Sharlayan lore help please

[Riven]

I'm a bit fuzzy on the specific bits involving Sharlayan.  I'm trying to set up a character who would have been roughly been in her mid-teens when the colony in Dravania was evacuated due to the Empire's takeover of Ala Mhigo.  I'm trying to make sure I get the age right, as she ended up having a child who's currently 25.

 

If she was also in her late teens when the Dravanian colony was abandoned, does that mean I can also safely say that her grandparents could have been from the island nation of Sharlayan as well, or would her immediate family be from the colony?

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Reposting a bit, but here's what we've got so far. (Or that's been collected and organized so far!)

 

Sharlayan, or the Old World as it is also referred to, is an island nation in the far northern Bloodbrine Sea. We do not know much about the city-state admittedly, but this is what we do know. Sharlayan is composed of several smaller isles. It prizes knowledge and higher learning before all else, and as such, offers public education to its citizens at a school known as the Studium.

 

That said, I don't believe its possible for any civilization to not have a lower socioeconomic class in its population, even though Sharlayan's might be very small. A great way to justify this is the Sharlayan exodus of 20 years past. After peace negotiations with Garlemald failed following the fall of Ala Mhigo, the city-state of Sharlayan located in Dravania was abandoned nearly overnight to return north across the Bloodbrine to their island Sharlayan home. Lore from the Sharlayan area, fates, and quests suggest that many of the scholars were forced to leave behind everything, including their life's work. Imagine one such family returning to Sharlayan in such a fashion, empty handed. You could easily say your character's parents were one such family who returned to the Old World with nothing to their name and just never truly recovered financially.

 

Now, there are trading vessels which run the incredibly dangerous sea route from Vylbrand to Sharlayan so that part checks out. If you wanted to make the ride over exciting, know that the route passes through both Sahagin and Garlean controlled waters.

 

 

Here's some more links to lore on Sharlayan:

-Sharlayan Lore

-History of Sharlayan

-In Louisoix's Wake

-The Waning of the Sixth Sun

-Geography of Hydaelyn Lore

 

Lore Question - Towns in 1.0

[Teadrinker]

*shines Sounssy signal*

 

So something I've run across with my Sharlayan character is it's almost impossible to pin her birthdate down.

 

SE states that the colony was abandoned 20 years ago.

 

It also states that the year it was abandoned was 1562.

 

The last year of the 6th Astral was 1572. Adding the 5 years due to Louisoux's magicks makes this the 5th (6th?) year of the Seventh Umbral. But that would mean the colony was abandoned 15ish years ago..?

 

My character is 23 so her birthdate would either be 1559 or 1554?

 

Help me I have divided by zero.

[Sounsyy]

Thanks Franz, I'm gonna throw up the updated Sharlayan Lore Compilation though! It's got a bit more in it. But I figure I'll just go ahead and quote it down below for ease of access to other people checking this thread.

 

 

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Is there any information on Sharlayan, the "Old World"? The wiki says it's on a continent to the north, but I don't see it at all.

 

What do we know about its location?

 

Sharlayan is an island, or island chain rather (Isle of Val is part of Sharlayan but separate island from Sharlayan), in the north Bloodbrine Sea. It has not appeared on any maps as of yet. But it is far to the north above the Farreach.

 

They’re always trying to learn about everything. They went to Eorzea so they could gain knowledge on that place so of course they probably sent parties into Dravania to study up on them and they would have known about the dragons as well. Their whole thing is they’re a city state of knowledge and they gather it and use that knowledge. They send people out everywhere around the world and bring it back to their island nation. Sharlayan in Eorzea was basically an outpost. So saying they weren’t connected would be a lie because it was more to educate people.

 

-Sharlayan

-Sharlayan Summary

 

 

 

EDIT: Sharlayan Lore Dump

 

Sharlayan, the Old World

Sharlayan, the Old World, is a city-state on an archipelago in the northern Bloodbrine Sea. A nation that prizes knowledge, learning, history, magic, and science, Sharlayan has been the world's frontrunners in all fields of study. It deplores violence and as such has no military. It considers Eorzeans at large to be barbarians, but dedicated a colony to study their continent, peoples, and history none-the-less. This colony was situated in Dravania and was also called Sharlayan. However, 15 years ago, it was abandoned overnight after 5 years of peace negotiations with the Garlean Empire, following the fall of Ala Mhigo, fell through.

 

The Old World spans across several islands, though we know of only one such named one - the Isle of Val, home to the Studium and its Students of Baldesion. Here it was that young scholars of Sharlayan would bury themselves in their chosen studies. Exceptional intellects who went on to become masters in their chosen field adopted the title of "Sage" and received the "Mark of the Sages" tattoo found on the Sharlayan members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn and other Sharlayan NPCs we've come across such as Moenbryda, G'raha, and Rammbroes. Unfortunately, the isle of Val was destroyed along with the Students of Baldesion in an attack by immensely powerful magicks.

 

 

Sharlayan Lore Text

We of the Circle are not possessed of the power to quell such quarrels. We can but stir men to wakening with words born of ancient truths. From far to the north and west have we traveled' date=' from a place where knowledge floweth as water from a riverhead. Hither have we come to save this realm from a great sorrow that lieth all too near.[/quote']

 

They’re always trying to learn about everything. They went to Eorzea so they could gain knowledge on that place so of course they probably sent parties into Dravania to study up on them and they would have known about the dragons as well. Their whole thing is they’re a city state of knowledge and they gather it and use that knowledge. They send people out everywhere around the world and bring it back to their island nation. Sharlayan in Eorzea was basically an outpost. So saying they weren’t connected would be a lie because it was more to educate people.

 

Sharlayan is an island nation situated within an archipelago to the north of Eorzea. Like the city-state that its citizens would go on to form in Dravania as a colony of their homeland' date=' Sharlayan is dedicated to scholarly study and the archiving of history. The Forum that governs the nation is a staunch opponent of military intervention, leading to the abandonment of their Eorzean colony in the year 1562 of the Sixth Astral Era after peace talks with the Garlean Empire fell through.[/quote']

 

Louisoix’s eldest son was an influential member of the Forum, the body responsible for shaping Sharlayan policy, and he, like so many of his colleagues, was a staunch opponent of military intervention. It was, he believed, the duty of his countrymen to chronicle world affairs, not to interfere in them.

 

When the steel-clad wolves of the Garlean Empire descended upon Ala Mhigo, it was Fourchenault and his fellows who had attempted to parley a peace. In the bitter wake of the failed negotiations, however, they saw no recourse but to forsake the colony they had built within the borders of the war-threatened realm. Following five years of elaborate and painstaking preparation, the plan to evacuate the settlement’s entire population to the northern archipelago of their homeland was put into motion. In the year 1562 of the Sixth Astral Era, the city of Sharlayan—a renowned center of learning, situated in the Dravanian lowlands—became an uninhabited shell in the space of a single night.

 

While the inhabitants of Sharlayan held an abhorrence of our war with the Dravanians' date=' the style of their architecture speaks of more than neutrality. Rumors have spread among the denizens of camp about secret sympathies of the scholars towards the dragons, which was written in code on the walls of their buildings. I find these to be absolute rot, and ask of you to bring back pieces of Sharlayan flagstone so I may put such conspiracies to rest.[/quote']

 

Led by Louisoix' date=' the Circle of Knowing organization was active from Year 1562 of the Sixth Astral Era until the events of the Calamity ten years later. After Louisoix's disappearance, the remnants of the Circle of Knowing combined with the remnants of the Path of the Twelve to form the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.[/quote']

 

The Arkhitekton

Once home to Sharlayan masters who fashioned aetherytes within its halls, this workshop is now home to the Illuminati, a nasty band of goblins who would wield the ancient technologies within for their own nefarious ends.

 

The Answering Quarter

This Sharlayan settlement stretches across the western banks of the Thaliak. Home to Saint Mocianne's Arboretum and a center for education and scholarly pursuits, it hearkens back to the cities of learning that flourished in bygone times.

 

I never cease to be impressed by the buildings in Sharlayan' date=' made of sturdy stone and vastly different from the architecture of the Pillars. Ere it was abandoned, the city-state was known for effective fortification techniques to protect their scholars against Horde attacks. Mayhap there is knowledge yet to be found within those walls to fortify our own bulwarks. Journey to the Dravanian hinterlands and bring back samples of Sharlayan flagstone so I may better learn what kind of materials were used.[/quote']

 

The Cenotaph

A towering monolith erected in tribute to the great scholars who have passed on, leaving behind the knowledge that has shaped the realm. The names of countless men of learning are etched in the mighty stone, along with the motto of Sharlayan: "Knowledge Seeks No Man."

 

The Tipped Ewer

The spot where the melted snows of Abalathia's Spine flow emerge from their source to descend down the mountain, forming the countless tributaries that come together as the mighty Thaliak River. The name is said to come from the deity whose name the river bears and the magicked pitcher from which poured the waters of knowledge.

 

The Thaliak River is a shining symbol of the Dravanian hinterlands - the great mother who blesses the land with the gift of water. But where the gentle and generous mother brings life' date=' the cruel and merciless father - an oversized crustacean who rules over the Thaliak with an iron claw - brings only death. The great glutton will pounce on anything that moves, and chop up his prey with his tail pincers faster than you can say "ouch." If you don't keep an eye on that tail of his, you'll be feeding the fishes in bite-sized chunks.[/quote']

 

Great Gubal Library

A massive library constructed by the Sharlayans to house the wealth of knowledge they had amassed in their travels across the realm. Though the vast majority of the tomes that once lined its shelves were carried back to the motherland in the exodus, it is said forbidden texts still slumber in sealed-off vaults below.

 

Built by the learned men and women of Sharlayan' date=' the Great Gubal Library is the grandest repository of knowledge in all of Eorzea. Lining its towering shelves are tomes beyond count, gathered from the farthest reaches of the realm. Like the city-state, however, the library was abandoned by its caretakers when they fled to their motherland in the face of Garlean invasion. And now, fifteen years since its doors were sealed, you will be the first soul to set foot within its halls. Your destination is the forbidden section deep within the library, where lies your objective: the fruits of Matoya’s research on the aetheric converger.[/quote']

 

A forbidding presence that guards the door to the forbidden halls of the Great Gubal Library. Presumed to be a voidsent summoned from the dark realm by Sharlayan magi' date=' it dutifully guards its post as if bound there by some dark covenant.[/quote']

 

In all of creation' date=' what greater mystery could there be than the fate of this very star? To sound the deepest depths, to study the aetherial sea itself─for these purposes and more was the Antitower built. Abandoned by her Sharlayan caretakers following the exodus, it has since been overrun by the magical guardians they left behind. Yet were one blessed with Her gift to brave these dangers and descend to the furthest reaches─to hear, feel, and think at the heart of this world─what would they find?[/quote']

 

This doll-like construct was created by the Sharlayans to protect the sanctity of the Antitower. Steeped in the energies of generations of mages' date=' the powerful magicks instilled in this guardian have worked eerie transmutations upon its form.[/quote']

 

Upon realizing the Antitower would require several layers of defenses to keep out unwanted visitors' date=' the spire's creator breathed life into several common dolls. Hairless at first, its maker adorned it with blonde locks, along with other aesthetically pleasing accessories.[/quote']

 

The Orn Wild

A primeval forest that stretches across the northern reaches of the Dravanian hinterlands, its rich verdure sustained by the pristine waters of the Thaliak. Nigh untouched by the hand of man, its wilds stand between those who would make their way to Sharlayan without braving a trek across the forelands.

 

Saint Mocianne's Arboretum

This botanical garden built by the Sharlayans once was home to fauna and flora collected from across the realm, the study of which yielded numerous discoveries regarding our natural world. Sadly, it was abandoned in the exodus, the teeming life within left to run wild and unchecked.

 

Saint Mocianne's Arboretum once housed the greatest collection of flora and fauna the realm had ever known. Alas' date=' in the wake of the Exodus it was left to the elements, and the wildlife within now roams its halls unchecked and untamed. A band of treasure hunters hopes to brave this leafy labyrinth in search of a cache more valuable than gold, that could ensure Idyllshire's prosperity for years to come. But will their search of this savage garden yield fortune, or end in failure?[/quote']

 

The Sage's Cataract

As the Thaliak River stretches north towards the Orn Wild, it spills over this grand waterfall. In the past, students would compete to see who could swim closest to the cataract's edge without succumbing to its powerful torrents. A ban on entering the waters was eventually imposes after too many accidents.

 

The Path of Knowing

This colossal bridge was once a bustling artery for researchers, students, and curators commuting to and from the Great Gubal Library. Its stone pillars suffered significant damage when the Calamity reshaped the land, causing a portion of the walkway to crumble and collapse.

 

The Daggers

An area of the hinterlands where clusters of stone columns shaped like daggers protrude from the earth. The scholars of Sharlayan had long been engulfed in a heated debate over whether the name was too simple and colloquial, but a different one was never decided upon as the proposals began to exceed the columns in number.

 

Time and again' date=' the residents of Idyllshire have come under attack from a huge, hairy beastkin - imagine if you crossed a Roegadyn with an opo-opo, and had it row a ten-tonze galley for a twelvemoon. I scoured the Sharlayan annals for a record of such a monster, and finally found it - it's a Gigantopithecus, a fierce beast native to the tropical jungles of the Cieldalaes. It was brought here as a youngling by a Sharlayan scholar, who raised it in a specially constructed glasshouse in some vain attempt to research its ecology. But when the exodus came, the callow whelp didn't think of taking his pet with him. Now it falls to the Clan to pick up the pieces.[/quote']

 

You'll never guess who put the bounty on Stolas's head - it was sent by a Sharlayan astrologian' date=' all the way from his homeland across the seas. He lived here before the exodus, conducting his scholarly experiments. In one such trial, he used his magicks to bind an owl to him as a familiar. The test succeeded, but by some quirk of fate, the owl gained a prodigious intelligence, outstripping even that of its master. But when the exodus came, the owl revolted. It attacked its master, stole a tome of forbidden knowledge, and escaped into the hinterlands. It seems the tome contains secrets of such cataclysmic power that, for the safety of the realm, this owl cannot be suffered to live.[/quote']

 

Another request sent by a Sharlayan scholar from the safety of his homeland. The fellow's uncovered an ancient prophecy' date=' saying that in the end of days, a deathly knight will rise from the grave and bring death and destruction to Dravania atop an ashen steed. If the scholar is right, and this "end of days" does indeed refer to the Seventh Umbral Calamity, then this supernatural horseman should already be among us, but I don't see any death and destruction around here. Well, no more than normal, anyway... Honestly, I think it's all a pile of chocobo plop. There was an adventurer passed through the other day, said she'd seen a headless horseman out in the hinterlands when she was hunting for treasure... but believe you me, you can trust those looters as far as you can throw them![/quote']

 

We had forests* like these on the Isle of Val. My grandfather and I used to go for walks together when I could prise him away from his work.

*Krile says this quote while walking through the chocobo forest, which consists largely of caelumtrees, tall alpine trees with large exposed roots and bear edible fruit. These trees. while once believed to have thrived only in marshlands such as Yafaem and other waterlogged areas, have now adapted to alpine climates and rocky soil. I think Krile's description of caelumtree forests being common on the Isle of Val, as well as its geographical location, are the best indicators of its biome, which is likely either Alpine or perhaps Taiga.

Tailfeather

Founded by hunters who came to the frontiers in hopes of snaring the wild chocobos of the forest, this settlement and those who call it home are shielded from the eyes of the dragons by the canopy of the majestic caelumtrees that rise high above it.

A segment of the hard exposed root of a caelumtree. Scholars of botany are unclear as to why such a large portion of the caelumtree's roots grow above ground in a similar fashion to the mangroves of Mor Dhona' date=' despite the lack of marsh-like conditions in the Dravanian forelands. Some, however, have concluded that the area must once have been submerged in water for an extended period of time─a time in which the trees adapted. And though the waters have receded, the roots remain the same.[/quote']

Though slightly bruised from its long fall' date=' this caelumtree fruit appears ready to eat.[/quote']

 

A bitter berry found growing on the distant Isle of Val. While typically avoided by the five races' date=' it is a favorite amongst chocobos, and is known to lighten the green hues of their feathers.[/quote']

 

Regrettably' date=' the Students of Baldesion's headquarters - and the Isle of Val itself - were obliterated by a magick of immense power.[/quote']

 

Q: We’re told that the Sharlayans helped rebuild the aetherytes in A Realm Reborn, but a long time ago, like 2010, we were told that those aetherytes were there when people arrived and perhaps that’s why they chose to settle. Who made those?

 

MCKF: Nobody knows! Even the Sharlayans don’t know. Maybe it was the Allag, maybe it was people before that. It could have been a lot of people. They were there, they were useful, and after people come back to rebuild after Calamities, they rebuilt around these useful things. Sharlayan was able to adapt it, but they have no idea who created it. In the Dravanian hinterlands, there’s actually an aetheryte factory. I don’t think it’s named on the map, but go look for it.

 

The aetherytes currently found in each of the city-states were reconstructed following the Calamity by Sharlayan engineers. These engineers were the only ones who possessed the skill and knowledge necessary to do so' date=' and so they were richly compensated for their services. These are not an original Sharlayan design, but the product of research into existing aetherytes constructed in ancient times by civilizations unknown.[/quote']

 

As is broadly believed, aether is the essence of existence, the fount of life wherewith the stars stay suspended in the stellar sphere. Bereft of its boon, magic would be naught but a fruit of fiction, and our lives would doubtless detail double the drudgery.

 

According to ancient Miqo’te mystics, aetheric energy permeates all creation even as it exists in its own distinct dimension, parted from the physical plane. If Eorzea might be compared to a colossal creature, aether would be the lifeblood that courses through its veins, supplying it with sustenance.

 

The people of the past were adept in the application of aetheric energy. Not only did they possess the proficiency to pinpoint those places with high concentrations of aether; they had the expertise to exploit that power, and thereby created the gateways that allow us to travel tremendous distances in hardly a hairy heartbeat. Thought to have been long lost to mankind, this knowledge is in the midst of a revival, brought about by the beneficent backing of the Circle of Knowing.

 

Under the supervision of the Sharlayan natives, a plan is in progress to install an intra-city teleportation network. The purpose at present is purely military, but its channeling for civil and commercial use cannot be ruled out as an eventuality.

 

Ever has man coveted knowledge, and none more so than that of his fate. Thus did he labor to master the skill of foresight—but initial efforts bore little fruit. That is, until he looked to the stars above, which foretell the coming seasons, and learned to read the heavens.

 

Though this gift is known today as astrology, the people of Sharlayan saw fit to not only read the stars, but to write their movements as well. By attuning their aetherial energies to that of constellations, they learned to wield magicks with heretofore unseen properties. Thus was astromancy born—a new form of magick which grants its users power over fate. Employing a star globe and divining deck in their miraculous deeds, fortune always smiles upon these masters of arcana.

 

The “mark of the sages” is attributed to persons whose knowledge in a given field has been recognized by the Sharlayan scientific community. To bear it is an honor that belongs to the most elite of our scholars.

 

Publication: The Five Ages─An Eorzean Chronology

Author: Lewphon of Sharlayan, master theologian and astrologist

 

Penned in the Year 233 of the Sixth Astral Era to weave together the disparate histories of the nations of Eorzea with a common thread─the thread of time.

 

A symbol of long life and femininity' date=' this autumn fruit was originally brought from their home land to Eorzea by the Sharlayans.[/quote']

 

“Familiars” are created from regular animals (e.g. Poroggo from frogs; Skatane from owls). Does their taxonomy change once they’ve been enchanted?

 

KF: No. They stay the same and if the magic cuts, they go back. We have that quest with the Poroggo like, “Nooo, I don’t want to be a frog again!” So they’ve only reached sentience because of the magic; they haven’t changed at all. The magic gives them the ability to think and reason, but once that’s gone they go back.

 

Poroggos were once lowly toads' date=' transformed into creatures of speech and reason through the magicks of Sharlayan mages. Their intelligence is such that they can even be taught to cast spells. Should poroggos be isolated from other sentient beings, however, their minds gradually regress into a feral state.[/quote']

 

Sevestre─leader of the Bibliothecs─a powerful group of conservative fundamentalists who seek to control the whole of Sharlayan's knowledge. They believe that our people should not become involved in history' date=' only be witness to it. Then analyze it until all the lives lived and lost are but numbers on a page. You may remember Sevestre, Jannequinard, because he was the selfsame man who pushed for old Sharlayan to batten its doors and abandon Eorzea...and used my father's death as his rallying cry. And now I am certain that he had my father killed. Near the end of my father's diary, he mentions being contacted by a young Sevestre, who happened to be a classmate of his when they were both at the Studium. Sevestre, looking to make a name for himself as a politician, warned my father against continuing to disseminate knowledge of Sharlayan astrology in Eorzea. A warning my father, of course, did not heed. Soon after, several attempts were made upon my father's life. When he subsequently looked into the matter, he discovered that there was a price on his head...and that Sevestre had put it there. I discovered a contract signed by the wretch folded in my father's journal. He had planned on revealing it to the Forum on his return... But he never had the chance.[/quote']

 

But this man is the leader of the Bibliothecs─their sole purpose in life is the hoarding of knowledge.

 

The barbarians of this realm have shown that they can only use knowledge to destroy each other. They corrupt it. They lessen it. And then they forget it. They never once have shown they are worthy of the knowledge they so defile. And yet you would still give it to them. Very well. I shall do as you ask. But know that the Forum is ever listening' date=' ever watching. Should you continue your escapades here in Ishgard, they will find out. And they will send others until they have succeeded where I have...failed.[/quote']

 

Which means it will not be long before the Forum has heard as well. We Sharlayans may have officially abandoned this realm' date=' but our ears remain. Things changed after you left, Jannequinard. Many even believe it was my father's death that tipped the scales in favor of closing Sharlayan's doors and locking away all our knowledge. If the Forum deems it so, I could be arrested and imprisoned for “the theft of national resources.” And I see no reason why your Holy See, who has already shown its disdain for our efforts, would stand in its way.[/quote']

 

 

Links:

-Lore Train: Inked

-Geography of Hydaelyn

-History of Towns in Eorzea

-Sharlayan Astrologian Lore

-In Louisoix's Wake

-Aetheryte Lore Compilation

-Bibliothecs Lore

 

 

Hope this helps! ^^ (And thanks Franz for posting stuff up as well!)

[Sounsyy]

*shines Sounssy signal*

 

So something I've run across with my Sharlayan character is it's almost impossible to pin her birthdate down.

 

SE states that the colony was abandoned 20 years ago.

 

It also states that the year it was abandoned was 1562.

 

The last year of the 6th Astral was 1572. Adding the 5 years due to Louisoux's magicks makes this the 5th (6th?) year of the Seventh Umbral. But that would mean the colony was abandoned 15ish years ago..?

 

My character is 23 so her birthdate would either be 1559 or 1554?

 

Help me I have divided by zero.

 

The Dravanian Sharlayan was abandoned in the Year 1562, only fifteen years ago. The decision was reached after the Sharlayans spent nearly five years negotiating peace with Garlemald after the fall of Ala Mhigo twenty years ago, in 1557.

 

If your character is 23 currently, then she was born in the Year 1554 of the Sixth Astral Era. Though this depends largely on how you view time passage in RP versus the game. In short, devs support a time bubble approach where all events are compressed into the span of a year. However, they recently introduced a quest that suggests canon time passage of 2 years since Patch 2.2. So alternatively, if you have a 23 year old currently and you subscribe to time passage in the RP setting, your character would've been born in the Year 1556 of the Sixth Astral Era. (The link above explains things in a lot more depth and detail.) In either case, your character would've been quite young during the exodus of the Dravanian Sharlayan.

[Kellach Woods]

We can probably update this thread with Antitower/Triple Triad stuff as well. E.G. Calcabrina.

[Sounsyy]

Went ahead and updated the post with some Antitower and Triple Triad card lore. Other people are welcome to add lore as well if I happen to miss something.