The calamity was not the cause of the time skip, that was caused by Louisoix (the old elezen man in the opening) calling down Althyk, the god of time, as a last-ditch attempt to save the adventurers with the Echo (long story short, they're special snowflakes. All adventurers are, which is why the out-of-body experience happens after character creation). Everyone else stayed in their present and had to work things out the hard way, and was affected by a sort of selective amnesia that erased the details of the time-skipped adventurers from their memory. They're aware that they existed and did great things, but they can't remember their faces, or names, or their relations to them. Supposedly only people that have the Echo remember them clearly because magic.
So, basically, if you were a civilian or a non-adventurer soldier, you were not part of the time skip. You can play your character as one of the adventurers at the final battle (there are a few new players doing this) but they wouldn't just be "at the wrong place at the right time," they would have been fighting in the battle.
We don't know what the state of the other parts of the planet are currently. We don't have any information on if they were affected or are aware of the situation in Eorzea, at least as far as I know. Until the dev team gives us an answer, I'm going to say "whatevs, if you make it work then it works."
Technically certain races are centralized around certain areas (wildwood Elezens are usually in the Black Shroud/Gridania, Dunesfolk Lalafell are usually from Ul'dah) but there is no reason why your character can't come from wherever the hell you want. It's an age of exploration and commerce, all kinds of people move around and settle down in other places than their "home area."
There aren't any known towns outside of the city-states, but there are small settlements and camps scattered throughout the outlying areas. It's not impossible to say that they came from one of those (or a similar small town, though that would be harder to justify) or, if their family is nomadic or live in specific areas that aren't on the map (Duskwight Elezen and caves, for instance) then it's easier to handwave.
The only schools I've seen have been the guilds for classes and crafts. It's not impossible to say there may be other forms of schooling, but for the most part it looks like a medieval master-apprentice system. Parchment and writing utensils are probably common, given that it's the only other form of communication besides linkshells. Most people (at least, the important NPCs) are literate, so it would probably be easy to justify your character being literate and keeping journals, or writing stories.
So, basically, if you were a civilian or a non-adventurer soldier, you were not part of the time skip. You can play your character as one of the adventurers at the final battle (there are a few new players doing this) but they wouldn't just be "at the wrong place at the right time," they would have been fighting in the battle.
We don't know what the state of the other parts of the planet are currently. We don't have any information on if they were affected or are aware of the situation in Eorzea, at least as far as I know. Until the dev team gives us an answer, I'm going to say "whatevs, if you make it work then it works."
Technically certain races are centralized around certain areas (wildwood Elezens are usually in the Black Shroud/Gridania, Dunesfolk Lalafell are usually from Ul'dah) but there is no reason why your character can't come from wherever the hell you want. It's an age of exploration and commerce, all kinds of people move around and settle down in other places than their "home area."
There aren't any known towns outside of the city-states, but there are small settlements and camps scattered throughout the outlying areas. It's not impossible to say that they came from one of those (or a similar small town, though that would be harder to justify) or, if their family is nomadic or live in specific areas that aren't on the map (Duskwight Elezen and caves, for instance) then it's easier to handwave.
The only schools I've seen have been the guilds for classes and crafts. It's not impossible to say there may be other forms of schooling, but for the most part it looks like a medieval master-apprentice system. Parchment and writing utensils are probably common, given that it's the only other form of communication besides linkshells. Most people (at least, the important NPCs) are literate, so it would probably be easy to justify your character being literate and keeping journals, or writing stories.
