#Final Fantasy XIV lore

[magitekconveyor]

At long last! Who The Fuck Is Aulus mal Asina The Powerpoint Presentation: The Tumblr Post.

This was a long labor of love, combing over every piece of lore I could find in-game and in the Encyclopedia Eorzea. I initially made this because whenever I mentioned Aulus, I inevitably got met with "who?", so I thought I would have one place that contained all his lore and how it relates to MSQ as a whole.

For ease of access, here is the twitch link. It goes to a clip from 2018 Fanfest where they discuss Aulus. If you listen veeeeery carefully after he says "He's dead", you can hear a faint "Noooooooo!" in the audience. That...was me. I was actually there for that question and let me tell you I've never had so many heads whip around to stare at me all at once.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy and have learned something new about my favorite FFXIV character.

Edit: Coming back since this is gaining a bit of traction to add, if you like what you see here, please check out my friend's FFXIV fangame Indagator , where you can either romance or betray Aulus. It builds off of a lot of the info from above and masterfully expands on it. Mind the tags.

#ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #aulus mal asina #Final Fantasy XIV lore #zenos yae galvus #Sicinius mal Vellutus #Garlemald #Stormblood #Endwalker spoilers #Bozja spoilers #Bozja #there's alt text on the images too

[heavenlykukuru]

Lifeforms of an Unsundered World

Hey everyone. I have been working on something for the past few days and it's still a work-in-progress but I wanted to share it.

It's basically a comparison document that shows flora and fauna of Elpis and which of those lifeforms survived to live upon modern Etheirys, where they can be found, trivia about their names etc. I also included a comparison sheet for the Source vs the First and lifeforms in common there.

Lifeforms of an Unsundered World — at Google Docs.

I have a lot to add but I am a particularly focused nerd and love doing this sort of thing. Also didn't see any resources out there and even FFXIV GamerEscape seems to be lacking data for similar context. Not sure if it will be of use to role-players or fanfiction writers but I will ask around for consensus on that.

It obviously has Endwalker spoilers so please be aware of that.

Thanks for reading!

#final fantasy xiv #final fantasy xiv lore #ffxiv lore #ffxiv elpis #ffxiv ancients #hythlodaeus #ffxiv endwalker

[swisshope]

Going through my drafts, I see that I have a whole post I typed up on the FFXIV Stormblood patch quests, where we follow Hien navigating the horrible situation that is Tuyu, and how it goes to pieces thanks to Asahi's machinations.

That moment when you think you're not that into the lore, and yet, here you are.

#Swiss Rambles #Final Fantasy XIV #FFXIV #FFXIV Lore #Final Fantasy XIV Lore #I mean #I go off and not realise I've gone off #And #I recognize and abhor the damage that Yotsuyu did in Doma #And I condemn her for that #But I cannot help but wonder #What would have happened? #This is #Of course #Not considering Lyse and how the story handled her #Mind you #I will FOREVER be here for Y'shtola's put-down of Magnai #“I am... Not interested Little sun” #That was a perfect line #Swiss does a queue

[wandringaesthetic]

Possible piece of Ishgard lore in a Ixali tribal quest of all things, vaguely implying there's a tradition that people aren't arrested at the Gates of Judgement (and the Steps of Faith?)

I like the idea of the Gates and the Steps as a kind of legal No Man's Land where you both Are and Aren't in Ishgard. You'd think someone would occasionally try to seek sanctuary there for this reason but the wind and the cold are so terrible it's rare to stay there any longer than it would take to traverse it at a brisk walk. (I bet a few people accused of heresy have made the decision to jump, hence judging oneself)

(My WoL is an Ishgardian deserter so this is all incredibly thematically relevant to my OC's backstory)

#final fantasy xiv #final fantasy xiv lore #something like this may have been stated more clearly elsewhere and I forgot

[mrlarkstin]

Homecoming

#ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #gpose #final fantasy 14 #ffxiv gpose #eras lore #final fantasy online #ff14 gpose #ffxiv oc #eras poses

[autumnslance]

The worst part too about the Paladin quests is it's Heavensward that's most egregious. It honestly feels like someone had no idea what was going on, or didn't care, or left, and their colleagues left holding the bag with this mess of a story had no idea what to do with it.

ARR Gladiator quests are fine! They're along the lines of the other Class quests, intro you to the job and a complicated character dynamic, and it's a decent time.

The ARR Paladin quests...are just boring. They aren't actually even that bad, they're just...utterly predictable, bog-standard tropes and plot line where you can see everything coming malms away. But they have an internal logic to them that builds on the politics and scheming in Ul'dah. Jenlyns realizes he's an unwitting pawn of the Syndicate, and he was literally chosen for the job cuz he could be easily duped and controlled. He doesn't even get to have imposter syndrome, he's actually unfit for the job (and then strives to do better, leveraging support from Papashan and Mylla to shore up his own weaknesses, which is admirable!).

...Nevermind that traditional Paladins in general are a bad fit for Ul'dah. The heavily armored Sultansworn makes no sense in that desert environment, and looking at a world map we can even see that Southern Thanalan seems to be on the equator. Like it's not even a case of "it's cooler than it seems cuz they're further north." Because they're not. And I know the devs wanted to have Ishgard perhaps be a starter city but that was scrapped due to time and resources, fine but um.

Dragoons are still trained in Coerthas, by Coerthans. Why didn't they just...do that with Paladins? Keep Gladiator in Ul'dah, where it makes sense as presented. But then have to work with Temple Knights to get the Job. Especially since after Ul'dah's intro, the game just forgets the Sultansworn exist and they have no bearing on the MSQ the way the other factions in Ul'dah do. Not even in the finale of ARR's arc where it would make sense. Gladiators are a constant in other side quests and MSQ both.

Stormblood Paladin is also fine--because it goes back to those Gladiators, and we interact with Paladins and Knights across the realm, and deal with those complicated relationships between the Gladiator guild core members. It's internally logical in its drama about finally restoring Aldis's reputation and place in Ul'dah, against the backdrop of the tournament.

Heavensward Paladin straight up makes no sense. Solkzaygl's actions are entirely contradictory to his character and arc from ARR. There's no way for some of the actions to occur without him working with the outlaws in some way. Instead of teaching Constaint, he sends him on a merry chase across Coerthas to learn on his own, and it's only the WoL's aid that sees the boy live, let alone make progress. A random man dies, guilt-ridden, due to Solk's scheming and lies he confided to this poor guy.

And then Highlander-esque "there can be only one" nonsense. Even as a Highlander fangirl in my youth, it was insulting and awful. Papashan, Jenlyns, and Constaint all call out how nonsense, illogical, unlikely, and stupid this whole story is...all to make a sword shine.

Because there's no internal logic to events, let alone the reason for the string of happenstance that leads to the finale.

And we know it's possible; HW Blacksmith gives us a fantastic paladin story! One that fits Ishgard's storyline and HW's themes. HW Dark Knight is also a good paladin story, actually, as they are meant to be another angle on the concept of dedicated knight defenders. Samurai for the Eastern equivalent, and the concepts and tropes present in those quest chains.

But the job actually bearing the name "Paladin" is left in the dirt. As a fan of the concept across various games (video and TTRPGs both), it's quite frustrating how the devs had no idea what to do with this job, despite other members of the writing and scenario team presenting stories that would have fit perfectly well within the framework. Only some of it is misplacing where Paladins originate in the setting; the rest is not taking advantage of the themes and setting of the expansions, and just not caring enough about the characters and story to even try, compared to the rest. Or worse, they did try, and meant for more, but whatever intrigue and complex plot they wanted to create was too much for 5 quests and no guarantee the arc would continue in the future, even if it had landed perfectly.

#final fantasy xiv #Paladin #grumpy old lady hours #literary analysis #lore #speculation #These quests frustrate me so much #even considering other storylines I dislike for their structural issues HW PLD sits at 'worst' for me

[artctrlcee]

In from the Cold (divergent)

#ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #ff14 #endwalker #ardbert hylfyst #endwalker spoilers #ew spoilers #6.0 spoilers #in from the cold #in which i remain mad ardbert go no real mention in EW #so i drew a fix it(?) comic #this doesn't even happen in ari's lore i just wanted to draw it #ari comics

[ffxivmemes]

Emet Selch hot.

#emet selch #emet-selch #ffxiv emet selch #ffxiv #ffxiv memes #final fantasy xiv #ff14 #final fantasy 14 #final fantasy memes #final fantasy #emet endwalker #endwalker #ffxiv endwalker #shadowbringers #emet x wol #emetwol #wind up emet #ffxiv ancients #eorzea #ffxiv lore

[shionxion]

You know, I don't think I've ever posted this from last year. Anden was talking about Ardbert again!

#ff14 #ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #final fantasy 14 #ffxiv screenshots #anden #ardbert #ardbert hylfyst #lore #lore dump

[rihlltalk]

i'm just. huaaaagh. the exarch when he first realizes that he's losing feeling in his arm as it crystallizes. the panic he must have felt. was he prepared for this eventuality when he bound himself to the tower? did he immediately think of a solution, a workaround?

the exarch having to study golems and golem manipulation in preparation to learn to move his arm. him having to conduct all of his research one-handed, between the scraps of literature salvaged from the flood and what information lies in the archives of the crystal tower.

learning how to manipulate aether as to control his arm. trying to find the right balance between too much and too little force. using too much the first time he successfully manages to do so and his arm shoots up into the air like a scholar eager to answer their professor's query. gradually learning to move his arm in a way that looks normal and not too stilted or inhuman, constantly watching himself and the reactions of the people around him to see how if they've noticed. (they can't notice. he can't let them see.)

learning more finesse so as to curl crystal fingers around the staff with just enough pressure to keep it in his grip - not too much or he'd crush it in two, not too little or it'd slip out of his grasp. perfecting the motion to raise and lower his arm to tap the point of his staff on the ground, needing to figure out the required amount of force again - too little and neither arm nor staff would budge, too much and the staff would shoot from his fingers.

needing to keep enough aether in reserve to be able to manipulate his body when he was away from the tower. fighting through exhaustion the first time he made this mistake, when it had been too long since he was near the tower and he was too tired and his arm drops heavy and limp to his side. fighting to find a second wind and enough focus to move his arm again so as to not worry the people around him.

becoming more accustomed to the practice of weaving aether to move his arm for him that it becomes nearly automatic, nearly subconscious, but never quite getting used to having to do it, to not move his arm on his own accord. catching himself in moments of idleness reminiscing about the past, when he could still control his arm himself, when he could still feel. being touched, or touching with his non-dominant hand, the hand still made of flesh and bone, and wishing that he could still feel such sensations on his crystal hands.

the exarch trying very hard not to think about what parts of him the crystal would claim next, or how much time he had before it claimed him completely.

#IN! SHAMBLES!!! #THANK YOU ENCYCLOPAEDIA EORZEA FOR THE NEW LORE BUT ALSO AAAAAAAAAAAUGH #say chat #ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #crystal exarch #g'raha tia #shadowbringers #shadowbringers spoilers

[adahlenan]

[ and it seems my hell is your high water ]

#FFXIV #Gposes #My characters #OC: Lev Dagnyr #Final Fantasy XIV #Azem #OC: Leucothea #heeheehoohoo i dont rly post about my wol bcs im EMBARRASSED #anyways ;w; #I love Lev he's my baby boy who's oh so ocean coded along with his Azem who I just call Luke bcs it's funny. mitron wannabes #poor guy never wanted to be the wol and is literally drowning in all the pressure and expectations bcs of it #shadowbringers spoilers #?? #anyways i have a bunch of lore but ive been too shy to share it until now aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[castellankurze]

ok but for real FF14 fans we gotta talk about the next 20 years in Eorzea cause it's gonna be wild

*There's gonna be some general Shadowbringers & Endwalker spoilers in this post.*

I'm making this now because something in 6.5 reminded me of this idea - no spoilers for 6.5 in particular though.

------------------------------------

So first, quick refresher: the FF14 setting has a pretty standard for the genre afterlife wherein souls of the dead merge with the planet's lifestream, they beat about for awhile, maybe ruminate on their past life, and then they can either merge with the greater whole or be reborn as new people. This got outlined all the way back in the 2.x patch series and became a major part of the plot for the Shadowbringers expansion, wherein the Warrior of Light is revealed to be a reincarnation of the ancient soul of Azem, or how the character Gaia is also a reincarnation of one of the Ascians.

Also a major part of the Shadowbringers plot are the revelations about the secret history of the world. How in forgotten ancient times, civilization threatened by a calamity called the Final Days offered up hundreds or possibly thousands of souls to create the god that would be known as Zodiark who would preserve the world, and how in time the goddess Hydaelyn would be created as an opposition to Zodiark's power. And that she ultimately sundered him into 14 pieces - and because Zodiark's nature was fundamentally tied into the essence of the world, when he was broken so too was the very planet and every living soul upon it, divided into the singular 'Source' and thirteen 'shards.' As part of Shadowbringers' plot, the character of Ardbert is revealed to be the First-shard part of the soul of the Warrior of Light, reuniting near the end of 5.0, and to villain Emet-Selch, these sundered souls are a pitiful shadow of the powerful, vibrant beings they once were in ancient times, unworthy of life.

Now here's where things get interesting.

During the course of our Endwalker adventures, we reach the lunar prison where the body of Zodiark is held captive. Due to some villainous machinations, the ancient god's bonds have been partially broken and his essence is leaking out, taking the form of ancient shades wandering about. One in particular we speak to is named Hythlodaeus. We had previously met this character - sort of, in the form of a memory conjured by Emet-Selch. This is the true Hythlodaeus, an ancient soul sacrificed to bring Zodiark into being. Despite joining the multitude of souls and the long slumber in imprisonment, he's coherent and holds a conversation.

Unsurprisingly, as the main character of a Final Fantasy title we go on to kill our setting's oldest god, and in so doing get a good look at the effect of the sundering on Zodiark: namely that in his case it was pretty literal, splitting off pieces of his body. However the interesting part of the Endwalker's implications is that while Zodiark was sundered, the individual souls that made up his being were not - after this confrontation we see and speak to our old new friend Hythlodaeus again, and again, both in a journey to the distant past and as we call up his soul for aid at the climax of the story...and he's the same person every time.

This...strongly hints that the myriad of ancient, unsundered souls which made up the bulk of Zodiark's essence have returned to the lifestream, and while major characters like Hythlodaeus, Emet-Selch and Venat seem content to leave the cycle of reincarnation for good and pass the world on to us modern folk...is that going to be true for everyone?

Are there, in fact, dozens - hundreds - thousands of Ancient, unsundered souls milling about in the aetherial sea, contemplating a return to the living world? Will the world of Etheirys over the next few years see a sudden wave of children with incredible power as these souls start to be reborn? Will the Warrior of Light, a soul merely eight times rejoined, be eclipsed in sheer strength by the might of a new generation?

The story will probably never go to such a place - after all it would essentially undo the themes of its two biggest expansions, and besides which, the story of FF14 as a whole will probably not venture so many years down the timeline to explore such a possibility.

But still. They say everything old is someday new again.

#FFXIV #Final Fantasy XIV #Shadowbringers #Endwalker #Zodiark #Emet-Selch #Hythlodaeus #lore speculation #long post

[heavenlykukuru]

Ktisis Hyperboreia

Excerpt from chapter three of my fanfiction in the works "Attunement" at Ao3. I love to write canon-compliant lore and extrapolate further upon the little bits we're given in-universe.

Sculpting one's corporeal aether into matter is hardly a novel process for an ancient of Etheirys and in those comfortable days of yore, Hythlodaeus believed he had an understanding of the basics. The practice existed in several forms — the most elementary of which was the conjuring of simple objects from mental images, much like building from a blueprint — and ranged from arcane entities all the way to colossal inanimate objects. Amaurot's most powerful mages, enhanced with their nigh endless wellsprings of personal aether, could even conjure self-contained landscapes and dioramas of exquisite detail.

Thus the research facility of Ktisis Hyperboreia came to fruition. A collective mix of every conceivable climate, ecological setting and geographical make-up known to mankind at that point, it had everything a student of creation magic could ever need for testing their concepts. Areas of study were stitched together across collapsible dimensional spaces and accessed by both an extensive aethernet system and hundreds of malms of physical corridors. Many pioneers of Amaurot's scientific community came together to create Ktisis Hyperboreia and it was known as a wonder of the ancient world, constantly evolving alongside knowledge itself.

#ffxiv elpis #ffxiv ancients #ffxiv fanfiction #ffxiv lore #ffxiv endwalker #ff14 #hythlodaeus #final fantasy xiv lore

[balladingbard]

I think one of the biggest lore tidbits for Endwalker can actually be found in Shadowbringers, where you and the Scions go to Anyder and see the old recording of Venat and her followers.

I admit one of the questions I asked myself after going through the Elpis arc was “Why didn’t Venat try to warn people more? Why didn’t she try to make the Convocation listen despite Fandaniel being there?”

As we see in Shadowbringers, her group did try to warn the Convocation…but no one listened.

Looking at the chronology of events, however, the warning came at an unfortunate time. The Convocation was missing two of the members who probably would’ve listened - Azem, the problem-solver, who had stepped down…and Elidibus, the impartial judge, who was now a primal.

Venat says herself that the Convocation was more focused on a short-term fix rather than a long-term solution.

It certainly paints an interesting picture of what life was like at the end of the Ancient’s civilization. Was Venat in the right for doing what she did? I’m sure you’ll get a different answer depending on who you talk to. But one thing is clear, the Convocation wasn’t the same without Azem and pre-primal Elidibus, both who would’ve been willing to listen despite it going against the norm. In the end, the entire Star suffered for it.

#final fantasy xiv #ffxiv #endwalker spoilers #endwalker #shadowbringers #shadowbringers spoilers #Venat #convocation of the 14 #ffxiv ancients #Azem #ffxiv lore

[phoebe-of-ivalice]

𝙉𝙤 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛-𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙛𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚.

#the nightingale sings #oc: phoebe venatrix #ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #ffxiv viera #a little dash of Phoebe lore

[mrlarkstin]

Your time is coming fast

#ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #gpose #eras lore #final fantasy 14 #ffxiv gpose #ff14 gpose #final fantasy online #ffxiv oc #eras poses #elezen