(08-07-2013, 01:08 PM)Merri Wrote: I actually don't really recall either statements being true in 1.0. Dragoons might not be common-place, and it surely isn't easy to become a Dragoon the original way, but they're not so rare as to be this completely foreign sight. Same with White Mages, or any job for that matter.
Actually, I can provide sources that say otherwise.
Quote:Alberic: A dragoon clad in black, you say!? Tell me all that transpired!
Alberic: By the Fury... That the Eye would choose another...
Alberic: I had not thought it possible. In light of recent events, it would seem an explanation is in order.
Alberic: The Eye is no ordinary relic. It harbors the power of the dragon, which it bestows upon a single chosen soul─the strongest and wisest dragoon.
Alberic: He who is chosen is possessed of the power to fight our mortal foes, the dragons of Dravania, on equal footing, soaring the firmament as if it were an extension of the land. That man is known as the Azure Dragoon.
Alberic: The Azure Dragoon is the light of hope for all Ishgardians, and the paragon of all dragoons.
Alberic: ...For this reason, you may imagine how it pains me to have to confess that the man you encountered, the thief, is none other than the Azure Dragoon...and that I was once his teacher.
---
Alberic: Never before in Ishgard's long history has the Eye roused to more than one individual in a single generation. But it avails us naught to cudgel our brains about it.
Alberic: The fact of the matter is that you are now a vessel for the power of the dragon. That dragon lies yet in slumber, however, and you must needs possess the means to wake it: the Soul of the Dragoon. I would entrust you with mine, <Name>.
Alberic: Like Estinien, I once ruled the skies as the Azure Dragoon, although that power has since become lost to me. It was simply by force of habit that I have hitherto kept the soul upon my person.
Alberic: I have no inkling as to why the Eye has seen fit to choose a second, and an outsider at that.
http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Eye_of...ot_Details
On the matter of "normal" dragoons, well, you need look no further than Owl's Nest to find them. The knights stationed there are the dragoons of House Fortemps. In a real world application, dragoons were simply members of a military unit armed and trained to fight in mounted or infantry settings. In fact, dragoon is more or less an old english word meaning mounted infantry. In the context of Final Fantasy XIV, dragoons are simply dragons slayers - knights who fight against the dragons of Dravania. Becoming a dragoon of Ishgard wouldn't be hard, I'd imagine. It's likely a simple matter of pledging your sword or lance to a one of the High Houses and having them declare you a knight of Ishgard. Who knows. The fact of the matter remains: there are dragoons, and then there is the Azure Dragoon who stands in his own league above all others who would face the dragons because he possesses the power of the dragons himself. When you think about it, the Azure Dragoon is more or less XIV's version of Skyrim's Dovahkin...just with less Fus Ro Dah.Â
As we don't know the lore surrounding any of the jobs in ARR (aside from a vague paragraph that gives the general tidbits of the job) and how much of the lore in 1.0 will be retconned, we can only formulate what's actual lore based on what has been provided.Â
On the matter of RPers being dragoons - that boils back down to the RP community giving the contradiction between lore and mechanics a pass, favoring mechanics over lore in this case.
Edit: Just to quickly add on a few more details surrounding the Azure Dragoon...the armor they wear is exclusive to the Azure Dragoon - meaning that the Dragoon AF is in fact the Azure Dragoon set -the drachen mail.Â
Quote:Estinien: Behold the drachen mail, forged in the lifeblood of dragons. As blood calls to blood, so too does the armor call to the dragon within, redoubling the Azure Dragoon's strength thereby. If you would save the people of Ishgard from the great wyrm Nidhogg, you must needs clad yourself in the same.
Estinien: When an Azure Dragoon hangs up his lance, ancient custom decrees that he seal away his drachen mail at the fields of his valor. You must journey to such places and claim the armor for yourself.
Â
http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Double...ot_Details
However in the case of Gae Bolg, we get the first hint that SE may be tripping over their own lore.Â
Quote:There is a custom still observed in Ishgard today which ordains that the Holy See bestow a polearm dubbed Gae Bolg upon any lancer who ascends to the station of dragoon. Exactly how his weapon is forged remains a mystery, as the very few highland smiths who create them are sworn to keep their methods secret. All that is known is that the bones of dragons slain in the name of Halone are worked into both haft and head, achieving an unmatched balance between lightness and strength.
http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/topics/detail?id=9632f9688209a7d990e7a370bccdd1f0ca80484c
The confusion between the distinction between a dragoon and being the dragoon likely stems from them not making their lore come full circle because there is the whole issue of lore vs mechanics in place. They have to sacrifice one or the other in the case of an MMO because it isn't a single player experience at the end of the day, even if the story quests are.
![[Image: tumblr_mi0y507q1p1s5o9uno1_500.gif]](https://24.media.tumblr.com/d1a6eb2e938912f11f429b824c03a0ec/tumblr_mi0y507q1p1s5o9uno1_500.gif)
Take some bacon and I put it in a pancake.
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