I hope this thread belongs in here, as much as I shouldn't post in this section, it's advanced information I'm talking about.
I also know it may sound a bit... geeky to try to go this deep into the plot of a MMORPG, but here we go, with some questions I'm trying to answer just to recap a few things before WotG, I will organize questions and doubts with numbers.
Index
1) How were the races of Vana'diel created?
2) What About the Zilart?
3) What about the Kuluu?
4) Where is Al'taieu?
5) What happened to Selt'heus?
6) Who was the "cursed one"?
7) What exactely are Kam'lanaut and Eald'narche trying to do?
1) How were the races of Vana'diel created?
We read very different answers to this. On one side we have "the legend" that tells us about the 5 tears of Altana, and Promathia that creates monsters, creatures and Beastmen. But that's just it... a legend.
What's the truth? I think that for some reasons Promathia died or wanted to die (the "Chains" were supposed to keep him from committing suicide I think?), to avoid Promathia dying completely, Altana "divided" their "divine" universe into a lower domain, splitting the Mothercrystal into 5 crystals, creating the universe we live in (the "dimension" where Vana'diel exists) and creating several races, putting a piece of Promathia in each of those races. But then what about the monsters? And what about the Beastmen?
2) What About the Zilart?
They didn't exist before Altana split the crystal in 5, creating the same universe the Zilart too lived in. They used to be happy in that world until they "learned" the truth when Eald'narche synchronized with the crystal line touching one crystal, and understood that the universe used to be different, and hence starts their "plan" to reunify the universe into what it used to be before Altana created it splitting the mothercrystal in 5.
Is this right? But how were the Zilart born?
3) What about the Kuluu?
Kuluu are Zilart. From a certain point in time some "special" Zilart started to be born, such unblessed children didn't have what was a common gift for all zilart, the "Whisper of souls", an ability that allowed every zilart to communicate with any other zilart, sorta like all zilart had "linked" minds. Kuluu didn't have this gift, and couldn't read other's minds nor let others read theirs. Then someone appearently discovers the cause of this, which is the "emptiness" that corrupted Zilart's souls. And Emptiness is usually referred as the "physycal manifestation of Promathia's will to die" if I recall. So Yve'noille starts to think about developing a system to "cleanse" kuluus of the emptiness affecting them, making them into zilarts once again.
To do this they use that strange cube also called "the eye of altana" and the Chamber of purification or whatever it's called.
They succeed in purifying Esha'ntarl (which in change becomes an immortal Zilart, a non-aging one, just like Kam'lanaut and Eald'narche who touched the protocrystal) and probably many more but not the poor Nag'molada. Still, there is a counter effect to this purification process that Yve'noille didn't think about, but... then it gets confusing? What was this countereffect? An Emptiness overload somewhere? And what is Yve'noille trying to do in Al'Taieu? She tried to absorb/stop all the emptiness which was taken from the Kullu with the Chamber of purification? I don't get it, it's confusing.
4) Where is Al'taieu?
Legends say it was sunk under the sea, but actually I think that what Selth'eus (or someone else? I don't remember...) did was just send Al'Taieu to another dimension, together with the 5th crystal, so that the procedure to merge together the crystals could never be tried again. Somehow a "link" between these dimensions appear (the red pillar we see when we take airship from Sealion's Den). Probably it appears when someone tries to operate Delkfutt doing experiments, and hence reactivates the crystal line, allowing Selth'eus to "escape" from Al'taieu through the crystal line.
But... shouldn't the "teleportation" of the crystal to another dimension have stopped the crystal line? So how come the 5th crystal is still connected?
And also... why was the 5th crystal in Al'Taieu? Shouldn't it have been in a Crag, just like the other ones? (Dem, Mea, Holla and Fei'yin, dunno which the 5th was supposed to be)
5) What happened to Selt'heus?
So yeah, he became some sort of "half-living" immortal, but how? Absorbing Emptiness? Banishing himself with Al'taieu/5th crystal to another dimension? Merging with Phoenix? What happened exactely to prince Selt'heus? And prince of what? Weren't the leader of the Zilart people Eald'narche and Kam'lanaut?
6) Who was the "cursed one"?
It's the body supposed to be the reincarnation or new body-host of Promathia (whom I'm having troubles to understand if he's dead or kept in a "suspension" state by Altana who divided his "essence" to create the people of Vana'diel, but if that's so, what or who is the "body" we see in chains, inside Al'Taieu? x_X). Ok, but who is supposed to be that?
The child that would be born on Vana'diel, the one Esha'ntarl (Mildaurion) has been looking for.
Was it really Prishe? Because in some cut-scenes we get hints that the real "chosen one" is our own character. In some other cut-scenes you get a hint that there is no such thing as a "cursed one" and that it's just a legend (actually, a thing that Fenrir told Mildaurion, if I recall).
Prishe was just a normal girl, who becomes "special" when they try to seal the emptiness inside of her, thinking that only her has emptiness, and not knowing that there is a part of emptiness inside each living being.
When they use the Eye of Altana on her, they crystalize her emptiness, suspending her from time, and making her an "immortal". Right? But how long has she lived? A few hundred years?
This "cursed one" thing is cloudy to me...
7) What exactely are Kam'lanaut and Eald'narche trying to do?
So they are the leaders of the zilart people, they build the Crags to channel the Crystals power into a single point (Delkfutt Tower) which will be used to fully power the device called "Tu'Lia", the flying island supposedly used to control all that energy, and make the 5 crystals merge together again into the original mother crystal, hence destroying the "dimension" they live in, and recreating the original dimension (i.e., "opening the gates of paradise", the realm of the gods where Altana and Promathia used to live happily among flowers and happy animals smiling all day long).
So they plan all that mischievous thing to "create" the Shadow Lord, and then make people of Vana'diel fight among each other to make his hate stronger, and then use it at their own interest.
They needed it to... uhm... activate Delkfutt Tower and repeat what they were trying to do 10.000 years ago, i.e. fully activating Tu'Lia?
But... why did they need the power of a being such as the Shadow Lord? I mean, why did they need to create it? And why Verena?
And most than all... how the hell can they still activate Tu'Lia when 1 crystal is disconnected from the crystal line (Fei'Yin), one crystal is in another dimension (Al'Taieu), and the 3 other crystals (Dem-Holla-Mea) have problems and leaks in the crystal line (as we see from rank 4 missions).
I don't understand what were they hoping to do with such a faulty system...