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+--- Thread: General Lore Questions (/showthread.php?tid=4766)
RE: General Lore Questions - Goodfellow - 10-01-2013
Hey folks, back again with another question.Â
I'm aware of the alternate names for measures of time (bells, suns, moons, etc.), but I keep seeing people mentioning "cycles" on their wikis.  Now, I get that they're referencing years,but is "cycle" the in-game term fora year or is that an  overextension of the vocab by an enthusiastic community?
RE: General Lore Questions - FreelanceWizard - 10-01-2013
(10-01-2013, 04:47 PM)Goodfellow Wrote: I'm aware of the alternate names for measures of time (bells, suns, moons, etc.), but I keep seeing people mentioning "cycles" on their wikis.  Now, I get that they're referencing years,but is "cycle" the in-game term fora year or is that an  overextension of the vocab by an enthusiastic community?
The term "years" is used in game. I'm not aware of any instances of an NPC referring to a year as a "cycle" -- but please, someone correct me if I'm wrong.
RE: General Lore Questions - Ildur - 10-01-2013
I do not think 'cycle' is used anywhere in lore. It's just a logical conclusion about how the naming should work based on how everything is based around aetheric cycles.
You can see here that the information was in-game at some point in 1.0. You can see that there's a section called "Years", when the sections corresponding to days and months are called "Suns" and "Moons" respectively.
A member of my linkshell made a fancy guide about how Eorzea measures time. You can find it here. *shameless publicity*
RE: General Lore Questions - Goodfellow - 10-01-2013
That's about what I thought. Thanks.
RE: General Lore Questions - Goodfellow - 10-06-2013
Ala Mhigo. Specifically, rebellions/revolts. I'm wondering a little bit about how many there have been and when?Â
Also, what was the perception of Ala Mhigo before it fell to the Garleans? And now, I suppose? They were conquerors, after all.
RE: General Lore Questions - Ildur - 10-06-2013
Ala Mhigo had a bad relationship with the other city states. There are no specifics, but it is said that they tried to invade the others a few times.
There was apparently one attempt to recover the city from the Garleans by the local resistance, but it failed miserably. Those that fled the city are scatered between the Black Shroud (in Quarrymill, I think) and a town to the south of Ul'dah, Little Ala Mhigo (which is really a big cave).
There's a lot of information about Ala Mhigo's fall in this thread..
The spoilers you want are the ones about the Fists of Rhalgr and the Last King of Ala Mhigo. The others are interesting lore but aren't related to the city state.
RE: General Lore Questions - Goodfellow - 10-06-2013
Excellent. Â Much appreciated.Â
Do we know if there is still some amount of resentment towards Ala Mhigans by other Eorzeans today?
RE: General Lore Questions - FreelanceWizard - 10-06-2013
(10-06-2013, 08:24 PM)Goodfellow Wrote: Do we know if there is still some amount of resentment towards Ala Mhigans by other Eorzeans today?
Ala Mhigan refugees in Little Ala Mhigo and Quarrymill are often viewed negatively by Eorzeans, as they tend to be quite poor and rather prickly, preferring to keep to themselves. For their part, the Ala Mhigan refugees often have a negative opinion of other Eorzeans for not helping them in their time of need. Those in Little Ala Mhigo tend to dislike Ul'dah a great deal, as they feel the city is refusing to aid them and its citizens often try to take advantage of them.
So, the resentment is largely due to the fall of Ala Mhigo and its aftermath, not so much due to the actions of the kingdom in the past.
RE: General Lore Questions - Goodfellow - 10-06-2013
All very helpful to know.
RE: General Lore Questions - Goodfellow - 10-07-2013
I've got another question. Â This time about Seekers of the Sun.Â
How do nunhs refer to "their" females? Â As their females, their women, their wives, or something else?
RE: General Lore Questions - Saigejo - 10-11-2013
Alright, I've got a question for y'all.
I'm trying to understand Monks and how their techniques gain power, but I think I'm struggling a little bit and I'm stumped. Here is what I get so far...
1. In FFXIV, the Lifestream exists - both in the planet, and in living things.
2. Monks draw their power from the soul.
3. The power that is drawn from the soul is a very specific form of Aether that they call, "Chakra". Chakra is an equatable energy source to aether that fuels magic.
4. By reaching a higher state of mind, Monks unlock one of seven gates that block the flow of Chakra. They train their minds in places where the planet's Chakra has been blocked due to some sort of horrible or intense event, such as a battlefield or the site of a great natural disaster.
5. You must unlock each Chakra Gate in order.
6. The stronger the "soul", the more Chakra is generated.
Now, here is the problem that I'm facing: does it say anywhere in the game that the "Lifestreams" and "Souls" are the same thing? Is the "Lifestream" the Aether that runs through "Souls"? I am leaning towards thinking that "Chakra" is basically what Monks call FFXIV's "Lifestream" and that they essentially use this powerful pathway of Aether that exists within everything to make themselves stronger and pull off incredible, physics-defying stunts (their job abilities). Is there anything that outright contradicts this? Is there anything that supports this?
I guess what I'm saying is, "mank halp"
RE: General Lore Questions - Swift Nightclaw - 10-11-2013
(10-07-2013, 12:45 AM)Goodfellow Wrote: I've got another question. Â This time about Seekers of the Sun.Â
How do nunhs refer to "their" females? Â As their females, their women, their wives, or something else?
I've not seen anything official on this in game, but I'd imagine they'd simply be seen as the women of their tribe. It doesn't seem too often that multiple nunhs are living in the same area, so it's basically just the women of their tribe.
I don't get the impression they'd be considered wives as there's not really any mutual love between them so much as he's the best breeding stock and he'll father her children if she's going to have them. In the desert in south Thanalan, a miqo'te female basically asks her sister when her next breeding is set for.
So I'd imagine the nunh sees them as his women of his tribe.
Regarding the monks, I think this is the easiest way to think of it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakra
[youtube]jwSoCaqNYHk[/youtube]
You can also think of the chakra and all the stuff related to the monks along the same lines as Star Wars' The Force (which is also based of the ideas of qi)
RE: General Lore Questions - Saigejo - 10-11-2013
(10-11-2013, 05:52 PM)Swift Nightclaw Wrote: Regarding the monks, I think this is the easiest way to think of it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakra
Yeah, I know about Qigong and Chakra as both application and philosophy, but its application into superior techniques in this game is something that I'm trying to nail down. It's actually really important, since it either limits or expands on what Monks should and shouldn't be able to do in-character.
For example, if Chakra DOES come directly from the soul, then that means that Monks manipulate Aether using their body, and that they use the Aether to unclog both their personal Lifestream and the Lifestream of the planet. This means that Monks are MUSCLE WIZARDS RAAAAH! ...but seriously, this means that Monks are, essentially, magic-users that deal damage using internal-strikes by both enhancing themselves and by sending Aetheric shockwaves into their foes.
However, if Chakra does NOT work like it is meant to, and that Chakra is NOT Aether like the game has been alluding to (as far as I have seen, it does), then that means that Chakra is not in fact any form of magic, and that it is excess energy from the Lifestream itself... which means that who knows what the hell this means because there is next to no lore about how the Lifestream operates.
So, what basically is going on here is one of two things: either Chakra works a lot like "energy" that people would be familiar with in various mainstream media formats, though it has a more "magical" flare to it - meaning, no "Kamehameha" or "Spirit Gun" nonsense, but it would still be entirely possible to exude an aura of Chakra around a person for defense; OR, it would mean that Chakra is so lost in this game's lack of fluff that it cannot be labeled by any means.
Keep in mind, when I say "aura for defense", I'm thinking of Fists of the Earth, not "YAAAAAAAAH NOW YOU SHALL SEE MY TRUE FORM".
The Monks cutscenes certainly do add a lot of pretty lights and aura effects as well, but what I want to know is what kind of energy this is supposed to be, how well Monks manipulate it, etc.
So far as I have seen, it's pretty much what I stated in my earlier post - "Chakra" is Aether generated from strong souls, and that Monks manipulate Chakra to open gates within a Lifestream. However, what I'm asking is if there is further specifics, because I can't find any.
RE: General Lore Questions - Ildur - 10-11-2013
If you think about it, every Disciple of War is a 'muscle wizard'. Heavy use of Aether is the only way to justify how a gladiator is able to cut Titan's ankles with what is basically a very sharp needle (as far as Titan is concerned). Or how Dragoons are capable of jumping outrageously far to hit airborne dragons. Or how a Bard's arrows can pierce through the stone guardians in the Temple of Qarn. Etcetera. The flimsy auto-attacks everyone gets is what an unassisted blow looks like: perfectly normal and not very damaging. All the flashy special effects we get when using skills? I don't see them just as an aesthetic (and blinding) choice, but as a representation of the use of aether.
Everyone is, essentially, an aether user. What differes is the method of use, I'd say. Though it's never specified what the difference might be.
RE: General Lore Questions - Saigejo - 10-11-2013
(10-11-2013, 06:39 PM)Ildur Wrote: Everyone is, essentially, an aether user. What differes is the method of use, I'd say. Though it's never specified what the difference might be.
That was my question, right there. If there was serious in-game confirmation on the difference. I think I'm going to stick with what I've been assuming - for now, at least. Thanks for the feedback!