Character development Lore Help

[sciencerob]

I'm not sure if there is a spot for this, if this is not allowed or in the wrong place, I apologize. I know there is a place for posting characters but I don't see anyplace that readily discusses lore.

 

I like making characters that follow the lore and I'm not very comfortable with FF14 lore yet(not a 1.0 character). I made this character up (through journal entries) and was hoping someone could give ideas+confirm that I am not messing up any lore. Its a rough draft thus far:

 

 

 

 

 

Excerpts from the journal of Rukruksti

 

 

To my dear son,

 

This is the record of your life. Treasure it. Make it endure. Let ittaste life as you do, such that it may know your deeds, such that you may relate your life. One day your father’s journal, and mine, will pass to you, and then you will pass it on yet again to your children. May it be that our future is ever preserved together. We love you. Welcome to our world.

 

Your loving mother and father

Nenephi Nephi and RukrukstiQuequesti

Dated 1551

 

Jounnul!

 

Hi! My namee is Ruzruzton Nucnucton. Myy moom gave mi yu! I am fur yrsold and I can wite. We wiv in Alza

Mhnigo Ala Mhizgo AlaMhigo. Daddy iz a mercchint and Mummy sayz shee luks for bad guys. I love u mummy nd daddy!. Bye bye jounnul!

 

Dated 1555

 

 

 

Journal,

 

Hey! Its been awhile! I packeduup and fond you! I was luuking for you for so long! I was so worried when I lost you! We have to leave home… daddy said something about Gurleons coming. I think they hurt mummy while she was working. I heard daddy crying and saying bad words… I hope she comes back soon. Maybe when we move. My big brother Zulzulvion is coming right now… he looks sad also. Tim to go journal… I hope when we mov that we find mum.

 

Date 1557

 

 

 

Dear Journal,

 

It’s been awhile journal. I didnot want to write since a long time. I am now 10 years old. I keep crying when I come back to reading you. Mum… she died journal. Zulzul told on the trip to Ul’dath. He suggested I write to this journal as if it were mum, to help me get over… her death. So… mum, I miss you. Ul’dath is a dry dry city, with sand and dirt everywhere. I wish the enemy soldiers didn’t take over our town, mother, and didn’t capture you. Dad spends most of his time building up his trade, worrying about money… I think he is seeing other women now. Occasionally he leaves at night and doesn’t come back until morning…. It makes me so angry. Good bye for now mum.

 

Dated 1561

 

 

 

 

 

Mother,

 

I’m sorry it’s been so longersince I’ve written. I full years-span has passed and I’m 11 now! Father has cheated  on you. I followed father lastnight and saw him with another woman. Zulzul says that its only “natural” that father is doing…things with other women but how dare he forget you?! Brother also told me we will be moving to Grindia soon. He and father got angry at the something to do with the ugly beastmen. I think the Saltan doesn’t like them and told them to get out and father is angry with her. I am tired of moving around. He told me that I might the forest but I am not talking to him right now. Who cares about the Saltan or beastmen!? I just want to be able to make friends. Mother… I’m lonely right now. Brother seems to be doing okay though. He carries a sword with him everywhere and yesterday I saw him kill a giant lady bug. Swords scare me though… Be well mother.

 

1562

 

 

 

Mother,

 

I’m afraid it’s happenedmother. Father has broken his vows to you. He has married another woman. I suppose I can’t remain angry at him forever, you did pass a long time ago. He is moving back to Ul’dath to live with here while brother and I are to remain in the city. I feel father is abandoning us, yet we have grown and must be okay with spreading out own wheat.

 

I am now 20 mother. A lot hashappened. I have been seeing a beautiful girl, her name is Fufulilia. Her hair, a deep shade of auburn sits so beautifully on her head. If only you could have met her mother! Waking up with her resting next to me is wonderful, if only she could of met you… Still there is more to write of.

 

The great seer Kan-E-Senna hasreturned and re-established the order of the twin snakes. Brother was asked to join. I imagine his expertise with swords must of drawn their eyes. Things have been stirring of late. I have heard that each great country has been gearing up for something… I don’t quite know what. The return of E-Senna though… who knows what this means!

 

I haven’t even told you what Ihave been doing of late! Of late I have been taking deeper and deeper treks into the forests of Twelveswood. I can almost feel the forest throb of late. I have meant to talk to brother about this but I have not yet been able to. Still, despite my enjoyment of the forest I still ensure I have time to study the scholarly work contained within the library. As father is fond of saying, “An unlettered Lalafell is no more than a short oaf”.

 

Writing of father, he told mebefore he left of a hobby of brother’s that I never knew about. Even though he I skilled with the sword he likes to weave in his spare time! I would of never thought!

 

1571

 

 

 

Mother,

 

It a great shift has occurred.Though some means the people who murdered you have come to invade our lands and the red moon has drawn closer and closer. I too have enlisted my aid in the fight. Though the conjurers asked to me stay and learn their art I cannot simply stay while brother goes to help defend Eorzea!  Though I am unskilled I will aid as a messengerbetween different squads. While I may not be able to avenge you directly, mother, I hope my aid helps defeat the damned troops who took your life!

 

The love of my life has toosworn to defend Eorzea, taking to the field as a Conjurer. Mother I must go to the field now! I pray that we are able to avenge you!

 

1571

 

 

 

Mother, Brother, and my dearestlove:

 

Tears must soak this page… Theworld is over. I cannot write this without trembling at the thought… the battlefield… so many dead; fire still rains down upon us, even if only in our memory.

 

As I ran quickly to take amessage to the city I looked behind to see a splinter of the moon shoot down in a beam of light, shattered the ground. Even miles away the light was apparent. I saw in the distance, a shadowy figure flying in the sky, outlined behind the glow of a large star. Then an explosion rocked the sky and fire began to rain down everywhere. I quickly tried to return to my task , but I saw the field of battle light up with a large flare, blinding me for several minutes. I heard an explosion, as if voices suddenly cried out… only to be silenced. When I regained my sight I quickly ran back to the field, worried about you, brother. After several hours I made my way towards the battle front only to be confronted with the sight of fleeing troops. I searched and searched… but only found fear upon every face, no one had seen anyone. The truth has finally came after months of searching. Brother and my love both bravely faced the best Bahamut… only to fall instantly to his great flare.

 

The scene still haunts me, theorange sky filled by the giant beast and his flare, ready to scorch the earth, ready to destroy everything I hold dear. My world is gone, what is left for me? I will return home to Grindiana, but is there a home I wish to return to?

 

If only I had heeded the callof the conjurer earlier… perhaps I could of done anything…something… perhaps I could join you, those who were my world. Perhaps…Perhaps…Perhaps…

 

1571

 

 

 

 

My love and family,

 

Five years has passed since Ilast opened up this record. Still my hands tremble with memory of that night. It still is burned into my mind. Though my old world is gone, I have reforged myself. I just finished my training of the arts and am starting to commune with nature. Tomorrow I start my journey as a Conjurer. I shall not allow myself to be idle every again. I shall not allow my world to die before my eyes because of some beast.

 

I have become obsessed with thebeast and shall set off to find every detail I can. I must find out who is truly responsible for destroying me world… I must prevent it from happening again. I must apologize further, dear mother. I have abandoned my given name. Still I retain Rukruksti. However I have a new family. They saved me from myself, have given me meaning. Through their clarity I have seen that my path was one bent towards destruction. Instead they have given me a new vision of the future. For the past five years I have been with them, helping them, and they too helped me in kind. They are my family, I now am Rukruksti Marchand. I hope you forgive me.

 

I also hope you forgive myobsession of the great best Bahamut. I mean to take up your profession brother. I mean to weave a great tapestry of the lord of destruction. I feel that once this tapestry is finished these ceasless dreams, will in fact cease. Perhaps then I can be at true peace.

 

My dearest family and my love…I hope you forgive me for choosing a new family.

 

1577.

 

 

 

[FreelanceWizard]

With the proviso that I'm not a master of lalafell lore, this generally looks fine, but there's some things I think you might want to consider:

 

• You mention moving to Gridania. Gridanians in general tend to be opposed to outsiders, and the Black Shroud (especially pre-Calamity) is rife with elementals, treants, and other creatures that tend to kill those who haven't "gotten right with nature," so to speak. Angering the wood elementals accrues what's called "woodsin" (and they're notoriously easy to anger by outsiders), and those who don't cleanse themselves of that find the forest exceedingly deadly. So, the question to consider is, how did you avoid those dire fates?
  
• You're originally from Ala Mhigo. Ala Mhigo and Gridania have a largely poor relationship due to the Autumn War of about 100 years ago. That means you probably start out marked with woodsin, making the above concern even more salient. (As it was put on another thread, 100 years is nothing to a forest.) Have you considered being from somewhere else?
  
• If I'm reading your story correctly, you were at the Battle of Carteneau, but it's not clear to me how you didn't get incinerated or time warped. Did you retreat with the rest of the Grand Company regulars before the time warp (for those playing at home, this is confirmed in ARR's main scenario quest around level 17ish)?
  
• Narratively, I'm not sure I see why your family would move from Ala Mhigo to Ul'dah, then move again to Gridania, then stay while your father moved back to Ul'dah. Travel in Eorzea isn't for the faint of heart and is also quite costly, so all that movement seems a little odd, and I'm not sure what it establishes in the story. I see why the move from Ul'dah to Gridania happens in the story's arc, but what I'm not seeing is what it establishes about the character (and how what it brings to the table narratively outweighs the need to explain all that travel).
  

[sciencerob]

With the proviso that I'm not a master of lalafell lore, this generally looks fine, but there's some things I think you might want to consider:

 

• You mention moving to Gridania. Gridanians in general tend to be opposed to outsiders, and the Black Shroud (especially pre-Calamity) is rife with elementals, treants, and other creatures that tend to kill those who haven't "gotten right with nature," so to speak. Angering the wood elementals accrues what's called "woodsin" (and they're notoriously easy to anger by outsiders), and those who don't cleanse themselves of that find the forest exceedingly deadly. So, the question to consider is, how did you avoid those dire fates?
  
• You're originally from Ala Mhigo. Ala Mhigo and Gridania have a largely poor relationship due to the Autumn War of about 100 years ago. That means you probably start out marked with woodsin, making the above concern even more salient. (As it was put on another thread, 100 years is nothing to a forest.) Have you considered being from somewhere else?
  
• If I'm reading your story correctly, you were at the Battle of Carteneau, but it's not clear to me how you didn't get incinerated or time warped. Did you retreat with the rest of the Grand Company regulars before the time warp (for those playing at home, this is confirmed in ARR's main scenario quest around level 17ish)?
  
• Narratively, I'm not sure I see why your family would move from Ala Mhigo to Ul'dah, then move again to Gridania, then stay while your father moved back to Ul'dah. Travel in Eorzea isn't for the faint of heart and is also quite costly, so all that movement seems a little odd, and I'm not sure what it establishes in the story. I see why the move from Ul'dah to Gridania happens in the story's arc, but what I'm not seeing is what it establishes about the character (and how what it brings to the table narratively outweighs the need to explain all that travel).
  

 

As far as the first point: any link to more information on this? If the woodsin is an issue, how do characters coming on the cart surpass this?

 

Second point: I guess I wasn't clear enough. My character met up with the retreating troops. I imagined the destruction at the battle field something that obliterated everything directly at the battlefield but could be seen for miles?

 

third Point: That is a good point. The reasoning for the double move is to establish my character's brother's prowess with a sword (training with gladiators is implied) and further establish my character childishness (Not caring about the beastmen being exiled while only being focused on his own feelings.

 

I didn't realize Ala Mhigo had bad blood with Eorzea... might have to modify it in this case unless I can find out more lore on how the elementals interact with newcomers (I didn't see too much of a mention of this when I played during Beta as a newcomer to the area).

[FreelanceWizard]

I apologize for the massive inline quoting, but I think that makes it easier to read.

 

As far as the first point: any link to more information on this? If the woodsin is an issue, how do characters coming on the cart surpass this?

 

As a matter of fact, I do have some references! This page discusses how the elementals attack outsiders, while this page has the mission text relevant to it in 1.x. A summary of the previous link can be found here.

 

Now, note that all of this is from 1.x. At least as far as the main scenario quest for Gridania is concerned in 2.x, the woodsin issue no longer really exists to any significant degree. That means that the Black Shroud is a lot more accessible to outsiders now, I believe, post-Calamity; perhaps Bahamut's destruction weakened the elementals, perhaps they took pity on others, or maybe they just withdrew from directly influencing the Shroud. Regardless of my speculation of changes to the Shroud in 2.x, though, the issue here is that your character moved there while things were a lot more deadly.

 

Second point: I guess I wasn't clear enough. My character met up with the retreating troops. I imagined the destruction at the battle field something that obliterated everything directly at the battlefield but could be seen for miles?

 

So, from the main story line of ARR, what happened was that the appearance of Bahamut prompted the Grand Companies to retreat while providing cover for the adventurers on the field. Then, as in the trailer, Bahamut unleashed Megaflare, and Louisoix timewarped those adventurers into the future.

 

To your larger point, though, yes, you'd definitely be able to see the destruction for quite a ways. Also, the various Grand Companies maintain command and control via linkpearls, so that's another way you could have known what was going on. I assume your character's brother was obliterated, not timewarped?

 

That is a good point. The reasoning for the double move is to establish my character's brother's prowess with a sword (training with gladiators is implied) and further establish my character childishness (Not caring about the beastmen being exiled while only being focused on his own feelings.

 

I didn't realize Ala Mhigo had bad blood with Eorzea... might have to modify it in this case unless I can find out more lore on how the elementals interact with newcomers (I didn't see too much of a mention of this when I played during Beta as a newcomer to the area).

 

I think you can do the above with just staying in Ul'dah, personally, but of course it's your story and you should do what you like. However, the issues of the woodsin and the travel would need to be addressed in the story, IMO.

 

As for Ala Mhigo, there's probably still some bad blood there, though among individuals it might be less (unlike elementals, individuals do eventually die ). In fact, with the city having fallen to the Garlean Empire, you might more than a few Eorzeans who once disliked it taking pity on it instead -- or wanting to work with its resistance, since the Garleans are a far larger threat.