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RDM Lore Hypotheses and Discussion


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So in the wake of the full trailer at fanfest I feel like a lot of people got swept up in the Doma/Samurai reveal and started putting together their kimonos and polishing their katanas in preparation.

 

But what about the Red Mage? We already know what the main SAM NPC looks like and that he'll be involved with the upcoming two-part conclusion to the patch. We don't have such information for RDM, however. I did a bunch of digging and there is literally nothing out there besides class mechanic information and some screenshots. There was zero story/lore information I came across. *Sounsyy Signal*

 

So I started thinking "Where does it make sense lorewise for RDM to come from?" and I came up with 3 options.

1.) Sharlayan. The general thought process here that makes sense to me is that there are more factions of mages that are becoming discontent with the way the the Biblothec party is running things and breaking off and taking their knowledge with them. RDM could be among these.

2.) Garlean. Alright, now hold up before you shank me. When I look at that sword and crystal I honestly see technology. It doesn't seem like it's out of Square Enix's realm of design to have had the Garleans try and manufacture a way to put their people on the same footing as the Eorzeans who can cast spells. Perhaps these two items have something to do with that and then the WoL/Eorzeans get a hold of them.

 

3.) Ala Mhigan. This one I honestly find even less likely than the Garlean theory. There's just no precedent for Ala Mhigo to have had a sect of flamboyant, red tuxedo wearing mages, I'm sorry. HOWEVER, I'm not going to put it past SE to inject it in there. Additionally, watch the Red Mage Gameplay reveal:

 

ht6LWFFCPUw

 

It sure looks like it could be the Gyr Abania side of Baelsar's Wall, doesn't it?

 

So what do YOU think? Bear in mind, these are all spitballs. I tout none of this as canon or even headcanon and don't want to argue about any of it. I'm just curious what other's origin thoughts on the RDM might be!

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Given their track record with world building, I doubt even Square Enix knows where RDM comes from at this point.

 

On a more serious note...

 

The fanciful rapier movements could be based on Limsa Lominsa. I know "pirates = axes" in Final Fantasy, but it looks rather swashbuckly to me.

 

There's also the chance that it's from Ilsabard, but not necessarily Garlemald. Dalmasca and Rabanastre are possible options as well.

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...

 

2.) Garlean. Alright, now hold up before you shank me. When I look at that sword and crystal I honestly see technology. It doesn't seem like it's out of Square Enix's realm of design to have had the Garleans try and manufacture a way to put their people on the same footing as the Eorzeans who can cast spells. Perhaps these two items have something to do with that and then the WoL/Eorzeans get a hold of them.

 

...

Why, it's funny you say that. I may actually have a plot going right now to, whichever way RDM goes, find a way to "magitek" it for use by Corelyn and other certain Garlics. ;-)

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If it didn't require a MSQ progression to unlock or HW completion and just the SB expansion they might even slap it somewhere in ARR areas. Cause tbh that location reminds me of the place where you fight that Roegadyn Magitek guy shortly after hitting 50.

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Well, I have to say I'm guilty as charged on the Samurai thing. I do have a character I was working on preparing for Red Mage, but she kind of got pushed to the side with the SAM reveal. Its time to pull her back up front. As for the Red Mage's origins, I think Sharlayan is the most likely. It just seems to fit.

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If it turns out that RDM gets locked behind a Special Snowflake Wall like BLM/WHM, I have a guess that the lore could possibly be something like... a separate sect of casters during the time of the War of Magi tried to combine the two warring disciplines and ending up creating something that was eventually refined into Red Magic, only to be shunned and/or forgotten due to [insert conflict here].

 

If the job is written in such a way that its more accessible to the average adventurer, however? I'd put my money on Sharlayan like others have proposed. (Or maybe we're all wrong and it's from some place we'd never even expect! I don't freakin' know.)

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Yeah, as soon we saw that cutscene, I screamed YAAAAAAAASSS!!! RED MAGE!!!

So glad it actually turned out to be a thing. ^^

 

Do you think that was hinting at what the RDM Limit Break might be? Since I'd assume it's going to be an AoE one and not single target or line.

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Yeah, as soon we saw that cutscene, I screamed YAAAAAAAASSS!!! RED MAGE!!!

So glad it actually turned out to be a thing. ^^

 

Do you think that was hinting at what the RDM Limit Break might be? Since I'd assume it's going to be an AoE one and not single target or line.

 

Honestly, that would be a bit boring... I hope SE comes up with something a bit more fun and creative for the Red Mage's Limit Break. ^^

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I'm leaning Sharlayan given the current single existing RDM NPC hails from there.

 

Are we talking...

 

 

Alisaie

 

 

 

?

 

As far as I'm aware.

 

The cutscene with her sword came out 3 months-ish prior to the reveal so I'm wondering if later on they'll render her with the crystal and everything.

 

I just don't know enough about the NPC in question tbh to say where/who she'd have gotten that from.

 

Also RDM Limit Break could essentially be what we see her do. A big roomwide AoE spanning outwards from the caster.

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Well we know Sharlayan use to open it's doors and teach around the world, let alone many flocked to it's gates. Likely what happens going into the next expansion is Red Mage hails from Ali Migho however the craft was learnt from Sharlayan similar to Astro. 

 

Vok~

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Remember Sharlayans forbid by law the teaching of disciplines of war to outsiders. It's easy to think of them as peaceful teachers of knowledge, but they're not - they're isolationists who avoid having a hand in the outcome of a given war, even indirectly (by way of teaching one of its sides a new discipline). They would much rather stand by, watch thousands of people die, then write it all down. So although there were many classes available to foreign students, classes in astromancy were not among them.

 

If RDM is Sharlayan in origin, I strongly doubt lessons in it would be freely available to outsiders, either - especially with renewed hostilities between Eorzea and Garlemald. It'd place it in the same position as AST, where non-Sharlayan characters who want to say they know it need to have a strong justification for how they came into possession of a restricted soul crystal.

 

I kind of hope it's a fresh discipline, like MCH, that's being developed by Eorzeans. But I guess we'll see? I don't really know where I think it's likely to come from...

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inb4 RDM is a WoL exclusive because they're literally the only canon, living practitioner of both White and Black Magic. We'll be given a soul crystal by some excited Gyr Abanian archaeologist who recently made the discovery that during the mass exodus to the Gyr Abanian highlands to escape the floods of the Sixth Umbral Calamity, Amdapori White Mages and Mhachi Black Mages put aside their differences and combined forces during the early Sixth Astral Era mage purge to fight off persecutors. However, the art was lost to time as living practitioners of both magical schools finally died out. /endtheorycrafting

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I really wish Square would give us SOMETHING, ANYTHING on lore about Red Mage.

 

We've gotten so much on Samurai that it's not even funny and it's kind of unfair.

 

My own personal theory is that it's origins are from Gyr Abania. Maybe not from Ala Mhigo directly, but definitely in the Gyr Abanian area.

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On the eastern edge of Abalathia's Spine lies the mountainous region of Gyr Abania.

 

It is in these elevated lands that people took shelter, when a burning star guided them away from the Sixth Umbral Calamity's treacherous floodwaters. The survivors gathered from near and far, and amongst them were refugees of the sorcerous cities of Mhach and Amdapor.

 

These sworn enemies buried their history for the sake of the future, and cast aside their vestments of black and white. Upon the remnants of their arts a new discipline was built, and the first red mages stepped forward with rapiers in hand to fight back against the rising tides of destruction.

 

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/stormblood/system/#newjob

 

Also holy shit I might be right about Mhachi being the ancestors of the Ala Mhigans o_O

 

Also rising tides of destruction? I'm looking way too far into it, but is that directed towards the FoR or just Ala Mhigans being dumb and fighting one another constantly? Monk and FoR both seem to have started appear around the Sixth Astral Era. SO MANY QUESTIONS ARGGGHGHGH

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On the eastern edge of Abalathia's Spine lies the mountainous region of Gyr Abania.

 

It is in these elevated lands that people took shelter, when a burning star guided them away from the Sixth Umbral Calamity's treacherous floodwaters. The survivors gathered from near and far, and amongst them were refugees of the sorcerous cities of Mhach and Amdapor.

 

These sworn enemies buried their history for the sake of the future, and cast aside their vestments of black and white. Upon the remnants of their arts a new discipline was built, and the first red mages stepped forward with rapiers in hand to fight back against the rising tides of destruction.

 

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/stormblood/system/#newjob

 

Also holy shit I might be right about Mhachi being the ancestors of the Ala Mhigans o_O

 

Mhachi and Amdapor.

 

inb4 RDM is a WoL exclusive because they're literally the only canon, living practitioner of both White and Black Magic. We'll be given a soul crystal by some excited Gyr Abanian archaeologist who recently made the discovery that during the mass exodus to the Gyr Abanian highlands to escape the floods of the Sixth Umbral Calamity, Amdapori White Mages and Mhachi Black Mages put aside their differences and combined forces during the early Sixth Astral Era mage purge to fight off persecutors. However, the art was lost to time as living practitioners of both magical schools finally died out. /endtheorycrafting

 

Sounsyy, it's time to come clean...do you work for SE? :lol::lol::lol:

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Yes, Liadan, I didn't predict that one about the Amdapor. So I'm not going to make claims that I did. Hence why I left it out. Thank you for your unnecessary 'correcting' because there was zero need for it. But keep passive aggressive snarking on if it makes you happy.

 

Anyhow~ Hopefully benchmark soon to come! I'm wondering how much they will show off from RDM and SAM this time around. I don't think they really did much with AST/MCH/DRK in the HW ones? Beyond a few basic abilities, not nothing special such as their LBs?

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Yes, Liadan, I didn't predict that one about the Amdapor. So I'm not going to make claims that I did. Hence why I left it out. Thank you for your unnecessary 'correcting' because there was zero need for it. But keep passive aggressive snarking on if it makes you happy.

 

I wasn't being passive aggressive, nor was I being snarky. Amdapor is a favorite subject of mine and I'm tickled to see it included.

 

Please don't read things into my words that aren't there. I have no idea why you're trying to start a fight over something this silly.

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