FFXI Plot-holes and unclear issues

[Niiro]

I'd be caught dead before I got any closer to that forum than the thread in media.

[Spira]

o you're right.. i never noticed how they just changed the setting of everything...
like, wasn't tzee xicu floating in the air or something?

i cant even sign in to the official forums to this day...

the 3 leaders thing probably didnt happen since the alliance seems to already have been formed even at the start of nation quests

[Damane]

So I finished all of Abyssea and I am not sure if I missed this.

Did they ever fully explain the Caturae or where they came from?

Was never explained

Spoiler: show

But since Shinryu actually was a person (the evil zilart man) that was transformed into Shinryu by the Emptiness/Promathias rage whatever, Caturaes might have been persons too. My guess is, since our char failed the fight (and prolly died) the rest of the promathia cast, ecxept for Prishe (she said she got away) might have been transformed into a Caturae. I dont remember anymore tha last few bits of CoP storyline and Cutscene, but to my believe the only person in seacity before the fight were: Tenzen, X Y Z, The Elvaan, Ulma (BRD friend from prishe), Prishe and yourself. Since you died and prishe got away, that leaves 6 people. As said not sure anymore tough

[Eurell]

Was never explained

Spoiler: show

But since Shinryu actually was a person (the evil zilart man) that was transformed into Shinryu by the Emptiness/Promathias rage whatever, Caturaes might have been persons too. My guess is, since our char failed the fight (and prolly died) the rest of the promathia cast, ecxept for Prishe (she said she got away) might have been transformed into a Caturae. I dont remember anymore tha last few bits of CoP storyline and Cutscene, but to my believe the only person in seacity before the fight were: Tenzen, X Y Z, The Elvaan, Ulma (BRD friend from prishe), Prishe and yourself. Since you died and prishe got away, that leaves 6 people. As said not sure anymore tough

Dont forget the Galka!

[Restrat]

Only one of the Sin Hunters becomes your companion

[Souj]

Was never explained
But since Shinryu actually was a person (the evil zilart man)

Isn't Shinryu Promathia?

[Rocl]

Isn't Shinryu Promathia?

Yes. Promathia became Shinryu after he absorbed your essence, iirc. I don't have FFXI or Pebbles on this PC (not like the latter would work without the former) to double check, but I am fairly certain this is the case. I mean, you could argue Shinryu = Nag'molada since Promathia absorbed him, but it's definitely more Promathia, no?

[Greatguardian]

Yes. Promathia became Shinryu after he absorbed your essence, iirc. I don't have FFXI or Pebbles on this PC (not like the latter would work without the former) to double check, but I am fairly certain this is the case. I mean, you could argue Shinryu = Nag'molada since Promathia absorbed him, but it's definitely more Promathia, no?

He's Promathia after he absorbs Sehl'teus. He just kills you (the player) and your party. It would be interesting if he had turned you, Ulmia, and all them into Caturae but what I gathered from Prishe's explanation was that she was basically forced to sit there and watch as you were torn to shreds and such.

[Rocl]

He's Promathia after he absorbs Sehl'teus. He just kills you (the player) and your party. It would be interesting if he had turned you, Ulmia, and all them into Caturae but what I gathered from Prishe's explanation was that she was basically forced to sit there and watch as you were torn to shreds and such.

Ahhh yeah yeah, that's right, my bad. It's Sehl'teus, not the player, sorry. It's been a bit since I saw the CS. Either way, Selh'teus is hardly an evil Zilart man.

[Spira]

the evil zilart man they're referring to would be the King, or whoever was sealed in the throne room that manifested as the keeper no?

the caturae theory doesn't exactly pan out because there were more people in there than that.: Ulmia, Shikaree Z, Tenzen, Atarefaunet and Jabbos. Also, Chebukki triplets.
maybe they're just zilart creations that form a key to opening al'taieu other than every 1000 years?

[Ophannus]

Is the cavernous maw in the WoE, the one Cait Sith talks to in all the cutscenes, is that Atomos? Cuz the Maw says Atomos is unconscious yet he seems to talk pretty civil and seems to be rational as well.

[Spira]

yeah thats him..
i'm not sure if he said unconscious, but the idea is that Atomos is impartial. he cannot be swayed (personally) to favor either side, which might also mean to say he'd be willing to talk to either side. Anywayz, i think Cait Sith is technically not under his 'jurisdiction' which might be way he talks to him on such normal terms

[Odin'sLaw]

how does Atomos actually "work"? i get the whole "time travel" thing but how is he living and such? (got to mission 13 years ago really can't be arsed to do it again on my 2nd char)

[Rosalie]

Getting back to the whole discussion about Odin/Alexander and expansions other than ToAU...

Did anyone else notice the thing about how the Moblins of Movalpolos were worshipping/digging for something that seemed to me much more like some remnant of Alexander than anything else before they found that statue of Promathia?

Here's a direct quote from Jabbos...

Jabbos: Listen...to me...
Long, long ago...the Moblins were searching...
Searching for...an iron...giant...bathed in light...

Jabbos: Their legend...
It says...the iron giant...he will give them...power...
So the Moblins...began digging...

Jabbos: But...what they found...
It wasn't the iron...giant...
It was a stone...statue...

--Chains of Promathia, Three Paths, Past Sins, Departures

[Ocara]

I thought I remembered something about the moblins were digging for Alexander, then found promathia and worshipped him instead/mistakenly. And some moblins went to the far east to look there after they were hired by the trolls or something.

Been a long time.

[Spira]

actually its the other way round.. the Trolls Mercenaries were hired by the Moblins. You could assume the Moblins objective of obtaining the Astral Candescence could be related to Alexander as well... the Trolls themselves probably just wanted to oppose the Empire.

Its probably the case that Moblins hearing of the legends of the Near East ventured there in search of their iron giant

[Sagacious Sundi]

The best I could guess about the Trolls & Moblins is that the Trolls want revenge for something (being driven from their homeland?) and the Moblins were there searching for Alexander, but got sidetracked by Megomak's obsession with chimeras. It's possible they still were researching Alexander-related stuff, such as through backwards engineering automatons and sending Trolls into Alzadaal.

Really, all the ToAU beastmen felt like gaping plot holes that could have been filled in, but didn't because ToAU got rather rushed, as evidenced by no Colosseum, all the endgame events having 0 plot (yeah so did Limbus, but there was CoP Dynamis), unused Assault maps and other areas, Flameserpent General quest and ZNM system being added well into WotG, and I doubt the tablet islands were intended for story-less reasons.

Exactly what the hell is Gulool Ja Ja? A chimera that wanted revenge on the Empire? We also didn't see much of that Sahagin overlord.

You'd think the Lamiae/Merrows would be a big deal in the plot, but they really weren't (besides being responsible for Luzaf and his crew's death IIRC).

And what about Poroggos? Was that online story about that Samariri chick creating them true? Are the Near Eastern Poroggos separate from the Sarutabaruta ones? Were they just an ancient race that almost died out (or perhaps did die out but were brought back Jurassic Park-style in the Hazhalm experiments)?

[Kaisha]

Zeid-related question that's been bugging me lately....

Spoiler: show

Was Zeid ever shown without his mask? I noticed he's sitting in Abyssea Grauberg without it, which made me realize I never recalled him taking it off at all in any of the mission cutscenes I've done. My only guess is that the story behind that may be answered in the Bastok[S] line of story quests?

Mainly curious about the scars on his forehead, which I'm assuming may tie in to that Hurricane dude in the bastok[s] quests, but I'm only half-done Bastok's line since no one does those quests any more.

[Ocara]

Zeid-related question that's been bugging me lately....

Spoiler: show

Was Zeid ever shown without his mask? I noticed he's sitting in Abyssea Grauberg without it, which made me realize I never recalled him taking it off at all in any of the mission cutscenes I've done. My only guess is that the story behind that may be answered in the Bastok[S] line of story quests?

Mainly curious about the scars on his forehead, which I'm assuming may tie in to that Hurricane dude in the bastok[s] quests, but I'm only half-done Bastok's line since no one does those quests any more.

bastok [s] spoilers

Spoiler: show

Zeid is Darksteel Hurricane, who is basically a galka murderer/terrorist, and wears his mask to hide the scars that mark him as such. He takes it off and reveals this in the bastok line of quests in the past about halfway throughish.

[ronin sparthos]

The best I could guess about the Trolls & Moblins is that the Trolls want revenge for something (being driven from their homeland?) and the Moblins were there searching for Alexander, but got sidetracked by Megomak's obsession with chimeras. It's possible they still were researching Alexander-related stuff, such as through backwards engineering automatons and sending Trolls into Alzadaal.

From what little information we have, the Trolls have always been mercenaries working for whoever has the most coin. It was stated they at one time were in the service of the Imperial Army but since the Moblins showed up with superior technology that they took it upon themselves to attack Al Zahbi to take the Astral Candescence presumably for their Moblin benefactors interested in it.

All of the Moblins in Halvung are labeled Millionaires and Billionaires so it's pretty safe to say that the Trolls are simply trying to complete their job while Halvung is built up as a base of operations for them. Megomak gives me that "mad scientist" vibe, the type of person who's supposed to be working on finding Alexander / retrieving the AC but rather do Khimaira research for his own personal gain.

Really, all the ToAU beastmen felt like gaping plot holes that could have been filled in, but didn't because ToAU got rather rushed, as evidenced by no Colosseum, all the endgame events having 0 plot (yeah so did Limbus, but there was CoP Dynamis), unused Assault maps and other areas, Flameserpent General quest and ZNM system being added well into WotG, and I doubt the tablet islands were intended for story-less reasons.

I agree. In-depth storyline took a backseat around mid TOAU and the game suffered for it. There are alot of factors in TOAU that just never meshed together and the conclusion seemed rushed to say the least.

Exactly what the hell is Gulool Ja Ja? A chimera that wanted revenge on the Empire? We also didn't see much of that Sahagin overlord.

The little we get from the storyline is that the primary reason for the Mamool Ja attacks revolved around their concern that Aht would attack them if they didn't go on the offensive first. You really can't stay still as leaders when a neighboring country is amassing the equivalent of nuclear weapons.

I don't believe anywhere in the storyline is it suggested that Gulool is a chimera moreso that his presence as a unifying figure (quite literally) led the overlords to make him autarch and his leadership has led the Mamool to attack Al Zahbi. Gulool seems to be a case of a "miraculous birth".

You'd think the Lamiae/Merrows would be a big deal in the plot, but they really weren't (besides being responsible for Luzaf and his crew's death IIRC).

This was probably the best example of SE leaving out huge parts of the storyline. All we got were the Lamie/a were created by Aht and went rogue, the Merrow are aquatic chimera and both want revenge against their former masters by turning the tables and making them into slaves.

And what about Poroggos? Was that online story about that Samariri chick creating them true? Are the Near Eastern Poroggos separate from the Sarutabaruta ones? Were they just an ancient race that almost died out (or perhaps did die out but were brought back Jurassic Park-style in the Hazhalm experiments)?

The story seems to be rumor to people within Vana'diel but is true from observations made in the Crystal Era (toads and poroggo outside windy) and explains their eventual migration to the near east after being kicked out by the Tarutaru.

It isn't a huge stretch that they'd leave the middle lands and join their fellow reptilians - the Mamool Ja - in a nation where they could be accepted for what they are.

The -Samariri names for NMs are a throwback to their origins and the Experimental Poroggo could be anything from augmented Poroggo to the Aht Urhgan take on creating sentient frogs.