Nero-tol Scaeva

Relevant entries from "A Chronology of the Sixth Astral Era" featured in Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume 1:

1562 - Archon Louisoix gathers twelve of his disciples and forms the Circle of Knowing, a secret society with a self-proclaimed goal of saving Eorzea from disaster. - Archons from the Circle of Knowing arrive in Eorzea. They split up and travel to each of the realms's city-states, meeting with their leaders and offering words of wisdom regarding the reinstatement of the Grand Companies. - A goobbue breaks free of its arcane fetters during a parade and proceeds to runs [sic] amok through the streets. Ascilia, one of the spectators, is orphaned at the age of twelve when her father is killed by the rampaging beast.

1568 - Minfilia, age eighteen, makes her first contact with the Archon Louisoix by way of her friend Thancred, and learns that she possesses the power known as the Echo.

1570 - At the age of twenty, Minfilia founds the Path of the Twelve, that those who possess the power of the Echo might come together and explore how their powers might be wielded for the common good.

1571 - The Archons of the Circle of Knowing infiltrate occupied Gyr Abania in an attempt to assist those Ala Mhigans who seek asylum abroad, but many lives are lost when the Garleans catch wind of the defection.

And other relevant portions from EE1:

In the year 1562, the venerable Louisoix Leveilleur quietly gathered twelve of his pupils in the Sharlayan motherland for an ambitious undertaking. They formed the Circle of Knowing, a group of esteemed researchers and scholars known as "Archons" dedicated to a single mission: the salvation of Eorzea. Weary of war and displeased with the Forum's unwillingness to intervene, the Circle vowed to take matters into their own hands through more clandestine means. Louisoix knew that in order to dissuade the threat of a Garlean invasion, the Eorzean Alliance would eventually have to bare its teeth. The sage dispatched his fellow Archons to the three city-states, hoping they would be able to convince each of the respective leaders to re-establish the Grand Companies…

—"The Circle of Knowing," Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume I, p.39

Recognizing an increase in primal activity that appeared to coincide directly with the Empire's invasion, the Archon Louisoix made the long journey to Eorzea with the intention of convincing the Grand Companies that if they sought victory, the beast tribes were not to be ignored. The Circle of Knowing proffered a solution—use the adventurers to launch a two-tiered offensive. This plan, however, was not without its complications. … The Circle of Knowing scrambled to gather intelligence on these primals and the tribes who had, heretofore, been unable or unwilling to summon them. Under the Archons' guidance, the adventurers were successful in their endeavors to temporarily quell the beastmen's wrath, yet it became clear these were hollow victories when it was discovered that the flood of aether which flowed from the primals upon their demise did not return to the land; it was instead being absorbed into Dalamud.

—"A Three-sided Struggle," Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume I, p.41

It was the Circle of Knowing who bore the dismal tidings—while the Allagan ruins had been destroyed in the battle with Nael van Darnus, the red moon remained unwavering in its collision course toward the planet. The headquarters of the Grand Companies were in pandemonium upon hearing the report, until Archon Louisoix proffered an unorthodox, if not desperate proposal to save the realm from destruction: solemn prayer. The sage proposed that by invoking the twelve deities of the Eorzean pantheon, the realm might beseech the higher powers to repel Dalamud back into the heavens and seal away the Allagan relic's power. Needless to say, this notion was met with some criticism. Some pointed out that calling upon the Twelve in such a manner would make them no different than the savage beastmen who unleashed the primals upon the land. Others questioned whether summoning the Twelve would not render all of Eorzea's people mindless thralls to their influence, as was seen with the beastmen's gods. Archon Louisoix assured his compeers that his proposed invocation was not akin to a primal summoning. On the contrary, he would search for a way to entreat the Twelve to merely lend their divine power to save the realm.

—"Desperation," Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume I, p.43

As the Circle of Knowing completed preparations for the summoning, they beseeched adventurers to serve as its guiding light. These adventurers embarked on a pilgrimage to kneel before the marks of the Twelve and summon the power of the gods. The Grand Companies did their part by leading the residents of the city-states in fervent prayer to their patron gods as well. In this time of impending darkness, it was said that the entire realm gathered to entreat the heavens with one voice, an Eorzea united by the litanies of its people.

—"Living on a Prayer," Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume I, p.41

The quest "Living on a Prayer" from 1.0 can be viewed here.

According to post-Calamity research by the Archons of the Circle of Knowing, the primal that the Allagans enslaved within Dalamud was none other than the dreadwyrm Bahamut, last summoned some five millenia prior by a horde of dragons on the southern continent of Meracydia when their motherland was invaded by the Allagan Empire.

—"The Elder Primal Bahamut," Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume I, p.45

Though Louisoix may have failed in his attempts to repel Dalamud back into the heavens, he would not allow Eorzea to bear the brunt of Bahamut's rampage, toiling on borrowed time to seal the elder primal away where he could raze the realm no more. Wielding the legendary staff Tupsimati, he drew from the great reservoirs of aether flowing forth from the land, channeling its strength together with the overwhelming prayers of the people. The power of the Twelve manifested itself in complex runes int he sky in the most powerful sealing enchantment attempted in Eorzean history. The stone marks of the desities that were being nourished by the prayers of the Circle of Knowing were engulfed in pillars of light, becoming glowing spears that pierced the dreadwyrm, binding him in place as the runes confined him to a new prison. The plains of Carteneau were bathed in the light of the Twelve, and it appeared that the ritual was complete. Despite the fact that all were fixated upon the summoning of the Twelve, there appear to be no witnesses who can recall with certainty what happened after the elder primal was enveloped in the gods' light. It is said that Archon Louisoix's powerful spell combined with the vast emanations of aether had warped the memories of all who survived, an effect which lingered long after the Calamity. What is known for certain is that by the time the light of the Twelve had dissipated, Bahamut was no more. At the same token, the faces of Eorzea's heroes—the adventurers by whose deeds Archon Louisoix's incantations came to pass—were lost to history.

—"The Elder Primal Bahamut," Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume I, p.45

Just when all hope seemed lost amidst the chaos and destruction, the land came alive and showed signs of an inexplicable rebirth. The survivors of the Calamity believe that Archon Louisoix's invocation of the Twelve's power was the driving force which vanquished Bahamut, and could not be described as anything other than a miracle of the gods. Both speculation and rumor about the invocation would abound, with many speaking of a curious phenomenon in the sky above Carteneau—a brilliant light in the shape of a Phoenix. Archon Louisoix's body was never recovered, though fragments of his legendary staff Tupsimati were discovered amongst the debris in Carteneau by a Twin Adder search party. The devastation at the center of Bahamut's rage was absolute, making the details of what truly occurred on that fateful night subject to vigorous debate among scholars for generations to come.

—"A Most Remarkable Rebirth," Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume I, p.46

Some more details on the finding of Tupsimati's fragments can be found in the short story "Of Friends Lost and Found," from Tales from the Calamity.

Six months after the fall of Dalamud, in a quiet corner of Ul'dah, the surviving members of the Circle of Knowing and the Path of the Twelve came together to discuss their shared future.

—"A Realm Reborn," Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume I, p.54

The Missing Members

The known members of the Circle of Knowing are:

Papalymo Totolymo

Thancred Waters

Y'shtola Rhul

Rammbroes

Yda Hext

Urianger Augurelt

Moenbryda Wilfsunnwyn

We have seven out of twelve names, and five unnamed and unknown. As EE1 refers to "the surviving members of the Circle of Knowing" (emphasis mine), and since there are no references to other active members in the present, I think it is a fair guess that those five are dead—either lost in the Calamity, or killed in the line of duty prior.

And in truth, there are only six surviving members, as the real Yda died a year before the Calamity and her identity was assumed by her sister Lyse.

Archons and Ages

There is a common fan interpretation of the Archon mark that it is equivalent to a doctoral degree. I think this comparison can be useful in the broad strokes—an Archon marks represents mastery in a specialized field and requires letters of recommendation as well as a written thesis. When it comes to timelines, however, I think seeing this as a strict analog may lead us astray. In our world, doctoral study is typically undertaken after four years of undergraduate study, and can take up to 8 year or more to complete, making it uncommon to complete a doctoral degree before your mid-to-late-20s.

This does not seem to be the case for Archons.

First, some numbers.

Known Archon ages at the time of ARR:

Papalymo - 42

Thancred - 32

Y'shtola - 32

Urianger - 29

Moenbryda - 29

Archon ages at the time of 1.0:

Papalymo - 37

Thancred - 27

Y'shtola - 27

Urianger - 24

Moenbryda - 24

I think it is important to note that while the members of the Circle of Knowing may be outliers among Archons of Sharlayan, they are outliers not necessarily in terms of aptitude but in terms of their political and philosophical views. In other words, while the members are noteworthy in that they chose to follow Louisoix rather than align with the views of the Forum, we have no particular reason to believe they are more gifted or intelligent than their peers. The Leveilleur twins, we are specifically told at multiple points, are the youngest to enroll in the Studium at age 11. They are notable, canonical, outliers. We aren't told anything like this for any of the Archons; we have no particular reason to believe any of them received their Archon marks notably earlier than is typical.

This leaves us with some interesting implications.

In terms of age, Thancred is the easiest to pin down in this regard, because he appears not only in 1.0 but in a significant flashback for which we have a hard date: the parade sequence in Ul'dah at which the goobbue escaped, and Ascilia's father was killed.

Thancred has Archon marks in this flashback. The exact timeline may not have been established in 1.0 (we'll get to that), but as of now it has been firmly established by multiple canon sources that the parade occurred in 1562, ten years before the events of 1.0 and 15 years before ARR. Thancred is therefore only 17 years old—already an Archon, already a member of the Circle of Knowing, and if his dialogue with Mistress Momodi is any indication, he seems to be recently arrived in Ul'dah at this time. This aligns with the timeline laid out in EE1, but it also, I think, raises a lot of questions about the length of education in Sharlayan. We know that the twins entered the Studium very young, but we also don't know what age is typical, or whether there even is a standard age to begin one's higher education.

In fact, I'd venture to say it's very possible there is not. Given how highly Sharlayan values education, I don't think it would be a reach to suppose that education is much more individually tailored, that pupils are encouraged to study at the most advanced level of which they are capable, and that they are encouraged to begin higher education as soon as they are able to meet the prerequisites. This is also the answer that allows us maximum freedom in reconciling different parts of canon, so I like it.

I still have to presume that Thancred's progression was relatively quick, considering that the twins only graduated at 16, and do not themselves yet have Archon marks. We're also told that he "spent his adolescence" in Limsa Lominsa before Louisoix took him under his wing. I had hoped that the short story “One Name, One Promise” from Tales from the Shadows might serve to shed some light on Thancred’s early life, as it describes his youth and first meeting with Louisoix. Unfortunately, this story is frustratingly vague when it comes to time and age, and the most we get is “boy” and “child.” As for the length of his education, the story sums it up as follows:

Before he knew it, the streetwise child of the Lominsan alleyway was no more. In his place stood a confident youth who could pose as anyone’s friend and confidant long enough to procure the knowledge his client demanded.

A short while later, Thancred’s surpassing skills were recognized, and upon his skin was inscribed the sigil of an Archon. When Louisoix gazed upon this mark, he could scarce contain his joy. The boy he had personally led out of penury and taken under his wing had realized his potential.

Even if we presume (generously, if we take the word "adolescence" seriously) that he began his education around 13, four years is not very long to go from street urchin to Archon. But by this point, the lore seems thoroughly committed to this premise, and the short story only serves to reinforce the idea that Thancred received his mark in a fairly short period of time.

It is also worth noting that not all Archons attend the Studium. Thancred's bios in EE1 and the Unending Codex do specify that he was educated in Sharlayan (whether the colony or the motherland, I am uncertain, but as most references to just "Sharlayan" in EE1 seem to mean the colony, I presume it was there) but do not mention the Studium. Y'shtola too seems to have received her education entirely through private instruction, as EE1 says, "After a decade spent in Matoya's Cave, Y'shtola emerged and took her place among the Archons as an expert in the arcane arts." This would seem to indicate that Y'shtola also received her Archon mark around age 17. So Thancred may not in fact be much of an outlier at all. It might simply be that students who devote themselves to a highly specialized field of study at a young age are more likely to distinguish themselves in that field at a younger age than their peers. I think that could be said of both Thancred and Y’shtola.

By contrast, Papalymo did not begin to study under Louisoix until after he had graduated from the Studium, according to his bio in EE1. He is said to have been aiding Ala Mhigan refugees in finding sanctuary in the Dravanian colony "some twenty years ago," which would be around 1557, and Papalymo around 22. (This also seems to be around the time he met Yda and her sister, after which Yda began her own studies.) I have not found it stated whether Papalymo gained his Archon mark before or after coming under Louisoix's leadership, but it seems that it was probably before age 22. In any case, it seems he was working with Louisoix for a good few years before the formation of the Circle of Knowing.

Though not an Archon, Krile offers another useful benchmark in terms of Sharlayan education, as it’s established upon her arrival in Eorzea that she was enrolled in the Studium at the same time as Alphinaud, and specifically was there in his first year. As Krile is 22 in ARR, six years Alphinaud’s senior, she would have been 17 when he enrolled. Though we don’t know how long she’d been enrolled herself at that time, we can at least surmise that attending in one’s mid-to-late teen years is not uncommon.

But the real problem comes when we look at Urianger and Moenbryda, who, despite the airs Urianger likes to put on of a mysterious old wizard, are actually the youngest known members of the Circle of Knowing, at 29 in ARR, and 24 in 1.0.

Here's our problem:

Archon ages at the formation of the Circle of Knowing:

Papalymo - 27

Thancred - 17

Y'shtola - 17

Urianger - 14

Moenbryda - 14

I can accept Thancred and Y'shtola being Archons at 17. That Urianger and Moenbryda were both Archons at fourteen I do not believe. I don't care how smart they are, that's just not enough time. Not only is it absurdly young (again, the Leveilleur twins were the youngest ever to enter the Studium and do not themselves have Archon marks at 16), it is at odds with other lore we're given about these characters.

Urianger and Moenbryda were both raised, not in Old Sharlayan, but in the colony; this is confirmed in Moenbryda's bio in EE1 where it is said that they frequented the Great Gubal Library together. However, according to EE1 both also attended the Studium. It is not specified if they returned to the motherland before the Exodus, but they must have at one point or another, because Moenbryda's EE1 bio says that Louisoix bade her "remain in Sharlayan" instead of traveling to Eorzea. This has to mean the motherland, as by this time the colony was abandoned.

Her bio also says, "Once she had grown, Moenbryda joined Urianger in studying under Louisoix Leveilleur. After demonstrating a striking talent in aetheric research, she became an Archon." Sixteen is the age of majority in Sharlayan, so if we take "grown" to mean that she was of age, Moenbryda did not become Louisoix's pupil until age 16, two years after he had already begun the Circle of Knowing, and furthermore she only received her Archon mark after that.

There is some minor dissonance between Urianger's EE1 bio and his Unending Codex entry:

With Moenbryda's aid, Urianger managed to enter the Studium, and later became a student of Louisoix Leveilleur—the leading Sharlayan authority on prophecy.

—Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume 1

His steadfast studiousness, however—along with the encouragement of his childhood friend, Moenbryda—did, however, enable him to enter the Studium under the auspices of the foremost authority on prophecy, Archon Louisoix.

—The Unending Codex

So there is some ambiguity as to when, exactly, Urianger began studying under Louisoix, but either way, the Studium led him there. At what age… we are, again, left to wonder.

It is worth noting here that Elezen are canonically late bloomers in terms of physical development compared with other races, and by Urianger's own word, he did not reach his own adult height until age 20. Thus are we forced to reckon with the fact that if Urianger received his Archon mark in his teens, as did at least two of his peers, he may still have been Alphinaud's height when that happened. Picture tiny Urianger amidst the line-up of adult-sized Archons.

Thanks to this particular piece of lore, which was pretty transparently inserted into the game to help smooth over the immersion problems with the time bubble and specfically the twins not aging… we have another problem.

In-game, there are no small Elezen in the Studium. None. I managed to find one who's minimum height for an adult female Elezen. No child models like Alphinaud and Alisae. If Sharlayans truly begin their higher education so young, and Elezen mature so late, there should be child-sized Elezen all over the Studium. None of the designers thought to consider the very lore they made a point to hammer home a single patch earlier, apparently. This, I just have to write off as a design issue (one that perhaps corresponds with how empty a lot of interior spaces in Old Sharlayan look, as if there wasn’t time to really tune the details before release).

Design oversights aside, I do think it’s possible to make most of this work, if we assume that the most of the statements we have about the formation of the Circle of Knowing are oversimplifications—that Louisoix founded the Circle in 1562 as stated, but not all the members joined at the same time. The Thancred short story supports this, in fact, by noting that Thancred was “One of the first recruits to Master Louisoix’s Circle of Knowing," presumably alongside Y'shtola, Yda, and Papalymo, as the 1.0 flashbacks indicate all four were deployed to Eorzea around the same time.

It's reasonable to suppose, then, that Moenbryda and Urianger could have been recruited later, after the Exodus, perhaps in their late teens as they were completing their education in Old Sharlayan. I think this is probably the reading that leaves the most lore intact, while making the timeline a little less ridiculous.

Endnote: Is this all just 1.0 jank and retcons come back to haunt us?

It is unclear to me at this time to what extent that is the case. Critically, I'm not sure exactly when it was established as canon that the parade sequence the adventurer witnesses in the Ul'dah intro to 1.0 actually took place occurred ten years earlier, and not in the present. From what I understand of 1.0, one of its big narrative issues was not clearly delineating when the player character experiencing the Echo and when they were experiencing the present; past and present bled into one another constantly, making the story very confusing, and even more confusing to us poor lorehounds trying to piece things together today through cutscenes preserved on YouTube. So when you watch the Ul'dah introduction out of context, it appears as though it's all happening in the present. But at some point, it's established that this was actually an Echo flashback, and that the young girl whose father was killed was Ascilia, later Minfilia.

A footnote added fairly recently on the ConsoleGamesWiki even asserts that this was a retcon, and that the young girl was not originally intended to be Minfilia, but I'm not convinced this is correct. From what I've been able to learn of the opening sequences for the three city-states in 1.0, it seems that each one gave the player character an extended flashback of an event that occurred just after their respective Archon(s) arrived in the region, after which the adventurer blacks out, and when they awaken they are introduced to Minfilia, and it is explained to them that they have been seeing the past. Furthermore, the adventurer overhears a conversation between Minfilia and Tataru about Echo-bearers having witnessed Niellefresne's last moments, suggesting that Minfilia has an interest in the matter, which would make sense if she was the young girl in the flashback.