Yeah... I know. This is probably one post after another, but I felt it best to split the answer to the "what is your background" question from my general thoughts on what it is to be a Duskwight. So. Here we go. Apologies if I bring up some already made points.Â
1. Duskwights are an outsider culture. It seems pretty darn clear that the Duskwights have a separate culture that does not fold into the norm with the rest of "society as a whole." They are reclusive and elusive to outsiders, and there are plenty of examples that a large contingent of them refuse to live within the bounds of regular society. They have a tendency to make their livings as bandit, thieves, and mercenaries. This point is backed up by both NPC dialogue and how Duskwight NPCs are presented to us in the game. Duskwight Mercenary, Bandit, etc are all labels placed on a lot of Duskwights one encounters in the world. NPC dialogue often points to the fact that most Duskwights are known for engaging in such work on the surface. One is free to draw one's own conclusions, but this stands as a pretty big example that most Duskwights are exactly what most people thing they are. I tend to think that this points to the tribe having a quite different set of ethics and morals than the rest of society, from a cultural stand point. There are a lot of parallels to real life outsider cultures that can be drawn from the various dialogue bits to be found in the game on them. Romani, Travelers, Native Americans, and many other cultures that hold onto their identity while co-existing with the mainstream culture come to mind. In short, Duskwights have their own culture, and it would seem that most of them refuse to assimilate to mainstream society.
2. Duskwights face a LOT of prejudice. The stigma placed on Duskwights is not just limited to the Wildwoods. They are referred to as dirty, thieving, untrustworthy, and worse by many NPCs elezen and non-elezen alike. This sentiment seems to be highest in Gridania, but is by no means limited to that region. They are referred to as murderous bandits in Ul'dah and filthy pirates in Limsa. There are fewer NPCs that bring this up in quests and other such in the other non-Gridania areas, but it is still a sentiment that has spread all over Eorzea proper.Â
3. The Duskwights have left various underground ruins/cities laying around. There is a major one being studied in Gridania that was uncovered by the Calamity. There were hints in 1.0 that places like Toto Rak, and the Tam Tara Deepcroft, and the Mun-tuy Cellars were at one time Duskwight structures that were abandoned and re-purposed. These specific places in Gridania were possibly abandoned during the conflict that arose surrounding the founding of Gridania, one of the sources of bad blood between the two elezen tribes. Hits of other settlements and underground places in Coerthas can also be inferred from 1.0 dialogue. Particularly the Dragoon quest. There is really no other mention of possible Duskwight ruins or settlements in any of the other regions. Hopefully more will unfold about these various locations and possible others.
4. Large amounts of Duskwights being on the surface seems to be a recent development. Now, by recent developement, I mean in like the past fifty or sixty years or so. This is also not to say that there were never any Duskwight on the surface before then. Lore seems to point to a bit of a large influx during the above time period. I think this leads a bit into why they face so much prejudice. They are a reclusive and insular people that are just now being more and more exposed to mainstream society. People fear what they don't understand and all that jazz.
These are the things I can think of at the moment, but it all leads to some pretty interesting places I think. A couple closing notes. I LOVE the idea of a Duskwight only LS. I think it would add some very very interesting RP. I also think that there is interesting RP to be had between those Duskwight that cling to their cultural identity, and those that seek to be more assimilated. Lets keep the ideas and the discussion going. I like what I am seeing so far.
1. Duskwights are an outsider culture. It seems pretty darn clear that the Duskwights have a separate culture that does not fold into the norm with the rest of "society as a whole." They are reclusive and elusive to outsiders, and there are plenty of examples that a large contingent of them refuse to live within the bounds of regular society. They have a tendency to make their livings as bandit, thieves, and mercenaries. This point is backed up by both NPC dialogue and how Duskwight NPCs are presented to us in the game. Duskwight Mercenary, Bandit, etc are all labels placed on a lot of Duskwights one encounters in the world. NPC dialogue often points to the fact that most Duskwights are known for engaging in such work on the surface. One is free to draw one's own conclusions, but this stands as a pretty big example that most Duskwights are exactly what most people thing they are. I tend to think that this points to the tribe having a quite different set of ethics and morals than the rest of society, from a cultural stand point. There are a lot of parallels to real life outsider cultures that can be drawn from the various dialogue bits to be found in the game on them. Romani, Travelers, Native Americans, and many other cultures that hold onto their identity while co-existing with the mainstream culture come to mind. In short, Duskwights have their own culture, and it would seem that most of them refuse to assimilate to mainstream society.
2. Duskwights face a LOT of prejudice. The stigma placed on Duskwights is not just limited to the Wildwoods. They are referred to as dirty, thieving, untrustworthy, and worse by many NPCs elezen and non-elezen alike. This sentiment seems to be highest in Gridania, but is by no means limited to that region. They are referred to as murderous bandits in Ul'dah and filthy pirates in Limsa. There are fewer NPCs that bring this up in quests and other such in the other non-Gridania areas, but it is still a sentiment that has spread all over Eorzea proper.Â
3. The Duskwights have left various underground ruins/cities laying around. There is a major one being studied in Gridania that was uncovered by the Calamity. There were hints in 1.0 that places like Toto Rak, and the Tam Tara Deepcroft, and the Mun-tuy Cellars were at one time Duskwight structures that were abandoned and re-purposed. These specific places in Gridania were possibly abandoned during the conflict that arose surrounding the founding of Gridania, one of the sources of bad blood between the two elezen tribes. Hits of other settlements and underground places in Coerthas can also be inferred from 1.0 dialogue. Particularly the Dragoon quest. There is really no other mention of possible Duskwight ruins or settlements in any of the other regions. Hopefully more will unfold about these various locations and possible others.
4. Large amounts of Duskwights being on the surface seems to be a recent development. Now, by recent developement, I mean in like the past fifty or sixty years or so. This is also not to say that there were never any Duskwight on the surface before then. Lore seems to point to a bit of a large influx during the above time period. I think this leads a bit into why they face so much prejudice. They are a reclusive and insular people that are just now being more and more exposed to mainstream society. People fear what they don't understand and all that jazz.
These are the things I can think of at the moment, but it all leads to some pretty interesting places I think. A couple closing notes. I LOVE the idea of a Duskwight only LS. I think it would add some very very interesting RP. I also think that there is interesting RP to be had between those Duskwight that cling to their cultural identity, and those that seek to be more assimilated. Lets keep the ideas and the discussion going. I like what I am seeing so far.
