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+--- Thread: Theorycrafting: On the Origins of Hellsguards (contains MSQ spoilers) (/showthread.php?tid=12487)
Theorycrafting: On the Origins of Hellsguards (contains MSQ spoilers) - Eliane Dufresne - 07-08-2015
This post references the MSQ as well as several sidequests from the Dravanian Forelands. If you haven't finished either yet, turn back now!
Alright, so...hello everyone! Long time no post. I mostly lurk these days but I was hoping to pick the brains of our resident lore experts, as Roe lore is achingly sparse and I'll take whatever I can get. With the expansion venturing into Abalathia's Spine, several other Hellsguard RPers and I were hoping there'd be a Forgotten Springs-esque Hellsguard settlement somewhere where we could all drink up lore and ball around, but...no such luck.
There was the Forelands, though. I fell in love with it right away because it felt a lot like what I pictured my character's home to be. And then I discovered Aynx Trine, which I was originally attracted to because it looked awfully familiar, but then because baby dragons.
Upon finishing the Aynx Trine quests, however, I realized something very interesting: dragon culture, or at least that of Hraesvelgr's brood, sure is awfully familiar. A volcano is held sacred to them, it is considered a place for the dead, and injured dragons prefer to try and heal naturally because alchemically-created medicines are 'against the way of nature'. Hmm.
As sacred volcanoes and a distrust of alchemy are pretty much the two major defining lore characteristics we get about Hellsguard, this seemed like an awfully specific coincidence. So I got to thinking about it. We know the Roegadyn are immigrants and that the Elezen were here in Eorzea first. At some point some Sea Wolves got the idea to move inland and to try and settle the Spine the way the Elezen did (or went into the Spine because the Elezen already had Coerthas). Depending on when this happened, one of two things could be true: they showed up in the era of peace between the dragons and the Elezen and were welcomed by the dragons, or they showed up after the betrayal, the dragons had their hands full with Ishgard already, and they didn't want to make the same mistake twice.
If the Roegadyn arrived in the age of peace, perhaps they, too, created a pact with the dragons. Hraesvelgr or some other greater dragon bid them to protect the volcanoes the dragons held sacred, and in return the dragons let them peacefully settle the Spine. Although the Hellsguard eventually forgot where they assimilated their culture from over time, they never broke their pact and as such have never had a problem with the Horde the same way Ishgard does.
If the Roegadyn arrived after the betrayal, however, the dragons would be far more wary of letting more people settle in the Spine. Perhaps forming such a pact was the only way for the Hellsguard settlers to be left alone in relative peace, and it ensured a wary Horde would not be fighting on two fronts. Better to give these oversized strangers what they want than to give them an excuse to join the Elezen. Alternatively, perhaps the Hellsguard took the dragons' side and volunteered to protect the volcanoes so that the Ishgardians couldn't disturb them (and make off with more eyes?). Because of this, the dragons allowed them to stay, they assimilated some aspects of dragon culture, and again forgot about it over time.
Either way, time has eroded whatever common bond the two might have shared before; the Hellsguard no longer remember and the Dravanians no longer care. A corruption of oral history has the Hellsguard believing they are protecting the volcanoes because they are gateways into Hell -- or that is a belief they also absorbed from the Dravanians.
I realize this is a lot of tinfoil on my part, so this is where I take off my hat and ask for your opinion. What do you think? Plausible? Not plausible? Don't care? Did I miss something? I haven't finished the WAR quests and I know there's various books and whatnot scattered throughout the game, so I wouldn't be entirely surprised if I did.
I know I'm grasping, but hey, Roe lore is sparse and theorycrafting is fun.
Thanks for reading.
RE: Theorycrafting: On the Origins of Hellsguards (contains MSQ spoilers) - -no longer matters- - 07-15-2015
I would say the only hole in your theory is the firm belief by the Hellsguard that the Volcanoes are portals to the Seventh Hell, and they're there to guard against the damned from being unleashed into the world. But still you'd think they'd have to form some kind of pact or at least an understanding with the Dragons to stay unhindered by them.
So you did bring some very interesting questions to life.