Yssen

Duskwights do have a unique culture of their own. Their entry in the lore book does give insight to a whole bunch that we didn't have before. Pomanders (with a capital P) are a uniquely Duskwight creation, for instance. It is also mentioned that they made a bunch of architectural advances, developed wards against The Elementals (it is worth noting that this is likely what their face tattoos are, but that has never been expressly stated), and did a lot of stuff with the Mun-Tuy beans as far as cuisine goes. The continue to pass down the culture and traditions of Old Gelmorra to this day. It would be a little bit of mistake to say that they have completely assimilated into other existing cultures. The easiest real world parallel to draw from (in terms of where the fit in society, not so far as the actual meat and bones of their culture) would be outsider/displaced cultures like the Romani, Tinkers, Travelers, and even the Ainu. They exist within the larger culture of the world, but they are not completely assimilated into it. The have formed their own subculture based on the traditions they had before they were displaced. This gives them a very "us versus them" feel when combined with the fact that they tend to avoid living cities and are notoriously reclusive. Like most of those outside cultures they are generally viewed negatively as thieves, cutthroats, brigands, and bandits from the outside looking in, but it is worth noting that this stigma exists because it is for the most part true. The split between the Duskwights and Wildwoods is very very real. They changed the spelling and sometimes the pronunciation old family names over it, and it still persists to this day. Though as mentioned some people don't like to touch on that divide because it can lead to dealing with uncomfortable racist themes. To say the two tribes don't like each other is a bit of an understatement. It is worth noting that the lorebook notes that most Elezen default to being Wildwood, but that Ishgardian Elezen don't actually make a distinction. When discussing the split between the Elezen we are largely talking about those Elezen that have their roots in Gelmorra and Gridania, not Dravania or Ishgard. All Duskwights trace back to Gelmorra and the Shroud, the same is not so for all Elezen. It is also worth noting that Gelmorra did not just fall into disrepair and become abandoned, it was attacked by Gridania by the command of The Elementals. This is the act Duskies usually point to as the vector for the Duskwight/Wildwood split and animosity. Conversely, the Wildwood point to the Duskies choosing to say in Gelmorra and not make pact with The Elementals as the vector. If you can find a copy, the lore book can be super helpful for finding neat Duskwight/Gelmorra tidbits. It can be hard to get a hold of because it seems to be on constant back order, but I believe some people put scans of it online when it first came out. Hope this has been helpful.

That was only a few centuries ago, right? I'm surprised there's so much physical divergence in those branches and so little in the Ishgardian ones - Ishgard was founded over a thousand years ago, wasn't it? Gelmorra and Ishgard are relatively concurrent. Both were established about 500 or so years after the Sixth Umbral era. Dravania (the kingdom where dragons and elezen lived together) is far older, but we are not sure by how much. Elezen settle Coerthas in 350, and Ishgard is expressly founded in 545. We have no hard dates as far as the founding of Gelmorra, but 761 marks the time the Elezen of Gelmorra banded together with the Hyur for mutual protection in the face of the Elementals wrath (instead of the two races fighting). 1077 of the 6th astral era marks the founding of Gridania and the pact the Hyur and Elezen made with the Elementals. Gelmorra itself falls some where between the 1100s and 1300s (most in game sources put Gelmorra's fall at being 500+ years ago) when the Elementals order Gridania to attack it. The first part of the split between Wildwood and Duskwight is made when Elezen refuse to accept the pact with the Elementals, and it is sealed when their Wildwood cousins come at the Elementals orders to drive them out and scatter them. Ishgardians are effectively Wildwoods by the character creator, though some bloodlines do have Duskwight traits since Ishgard was on of the main places they fled to after Gelmorra's fall. It is super weird that there was a divergence of Elezen physiologically after only 500 years or so, but you can give that some flex time by a few centuries or more since Duskie trait (dark skin tone, longer ears, better hearing) might have started cropping up while Gelmorra was still a thing. It should be noted that Duskies get a them only face tattoo in the character creator, this most likely represents one of the wards against the Elementals they are said to have created, all though I don't think that has been explicitly stated anywhere. Whee.

A couple of hopefully helpful things. 1. Which flavor of Elezen? Just Ishgardian is fine, Ishgardian Elezen don't seem to care about the split too much. Gridania on the other hand is pretty intolerant to outsiders and pretty prejudiced toward Duskies. There is an angle there to be worked that could aid in the transition if your character has some traits that are outside the normal outsider in Grid. Bad things as a result of this can chain you into... 2. What made your character snap? A common thread for the DRKs we can observe is that some event/injustice/tragedy. Usually the event is accepted as "OK" from the viewpoint of the society they are living in (fortunately Gridania is a terrible terrible place). This caused them to break a bit mentally and emotionally. The result of the break being the point at which they started accessing their Darkside. While it does not necessarily need to be as dramatic of a break and result as the one DRK quest line (omitting specifics because SPOILERS), something gets them to the point that they decide to correct society's wrongs (with darkness and a great sword!). This can lead you tooooo... 3. What emotion drives your character's Darkside? DRK and Darkside stuff flows from emotion, and not just the "dark" ones. There is an emotional core that fuels DRKs and their stuff. Fury, sorrow, and pain are some obvious choices, but so are joy and love. Anything emotion is valid, the field is wide open. The response and handling of that emotion is what really counts. It is even possible to have this "core emotion" be an unknown aspect to the character (or even one they are unwilling to admit to themselves). It does not necessarily need to be the direct, raw, and visceral emotional response to the event in #2. Depending on the story you wish to tell that initial response to event-o-breaking fun can even be something that is holding them back as they develop and grow. I hope this has been useful. Feel free to poke me if you have other questions or need some stuff clarified.

To clarify specifically on this note for Duskwights. They don't have better vision. What they do have is enhanced hearing/echo location. From the Lorebook, p. 83 - "For the selfsame reason, they possess an evolved sense of hearing - their ability to ascertain the source of a sound with unerring accuracy, unaffected by echoes or reverberations, is often likened to that of the shadow-dwelling bat." It should be noted that further up the page Wildwoods are noted to have better hearing that most of the races, due to the size and shape of their ears, just not the weird crazy bat sight of their cave dwelling cousins. *insert quotes about people's companions breathing so loud they could have been shot in the dark here.*

The art seems pretty easy to pick up from quest dialogue and relatively wide spread. Gyr Abania may have been where it started but there is also mention of it being taken to the Sharlayans. There are a couple people saying "must be Ala Mhigan" but I think that really only applies if one is trying to be a Crimson Duelist (which would seem difficult to be at this point because reasons). The quest is pretty clear that all Crimson Duelists were Red Mages, but not all Red Mages were Crimson Duelists. RDM is actually one of the more open jobs out there in terms of lore.

I hate to correct you, but several NPCs with the Echo recuited the Scions are still alive (even after the spoiler event). The Roe that does squats still, and his elezen buddy are still kicking and specifically talk about being expected to take on Ifrit in the WoL absence dealing with other things as reasons for continuing their tough training schedule. Both have the Echo. The Sea Wolf Fem-roe Salfswys in waking sands talked about her awkwardness adjusting to having the Echo is also still there. Heck, the lore book even states clearly that she was also at Cartenau which could make her a plural WoL candidate. The point is plenty of Echo holders recruited by the Scions/Path of the Twelve/Circle of Knowing over the years are still alive and kicking. We are even attracting more, like Krile. While I personally think it is a long shot in the dark, we may even run into our old path companion again or hear some sort of nod to their fate in Stormblood. They were Ala Mhigan resistance, after all. Yar. If I remember correctly, though, the people who are still around weren't there for the spoiler event: I thought everyone who existed prior gets caught up in the dramatic incident. I'm happy to be wrong, but I was operating under the assumption that 2.0 neatly wraps up vast majority of the MSQ 1.x roleplayers. I personally feel that characters like Slafswyn and such are the wrap up for the path companions. Having them be used as stand in references for them since it would be whacky to implement that whole each on is different to every 1.0 player. Still. One never knows. They could reach back and resurrect that old lingering Ala Mhigan resistance path companion thread. There was totally a "holy 1.0 plot threads, batman" moment with the most recent Starlight quest thing, which was a pleasant surprise. So one never knows, even if I do kinda doubt it. Yar.

I hate to correct you, but several NPCs with the Echo recuited the Scions are still alive (even after the spoiler event). The Roe that does squats still, and his elezen buddy are still kicking and specifically talk about being expected to take on Ifrit in the WoL absence dealing with other things as reasons for continuing their tough training schedule. Both have the Echo. The Sea Wolf Fem-roe Salfswys in waking sands talked about her awkwardness adjusting to having the Echo is also still there. Heck, the lore book even states clearly that she was also at Cartenau which could make her a plural WoL candidate. The point is plenty of Echo holders recruited by the Scions/Path of the Twelve/Circle of Knowing over the years are still alive and kicking. We are even attracting more, like Krile. While I personally think it is a long shot in the dark, we may even run into our old path companion again or hear some sort of nod to their fate in Stormblood. They were Ala Mhigan resistance, after all. Yar.

Hmmmm. I'll bite. I shall send you a message thing. ^ ^

Thing the first. You have zero right to demand something be out of any piece of fictional or creative work. None, nada, zip, zilch. You only have the right to not engage or partake of a particular creative work. That is it. You may critique, you may complain, you may dislike it, but you do not get to demand a particular piece of a content be removed because you do not like it. To be clear, do not read this as "if you don't like it, get out." That isn't what I mean. I mean that you are not entitled to having a particular creative work stripped of content so that you are more comfortable with it. Thing the second. This is a game, and its themes are many and run a whole spectrum of gray scale. Slavery, addiction, oppression, suppression, class issues, religious issues, gender issues, just to name a few. The game is telling a story, made up of other stories. The essence of good storytelling is drama, and the essence of drama is conflict. Conflict means confronting something as obvious as a big scary dragon, and it also means confronting the big scary dragon that is really something like man's inhumanity to man. What subject matter and themes are explored, and how they are explored are the creator's decisions. Sometimes those decisions are good, sometimes they are bad. Sometimes harsh, horrifying, and dark themes have to be explored to give a full picture of the world. More often than not things are executed well for some people, and executed poorly for others. At the risk of sounding harsh, and while I respect your feelings and critique of the game's content, that is just your opinion. There is no right or wrong in the subjective interpretation of a creative work. What people are looking for when engaging a creative work is different from person to person. Thing the third. You want a fictional world where everything is cute, nice, funny, and lighthearted. That isn't this world. ARR starts five years after a huge calamity. Many people died, many more were displaced, and nations suffered. It was all somewhat less than rosy. Heavensward is about a devastating war based on 1000 year old lie. Again, less than rosy. The damage of these overarching, high level events trickles down into everything. The Lalafell that people think are cute and adorable, also have some of the most ruthless and evil schemers ever put to fiction among their number. It is fine to draw what you like out of the material, to identify with it more than other perhaps darker aspects, but to say that that is all this game is is a fallacy. A truer statement is to say that you enjoy the lighthearted content more than the darker stuff. Which is, again, fine. No judgement, people like what they like. Just as people like seeing what the dark side of the world is like. There is no right or wrong in what you enjoy, but there is equally no right or wrong in what others enjoy either.

FFXIV touches upon ALOT of serious subjects, just by hinting it through various NPC's around the world. Abuse, suicide, all that good and dark stuff. I'm sure something as rape is also mentioned or implied somewhere in the game already. Yup. Go run Sastasha. Oh right, already at the very first dungeon we see those women kidnapped and abused by the pirates. So there you go. Also in Little Ala Mhigo, by other Ala Mhigans no less. This game does not flinch in a lot of places.

I think we are a bit worse off than that. I think we are being set up for a loss when 4.0 is all said and done (though perhaps not right away). The Eorzean Alliance, by their own admission, was barely able to fend off the remnants of a single Imperial Legion and still cannot reclaim the territory occupied since the Calamity. With the losses and damage from a 1000 year war, Ishgard is not exactly in any place to help now that it is in the Alliance. The Imperial War Machine (and some of their war machines) is a juggernaut. They were, as stated, as sleeping giant that the Alliance has only been able to hold back because the Empire was not really interested in pushing farther into Eorzea, and they have at least 13 legions left to deal with us. Whee. It is all fun stuff to adapt to for RP on both the personal and grand level. What price are you willing to pay to see your homeland liberated? What price are you willing to inflict on others who have no stake in the fight? What price are you willing to accept to help? When faced with the impending conflict what do you do? Stand? Run? Collaborate and scheme to save your hide and the hides of others? What/who will you protect? What lines will you cross to do it? Even on the larger scope level there is neat junk. Limsa is actively training Warriors and Scholars for use in a war effort. Ul'dah could start conscripting Free Paladins into service. Will the Elementals even allow Gridania to remain in a conflict that most certainly threatens the balance of the Black Shroud? What concessions will Gridania have to make? Ishgard has 10 Dragoons left, do we really think they are not going to train and field more of their elite fighting force when conflict with the Empire looms? What is the general populace of Eorzea going to do? When things look bad, who are they going to blame? Bringing it back around to the personal, given the nature of how this is all starting, who are you going to blame? Fun stuff all around, and that is just a tip of the iceberg.

I would not so much consider it aggression. More like, some idiots went and kicked the Empire in the teeth, and now the rest of us will probably have to suffer for their misguided sense of patriotism. "THE EMPIRE WITH A MILITARY FORCE OF MAGITEK AND ROBOTS HAS MORE MAGITEK AND ROBOTS! HOW COULD WE HAVE FORESEEN THIS!?!?!!?"

It is also worth mentioning that the Rite of Purification is far from the only means of staving off the Elemental's wrath. The lore book says: "The customs of the subterranean city of Gelmorra are still practiced by the Duskwight to this day, from architectural advances developed to stake out comfortable residences in dank, humid caves to mystical wards that serve to stave off the wrath of the Elementals." - p.83, under Duskwight Culture section. It is not entirely a question of whether they are de facto following the law of the Elementals by following the law of the Trapper's (though this could still be true and apply). It is also worth noting that the Duskwights are in no way bound by the Pact (they are giving the Duskwight distinction partially because of their refusal to participate in it and remain in Gelmorra). This all goes to explain that there is more than one way to skin a cat, or in this case prevent a cat from being skinned. Assuming that the Keepers do not have their own method to ward against the Elementals, it is entirely within the realm of possibility that they either learned the wards from the Duskwight, or trade services and goods in exchange for the Duskwight performing them, or both. Both are considered to be outsiders and heretics by Gridania and treated pretty poorly by it's citizens on a whole. My neighbor and I against the enemy, and all that.

The lore book does clarify a few things. 1. There are no real clarification details on how people become Dark Knights, just that the first wave of them were inspired by Trypaniel the Unshod's actions in 960 of the 6th Astral Era. Tryphaniel is credited as the first Dark Knight, and the one who started the Dark Knights' crusade for the common folk in Ishgard. There are no real details on how he tapped into his Darkside or when (though it was likely in his trial by combat over killing a clergy member for molesting a child or shortly after when he was stripped of his knighthood). There were just accusations that he had "fallen to darkness." The entry for Fray talks about both book bound and physical aspects to Dark Knight training, and other bits of the Dark Knight entry confirm that DRKs have a lot of caster in them as well as just swinging a GS around. 2. Ones actual Darkside does appear to be very personal. Fueled differently for each person. The only common descriptors for Darkness and Darkside are that they are stygian, shadowy, and, entropic in nature. There is also mention that the Dark Knight does have to maintain control of their own Darkside or face a form of backlash (described as being entropic energies) for failing to maintain control. Fear and wrath are the most common emotional fuels, but we know there are other emotions that can fuel it from the DRK quests. 3. Again, no real clarifying details. I thing this speaks to the personal nature of tapping into and controlling one's Darkside, so your best bet is coming up with your own drives and such. 4. Covered a little above, but so long as you remain in control over your own power, you are all good. Backlash if you don't remain in control. It should be noted that Darkness, Darkside, and Dark Arts are all considered to be "forbidden" techniques. They are also all distinct things. It is mentioned that Dark Arts were not even invented until several centuries after the early Dark Knights were running around. As Warren mentioned, there is not an overarching organization of Dark Knights that has been mentioned in game and the lore book does not clarify that much. Master and Student relationships are talked about, but nothing past it. This leads me to the conclusion that the Dark Knights are more of a loose fellowship/confederation of individuals, rather than a formal organized group. They really don't go into what they are doing past 3.4 either. As long as there are commoners being oppressed somewhere, you are likely to find a Dark Knights springing up, though. I hope this has been helpful, yar.