Where did my character come from?

[Yian Kutku]

This is a question I've been rolling around in my head for a while, but I haven't really had a chance to let it coalesce into something concrete I can ask about. Therefore, bear with me as I ramble on.

 

Short version: I want my Miqo'te Seeker of the Sun character (P'liko Cuga) to be new to Eorzea. What options do I have?

 

I like the idea of the opening cutscene where P'liko (and other non-Legacy characters) arrive in their starting cities via some mode of transportation. In P'liko's case, she comes from Somewhere Else, and takes a ship to Limsa Lominsa, which she quickly comes to call home.

 

Also, there's a meta reason for being new to Eorzea: I didn't know where the IC/OOC divide is in search info and the like, so I put in "new to Eorzea" as a way of saying I'm new to FF14 (and thus could use advice and help). The more I thought about it, though, the more I felt it was fitting for P'liko to not be familiar with a lot of Eorzean customs, matching my own lack of knowledge.

 

So the options for where P'liko comes from would be places which have a decent Miqo'te population, and which allow regular commercial sea travel to Limsa Lominsa. The latter almost certainly exists; even if I get the impression the entire world minus Eorzea is Garlean-occupied, that does not preclude trade. The former is trickier, since Miqo'te apparently came to Eorzea from "across the frozen seas" during one of the Umbral Calamities, but I don't actually know where they came from, or what Miqo'te society is like outside of Eorzea.

 

I'd also prefer if P'liko's origin is relatively drama-free, so nothing like escaping Garlean persecution or such. P'liko travelled to Eorzea in pursuit of knowledge, learning all she can, simply because she likes learning new things. That is about the extent of what I've worked out, since without knowing more lore, I can't even answer questions like how old she is, or what she was doing during the Calamity.

 

Right now I tentatively put P'liko's home as Sharlayan, or at least somewhere around that area. This is entirely because I don't see any of the major cities on Eorzea as valid origin points for P'liko for various reasons, and Sharlayan is an option only because I know next to nothing about it. However, this may also be problematic, as the Main Story Quest appears to be building up to something involving Sharlayan, which involves it being completely wiped off the map.

 

Googling for information/spoilers does not seem to help, and indeed complicates matters; there are apparently two Sharlayans, one of which is a colony in Dravania. I don't know which of these got destroyed by "an Ultima-like spell", according to Minfilia and Urianger. Presumably this will get explained later in the MSQ, but I haven't gotten there yet.

[Valence]

With your criterias in mind, we know that Garleans enlist all the natives they conquer indiscrimately and so you will probably find a decent amount of miqo'te in their military, but since you would rather prefer something 'quieter' in terms of background without having to involve defection and whatnot, maybe it's not the best option, though it is still an option.

 

Sharlayan is a good option as well. The AST questline also shows how foreign and culture shocked sharlayans tend to be when they come to Eorzea, due to the isolation and protectionism they live under, on their islands. Sharlayans tend to find eorzean rather barbaric and silly. Their first reaction is often contempt or arrogance. Overall, the Sharlayans are very, very arrogant librarians, although it doesn't mean they all are of course, but politically, they mostly lean towards strong isolationism and sitting on their own pile of knowledge for the sake of knowledge, especially in the faction of the Bibliothecs (far right conservatist wing). Don't worry though, they definitely didn't get nuked or anything like that in the story so far. They abandoned their colony on the main continent decades ago when their negociations with the Garleans failed and the Garleans started invading Eorzea (mild spoiler: you will visit it at the end of Heavensward), and the settlers returned to their main archipelago. It is also true that we get news from the island of the Students of Baldesion, the main patrons of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, that got razed off the map (possibly by Ascians, but we still don't know much about that).

 

Playing a miqo'te from their continent of origin, is of course another option, although you will have a slightly harder time to play that because we literally know nothing of the current state of Meracydia. There is actually tons of lore regarding that continent, but most of this actually concerns the 3rd Astral and 4th Umbral eras under the yoke of the Allagan Empire, that went to war with Meracydia in their lust for conquest. We even start to see a bit of what Meracydian cultures were, but as of today, it's hard to say if they even have lots of trade and whatnot with Eorzea. We however know that lots of miqo'te tribes still live here, and those are probably the closest you can find from the original miqo'te.

 

Fernehalves also hinted long ago that you can also find a few miqo'te on other continents like Othard (far east), but we probably get back to point 1 with Garlemald that invaded there as well.

[Yian Kutku]

With your criterias in mind, we know that Garleans enlist all the natives they conquer indiscrimately and so you will probably find a decent amount of miqo'te in their military, but since you would rather prefer something 'quieter' in terms of background without having to involve defection and whatnot, maybe it's not the best option, though it is still an option.

 

Do the Garleans conscript every non-Garlean they come across, or do they just have a non-discrimination policy? Or do they impose a quota of a certain number of conscripts from each given region, and it's just a matter of luck (and possibly some minimum criteria)?

 

I don't actually know much about how Garlemard rules its domains. Logically they shouldn't be too hard on the majority of their holdings, apart from the rebellious ones like Doma and possibly Ala Mhigo, simply because otherwise they'd have rebellions everywhere. So I was thinking it's possible for P'liko to have come from a Garlean-controlled territory, but not really care one way or another due to daily life being more or less the same as before. Or maybe the Garleans had been in charge for long enough that most people have gotten used to it; the saying about fish not noticing water comes to mind.

 

So P'liko would have no opinions on Garlemard either way, and her actions in the latter stages of the 7th Umbral Era MSQ would be mostly due to Holy Carp Ultima Weapon, and she unconsciously separates the Garleans invading Eorzea from the (totally reasonable) Garleans ruling her homeland.

 

Of course, I could be totally wrong about all of this, in which case I'd better look for a non-Garlean region for P'liko to come from.

 

Sharlayan is a good option as well. The AST questline also shows how foreign and culture shocked sharlayans tend to be when they come to Eorzea, due to the isolation and protectionism they live under, on their islands. Sharlayans tend to find eorzean rather barbaric and silly. Their first reaction is often contempt or arrogance. Overall, the Sharlayans are very, very arrogant librarians, although it doesn't mean they all are of course, but politically, they mostly lean towards strong isolationism and sitting on their own pile of knowledge for the sake of knowledge, especially in the faction of the Bibliothecs (far right conservatist wing).

 

I pin a lot of hopes for Sharlayan being a valid option on Y'shtola, who is pretty cool (and coolly pretty). I seem to recall she, and a lot of other Scions, is from Sharlayan, and the only remotely arrogant thing she did so far is the usual "why can't everyone see this horrible thing happening in the near future" from the MSQ. Well, that and exasperation with Yda, but everyone gets exasperated with Yda. (I love Yda.)

[Kilieit]

FWIW the Scions (or more specifically, the Circle of Knowing, which is the Sharlayan faction within the Scions) are, like, officially among the chillest Sharlayans ever. They're the most prominent faction of Sharlayans who didn't abandon Eorzea overnight to its fate when it looked like bad things might be happening there. The rest were - as Valence said - like "lol, bye" and now largely refuse to have anything to do with Eorzea (that isn't strictly based in them observing and recording what goes down), despite once being considered one of its five city-states. They won't send aid, they won't give counsel, and they certainly won't provide their knowledge for Eorzean use.

 

But we do have individual Sharlayans occasionally showing up, from the motherland, in Eorzea - like Leveva (AST chain) and Krile (MSQ). So it's not like there's a total ban on ever visiting the place, and it's not like no Sharlayan ever would ever have a motivation to travel there.

 

...probably helps that two of the Circle of Knowing are Eorzean by birth, and are only considered "Sharlayan" because Master Louisoix brought them to the colony to be educated... (There are definitely some colonialist overtones there if you look. What Valence said about Sharlayans being arrogant is right. Even the benevolent Louisoix, held up as a hero across Eorzea, had hubris - in assuming that removing what must have essentially been children at the time from their natural culture to "give them a proper education", because obviously native Eorzeans aren't capable of doing that, was what was best for them.)

 

Anyway, context out of the way -

 

We also see a couple of young Sharlayans choosing to travel to Eorzea, and though they have their own reasons (they're Louisoix's grandkids lmao), it again emphasises that Sharlayans are allowed to travel to Eorzea (and also lets us know that age of majority in Sharlayan is 16). And there's a lot of draw for any person who hasn't become jaded yet, especially the young and impressionable - Eorzea is a land of gods and monsters, heroes and disasters, and even someone raised in the Sharlayan tradition might think a life of adventure in Eorzea seems more exciting or at least like it's worth studying close-up.

 

If you want "voraciously curious with no obvious angst", then the backstory I'd recommend would be young, Sharlayan, grew up reading history books about Eorzea (which read like storybooks), decided to visit once they had the opportunity, and here they are. Sharlayan education primed them for treating everything and everyone with a relentless hunger for knowledge, so they'd be eager to learn as well as exploring/having adventures.

 

There's the opportunity for undercurrents of "reflexively thinking she's better than Eorzeans", but they're more or less optional... the thing you're liable to run into even with a relatively pleasant Garlean-related backstory is a lot of player-characters have very large and obvious problems with anything Garlemald-shaped, so you might end up being antagonised by other players if your character shows sympathies towards Garlemald. If "she doesn't understand why everyone's being so hostile" is something you want to run with, go for it; but if you'd rather have a less ICly polarising backstory then Sharlayan is a safe bet.

[Valence]

 

Do the Garleans conscript every non-Garlean they come across, or do they just have a non-discrimination policy? Or do they impose a quota of a certain number of conscripts from each given region, and it's just a matter of luck (and possibly some minimum criteria)?

 

I don't actually know much about how Garlemard rules its domains. Logically they shouldn't be too hard on the majority of their holdings, apart from the rebellious ones like Doma and possibly Ala Mhigo, simply because otherwise they'd have rebellions everywhere. So I was thinking it's possible for P'liko to have come from a Garlean-controlled territory, but not really care one way or another due to daily life being more or less the same as before. Or maybe the Garleans had been in charge for long enough that most people have gotten used to it; the saying about fish not noticing water comes to mind.

 

So P'liko would have no opinions on Garlemard either way, and her actions in the latter stages of the 7th Umbral Era MSQ would be mostly due to Holy Carp Ultima Weapon, and she unconsciously separates the Garleans invading Eorzea from the (totally reasonable) Garleans ruling her homeland.

 

Of course, I could be totally wrong about all of this, in which case I'd better look for a non-Garlean region for P'liko to come from.

 

We don't have as much info as I wish we had on garlean occupation policies, but we know that the more a nation proves problematic to conquer and especially the more trouble they cause after, the more Garleans will rule it with an iron fist. For example, a lot of the nations of Ilsabard (the garlean native continent) bowed more or less quietly before Garlemald. Doma on Othard, however, revolted in masse and got razed to the ground, and Ala-Migho proves to be the most problematic of all, not outright revolting like Doma in one big burst, bit constantly plagued with the Mighan resistance and various scales of guerrilla around. It is said to be now ruled by a ruthless tyran part of the imperial family since the Black Wolf got defeated at the Praetorium. We are going to learn more about all this in 4.0 and onwards.

 

It would be rather incorrect to assume I believe that some nations went totally unchanged aftr Garlemald annexation. While Garlemald leaves a lot of independence and leeway for the people they conquer, not really interested in the way people rule themselves, they still act a lot like the Roman Empire and oversee everything on top of it. You don't become a de facto citizen of the Garlean Empire for example, with all the rights and status that go with it. One way to become one as we know of is to enlist in the military and serve for 20 years before being granted that status. So no, they don't force everyone in the military.

 

It's really hard to say what truly is life under Garlean rule as we lack a lot of info on that as I said. We know however that life is absolutely atrocious for Ala-Mighans that are forced to work in the many garlean magitek manufactories almost as slaves. Mileage seems to vary depending on the province.

 

In fine, as much as I wish we got offered a very nuanced view full of greys on Garlemald, we have to keep in mind for now that they still constitute a militaristic autocracy with a strong, ruthless central authority obeying the emperor (the senate being just a shadow of itself). In short, you don't fuck with Garlemald. If you live in their lands and attract their attention for some bad reason, then you are probably in trouble.

 

 

I pin a lot of hopes for Sharlayan being a valid option on Y'shtola, who is pretty cool (and coolly pretty). I seem to recall she, and a lot of other Scions, is from Sharlayan, and the only remotely arrogant thing she did so far is the usual "why can't everyone see this horrible thing happening in the near future" from the MSQ. Well, that and exasperation with Yda, but everyone gets exasperated with Yda. (I love Yda.)

 

Yes, there definitely is some Sharlayans that are open minded and looking at Eorzea and not just their own land. Those are, however, a minority. Louisoix for example, was seen as an eccentric among his peers when he decided to go crusade and offer his knowledge in service to Eorzea, when he could have just stayed in Sharlayan. His grand daughter and grand son you encounter at the start of 2.0, have just come to Eorzea to see what attracted their granfather to sacrifice his life to Eorzeans. Leveva and her family in he AST questline, come to Ishgard to spread sharlayan astrology there. They get basically outlawed by their own country (The Forum) for doing so.

 

Y'shtola, Urianger, Thancred and all the Scions are the legacy left by Louisoix, and sponsored by the Students of Baldesion. Besides those and the Sons of St Coinach for example, there is little for philanthropist sharlayans around, but Louisoix sure seems to have been the spark to ignite that new trend.

 

 

 

I would offer to bring more info as exposed in the lorebook, but I'm at work sadly for now.

[Kilieit]

Oh, that's what I forgot - the thing that's illegal is, IIRC, sharing Sharlayan knowledge with non-Sharlayans (which is why the Eorzean-born among the Circle of Knowing are now considered "Sharlayan" instead of just being Sharlayan-educated Eorzeans).

 

Travelling to study is one thing, travelling to teach is wholly another. This would make perfect sense to most born-and-raised Sharlayans - the idea being that other cultures would use Sharlayan knowledge for warfare and conquest, thus pulling Sharlayan into said wars and breaching the Sharlayan belief that neutrality is important above all for their nation.

[Valence]

Putting the emphasis on that, it is also said that all of the airship aetherial and magitek technology is regulated and distributed by Sharlayan in Eorzea. At least at the start of 2.0. A bit like a ruling, independent body with authority over the matter. 

 

Make of that what you wish. 

[Virella]

Thavnair might be an option for you as well! Eorzea still trades with it, so it isn't far fetched your character would have made their way from that place to Eorzea.

[Yian Kutku]

It's sounding like Sharlayan is the best option I have. Which is great, now that I have an answer for people who ask me in RP where I'm from.

 

Is there anything in particular about Sharlayan I should know about? Given whatever can be easily Googled as a base, and the extra tidbits in this thread. If nothing else, I can headcanon the vague bits, but I'd rather not contradict canon/fanon.

 

(There are definitely some colonialist overtones there if you look. What Valence said about Sharlayans being arrogant is right. Even the benevolent Louisoix' date=' held up as a hero across Eorzea, had hubris - in assuming that removing what must have essentially been [i']children[/i] at the time from their natural culture to "give them a proper education", because obviously native Eorzeans aren't capable of doing that, was what was best for them.)

 

I do find themes of colonialism in stories interesting, academically. This does run into my personal preferences of low-angst, so I don't actively seek out stories about colonialism, but I'm fascinated by the viewpoints expressed on both sides.

 

Maybe this is due to living in a country that saw colonialism as a net benefit, with a vague acknowledging gesture towards the fact that not every other instance was as positive.

 

In any case, I'll probably not use this aspect until I'm a lot more comfortable with my character, but it's something to keep in mind.

 

We also see a couple of young Sharlayans choosing to travel to Eorzea, and though they have their own reasons (they're Louisoix's grandkids lmao), it again emphasises that Sharlayans are allowed to travel to Eorzea (and also lets us know that age of majority in Sharlayan is 16). And there's a lot of draw for any person who hasn't become jaded yet, especially the young and impressionable - Eorzea is a land of gods and monsters, heroes and disasters, and even someone raised in the Sharlayan tradition might think a life of adventure in Eorzea seems more exciting or at least like it's worth studying close-up.

 

I've met Elfy-nod Alphinaud and Alisaie, yes. If my headcanon holds, I can pretend that the voyage to Limsa Lominsa when I started the game had originated in Sharlayan, thus conveniently explaining why the twins and my character happened to be in the same place. (The Chocobo cart rides to Gridania and Ul'dah did not happen in this timeline.)

 

I admit I'm not sure how old to make my character, apart from the generic "old enough to be of age". I don't even know what Miqo'te lifespans are like in general, much less if Sharlayan Miqo'te have different lifespans than those living in harsher conditions.

 

Thavnair might be an option for you as well! Eorzea still trades with it, so it isn't far fetched your character would have made their way from that place to Eorzea.

 

I know nothing about Thavnair apart from a Thavnairan Bolero that I think I got from the Palace Of The Dead hoard. Googling, it appears to be an island nation in the "Near East" that is known for alchemy and being desert-hot. Which does match the whole Seeker Of The Sun savannah-cat thing, but I'm not as comfortable with it, since I know even less about Thavnair than the little I do about Sharlayan.

[Virella]

Snip

Understandable!

 

Yet I'd stay, with us as players knowing very little about any region outside of Eorzea, why not just go for a very sheltered life within her tribe? It gives you a reason to be not familiar with Eorzean etiquettes either, and hey, its fun to make up your own tribal habits!

 

Also to answer your question about ageing. All the races age at the same rate, except for Elezen who stay children/teenagers a wee bit longer. They also live a little bit longer in general. Not like other elves in other setting, but think 20+ years or so. But people in Eorzea make it rarely past... 50 if I recall.

 

So your Miqo'te would just age 'normally' so to speak!

 

If I may... I'd still suggest to consider to be from one of the city-states, or own tribe. Your Miqo'te can easily have grown up in one of the Eorzean cities! You don't even have to be from a tribe. Your character's parents could have easily taken a city life. Bit strange, but not unheard of for certain.

 

But.. Coming from your grandma Ala Mhigan roleplayer; It is not always fun knowing lore little about your character's city. You can't answer things in depth. It is a pain if you want to go beyond what little snippets we have. There's only so much I can have Ave say about Gyr Abania/Ala Mhigo/Monk temples because I don't know the information myself.

 

I'd really keep that possible roadblock in mind as well. But anyhow, your character, your choice, but you might shoot yourself in the foot by wishing to be from another part of the world beyond Eorzea. I get you, the lore of this game isn't as easily to be found as with others due to a lack of a Wiki, but I think you have a huge chance falling into the pit you're trying to avoid by taking this approach. Best of luck anyhow!

[Valence]

Be cautious with colonialism though, since Sharlayan is all but an imperialistic power, quite the contrary in fact. They are pure isolationists. The analogy with colonialism was only to be taken in their attitude towards foreigners, especially Eorzeans, I believe.

 

Miqo'te lifespans are similar to hyurs, as well as all other races except elezens that tend to mature a bit later, and live a bit longer. I would also expect natives from Sharlayan to have a way longer average lifespan than most eorzeans, that have to contend with so many threats, monsters and the likes, and just because sharlayans are all more or less librarians and scholars and whatnot, so they probably live longer than farmers and people having to deal with many more hardships every day.

 

Thavnair is interestingly enough, such a huge commerce hub that they managed to sign a deal of neutrality with Garlemald.

[Kilieit]

Expanding on what Valence said (doing a lot of that this thread! ) that the colonialist themes aren't that strong in the text - Louisoix is more or less universally heralded as a hero both in-universe and in meta, the two people who I was referring to in that comment are relatively happy with their lot in life (or at least, the problems they have aren't related to their adoptive-Sharlayan-ness), and I don't think it's ever actually explicitly addressed in the text apart from a few "mutter murmer Sharlayan isolationists" that there's any resentment on the Eorzeans' parts towards Sharlayans? So it's something you could explore if you wanted to - one interpretation of the facts - but it's definitely not at the forefront of what you'd be dealing with on the character, unlike "everyone hates Garleans". ;D

 

Also, gimme like, 15 minutes and I'll transcribe a few useful bits from the lore book about Sharlayan (and Thavnair, if I can find it). I'll edit it into this post.

 

Lore book entries (incomplete in places but I'm typing by hand):

 

Flag

When Thaliak poured the waters of knowledge into His river, the spiral shell became their keeper - such is the legend wherein the nautilus came to symbolise wisdom. In addition, men have believed that mollusks lived forever from time immemorial. It is to capture the essence of these meanings that Sharlayan's flag bears a green spiral shell emblazoned upon a field of silver.

 

Motto

Knowledge Seeks No Man

 

Government

When Sharlayan had but few inhabitants, all adults came together in the Ecclesia to speak their mind upon decisions of nation. As their numbers grew, they have come to elect to the Forum those officials who they feel best represent the will of the people. The speaker of the Forum serves as the head of state, but his power is greatly restricted by law.

 

Religion

The people of Sharlayan came together in the pursuit of knowledge. The city itself was raisde to aid in this endeavour, and in the process Thaliak was named the guardian deity. However, the choice had less to do with pious worship than the creeds of the Sharlayans. Thus, little importance is placed upon religious rites, and many pray to others among the Twelve.

 

Industries

Aetherial Technology: Through long years of studying aether and magic, Sharlayan scholars have mastered the secrets of traversing the Lifestream through aetherytes. Indeed, by building and maintaining Eorzea's Aethernet, they have secured a steady source of foreign currency. [Transcriber's Note: In-game lore suggests this is done via Ul'dah's Syndicate.]

Publishing: With scholars and Archons penning discourse upon discourse, it is no surprise that the city has a robust publishing industry. These learned treatises are prized by Eorzean academics and artisans, who willingly pay great sums to learn of Sharlayan's latest findings.

Education: Starting with the prestigious Studium, Sharlayan has numerous famed academies that accept students from all nations. In times past, Eorzean pupils eagerly flocked to Sharlayan's settlement in the Dravanian hinterlands from all corners of the realm. There, they studied a multitude of subjects from different fields - though it seems that instructors reserved certain wisdom for those of Sharlayan citizenship alone.

 

Beliefs

For greater purposes, Sharlayans seek to gather the knowledge of the world, and preserve it for posterity in the pages of the Bibliotheca Historica. They covet the unknown and unexplored, and put great value upon education - in part as a gathering of like-minded fellows. They also abhor bloodshed, find war barbaric, and would never dream of allowing their wisdom to be used for martial purposes. As such, they guard closely all knowledge they deem dangerous.

 

Diet

As one might expect, food is oft taken as an object of study, and Sharlayan is rumoured to hold countless tomes detailing fare from all over the world. However, the delicacies they create are for strictly academic purposes - and not for anything as base as eating. The every-day fare of the city is good for the body, but otherwise quite bland. Accordingly, many groans can be heard from foreign students come meal time.

 

[Transcriber's note: This section is really long, so excuse me only transcribing the very last section of it, which is the part within living memory.]

Pleas Unanswered

The Dravanian hinterlands [colony, which was founded in 1311, and was one of Eorzea's 6 city-states] attracted students from all across Eorzea and grew as a beacon of knowledge and wisdom. Yet this was not to last. In 1557, tidings that Garlemald had captured Ala Mhigo reached the city. To the Sharlayans, the Empire was a threat to their very way of life. They had spent an age stubbornly resisting all war, and the imperial invasion of Ilsabard and Othard was a bane to the values they had held since Nyunkrepf [the Roegadyn founder]'s time. Sharlayan sent ambassadors to Garlemald with entreaties to stop their advance. They even strove mightily to parlay a peace, but all these pleas fell on deaf ears, and the envoys returned home empty-handed.

In the wake of the failed negotiation, Fourchenault Leveilleur [Louisoix's firstborn, and the twins' father] and the faction he lead within the Forum elected to forsake their colony. 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 1562, the city of Sharlayan became a maze of empty streets and buildings in the space of a single evening. [This is the location you can visit in-game in the Dravanian Hinterlands].

 

[Transcriber's note: Skipping the character profiles here. They are for Fourchenault Leveilleur, Sevestre Albright, and Matoya. If you want any of them, lmk.]

The Forum

In his wisdom, Nyunkrepf saw that each citizen of Sharlayan be allowed a voice in the matters of their community. By around the 150th year of the Sixth Astral Era, however, the city had expanded considerably. In the Ecclesia, too many voices clamoured in debate, and reaching consensus on anything, no matter how small, seemed to take an age. Though it was clear a new system was needed, the Sharlayans clung adamantly to their tradition, changing it as little as possible. This met with failure, and in 201 [over 200 years since the founding] they decide upon a new form of governance. Now, the nation would be led by the Forum, a body of ninety-nine members. Each Sharlayan of age would cast a vote to elect members from amongst his peers. In its early days, the Forum met in a public square, from which its present name is taken.

 

Archons

Sharlayan does not bestow the title of Archon upon each and every wise man. Indeed, it is said that only those who have demonstrated an exceptional knowledge ot their respective subjects and made a great contribution to their fields are selected and certified. Apparently, there are more benefits attached to the position than one might suspect, not least of which being free access to forbidden tomes.

 

 

 

 

To the south of Ilsabard lies a great sea known as the Bounty. The abundance of sea life combined with its central location in relation to the Three Great Continents has historically seen civilisations on the islands of the Bounty thrive, even during the calamitous Umbral Eras.

 

The most prominent of those civilisations would have to be that of Radz-at-Han, located on Thavnair - the Bounty's largest landmass. An ancient city-state with a history stretching back thousands of years, Radz-at-Han is best known as the birthplace of modern alchemy. It is interesting to note that, despite having a very limited outward military presence, the city-state has succeeded in forging a non-interference treaty with the Garlean Empire, ensuring their independence while mightier nations fall about them, and as thus, Radz-at-Han remains an active hub for trade between Eorzea. However, it has been noted by some that the treaty was only formed so that Garlemald could obtain items from Eorzea via Thavnair, as official trade between the regions was frozen after the Empire's failed invasion twenty years past.

 

[Sounsyy]

I want my Miqo'te Seeker of the Sun character (P'liko Cuga) to be new to Eorzea. What options do I have? So the options for where P'liko comes from would be places which have a decent Miqo'te population, and which allow regular commercial sea travel to Limsa Lominsa. The latter almost certainly exists; even if I get the impression the entire world minus Eorzea is Garlean-occupied, that does not preclude trade.

 

The sky is actually the limit on this one! While the Miqo'te are one of the least populous of the Five Races, they've migrated and adapted to just about every continent and region across Hydaelyn. From the lore, we know there are high concentrations of Miqo'te native to the Near Eastern sea known as the Bounty as well as southern Ilsabard. There is also lore which places them across the southern seas in Meracydia. Looking at the fact that the Miqo'te have populated the Near East, the fertile and commercial region which connects the Three Great Continents together by landbridges, it's probable that Miqo'te have also spread into parts of Othard as well whether by seas, frozen or no, or more recently as trade between the Near and Far East as well as between Eorzea and Othard has blossomed in the last fifty years or so thanks to airship technology. We also know that populations of Miqo'te exists in varied other places across the world, like the Sharlayan archipelago in the Bloodbrine Sea.

 

In short, you've got plenty of options!

-Hydaelyn Geography Lore

 

 

_____________________________

I don't actually know much about how Garlemard rules its domains. Logically they shouldn't be too hard on the majority of their holdings, apart from the rebellious ones like Doma and possibly Ala Mhigo, simply because otherwise they'd have rebellions everywhere. So I was thinking it's possible for P'liko to have come from a Garlean-controlled territory, but not really care one way or another due to daily life being more or less the same as before. Or maybe the Garleans had been in charge for long enough that most people have gotten used to it; the saying about fish not noticing water comes to mind.

 

Like you inferred, the Empire's treatment of its annexed territories varies primarily based on how obnoxious the Province is to their rulers. In most cases, Garlemald prefers to leave the conquered city-states alone and preserve most of the ruling body, while appointing a Chancellor to oversee complacency and subservience to the Empire. Two nations which have staunchly resisted their oppressors, Ala Mhigo and Doma, suffered harshly beneath the lash. When Doma rebelled outright during the War of Succession about a year ago, the Garlean Empire razed the city-state, forcing thousands of Othardians to flee to Eorzea.

 

More lore on Garlemald, their Empire, and their practices can be found in these links:

-Garlean Lore Compilation: Military, Physiology, Expansion, and Doctrine

-Lore on Garlemald's Government, Nobility, and Encyclopedia Pages

 

 

_____________________________

The former is trickier, since Miqo'te apparently came to Eorzea from "across the frozen seas" during one of the Umbral Calamities, but I don't actually know where they came from, or what Miqo'te society is like outside of Eorzea.

 

This is actually a factoid from the Lore Book that's under contention, as it conflicts with previously given lore. There is lore that both supports Miqo'te once living on the southern continent of Meracydia, which they abandoned after the ravishes of the Allagan War left much of the continent a desolate wasteland to this very day, but other sources place migratory tribes of Miqo'te in southern Ilsabard and the Near East, forced northwards there during the twilight of the Allagan Empire. While the Ilsabardian origin makes very little sense, as outlined in the link, it's still one valid origin of many Miqo'te tribes, and unfortunately we won't know more until Fernehalwes gives us a ruling on the topic.

 

I'll go ahead and drop lore on Meracydia below, and info on the Near East is coming next.

-Meracydian Lore Compilation

 

 

_____________________________

I know nothing about Thavnair apart from a Thavnairan Bolero that I think I got from the Palace Of The Dead hoard. Googling, it appears to be an island nation in the "Near East" that is known for alchemy and being desert-hot. Which does match the whole Seeker Of The Sun savannah-cat thing, but I'm not as comfortable with it, since I know even less about Thavnair than the little I do about Sharlayan.

 

In short, Thavnair is a small island in a sea known as the Bounty. It's capital city, Radz-at-Han dates back thousands of years and is a commercial and cultural hub rivaling Limsa Lominsa. A large compilation of Near Eastern Lore can be found here.

 

 

_____________________________

I'd also prefer if P'liko's origin is relatively drama-free, so nothing like escaping Garlean persecution or such. P'liko travelled to Eorzea in pursuit of knowledge, learning all she can, simply because she likes learning new things. Right now I tentatively put P'liko's home as Sharlayan, or at least somewhere around that area. This is entirely because I don't see any of the major cities on Eorzea as valid origin points for P'liko for various reasons, and Sharlayan is an option only because I know next to nothing about it.

Is there anything in particular about Sharlayan I should know about? Given whatever can be easily Googled as a base, and the extra tidbits in this thread. If nothing else, I can headcanon the vague bits, but I'd rather not contradict canon/fanon.

 

Sharlayan actually sounds like the perfect origin for P'liko! Sharlayan is an isolationist and pacifist nation in the Northern Empty, far across the Bloodbrine Sea. We know there exists a Miqo'te population on the archipelago, most notably the Jaguar (Y) tribe. Kilieit and Valence have already covered a lot of the main Sharlayan talking points, as well as Kilieit posting the Encyclopedia Eorzea lore bits, so I'll drop more lore on Sharlayan for you.

 

-Sharlayan, the Old World and Dravanian Colony Lore Compilation

-Bibliothecs Party Lore

 

 

_____________________________

I admit I'm not sure how old to make my character, apart from the generic "old enough to be of age". I don't even know what Miqo'te lifespans are like in general, much less if Sharlayan Miqo'te have different lifespans than those living in harsher conditions.

 

Like others have said, the lifespans of the Five Races fall in line with normal real world humans, with minor exception of the Elezen. More lore on the Races and the Miqo'te specifically can be found in the links below:

 

-Race Lore Compilation

 

 

 

I hope this helps! ^^ Feel free to let us know if you have any more questions!

[Valence]

 

This is actually a factoid from the Lore Book that's under contention, as it conflicts with previously given lore. There is lore that both supports Miqo'te once living on the southern continent of Meracydia, which they abandoned after the ravishes of the Allagan War left much of the continent a desolate wasteland to this very day, but other sources place migratory tribes of Miqo'te in southern Ilsabard and the Near East, forced northwards there during the twilight of the Allagan Empire. While the Ilsabardian origin makes very little sense, as outlined in the link, it's still one valid origin of many Miqo'te tribes, and unfortunately we won't know more until Fernehalwes gives us a ruling on the topic.

 

I'll go ahead and drop lore on Meracydia below, and info on the Near East is coming next.

-Meracydian Lore from Encyclopedia Eorzea

-Meracydian Lore Compilation & Lominsan Origin Theory*

*The theory that Limsa was founded by Meracydians was officially debunked.

 

 

Interesting tidbit, but maybe that peculiar passage is not actually speaking of the same event? What prevents the main miqo'te migration to happen out of Meracydia during the Endless Frost, while another happens in Ilsabard, at the same time or after, whatever?

 

In short, maybe there were several miqo'te migratory waves during that umbral era?

[Sounsyy]

What prevents the main miqo'te migration to happen out of Meracydia during the Endless Frost, while another happens in Ilsabard, at the same time or after, whatever?

 

The lore book, unfortunately. Here's the full passage on the 5th Umbral Era.

 

As is the case with nearly the entirety of the Fourth Astral Era, the great calamity which would end the period is also shrouded in mystery. Tribal legend and local folklore does, however, speak of a seemingly endless winter that brought with it bitter cold, raging snowstorms, and giant rivers of ice. Without the ability to grow crops, much of the population perished, or was forced to flee to the south and its more temperate climes. It is believed that for the years that encompassed the Fifth Umbral Era - or as it is also known, the Age of Endless Frost - much of the Bloodbrine Sea was frozen solid, on one hand preventing fishing and decimating the populations of sea life, but on the other, allowing for the migration of Miqo'te tribes from southern Ilsabard into northern Eorzea - tribes made up of descendants of the very same Miqo'te who were persecuted against and driven from Eorzea by the Allagan Empire almost two millennia earlier. The newly hardened seas of this frigid era provided the tribes with a means around the massive peaks of Gyr Abania that prevented their return in the Fourth Astral Era, and while there was little awaiting them in the rime-encrusted realm when they arrived, their uncanny ability in the hunt granted them a means of survival until the frost had melted.

 

It was not long after their return to the realm that the Miqo'te learned of the new Eorzean alphabet. Tribal seers were quick to claim that the fact the number of letters in that alphabet - twenty-six - directly corresponded with the exact number of Seeker of the Sun tribes that had made the journey across the frozen seas was most fortuitous, subsequently convincing the tribes that they should each take one of those letters to its name.

 

It is not uncommon even today for massive floating islands of ice to appear in the winter moons along Eorzea's northernmost coasts - the Farreach. In the Fifth Umbral Era, however, these frozen mountains were said to have appeared as far south as the Jade Sea.

 

In the mass exodus which occurred during the Fifth Umbral Era' date=' 26 Seeker of the Sun tribes crossed the seas (which had frozen solid as a result of the Calamity) to Eorzea in search of food and warmer climates. The names of these tribes contained many sounds which were difficult to represent with the existing Eorzean alphabet; but the fact that there were the same exact number of tribes as letters in the Eorzean alphabet was taken as a sign that they were destined to make the new realm their home, and so assigned each tribe with a letter/sound that was closest to its name. Over time, this resulted in the changing of the pronunciation to more closely resemble the pronunciation of the Eorzean letter than that of the original word.[/quote']

 

It is believed the Miqo'te first came to Eorzea during the Fifth Umbral Era' date=' fleeing their ravaged homeland on the southern continent of Meracydia.[/quote']

 

Before the lore book, we believed that during the Age of Endless Frost, the entirety of Hydaelyn had succumbed to the freeze. This allowed for us to believe, along with the bottom quote, that Miqo'te fled the war-torn continent of Meracydia north across "frozen seas" to Eorzea and beyond. Notice, however, how the lore book has that tiny blurb about the frozen seas only extending as far south as the Jade Sea. This suggests that the Endless Frost only encompassed the world north and south of Hydaelyn's Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Meracydia, which sits closer to Hydaelyn's equator, would've been exempt from these frozen seas.

 

So now we have one bit of info saying Miqo'te traveled across frozen seas from Meracydia and another which says the Miqo'te only took advantage of the Bloodbrine, Jade, and possibly the Bounty to migrate during this time period. Both passages suggest they were the first and that twenty-six tribes of Seekers made the journey.

 

Basically, it's a cluster. The only real way to go back and consolidate the two stories would be to snip the bit about how far the ice reached and go back to the previous way of thinking and say all of Hydaelyn was frozen over. Not entirely factual, apparently, but it's what we've got to work with to allow for Miqo'te tribes to travel from Meracydia to southern Eorzea and Miqo'te tribes to travel from the Near East into northwestern Eorzea around the same time.

 

But like I outlined briefly in the lore book errata thread, the circumstances which brought Miqo'te to Ilsabard in the first place don't really make good sense, so even if we get an official answer retconing the Meracydian tidbit, I'll still be a mite salty trying to justify why Allagan Miqo'te would flee to Ilsabard to escape persecution when Ilsabard was just as Allagan-controlled as Aldenard during this time period. Whereas Meracydia escaped Allagan occupation up until the last 50-odd years of the 3rd Astral Era and any Miqo'te native to there would probably have faced extreme prejudice from their thousand-year-long-war-enemies?

 

 

TL;DR- Until we know more, I still fully support Miqo'te being native to Meracydia. Even if it turns out to not be their homeland, it's still very likely that Miqo'te were 1) already native but not migratory from there (see Sophia questline), or 2) had made their way there at some point in history, being noted sailors, hunters, and explorers. 3) Trade exists between Meracydia and Eorzea too, even if the lore book denies it. Just be aware that there is a very real possibility that our long-held belief that Meracydia is the Miqo'te homeland may be retconned entirely.

[Valence]

To be honest, I don't buy much into that either, just saying that stretched explanations could still be found I believe. Like, nothing is said that the Meracydian miqo'te migrated to Aldenard... over the ice, right? They just happened to migrate during the 5th Umbral Era, and maybe we mixed up that with the Ice Calamity and made a shortcut of both out of it as it seemed logical? Maybe they migrated with... boats?

 

Thing is, we are speaking about the 5th Umbral Calamity. This is hundred of years after the fall of the Allagan Empire, thus the migratory wave is definitely not fleeing the Allagan Empire, or they would have done so during the 4th Umbral Era (Earth Calamity). 

 

There is something in there that is pestering me, in that it is said that the Allagan Empire persecuted miqo'te from Aldenard, which made them flee to Ilsabard, probably around the 4th Umbral Era and the Fall of the Empire, or even before. How Seekers managed to live in such a cold place is beyond me, but that's another story and can probably be explained anyway.

 

But.

 

If the Allagan used to persecute miqo'te tribes in Aldernard, why? Were they Hyur supremacists and did that to all other races? Or where there only Hyurs/Allagans living there, with a few miqo'te? What were the demographics of the Allagan Empire? But the question remains, why where they persecuting them? Because Meracydia was full of them? Because Meracydia was THE enemy to put down? That's a possibility that can make a lot of sense. 

 

So, in short we have the Allagan Empire that persecutes the miqo'te living in Aldernard, and is still at war with Meracydia, and this is the 3rd Astral Era. Then the 4th Umbral Calamity of Earth happens, the Allagan Empire crumbles and the Syrcus Tower is buried. Meracydia by that time though, saw the victory of Allag and got turned into a wasteland, with very, very few survivors that shut their doors to anyone. That by itself, makes it hard to believe that those handful of meracydian survivors left and emigrated. They could however have done so before the downfall of Bahamut and the Warring Triad, and the annihilation of their land.

 

Where would they have gone? Possibly Aldenard. Where they got persecuted by their victors, and oppressors, which further make them flee to Ilsabard (also controlled by Allag, which makes that weird as you say, so they were just probably fleeing endlessly across continents all controled by their enemy, everywhere, since Allag was basically dominating all the planet anyway by now). Then, the Allagan fall happens. Those miqo'te survivors have made a very long journey over generations to Ilsabard, an inhospitable land with harsh climates. The 4th Astral Era (The Forgotten Age) unfolds, and people are oppressed everywhere under radical obscurantism, until the 5th Umbral Calamity happens and frozes everything beyond the tropics and allows those same miqo'te to get back to Aldenard over the frozen sea, since Gyr Abania is blocked.

 

Well, that's how I understand it, but I may have missed things, or just be wrong mind you. But we have to keep in mind that we are speaking of a period that spans over 500 years, between the 3th Astral Era and the 5th Umbral Era.

[Yian Kutku]

Thanks to all for the info, especially with the transcriptions. I haven't really commented on them much, largely because I'm still digesting the information.

 

While I appreciate that the history is probably muddled in-universe for perfectly understandable reasons (viz time), it does make it a bit more difficult to work with out of game when we don't have concrete answers.

 

Putting all that aside for the moment (because thinking about it too hard makes me tempted to just give it up as a huge mess), what sort of population does each of the city-states have, and how many outlying settlements are significant enough to be potential origins? I ask because I'm thinking of having my character come from around Sharlayan, as opposed to the city itself. In-game the city-states are kind of deserted, which I assume to be a gameplay conceit. For example, the actual number of NPCs in the areas around Limsa Lominsa would not have been significant enough to constitute an incursion into Kobold territory, and yet here we are.

 

I'm not sure if Sharlayan even has outlying settlements in the first place, but every other city-state does (with the possible exception of Ishgard, since I haven't gotten into Heavensward content yet), of varying sizes, eg compare Summerford Farms and Moraby Drydocks.

[Sounsyy]

What sort of population does each of the city-states have, and how many outlying settlements are significant enough to be potential origins? I ask because I'm thinking of having my character come from around Sharlayan, as opposed to the city itself. In-game the city-states are kind of deserted, which I assume to be a gameplay conceit.

 

Definitely a gameplay conceit. While we don't know exact or even relative populations of the city-states, we can guess Gridania has the smallest population and Ul'dah the largest. There is lore for the settlements and a brief summary of history in a post I made a while back.

 

-Eorzean Settlements Lore

 

Unfortunately, we don't know a ton about the Old World, even with the lore book. We do know that the city-state is on an archipelago and that the city is divided across many islands. For example, the Studium, home to Sharlayan's students of Baldesion, was situated on the Isle of Val, which was obliterated by unknown magicks. However, Sharlayan still exists. So it's likely that there are various settlements spread out across the Sharlayan Archipelago that house the city-state's population. Other than that, you'd likely have to look into Sharlayan's colonies, though the only one we know of with any certainty is the Dravanian colony, which was abandoned.