Hydaelyn Role-Players

The Localization forum section of the official forums tend to not see much attention. The team's posts don't show up on the dev tracker or anything so their posts are easy to miss. However, here are a couple tidbits of info from their posts that some may find interesting. The first one hints at the Kobold language being simplistic.

Fernehalwes Wrote:The similarly sounding names here are intentional, and should reflect the fact that the kobolds have a relatively simple language.

O'Ghomoro is the name of the volcano on/in which the kobolds reside. The U'Ghamaro Mines is the name of a system of caverns within the volcano.

*Link for above quote: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/25159-U-Ghamaro-Mines">http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/thre ... maro-Mines</a><!-- m -->

The second interesting post is in regards to species, genum, class, and kingdom for some of the creatures out there.

Fernehalwes Wrote:First let me start by clearing up the genus issue. The theory you threw out there, while a remarkably good one, landed a few yalms off target. The facts are a little less colorful, but far from boring (at least in my opinion).

The short answer: Fireflies are vilekin; wisps and plasmoids are voidsent.

The skinny: The three are in no way related, nor are they the same creature in different stages of development. It is mere coincidence that fireflies and wisps share the same elemental aspect, much in the same way that it is coincidence that some wavekin salamanders and scalekin drakes are both aspected to lightning.

Ah, but you are probably thinking that this does not explain why all three creatures use the same attack (Stellar Flame). It is widely known that special attacks are usually only used by members of the same genus. For example, though they are both of the same class (cloudkin), only apkallus use Yawn, while only hippogryphs use Shriek. Following this line of thinking, wisps and plasmoids should not be using the same techniques as fireflies. So what gives? Well, it has been noted that wisps (widely believed to be the spiritual remnants of long-deceased souls) and plasmoids (in some circles, thought to be unstable manifestations of lightning-aspected aether, in others, to be a by-product of Garlean magitek technologies, though most likely a combination of both) display only limited cognitive abilities, and react to their surroundings driven more by primitive inherent tendencies than complex reasoning. Using these observations as a foundation for their theory, certain scholars have formed the hypothesis that when wisps and plasmoids cross over into Eorzea from the void, they mistake the glowing fireflies of this world as brethren and instinctively begin emulating their actions, thus the similarities that we see between the species.

Now to answer your second question:

Coblyns and doblyns both fall under the kingdom (regnum) bloodborn, the class soulkin, and the genus coblyn, but are of a different species. I suppose you could liken them to lions and leopards on Earth. Both are of the same kingdom (Animalia), class (Mammalia), and genus (Panthera), but from there the branch splits.

Another example of this would be gigantoads and vodyanoi. Both fall under the kingdom of bloodborn, the class wavekin, and the genus gigantoad; however, as with the coblyns/doblyns, the two are of a slightly different species.

I'm going to leave questions of cross-breeding unanswered here, because that's a whole other can of worms.

Just as a side note, it is common for many creatures in Eorzea to have the same genus and species name (as seen in the aforementioned coblyns and gigantoads). Early naturalists such as Frandelont Raimdelle (author of the Raimdelle Codex) are to blame for this.

*Link to above quote: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/24387-Insects-and-Energies-%28Naming-Convention-Conflict-%29">http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/thre ... nflict-%29</a><!-- m -->

Another post from our localization guy! This one is in regards to the Twin Adders poster in which people have thus far assumed to be Kan-E-Senna. It's been confirmed that the art is actually that of the goddess, Nophica.

Quote:Hello, all!

This is Fernehalwes from the Localization team. Some of you may know me from such posts as "Thanks! That bug will we fixed in the coming patch!" and "Great catch! The erroneous comma will be removed and reflected in patch 1.XXa!"

I've also been known (once in a blue moon) to post juicy tidbits of Eorzean lore, which was why I was called upon to address the issue of the Gridanian Grand Company poster released earlier this month.

There has been much speculation that the...er...well-endowed woman depicted could be the Elder Seedseer, Kan-E-Senna. However, as has been pointed out by many an astute fan, the woman in the poster lacks the telltale horns seen on Padjals. So, who then, could this goddess-like figure be?

Well it turns out that it actually is a goddess--the guardian deity of Gridania, in fact.

(From the Character Creation screen)

"Nophica, tender of soils and harvests and goddess of abundance, is the guardian deity of Gridania. She commands the element of earth and is associated with the eleventh moon of the Eorzean calendar. Nophica is the daughter of Azeyma, and the younger sister of Llymlaen. She is most often depicted as a jubilant farmer holding a scythe of steel. Her symbol is the spring leaf."

(From residents of Eorzea)

"The Twelveswood is a vast forest set aside just for the elementals by the Matron, Nophica. It was here long before we came, and will remain long after we are gone."

"Just as Nophica's bounty helps Her children to grow, so too does the blessing of experience help young men and women grow into noble servants of the land."

"Do you not know that hymn of Nophica? It's an old favorite among farmers and harvesters.
Sun's sweet smile and wind's cool breath♪
Both of these I send thee♪
To ripe thy fruit and spread thy seed♪
And nourish those that tend thee.♪"

In short, Nophica is a mother-figure associated with bountiful harvests, fertility, and nature...hence the tendency for artists to incorporate these themes into her appearance and...er, physique.

I hope that clears everything up!
See you all again in the Localization forums!

Official post: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/25284-Mistake-on-Twin-Adder-Poster?p=386119&viewfull=1#post386119">http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/thre ... post386119</a><!-- m -->