(04-18-2014, 05:52 PM)Sounsyy Wrote:This is more or less pure speculation, but I get the feeling from how some of the NPCs talk about Belah'dia that it existed well before Ul'dah and Sil'dah, maybe as the precursor to those civilizations.(04-17-2014, 12:23 AM)Spiritual Machine Wrote: The quest text for the Sunken Temple of Qarn calls Belah'dia a Sixth Astral Era civilization, so it probably wouldn't have been a neighbor to Amdapor.
Good catch! I actually just saw this today when I redid Qarn. So Belah'dia being a contemporary of Amdapor would be impossible. Probably more accurate to assume it was formed around the same time as Ul'dah and Sil'dih. Same text though does indicate that the Temple pre-dates the Belah'dians and that they just took it over for their own use. So there was a 5AE civilization that existed at Qarn, it just wasn't Belah'dia.
Thanks for the fact check though, and I should probably fix my post above before someone references it! ^^
For instance, when you first join the Thaumaturge's Guild, the receptionist tells you that Ul'dah "inherited its traditions from ancient Belah'dia, a city founded by the descendants of the first mages."
Here Belah'dia is described as "ancient", despite being a Sixth Era civilization.
Since Thaumaturgy first came about in the Fifth Era, this leads me to think that maybe Belah'dia was built upon the ruins of a Fifth Era nation by the mages that survived the Sixth Umbral Era (and who were possibly the previous citizens of that nation).
Now on the topic of Scholars, it seems like a good number of Arcanist roleplayers give consideration to whether their characters will become Scholars or Summoners, or regard these jobs as the natural progression of an Arcanist character. Lorewise, however, there's not really a reason for a character to think this way.
Arcanists have no history dating back to Allagan Summoners or Nymian Scholars. "The roots of arcanima can be traced back to the esoteric calculations practiced by the people of the south sea isles," says the Arcanist's Guild receptionist, who goes on to say that these mages, wishing to expand their knowledge, came to Limsa Lominsa by sea. This means that Arcanists have only existed in Eorzea for less than 700 years.
It seems like the only reason the Summoner and Scholar jobs get tied into the Arcanist class is that those lost fields of magic took on a similar form to what those south sea mages developed, and contemporary Arcanists have sought to expand their knowledge of arcanima by reviving these practices.
A character who is an Arcanist does not ever have to opt to become a Scholar or Summoner (especially since, as mentioned before, those titles don't really even exist anymore). Alternatively, an Arcanist could reasonably opt to learn both practices and more, since the whole milieu of Arcanists is expanding their knowledge and capabilities through study and practice. They're easily the most eclectic Disciples of Magic.