in the present day for the UD story. How can they both exist at the same time? Do both versions (young and old) exist at the same time the game took place?. Ascilia could go to the Path HQ and see her older self? What the wark?

Oh man, my head hurts.