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+--- Thread: Character development Lore Help (/showthread.php?tid=2954)
Character development Lore Help - sciencerob - 07-19-2013
I'm not sure if there is a spot for this, if this is not allowed or in the wrong place, I apologize. I know there is a place for posting characters but I don't see anyplace that readily discusses lore.
I like making characters that follow the lore and I'm not very comfortable with FF14 lore yet(not a 1.0 character). I made this character up (through journal entries) and was hoping someone could give ideas+confirm that I am not messing up any lore. Its a rough draft thus far:
RE: Character development Lore Help - FreelanceWizard - 07-20-2013
With the proviso that I'm not a master of lalafell lore, this generally looks fine, but there's some things I think you might want to consider:
- You mention moving to Gridania. Gridanians in general tend to be opposed to outsiders, and the Black Shroud (especially pre-Calamity) is rife with elementals, treants, and other creatures that tend to kill those who haven't "gotten right with nature," so to speak. Angering the wood elementals accrues what's called "woodsin" (and they're notoriously easy to anger by outsiders), and those who don't cleanse themselves of that find the forest exceedingly deadly. So, the question to consider is, how did you avoid those dire fates?
- You're originally from Ala Mhigo. Ala Mhigo and Gridania have a largely poor relationship due to the Autumn War of about 100 years ago. That means you probably start out marked with woodsin, making the above concern even more salient. (As it was put on another thread, 100 years is nothing to a forest.) Have you considered being from somewhere else?
- If I'm reading your story correctly, you were at the Battle of Carteneau, but it's not clear to me how you didn't get incinerated or time warped. Did you retreat with the rest of the Grand Company regulars before the time warp (for those playing at home, this is confirmed in ARR's main scenario quest around level 17ish)?
- Narratively, I'm not sure I see why your family would move from Ala Mhigo to Ul'dah, then move again to Gridania, then stay while your father moved back to Ul'dah. Travel in Eorzea isn't for the faint of heart and is also quite costly, so all that movement seems a little odd, and I'm not sure what it establishes in the story. I see why the move from Ul'dah to Gridania happens in the story's arc, but what I'm not seeing is what it establishes about the character (and how what it brings to the table narratively outweighs the need to explain all that travel).
RE: Character development Lore Help - sciencerob - 07-20-2013
(07-20-2013, 02:38 AM)FreelanceWizard Wrote: With the proviso that I'm not a master of lalafell lore, this generally looks fine, but there's some things I think you might want to consider:
- You mention moving to Gridania. Gridanians in general tend to be opposed to outsiders, and the Black Shroud (especially pre-Calamity) is rife with elementals, treants, and other creatures that tend to kill those who haven't "gotten right with nature," so to speak. Angering the wood elementals accrues what's called "woodsin" (and they're notoriously easy to anger by outsiders), and those who don't cleanse themselves of that find the forest exceedingly deadly. So, the question to consider is, how did you avoid those dire fates?
- You're originally from Ala Mhigo. Ala Mhigo and Gridania have a largely poor relationship due to the Autumn War of about 100 years ago. That means you probably start out marked with woodsin, making the above concern even more salient. (As it was put on another thread, 100 years is nothing to a forest.) Have you considered being from somewhere else?
- If I'm reading your story correctly, you were at the Battle of Carteneau, but it's not clear to me how you didn't get incinerated or time warped. Did you retreat with the rest of the Grand Company regulars before the time warp (for those playing at home, this is confirmed in ARR's main scenario quest around level 17ish)?
- Narratively, I'm not sure I see why your family would move from Ala Mhigo to Ul'dah, then move again to Gridania, then stay while your father moved back to Ul'dah. Travel in Eorzea isn't for the faint of heart and is also quite costly, so all that movement seems a little odd, and I'm not sure what it establishes in the story. I see why the move from Ul'dah to Gridania happens in the story's arc, but what I'm not seeing is what it establishes about the character (and how what it brings to the table narratively outweighs the need to explain all that travel).
As far as the first point: any link to more information on this? If the woodsin is an issue, how do characters coming on the cart surpass this?
Second point: I guess I wasn't clear enough. My character met up with the retreating troops. I imagined the destruction at the battle field something that obliterated everything directly at the battlefield but could be seen for miles?
third Point: That is a good point. The reasoning for the double move is to establish my character's brother's prowess with a sword (training with gladiators is implied) and further establish my character childishness (Not caring about the beastmen being exiled while only being focused on his own feelings.
I didn't realize Ala Mhigo had bad blood with Eorzea... might have to modify it in this case unless I can find out more lore on how the elementals interact with newcomers (I didn't see too much of a mention of this when I played during Beta as a newcomer to the area).
RE: Character development Lore Help - FreelanceWizard - 07-20-2013
I apologize for the massive inline quoting, but I think that makes it easier to read.
(07-20-2013, 03:59 AM)sciencerob Wrote: As far as the first point: any link to more information on this? If the woodsin is an issue, how do characters coming on the cart surpass this?
As a matter of fact, I do have some references!
This page discusses how the elementals attack outsiders, while this page has the mission text relevant to it in 1.x. A summary of the previous link can be found here.Now, note that all of this is from 1.x. At least as far as the main scenario quest for Gridania is concerned in 2.x, the woodsin issue no longer really exists to any significant degree. That means that the Black Shroud is a lot more accessible to outsiders now, I believe, post-Calamity; perhaps Bahamut's destruction weakened the elementals, perhaps they took pity on others, or maybe they just withdrew from directly influencing the Shroud. Regardless of my speculation of changes to the Shroud in 2.x, though, the issue here is that your character moved there while things were a lot more deadly.
(07-20-2013, 03:59 AM)sciencerob Wrote: Second point: I guess I wasn't clear enough. My character met up with the retreating troops. I imagined the destruction at the battle field something that obliterated everything directly at the battlefield but could be seen for miles?
So, from the main story line of ARR, what happened was that the appearance of Bahamut prompted the Grand Companies to retreat while providing cover for the adventurers on the field. Then, as in the trailer, Bahamut unleashed Megaflare, and Louisoix timewarped those adventurers into the future.
To your larger point, though, yes, you'd definitely be able to see the destruction for quite a ways. Also, the various Grand Companies maintain command and control via linkpearls, so that's another way you could have known what was going on. I assume your character's brother was obliterated, not timewarped?
(07-20-2013, 03:59 AM)sciencerob Wrote: That is a good point. The reasoning for the double move is to establish my character's brother's prowess with a sword (training with gladiators is implied) and further establish my character childishness (Not caring about the beastmen being exiled while only being focused on his own feelings.
I didn't realize Ala Mhigo had bad blood with Eorzea... might have to modify it in this case unless I can find out more lore on how the elementals interact with newcomers (I didn't see too much of a mention of this when I played during Beta as a newcomer to the area).
I think you can do the above with just staying in Ul'dah, personally, but of course it's your story and you should do what you like.
However, the issues of the woodsin and the travel would need to be addressed in the story, IMO.As for Ala Mhigo, there's probably still some bad blood there, though among individuals it might be less (unlike elementals, individuals do eventually die
). In fact, with the city having fallen to the Garlean Empire, you might more than a few Eorzeans who once disliked it taking pity on it instead -- or wanting to work with its resistance, since the Garleans are a far larger threat.