Eorzian Travails

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The Fifth Astral Era: “Age of Enlightenment”

Encyclopedia Eorzea - Seeds of Magic: “At the dawn of the Fifth Astral Era, as Eorzea was huddling in the bitter cold of the Endless Frost, the people of the realm once more beseeched the Twelve for warmth. It was during this time that a magnificent cathedral was built on the edge of the Black Shroud, a sanctuary where people would fervently pray to the gods and harness the power of their blessings through the use of magic. These rituals rose in prominence as a way for the survivors of the Fifth Calamity to cope with the era’s bleak prospects, and served as a driving force in the realm’s revitalization.”

Raya-O-Senna: “The tale begins some three millennia ago, in the Fifth Astral Era. It was the time of the Endless Frost, when a barren wasteland of snow and rime stretched as far as the eye could see. Food was scarce, and warmth scarcer. The histories hold many a grim tale of those who died in their beds, starving and benumbed. So did our ancestors discover magic, born out of the most fundamental instinct─survival. In time, the winter thawed, and magic was no longer essential for survival. But once awakened to its conveniences, there was no returning to how things once were. Ere long, the people discovered all the myriad ways in which magic could be employed, and civilization flourished.”

Raya-O-Senna: “But tell me, are you versed in the histories? I take from your silence that you are not. No matter, it shall be my pleasure to educate you. The Fifth Astral Era is said to have begun approximately three millennia ago. The ice age that ushered in the Fifth Umbral Era made the land a barren and merciless place, and man was pushed to the limits of his resourcefulness in the struggle to survive. Yet survive he did, through the discovery of magic as we know it─an event which marked the dawning of the Fifth Astral Era.

At first, man was well pleased just to have the means to keep the cold at bay and compete with the other races. But man is nothing if not an ambitious beast. It was not long before he began to seek mightier magicks, hoping to win greater glory. It was this desire that brought forth black magic, the arcane art of destruction, into the world. In order that this force of chaos be kept in check and balance preserved, at roughly the same point in history, white magic, the arcane art of succor, came into existence.”

Encyclopedia Eorzea - The Age of Enlightenment: “The first Sanctum of the Twelve is believed to have been erected around the dawn of the Fifth Astral Era. After years of disuse, the original structure fell into ruin, overgrown by the thick brush of the Black Shroud and lying forgotten until after the Seventh Umbral Calamity when it was unearthed and restored to its former glory. In the modern age, it also serves as a hall wherein the gods bear witness to the declaration of eternal bonds between lovers.”

Encyclopedia Eorzea - The Sanctum of the Twelve: “Ths skyscraping ivory cathedral was built following the Age of Endless Frost - a dark period in which the realm was overrun with famine and disease - to serve as a place of refuge and respite for all who sought succor. Soon after, however, it fell into ruin and was all but forgotten… until the advent of the Seventh Umbral Era saw need for its use once again.”

Encyclopedia Eorzea - Seeds of Magic: “As the harsh climes subsided, the people once again set out across the realm. Small settlements grew into towns, then cities, each with their own unique culture. The universal worship of the Twelve splintered as the denizens of these communities sought to assert their newfound sense of identity by choosing patron deities to protect them. These widening differences in culture, religion, and approaches to the arcane arts would lead to intense contests for supremacy between nations.”

Encyclopedia Eorzea - Lalafell: “Originally an agrarian people hailing from the southern islands, the Lalafell gradually migrated to Eorzea over the years in pursuit of trade. In the Fifth Astral Era, they played a key role in the foundation of the city of Nym on Vylbrand, as well as the mystic city of Mhach in the lowlands of Yafaem. When both civilizations fell to the Sixth Umbral Calamity, the Lalafell were forced to seek new homes. The Nymian Lalafells employed their seafaring talents and returned to the south sea isles, while the survivors of Mhach wandered the lands before eventually settling in the wastes of Thanalan.”

Encyclopedia Eorzea - A Precursor to War: “Fledgling cities emerged around the three-hundredth year of the Fifth Astral Era, and for the next two and a half centuries, the number of city-states would grow to twelve - each paying tribute to a unique god or goddess of the Eorzean pantheon. These city-states, however, lacked the stability of their modern-day counterparts, and the onset of the Age of Enlightenment was rife with turmoil, with territorial borders endlessly redrawn as smaller domains found themselves ravaged, divided, or integrated into larger populations.

By the thousandth year of the Fifth Astral Era, the realm’s sovereign nations numbered six, the most prominent among them Mhach, located in the western basin of Yafaem; Amdapor, situated on the plains of central Aldenard (or what is now the South Shroud); and Nym, spanning the western coast of the Isle of Vylbrand. In the latter half of the era, the city-states which had heretofore weathered centuries of intermittent upheaval would find themselves embroiled in a feud of an entirely different scale.”

Encyclopedia Eorzea - War on the Horizon: “The peoples of Eorzea flourished in the peace brought about by the impasse between the black and white schools of sorcery. Following in the footsteps of Mhach and Amdapor, other city-states began developing their own forms of spellcraft in attempts to further their societies. This approach to the achievement of prosperity was vastly different from that taken by the Allagans of the Third Astral Era, eschewing technological growth for advancement of a more arcane nature. However, progress would come with a hefty price, as man would soon become drunk on the might that arcane puissance would bring him. Societies built upon foundations of magic were forced to sacrifice their natural surroundings as vast amounts of aether were drawn from the land in order to maintain the cities’ magnificence. The realm’s enlightenment had become a double-edged sword; each mage city maintained the facade of an edifying heritage while secretly honing their offensive magicks.

One need not be an oracle to see that this interlude of peace would soon draw to an end. The mages of Mhach silently turned their eyes to the dark, seeking to slake their expansionist ambitions by amassing an army of voidsent thralls. Amdapor kept their outward appearance as a rich bastion of arts and culture, but daunting sculptures of its ‘guardians’ soon appeared in every corner of the city. While the actual catalyst for the war remains lost to time, it is known that the frequency of political and military posturing between the two nations increased in dramatic fashion as the realm approached the mid thirteenth century, and ere long the entirety of Eorzea became entangled in an inescapable web of strife. The War of the Magi had begun.”

Nenekko Neko: “The fifth Astral Era was an age of untold wonders, when the arcane arts burgeoned and the great civilizations that commanded such powers flourished. Alas, this age of enlightenment would not last. The War of the Magi brought the great floods of the Sixth Umbral Calamity, which swallowed once-proud nations and left naught but a battered wasteland in its wake.”

Encyclopedia Eorzea - The Age of Enlightenment: “Concerning the rise and fall of the early civilizations of the Fifth Astral Era, historians believe there is still much to be gleaned from yet-undiscovered relics that remain hidden within the shattered ruins of the fallen cities. The rush to salvage these priceless artifacts, however, has pit Eorzean scholars in pursuit of knowledge against the avarice of ruthless treasure hunters.”

Fifth Astral Era Timeline

Year 1 5AE (c.3000y/a) - Through prayer and devotion to the Twelve do the survivors of the Age of Endless Frost discover magic and with it survive until the ice recedes.

c. Year 300 5AE - By this time nomadic tribes have formed small settlements across Eorzea and the first fledgling cities are born. Amdapor the first and greatest of these in central Aldenard. For the next 250 or so years, the number of cities would grow to twelve.

c. Year 500 5AE - Lalafell from the south seas settled on Vylbrand’s western coast, establishing the maritime city-state of Nym. The city-state of Mhach is also settled around this time in the lowlands of Yafaem.

c. Year 800 5AE - In the city-state of Mhach, a sorceress by the name of Shatotto Shato is born. This gifted young mage goes on to secure her legacy in history by discovering the means of using ambient aether to fuel powerful black magicks. Mhach uses this newfound power to rise above the constant squabbles of neighboring city-states, and reduces its enemies to rubble.

c. Year 1000 5AE - Eorzea’s city-states now only number six, of these only Mhach, Amdapor, Nym, and Skalla are known. In order to combat the advance of the Mhachi, Amdaporian magi develop the art of white magic. At an impasse, the six remaining city-states each begin developing and expanding their own mystical arts for the coming war.

c. Year 1250 5AE - Centuries worth of political tension boils over and the War of the Magi erupts across Eorzea. For nearly 300 years the war rages on without signs of abating. Skalla eventually falls to the might of Mhach. Nym, despite its size, succeeds in repelling Mhach and Amdapor’s forces.

c. Year 1500 5AE - Nymian traders arrive in Nym after being thought lost in a terrible storm at sea. The traders are carrying a plague that soon spreads throughout Nym. Fear grips the nation and those afflicted are entombed within the Wanderer’s Palace.

Year 1510 5AE - Mhach summons the voidking Diabolos to lead a final, crushing assault against Amdapor. The white mages of Amdapor manage to repel the invasion, but at a terrible cost. More terrible than the lives lost, the cost of the War of the Magi exacts a devastating toll on the world’s aether, causing a severe imbalance in the planet’s elemental aspect.

c. Year 1510 5AE - Twelve Archons warn of the coming Calamity and urge the three nations to set aside their differences. The original Grand Companies are formed and assist in the mass evacuation of each city’s populace to higher ground. Many of Mhach’s citizenry are loaded onto the doomed Void Ark, an airship powered by 1,000 voidsent thralls and the Shadow Queen. 

Sixth Umbral Calamity (1577y/a) - For 60 days and nights, torrential rains pummel the evacuees as they flee from rising seas and tidal waves that washed away the sins of the Fifth Astral Era. 

More lore on Amdapor, Mhach, Nym, Skalla, White Magic, Golems, Black Magic, Voidmagicks, Scholars, Faeries, the War of the Magi, the Twelve Archons, the Great Flood, what became of the survivors and their forbidden arts in the early Sixth Astral Era, and - last but not least - a little misconception… in the Read More below!

You can find more of my lore posts in the Lore Index!

To @smolasaur, @tiergan-vashir, @plant-mom-ryaad, @taedius, @miqotea, @moonlifter, and the many, many others who have asked about these Fifth Astral Era nations in the past! Hope this helps! ^^