Ishgardian elezen were never wildwood or duskwight to begin with - at least not in any way that's meaningful today.
The "wildwood" and "duskwight" division is unique to the Black Shroud.
"Wildwood" is the Gridanian name for the natural way an elezen appears when they and their ancestors live(d) above ground. They have bright skintones, Hyuran-like sight and hearing, and so forth.
But the Shroud is filled with dangerous Elementals who will attack seemingly without provoke. Dozens of generations ago, the elezen who lived there at the time were forced by the Elementals' wrath to move underground and build the city-state of Gelmorra.
The residents of this subterranean city rarely (if ever) saw the light of day, because to do so would mean death by angry tree. As the generations went by, their living situation began to change their physical traits. Their eyesight got worse, their hearing got better, their skin tones began to have less saturation to them.
When the Pact was formed with the Elementals, elezen in the Shroud were able to live above ground again, and over the next few generations they became what is today known as "Wildwood".
Those who chose to remain living underground, in the ruins of Gelmorra itself or in the Shroud's extensive cave systems, remained as what is today called "Duskwight".
The Ishgardian ancestors were never subject to this division. The lore book suggests they are their own sub-race of Elezen (Ishgardian population percentage is listed as "Ishgardian Elezen", not Wildwood or Duskwight) and speculation seems to back this up (they even have their own unique sub-racial trait, as your last bullet covered).
So... ostensibly, they could be considered """wildwood""", because they live above ground and thusly display the physical characteristics of surface-dwelling elezen; but the political moniker does not apply.
Any Ishgardian denizen who refers to themself as Wildwood or Duskwight is, I believe, an immigrant from the Shroud - and in interview one of the developers confirmed there are a fair few Duskwight immigrants to Ishgard, because "things are better for them there" than in Gridania (which is prejudiced against them, whereas Ishgard has no dog in that fight).
The "wildwood" and "duskwight" division is unique to the Black Shroud.
"Wildwood" is the Gridanian name for the natural way an elezen appears when they and their ancestors live(d) above ground. They have bright skintones, Hyuran-like sight and hearing, and so forth.
But the Shroud is filled with dangerous Elementals who will attack seemingly without provoke. Dozens of generations ago, the elezen who lived there at the time were forced by the Elementals' wrath to move underground and build the city-state of Gelmorra.
The residents of this subterranean city rarely (if ever) saw the light of day, because to do so would mean death by angry tree. As the generations went by, their living situation began to change their physical traits. Their eyesight got worse, their hearing got better, their skin tones began to have less saturation to them.
When the Pact was formed with the Elementals, elezen in the Shroud were able to live above ground again, and over the next few generations they became what is today known as "Wildwood".
Those who chose to remain living underground, in the ruins of Gelmorra itself or in the Shroud's extensive cave systems, remained as what is today called "Duskwight".
The Ishgardian ancestors were never subject to this division. The lore book suggests they are their own sub-race of Elezen (Ishgardian population percentage is listed as "Ishgardian Elezen", not Wildwood or Duskwight) and speculation seems to back this up (they even have their own unique sub-racial trait, as your last bullet covered).
So... ostensibly, they could be considered """wildwood""", because they live above ground and thusly display the physical characteristics of surface-dwelling elezen; but the political moniker does not apply.
Any Ishgardian denizen who refers to themself as Wildwood or Duskwight is, I believe, an immigrant from the Shroud - and in interview one of the developers confirmed there are a fair few Duskwight immigrants to Ishgard, because "things are better for them there" than in Gridania (which is prejudiced against them, whereas Ishgard has no dog in that fight).
![[Image: tUzrT.png]](https://puu.sh/tUzrT.png)
