(01-14-2014, 09:10 PM)ansemaru Wrote: To anybody reading this thread, I found a remarkably useful bit of information in regards to the Ixal from 1.0:
http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/%27Nea...27s_Shadow
Seems they were exiled by the elementals before the Gridanians even arrived, due to overpopulation, and migrated out of the forest they consider holy. It was their living outside Tinolqa/the Black Shroud that resulted in their young being born flightless- not a curse from the wood itself, but the absence of a blessing. Or, possibly due to the aetheric nature of Xelphatol itself- it's a land we know nothing about, since the closest thing we've witnessed to Ixal territory is Natalan.
It also seems that though Gridania views them as enemies, the Ixali motive for summoning Garuda- at least initially- had nothing to do with waging war upon the forestborn. It was instead a ploy to reclaim their long-lost powers of flight, which failed rather dismally.
That doesn't quite fit with the 2.0 Botany questline, which made it clear that there was peace with the Ixal, and now there's not, and that something happened to cause the rift.
It's possible that the "something" was the Ixal trying to regain their flight (i.e. summoning Garuda), but like I said, they never explain what the incident was that caused the rift.
![[Image: hFalP38.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/hFalP38.jpg)
