Kamome

Also, I feel like I have a pretty solid concept in mind for a Doman-originating character, now. I'm going to post my pages in the wiki page thread over the weekend for some lore-checks. Going to try and keep them much shorter and sweeter than my OP. And Sounsyy--the Sagolii thing wasn't unclear--I just got confused because I thought Sagolii was fairly peaceful and populated by the Seeker of the Sun miqo'te tribes because of the character creation snippet about them.

Actually, you mean Paglth'an, which is a grassland region to the east of Thanalan! Oh, nice--this is super useful. I was wondering about that. Sagolii is in the game, and puny, right? The character I had intended to be my main has a lot of background involving (attempting) fighting the Amalj'aa so I've been trying to gather up more information about them, militarily-speaking. Thanks, Kale! Paglth'an is the Amalj'aa homeland, which lies across the Sagolii desert. However, after the summoning of their god, Ifrit, the Amalj'aa have invaded the Sagolii desert and claimed the southern reaches of Thanalan as their own, naming the region "Zahar'ak" which means "Land of Perseverance." They believe this land is blessed by Ifrit and seek to rid it of taint. ie. Ul'dah. So, I did mean what I said. Yes, you are correct in that the Amalj'aa are from Paglth'an, which they still control, but they now also control a large portion of the Sagolii desert. Sorry if my original statement was confusing. ^^; Oh, that makes sense. Wait--is Sagolii the (contested) border between Thanalan and Paglth'an, then? Or basically like a militarized zone like Kashmir?

And my main: Female Elvis

Actually, you mean Paglth'an, which is a grassland region to the east of Thanalan! Oh, nice--this is super useful. I was wondering about that. Sagolii is in the game, and puny, right? The character I had intended to be my main has a lot of background involving (attempting) fighting the Amalj'aa so I've been trying to gather up more information about them, militarily-speaking. Thanks, Kale!

If you'd ever be interested in getting a Google Doc going and want any help documenting the lore, Sounsyy, I would love to help out as soon I have more in-game experience and community cred. Have you posted your approximate map anywhere on the forums? I ran a search and couldn't find it. Anyroad, a giant thank you to everyone who posted in this thread. I feel so much more confident about being able to RP within the lore, now, and a lot less nervous about finalizing a character. Someone PM'd me and explained that character transfers aren't affected by the creation restrictions so I may be arriving on Balmung over the weekend (I originally planned to smuggle a new character on after maintenance on the 19th). Nako'li, Gegenji, Chris and Sounsyy--thank you so much for your time answering my newbie questions. See you in Eorzea soon and around the forums, too!

I love this. I think this applies especially to FFXIV. Just look at how characterization works in many JRPGs, especially Square Enix's. Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, and all the FF's have a ton of humor and character fluff that makes you care about the characters. Just think of that horrible Yuna/Tidus laughing scene in FFX (just kidding about that one, but seriously--Ayla in Chrono Trigger is probably my favorite example). Character banter and joking around is my personal favorite part of RP, too. Thank you for posting this! Laugh with is, cry with us--that's the best way to go! Also, side note: something I see a lot in RP is all of the serious conversation happening IC, and people saving the jokes and goofing around for OOC. It's always good to give your characters weaknesses that can be laughed about, and not to take IC mocking or teasing personally. Maybe the reason we don't see as much lighthearted RP IC is because our characters don't have enough flaws to make fun of!

Tome Raider

You are my lore hero. Seriously thinking I need to draw out a map for myself to keep track of what we know about the geography of Hydaelyn. Are most of your sources item descriptions from in-game? I remember in FFXI we had zero idea about a lot of world geography save a handful of item descriptions. That is, until S-E gave us the world map around the time the Aht Urghan expansion arrived.

Ah, no worries. I completely agree with that method of RP. I like RPC Library pages that give just enough info to pique interest--history is best when it comes out in active storytelling I think! That's what's so awesome about RP!

Oh, Sounsyy, also! You are absolutely right about Urianger! I didn't even think about the Duskwight naming conventions. I am a French-speaker and have noticed the major difference between Wildwood and Duskwight names is that Wildwood names skew toward Medieval French, and Duskwight names, including the Ishgardian noble house of Dzemael, sound like gallicized (frenchified) North African or possibly Basque words. "Standard" French, especially old French, doesn't make common use of 'z's--but as you can see in these Basque names below, it does quite extensively. The Basque are also known as mountain-dwellers of France's southern mountainous regions. Maybe they were S-E's inspiration? Or maybe the Visigoths? http://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/basque His surname, Augurelt, is definitely in-line with what a lot of Medieval French/Gaulish surnames sound like, for the record, though.

Greatly appreciated, Sounsyy. Your answers are extremely helpful. I believe it would probably be a very solid education in lore to start going through your old posts! I am considering very much just disregarding the in-game lore bits about not being from Eorzea. Or just making a character who has lived a lot of their life at sea as a pirate or trader or something along those lines. Thank you again! I will surely be asking more questions... But much more succinctly!

I found this following thread from last year: http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/printthread.php?tid=8610 Thank you guys for spelling out the actual continent names there--it's so hard to find information about that stuff online. S-E really needs to give is a bigger map of Hydaelyn like they gave us for Vana'diel in FFXI: [align=center][/align]

Haha, awesome--do you have an RPC Library page set up for them? Link me? I have been reading that wiki like it's homework lately.

Thank you! Very much appreciated. The Lalafellin naming structure seems very preserved in their societies, so I think you made the right choice. They're native to Thanalan, as a race, I think I remember reading--so I'm guessing your lala ancestors must have emigrated to Doma themselves at some point way back. I'm actually not set on hyur, I just favor them because I like to try all the jobs and find hyur the most 'standard' looking race that doesn't skew visually toward magical or physical jobs (in my own silly head). I ended up with an Elvaan as my final main in XI and was obsessed with Tarus and not only their awesome names but ridiculously cute rhyming speech tics, haha. I'll be reading your profile, too! Thanks again!

Ah, this is really good to know. I was mistakenly under the impression that the invasion of Doma was recent, not tied to the Ala Mihgan invasion back in 1557. Thank you! I'm going to have a read of your RPC Library entry to see how you've worked your character, too. Really good name!

Hello! This is my first post on the RPC. I want to first thank everyone who has made this community so vibrant, welcoming and high-quality. I played FFXI since the PS2 release in 2004 when I was a starry-eyed kid who had grown up with the Final Fantasy games every step of the way. It was my first MMO. I always dreamed of a community like this one where we could share quality stories about our characters and do honor to Square Enix's beautiful worlds. I am looking forward so much to meeting your character and creating memories with all of you. The problem is... I'm having a lot of trouble with a character concept. In FFXI, I played a hume boy who was from Selbina, newly arrived in Bastok with dreams of joining the Bastokan military. This fit really well with the in-game lore. I really find it hard to become immersed in my character if he/she doesn't fit the in-game character origin. I love characters who seem like they walked right out of a Final Fantasy series title and fit well in the established world. I've been playing FFXIV for about a week now, and was planning on writing a civilian merchant character from Ul'dah. The problem is, everything in the game's narrative really seems tailored to a non-Eorzean. The following are my questions for the lore experts who frequent this forum--thank you so much for your time reading this rambling post. I care so much about RPG worlds and lore, and love them very much. I want to do justice to the great work the writers and world builders have done with Hydaelyn, and to this excellent community. 1. Are the nations of Doma, Garlemald, Ishgard, Sharlayan and (former) Ala Mihgo considered part of Eorzea? 2. From what I've read, it seems most plausible that Domans would be the most recent wave of immigrants to Eorzea with the Ninja plot line that was recently introduced--do you think there would be fresh Garlean/Ala Mihgan refugees too? 3. What do you think about Doman naming conventions? Karasu Redbeak, Tsubame Sunrise and Oboro Moonrise are the primary examples I've found. Do you think it would be too 'special snowflake' to use the surname Sunrise or Moonrise? Do these surnames signify a small family, personal title, or a clan name, I find myself wondering... 4. Sharlayan naming conventions puzzle me, too--Louisoix's name aligns well with what we know about Wildwood names, but his associate, Urianger Augurelt, seems to have a non-standard forename (at least, it doesn't recall French to me). Are there any examples of hyuran names from Sharlayan? It seems unlikely we would see fresh immigrants/refugees from Sharlayan, however... Considering the collapse was over fifteen years ago, in 1562. 5. How dominated by the Elezen is Ishgard, exactly? Has anyone put some thought or researched lore regarding the hyur there? Are there hyuran NPCs in-game from Ishgard? 6. Do you play a character from Sharlayan, Doma, Ishgard or Garlemald? What's your character's story? Would you like to build a story together with my character as a relative or old friend? I would love to find someone to mentor me in the in-game lore. I am so sorry this became so rambling and has been referenced in older threads, too. I wanted to foster an in-depth discussion on these topics. I am hoping to transfer to Balmung on Tuesday the 20th, after the 3:00am PST maintenance is over. I currently play on Adamantoise. Thank you all so, so much. I can't wait to take my first steps on Balmung! Sincerely, Rosa