SpoilerIt would be interesting to find out the origins of the connection between Gridania and Ishgard.  The story goes that the founders of Ishgard were there on a "holy mission," but we know from the MSQ that the story we were told is a fabrication.

Gridania only got its start approximately 500 years prior to the Calamity, which is at least 500 years after the start of the Dragonsong War.  But prior to that, what we know know as Gridanians were, I believe, living in Gelmorra?  And at that time, it would seem that there wasn't a serious division between Wildwood and Duskwight (at least, according to the story we are told), so perhaps there was some intermarriage/cultural exchange between Gelmorra and the early Ishgard?

This could explain the presence of Duskwights in one of the noble houses. Additionally, I seem to recall that the Haukke Manor lore mentions that the house was owned by a female Duskwight of the nobility...but it pretty much would make 0 sense for her to be "nobility" of Gridania, as they hate Duskwights so intensely. So perhaps she was Ishgardian nobility or Gelmorran nobility and simply had lands in Central Shroud?

Old Duskie/Wildwood Talk

(08-05-2015, 02:06 AM)Virella Douront Wrote: However, I imagine they have been marrying Duskies, or at least gaining children, as the current heirs of Dzemael appear to be Duskwight! What is interesting, perhaps marrying outsiders is not that big of a deal then, as long they are the same race and dedicated to the cause? Because if we go back to the 1000 years ago scenario, there were no Duskwight yet, so they must have been married (or at least one of the Dzemael women had a slip up at the very least) into the family line at some point, and who knows, perhaps became the dominant 'gene' in the family so to speak!

It's an interesting conundrum exacerbated by the severe lack of Duskwight lore the game has yet provided us. The current heirs to House Dzemael, Jandelaine and Guillefresne de Dzemael are both Duskwight. And numerous accounts of lore blurbs tell us that Wildwood and Duskwight rarely mix. And that family names especially have been claimed by one clan or the other.

Elezen Naming Conventions Wrote:Both the Wildwood and Duskwight Elezen are proud clans from a proud race. The forenames and surnames used by them have changed little since the time when they first crossed into Eorzea from the north. However, over the ages, due to bad blood between the two tribes, the surnames once commonly used by both, have been claimed by one side or the other. Now, you will find that while the structures and spellings of the names are extremely similar, and they follow the same phonetic rules, a Duskwight and a Wildwood Elezen will never have the same last name.

Lodestone Wrote:For the past several centuries, the Duskwight Elezen have lived in the woodland caverns of Eorzea. These cave-dwelling Elezen are the descendants of a branch that split from the main Wildwood clan during the founding of Gridania. The Duskwight despise the "shackles" of urban life, and it is not uncommon for this reclusive people to avoid the city-states altogether.

Prosperlain Wrote:The Duskwight are cousins to us Wildwood, and the same blood of the first Elezen courses through both our veins. We are not entirely unlike in appearance, but generations spent in the darkness of caves have created rift enough between our ways of life.

Mind you, I bear their kind no ill will. I simply keep the records. And the records state that the Duskwight are generally believed to be...shall we say, unruly, and stubborn. Many turn to thievery and banditry to survive, and are seen as a disgrace to the nobility espoused by the Wildwood. Should you encounter any beyond a city's boundaries, you had best be wary.

Quote:Velodyna Carp
This scarlet cousin to the maiden carp can most commonly be found in the Velodyna and Hathoeva rivers. A favorite amongst Wildwood and Duskwight Elezen - amazingly one of the few things the clans actually agree on.

All this said, while Ishgard is predominantly "Wildwood" the possibility of Duskwight blood within the ranks is there, given the timeline.

(08-05-2015, 02:06 AM)Virella Douront Wrote: Duskwight only exist for 450 years, seeming the split off from the Wildwood when Gridania got created, so that rules out Duskwight origin for the high houses right away, seeming Ishgard is 1000 years old when it got founded!

The above quote is slightly inaccurate. While the animosity and segregation between the two Clans is only 500-600 years old, Duskwights have been around for a bit longer. Gelmorra was founded shortly after the advent of the Sixth Astral Era, c.1500 years ago, after Elezen settlers seeking to return to the Twelveswood after the Great Flood were denied access by the Elementals. These Elezen were forced to tunnel underground and built a massive subterranean city-state.

From a rather shaky, I admit, lore source provided indirectly by Fernehalwes, the division between the two clans came over the course of several hundred years. Those Elezen who still truly desired to return to the Wood lived nearer to the surface and remained Wildwood, while those who had forsaken the Wood and embraced their subterranean life dove ever deeper underground and became the Duskwight. For 1,000 years this division between Elezen grew, until 500 years ago, the last migratory wave of Hyur were accepted by the Wildwood Elezen and together forged their Pact with the Elementals, granting them leave to return to the world above. Some Duskwights left Gelmorra, some Wildwoods stayed.

But the point is, Gelmorra pre-dates Ishgard by 300 to 500 years easily. In that amount of time, it is possible that divisions in the Elezen race could've already become apparent. A Duskwight could've left Gelmorra for the Coerthan mountains to live in caves there. Given the background lore that XIV's Elezen are actually cold-weather mountain-dwellers from the great ranges of Ilsabard, Coerthas seems like the perfect home for Duskwights seeking to escape the Elementals' oppression and their Wildwood cousins' obsession with living in the Wood.

So it is possible that Sylvetrel de Dzemael could have been Duskwight. But we may never know for certain. What we do know is that 1,000 years down Sylvetrel's direct line, two Duskwight heirs were born. Which leaves us with a few possibilities: 1) Sylvetrel de Dzemael was a Duskwight, which may or may not be a stretch 2) Duskwight blood entered the Dzemael line sometime before there became intense animosity between the two Clans, or 3) There was a scandal and a High Noble Wildwood House of Ishgard mixed blood with Duskwights.

In that same interview, Fernehalwes is recognized as saying that life for Duskwights is better in Ishgard than it is in Gridania. So the segregation enforced between the two Clans may not be as strict in Ishgard as it is in Gridania?

SpoileryThere was a Dragon and Elezen civilization that predated Ishgard, but timing wise also seems to have been after the fall of Gelmorra. Likely you have just as many Duskwights showing up in Proto-Ishgard as refugees from the fall, as showed up after Ishgard was founded.