What's the deal with linkpearls now? (and other ARR questions/concerns/theories)

[Fleurette]

Hello again, lore forum! I hope everyone had fun getting their stuff back this weekend and taking in the new main story! I could not stop going through it...it was like a book I couldn't put down! (props to the scenario/lore team for that.) But as usual I had a good bunch of questions swirling around my head as I finished up, regarding both the main story and the general lore. These questions'll probably have some spoilers in them, though, so I'll try to put them in little spoiler boxes as I write them.

-Earlier on when I talked to the mailmoogle, he mentioned that linkpearls were rendered useless post-Calamity, which was why the Elder Seedseer called on them to deliver mail instead. We also see in the actual cutscene depicting the three GC leaders at Carteneau that the linkpearls used were unresponsive. Yet, in a lot of the story cutscenes we see the archons speaking over the aether just like they did before, despite the mention that linkpearls were now "useless". And linkshells work just the same. So...what's the deal? Is there a new kind of linkpearl being used? I notice too that NPCs don't give you linkpearls to contact them anymore, so was that part of the issue or somehow connected to it? Was the linkpearl's obsolete phase only right after the calamity due to the extremely unstable aether amounts? I'm very confused in that respect.

-I started in Gridania again and was very excited to join the Adders again after going through the speeches and such. One thing bothered me about the speeches and the Gridanian story in general, though: During the speech, Kan-E-Senna was there along with siblings Raya-O, A-Ruhn. E-Sumi-Yan was there as well--all of Gridania's Padjal, except one. So I'm very much wondering, where the heck did O-App-Pesi go? He was pretty much E-Sumi's right hand man in Gridania's 1.0 story and helped around Stillglade Fane...I'm worried that he was killed in the Calamity or something, because not one person I've seen has mentioned him at all, not even E-Sumi himself. I know he was minor and you could really only see him if you started in Gridania in 1.0 and/or watched the 1.0 Twin Adder speech, but still, I hope they didn't just get rid of him because he was minor. He had more appearances than A-Ruhn, at least, and A-Ruhn was still there. :P Also some questions more directed at Ferne if he happens to see this: Will we be seeing more of the Padjal in ARR? Will there be any new ones? If O-App's actually gone for good, then we'd need someone to take his place... (oh, and why did E-Sumi have to have a Vanya Robe thrown on him instead of his Gridanian clothes? Is there a reason behind that or was it just easier to model him that way?)

-(spoilers for the end of the phase 3 story)

-Alphinaud and Alisae are really cool characters and I like them a lot! I notice they've got some resentments towards the Circle of Knowing and the GC leaders though for not recognizing us as the Warriors of Light. They're [most likely] Louisox's grandchildren, and they say things like "how soon history forgets" and stuff like that, so...because of that relation to Louisoix, do they remember everything? This is more speculation than anything, but do you think they know who we are and aren't telling us? Is it possible that they're really going to go their own separate ways where Alphinaud helps us and Alisae might turn against us? Or was that fight they had just a short little squabble? I'm looking forward to finding that out, but I'm interested in hearing other peoples' interpretation of the scene and what might happen. I'm frustrated that my favorite characters just say "oh wow you're so familiar! ...but i don't think we've met..." and then just go back to acting like we haven't been around eorzea before, so if that's the elezen twins' job, i hope they do it quick...

-and is minfilia going to mention her past as ascilia and why she changed her name?! or are we just never going to know?! D:

-Also, this is more of a general thing, but could we get some clarification on Sylphic naming conventions? As of now I...kind of get the pattern (3-4 syllables, has to have an 'x' in the middle, if it ends in -o the sylph might be a boy and if it ends in -a the sylph might be a girl? or are all sylphs female?), but I'd rather be sure than just guessing because when I write stuff I like to have everything as lore-accurate as possible at the time of writing it. In general I think it'd be cool to have a thread on beast tribe naming conventions and their unique languages, though i know that would be very in depth and time-consuming to make.

i probably have more questions but i forgot them...so if i do remember them i'll post them here, and i appreciate any help!

*waves the ferne signal around*

[Catapult]

Linkpearls:

Disclaimer: about 80% speculation!
These things seems to rely on aether flow to transmit communications. From the v1.x quests, we know that Dalamud is responsible for disrupting the flow of aether. In the Era-end-flashback, the GC command centre also seems to blame Dalamud for their disruptions, suggesting it had got to such a point of disruption that the aether lines were breaking up... enough for Dalamud to break up?
In the destruction, we also know that aetherytes were shattered. Bahamut's release would have further disrupted the flow of aether around the land.
My theory is that once the new aetherytes were built, the aether flows were re-established and thus linkpearls began working again. Of course, that would have taken a while, during which period the moogle mail would have been indispensable.

O-App-Pesi:

Good point to bring up.
It is entirely possible he died during the Calamity, like another significant NPC...

Syndicate member, Director Eolande of Frondale's Phrontistery

Alternatively, he could have a yet-to-be-revealed role outside of Gridania.
Time will tell.

The Twins:

Hard to tell. I suspect they do not remember (they wouldn't know you anyway), but are acutely aware of the memory problem. I also suspect they have indeed decided to independently approach their problem from different perspectives.

Sylphic Naming Conventions:

I have not given this any thought yet, but you've given me an idea for my next area of research.

[Orophin]

I notice too that NPCs don't give you linkpearls to contact them anymore, so was that part of the issue or somehow connected to it?

Minfilia gives you one after you join her group, but it doesn't show up in the interface, and she only seems to message you at key points in the plot. (Not sure if it'll function like 1.0 when you reach x level you'll receive a message from her saying to come see her.)

So I'm very much wondering, where the heck did O-App-Pesi go?

I'm thinking like with many of the original 1.0 NPCs, pre-7th Umbral Era story, they were simply written out of the game. I haven't seen any hint of NPCs from the old class quests, such as Greinfarr, J'moldva, Colberneaux, etc.

Response in second spoiler tag
-(spoilers for the end of the phase 3 story)

-Alphinaud and Alisae are really cool characters and I like them a lot! I notice they've got some resentments towards the Circle of Knowing and the GC leaders though for not recognizing us as the Warriors of Light. They're [most likely] Louisox's grandchildren, and they say things like "how soon history forgets" and stuff like that, so...because of that relation to Louisoix, do they remember everything?

I don't think there's any denying that they are Louisoix's grandchildren. The sister even mentions their "grandfather". I don't remember the exact wording, but they seem bitter that nobody can remember the Warriors of Light and what Louisoix did for the people of Eorzea.

That's all I have to contribute. :P

[Fleurette]

Ack, sorry for being so late to respond! Thank you both for your answers/thoughts! (and i forgot to mention this in your thread, but congrats on the in-game mention, Catapult! I was really happy to see that! :D)

on the linkpearls
I totally forgot about the pearl Minfilia gives you; thank you for reminding me, Orophin! And Catapult, your theory makes a lot of sense--the mooglemail was probably created for the time when the aetherytes were all broken and the aether flow was messed up and I just didn't think of that point in time. I'm thinking the aether is still a tad out of balance in some places as we see from the Archons and their new aethervision goggles, but it's probably enough to the point where the linkpearls will function in most places. I'm just wondering if aether disturbances like the ones we see the Archons investigating, or being near primals will alter the effects of the linkpearls in the story.

on O-App
See, the difference between the Syndicate member and O-App is that I think we were told in the story that Director Eolande had been killed--but we get nothing on O-App. It's entirely possible that he's been written out, or maybe he's just wandering the Twelveswood like E-Sumi did in 1.0 and we just don't get the opportunity to see him (because I don't remember E-Sumi being the main conjurer quest guy until ARR, so maybe E-Sumi had to step up and O-App took his place doing...whatever it is you do when you wander the wood...i guess talking to elementals and such.) At this point I'll take it that no news is good news, or maybe he's just going to end up with a lot of the other NPCs that are MIA.

on the twins/etc
I guess we'll have to wait on Phase 4 to see the full story on the Elezen twins, but it would be really interesting to see them approach the situation from two different viewpoints and which one works out--it'd be interesting to see if adventurers have the opportunity to side with one or the other, but as of now we just won't know. :P I do appreciate your ideas on the twins, though--sometimes I just feel like I miss something and I want to make sure I understood everything...I notice the ARR story is a lot more straightforward than the tangly confusing plots from 1.0 that required you to squint your eyes at the text to see the truth that was between the lines.

thank you guys again for your input! It's always much appreciated. :D