Clutchmate Questions/Point out the Errors

[savail]

Couldn't get past the hyur/elezen thing for Maddie, which completely killed any interest I had in playing as her. I've always had an interest in the different beast tribes of Eorzea, as well as their treatment by the "civilized" groups. Ended up lore-binging the other day and had a weird dream about an Au Ra of the Ejinn tribe (though in my dream, she didn't know the name of it because I guess I couldn't remember it) that was raised by Sahagin after a botched migration. Completely forgot about it until Miiyn unlocked her Sahagin beast tribe quests, and I found the idea interesting. Like Maddie, this is more or less just character building right now to see if it even works, but finding lore on the Sahagin has proved pretty difficult. Any input would be awesome, but some specific questions are:

 

1) Are beast tribes even found in Othard?

2) Names seem to follow a pretty consistent pattern of four-letter words with the last two characters being the same (Denn, Novv, Pyuu, Pahh, Houu, Fyuu, Seww, Zugg). Anything else of note?

3) All named Sahagin thus far that I can find, remember or otherwise look up online have been male. Are there any females; and if so, are their naming conventions different?

4) Since the Miqo'te sometimes have a slight hiss, would a Miqo'te speaking with some Sahagin inflection be easier to disguise than an Au Ra?

5) Aaaand an odd one: personal grooming standards? I'm guessing it probably didn't become an issue until being around non-Sahagin, so maybe picking out her own style of clothing which could be a bit...eccentric? If nothing else, I'm guessing she would pick things that would be pretty simple and stream-lined for easier mobility in the water.

6) Starting class: I know this should technically probably be lancer, but I'd rather her start in Limsa for obvious reasons. Judging by how suspicious everyone is, I doubt she'd fit in with the marauders because of the Yellow Jackets until after she has started building a reputation (companion of Baderon's grandma's niece's sister or whateveritwashesaid notwithstanding), which would have made the second-most sense after lancer. I feel like the rogues would be more than happy to take her on, but obviously she can't start there; and she can't start as a gathering class like 1.0 characters could, so fisher is out. Which leaves arcanist...but I'm at a lost as to how on earth THAT could be spun (SCH, on the other hand, is easy if I go with Au Ra; scholar stone found while swimming/diving anywhere between Othard and Eorzea). I mean, she wouldn't be able to read AND she wouldn't have had ready access to books to learn.

7) Family name: Other than "finless one" and "shorewalker," were there any other nicknames given to us landlubbers by our fishie friends? I'm leaning towards Shorewalker as a surname, though that might cause some confusion as it could be construed as a Raen name if I go Au Ra. Does this seem like a possible issue? Theoretically I guess she could go as Ejinn if Auri, mayhaps, but not sure how she would know that surname (unless it was etched on said sch stone and was some sort of family heirloom/necklace/whatever...but even then, not knowing how to read? I guess that could be some sort of plotline for her at least). Should I name-name her as Shorewalker, but have her ICly introduce herself as Ejinn to strangers?

 

So yes, leaning towards either a Miqo'te taken in by Sahagin in Lower La Noscea after a raid by other Sahagin/pirates/Drowned or dream-head-canon of an Au Ra from Othard from the Ejinn tribe that just ended up misplaced during a routine migration or raid by some other tribe due to her (then) young age that came to Eorzea with her clutchmates.

 

Danke in advance!

[Oyuu]

Can't help much with the beast tribe lore questions but I can with Question 6. Considering it is super easy to change and level classes, why not... just play a class you want to play? You do not have to define your starting class as your IC job, nor do you have to 'join the guild' in character either. As an example, I have nearly all jobs levelled on my Au Ra, but he is not from Gridania because that was my starting zone, nor is he an Archer or Bard in character. He's from Othard and he experiments with Astromancy and Thaumaturgy magic. It's your character so you can say what they do and where they are from, don't let game mechanics stop you! (They only get annoying if you want a certain outfit from a job.) 

 

Hope this somewhat helps, and I'm sure someone will hop in with some beast tribe lore at some point.  Good luck!

[Aegir]

That's a really cool character idea~

[savail]

Well, I mean, obviously MSQ can't be canon for everyone, I get that; so none of the MSQ stuff happens-happens, but the way I've been playing Miiyn (except for a few circumstances here and there in dungeons) is by reacting to every situation as Miiyn, whether it's people RPing or not (which has been really fun by the way, especially trying to explain dungeon mechanics with marks and emotes :dazed: ).  Also serves as a really good reminder of just how frustrating it would be for her to express what's going on in her head without using words.  I also made Miiyn start in Ul'dah specifically because I wanted her to develop a blanket distrust of Lalafell (everybody needs a flaw!) as a whole right off the bat, and the MSQ, while obvs not canon, was helpful in building up the types of things that she'd see going on in Ul'dah to help get into that mindset.

 

Since I tend to be pretty (read: extremely) slow with story progression, I'd like to at least, y'know, have some sort of reason as to why she's trudging about Limsa since I can't just skip over to Gridania, Mor Dhona, Coerthas or Ul'Dah right away like I could if I started in the other zones (well, unless an Ul'Dah or Gridania-based FC doesn't mind me joining just to get to the big Aetheryte in one of those areas ;)).  Because technically speaking, she should right now be able to just ferry/swim over to the mainland.  But she isn't doing that, and...well, I'd like to come up with a reason why.  Plus, she's going to have to have a reason to start studying along the Arcanist path eventually if she goes into Scholar (which, let's face it...that's my main class, she will).  

 

Actually nevermind, solved that conundrum while typing!  That family heirloom stone was lost/taken, and she's looking for it--legally via the arcanists, less legally via the rogues.

 

If anyone has any insights to 1-3, 5 and 7, I'd appreciate it!

 

 

Edit: Did some more digging and finally found the mention I thought I recalled of female sahagin...However, no mention of a naming convention beyond the "Indigo Matriarch."

[Gegenji]

Well, I'd also figure that you likely couldn't "swim" from Limsa to the mainland. Raised by Sahagin or no, there's going to be major difficulties in swimming across a major sea like that. Ferry would definitely make more sense.

[savail]

Geography is not my strong suit, but I thought it was a pretty narrow strait between Vylbrand and Aldenard? I mean, those ferries that go between Vesper Bay and Limsa definitely aren't built for crossing any major seas. Either way, was more basing that on this bit of lore: "A river tribe that chooses to swim from place to place rather than walk or take boats. It is said that members of the Ejinn can hold their breaths for up to a quarter bell, and will often migrate while almost completely submerged in order to avoid contact with hostile tribes."

[Gegenji]

River currents and ocean currents are quite different in strength. Plus there's all the critters that might try to eat you in an ocean environment. Also, do we ever actually SEE the ferries that go from La Noscea to Thanalan? They could be far sturdier than the little boats we see dotting the docks in Vesper.

[savail]

This is true as well, but there are people in our own real world who do make swims like that across ocean straits.

 

I just went to check, and you're right: we don't actually see the Vesper Bay ferry.  However, we do see the boat we board from Limsa to go to Vesper, which raises more questions now, though unrelated to swimming Au Ra and more with practicality in naval traffic.  Like I said, I'm not good with geography, but isn't Limsa on the opposite site of La Noscea from Vesper Bay?  In fact, isn't Costa del Sol actually closer to Thanalan?  Why on earth would we get on a teeny tiny little dinghy to travel amongst many larger ships through literal open ocean water? :dazed:

 

Nevermind.  The boat we see is the one to Mist and Costa del Sol.  Though that still begs the previous question: Why on earth would we get on a teeny tiny little dinghy to travel amongst many larger ships through literal open ocean water? :dazed:

[Kilieit]

FWIW, I would estimate the Strait of Merlthor to be about the same size - if not smaller - than the English Channel, which is swimmable at its narrowest point.

 

Because you can see Vylbrand from Aldenard and vice-versa, even on cloudy or stormy days. On a clear day, and at said narrowest point, you can see England from France and vice-versa. Assuming the curve of the Earth and the curve of Hydaelyn is about the same...

 

...I'll stop nerding now.

[Valence]

If you remember, the ships used by Lominsans are absolutely colossal in size. The ones docked in the drydocks, or in Limsa, for example. The ones you travel on from Vesper Bay to Limsa (or the other way around), if you remember the cutscene, are some such vessels. You can also see the same generic model used for the arcanist quest, and a few others.

 

Those are way bigger than XVth century caravels. If those can't travel between continents...

 

[savail]

The only cutscene I can remember was I think from 1.0, and that boat is bigger than the ferry I was thinking of but much smaller than the actual sailing vessels Limsa uses.  That's why I struck it out above because the ferry I was thinking of that we do see docked at the pier by Fisherman's Bottom actually just does Limsa<->Costa del Sol and Limsa<->Mist.  

 

But if Limsa connects to Lower La Noscea and Middle La Noscea by bridges, then isn't Limsa on the west or south side of La Noscea (not good at geography and maps).  If that's the case, then wouldn't Eastern La Noscea, or more specifically, Bloodshore, require sailing around La Noscea to get there.  And that ferry actually is tiny.  Hell of a journey for one itty bitty boat, no?

 

 

We are so far off-topic now from sahagin culture, but I don't even care because BOATS!

 

On-topic, however: I just discovered that many of the names of the Sahagin that we do have (which are all males that I've found so far) are actually recycled from FFXI, so I'm going to expand my digging into that territory as well to see if it turns up anything.

 

Edit #2: Didn't turn up anything, so I decided to take what appeared to be common in the male Sahagin naming conventions and plug that into Rinkworks using this formula:

(b|d|h|m|n|p|s)(((a|e|o|u)(gg|hh|ll|nn|rr|uu|vv|ww))|(y)(uu))

Getting lots of names that sound similar...now just looking for the "right" one.

 

Edit #3: One of the results that I got that I liked was "Senn," which ended up matching closely to one of the actual Xaela names--Tsenxer. So, yeah. Tsenxer Ejinn, aka Senn Shorewalker.

[Nako Vesh]

River currents and ocean currents are quite different in strength. Plus there's all the critters that might try to eat you in an ocean environment. Also, do we ever actually SEE the ferries that go from La Noscea to Thanalan? They could be far sturdier than the little boats we see dotting the docks in Vesper.

 

In 1.0 you did get to see them! It was very fun, very pretty, but also very time consuming which I assume is why they took them out. Now you just sort of teleport from dock to dock.

 

Here's Nako in 1.0 when she was typical-pink-haired-catgirl:

 

 

The boat was decently large, sturdy and equipped with several cannons.

[Skae]

River currents and ocean currents are quite different in strength. Plus there's all the critters that might try to eat you in an ocean environment. Also, do we ever actually SEE the ferries that go from La Noscea to Thanalan? They could be far sturdier than the little boats we see dotting the docks in Vesper.

 

In 1.0 you did get to see them! It was very fun, very pretty, but also very time consuming which I assume is why they took them out. Now you just sort of teleport from dock to dock.

 

Here's Nako in 1.0 when she was typical-pink-haired-catgirl:

 

 

The boat was decently large, sturdy and equipped with several cannons.

 

 

You still get a short cutscene when you take that ferry - and it is still a big ship.

(Well, you get the cutscene unless you have checked the option for 'Hide transport cutscenes I have already seen', in which case you only get it once)

 

Besides, if you check the size of historical boats and ships they were often fairly small - and still capable of ocean travel.

For example, the ships used by Columbus on his famous journey were all less than 20 meters long.

[Nako Vesh]

Oh, in 1.0 it wasn't a cut scene. You literally just ran around on the boat while it traveled.