
(08-17-2017, 10:35 PM)Valic Wrote: Do the tribes of Xaela have any particular naming conventions or translations? Like does the tribe name "Mol" or "Dotharl" actually come from any particular languages or concepts based off RL cultures? Or are the xaela tribe names mostly created at random for the most part?
Quote:The Xaela
Auri creation myth tells of a Dawn Father and a Dusk Mother from whom all Au Ra are descended. The Xaela believe their veins to run thick with the blood of the latter─their lustrous black scales and fiery wills serving as proof of this divine lineage.
Unlike their sister clan, the Raen, who lead solitary lives hidden behind the savage peaks of Othard's eastern reaches, the Xaela are free spirits who roam the vast western steppe in close-knit tribes hunting, gathering, and warring as their ancestors have for countless generations.
(From the Character Creation screen)
As was mentioned earlier, Xaela names are based on Mongolian names/words used in the 15th century (give or take a few centuries). Lists of ancient Mongolian names can also be found on the Internet for those not versed in ancient Mongolian history (I’m guessing that’s a lot).
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Unlike Raen names, where the spellings are pretty much fixed, and there are no real variations for a single name, individual Xaela names come with multiple spellings, all of them acceptable. The Xaela, being nomadic, live lives that are one part solitary (when traveling as a clan) and one part community (when they interact with other clans they come across in their migrations). Because of this, similar names are used throughout the Othardian steppe, but they often feature slightly different spellings due to evolving separately in isolated clans. Also a factor is that, until recently, writing was almost non-existent amongst the tribes─written language simply not a necessity in the nomadic lifestyle.
The male names Jagadai, Chaghadai, and Tsagaday are all, essentially, the same name. However, in Othard (and FFXIV) they are considered unique.
While the Raen abandoned the method of using clan names as their surnames when they abandoned the nomadic lifestyle of their ancestors, the Xaela continue the tradition. This means that, for the most part, Xaela surnames are the names of one of 51 existing clans. The following is a list of the clan names and a quick blurb describing the clan. The words used in tribe names are, for the most part, original words based loosely on 15th to 17th century Mongolian spellings.
Au Ra Naming Conventions - Official FFXIV Forums Lore Board