(11-01-2015, 03:21 PM)Dante Abigor Wrote: The WoL may have been the one to awaken him, but the WoL certainly wasnt his first visitor, seeing as how you have to fight platoons of Garleans to get to him in the first place, and until he hitches a ride inside of you he was all for the whole "kill all (humanz)" ideal, so why did it take him fifteen years (Give or take) to wake up and start doing things again?
As you said, we're getting into the territory of "we don't truthfully know yet" but my best theory is that Midgardsormr chose that moment to awake because he sensed Hydaelyn's presence within the Warrior of Light. Midgardsormr stripped the WoL of Her blessing because he didn't believe him/her worthy of bearing it. Remember, dragons really do not get on well with mankind. If there is any truth behind the Twelve's mythology, the Twelve birthed the dragons into existence first, but favored the races of man when they came to Eorzea millennia later. These blessed mortals then used those same blessings to slaughter the dragons throughout history. There's bound to be distrust and resentment, especially considering the fates of Bahamut and Ratatoskr.
Midgardsormr Wrote:I did but strip thee of thy mistress's feeble blessing. Thou didst profit much by Her grace, but no more. The covenant binds me to thee. I shall watch... listen... and wait. Fight and struggle, if it be thy will. Man hath ever coveted that which lieth beyond his grasp. I drink of Her body, and thence doth mine own find new life. When it hath grown whole, the loyal and penitent shall rejoice.
Midgardsormr Wrote:Thou hast broken down the wall I built around thee, and partaken of thy mistress's blessing once more. Strong art thou, mortal - stronger than any other of thy kind. Having looked upon thy deeds, I am convinced. Thou art worthy to bear Her Light. The covenant bound me to thee, but 'twould seem our fates were mingled from the first. Though I will not fight thy battles, I will yet lend thee my wings.
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(11-01-2015, 03:21 PM)Dante Abigor Wrote: And on that subject why does what is essentially a massive space monster *cough* Jenova *cough* have a working relationship with the will of a planet to the point that he can disable said will's blessing? I realize at this point Im treading into the realm of "there just isnt an answer yet", but its getting weirder the more I find out.
Another one of those we-don't-knows, but a lot of what we know is up in the air at this point over whether or not Midgardsormr is a reliable narrator or not. Midgardsormr believes he came to this planet tens of thousands of years ago and was the first Life upon the planet, opening a covenant with Hydaelyn - the spirit of the world - to create life on the planet. Eorzean creation myths are similar, but attribute Midgardsormr's birth to the Twelve. In both versions of the same story, Midgardsormr is the first living, sentient being on Hydaelyn.
Erik Wrote:Oh, there are any number of legends and myths surrounding the place. I think the oldest and most widely known would have to be that of the dragon of the Falls. I do not claim to be a folklorist, but I can certainly provide the general tale.
There was the birth of Althyk, god of time among the Twelve, and in turn, His younger sister Nymeia, goddess of fate. And then there was water, and through it Silvertear Falls came to be at the center of all that was. Here was the source not only of water, but the fount of all magic as well. Now, when water came into being, so too did the great dragon Midgardsormr. Brother Time and Sister Fate, fearing the Falls might fall into the hands of evil, ordered Midgardsormr their protector and warden. Much later, with the arrival of man, would Midgardsormr be worshiped as the guardian deity of Silvertear Falls.
The Lominsan creation myth involving Perykos and Thalaos also comes into play in this myth as well, so I'll try to summarize. Essentially, the world was a barren wasteland during the time of the Twelve and was unfit for life. When Hydaelyn gave birth to light and drove back the darkness, only divine beings of Her light could bask in Her glory. So it was that Llymlaen gave birth to two serpents, Perykos and Thalaos, who spewed forth the great fount of life from their maws and filled the world with water. From the water, Althyk and Nymeia birthed Midgardsormr to protect the fountain of Life, Water, and Magic on Hydaelyn. But soon Llymlaen realized that the serpents she had created would never stop spewing forth the waters of Life. So she bound them to a rock and sealed them from the world so the seas would not swallow all.
This goes into your question about Midgardsormr's Seal -
(11-01-2015, 03:21 PM)Dante Abigor Wrote: EDIT: What is Midgardsormr's seal? I know he guards the lake but I dont remember anything about him managing a seal.
Silvertear Falls are believed to be the fount of all life, water, and magic on Hydaelyn. It was said that a great dragon, Midgardsormr was tasked with keeping watch over the Lake to keep all evil from controlling the lake's powers. When the waters had stopped flowing, Althyk and Nymeia placed a seal over the lake, binding Midgardsormr to slumber beneath it. This seal is thought to be the gateway between the Physical Realm and the Aetherial Realm.
For those unfamiliar with the lore behind aether and the Lifestream, Eorzeans believe that beneath the earth there courses great rivers of aether, Hydaelyn's Lifeblood, known collectively as the Lifestream. When a creature dies, the aether that gives life to its body is torn from its corporeal form and saturates the ground where it died. Over time, that aether soaks through the earth and returns to the Lifestream where it flows to Silvertear Lake. All paths of the Lifestream lead to Silvertear Lake. Once the aether reaches the great Seal over the lake, the aether passes from this realm to the Aetherial Realm and then back again, recycled as new life. This is the cycle of Death and Rebirth. Midgardsormr is tasked with protecting this cycle. If the Seal is broken, the Lifestream's course can alter, affecting the ebb and flow of aether on Hydaelyn.
This is what happened prior to the Calamity. The Garleans attempted to control the aether and ceruleum of the Lake and Midgardsormr rose to defend the Seal. When Midgardsormr was defeated, the Seal was broken and a great stream of aether washed over Eorzea, saturating the land in excess aether. It was this event that allowed the beast races to summon their Primal gods without amassing great stores of crystals in 1562. Ten years passed, and with Midgardsormr still recovering from his wounds, Bahamut was able to alter the course of the Lifestream to feed him inside of Dalamud, permanently draining Hydaelyn of Her aether and completely cutting off the natural order.
Cid Wrote:Evil approaches, and standing alone will only make you that much more vulnerable. And I speak not only of the Garlean Empire, but of something else. Something more sinister. Have you not looked up into the sky and noticed something amiss? The lesser moon, Dalamud─have you not witnessed it swell like a tumor, redden like the gout?
Even the realm's natural flow of aetheric energy has been disrupted. All aether would─should pass through Silvertear Lake upon returning to the Land, but it now appears that something is bending the energy's course─drawing it away. This has upset the balance of all life and matter in Eorzea. It is why the weather has become unpredictable, why creatures have grown large and fierce, why crystals are losing their aspect. Quite what could be drawing the aether, and what will happen if this phenomenon is allowed to continue, I cannot say. But what I can tell you with absolute certainty is that your petty quarrels over money and power are as grains of dust compared to the sandstorm that boils just over the horizon.
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(11-01-2015, 03:21 PM)Dante Abigor Wrote: Then another quote of yours mentioning the crystals being his aether mention that he is dead, so I think its fair to assume that what is death for the races of man in FFXIV dont apply to at least Midgardsormr. Its also fair to assume that his first body is "dead" since he went through the trouble of making a new one in the first place, but maybe he can have multiple bodies or whatever.
I think the trouble is that to Eorzean knowledge, it would appear that Midgardsormr died in that attack. Hell, we all thought he was truly dead until 2.5 happened and we actually started learning just what Life and Death is to a dragon and more importantly, what Midgardsormr was. We always just assumed he was some king of dragons?? So there's that point where yeah, most Eorzeans "know" Midgardsormr gave up His life in the Battle of Silvertear Skies.
But I will agree, that most likely, given that massive aether explosion of what we now assume was his own lifeforce leaving him was as close to real death as a being like Midgardsormr could achieve. In all likelihood, yes, His elderly body was ravaged beyond what a mere 15 years of slumber could repair. So, in a sense, he died as you say. But, like we've seen with Bahamut and Nidhogg - they can reanimate and reconstruct their bodies if they have enough aether to do so. Nidhogg's eyes were not destroyed, so only his corporeal form died. His soul lived on and waited for a suitable amount of aether (his eyes rejoining at the site of a Primal's demise) to reform his body. Bahamut used the aether trapped within Dalamud's coils to rebuild his massive form - even though so much of it was lost he could not fully reconstruct his body in one swoop. This is likely why Midgardsormr only appears as a small dragon at first - borrowing the aether from Hydaelyn's weak Blessing to reconstruct his body. He then later used the ambient aether dripping from Tiamat's prison to build himself a stronger form later on in the storyline.
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(11-01-2015, 03:21 PM)Dante Abigor Wrote: Another spitball thought that caught my attention in your quotes is that the Allagans were conquering everything during their reign. Why wasnt Silvertear Lake a target?
Silvertear Lake was not an Allagan target because Silvertear Lake was the birthplace of the Allagan Empire. They knew it was a great source of aether, magic, and power. That's why they built Syrcus Tower on top of the Lake, so that it could conduct the magic through the crystalline structure. That's also why they entombed Xande within the Lake! They thought the aether of the lake would restore his life.
Erik Wrote:Since ancient times, the Falls and the region of Mor Dhona in which they are located have been believed to be the seat of a great spiritual energy, as less advanced peoples are wont to call it. So old are these beliefs that the tomb of Xande himself, the first emperor of Allag, was built deep beneath the surface of Mor Dhona, in the hope that the mystical power which resided under the lake would raise him from the dead.
Why did Midgardsormr not defend the Lake against the Allagans????? We have no f'ing clue. Really, we know Midgardsormr was there. We know he was slumbering beneath the Seal. We know the Allagans decimated and dominated dragonkind. We know the Allagans built their empire around the power of Silvertear. We don't know, however, why Midgardsormr was okay with this - if he even was. /shrug.
Hopefully, we'll find this part out eventually.
