FFXIV story/lore thread

[solracht]

This assumes Bahamut's Dragon Form and Primal form are similar in form.

That's one of the ways to make this work and my #1 guess (don't mind the silly spoilered post above because it started off as a joke talking to Rocl): the Bahamut the meracydians summoned is their idea of Bahamut, similar to how Iceheart's Shiva is her idea of Shiva. I doubt the original Saint Shiva was an ice-based demon.

[Lokus]

After reading all this, I've completely forgot but, how long ago did the Allagans reign? Was it before the Dragonsong War even started?

[Rocl]

After reading all this, I've completely forgot but, how long ago did the Allagans reign? Was it before the Dragonsong War even started?

Absolutely. The Allagan Empire was during the Third Astral Era, and the founding of Ishgard was during the Sixth Astral Era. The Dragonsong War pretty much began with the founding of Ishgard, so we can place them both at approximately 1000 years ago. However, if every Astral Era is relatively the same length as the Sixth than the Allag ruled over 3000 years ago.

[Lokus]

Well that puts a stop to my thoughts that the Ishgardians possibly allied or did something with Allagans to spark the War. This was assuming that all dragonkind are allied with each other (Meracydians amd Dravanians didn't squabble with each other like man does). But if the Allagans conquered all of Eorzea, that means they conquered Dravania back in the day too...

I don't even know where I'm going with this anymore except for the fact that Allagans will most likely be involved somehow.

[Rocl]

It's likely the Allagans colonized the Sea of Clouds, I fully expect the ruins we see there to be of Allagan origin (like the ruins in the Sagolii Desert and some of Mor Dhona). Additionally, the Floating Continent is very obviously Allagan (especially since Oda and Koji-Fox mentioned they had to learn a lot about genetic manipulation for that particular area, and we know the Allagans are king of that)

[Baelfael]

Spoiler: show

If the horns stay the same, I think #2 would be our best match for Bahamut.

[Edelweiss]

If the horns stay the same, I think #2 would be our best match for Bahamut.

Considering how obfuscated #2 is, possible.

[Niiro]

As for why shit's getting bad in Ishgard just now I think it's safe to say An Ascian Did It.

[Rocl]

If Soken's tweet gives us our ninth Heavensward area, than I figured it might be interesting in looking at the landmarks we can expect to see in a 3.0 Coerthas.
https://twitter.com/SOKENsquareenix/...08647248982017

Since they moved both Gwyr-Aen and the Fury's Gaze to Central Highlands there's always room for change; however most of the landmarks in 2.0's Coerthas Central Highlands exist in 1.0 so idk it's interesting to me fuck you

If it's the Eastern Highlands, which means the Weeping Saint or Ogre's Belly (2.0 exclusives; though there was a tunnel where Weeping Saint was in 1.0) opens up we'd have the following:
A more closer position to Xelphatol, the Ixali's home region. People have pointed out that tenryu #7 looks a lot like an Ixali, and we have their creation myth with Garuda and the Lord of Snakes. Also, Aytalan being our first indicator to the existence of floating continents (and Rivenroad showing us that the Allagans were capable of such feats in 1.0)
I can't recall too many important things about the Eastern Highlands, though there's a feeling of a more mountainous terrain (and rightfully so) though there was a rather unique tree marked on the map as "the Sentinel"
A large body of water named Maidenmere was found here, and the White Mage Relic Levequest took place at the nearby Maiden Glen aetherial node, though I can't remember specifics other than the enemy was an Ogre
More interestingly, we know the Ixali to have populated this area as an aetherial node near Feathergorge is where the entrance for the story-version of Garuda was the entrance to the Howling Eye; the hard mode of Garuda's node was located closer to Dragonhead if memory serves
Additionally there is a mark of "Scarwing's Fall" which we can probably attribute to some sort of Dravanian and the Dawn Vigil, which we now know the Vigils are Ishgardian fortresses oft used to combat Dravania

If it's the Eastern Lowlands, you'll clearly remember this if you were a 1.0 kid as it was the home of Camp Glory (and was the entryway to Coerthas via the Shroud)
Eastern Lowlands is where Thordan's march begins and ends at Griffin's Crossing (where we fight Gilgamesh!); Haldrath's march takes place in the Central Highlands
There wasn't a lot of interesting bits here, some windmills in Miller's Glade and the Owl's Nest hamlet
Owl's Nest actually had a small population of Lambs of Dalamud members near the end of 1.0 (well, at the very least 2 confirmed)

The Central Lowlands are even more boring with the only interesting parts being old Aurum Vale entrance, a plethora of hogs and references to a man named Terrigan and the house of a "Timberlord" with a bunch of cut logs around. Also a bunch of lakes. This area has been largely removed for good as the entryways to Coerthas from both the Shroud and Mor Dhona would necessitate travelling through here.

The Coerthas Western Highlands is most exciting (and probably one of the reasons they used it) is the amount of landmarks!
We have the Falcon's Nest, which was touched on during the Main Scenario (or maybe it was a sidequest during the Coerthan leg of MSQ idr) which we're led to believe everyone there died fleeing the falling of Dalamud (in Snowcloak)
Snowcloak was said to be formed after the Twinpools (Ash & Bane) and the Swiftrun River turned to ice during the Calamity. This probably actually will be the explanation of how/why we won't visit the furthest west region of the Western Highlands (to my dismay). The Twinpools were said to be crystal clear waters poisoned by Dravanians in their never-ending war with Ishgard. They also contained an island named "the Dreaming Dragon" and the surrounding area was populated heavily by drakes.
The Lance is a valley which dives north and west of the Highlands and will likely be our route to Dravania; a gatekeeper NPC blocked our passage as there were far too many dragons or some such thing.
There's also little Camp Riversmeet which, if Dragonhead is any indication, will either be that big fortress we see with an Aetheryte or the very 1.0 camp w/ a fucked up Aetheryte. (As I type this, the latter is most likely being the only 1.0 camp in the West)
The Western Highlands also contains the Dusk Vigil and the Wyrmking's Perch. The Dusk Vigil was largely boring, you went there for a black mage artifact quest and it was guarded by high level Ahriman but there's always been a weird void presence in Coerthas (and has continued to be in 2.0 as well)
The Wyrmking's Perch is interesting as we don't technically know a "wyrmking;" at the very least not that I can recall. I have recollections that both Midgardsormr and Bahamut have been called dreadwyrms or dread serpents, but neither one being a Wyrmking. Perhaps Nidhogg?


idk trying to be hype when there's nothing to do
if Soken's tweet really did leak the last Heavensward area I hope it's Eastern Highlands and they just cut the Lowlands out completely; that'd totally allow us a better east-ward expansion for the retaking of Ala Mhigo in 4.0, amirite?

[Xanthe]

idk trying to be hype when there's nothing to do
if Soken's tweet really did leak the last Heavensward area I hope it's Eastern Highlands and they just cut the Lowlands out completely; that'd totally allow us a better east-ward expansion for the retaking of Ala Mhigo in 4.0, amirite?

Or, considering that Heavensward areas are quoted to be 50-100% larger than A Realm Reborn areas we could see the Eastern Highlands and Lowlands rolled into a single zone. Wishful thinking, I know.

[Rocl]

gdi anonymoose & ge beat me to this BREAKING DEVELOPMENT with better lore:
http://gamerescape.com/2015/04/30/co...nds-be-coming/

The Lowlands are connected by way of Griffin Crossing, which some of you might know as the “Big Bridge” from your encounter with Gilgamesh. The crossing was impassible at the time of the battle, but who’s to say that it hasn’t been completed since then, allowing passage to the Coerthas Eastern Lowlands? Other points of interest include the Weeping Vale and The Choke, which were host to a historic battle between Ishgardian and Dravanian land forces. A vanguard of knights lured the Dravanians north, a goal ultimately necessitating their sacrifice, their loss giving the Weeping Vale its name. Victorious, the Dravanian forces continued on, arriving at The Choke where the true Ishgardian force dealt them a crushing defeat.

Also of interest is the location from the 1.0 map named “Thordan’s March”. Who is Thordan, you ask? Why, the very man who set in motion the rise of Ishgard itself! It is said that the forebearers of the city-state lived in the southern plains, in modest circumstances, until the Fury herself, Halone, appeared before Thordan and bid he lead his people north to the Promised Land. Upon reaching this chasm, his group set about building a bridge, but was descended upon by the great wyrm, Nidhogg. The histories say that Thordan took up his spear, but was thrown into the chasm by one of his own men, seduced by the wyrm. His son, Haldrath, overcome with emotion at the loss of his father, took up Thordan’s fallen spear and lanced out Nidhogg’s eye and caused the wyrm to retreat. In time, this event would both make Haldrath the first Azure Dragoon, as well as set in motion the Dragonsong War. The events surrounding Thordan and his Twelve Knights (of the Something) are said to have a large part to play in Heavensward.

The Highlands also have a couple notable locations that make it a good fit for Heavensward. Most notable, perhaps, is Scarwing Fall, which Fernehalwes discussed during his Lore Panel at the Las Vegas Fan Fest. Scarwing was one of the heroes of Dravania, and when the Ishgardians were finally able to take him from the skies, he fell into one of these ravines. Because of their sheer depth, however, Scarwing’s death was never confirmed. Another landmark that might be used is Dawn Vigil. The Stone and Steel Vigils were prominent in Ishgard’s role in Version 2.0 and there’s little doubt that 3.0 will be any different. If the confirmed Western Highlands are indeed home to the Dusk Vigil, perhaps the team felt that it would be incomplete without its sister in the east, the Dawn.

[Lokus]

Makes you wonder how SE is going to connect the missing 1.0 zones to the current zones if/when they reimplement them. Will they connect as they did in 1.0? The world rearranged to make them connect? Or will they be blocked off zones with the only way to get there is by flying. As it is, Central Lowlands seems like it's gone forever cause I can't see how they can place it south of Central Highlands and north of Mor Dhona (1.0 location) without having to do some retconning/mob placement to have it make sense in the ARR main story.

Which also makes me wonder if Nanawa Mines/Mun Tuy will ever be actual dungeon areas again or if they are forever relegated to zonelines.

[Xanthe]

Regarding Mun Tuy Cellars...

The fermenting of Mun-Tuy beans into sauces, tonics, pastes, and even the tasty brew that helps Wood Wailers wind down after a long day of wailing is a task that requires strict temperature and humidity control. In an age devoid of heating/cooling systems, the best place to achieve perfect temperatures/humidity was in caves (no matter how hot/cold it is outside, a cave's interior usually remains unchanged). It also helps that on the walls of certain caves found only in the Twelveswood grows a special type of yeast that helps transform the Mun-Tuy juice into something more...exciting. When the Calamity wreaked its havoc on the Twelveswood, many of the caves used for Mun-Tuy processing were either buried under rubble, or new openings were created, changing the internal environment and making them no longer suitable for the task at hand. This is pretty much what happened with the pre-Calamity cellars. However, Gridania is a thirsty city-state, and the Mun-Tuy brewers were not ready to let their craft fade into oblivion, so they searched long and hard for a new series of caves that met the conditions of their old cellars...and finally found some on the border of the new East and South Shrouds--the location of the new cellars.

[Croy]

Makes you wonder how SE is going to connect the missing 1.0 zones to the current zones if/when they reimplement them. Will they connect as they did in 1.0? The world rearranged to make them connect? Or will they be blocked off zones with the only way to get there is by flying. As it is, Central Lowlands seems like it's gone forever cause I can't see how they can place it south of Central Highlands and north of Mor Dhona (1.0 location) without having to do some retconning/mob placement to have it make sense in the ARR main story.

Which also makes me wonder if Nanawa Mines/Mun Tuy will ever be actual dungeon areas again or if they are forever relegated to zonelines.

Central Lowlands is very tricky given the new location of North Shroud Zoneline into Coerthas but the zoneline for the old Central Lowlands is a bit further east then the current zoneline is for Mor Dhona. If they can either squeeze a new zoneline in between the two current zonelines in Central Highlands or maybe create some new zonelines from Coerthas Eastern Lowlands (like maybe a mountain pass you can only get to from eastern low lands but not North Shroud) and maybe a revitalized West Shroud (which originally had an exit also into Mor Dhona on the east side near where the Crystal Tower now stands) is also given a new zoneline into the Low Lands, it could be possible to fit it back in, but it will not be a pretty fit. Based on concept art alone we know the central lowlands probably still exist in some capacity, the big landmark shown in the hypothetical west shroud you can see in 3 separate Shroud zones has a concept art that shows another region behind it with a formation we haven't seen in game yet. Furthermore I don't think we have actually seen the location yet where the main character 'awakens' in the Opening movie for 2.0 yet either have we? Seems very similar to the concept art structure I mentioned that hasn't been shown off yet. Not that I think we will see them this expansion. We are missing 1-2 zones, not 3-4 new ones. (9 new zones including The floating continent and Ishgard... the question I have is if Ishgard in its entirety is considered 'one zone' or if the foundation and the pillars sub zones considered separate zones in his hypothetical 9 'new zones').

Eitherway looking forward to seeing potentially Eastern lowlands or highlands again. Personally I'd really like to see the lowlands return mainly because I'm hoping the aesthetic for that zone will fit a more boreal forest with lakes the original Coerthas was going for with the peaking cliffs. We are sorta getting something similar to that with the hinterlands it looks like but its not exactly the same look I was hoping for and the Eastern Highlands I fear would just mean more snow and ice.

[Shaano]

Just a small cool little thing regarding Edda

[Kaslo]

Just a small cool little thing regarding Edda

Oh shit.

[Ragns]

Edda is supposed to spawn in the 3 cities but people only reported seeing her in Gridania.





Suddenly my sig seems fitting.

[Baelfael]

Seems like it happens at 2am in Grid?

[Cutriss]

The Coerthas Western Highlands is most exciting (and probably one of the reasons they used it) is the amount of landmarks!
We have the Falcon's Nest, which was touched on during the Main Scenario (or maybe it was a sidequest during the Coerthan leg of MSQ idr) which we're led to believe everyone there died fleeing the falling of Dalamud (in Snowcloak)
Snowcloak was said to be formed after the Twinpools (Ash & Bane) and the Swiftrun River turned to ice during the Calamity. This probably actually will be the explanation of how/why we won't visit the furthest west region of the Western Highlands (to my dismay). The Twinpools were said to be crystal clear waters poisoned by Dravanians in their never-ending war with Ishgard. They also contained an island named "the Dreaming Dragon" and the surrounding area was populated heavily by drakes.
The Lance is a valley which dives north and west of the Highlands and will likely be our route to Dravania; a gatekeeper NPC blocked our passage as there were far too many dragons or some such thing.
There's also little Camp Riversmeet which, if Dragonhead is any indication, will either be that big fortress we see with an Aetheryte or the very 1.0 camp w/ a fucked up Aetheryte. (As I type this, the latter is most likely being the only 1.0 camp in the West)
The Western Highlands also contains the Dusk Vigil and the Wyrmking's Perch. The Dusk Vigil was largely boring, you went there for a black mage artifact quest and it was guarded by high level Ahriman but there's always been a weird void presence in Coerthas (and has continued to be in 2.0 as well)
The Wyrmking's Perch is interesting as we don't technically know a "wyrmking;" at the very least not that I can recall. I have recollections that both Midgardsormr and Bahamut have been called dreadwyrms or dread serpents, but neither one being a Wyrmking. Perhaps Nidhogg?


idk trying to be hype when there's nothing to do
if Soken's tweet really did leak the last Heavensward area I hope it's Eastern Highlands and they just cut the Lowlands out completely; that'd totally allow us a better east-ward expansion for the retaking of Ala Mhigo in 4.0, amirite?

http://www.gwcdn.com/albums/images/5...3d119d469a.jpg

I can't find the other concept art image from this, but this showed a zone line at Griffin's Crossing.

They've basically said that we'll go to Falcon's Nest, so I'm thinking we're going to get both Western and Eastern Coerthas as larger general zones.

@gaira

Spoiler: show

the difference is i don't think the sultana shows in CS for GSM, and the smallfolk believe her to still be alive albeit ill; in the CUL quests she's physically present and part of the CS and so is Lolorito

I haven't finished my CUL CSes, so I may do this tomorrow and see what happens.

[Rocl]

I know for a fact the CUL CS @ 50 remains unaltered even if you complete 2.55's MSQ. Nanamo and Lolorito show up in Limsa Lominsa like nothing's happened. What this means is the game has a fixed timeline; i.e., what happens in each patch the past. Since CUL50 quests were 2.0, even if you complete now the game's status quo acts as if it's 2.0. With Heavensward functioning as a lock it might solve the possible problem of a class quest spoiling the Main Scenario.

The concept art is nice, but it's super beta version. We don't have a lot of the Ixal stuff in the eastern Central Highlands we were supposed to, nor the "community in the crack" etc The Northern Thanalan one also has an outdoor Castrum Meridanium (compared to the obvious "dungeon entrance here" for Stone Vigil)