Heavensward Jobs, and Au Ra Lore now available

[Reshie]

Can I say how excited I am? Like... really, really excited!!! This expansion can't come out fast enough for me!

 

YES.

 

Also if 75% of quicksand turns into Au Ra overnight, I just hope it's 75% male~

 

^ This! Oh so this!!!! *purrs happily*

[Iex]

Well...

 

Let us be quite honest.

 

There is a limit of how realistic we can be without trouncing on RP. If we were being HYPER realistic. There would be a stigma against even rolling a Male Miqo'te. A stigma against Moonkeepers males that stick around in Clans. A stigma about saying you are an Ishgardian outside of Coerthas. A stigma about your character being involved romantically with another race (that lore post about how rare half-breeds are due to culture differences and the NPCs for HM Wanderer's palace being kicked out not because of them being interested in the same sex but rather a different race.)

 

Ul'dah will (I say 75% chance) stay as the primary RP hub even with Ishgard being opened up, due to it being a zone you can go to at level 1 to 49 without problem. Hence all the new Au Ra will be there, unless you are saying newly leveled characters aren't allowed to RP until 50 unless in racially correct areas.

 

As role-players we end up breaking with realism all the time in terms of cultural aspects of a race. The core of the race may still be there but we build a character off of it. You character is not Miqo'te #5694 Type #5. Your character is  (insert name here). If you cannot find five words to describe your character without one of them being their race or sexuality (ziiiing) you may need to work harder on it.

 

If a character has a nomadic family that ended up in south, it doesn't really affect anyone. It is a hook to explain why they are here. It is not an attempt to create racial lore. They want to RP simple as that. A similar matter occurred with everyone RPing a Doman, but in that case of that folks were literally creating the culture based on (cough) anime japan (cough); however, no one seems to blink an eye at a Doman character anymore. Right now it seems folks are just trying to figure out bend what we know to work with an Au Ra character.

 

A lot of parallels have been made between Miqo'te and the Au Ra. Now we can be bluntly honest here and no one can actually deny it. There are a lot of Miqo'te being RPed with no regard to their lore and treating them as cat people rather than a FFXIV race. I half wonder.... if a lot of dislike about folks eagerly wanting to have an Au Ra is some desire to 'make sure the RP community' RPs them "right." A second chance so to speak.

 

Frankly... given that the possibility of glamoured Au Ra remains viable as more and more lore is revealed. (Technically the disguised Yugri makes the Raen being among us completely possible since travelers from the east was possible long before 2.uh..2? and for sure at least after 2.2). I would even stay RPing an Au Ra vaguely is a good idea before the drop.

 

Why?

 

Because it allows you to create the character before the race. Even if the 'dramatic reveal' I was an Au Ra all along. is a bit... cliché, it allows you to have connections and depth already to the character. They have friends, they have motivations, and they have goals. I can assure you the introduction RP for every character you meet as an Au Ra will get old.

 

TLDR: Applicable to the whole thread: Folks trying to use the lore to make their character work shouldn't be discouraged from trying because it doesn't fit perfectly in the cookie cutter of NPCs. They are using the lore without creating it. Even if the concepts may be cliché such as "left their tribe," it means they are recognizing the lore but have established that their character acknowledges the standard but has IC reasons for not falling in line with it. 

 

Footnote: If everything I said gets smashed by a lore drop, good for them. It means we have more lore and I take everything back.

[industrythirteen]

Going to some points earlier in the thread. 

 

We have all but four or five sentences on the basis of Auri lore. That's. Nothing. It's more than we had, but it's still very little. It's swiss cheese, and frankly it pisses me off when lore leads at any level give me swiss cheese. But that is a different discussion for a different time. Beyond what we do know now, I think we have little nothing to go on past that. So it's up to our own imaginations to plug up the holes in the swiss cheese. And I'm okay with that. I don't feel shackled by those itty bitty pieces of lore. I feel overwhelmed by possibilities, actually. If I find out more during gameplay, or more is released, I'm okay with editing my own concept. It's not precious. Things change. 

 

I am in no way bothered if everyone has the same reason for leaving Othard, or Coming To Eorzea! There are always reasons for mass exodus, and what anyone does after that is up to them. It could be a moment of bonding for refugee-types. Exploration of a new world. Stranger in a strange land. Maybe the family has been in Eorzea for two, or six generations. Some nefarious guy escapes the Garleans in the chaos of coming over. A tribal Xaela gets captured by the Garleans as a child, or during a hunt, or during a fight for your rights, and then escapes later during another raid, or maybe they're raised up as a Garlean. A Raen decides she doesn't like her village, the world is too big for that, etc. 

 

If people need ideas, my suggestion is to go watch or read or look at sources you may or may not usually look at. I get a lot of my ideas and tropes from watching historical kdramas. Queen Seondeok, Chuno, Empress Ki, Warrior Baek Dong Soo, Shine or Go Crazy, Tree with Deep Roots, Jumong, Kingdom of the Wind, The War of Arrows, The Pirates, The King's Face, The Secret Door, Dong Yi, Yi San, Dae Jang Geum, The Emperor of the Sea, The Horse Doctor, Ryomaden (Japanese drama, and possibly hugely relevant.) Shit, go watch The Last of the Mohicans, Marco Polo, even.

[allgivenover]

Their power in IV was assuredly evil and corrupting.

 

... The power is dangerous and its mishandling can result in bad things happen to the user, yes. That does not make its users evil. Evil use is done by people who are themselves evil.

 

What I'm saying is Darkness is guns.

 

Spoilers for FFIV:

 

Although it doesn't state so directly I've always thought they meant that the power of the Dark Sword in IV is corrupting, as it feeds from and magnifies the user's own hatred (Tellah makes a comment to this effect). The King of Baron commanded Cecil to take up the art when he was a boy, and it was stated that most who try to become Dark Knights can't handle the intense training and lose their minds.

 

Early in the story Cecil tells Rosa "I've worn this dark armor so long there's no light left in me, not even my heart". (obviously this varies from translation to translation, and a lot of these little details were removed from the western SNES version entirely)

 

Atop Mt. Ordeals it's stated that he can't become a Paladin until he confronts and endures his own hatred (the dark knight), the focus certainly seemed to be that he was unclean because of what he did and the powers he held.

[allgivenover]

Back on topic. My only dislike so far of the Auri lore is that it doesn't make a lot of sense so far. The Raen get a pass for being so solitary and reclusive I guess, it's the Xaera that bothers me.

 

You're telling me a warlike nomadic sub-race never made it down to Eorzea? In countless generations? Even with the stigma of appearing draconic, by now there would be some of them in Eorzea, a land known for its many immigrant people and cultures.

 

And there are zero of them in Eorzea.

 

It doesn't make any sense.

[Nako Vesh]

*puts on his tinfoil farseeing cap*

 

Dark Knights are pariahs in their own lands. THANKS, SE, FOR GIVING US YET ANOTHER ISHGARDIAN-SPECIFIC CLASS.

 

Because the arguments over DRGs being all over Eorzea aren't enough!

 

I get what you're saying but, there's no reason you can't run around with a large sword and wielding umbral magic. You just won't call yourself a Dark Knight. You'll be that guy with the big sword and purple swooshy powers, I guess.

 

On the other hand, I'm actually glad the lore for DRK doesn't appear to be super-grimdark-I-only-listen-to-Linkin-Park-and-Papa-Roach nonsense. I got enough of that with early 90s comic books and I'm thoroughly tired of it.

[Aaron]

Unlike their sister clan, the Xaela, who bloody the land with their endless tribal conflict, the Raen have embraced a life of tranquility and solitude, long abandoning the nomadic lifestyle of their ancestors to settle the deep valleys of Othard's mountainous eastern reaches. Only on rare occasions will one emerge from the valley mists to seek adventure in realms afar.

Welp, if everyone's as Lore abiding as i think id expect the Xelra to be in the QS not the Raen lol

[Gospel Gestalt]

Back on topic. My only dislike so far of the Auri lore is that it doesn't make a lot of sense so far. The Raen get a pass for being so solitary and reclusive I guess, it's the Xaera that bothers me.

 

You're telling me a warlike nomadic sub-race never made it down to Eorzea? In countless generations? Even with the stigma of appearing draconic, by now there would be some of them in Eorzea, a land known for its many immigrant people and cultures.

 

And there are zero of them in Eorzea.

 

It doesn't make any sense.

 

I feel like it's the Miqo'te male and Hilander/Roegadyn female ordeal all over again. They -probably- were around but since the race wasn't made in-game yet, we never saw them. I could be wrong but it really feels like it's the same thing again.

 

So if somebody wanted to say they were an Au Ra hanging out in Eorzea all a long? Then do it, I guess? I don't think anybody would really give a toss?

[allgivenover]

It's not that huge a deal, just seems poorly thought out to me. Especially considering how Yugiri felt the need to hide her face to avoid shocking people. If Auri had a presence in Eorzea she might not have felt so.

[Aaron]

Im not bothered about it lol.

 

Because truth be told how many characters have ever really asked you where you're from?

 

Eorzea doesn't even know what a Au Ra is probably. You could bullshit your backstory IC and be perfectly fine.

 

Because I know sure as hell Aaron isn't gonna play 20 questions about your race and background.

[Wymsical]

Unlike their sister clan, the Xaela, who bloody the land with their endless tribal conflict, the Raen have embraced a life of tranquility and solitude, long abandoning the nomadic lifestyle of their ancestors to settle the deep valleys of Othard's mountainous eastern reaches. Only on rare occasions will one emerge from the valley mists to seek adventure in realms afar.

Welp, if everyone's as Lore abiding as i think id expect the Xelra to be in the QS not the Raen lol

 

I'm going Xaela but I don't see any harm in sayig that the 'rare to see one emerge' statement could be taken as a 'until now' sort of thing, especially if they're as close with Doma as earlier implied. Maybe some of them fled Garleans or the threat of Garleans and went by themselves or with Doman refugees.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Back on topic. My only dislike so far of the Auri lore is that it doesn't make a lot of sense so far. The Raen get a pass for being so solitary and reclusive I guess, it's the Xaera that bothers me.

 

You're telling me a warlike nomadic sub-race never made it down to Eorzea? In countless generations? Even with the stigma of appearing draconic, by now there would be some of them in Eorzea, a land known for its many immigrant people and cultures.

 

And there are zero of them in Eorzea.

 

It doesn't make any sense.

 

I feel like it's the Miqo'te male and Hilander/Roegadyn female ordeal all over again. They -probably- were around but since the race wasn't made in-game yet, we never saw them. I could be wrong but it really feels like it's the same thing again.

 

So if somebody wanted to say they were an Au Ra hanging out in Eorzea all a long? Then do it, I guess? I don't think anybody would really give a toss?

 

No, SE has said a few times that they're not native to Eorzea. After the great big migration of 3.0 (which probably means a timeline skip), they'll probably be considered commonplace. Until then though, I'd place my money on them being foreign.

[Melkire]

Looking back over Yugiri's dialogue, I'm almost certain that she was predisposed to think that Eorzeans would discriminate against her kind based on prior contact with Garleans. I figure if you're roleplaying a Garlean character who "recently" left the Empire (say, past decade or so) after having been involved in the Othard campaign, you'd know about the Au Ra.

 

Might also have a chance of knowing they exist if you're a member of a trading/pirate vessel & crew based in Limsa that sails that far east.

[Gospel Gestalt]

It's not that huge a deal, just seems poorly thought out to me. Especially considering how Yugiri felt the need to hide her face to avoid shocking people. If Auri had a presence in Eorzea she might not have felt so.

 

Well this is my take on it. I know it's a stretch but I think Yugiri hid her identity more because she was a power of influence over the Doman people. When the Domans came to Eorzea, there were people (Garleans namely) that wanted her. Hiding her identity was probably a safer course of action while she tried to make alliances with the nations of Eorzea. Not so much because of her race but more because if the Domans lost her then they'd take another huge blow to what little was left of their small nation.

 

Who's to say she never took off her hood when talking with other diplomats when we weren't around?

 

Anyways, that's getting off topic.

 

I'm eager for more Au Ra lore but with what we have at the moment the spectrum from making an Au Ra is pretty open to whatever a person wishes it to be. It's pretty much the same backstory as every other race. They came, they fought, they agreed to disagree and settled.

 

Back on topic. My only dislike so far of the Auri lore is that it doesn't make a lot of sense so far. The Raen get a pass for being so solitary and reclusive I guess, it's the Xaera that bothers me.

 

You're telling me a warlike nomadic sub-race never made it down to Eorzea? In countless generations? Even with the stigma of appearing draconic, by now there would be some of them in Eorzea, a land known for its many immigrant people and cultures.

 

And there are zero of them in Eorzea.

 

It doesn't make any sense.

 

I feel like it's the Miqo'te male and Hilander/Roegadyn female ordeal all over again. They -probably- were around but since the race wasn't made in-game yet, we never saw them. I could be wrong but it really feels like it's the same thing again.

 

So if somebody wanted to say they were an Au Ra hanging out in Eorzea all a long? Then do it, I guess? I don't think anybody would really give a toss?

 

No, SE has said a few times that they're not native to Eorzea. After the great big migration of 3.0 (which probably means a timeline skip), they'll probably be considered commonplace. Until then though, I'd place my money on them being foreign.

 

You could very well be correct and I wouldn't discard your idea either. The Au Ra could very well be brand new foreigners but you should also keep in mind that all of the existing races are actually foreigners themselves in Eorzea. We don't have a concrete timeline on just how long Au Ri have been around. The Au Ri could of been around all long doing their own thing like the Male Miqo'te and Female Hilander/Roegadyn but we just never knew because the developers chose not to coin us in on any of it for whatever reason.

 

I could be very wrong in that theory and they truly are new and finally now are just coming over because of the tension in their homelands.

 

Basically in the end of it all I'm just taking a go with the flow stance while thinking outside the box on it till we get more info. I'm pretty stoked for them though.

[Harmonixer]

Looking back over Yugiri's dialogue, I'm almost certain that she was predisposed to think that Eorzeans would discriminate against her kind based on prior contact with Garleans. I figure if you're roleplaying a Garlean character who "recently" left the Empire (say, past decade or so) after having been involved in the Othard campaign, you'd know about the Au Ra.

 

Might also have a chance of knowing they exist if you're a member of a trading/pirate vessel & crew based in Limsa that sails that far east.

 

Oh, I hadn't considered any of this till just now!

 

I like to think people are pretty creative and will come up with clever ways to integrate them into RP. Hopefully anyway.

 

I myself am trying to do something that will be reasonably presentable.

 

I'm glad they have more of a 'loose framework' so far instead of a hard and fast set of rules. People will disagree simply to disagree, but if we all had the same precise thought process- what fun would that be?

[BearCave]

So I'm not sure if this has been brought up, or if people are taking this into consideration but from my understanding about the Au Ra, they're giving a generalized description of how they lived while they were in Othard. Which isn't there / is occupied by the Garlean Empire now. 

Which opens up a whole new realm of possibilities since they're not going to be in Othard. 

 

Will the character try to adapt to their new environment(s)? 

If so, how? 

Are they going to continue being nomadic / isolationist? 

Why? 

 

These are things that should be taken into consideration. Don't let what is there tunnel vision you into something. Characters grow, adapt and rebuild themselves consistently, just like we do.

[K'nahli]

from my understanding about the Au Ra, they're giving a generalized description of how they lived while they were in Othard. Which isn't there / is occupied by the Garlean Empire now. 

 

These are things that should be taken into consideration. Don't let what is there tunnel vision you into something. Characters grow, adapt and rebuild themselves consistently, just like we do.

 

Quite a valid point ^^

[Mae]

 

 

 

 

Anyone can take or disregard that dialogue as they may, I suppose, but the context is that she hid her appearance because it was known to be (initially) disquieting, and had been met with fear and rejection before. Is it -just- the Garleans that treated them this way? Maybe, maybe not, but the context sort of suggests that the reaction was prevalent enough that not only was the thought to cover up almost completely given, but specific clothes were developed to not hinder the wearer -- it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment "let me wrap my head and shoulders in a scarf" move.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

 

 

 

 

 

Anyone can take or disregard that dialogue as they may, I suppose, but the context is that she hid her appearance because it was known to be (initially) disquieting, and had been met with fear and rejection before. Is it -just- the Garleans that treated them this way? Maybe, maybe not, but the context sort of suggests that the reaction was prevalent enough that not only was the thought to cover up almost completely given, but specific clothes were developed to not hinder the wearer -- it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment "let me wrap my head and shoulders in a scarf" move.

 

It could also be the Succubus-like appearance. I place more money on unsettling "new" race.

[Dante Abigor]

I personally didn't like any of the job lore aside from Astrologian. Dark Knight in particular bothered me simply because it seems /too/ anti-hero-ish in its lack of anything distasteful in their lore.

 

Who leads them? Why is a greatsword their calling card? Why are poor people even being picked on in the first place when there are DRAGONS outside of the walls trying to kill everyone? Then again this is initial lore so I guess my rage is unfounded. I just hate it when lore gives me more questions without answers than useful information.

 

Similarly, Machinist made me angry simply because WHEN THE FUCK did they have a chance to Cid's works? Before 1.5? Also similar to another thread questioning how they fed themselves, how are they getting the magitek necessary for XYZ to happen? It just bothers me.

 

I really liked the Au Ra lore however. Nothing much to say there, except everyone prepare your anus for Au Ra characters to have the ability to hear your sword shift slightly in its sheathe or something/watch you pee from malms away.

[mongi291]

I personally didn't like any of the job lore aside from Astrologian. Dark Knight in particular bothered me simply because it seems /too/ anti-hero-ish in its lack of anything distasteful in their lore.

 

Who leads them? Why is a greatsword their calling card? Why are poor people even being picked on in the first place when there are DRAGONS outside of the walls trying to kill everyone? Then again this is initial lore so I guess my rage is unfounded. I just hate it when lore gives me more questions without answers than useful information.

I don't know where you read they pick on poor people. In fact they protect them from corrupted knights and priests.

[ShoggMommy]

I personally didn't like any of the job lore aside from Astrologian. Dark Knight in particular bothered me simply because it seems /too/ anti-hero-ish in its lack of anything distasteful in their lore.

 

Who leads them? Why is a greatsword their calling card? Why are poor people even being picked on in the first place when there are DRAGONS outside of the walls trying to kill everyone? Then again this is initial lore so I guess my rage is unfounded. I just hate it when lore gives me more questions without answers than useful information.

I don't know where you read they pick on poor people. In fact they protect them from corrupted knights and priests.

 

I don't think they mean that the DRK are picking on them. Rather Ishgardian society or whatever is picking on people. Is what Dante was getting at, at least that's how I was reading it.

[Aduu Avagnar]

I personally didn't like any of the job lore aside from Astrologian. Dark Knight in particular bothered me simply because it seems /too/ anti-hero-ish in its lack of anything distasteful in their lore.

 

Who leads them? Why is a greatsword their calling card? Why are poor people even being picked on in the first place when there are DRAGONS outside of the walls trying to kill everyone? Then again this is initial lore so I guess my rage is unfounded. I just hate it when lore gives me more questions without answers than useful information.

When in times of war it is typically the poor that are most abused, from taking the kings shilling to simply being an easy scapegoat for a noble if said noble has failed at a task.

 

It is the Dark Knights duty, I suppose to try and bring justice to the peasants. those targets of nobles and inquisitors that like easy prey. Who else would stand for them? if a noble stood against an inquisitor that would put their own house in line for investigation, or if against another noble then they could start a feud that could backfire.

 

Also, remember this is the first major push by the dragons in 20 years. Plenty of time in which to pick on poor people.

[Dravus]

I'm not too surprised that the Dark Knight is more of a hero than a villain. I was sort of hoping for something as gritty and morally dubious as WoW's Death Knights but I suppose the developers are intent on making us all play the 'good guys' for the sake of the main story.

 

I suspect we may see a few turn up as outright villains though - abusing their power or being consumed by the 'darkness' that they wield. Or, more poetically, becoming so zealous that they end being just as bad as the corrupt inquisitors they may try and take down.

[Seriphyn]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but an Au Ra Dark Knight doesn't seem like it'll make too much sense.