The Lalafell of Sil'dih

[TheWizard]

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First of all I am sure that most people will be unfamiliar with what Sil'dih even was. The Sultanate of Sil'dih was founded in Thanalan at the same time as Ul'dah and coexisted as a sister city-state until about 1272~1372 of the Sixth Astral Era. What is known of it is told to players in the Monk AF storyline of 1.0.

 

"I need hardly mention that Sil'dihn civilization is now centuries dead.

 

Sil'dih was plunged into chaos in the wake of King Lalawefu's demise─or the King of Springs, as he was known. Despite the success of his economic reforms, the tax increases he imposed did not sit well with his subjects. This, coupled with a prolonged sequence of untimely droughts, fomented unrest among the people and in time sparked violent unrest throughout the kingdom. Sil'dih was not alone in its want for water. Ul'dah, too, felt the effects of the droughts. The sultan at the time, Sasagan Ul Sisigan─ Ah! But perhaps you recognize the Ul name? The current sultana, Nanamo Ul Namo, represents the second Ul dynasty. She is Sasagan's distant descendant. Now...where was I? Ah, yes! Right, so, Sasagan ordered an attack on Sil'dih to claim the water resources discovered as a result of Lalawefu's flood control acts.

 

But the royalty and nobility of Sil'dih would not remain idle. They mobilized their nation in the face of this crisis, and the people fought with great tenacity against the Ul'dahn threat. The full strength of both nations met in battle, and the end result was an arduous protracted conflict. Though arguably more desirable than surrender, the ruling Sil'dihn elite took little pleasure in having succeeded in uniting the theretofore querulous citizenry to fight. For despite all they accomplished, every day spent waging war dragged the nation's financial affairs─which you will recall had only just been brought under control─back into the mire.

 

To bring an end to the long military deadlock, Sil'dih devised and set about implementing a perverse yet ambitious strategy. It sought to zombify the deceased among its army, that they might fight again. At first, it appeared to have worked. Yet at the height of hostilities, the Sil'dihns lost control over their necrotic creations. The undead turned on their masters, and before long the zombification had spread to a majority of the population. Ever knowing an opportunity when they saw one, the Ul'dahns grasped this turn of events to justify their war─now proclaiming it a crusade to send these zombies to Thal. After seeing to the extermination of all zombies outside the city, they then sealed the gates of Sil'dih, entrapping both the living and dead within.

 

And that, in brief, is a history of the fall of Sil'dih. I only pray that your feeble mind is able to retain it."

 

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So now you might be asking, "Okay that's cool so where are you going with this?"

 

Well it says that the gates were sealed upon both the living and dead still within the city so what if... just what if... some Lalafell happened to endure on and manage to establish themselves within the catacombs of their city-state's ruins while fighting off zombies and other subterranean hazards over the last 277 years?

 

If they found a way to find food and water they could have managed to live on to make future generations and keep a small community and culture going. Any current ones would be descendants of the original Sil'dihn Lalafell.

 

They would have likely had to find water sources such as:

1) Underground rivers.

2) Underground aquifers which are known to exist beneath deserts in the real world.

3) Aqueducts left over from before their city was closed-off and buried.

 

For food I can think of these possibilities:

1) Non-toxic fungi.

2) Burrowing mammals or insects.

3) Fish if previously-stated water source has this as an option because in the real world blind fish live in flooded caverns.

 

And perhaps one of the biggest hurdles would be the matter of breathable air:

1) Old ventilation systems.

2) Manipulation of naturally-occurring or hoarded air crystals.

3) Cracks or fissures to the surface.

 

 

To avoid the zombies which stalk the halls they would have likely had to cave in parts of the underground ruins or fight them which would likely have taken a long time and may continue into modern times. All these factors would likely keep their population rather small.

 

Having developed underground for about 277 years would have likely made them paler than typical Dunesfolk Lalafell and may helped foster greater hearing and either great low-light vision or weaker vision in general.

 

Any Sil'dihn Lalafell to escape the ruins would likely be skittish around outsiders and the outside world in general and I could even wager that in their developed culture the surviving Sil'dihn Lalafell would have taught their descendants to hate Ul'dah and blame them for being left to their doom in their forsaken city; 277 years is a long time to foster a grudge and would likely make most of them seem crazy or strange to outsiders.

 

It is also possible that they might revere thaumaturges as wards against the undead or absolutely hate them due to their responsibility in the creation of the zombies to begin with.

 

With the upheaval of the Calamity, Sil'dihn ruins have appeared in both Western and Central Thanalan so this could be a method for their release as well as involve zombies if so desired. Luckily these are low-level and easily accessible areas.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

So yeah, while I have my doubts that this could ever be a thing, I nonetheless desire people's opinions on the matter, both positive and negative.

 

I will update this as new ideas come out.

[Erik Mynhier]

[align=center][/align]

 

First of all I am sure that most people will be unfamiliar with what Sil'dih even was. The Sultanate of Sil'dih was founded in Thanalan at the same time as Ul'dah and coexisted as a sister city-state until about 1272~1372 of the Sixth Astral Era. What is known of it is told to players in the Monk AF storyline of 1.0.

 

"I need hardly mention that Sil'dihn civilization is now centuries dead.

 

Sil'dih was plunged into chaos in the wake of King Lalawefu's demise─or the King of Springs, as he was known. Despite the success of his economic reforms, the tax increases he imposed did not sit well with his subjects. This, coupled with a prolonged sequence of untimely droughts, fomented unrest among the people and in time sparked violent unrest throughout the kingdom. Sil'dih was not alone in its want for water. Ul'dah, too, felt the effects of the droughts. The sultan at the time, Sasagan Ul Sisigan─ Ah! But perhaps you recognize the Ul name? The current sultana, Nanamo Ul Namo, represents the second Ul dynasty. She is Sasagan's distant descendant. Now...where was I? Ah, yes! Right, so, Sasagan ordered an attack on Sil'dih to claim the water resources discovered as a result of Lalawefu's flood control acts.

 

But the royalty and nobility of Sil'dih would not remain idle. They mobilized their nation in the face of this crisis, and the people fought with great tenacity against the Ul'dahn threat. The full strength of both nations met in battle, and the end result was an arduous protracted conflict. Though arguably more desirable than surrender, the ruling Sil'dihn elite took little pleasure in having succeeded in uniting the theretofore querulous citizenry to fight. For despite all they accomplished, every day spent waging war dragged the nation's financial affairs─which you will recall had only just been brought under control─back into the mire.

 

To bring an end to the long military deadlock, Sil'dih devised and set about implementing a perverse yet ambitious strategy. It sought to zombify the deceased among its army, that they might fight again. At first, it appeared to have worked. Yet at the height of hostilities, the Sil'dihns lost control over their necrotic creations. The undead turned on their masters, and before long the zombification had spread to a majority of the population. Ever knowing an opportunity when they saw one, the Ul'dahns grasped this turn of events to justify their war─now proclaiming it a crusade to send these zombies to Thal. After seeing to the extermination of all zombies outside the city, they then sealed the gates of Sil'dih, entrapping both the living and dead within.

 

And that, in brief, is a history of the fall of Sil'dih. I only pray that your feeble mind is able to retain it."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

So now you might be asking, "Okay that's cool so where are you going with this?"

 

Well it says that the gates were sealed upon both the living and dead still within the city so what if... just what if... some Lalafell happened to endure on and manage to establish themselves within the catacombs of their city-state's ruins while fighting off zombies and other subterranean hazards over the last 277 years?

 

If they found a way to find food and water they could have managed to live on to make future generations and keep a small community and culture going. Any current ones would be descendants of the original Sil'dihn Lalafell.

 

They would have likely had to find water sources such as:

1) Underground rivers.

2) Underground aquifers which are known to exist beneath deserts in the real world.

3) Aqueducts left over from before their city was closed-off and buried.

 

For food I can think of these possibilities:

1) Non-toxic fungi.

2) Burrowing mammals or insects.

3) Fish if previously-stated water source has this as an option because in the real world blind fish live in flooded caverns.

 

And perhaps one of the biggest hurdles would be the matter of breathable air:

1) Old ventilation systems.

2) Manipulation of naturally-occurring or hoarded air crystals.

3) Cracks or fissures to the surface.

 

 

To avoid the zombies which stalk the halls they would have likely had to cave in parts of the underground ruins or fight them which would likely have taken a long time and may continue into modern times. All these factors would likely keep their population rather small.

 

Having developed underground for about 277 years would have likely made them paler than typical Dunesfolk Lalafell and may helped foster greater hearing and either great low-light vision or weaker vision in general.

 

Any Sil'dihn Lalafell to escape the ruins would likely be skittish around outsiders and the outside world in general and I could even wager that in their developed culture the surviving Sil'dihn Lalafell would have taught their descendants to hate Ul'dah and blame them for being left to their doom in their forsaken city; 277 years is a long time to foster a grudge and would likely make most of them seem crazy or strange to outsiders.

 

It is also possible that they might revere thaumaturges as wards against the undead or absolutely hate them due to their responsibility in the creation of the zombies to begin with.

 

With the upheaval of the Calamity, Sil'dihn ruins have appeared in both Western and Central Thanalan so this could be a method for their release as well as involve zombies if so desired. Luckily these are low-level and easily accessible areas.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

So yeah, while I have my doubts that this could ever be a thing, I nonetheless desire people's opinions on the matter, both positive and negative.

 

I will update this as new ideas come out.

 

Are you or can you form an rp around this Wizard, and can I play? I love getting into parts of the lore ignored by most and I just "finished" an undead storyline, so Erik knows how to deal with them. This is some meaty stuff.

[TheWizard]

Haha I appreciate your opinion Erik. I probably could start an rp based around this once it gets fleshed out more and a general census is taken of all people wishing to be involved. Making up something new inside and established lore can be a touchy subject so I want to make sure whatever ends up happening will be as unoffensive as possible.

 

I do enjoy the forgotten corners of lore, I often championed such things back on WoW, and I love encouraging others to do the same since there is really so much more to be tapped into for stories OUTSIDE the comfy taverns of Eorzea.

 

As it currently stands, more about their culture will need to be debated and set into stone before anything takes off.

[cuideag]

This seems like it has A LOT of potential for exploring "forgotten" lore and the potential there in. Veeeery interesting stuff.

[TheWizard]

This seems like it has A LOT of potential for exploring "forgotten" lore and the potential there in. Veeeery interesting stuff.

 

That is what I'm going for. I like expanding people's horizons on lore for I believe that you can never be too informed about the world around you. And who knows... there may be some profit in it too. I'm sure that appeals to a lot of Lalafell.

 

My main is a scholar of ancient civilizations and someday I want him to explore the Floating City of Nym and become an actual Scholar.