Valence

If you remember, the ships used by Lominsans are absolutely colossal in size. The ones docked in the drydocks, or in Limsa, for example. The ones you travel on from Vesper Bay to Limsa (or the other way around), if you remember the cutscene, are some such vessels. You can also see the same generic model used for the arcanist quest, and a few others. Those are way bigger than XVth century caravels. If those can't travel between continents...

Because you have seen a lot of interesting ishgardian characters? I'm genuinely curious really. I find Aymeric pretty alright and not flat and trite as I found him the first time I saw him, but I don't find him especially better than the Scions (except Minfillia). I almost think that most of his persona is flatly designed to please the female audience, which seems to work admirably well, and nothing wrong with that, to the contrary... But besides that... meh. He got way better in 3.2-3.4 though. I like him now, we got to see his dreams, doubts, etc. But I would also like to see more of his failings. More of his pragmatic side we barely saw the first time we met him in 2.4. For example, I didn't find Estinien great at all. He had the potential to be great, with his internal darkness and all, but he just shuts it up most of the time and plays the brooding dragoon. He then gets possessed like an idiot (why not) and literally gets to play Thancred's role in the battle for Ultima Weapon (who was also possessed, but by ascians). Those possessed characters don't exactly hold any personality left of them to make an impression in my opinion. The only time where Estinien got a bit fleshed out (a bit... since he always broods and never complains) was during the trip with Ysayle. I can admit that their mutual relationship was interesting, but it never really took off in my view. I like Ysayle way more than at first impression yeah. Still not totally sold on her as well. SE has really lacked the fundamental part of storytelling since 2.0 (can't say for 1.0 I didn't play it), which is character development. Ysayle most of the time spent her time in the background, following the warrior of light after she stopped being the apparent 2 dimensional ishgard villain (it was interesting to see that what seemed to be in the Dragonsong conflict actually wasn't black and white, that's the main strength of its story). Her sacrifice at the end was telegraphed. But I think I'm nitpicking because overall, I like her okay. I don't find Lucia interesting at all. She is bland to me. Her only redeeming (and potential!) value is that she may have something for Aymeric, which makes her seem at least a bit human. And if that's not even the case, then what? She is an empty husk, and not even in the positive storytelling sense. She has literally nothing for her. It's not even easy to describe her considering how void of character she is... Compared to all the Scions up to 3.0, and all the Scions minus Y'shtola up to 3.3? Sure, they are ten times above. The Scions were so abysmally void that it was repelling (almost as much as Minfillia's prepubescent player-bait cleavage). What makes me rather hopeful and optimistic though, is what they did in 3.4. It's the first time I see a patch mostly focused on character development, besides what we already had on Alphinaud with his dreams of grandeurs and the crystal braves (which was kind of meh but ended awesome thanks to Lolorito). I had good hopes for Alisaie, and they really made a believable character with flaws, doubts and all with her. She's not all awesome and altruistic like some. But it makes her inner strength, emotions and failings even more brilliant in comparison. I even started to like Yda and Papalimo. Or at least, not hate them like I did before. I hope they continue on that path, which is, improvement. If we start to discover how deep some apparently bland and non fleshed out characters are, I'm all for it really. It can be quite a nice twist.

Remember also that what we are shown by NPCs ingame has always been qualified by SE as "probably biased in some way or another, depending on character's beliefs and particular inclinations, as well as the context, since nobody is a well omniscient knowledge". Uh, yeah well... There is always wiggle room for pretty much everything here. I'm pretty sure a young Nunh being the father of a few at first might be willing genuinely to act as a real dad or something, why not. It can make sense. I just doubt that after many years of service if it's the case, with so many offspring, he still have just the human means to do so. All in all I tend to speak mostly in terms of mainstream lore. What people could call lore bending (like here), is in my opinion certainly not that, but going into... specifities, oddities, and the likes.

I must confess that I'm partial to Garlemald being of the party

Honestly, I could expect logically to see one of the possible reasonable portrayals of a Nunh to be an arrogant sexualized male with a harem behind him... Yeah, I'm not kidding. That's a possibility. I would expect some Nunh to act like that, like you would see many people IRL acting like that if they were afforded the occasion. You have many assholes in positions of power and sometimes they deserve them due to their skills. Which doesn't mean they can't be assholes. As long as they fulfill their obligations and duties to their tribe, and that's where you pull it right or wrong. It always boils down into a good fleshing out of the character and a 3 dimensional portrayal where you actually show that your character isn't a sexual power fantasy. Also, on the males raising Seeker children, I would have to find confirmation but out of my memory, no, females raise their children before anything else. Especially when the nunh probably have dozens and dozen of them. Not saying that the Nunh will not teach them stuff, hunting lessons, etc, but I don't see him doing that more than anyone else (esp considering the sheer number of children), but women seemed to educate the children in their everyday life. Especially since female Seekers seem also to be as capable as hunting and doing 'male' stuff than their male counterparts. Maybe I don't remember correctly though. Yeah well, maybe that's just me, but I really, really can't see a breeding Nunh as a dad... Would love to see the reputation of the title improve though, but that would need more players pulling it right, like any position of power really.

I'm eager to leave Ishgard. It wasn't super enthusiastic about it at first, and then it started to grow a bit on me, but I'm bored of that cliché medieval fantasy knights vs dragons trope thing. It was well done at least though, I can grant them that. Ala-Migho/Garlemald all the way. Can't wait.

Lore supports it. Most of the miqo'te you will see in cities are either living there as citizens, or more importantly, a lot of them are even enlisted in various crews of sorts. They don't live a tribal life. They have a job, and probably a place to live in the city as well. It is even more anchored in lore since there is the whole deal of conflict between Keepers integrating in gridanian cities vs the tribal ones living outside. Then you can even imagine a blend between the two. Tribal miqo'te living in a tribe, but in a tribe not sufficiently isolated anymore to keep its business out of cities. You can perfectly imagine a tribe living as a tribe outside, but sending some of its members not to hunt/fish/whatever tribal you have, but to trade, work in the city, profit from its riches, etc. I don't think there is a sealed wall between both.

People can eventually do as they please. It's not a single entity of community forced to play with everyone where people not complying is harming the community in any direct way (unlike on games like eve online). You can do whatever you like in your own bubbles, without interacting with the bubbles of others. A lot of people try to be lore compliant because it's the best bet to be accepted into the widest range of RP. People that break or bend the lore don't generally mind people that are lore compliant. The other way around though... I have actually also seen threads asking "Would that spin on things be interesting to you?". Half of the answers were "sure, go for it if you like it!", and the rest "do whatever you want but I'm not gonna RP with you". It only serves to illustrate the point further. Then again, I'm glad the community is like this, even if I wish the actual wish to play more with the lore and fluff than just using the lore as boundaries not to break was more real, people are not being lore ayatollahs by shitting on others constantly and being toxic edgelords, and are yet attached enough to the lore so that the community doesn't turn into everything but... FFXIV.

I have a hard time seeing an actual paladin, free or not, to end up as a refugee... I mean, Uld'ah is not exactly in a state of carnage so... Paladin refugees sound a bit weird to me. And, do you seriously see someone with the expertise and knowledge and skill, as rare as a paladin, to end up homeless in the street? Nothing prevents your free paladin to end up in Ishgard now that Thordan re-opened the gate to outsiders and whatnot. There, he can certainly get acclimated to the ishgardian life and customs, that could have grown on him enough for him to actually stay, and maybe get a status among its citizens by his simple deeds. I mean, a paladin probably has a lot in common with ishgard values and can impose himself as honorable and all enough for him to start working for a noble house for example. It's actually a super good way to introduce him in the ishgardian society in the purest lore friendly manner as we have seen many high houses take adventurers and even Hildibrand as Wards under their protection and service! There, once that done, you can start playing with the idea of meeting a dark knight mentor, etc etc. I think that can be a great way to actually play that in roleplay, instead of directly inserting it in the backstory... Oh well, maybe it's just me though. But the Ward of a noble house idea, I think, is the cleanest and full of fluff.

Wasn't there an Aldgoat Tribe or something? Seeker FC...

Ok, so, yeah, I mistook you trying to talk about the Void thus my confusion... So yes, DRKs have nothing to do with the Void powers, and just draw their own powers from their emotions. To be more accurate, they draw their ideals from a creed of righteousness not much different from an actual knight (thus the name), and their powers from what they call their inner Darkside, which is the manifestation of their dark emotions (rage, injustice, etc). Maybe it is called the Abyss though, but I don't remember any mention of that when I did the MSQ.

What do you call the Abyss? The Void? Also no, don't worry, I don't see what gameplay jobs and roles have to do with roleplay beyond the simple appearance and attires you can get out of them... Unless you plan to play all those jobs ICly altogether...

In my honest opinion, a Nunh will be seen as interesting (I think), if as already said, you play even more the duties and the chores that come with the role. It will then take precedence over the harem thing with alpha male power fantasies and all. Responsibilities include: being there at all times to breed (and potentially lead, even if Nunh are not always tribe chiefs, they certainly are people with important status, and probably combat leaders as well). It also includes a lot of 'tribe politics' as seen in the MSQ when the Nunh has constantly to deal with horny Tias that are after his title all the time. I don't think a Nunh will last long only for his combat skills to repell the challenges he always gets issued. A Nunh has an important social role, close to an alpha male, and needs to make impression, to be there for all the lower males as a role model, a leader, etc. A Nunh MUST impose respect. A Nunh will always lead through example, always being on the front for everything when it must be so. If he doesn't, or show lazyness, he will lose that respect, and probably his title at some point. If your Nunh is not here to defend his title, how can Tias challenge him? He will just be replaced asap in my opinion, no matter what.

As I said to you in private I... have not much to offer with my character besides common origin... I find the idea super interesting though. RP in the wilderness is something I enjoy a lot. Well, I can see an improbable scenario where my character could actually find her way there, find it actually super 'cool' and 'edgy' and what you have or whatever works, and have fun coming back again? She's not especially against nature and solitude - quite the contrary - after all. Well, she is a Keeper oddity for sure. If you want, I can see where it leads organically and all?

Well that's the thing. I don't necessarily go against the idea of Keeper females entertaining several relationships at the same time, but I don't see how they would somehow do it more than other races. Because of Seekers and their harems maybe? Yeah, they are of the same race for sure. But that seems to me more about societal traditions rather than genetical ones no? So yeah, it's possible. Is it more frequent or a defining trait of the Keeper clans? I don't think so, or at least nothing to my eyes seems to hint in that direction... Ah well, perhaps the fact that they generally don't have lasting relationships (cf Masha's quote above), so since they don't envision relationships the same way, and see them as flirtatious and momentous relationships without commitment and years ahead in the future, then... maybe several at a time, as I said above, is a possibility, but considering how rare males showing up at the same time are... The thing is, you seem to think that lasting relationships are part of Keeper clans as well, and yet, everything I read in the lore seems to say otherwise, aka, brief relationships before the male leaves. As I said above I see nothing that prevents an odd, peculiar male to appear and who will pair with an equally odd, peculiar female... Especially in Keeper societies living in cities, where they probably see a lot more (sometimes recurring) males around...? But yeah, lore seems to go in the other direction.

Shaved miqo'te head? Ears shaved too? D :

The friendlist unable to tell you who is the (deleted) person suddenly showing. Is that so hard to tell? Also, not really directed at the game proper, but more at the making connections thread on the RPC. Why are 90% of the folks here asking for connections, and when you reply, they never even try to reach you out ingame? Why bother asking then? Big pet peeve of mine is also all the people trying to make connections that don't tell you they don't necessarily intend to stick around, or tell you it's an alt of them just here to gauge if it is going to be successful or not. Very annoyed at all those one time RPs for naugh, literally wasting the time of the people kindly offering to make connections. I understand when there is actual RP, and then one or both parties decide it was ok, but not really interested to continue. I don't understand when it's people you will never see again, or barely. Or how alts with non committed people are the bane. /vents

I would like to point out that while I totally agree that Seeker societies embrace polyamory due to their harem structure, I am not so sure about Keepers. Maybe they indeed see several men at a time for some, but considering the rarity of those, I would find to see two or even more males showing up at the same time quite... rare. Even if it surely happens at times, but that would be far from being the norm. Jumping from momentous frolicking after frolicking, sure, but that doesn't make those ephemeral relationships polyamorous.

Not necessarily, as Keeper society mostly seems to revolve around wandering males showing up at times in those matriarchal families. It's not much of a stretch to assume that since they probably rarely stay up for life, then a mother can probably meet several of them. This of course is tempered by the fact that males are few (thus why they move between clans). If we look into the lore, most Keepers don't seem to talk much about their precise family nucleus, but the only example I have in mind (and the biggest source of info on Keepers) is the family of Urha and Mauh Lihzeh, who are both female children to a single mother (so a very small family, not even a clan, because they live in the city). It is not clearly stated if they are from the same father, but hints strongly suggest that is not the case. One, the father(s) is/are never ever mentionned, because it's mostly irrelevant for them. Two, Uhra seems to be at least 15 years older than her sister that she had to take care of when she was a mewling child. Three, keepers men are known to wander around in the wilderness, while women keep the hearth, and accept game and trade from menfolk when they show up, added to the fact that she speaks of the Coeurlclaw King (King Poach) as doing things most unnaturally, forcing women to lie with him and him alone. With that in mind it's not much of a stretch indeed to conclude that they are not of the same father, even if it's not clearly stated (so it could be the opposite too). But yeah the combination of how things are supposed to play (in her eyes) in Keeper families, how she speaks about men and how they are kept irrelevant in family matters, and how they move between families and clans, and how both sisters are quite not of the same age, I tend to think that way. All of that to say, I think, that both cases can be made as we seem to have much leeway, since nothing prevents a Keeper family to have two parents giving birth to several children as we are not really informed on how long males tend to stay with the mother, added to the fact that it can probably also vary depending on individuals and whatnot. However, the standard model told by the lore is about males moving between families and clans, so... Expect a lot of mothers to have been with several fathers. We don't have much info on what expectations for children, so I would wager that it's like for anyone in Eorzea really. Farmer child? Probably help at the farm. Fisher child? Same. Noble or wealthy child? Probably a lot more options. Birth order seems to at least play on the naming conventions for Keeper males, that all is clear. We don't seem to have info on matriarchal order or anything like that. It's not even clear in bigger Keeper clans who leads and on what basis they are put there to begin with, if there is anyone that actually leads as a matriarch anyway. Keep in mind though that Keeper clans and families are explicitly said to be way smaller than Seeker tribes, so... I suppose the question becomes a lot less relevant here. Only things for sure is, women are in charge, since men only show occasionally and never stay that long. The relationship between sisters, and mothers, and females in general, seems to be one of very close and loving families, as depicted in most quests related to Keepers. It of course doesn't mean it will always be the case though. But expectations are ones of very close proximity and mutual 'love'. And there is also their divinity, Menphina. Fathers however, seem to be considered as mostly irrelevant. Male offsprings also leave to wander pretty young, although your mileage can probably also vary here. It's an interesting society in that males thus turn into occasional encounters, lovers of a few days or months, small adventurers in the life of most Keeper girls who spend 99.9% of their time with... other girls. It's one of those species where the gap between males and females is so huge that both genders seem almost like of a different race. Again, no lore on that as far as I know. Hard to say, and like for most families of most races, that can be many things. There is probably in some families, and none in others... Since the emphasis seems to be put rather strongly on family bonds between women though, I would find reasonable to assume that those tensions are probably less common than with other races. Tensions between males and females though, might be way higher? All in all, I think the best to keep in mind is that lore for now seems to give a lot of leeway on that, and also not only lore, but what's to be expected in life, really. Those are things that just can't be totally uniform and always the same for every individuals. Keepers are not only from the Shroud, but pretty much from everywhere. Lominsan Keepers probably have different customs, as well as Sharlayan ones, or even the ones living still on Meracydia, or even Othard? And then you have also the difference between integrated Keepers living in cities, and the ones still living as clans outside. I suppose in Miqo'te societies, having so many male offspring might be seen as a blessing, at least for Seekers. For Keepers I think you can probably make a case why it would seem embarrassing or at the contrary pretty awesome, depending on the view on males the mother/family have. Would the mother have learned her trade after the first 4 male children she had? Probably. Does that imply that she will want to keep him longer with her? Or the opposite, putting him younger on the road? Up to you I guess.

You are not supposed to survive the beasts down there, even if you don't die of the fall immediately I guess? Try to fend off those crippled with your two legs broken beyond recognition...

As it seems that most of those reasons can often be summarized into grossly a handful of tropes - the hero (fame and wealth), the lost love (looking for a lost friend/lover or family member), the exile (being dragged into an adventurer against ones's wishes), the vagabond (being on a trip for revenge), the missionary (traveling to spread the word of an ideal), the traveler (traveling to experience the world), and the rebel (fleeing one's home) - I chose the two latter. Those from the top of my head, probably more of them. Suen left her family because she was a misfit unable to cope with gridanian and keeper expectations. Strong arguments happened eventually, leading to rash decisions, and she was soon on her own on the road, thinking of herself as a traveler of sorts. She's after everything she deems "cool" or "wicked".

As I already stated in your last thread, I'm totally open for anything on that side for my character, even if she is not garlean, and probably doesn't like very much authoritarian regimes. She sure likes their Magitek, and she also certainly doesn't care that much about who rules the world, especially when she probably wears thick rose tinted glasses on what Garlemald truly is about. After all, she tried to enlist not that long ago out of a teenage tantrum. Could maybe see it as self interest at first. That would probably be more of a 'free electron' kind of approach, but I'm never opposed to see character change for any legit reason anyway. In the 2.0 MSQ, yes. In the 1.0 MSQ though, no. Not with the Black Wolf being portrayed as he was. There was a clear distinction between the batshit crazy garlics ala Nael, and the ruthless pragmatic garlics like Gaius. To me the Black Wolf and the White Raven embody two very different philosophies, and while I can certainly admit that the latter can probably be qualified as mustache twirling evil (or just batshit insane), I wouldn't agree for the former, not the slightest. We will have to see also how it is for the new emperor and the successor of the Black Wol

Because as stated by the quests that lead you to unlock access to the Mist, the Goblet and the Lavender Beds, those are brand new districts exclusively open for adventurers to establish themselves. They are quite luxurious compared to anything commoners could afford. While adventurers can't exactly be PART of a Grand Company, they can certainly work for them with their adventurer status, which is... kinda similar. It's just that they don't have, you know, daily shifts and a full military service to the Grand Company. The GC just calls them when something important requires their presence.

The Xaela emigrated in 3 migratory waves over the course of a decade or so, if I remember correctly, but in numbers only recently, when the Raen coming from Doma also fled the destruction of their city by Garlemald, not even one year ago. It is definitely possible for an Au'ra to have emigrated way sooner though, even a Raen. It just implies a hetfy dose of "what the fuck are you" from Eorzeans. They probably would have created a lot of waves and attracted attention everywhere they went, unless they tried to hide their appearance (like Yugiri did more recently when she arrived in Eorzea). As for the question, yes, blood relations are possible between different races, or at least as far as we know, between Elezen and Hyur, at least on a single generation. So, adoption is of course possible too. We actually have several examples in the lore, like Minfillia's adopted mother, F'laminn, who is a Miqo'te Seeker of the Sun. We also know that while eorzeans aren't especially homophobic or what you have, and prove to be a rather open/liberal society, they can be rather racism and xenophobic though. People keep to their own, and other races are most of the time seen with distrust or even disdain/disgust depending on the place you live in. For example, Keepers of the Moon in Gridania are seen as poaching savages by snazzy Wildwoods, etc. Relations with someone from another race is often seen as deviancy or perversion. Not by everyone of course, mind you, but it tends to be the general shunning such people are subject to. The MSQ seemed to portray a lot more inter racial help and support on the side of Yugiri and her doman refugees (au'ra and hyur), for whom racial concerns are probably the least of their worries.

There is plenty of lalafells in Limsa, so yes! If she is in the Mists, that means she is an adventurer (which is a profession, and indicates a certain status: money or potential money, freedom...). A lot of people don't necessarily use their nameplate as their true names. Myself tried to follow the naming convention when I created my character, but after a few months I grew unsatisfied with it and tried to twist it into something way more like I envisioned it lore wise. With that in mind, you can definitely say that your non lalafellin name is a handle of sorts. Maybe given to her by buddies from the Maelstrom? It might be the source of an interesting story actually: where and why did they give her that nickname? What is the meaning behind? Does your character likes it, or hates it? Or maybe she hates her real name? If it's Julius Maximus, then it definitely sounds like a garlean name, slightly distorted since it lacks the last name particle (Like, Julius zos Maximus, etc). Could it be a mockery? Or just say that your nameplate is totally out of character and your character gives her real name to people she meets? Either way is fine, but the good thing with nicknames is that you can have the best of both worlds: you keep your handle and incorporate it into the story of your character, and you also get to find a nice lore friendly lalafell name. I can also totally see someone being blunt, even unconsciously, being part of the maelstrom. It meshes well with it, since, you know, pirates and stuff, skulls and crossbones and all that. Also, quick note on lore: if your character is an adventurer (since she lives in the Mist), then she isn't properly part of the Maelstrom, but like any adventurers, can definitely work for them on a daily basis. There is also the road where you say that your character actually lives in Limsa or whatever fancies you, and your Mist house is just used as a placeholder for that. Or maybe it's just OOC. As I said, there is not a lot of limits on what you can find around that.