Wemrys

Event starts in 1 hour!

Sorry for the double post, but something I wanted to add! Our artists and entertainers will be wandering the floor this evening providing various forms of entertainment for guests throughout the night. You can look for them as they'll have the "Request for Meld" tag on!

Certainly! Feel free, we'd be glad to get in communication and work something out in terms of RP. Also reminder that the event is tonight folks!

Just an OOC update on this! Our list of auctioned items (and starting bids) is now posted, a majority of the items for bid were provided by our friends at The Midnight Pearl so a big thanks to them! And we will have a number of entertainers wandering about the floor of the teahouse ready to provide a good conversation or perhaps a drink or even regale you with a tale and song if you so desire. Our guest entertainers represent different Free Companies on Balmung aside from our own including Bandee Pakshee and WYNG so a great thank you to them as well! We hope to see you there on Monday!

Per the Lore Book, the short term is just "common" which refers to "Hyuran Common Tongue". During the Hyuran migrations the language spread all over Eorzea and since the Hyur were easily one of the most populace race, the tongue caught on and eventually became the commonly spoken language in the land, leading to the death knell of other tongues in Eorzea such as the ancient Elezen tongue. As I'm at work I don't have a scan of the page with this on me but I believe my memory is correct.

No worries at all! If you would like to simply participate in the event, all you need to do is show up and we'll do our utmost to make you feel welcome. If you'd like to take part as an entertainer or someone offering an item for auction, please get into contact with me via discord or PM and I'd love to set up a time with you to do some pre-event RP and answer any questions you may have.

We are up and running and ready to do some RP! We are currently working on getting ready for our first open house event which GK-RP will be running monthly. We've already got a bunch of interested parties we're in talks with for helping out with running our entertainment and RP gil-based auction (i.e. no real gil will be exchanged it's all for flavor and character building as is our M.O.). If you'd like more details on the event, the post can be found here! We are also of course open for recruitment so please get in touch with us if you're interested!

I know for my FC's part (Genko & Khokanchin) we just embrace the straight up business side of things. We have the Japanese teahouse in the front and the back office is openly advertised as an acquisitions and curiosities business which takes on jobs that are mostly clean but every once and again we'll take jobs that are bending the law. That said the company will turn away a business offer if it's too much of a risk for the business's image. The business in the back is not our main focus though. In fact our characters take pride in the teahouse and it is just as important as the curiosity shop. As such neither business is a front for the other. I can totally understand people wanting to embrace the covert nature of front businesses, it's another popular form of RP alongside things like social events. RPers like adventure and such along with their character building in my experience. Some RPers like dark RP. Others don't. There are plenty of totally legit FCs in business alongside the "totally legit" FCs, it's just a matter of poking about for the right stuff you're interested in. If someone can't find one, they'll try to build one themselves. That's usually how RP goes in the experiences I've had.

It was the wording of the question honestly that I think made it difficult to answer in any way other than "lol i duno". Asking specifically if Doman/Hingan is flat out Japanese allows that "well in Japan...no" loophole. The way I'm seeing it is that it's flat out a different language, but it's not straight Japanese just like how the old Elezen tongue isn't straight up French. For further reference look to earlier in the panel and he talks about how the xaela tribes all have their own tongues and but they also have another language in common so that they can properly communicate. They make it clear that a lot of the words in said language are derived directly from Mongolian but there are other words just just created to make the language its own distinct and separate thing. Essentially they don't seem to want to directly grab any one language and use it verbatim as a the same language with a different name. While it is very much "do as you like" it seems to come across that there are definitely outright language barriers and the game is presented as is for the sake of not having to go and have everyone struggle to understand eachother constantly. EDIT: Essentially what I'm saying is...if you want to RP a different language, just use brackets. There are clearly lore supported words/terms/phrases and you can use those normally, but there's really no need to have your character flat out speak Japanese and say it's Hingan...just use brackets and say it's Hingan.

Lore Panel just happened at PAX West and one of the questions to come up was whether Hingan and Doman were separate languages and if speaking Hingan would basically be like speaking straight up Japanese. First of all Koji says that Oda confirmed Hingan is definitely another language* and a completely separate language from the common tongue. Furthermore, Koji confirmed Hingan and Doman are both dialects of the same language. He likened it to the difference between American and British English, very small differences but still the same language overall (essentially to make a more Japanese-centric reference, it'd be like the difference between a Kansai regional dialect and a Tokyo regional dialect). *EDIT: Watched it back to be sure I had everything written properly. Koji and Oda both acknowledge that due to the Japanese version obviously already speaking Japanese in all regions it's hard to equate Hingan/Doman to being "Japanese" specifically, however for simplicity's sake it /would/ essentially be a different language altogether. Image below is the slide from the lore panel.

AUCTION ITEMS for the 12th Sun of Nald'thal (10/12) [LEDGER OF SALES] _________________________________________________________ Doman Tea Set – From Golden Fox Trade House. Dated back to mid-last century, this exquisite Hingan egg shell porcelain tea set is decorated with a hand painted scene of a village in spring at the foot of a mountain. A delicate tapestry of gold trim accents each piece of the tea set. The tea set contains a large pedestal teapot, pedestal sugar and pedestal creamer, and three cups and saucers. Each piece of this tea set is in fine condition with no damage. The inside of the tea cups is pearlised. Please seek Kasumi Gakunin for any other inquiries regarding the Golden Fox Trade or its wares. Starting Bid: 20,000 gil Formal Kimono – From Golden Fox Trade House. Carefully folded and artfully arranged fabric comes fragrant with the scent of jasmine and peach blossoms, dyed in eye-catching black. Depicted in detail along the hemline is a mountain-range, half-obscured by a coiling fog, under a sky dotted by distant birds. In red, a coiling sky serpent dances. Smoke billows from her nostrils in spirals of vapour, a mist that veils the detailed terrain of the Yanxia countryside beyond. Her talons stretch forward in her flight as her sleek body tapers into looping, elegant curls. Along each sleeve are a flurry of cherry blossom petals, swirling across the front of the kimono. Laid neatly atop the folded kimono sits a simple, lilac obi; complimented with a beaded obijime in a deep, chartreuse. Please seek Kasumi Gakunin for any other inquiries regarding the Golden Fox Trade or its wares. Starting Bid: 20,000 gil Ornate, Antiquated Key – From Khokanchin Mercantile. Hours of painstaking work has been put in to cleaning the dust and grime from the ornate details of this peculiar key. The scene carved into its silver surface lends a clue to its origins, depicting a sumptuous feast with imagery associated with the story of a noble from Sil’dih during the end of its reign. Called only by “Lord Luca,” as his full name has been lost and eroded by time, documents reveal he was known for his lavish feasts and balls…and a few unsavory rumors that inspired many a ghost story. This key may open something of importance where ruins of his hall were recently uncovered. Truth to the rumors of his riches, perhaps? Or proof to the stories that were told? Either way, a valuable discovery may be made, either for one’s own personal gain or academic, but be warned, this bid is for the stout of heart. The winning bid will gain ownership of the key and the aid of Khokanchin Mercantile in their expedition. Please contact the Blue Hunter (Discord: Wemrys#7268) or the Veiled Lady (Discord: Llinos#2108) after winning your bid to coordinate your expedition. ((***Note: This item comes along with a fully DM’d dungeon crawl-like adventure. Please be sure to have your party organized and be prepared to set aside some time for some hours’ worth of RP.)) Starting Bid: 75,000 gil Aetherial Locket – From the Silvernail Shoppe. Restored by Lady Silvernail with a skilled blend of alchemy and smithing, this silver locket looks as new, with ornate and vintage details now polished into glittering definition, all without diminishing its rather unique property. The locket's confines sit empty, awaiting new memories. It bears a round and reflective shape and surface, like the moon, bordered in a thin frame of wispy clouds and newly fitted with a star sapphire in its center. The origins of this necklace are unclear. It was found near the Palace of the Dead, suggesting its origins may lay within Gelmorra, but some say the shape indicates it may have once belonged to an old Keeper of the Moon tribe. Regardless of origin, the necklace contains within its material mana from a warrior of ages past, now long gone but not forgotten. What was their story? Will the wearer’s own be strengthened by the past tied to the necklace? The winning bid may choose to have the locket customized with a new stone or inscription. Starting Bid: 15,000 gil Puzzling Puzzle Box – From Khokanchin Mercantile. Remarkably little had to be done to the strange device. Carved into its metal surface appear to be an array of stars that shift as one turns the device this way and that. The device was discovered in Dravania, outside the old Sharlayan outpost. What constellation will be revealed when the puzzle is finished and, most importantly, where will it lead to? The winning bid gains ownership of the puzzle box and the aid of Khokanchin Mercantile in their expedition. Please contact the Blue Hunter (Discord: Wemrys#7268) or the Veiled Lady (Discord: Llinos#2108) after winning your bid to coordinate your expedition. ((***Note: This item comes along with a fully DM’d dungeon crawl-like adventure. Please be sure to have your party organized and be prepared to set aside some time for some hours’ worth of RP.)) Starting Bid: 60,000 gil

GENKO CHAYA & KHOKANCHIN MERCANTILE humbly requests the pleasure of your company at our OPEN HOUSE and AUCTION _________________________________________________________ WHAT Come enjoy a night in the teahouse, entertained by Artists and bards as you enjoy Doman matcha, sake, plum wine, or a bracing bowl of kumis from the Steppe. Catering to be provided. The main event will be an auction hosted by Khokanchin Mercantile. Tradesmen, craftsmen and adventurers may offer their treasures for sale alongside what curiosities Khokanchin Mercantile offers up for bid. Come and grasp at opportunity while she’s a gil’s throw away. WHERE Goblet, Ward 9, Plot 36 WHEN Thursday, October 12th @ 7 pm EST SEEKING - Talented Bards or Performers to fill in our numbers to entertain the guests. We are seeking singers, musicians and storytellers, who can also engage our guests in conversation to keep things warm and lively. We will be suspending our usual drinking game activities to ensure guests aren’t TOO inebriated to place their bids. We will take about six, including our own Artists, to entertain at each table. If you are not selected for this event to perform, you will be given priority to perform at the next. Bards and Artists may be tipped by guests (in-game gil not required). - Tradesmen, craftsmen, and adventurers with items worthy of being sold to the highest bidder. Khokanchin Mercantile will take a modest 15% commission from the sale. All interested parties should contact Kuzhuk Anchin (Use PM or Discord: Wemrys#7268) detailing what you’d like to offer at the open house and auction. _________________________________________________________ OOC INFO We will be holding an auction of six items, which can be anything from materials, resources, player-created goods & services, crafted items (weapons, armor, clothing, woodworking, etc) or other items of value or curiosity. The idea is for those with a business or trade to establish RP connections and hooks! Perhaps someone who prospects in minerals or a botany enthusiast offers their materials and resources for auction. If you win the bid you can then approach a smith or an alchemist to turn your hard-won goods into useful weapons or potables, or you can re-sell for your own profit and establish a connection with the supplier. Or maybe you know a person who might trade you for your goods for a more desirable item? There are endless opportunities to travel down. Rules - All items will be flavor items. We will not require anyone to exchange real in-game goods, because we will not be using real in-game gil. - We ask that items be kept lore-friendly or reasonable in terms of what would end up in the hands of simple adventurers, craftsmen and tradesmen. We do allow for a certain extent of whimsy. When you PM us to submit your character’s item for bid, we’ll help coordinate the flavor text for the bidding to make sure we are on the same page and that we are appropriately selling your wares. - To keep bids from going out of control we will allow participants a maximum of 100,000 gil. You may limit the amount further if you believe your character would have less to bid with. Opening bids will vary by item and will be stated prior to each bidding. We will rely on faith to keep track of what amounts people have during the auction as the auctioneers will be busy well, auctioneer-ing! You may pool your resources with another during the auction, but you may wish to arrange this beforehand as we cannot hold up the auction process. Any gil left over from the resources you gave yourself can be saved and added to use next auction (or you may just start over completely, it’s up to you!), just PM one of us after (Discord or PM) or post in the topic so we can keep track of it if you are adding it to your amount for next auction. Do not send us in game tells as we are likely to miss that in the chat scroll. - We will be limiting how many times you may win a bid. You may win no more than twice, after the second win we would like you to let others have a chance to secure some goods. Additionally, if you win a big ticket item (100k+ gil) then you will no longer be able to bid in order to allow others a chance to win something. - We will take auction items at a first come, first serve basis and post them here prior to the auction so interested buyers can see what is up for bid that night. Any items not selected or auctioned can be sold at the next auction and will be given priority. You may re-submit items or submit new ones after your items has gone up for bid, but they will go back in queue. F. A. Q. - Why a cap of 100k? In order to prevent bids from going into infinity, OOCly we ask that people limit their spending to a moderately expensive sum of 100k. Another reason for this number in particular is that the items up for bid will range from materials, resources, services to uncommon curios. We don't anticipate many items being worth shooting up into the millions to obtain, but certainly we expect some resources might be pooled to exceed 100k for some of the more elusive offerings. But, in short, we think the 100s would keep things in the realm of belief commerce-wise. If Kuzhuk had an item worth millions, he'd want that money upfront rather than risk losing out on the value in auction. How do I justify my wealthy character only bringing 100k? Since most of the items will range from simple goods to the odd curio, you may justify that your character has enough business sense to know what amount would be prudent to limit themselves to rather than spend lavishly unnecessarily. If your character has money left over, the next auction will see that they have more to spend and eventually (if you're wise with your spending) you may have a sum you find agreeable. Why so few items up for bid? If time allows, we will try to have more, however the auction is only one part of the evening and will inevitably create quite a bit of chat scroll on its own. The other part of the evening is being entertained by our Artists or hired bards in an exotic atmosphere, so we want to allow for some time to be given to that as well. Also, we hope that after the auction ends people will seek out RP hooks with their newly won goods or services.

[align=center]GENKO CHAYA and KHOKANCHIN MERCANTILE (website: https://gk-rp.enjin.com/)[/align] In the twilight air: Whispers rustle like loose silk, petals dance like fans. Tucked away in a corner off the busy streets of the Goblet, the Genko Chaya is an establishment where patrons may enjoy the experience of a traditional Doman ochaya, or teahouse, mingled with the exotic and eclectic hints of the vast region of Othard. Due in part to one of the owners being a xaela with a penchant for amassing culture and art, said xaela also operates a small pawn shop within the teahouse called Khokanchin Mercantile. Khokanchin, a word that means 'Blue Hunter,' aptly describes the indigo, enigmatic proprietor and collector. His is a shop of curiosities, rarities and wonders. A place where one can find anything for the right price, one need only seek the Blue Hunter himself. [align=center][/align] Genko, meaning 'dark radiance,' derives its name from an imagery of balance between the forces of this world, of chaos and harmony. Many a patron wonders if this is purely a statement of Eastern philosophy or if it also refers to the contrast between raen and xaela with their contrasting scales and cultures within Othard... The smells of incense and exotic spices perfume the air and transport patrons that walk through the doors to a place far and away from the streets of the Goblet. The lobby is a varied mixture of Othardian culture, from fur trappings to wall scrolls of Doman poetry. Both the upstairs and downstairs are more traditionally Doman, boasting tatami floors and sliding doors, and offering a big venue for many guests or smaller, more intimate rooms suited for private conversation. The teahouse also hosts its own private tea ceremony room to be rented out for special occasions. SERVICES Tea, Sake & Entertainment As an ochaya, the Genko is not a restaurant but a place where one can drink tea or sake and be entertained by a trained Artist. These Artists are skilled in conversation, traditional folk songs and dances and know a variety of engaging drinking games. Food may be catered upon request from other locations. The small kitchen on premises provides only small sweet treats to accompany tea ceremony. Those wishing to indulge in tea or sake without entertainment may also do so should they favor a more quiet affair. Tea Ceremony Tea ceremony is the choreographic ritual of preparing and serving matcha, or green tea, with sweets to balance the bitter beverage. It is as much an art as it is a spiritual discipline. It is about aesthetics, as everything from the tea room’s design, the calligraphy, the floral arrangement and placement of the utensils plays a part in the ritual. Tea ceremony is about appreciation of simplicity and the company of one’s guests. The art of serving tea should depict the sincerity of the host to prepare a bowl of tea from the heart. It is a meditative and tranquil experience, yet it is in this artistic display that important ties are often forged or reinforced. Tea ceremony can be arranged for various occasions, from business meetings, engagements, celebrations and more. However, tea ceremony is not a ceremony involving tea. It is experiencing a moment, this moment, through meticulous detail and preparation. Participants will enter into a shared, intimate experience of tea, separated from the distraction of the world outside. For some, tea ceremony may be enjoyed purely for its meditative qualities. For others, it can be a symbolic gesture for strengthening alliances in a ritual where the only things that matter sit within the room. Bookings include a rehearsal where participants can be walked through their roles. Artists trained in tea ceremony will host the event. The Genko Chaya is an ochaya, which is a space provided for entertainers to perform their art for guests. This is not to be confused with other establishments that might also call themselves a teahouse but serve as a tavern or restaurant. Tea is served only incidentally at an ochaya, with the more common drink imbibed being high quality sake. The Genko Chaya may also be referred to instead simply by it's name as in "the Genko." [align=center][/align] Khokanchin Mercantile is a small trading company housed within the Genko Chaya's backrooms. It is a modest pawn shop to the untrained eye, but among the trinkets and trophies are findings worth so much more to the right buyer. The shop is mostly known by word of mouth, but it is by no means a guarded secret. Whether you are looking for a lovely bauble or something rare and elusive, the shop's doors are open and the Blue Hunter at your service. The Blue Hunter is rumored to have started by trading the spoils of his adventuring, steadily collecting a network of resources to further his enterprise into what it is today. But there are other rumors... While the Blue Hunter seems to mostly run the shop on his own, he keepsl a number of freelancers and contractors that provide services to keep his stock well supplied. His business partner, the Veiled Lady, also steps in from time to time when business takes him elsewhere or if he must attend one of his warehouses and properties throughout Hydaelyn. The Veiled Lady, with her silvery way with words, often serves as a liaison for the Blue Hunter but her role extends beyond mere social airs. She's a shrewd businesswoman in her own right, offering to the Blue Hunter her own expertise beyond charm and studied graces. The Veiled Lady ensures that the operation runs smoothly, that all payments and paperwork are up to date and the books balanced. But while the shop deals in legitimate trade, it also plays the other side of the fence as well. For this, the Veiled Lady ensures fees and favors go through the proper channels as only a lady with her wealth and caché can. The proprietors consider all their ventures equally important and are attentive to all aspects of it, so no part of the business - be it the teahouse or the shop - is a facade for the other. They've built their efforts on a cautious practice of plausible deniability. Moral matters of balance, of dark and light, chaos and harmony, are best suited to quiet meditations in the teahouse. The Veiled Lady and the Blue Hunter attend themselves only to the balance of their pocketbooks. SERVICES Pawn & Lending Items may be brought in to be sold or pawned for the purposes of obtaining some quick gil. Additionally, if one's collateral or reputation is good enough, the proprietors provide money lending services. After interest rates are agreed upon and set, contracts will be drawn to state the terms and conditions by which the borrower is expected to abide. Failure to comply with agreed upon terms...may result in some unfortunate luck to befall the offender. Bad credit can ruin a person in more ways than one... Dealing & Trade The proprietors always have an interest in the profitable. With other properties, warehouses and a list of potential buyers in several locations, the flow of goods needs constant feeding. Goods may be brought to the shop to be traded, sold on our shelves, or perhaps bought by the Blue Hunter himself for his own private collection of curiosities. If it cannot be sold in the shops, the proprietors can broker an arrangement to find an appropriate buyer for you. All sales and transactions done through Khokanchin Mercantile are subject to a modest fee or percentage of the sale. Acquisitions & Information The business that the Blue Hunter is most capable of providing is that of acquisitions. A broad business indeed as this can range from simple information gathering from the best places to trade and the best means to transport, all the way up to locating and bringing in a desired object or person no matter how it must be done. The Hunter will carefully select these jobs based on the resources he has available to manage their completion and he will not take an acquisitions job he does not believe can be completed. Networking & Employment Khokanchin Mercantile and the Genko Chaya are happy to network with enterprising individuals who have resources they'd like to share and expand. The proprietors are willing to negotiate arrangements with others to provide their clients with what they need. Perhaps you are a restaurateur willing to provide catering services? Perhaps you're a shipping company that can provide safe, efficient (or discreet) transport? Or perhaps you're a buyer who wishes to be informed of any particular curiosities? Freelancers and contractors are also welcome to offer their skills and services, whether you be a treasure hunter, bounty hunter, tradesman or otherwise. There are a variety of services and trades the proprietors are interested in keeping on their list of contacts whether it be hiring guards for escorts and security...or hiring spies, saboteurs, thugs and sellswords. Everyone has their uses. A Note About Payment . . . At Khokanchin Mercantile everything has value but that price may not always be measured in gil. The Blue Hunter is a tradesman, after all, and one might say that more than gil he values collecting items and resources (although the Veiled Lady still prefers gil if only to pay off the bills without any hassle). Perhaps a client may have an interesting sort of information up for trade for the work requested or an acquisitions job may have an item involved that the Blue Hunter may be interested in whether as a cut of the take or as an offer for completing the job. There are a multitude of payment methods that the Hunter would be up for negotiating, he would only ask that any clients bring only serious offers to the table.

@Sounsyy: Yeah that's something I should have been more clear on, but I was rushing through my post since I'm at work today and it was ultimately one note among many I was trying to make in my post Thank you for the correction and elaboration though!

There are probably other people who can lore post better than I can, but I'm a bit of a lore junkie myself so I can jump in on this one. 1) "Raen territory" is a bit of a misnomer. Unlike the xaela, the raen didn't strictly have territory of their own. Instead they were intermingled with the Doman and Hingans, and per the lore book many took up arms/worked under one or another lord in the Far East. Essentially unlike their xaela cousins, they integrated themselves with Doman and Hingan society. When Doma was razed those living there were just as affected by it as other Domans. Any raen who lived on the isle of Hingashi were unaffected by this since Hingashi is independent and Garlemald did not invade it. While there are no solid numbers of refugees or any real information about racial distribution among them (even in the lore book), it can be presumed a good deal of the refugees were raen. That said there are many who yet stayed in the Far East, especially in smaller villages and farms and live under Garlean rule. There are more still who fled BEFORE the fires of war hit and made their homes elsewhere, at least one group in particular creating their own society in a...different and unexpected place altogether in the Far East (I'll avoid saying where for spoilers' sake). 2) The naming convention I'm not terribly solid on myself as they give enough information to go off of for naming an adventurer in the naming conventions but they didn't seem to account for roleplayers looking into doing something other than a combative character. One would assume it's something that could be stretched in the way you suggest though. (if any of the resident lore masters here can correct me on this if I'm wrong it would be appreciated though) 3) We know through the lorebook that the Doman refugees were refused at ports in both Hingashi and Thavnair before arriving in Thanalan. Hingashi was already entreating the Garleans as esteemed guests in the Hingan port of Kugane and they did not wish to bring the ire of the Garleans to bear on them by harboring refugees. Radz-at-Han in Thavnair similarly wanted nothing to do with them for the same reasons. Based on the route this suggests they took, a refugee in a capsized boat as your backstory suggests could have ended up literally anywhere in the southern regions of the world map, although if they were to end up in Eorzea it would be best to have them land somewhere on the southeastern coast of mainland Aldenard (the continent containing Thanalan, The Black Shroud, Coerthas, etc). 4) Yes, this was answered in point 1. 5) In the Far East, the raen are well-respected since a great number of them were very skilled warriors and loyal vassals. There are even some cases where raen established their own well-respected clans in the Doman tradition (this is observed as early as the Ninja 50-60 storyline). As far as Eorzea is concerned, while Yugiri hid her features for fear of startling Eorzean society, it was entirely unnecessary as it's made clear by the backstories of certain characters such as Sid from the Dark Knight storyline that Au Ra showed up in Eorzea probably within the last 10-20 years, but the problem was that they ran into the Ishgardians first. Ishgard, not knowing what to make of the scaled individuals, believed them to be heretics and dragonkin, and murdered them in droves. As of the present day though, the nature of the Auri people is better understood though the tension left over from the Ishgardians' wanton slaughter of the Au Ra has not been forgotten. Elsewise, they encounter the same welcome as any other race in Eorzea: Adventurers are welcoming of them due to the nature of their work, older individuals who have incredible pride in their homeland may yet carry some xenophobia about other races, but otherwise there is only casual racism thrown about here and there.

Yay is a Six! I may not be on Mateus but I was wondering when you'd pop your head on here since you started playing the game! Welcome to the RPC.

Six is a dear to work with and every bit of art I've seen Six do (including those commissioned for me) is damned quality. 10/10, would commission again.

Bear in mind the Scions and WoL were also trying to go to Othard and work mostly in secret. It wouldn't have done to get found out by some Garlean spy discovering a number of people matching names and descriptions of the Warrior of Light and the Scions clambered aboard a chartered boat that travels regularly along known shipping lanes. That would be a quick ticket to getting surrounded by the whole Garlean Navy. Imagine the message that would send... "We took out your trump card AND your attempt to go behind our back to liberate Doma, Eorzea. Now what will you do?" Taking a smuggler's ship along less traveled routes (hence running into trouble in the Sirensong Sea) was the much safer option given they wanted to hide their involvement in the Doman Liberation Front until they were ready for a head on attack.

It stands to note that the Japanese version of the game has the Doman/Hingan characters speak in a different, older dialect of the Japanese language. This was noted as far back as the first Ninja quests by a friend of mine who plays the game in Japanese. Essentially the Japanese version of the game assumes all "languages" are just different forms of Japanese. This is also likely the reason for the possible translation error in the lore book which refers to Domans speaking in a different "dialect" rather than a different language altogether, which has now been contradicted by the lines posted above. For all intents and purposes I am inclined to think Hingan and Doman are both actual and presently used languages within the localization. The reasoning behind everyone speaking the common tongue is fairly simple...in Kugane it's a foreign port, the common tongue would be incredibly useful. In Garlean-occupied Othard the common tongue would be taught and spread as a means of gentrification of the region (we see the scene where young Yotsuyu's mother wants her other child to have the best in Garlean education for example). That and on an out of universe level the English language, though diverse, doesn't exactly have a similar version of 'dialects' like the Japanese language does so it made sense to change it from simply a dialect to a full-blown language.

It should also be noted there are distinct differences between Eorzean firearms, Machinist firearms, and Garlean firearms... "Common" Eorzean firearms generally tend to be in the style that you would see in on the hip of certain Yellowjacket and Lominsian NPCs. They have a less intricate look and tend to look like real world black powder pistols, I personally refer to them as firesand pistols. They come across as single shot, pellet-based weapons (if their design is assumed to mirror their real world counterparts) meant as a last resort or for when you really need to drop someone or something fast so that the considerable reload time doesn't hinder further conflict. This is of course barring cutscene which show the Admiral firing multiple rounds from her double-barreled pistol which can be seen as mostly cinematic. Eorzeans also have muskets as evidenced by the unfortunately unused Musketeer's guild in Limsa. These have longer range, but still would likely fall under the single shot style of weapon. Garlean firearms tend to come in a couple of flavors. They appear to have developed revolvers even before the advancements in magitek (see also the Pre-Imperial Garlean Revolver which drops from Gubal Library normal mode). As such revolvers have fallen into use in just about every aspect of their firearm technology. The standard issue Garlean gunblade has a revolver cylinder for ammo for instance. This ammo I believe falls under more modern cartridge based ammo rather than pellet rounds. Garlean characters (or those from Garlean provinces) may be able to get their hands on revolvers if such a thing is explained. While we haven't visibly seen any Garlean long-barrel rifles, it stands to reason that if Eorzea has them, it's likely Garlemald has developed something similar. They also have Magitek arms which only seem to be used by upper echelon Garleans if not mounted on their mobile weapons. These tend to fire blasts of charged and volatile ceruleum with the intent of explosive impact damage rather than penetrative. The likelihood of a random Eorzean/Garlean having such a weapon is slim to none as we've only ever seen Legatus-level characters with these weapons (Gaius' wrist-mounted magitek cannon, Regula's magitek greatsword, etc) Lastly and most recently we have Machinist guns. This are given freely to those who would sign up with the Machinists at Skysteel Manufactory. These weapons tend to be modified arms which (one would assume) fire cartridge based rounds rather than the pellet rounds of older firesand weapons. This is evidenced from the fact that one can load multiple rounds into the weapon at once and they can be fired in quick succession. This also goes without mentioning the Aetherconverter which Machinists make use of. The converter uses your own aether to empower your weapon with aether-based rounds which do not require reloading but do not hit quite as hard as a physical round. Combining this with physical rounds actually increases the damage output of your weapon such that you'll be doing even more damage than if you were firing physical rounds alone as well. Given that the aetherconverters are a creation of the Skysteel Manufactory though...there are no real exceptions to how to get one other than becoming a Machinist. Now with all that stated I know I didn't exactly quote any lore openly so if there is anything that contradicts what I'm saying, please do correct me, but otherwise I hope this is helpful.

It's not a retcon, likely just a mistake as the localization team may have translated the name literally given that the Japanese put a person's surname before their given name when referring to a person by their full name. Though that first line before the name seems to imply differently, I would say it's just a minor flub and go by what was online before this.

While I'm of the camp thinking that the Lady in Red is representative of a new class, the possibility also rests with she could just have her own personal fighting style...but I'm not personally buying that for a few reasons. For one the Monk's fighting style (and indeed the Warrior of Light's in the trailer) fits Southern Shaolin Kung Fu's fist-fighting and has been known to be based off that. Watching the trailer a number of times makes me feel like Lady in Red's fighting style is more based on the longer, more fluid motions of Northern Shaolin. Another thing is that she doesn't just punch and kick. It's hard to see at normal speed in the video but if you slow the youtube video down to x0.25 and watch from about 1:10 to 1:17 you'll see that she attacks the Warrior of Light three times in succession with what appears to be a blade attached to a ribbon of cloth before it retracts into the sleeve-like thing on her left arm. This plus the tidbits in 1.0 where Ala Mhigan Bladedancers were labeled NPCs and there were items called "Bladedancer's Jackboots" made me sit and think...perhaps this Lady in Red is actually a new class called Bladedancer based on that idea using a similar martial style combined with a different weapon: the flail/whip, another traditional FF weapon. Just my own theory based on watching the trailer one too many times and based on the fact that Yoshi-P deliberately stated the Warrior of Light was a monk...but did not specify that Lady in Red was as well.

I will give the show this...they had the balls to include *ahem* the horse scene in the third episode. I would still say if you like Berserk maybe give it a shot and you might like it better than I do, but as a fan I'm not super hyped about the anime due to the shortcomings I listed.

And that's about where your excitement will end. The animation is a jarring combination of bad CGI and hand drawn parts, the pacing is piss poor, presentation is lacking quite a lot. Third episode came out today and after the patented "three episode test" I wouldn't recommend watching this...read the manga instead.