(09-22-2015, 01:39 PM)Val Wrote: But now it's okay to assume based on what we see? I haven't seen a single miqo'te NPC in Ishgard outside of any recent immigrants, nor have I seen a single Miqo'te NPC dragoon and there is no flavor text relating to it afaik, so they must not exist.
Quite literally have no idea what your point is that you're trying to get across.
The thread you were linked to explores that in the past there were a very small number of Miqo'te who were canonically citizens of Ishgard. It also explored that in recent years there have been a number of foreigners coming to Ishgard who have risen to positions of esteem in Ishgardian society.
The lore-stated requirement for becoming a dragoon is that you must show you killed a true dragon. Correct? But there's nothing in lore that precludes the possibility of a Miqo'te killing a dragon. Whether they be an Ishgardian citizen or not. We have Lucia who is foreign born, who now is second command of the Temple Knights. There's Dyrstweitz, whose Roegadyn family has worked under House Dzemael for several generations. Sthalmann, who's native Lominsan who's reached a position of respect and esteem under House Durendaire(?). And Ser Grinnaux, who, like his brothers, left Ishgard before his father took ill, was a Gods Quiverman in Gridania for a decade at least before returning to Ishgard and becoming one of the Heaven's Ward.
Now with the influx of foreigners, some of whom are Miqo'te, as was pointed out in that link, there's absolutely nothing that precludes the eventuality that one of them might slay a dragon and pass the Knights Dragoon training.
From there - the applicant then goes into a rigorous training regiment with other green 'dragoon' wannabes.
More Than One Way Wrote:A dragons natural armor may seem impenetrable to an untrained eye, but a true dragoon knows well whence the vulnerabilities lie - a darkened spot, a bent plate, or if one is lucky, a barren patch. These days, too many youngbloods sign up for the training to join our noble ranks without showing a shred of decent talent, hence I have decided to thin out the crop through a trial. If the men can identify and destroy the spots on targets wrapped in scaleskin, they may continue their training. If they fail, they are to relinquish their weapon and accept pursuit of a less virtuous craft.
Look Before You Leap Wrote:Among the aspiring Knights Dragoon are a talented few who practice jumping attacks in equipment crafted from adamantite, the weight of which will help them to crush a dragon's skull as an eggshell. Alas, one such youth misstepped during his training and landed among the crags, breaking both his legs and armor in the impact. Though his injuries will heal, he requires a new pair of leg guards, and I would entrust none other than a skilled craftsman with the task.
All of that takes canon lore that we know and works within the realm of lore-possibility to create a character that can feasibly exist in lore.
On this topic, we were tasked with exploring whether or not a human vampire is possible in lore. The lore is not clear on whether or not it is, but definitely leans towards the existence of a vampire mythology that may or may not be based on some sort of fact. The mythology expressed in the lore snippets takes parts of real world vampiric mythologies and applies them to Eorzea. Ishgardians believe vampires are killed by driving a stake through their hearts or that they can transform into bats. Do vampires truly exist? Who knows. But the lore snippets included in my previous post merely discredit statements from the thread's first page that vampirism is not canon in FFXIV at all. Which is, as I pointed out, not entirely true.
(09-22-2015, 01:44 PM)Val Wrote: This is what I'm getting at. Flavor text =/= truth, as it has been used not only in XIV, but many other games and things to add.. well. Flavor. If you don't have sound lore, you shouldn't be going to the flavor text to find it like some kind of starved crack-fiend.
Again, a lot of our lore comes from these so-called "flavor texts." In-so-much that I hesitate to call them... flavor texts. Fishing Lore, especially, has an entirely different blurb (like mounts and minions) for related lore.
This is flavor text:
Vampiric Tapestry Wrote:A flying cephalopod that rarely strays from the skies near Mok Oogl Island.
This is a lore blurb:
Vampiric Tapestry Wrote:Despite the fear-inducing moniker, this flying cephalopod neither sups on blood nor transforms into a bat. Rumors that it does not cast a shadow are unfounded, and all manner of stakes, from oak, to iron, to granite, to cermet, have been found effective in impaling this rather peaceful creature of the clouds.
If that's not lore, perhaps we should discount that Ala Mhigans had griffin riders as part of their army?
Flavor Text:
Griffin Wrote:Summon forth your griffin - half eagle, half lion, all business.
Lore Blurb:
Griffin Wrote:Fantastical winged beasts native to the unscalable peaks of Abalathia's Spine, griffins actually have a long history of serving as mounts. Indeed, before the city-state's fall, the Ala Mhigan army maintained a regiment of griffin-back soldiers who would harry opposing forces.
So is that not canon? What if I personally find that lore blurb laughably rediculous? Is it suddenly not canon now? No. Whether I like it, laugh at it, or otherwise, we 100% absolutely must take that Ala Mhigo had Griffin riders as part of its canon because we have nothing to dispute the claim and what one person individually might find humorous, another person can take quite seriously.
If you take away item descriptions, you're taking a way an absolute shitton of lore, I promise you. And the next time you ask me for lore help, if you expect me to avoid certain sources or even sources that don't appear in multiple places in the game, you're going to get a really thin response. If you don't wanna take it as your personal canon, by all means, don't. But it's part of the game's canon until stated otherwise.