(09-21-2017, 12:54 PM)Solistor Wrote: You're correct in assuming my character is supposed to be older, and depending on lifespans and such (I think I read somewhere that all races have similar lifespans? Correct me if I'm wrong) I might have to alter his heritage anyway.
The Races of Man all have a biological lifespan about as long as we do IRL. The Elezen have a slightly extended lifespan (as well as a delayed development and puberty). The Encyclopedia Eorzea cites this extension as being somewhere between one- or two-tenths longer than their fellow man. So if a person of a differing race can biologically live anywhere from 80-100 years, an Elezen can biologically live anywhere from 90-110 or 100-120 years old. This, of course, is with best health, avoiding environmental dangers, war, etc. Most people in Eorzea don't get to live out their full lifespans though, and many would consider a man over 50 or 60 to be quite old.
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(09-21-2017, 12:54 PM)Solistor Wrote: I know Elezen are primarily from the Twelveswood, but are they all from that region? If so, perhaps his family would have moved of their own accord for some reason, and he was just raised the way he was from the beginning. I have no experience with FFXIV lore pre-Calamity, though, so I wouldn't be able to say.
They are not! In Eorzea, Elezen are most commonly found in the Coerthas and Twelveswood regions. That said, there are many Elezen who live in Thanalan and La Noscea. Elezen seafarers were among Limsa Lominsa's founding crew, and several Elezen families have risen to great prominence in Ul'dah, one even sat on the Syndicate until the Calamity five years ago.
So whether you wanted your family to start in the Shroud or elsewhere is all right! If you have any questions about something pre-Calamity though, feel free to ask. It's not a topic that a lot of people have a good grasp on, so I'm more than happy to help. (I really need to get working on a pre-Calamity timeline. >< )
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(09-21-2017, 12:54 PM)Solistor Wrote: As far as the railways go, if they were built after the Calamity then he'd already be well past middle-age when he was hired on as extra security. I'd want most of his experience to be as a machinist/gunner/what have you, so unless magitek existed for us some 15-20 years before the Calamity I may have to rethink my character.
Magitek was first introduced to Eorzea circa the Year 1562-1563, roughly 15 years ago from the present day when Cid nan Garlond and several of his engineers defected from the Garlean Empire and founded the Garlond Ironworks. They since been recreating and reverse engineering new magitek creations and gifting them to the Eorzean Alliance.
That said, Eorzean firearms have long pre-dated magitek. Both Limsa Lominsa and Ishgard have been developing firearms for decades, if not longer. Lominsans use (loosely) flintlock pistols and long barreled muskets. Rounded ball ammunition ignited with firesand. The Ishgardians borrowed a lot of Lominsan technology in their fight against the dragons and adapted Lominsan firearms and cannons to their own similar designs, though they utilized ceruleum and firesand with their munitions.
In Limsa, the pistol and musket became a staple of seafarers and the navy. Limsa has strict gun control regulations though, making it hard to smuggle rifle out of the city on the black market, but not impossible.
In Ishgard, however, the musket fell out of favor long ago. Not so much because of its ineffectiveness, but because they dressed their marksmen so gaudily that they were easily spotted by both dragons and enemy archers alike. The modern revival at House Haillenarte's Skysteel Manufactory takes Lominsan firearms and combines them with magitek technology from Garlond Ironworks, and combines them with an Ishgardian invention of the aetherotransformer, which applies Lightning-aspected aether to their bullets.
- Machinist Lore
That said, there's absolutely nothing that says he couldn't have found a black market musket, an old Ishgardian firearm, a pre-Imperial Garlean revolver, or even an actual Garlean magitek rifle from some highwaymen. Just because magitek wasn't widespread in Eorzea doesn't mean someone couldn't have stolen it from Garlean troops and tried to sell it somewhere for a profit. So the option is definitely open for you to still be an old desert gunslinger if you want to be!
As for the railway not existing until post-Calamity, Varn could've still been a pugilist/gunslinger guard of any one of a number of trading concerns, companies, consortiums, or chocobo caravans! Like I was saying before, traders used to trek through the Sagolii Desert to trade with the villages in Cape Deadwind to the south, or to the hamlets across Eorzea. And later on he might've gotten picked up by Amajina & Sons to help guard their railways.
Figured I'd drop in the names of some of the more prominent travelling trading companies. Feel free to use, feel free to make up your own! These aren't all the ones out there by far.
-East Aldenard Trading Company (based in Ul'dah, trades all over the world, owned by Lolorito)
-Jolly Raptor (shipping company based in Ul'dah owned by the EATC)
-Ashgana's Exporters (based in Ul'dah, formerly owned by the late Master Ashgana)
-Baert Trading Company (based in Ul'dah, a disreputable and cutthroat company)
-Ashcrown Consortium (based in Ul'dah now formerly Gridania, regulates crystal trade)
-Seventy-seven Caravans (branches in Ul'dah and Limsa Lominsa primarily, trades with Meracydia)
-Black Rabbit Traders (based in Gridania, owned by Maisenta Hawke, trades with Ul'dah mostly)
-Brugaire Consortium (based in Limsa, largest merchant outfitters in Limsa)
-Gigas Forge (based in Limsa, arms dealers who trade with the Far East)
-Straight Edge Traders (South Seas arms dealers who trade with the EATC)
-Woolvale Arms (foreign arms dealers who trade with the EATC)
Hope this helps! ^^
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(09-21-2017, 02:57 PM)Valence Wrote: For example, Carvallain is one of the famous and powerful captains in the Thalassocracy of Limsa, and he's elezen. Another somewhat influential elezen, Niellefresne, was a necromancer and lived in Ul'dah...
To be fair, Carvallain de Gorgagne is Ishgardian, former eldest son and heir to House Durendaire. That said, it doesn't discount there are in fact plenty of Elezen in Limsa who are Lominsan natives. Several of Carvallain's crew, in fact, as well as his "bride to be."
As for Niellefresne, he is not a necromancer. He's a goldsmith, in fact, fifteen years ago he was one of the most famous and influential goldsmiths in Ul'dah. It wasn't until his hairbrained scheme to gain popularity and show Ul'dahn citizens they needed to stand up to Garlemald got an Ala Mhigan double-agent (Minfilia's father) killed, who had news critical to Ul'dah's survival, that he attempted to use Heartstrike, a dagger which legend claimed if used by a thaumaturge could temporarily restore the dead to life. The dagger, however, was the possession of Lord Lolorito, owner of the goldsmiths' guild. So when Niellefresne took the dagger and was killed by a Syndicate assassin, foul play was laid on Niellefresne, and Nielle's father, who was guildmaster of Eshtaime's Lapidaries at the time, was fired and the position fell to a Lalafell named Yuyune, who was later replaced by Serendipity, the current guildmaster.