Silmanos

That is not exactly true. While there are plenty of miqo'te living in the cities and adapting to a different life style there are massive amounts of racial tension in Eorzea. This is seen in countless places in the game, especially in the Archer quest line where the Elezen constantly degrades the Miqo'te. Also there is a gay couple at Bronze Lake that is constantly being subjected to ridicule because they are of different races. So while you do not need a clan or a tribe to survive and many miqo'te are living as the hyur do, this does not mean that they are not subjected to ridicule both from the other races as well as the tribal members of their own race.

The spell in question is the spell called Flow, it was the original teleportation spell developed by Sharlayan when they began to experiment with teleportation magic in the early Sixth Astral Era. This spell however is extremely dangerous and has resulted in deaths, which is why it was forbidden and phased out for the newer spells that became possible once Sharlayan got a grasp on Aetheryte technology. The spell Flow, like all teleportation magic, does not require a focus in any way which is why you don't see her using one. It is indeed faster to cast than your average teleport spell which is theorized to take several minutes in game lore to actually cast, but it does take more time to cast than your average combat based spell. When it comes to foci being used in the process of spellcasting most of what we have seen is that casters do in fact need the focus for their specific art in order to cast spells. One could possibly use brute force and throw a blast of unaspected aether without a focus, but this would likely be difficult to control. Various Disciples of War do indeed utilize aether, but never quite on the same scale as a Thaumaturge, Conjurer, Arcanist, or Astrologian, let alone the older arts of Scholars, Summoners, Black Mages, and White Mages. These spells are infinitely more complex and require a good deal more aether than probably any DoW abilities do save maybe Monks and Dragoons. The purpose of their foci is to channel and hold this aether while they structure the spell, and in the case of Arcanists to help proved the shape of the spell as well. Now that isn't to mean that your focus /has/ to be the traditional grimoire, cane, or staff. Just the important parts. Arcanists rely on aether conductive ink to channel the aether, so theoretically it may be possible to use this to place the geometries into clothing though this would severely limit your repertoire of spells. For Thaumaturges the big thing is the enchanted gem combined with aether conductive metal, and conjurers wood treated with a special alchemy compound to make it react almost like living wood. The only one I can't really see a way around is Astrologian for their globes aren't just conductive to aether, but they also align with the heavens which is important to Astrologian spells.

There is a grain of truth to this perception. Right now in most of my current circles my character is one of the few straight male characters being rp'd around, and for the most part the ones that are there are quite certainly taken. That said these characters aren't just a myth, they do exist and there are more than a few looking for romance partners as well. The one thing I can say is that you may need to look harder because as Tea says we tend to fade into the crowd, because we just don't advertise our character's orientation like that. I put more all around applicable info in my search info, such as the fact that my character is Sharlayan, or that as of right now he almost always looks exhausted. Things that I want people to notice right away. And while this isn't something that is applicable only to straight characters, you are far less likely to see us listing gender preferences in our search info. My advice is to also scrounge around tumblr and the wiki's. While some of these may be out of date ((especially wikis)) they are generally where most players put their character's orientation and relationship status. I don't know what the rp community on Brynhyldir is like, but keep an eye out for events that advertise single's nights or even just random meet up rps. We've had a few things like that on Balmung, though the former hasn't happened in some time, and they can be perfect opportunities to get a more blatant showing of who is around looking for what you are. And if there are no events like that give some thought to running one. Even if it is a one off there may be others on your server stuck in the same position as you who could benefit greatly from such an event.

Originally during their time with having the Colony that was located in Dravania they did in fact teach Eorzeans their arts. However since their retreat to their homeland they have become exceedingly protective of their knowledge and arts. There are some exceptions to this such as the Students of Baldesion and the Circle of Knowing, but the Bibliothecs ((which is a political party in Sharlayan)) seem to have gained quite a bit of power so one could easily infer that they'd likely have turned away most since their exodus into isolation. For the most part the Scions that were Eorzeans were additionally specific for they were taught before the exodus, and some by Louisoix who decided to flip off the Forum and do as he pleased. The fact that he was an Archon and powerful meant no one was really going to stop him. Other cases though, as shown by the AST questline, shows the Conservatists of the Forums will go to any lengths necessary to stop Sharlayan arts from being spread.

Ironically the only Othardian Lalafells we are shown are in Eorzea already. There are a few NPCs stating that they are from Othard, but that is the only indication of such as like you I don't actually remember spotting them in any of the Othard zones we were given.

As of this point in time we don't even have a hint of that even being a thing. So far the only races confirmed being present in Othard are Hyur, Roegadyn, Lalafell, and Au Ra. Not even Elezen seem to be present in Othard thus far. Now we of course have not seen all of Othard so this is only true thus far for Doman, the Azim Steppes, and Hingashi. So a whole entire clan of them seems to be quite a bit of a stretch, that said it isn't entirely impossible to be a miqo'te from Othard you'd just have to do a good job of explaining it. The Garlean forces of course are an easy way, seeing as conscripts are taken from provinces (like Ala Mhigo) and sent elsewhere in the Empire to serve. This could easily put a miqo'te in Doma during her occupation and they settled down there.

Everyone has pretty much covered everything else. The only thing I want to add is in regards to how many skills is too many and that is to just remember that character age should also play into it. For me it just breaks all sense of immersion to see an 18 yr old character walking around as the master of the universe. Older characters of course will generally have more skills under their belt to coincide with their experiences, but when making a young character I think it is important to try and limit yourself on this. One because it opens up a lot of rp opportunities to ICly learn things from other characters and taking your time when doing so. I won't lie, I love seeing those younger characters with a big ego but not much to back it up learning and growing creating hooks for themselves as well as the veteran characters around them.

While the Dragoon job isn't locked to just Elezen ((One of the former Azure Dragoons was a hyur)) it is pretty locked up tight. The Order of the Dragoon is an elite military unit in Ishgard, so it would require some connection to Ishgard's military in order to get in. And by Elite it is a feat to even be chosen to undergo training let alone graduate from training and earn the right to be called a Dragoon. In addition to this both Ishgard opening its gates to foreigners and the arrival of the majority of Au Ra in Eorzea is a recent thing, making it even more unlikely that one would be given an honor above all others to train to be a Dragoon. The WoL in lore is pretty much the only one that circumvents this because the Eye of Nidhogg reacts to the WoL marking them as the Azure Dragoon creating a once in a history event of there being two Azure Dragoons at once. The final difficulty is the fact that there were only 10 remaining active duty Dragoons at the end of the Dragonsong War, all of which are accounted for as named npcs except I think one. It would be far easier to sell yourself as a Lancer who has managed to tie aether based strikes into their fighting style and there are a lot of different Spear using units. Ishgard, Gridania, and Ala Mhigo are all well known for their Lancer units, and I'd be surprised if Doma or Hingashi didn't have something similar. As for the Blood of the Dragon effects... you can say they use aether to create similar abilities, but expect some to still raise eyebrows at that.

The only soul stone that is utilized by any of Ishgard's official forces is the Soul of the Dragoon, which has it's own nasty string of requirements and limitations ((Mainly because SE decided and it would be fun to arbitrarily take a single job and attach a number to them while usually remaining vague on such details)). As for your standard rank and file Temple Knights, they are pretty much ordinary people just fighting with swords, bows, spears, and the like. The majority of these don't really do anything special, but as others have said there are those in the ranks of the Temple Knights that are recruited from the Scholasticate which is the magic institution for Ishgard so there is even more opportunity. As far as trying to explain Paladin like skills? Well you wouldn't say they were Paladin skills first off, and there is no need to. Most Paladin skills are simple sword strikes, and for the ones that aren't they are pretty much sword strikes enhanced by aether. So there are plenty of ways to spin that off that makes sense in the lore of the story, there is no need to feel tied down to a job name because that not only limits you, but requires you to jump through hoops to explain the why. One way could be just being a swordsman who knows a smattering of thaumaturgy and has a gem focus in the hilt of their sword to allow them to channel aether into their blade. Have fun with it and use the lore to your advantage.

This is indeed a part of the issue. The way people rp'd Dotharl in HW of course did not take into account the reasons we were given for why the Dotharl are the way they are. So because of that you likely have a rather large population of the RP community whose characters have encountered the more blatant bloodthirsty Dotharl of the HW era. In which case their IC reactions to your character upon finding out they are a Dotharl are 100% legitimate and are to be expected. Also as stated by Liadan their reputation is a bit deserved, they did pretty much wipe out an entire clan so any other Xaela may be a bit on edge around a Dotharl. Add that into the fact that you have characters from varying backgrounds, such as the aforementioned Ishgardians, that may not take well to other races. Hells technically Duskwights and Keepers should be getting a bit of the same treatment by any Gridanian characters per the lore. I can understand it can wear down on you, but on the same token it sort of comes with being Dotharl.

As some whose character is now the father of twins I can see a part of the dilemma. Yet this is the sort of thing that really should be discussed between the players and their rp partners. When embarking on this sort of thing in RP communication with one's RP partner is an absolute must. One you have to understand what each person wants to still be able to do with their characters regardless of things happening in the character's personal life. The next step is to think of ways together on how to go about it. Some times one person doesn't really want the combat scenes and stuff so their character tends to handle a lot of the responsibilities that way while the other is off doing things such as Mercenary jobs and the like. Another way I've seen it is when both characters are in such a job position and both players want to commit to that they utilize NPCs, such as family members or hired nannies, to ICly care for the children when neither parent is able to be there. It's all about the two who are in this spot coming together and talking it through, expressing their character's view point and what their character wants. Hell this doesn't even have to be done OOCly as it makes a lot of sense for this sort of discussion to happen ICly as well. Either way that communication needs to be there so both people involved are happy with how things are playing out with their respective characters.

As someone who does RP an IC mage the topic of how to handle magic in roleplay is indeed a very contentious topic. For me the big issues I have with the way most Magic Tournaments end up being held is the open IC allowance of forbidden magic, aka white magic, black magic, and void magic. While of course there are a variety of IC reason that fall well within the lore to explain why people are proficient in these arts, it is still without a doubt illegal to practice these arts in Eorzea. To add on top of that the fact that many of these tournaments like to use Fesca's Wash within sight of the Ul'dahn gates it truly does break your suspension of disbelief, because under no reason would the powers that be in Ul'dah be okay with that. This very thing caused a bit of an issue before, and I have seen some repeats of the issue with other Tournaments. The other thing that sort of keeps me away from most of these tournaments is the... extreme that people will take their creativity to. While there is a great deal of freedom in magic that we can use there are still limits to how things work in the world of Final Fantasy. To compound upon this there are instances where those pushing those limits do so in a way... well that the magic might as well be Void magic an art of necromancy, both of which again are illegal in Eorzea. In the end it all comes down to taste. For non magical tournaments it's beyond easy to deal with those who might not rp in a way that you are okay with when it comes to the lore. Mainly because? It's just plain normal weapons, not much you can do there to shatter the lore to a million pieces. With magic it is a completely different monster altogether so it becomes a lot more difficult, and in some cases impossible, for those who are lore strict and those who play far outside the lore to coexist. This, of course, is 100% my opinion on the matter and should not be taken as me speaking for anyone else at all.

Yeah the timeline given by the devs is a bit ridiculous. Especially when you are given a certain passage of times in several spots. Such as iirc from the MSQ from 3.3 to 3.4 it's stated that several months have passed due to the events happening in Ishgard, and then again during the SB portion for travel. So take those moments out of the equation and you are looking at most of the major events happening in like 6-8 months which is even more ridiculous. Edit: The majority of the people I rp with all go with irl time being in game time. It makes things a bit easier, especially when you have people who have been actively rping their character for 4 years straight.

To be honest I personally avoid anyone rping a race that doesn't specifically exist in game. As of right now we have nothing saying that viera do or will exist in the FF14, and thus by rping a viera you are setting yourself up to be potentially messed over hardcore by the devs. Even if they do introduce Viera as a race, playable or otherwise, to the lore of FF14 Neryem makes a huge point in that they most likely will not be done in any way that is similar to how they have been portrayed previously.

To be honest most rpers I've met don't even mention Rowena's existence let alone actually deal with her or her organization. The whole tomestones as a currency is more of a game mechanic than actual lore. In lore, yes, Rowena does deal with some odd armor requests and antiques and such. Rare things that most of the average person would never be able to afford. It's doubtful even most of the average adventurers would be able to afford some of her wares. That said as far as Ironworks or the Lost Allagan... that is actually rather easy to explain. Does it /have/ specifically be those sets? Aside from using the look what is to say those aren't specific pieces of Magitek armor made by some random engineer? Granted in lore it's not a common thing in Eorzea yet, but the magitek industry is a growing one as highlighted by the Garlond Ironworks, and there are many Player made FCs dealing in magitek creations.