Dalamud and islands

[Yunas13]

Quick question. When dalamud was falling did it affect the islands around Eorzea? (I.E. Caused tsunamis or water to rise) My character lives on an island and I was wondering, if so is it possible that I could come up with a way for the island to be protected and give an extra motivation for my character to come to Eorzea?

 

Thank you! Happy early thanksgiving!

[Coatleque]

The calamity affected all of Eorzea in some way. I used it in Crofte's background all the way to Ala Mhigo's southern tip to say that her coastal village was destroyed by a tidal wave. I do not think it's too far fetched, seeing Limsa Lominsa get pummeled in the old opening cinematic.

[Valence]

I guess it's possible? I mean, Dalamud didn't crash and was stopped before by Louisoix, but many pieces hit the ground and caused immense damage everywhere on Eorzea. I can imagine that pieces of that magnitude, with enough speed and mass, can definitely provoke tsunamis when they fall into the water. 

 

Something you might want to consider though that for the chunks we have seen that fell on the surface (cf Coils of Bahamut), they seem to have so massively killed everything around that huge spires of crystalized aether and corrupted aether have risen all around, like in La Noscea, the Shroud and Thanalan.

 

It's... well, maybe there are others in the world, but they probably are landmarks.

 

Also, if your isle was protected, out of curiosity, why would your character have an extra motivation to come to Eorzea?

[Sounsyy]

There was massive waves and water damage caused by falling debris from Dalamud. One great example is lower La Noscea, which suffered considerable damage, and a good portion of Gods' Grip was submerged as a result. In fact, the lighthouse visible across the water from the Mists or Moraby Bay is called Llymlaen's Ring and you could actually walk out to it in 1.0. Tiger's Helm Island, another island off the coast of Gods' Grip was submerged entirely. My own character used to ICly have a bungalow on the isle before the Calamity washed it away. There was also extensive damage done to ships that were at sea. I'm at work currently, but I'll edit in lore text when I get home.

 

 

Directly across Madman Bridge we come to a cliff that drops off into the sea. In the distance, we can see a far-off lighthouse. Here I chime in to talk a little bit about how the lay of the land in this area has changed since 1.X. Before the Calamity, the southeastern coast of Vylbrand was shaped like an upside-down U called the Gods’ Grip with Moraby Bay in the middle. On the western tip of the upside-down U is one lighthouse called Oschon’s Torch (still accessible today), on the eastern tip is another lighthouse called Llymlaen’s Ring (no longer accessible by land, due to the Calamity, but still visible from the shore). I mention that while in the Japanese, the lighthouses are merely called Oschon’s Lighthouse and Llymlaen’s Lighthouse (灯台=TODAI), the EN continues with the hand/grip imagery by using the more abstract torch (held by Oschon during his wanderings) and ring (ever shining on the Navigator’s finger).

 

Mochizuki-san asked if there was some connection between Oschon and Llymlaen, Oda-san answering that in mythology there were several connections, Oschon being the god of mountains, Llymlaen being the goddess of the seas. He mentions that there are even stories that mention a curious Oschon sneaking a peek at a bathing Llymlaen, to which the goddess replies by throwing a knife at the peeping Wanderer. Mochizuki-san finds this absurd, but Oda-san mentions that similar types of stories exist even in Greek mythology.

[Yunas13]

To answer the motivation question. I want to create a tiny bit of my own lore to intergrate into my character's background. The island has a mysterious tower that houses 4 dragon crests (White, Red, Blue, & Black) when dalamud fell and its debris hit the ocean causing a tsunami. My character and her villagers are in the Blue Spire when the tsunami strikes, however, the crests activate the tower which in turn creates a barrier that diverts the tsunami away from the island. The white dragon crest goes into Althena giving her healing magic. The dragon crests then disperse. She goes to Eorzea to progress her magic and to retrieve the crests and return them to her island home. Still a work in progress, this idea started today.

[Caspar]

A character with the name Althena, associated with Blue, Red, White and Black dragon crests.

That sounds familiar, but I can't put my finger on it.

Anyway, let's consider why the crests would go to Eorzea. Would they have been sent to the bottom of the sea instead? How about them being maliciously stolen rather than a tidal wave? Someone could have used the chaos from the tsunami impact to steal one in the aftermath. Or, if say, the crests were actually ancient Allagan technology, since Eorzea seems to have been the seat of Allagan civilization, the destruction from Dalamud there could have caused the crests to deactivate somehow. It might be also worth considering in-setting draconic lore too.

 

Such a powerful barrier would be pretty useful, so I can see why someone might covet it. Probably all you need now is a reason for them to be in Eorzea.

[Yunas13]

Is it possible that the ascians could travel to different worlds or are they just related to the Final Fantasy region? I had an idea that maybe one of the Ascians goes to the Lunar world and forcibly takes the crests from the 4 dragons and takes them to Eorzea, where Althena's descendents face off with him and claim the crests bringing them to the island and places them inside the tower, then after many centuries or millennia the island villagers forget how they came to the island in the first place?

[Caspar]

Is it possible that the ascians could travel to different worlds or are they just related to the Final Fantasy region? I had an idea that maybe one of the Ascians goes to the Lunar world and forcibly takes the crests from the 4 dragons and takes them to Eorzea, where Althena's descendents face off with him and claim the crests bringing them to the island and places them inside the tower, then after many centuries or millennia the island villagers forget how they came to the island in the first place?

That's something that hasn't been definitively referenced in the lore. There's definitely some dimension-hopping shenanigans, but specifically between dimensions that exist within FFXIV's setting. (Whether they're other FFs is somewhat ambiguous) As for the special events referencing dimensional travel, which ones are canon and in what way has been subject to debate for a while, and I don't know if the developers ever gave us a specific answer about it. However, given that it's another company's IP, I would be hesitant to suggest it would ever be explicitly possible in-setting. ^_^'

 

The means to tell a story similar to Lunar are probably within the boundaries of FFXIV's setting. I am sure you could try to structure a plot line inspired by that series.

[Kilieit]

I've done setting ports before (three of my eight characters are setting ports, sshhh) and I usually break it down like this:

 

So not what... the story is about, but what it means?

 

So like... one of my characters, in his original setting, was royalty. But he lost his kingdom to an aggressive invading force when he was 12, managed to escape to live with foreign royalty, but he'd basically lost his family and his home. His allies managed to win the capital back, and by the time he came of age he was able to be coronated in his old city. But his whole life is plagued with fears of losing that which he'd gained (a wife and child), especially once his wife is assassinated - so he pours ALL that anxiety into his son. His son, predictably, does not react well.

 

The version of him I roleplay in FFXIV isn't royalty. Because while the story is about a prince who loses his kingdom, its deeper meaning is just a story about a boy who loses everything and then struggles through adulthood with the trauma left behind. Maybe I could've gone about constructing some sort of means where he could've been a tribe leader in his homeland and had his territory taken or something but... I didn't need to? I just needed to give him something important, that he would lose at a young age, and then spend the rest of his life trying to fill the hole that was left in his heart. So I did [dead parents as the original trauma, the "hope rekindled" being a loving family, half of which then died & he drove the rest away through his panicked, controlling behaviour].

 

IDK anything about the setting you're coming from, but rather than ways to get the crests themselves, I'd think about what they mean to the character you're basing yours off - what do they symbolise? What traits about them is it that makes them important to your character? It's usually possible to find things which motivate the character in similar ways without being exactly the same.

 

Finding the balance between "still looks/feels like the character I'm inspired by" and "blends nicely with the setting" is the thing you're aiming for, and replacing the plot devices - that keep your character's development moving forward in their original setting - with something native to XIV is a good way to start to accomplish it, at least in my experience.

[Ren of Many Alts]

I've done setting ports before (three of my eight characters are setting ports, sshhh) and I usually break it down like this:

 

So not what... the story is about, but what it means?

 

[snip]

 

IDK anything about the setting you're coming from, but rather than ways to get the crests themselves, I'd think about what they mean to the character you're basing yours off - what do they symbolise? What traits about them is it that makes them important to your character? It's usually possible to find things which motivate the character in similar ways without being exactly the same.

 

Finding the balance between "still looks/feels like the character I'm inspired by" and "blends nicely with the setting" is the thing you're aiming for, and replacing the plot devices - that keep your character's development moving forward in their original setting - with something native to XIV is a good way to start to accomplish it, at least in my experience.

 

This is a really great, clear explanation of something that had never really crystallized for me before -- thank you, I'll be incorporating this into my toolkit for sure!