Tips for writing a character from Thavnair?

[ashefaustffxiv]

I'm trying to adapt an existing OC into FFXIV lore, and I'm struggling a bit with where to source her homeland. In her original story, she was the heir to a noble family in a desert region, who then later ran away from the place to avoid the responsibility of becoming the next ruler. 

 

I can't exactly choose Thanalan / Ul'dah as her homeland, as it would conflict with the current rule in Ul'dah. The only other desert-like/hot region I'm familiar with in FFXIV is thus Thavnair. 

 

The problem is, we can't even go to Thavnair yet, and so it's hard to know if it would work for the backstory I have in mind. How much do we know about Thavnair so far? Should I settle for having her be the daughter of a common noble in Ul'dah instead of the daughter of a royal ruler? Is there a large possibility that future discoveries of Thavnair lore would render her backstory null if I did choose to have her be a runaway royal heir from Thavnair?

 

On the other hand, do we know what sorts of names characters from Thavnair tend to have? I'm not keen on changing my character's existing name, but if it turns out it's vastly different from Thavnairian naming customs, that would be another reason to forego using Thavnair as her homeland.

 

I'm not sure if this is necessary, but I'm at the end of ARR at the moment, so I would appreciate if answers didn't have any spoilers from Heavensward or later.

[Faye]

You may want to check out the Zodiac Age Discord server. There should be some players and resources there with lore about Thavnair & the near East.

https://discord.gg/F28SB3N2

Personally, I think royalty may be a bit of stretch for a character if you intend her to be generally open for RP others, but that's just my feelings. The wealthy and elite of Ul'dah are practically treated as nobility there and generally above the law, so I don't see any reason why she couldn't be the heiress of a wealthy family in Ul'dah trying to avoid the family business becoming hers (and perhaps avoid the corruption that might come alongside it, if her family are not exactly upstanding citizens). She could even be a distant relative of the Sultana, as I have seen others RP before.

Edited August 6, 2021 by Faye

[ashefaustffxiv]

Thanks for the links and the ideas!

 

The royalty thing is mainly for backstory only, it doesn't really come into play much other than as the explanation for why she's far away from home and wandering around. I don't think her character would be the type of person to go around telling everyone she's the heir to so-and-so kingdom. I'd rather focus on her 'new life' as a wanderer than her past as a noble.

 

The Ul'dah ideas do sound interesting though so I might look into doing something like one of those instead as well.