Ishgard Questions

[Grott]

Hey everyone, I was wondering if you could pitch in and help me out. I originally posted a question about dragons to the Observational Question(s) thread, but then realized I had a lot more. 

 

I'm attempting to create a dragoon character, as it was my (second) favorite job in FFXI and I'm a huge fan of Kain Highwind from FFIV. Obviously, I chose to give him a backstory based in Ishgard. As I was laying out the details I realized I don't know much about the city-state. So I decided to post some questions here to help build a better Ishgard-born Dragoon character.

 

1. What is the primary race/clan of Ishgard? I always imagined it being Highlander Hyur, but after reading about Ala Mhigo, this seems unlikely. Is it a melting pot like the other city-states?

 

2. Exactly how real of a threat are the dragons? Clearly they're somewhat of a threat since there's a humongous Dragoon corps there that refuses to leave most of the time. But are these gigantic dragons that destroy everything on a daily basis or smaller dragonkin that kind of wander around attacking people. Are they actively at war or is it a type of passive protection sort of deal?

 

3. Their chosen deity is Halone, the Fury, but how strict are they on that? Will you be banished for not worshiping Halone or is it sort of like the main three city-state deities where no one really cares?

 

4. What is their relationship with other city-states? It seems to me they are isolationist, but after reading that they are the main source of chocobos, it stands to reason that they have to trade with the outside world. Gridania is the closest city-state it seems. Are they rivals or do they work together? Or do they keep to themselves outside the chocobo trade?

 

5. Speaking of chocobos, should we assume that Ishgardians are outstanding chocobo riders? The combination of a polearm-heavy military and the largest chocobo population in Eorzea leads me to believe they're very proficient mounted knights. How well does that hold up with the rest of the lore?

 

6. Is their culture a strict Spartan-like culture of every male being trained to fight dragons since birth, or is it just something like "if you do join the military, you will be trained as a Dragoon. Otherwise, do whatever you want in life"?

 

Help is always appreciated. Thanks, everyone!

[Kassandra Dawn]

...you were one of those kids who asked "Why?" 8 million times in a row weren't you?

 

Uhm as for specific answers to those questions...I haves none.  The lack of abundant information on Ishgard was kinda why I changed my mind about having Kass live there during the past 5 years.

[Rhio]

1. By all indications, Ishgard is a melting pot. If it has a dominant population (like how there are slightly more Seekers and Wildwoods in Gridania) it hasn't even been addressed, and we've never had a city to see in that regard.

 

2. Certainly the attitudes of the Ishgardians seem to imply that it's an active war. Speculation: I imagine it's a similar situation to the orcs and San d'Oria; there's been a war between the two sides for so long that no one entertains thoughts of winning, but both will take as many shots at the other as humanly possible.

 

3. From what could be gleaned from NPCs outside the city, Ishgard is a strict theocracy. Whether or not allegiance to the Twelve as a whole is the source of worship or services are rendered specifically to Halone is unclear. Speculation: It may well be a structure akin to Greek churches, revering one deity above the others while still paying homage to the remainder.

 

4. None of the city-states exactly like one another, but Ishgard's isolation is largely due to its lack of manpower that can be allocated to goals other than fighting dragons. Outside of chocobo-based trade, the city-state keeps mostly to itself.

 

5. We don't know for a fact that Ishgardians have a mounted knight culture, but it stands to reason.

 

6. Military service does not appear to be mandatory, but conscription is not uncommon.

[Aysun]

1. By all indications, Ishgard is a melting pot.  If it has a dominant population (like how there are slightly more Seekers and Wildwoods in Gridania) it hasn't even been addressed, and we've never had a city to see in that regard.

Keepers**!

 

I don't know jaaack about Ishgard. I just know that they added info on Wyverns to the main website:

 

The wyvern is a sinuous scalekin that cuts swiftly through the air on large, membranous wings. A less-imposing relative of dragons, wyverns often serve as frontline troops in the endless assault on the fortifications of Ishgard.

[Grott]

...you were one of those kids who asked "Why?" 8 million times in a row weren't you?

 

 Absolutely. 

 

 

And thanks for the help and the speedy replies, everyone. I'm going to get to work on Uther Skystrider's wiki now that I have all the information I need for a basic framework. I'll add and edit accordingly when SE releases more info.

 

Thanks again!

[Rhio]

Keepers**!

 

You are right, I wrote that when barely awake and it shows. Mea culpa.

 

As Aysun pointed out, the idea that wyverns are being sent against the fortifications in waves sort of supports the idea that this is a war being fought mostly for the purposes of continuing a war, with forces hitting the meat-grinder repeatedly just to keep the conflict going.

 

Or possibly it's the Zapp Brannigan maneuver. "You see, Ishgardians have a pre-set kill limit. Knowing that, I sent waves and waves of my own dragons against their fortifications until they reached their kill limit and shut down."

[Merri]

Ishgard seems to lean more towards Elezen, from what we've seen. Most knights and dragoons in what cutscenes we saw in 1.0 have almost exclusively been Elezen. That doesn't mean the other races are not a part of Ishgard's military force, as there were a few NPCs that were mixed between the other races. It sort of feels like Elezen are more common, however.

 

They are a very xenophobic nation. A trait commonly aligned with Elezen as far as stereotypes go, so there's no surprise there. For the entirety of 1.0, Ishgard was on a lockdown and absolutely no outsiders were allowed inside, where no one inside the city was allowed to leave (with the ONLY exception being Ishgard's Knights). It was said that any civilian or otherwise who left the city would not be allowed to return.

 

Outside of what else has been mentioned in the thread, there really isn't a whole lot we know about their culture. Halone is revered by them. To a point where I'd liken them to zealots fighting in her name. Hell, some NPCs who lived outside Ishgard went so far as to poison their clothing, so that if a Dragon were to eat them they would bring the dragon down with them.

 

I assume we'll learn much more about the city-state once it opens and that content is available to us in-game.

[Vareal]

I've waited three years to learn more about Ishgard, and I'm still waiting. Patiently, mind you. But if I remember correctly, Ishgard won't be open at ARR launch either. Yoshi-P said something about it being opened in a later -large scale?- patch.

 

The first character I ever created, her back story was in Ishgard, but then when I realized that nothing has really been revealed about it, I had to scrub it. So I'm as eager as the next person about Ishgard!

 

 

-smells a possible siege quest?-

[Grott]

 It was said that any civilian or otherwise who left the city would not be allowed to return.

 

Well, I've got my key plot point now. 

 

I realize it's probably not wise to make an Ishgard-born character because of the little lore surrounding them. I figure if I tread lightly though and put in some kind of emotional attachment ("I don't want to talk about it.") and just focus on the facts that we know, it could work.

 

I'm not going Elezen because I don't really like their proportions (plus I'm too short IRL too enjoy being tall in a game), but I'm going to make my Hyur Dragoon very Medieval-European in place of that so it still keeps the Dragoon feel and doesn't seem out of place for what we know of Ishgard. Everyone in the family will have given names inspired by the King Arthur legend (Uther, Arthur, Bors, Mordred, Gawain, etc). 

 

Hopefully it works and I don't look like a lore-breaking idiot.

 

One more question! Do we know if and how much Ishgard was damaged during the Bahamut attack or has that yet to be released?

[Aysun]

We do not know!

[Grott]

We do not know!

 

That's okay. I think I have a work-around for it.

[Eva]

We've been waiting a long time for answers to these questions and more, Eva being a character that was born in Ishgard and the daughter of a former dragoon knight. She only spent the first couple years of her life there and has no real accurate memory of the place, so it's easy enough to deflect questions about what it was like.

 

Eva's father, on the other hand, has a longstanding history within and despite being chronicled in his journals, and Eva having access to those texts, there is very little I can actually relate if she was ever asked about it. Based loosely on RP events from FFXI (where I RPed a Dragoon), we have established a very definite timeline for events throughout the course of his life, but we've been careful not to adhere too closely to anything in case S-E opts to throw a curve ball. We also have a few 'contingency plans' set up, just in case. Fortunately, not many people speak to any great degree about her father in any great detail, and it's been an easy enough thing to dodge thus far.

 

Most of what we know from 1.0 has already been outlined in this thread. As the nation has been somewhat closed-off from the rest of Eorzea, I have often wondered if there might have been some sort of shady dealings between Ishgard and Garlemald. This is entirely idle speculation, but with such precious little information to go by I don't think we can entirely rule out the possibility of some sort of tepid arrangement or even alliance between the two. I realize I may be way off here. But I suppose that's just one of those things to consider if creating a character from a nation S-E may flip-flop on.

 

In any case, we really are looking forward to much more Ishgard lore in the future and hoping to tie Eva's story back to some of those events from her father's story. We certainly hope (perhaps as much as the character herself does) that she may one day set foot in the place where her parents lived and where she was born.

[Grott]

It is a real shame that there isn't more information on Ishgard. Still though, I made do with what I was told in this thread and what I've read elsewhere. 

 

 This was about as detailed as I could get without lore-breaking. Some things I've brought up are speculation, but I tried to reach out from what I was given as little as possible and stick to what I know to be fact. Hopefully if I'm way off on something, someone will read it and fact-check me so I don't unintentionally lore-break. 

 

Also, it's funny that you mention that thing about RPing as a Dragoon in FFXI and modeling your character's father after that. I did the same thing with Uther's father.

 

I didn't play 1.0, so I don't know much about the lore other than what I've read (which is actually a lot). I've played other Final Fantasies though so I get what Dragoons are all about on average. Hopefully my information in Uther Skystrider's wiki is pretty accurate, because I was hoping to start a journal taking place in the last few months before ARR that will detail and summarize what he's been doing for the past five years. I hope to fully decide which of my characters I want to play by launch so that I don't have to turn fun and relaxing RP (at least I find it fun and relaxing) into a balancing act between characters.

---

And frankly, I was hoping for my chosen character to be Uther Skystrider. It's taken me a while to create a character that fits into the lore, while still being unique and fun. My first character, A'sili Abarskyf was too complicated for me to enjoy. My second, Abodo Po was significantly more streamlined in story and personality but I built him into a corner and had to god-mode my way out of it with a prophetic vision. Then I created Uther Skystrider who has a streamlined, uncomplicated, believable story ...but now I need to do serious fact-checking to make it work.

 

At very least, I'll come out an expert on Ishgard though! :thumbsup:

[Rhostel]

I'm not going Elezen because I don't really like their proportions (plus I'm too short IRL too enjoy being tall in a game), but I'm going to make my Hyur Dragoon very Medieval-European in place of that so it still keeps the Dragoon feel and doesn't seem out of place for what we know of Ishgard. Everyone in the family will have given names inspired by the King Arthur legend (Uther, Arthur, Bors, Mordred, Gawain, etc). 

 

Hopefully it works and I don't look like a lore-breaking idiot.

 

Hyur is absolutely fine. The quest-giver for the Dragoon training storyline pre-Dalamud was a Midlander, and was in his younger days counted as their greatest living member. And the names work pretty well, fitting with Midlander naming conventions and meshing nicely with the French naming scheme of dominant Elezen. (Given how much of Arthurian mythology is actually French in origin.)

[Grott]

And the names work pretty well, fitting with Midlander naming conventions and meshing nicely with the French naming scheme of dominant Elezen. (Given how much of Arthurian mythology is actually French in origin.)

 

Thanks! That's what I was aiming for. Really glad you caught it.