#ffxiv lore

Q2. I am curious to how two-headed Mamool Ja's decide how to go on about calling each other. For example, 'Bakool Ja Ja the Mystic' refers to 'Bakool Ja Ja the Mighty' as "Brother" (Older brother in JP/KR), and 'Molaal Ja Ja' in 'The Wanderer's Palace (Hard)' has defined which head is older and younger. However, when it comes to 'Dawnservant Gulool Ja Ja', we can see the Head of Resolve, refer to Head of Reason as "This guy" or "A friend". I am interested in how two-headed Mamool Ja's decide the relationship or the hierarchy between the two heads. How is this decided? I am curious if such relationship is naturally decided, or if it is decided or bestowed upon by their parents, or the society.

A2. Answered by Oda Banri --As you all know, Mamool Ja hatch out of their eggs. Which head hatches out first decides who is the older or younger sibling. However, if the two heads will decide to maintain the older/younger sibling status, or decide to be on more of an equal footing like Dawnservant Gulool Ja Ja did.

Q3. When Galuf Baldesion goes to investigate Skydeep Cenote at Dawnservant Gulool Ja Ja's request, we can see a location that is already covered by electrope in the Echo. It seems that electrope was already present before Krile's parents had used the Interdimensional Key to connect the worlds. Based on Galuf's reaction, it looks as if these electropes were manufactured by the Milala's magicks, instead of mined and collected from a mining site. I'm curious as to how electrope had made it to the Source, as I do not think that they were already present prior to the usage of the Interdimensional Key. Were there already some minor Rejoining that we somehow did not notice?

A3. The answer is laid bare in the trip that the Interdimensional Key took, where it came from, until it eventually came into Warrior of Light's hands. We cannot explain in detail as it is spoilers, but we think its a very neat and keen question. We are very happy that you were interested in this.

Q4. A question springs into my mind whenever someone rides on an airship. An airship must be a very convenience method of transportation for Eorzeans, however, there are no form of any safety measures onboard, like a seatbelt that you would find in an airplane, nor chair for it's passengers to sit down on. Whenever we see characters fly around in an airship just standing still, it makes me wonder "Is this okay? Is this really safe?". I am curious what kind of special device is on these airships that the characters can just stand around without any seats or seatbelts!

A4. Answered by Oda Banri We have safety measures such as seatbelts or airbags, but it took way too long for those measures to be legalized and made mandatory. In Eorzea, airships were invented very recently, therefore the legislation surrounding them are very inadequate and weak. Perhaps in few decades, just maybe, we might have some safety devices made mandatory to airships...

Q5. The background characters we can see in the level 100 dungeon 'Alexandria' have relatively "normal" hair colors that can be selected by the Warrior of Light, however, in Solution Nine, we can see various characters with unique, bright and neon colored hair. Is this due to genetic/DNA mutation from aetheric change in the environment? Or is this just simply a trend in Solution Nine?

A5. This is no different from the real world, how we have trend on hairstyles or hair color which vary per region, combined with advance in technology thanks to electrope. For reference, I am 52 years old, but back when I was in my 20s, hair dyes that we have now did not exist. This goes to also show that advance in science greatly impacts our daily lives.

Q6. While the First, Norvrandt has it's own script that differs from Eorzean, the script used in Solution Nine is the same as the ones that the Ancients used. I am curious if there is a reasoning behind this.

A6. The Reflections have been divided by Hydaelyn for a long long time, therefore each Reflections made their own individual advances and development. There has been some Ascian intervention here and there, which may have been left significant impact as well. Perhaps we will find out more about why in the up and coming adventures of Warrior of Light?

Q7. Can an Endless only be created with aether obtained from humans? Animals, plants, or monsters are all creatures, there are some beings that are larger than humans in size, thus which should mean that they hold more amounts of aether compared to humans do, which in turn, could mean that aether can possibly be farmed as well. Furthermore, I expect Sphene to have tried to find other methods of replenishing aether, I am curious as to why she had to obtain aether from humans and only humans.

A7. An Endless, by definition, is a being that can roam freely without a physical body while maintaining it's memories in the previous life. To store, maintain one's memories and allow it to roam freely, it requires a great deal of energy. A human's memory capacity is shockingly large, and in a recent research, it was said to be over 1 petabyte. If a singular human being takes up this much storage space and processing power, doing this for thousands of people will require an insurmountable amount of energy. Yes, plants and animals are made up and contain of aether as well, however, compared to a human being, it is miniscule.

Q8. People from the Ninth show a particular and confused reaction to the concept of death. How do they react to the death of their pets? Are memories of pets also uploaded to the cloud?

A8. Yes, the concept of family is not limited to a human being. When someone that an individual perceived as a kin or family dies, they do not question whether they were a human or not; blocking out grief caused by death. We cannot question the right or wrong as it is difference in morals.

Q9. *KR/JP Localization confusion The spell "Vanish" used in the 'Palace of the Dead', and by G'raha Tia seems to be a spell that allows one to hide their own appearance. However, the spell used by Ryne in Trust, or cast by a faerie type monsters seem to be an offensive spell. What is the difference between the two?

A9. This spell was called "Banitshu" in the previous Final Fantasy entries, but it is just referring to two different spells, with similar names. In English, you can tell which is which. Vanish, meaning hide, and Banish, to expel...

Q10. I really enjoyed how the stage/arena changes in the Arcadion raid series depending per the fighter's style. I am curious if the fighters themselves has free reign of choosing what type of monster soul to inject themselves with, their style of fighting, their stage/arena concept, introduction and such. Or is this handled by the organizers, where if a fighter registers to fight in the Arcadion, the organizers assign a monster soul suitable for the fighter alongside a theme for them?

A10. In the Arcadion, as one climbs the ranks of Arcadion, their uniqueness, individuality and distinctiveness also do. The idea or theming for their own ring is proposed by the fighters themselves. Some insist heavily on details, or some may prefer simplicity to just set the atmosphere. The Arcadion fighters are hailed as superstars with unique individuality.

Q11. Answered by Oda Banri Upon clearing 'AAC Light-Heavyweight M4', we find out why Wicked Thunder had gone missing. She reveals that she is affected by 'psychonekrosis', and that the only theoretic way to cure her disease is to inject herself, with a soul that is very dense, all while telling the Warrior of Light, that they are the one with a very dense soul. How did Wicked Thunder find out that the Warrior of Light has a denser soul compared to others? Is there a feature within the regulator that allows people to tell the density of one's soul? This was not explained in the later story, so I am very curious.

A11. In Arcadion, the fighters are sorted into tiers by "grade of one's soul". This "Grade", is basically how dense, or heavy one's soul is. Since injecting a soul that is much denser or heavier grants the fighter much greater and stronger power, such tiering system was introduced. To assist with this tiering system, a technology to determine the grade of souls have been developed, and thus was used to observe how dense the Warrior of Light's soul is.

Q12. When we are first introduced to Emet-Selch, we see a scene where Emperor Varis zos Galvus had created hundreds of clones of Emperor Solus zos Galvus. Later in Endwalker, when Zenos caused a civil war within Garlemald after the death of Emperor Varis, what happened to all those leftover clones of Emperor Solus zos Galvus?

A12. I think that they must've all been discarded as they were created using Ascian technology. Regardless of count of cloned bodies, from Emet-Selch's point of view, they're all fakes to him anyway., as what matters to the Ancients is the soul, not the physical form. Emet-Selch sarcastically made fun of Emperor Varis, as he was panicking after finding out the amount of clones...

Q13. In Final Fantasy XIV, there are some smells that are absolutely abhorrent and notorious. There are three most well-known smells, which are Morbol's breath, Goobbue's sneeze, and the smell of a Chocobo - which one is the worst?

A13. It is the Morbol's breath. Just take a look at the amount of debuffs you get when you smell that horrible breath, I believe everyone will understand the danger of it. (Haha) Even the Warrior of Light, who is ever so triumphant, can fall victim to its debuffs.

Q14. Alpha is an employee of Garlond Ironworks, who is on an indefinite leave. Are Alpha and Omega still paid by Jessie Jaye regardless?

A14. The Ironworks was able to learn vast amounts of data and research from all the commotion surrounding Alpha and Omega. It is likely that they converted all that new technology and knowledge into massive profits, so they must be being paid, considering it as a long-term investment. 30% out of kindness from Jessie, and 70% out of anticipation from all the information that they will be able to learn through Omega's documentation from their travels - which, the Ironworks can convert into more profit.

Q15. I am curious as to when Midgardsormr had arrived at Etheirys. It is mentioned that Midgardsormr came to Etheirys when water came into being on Etheirys alongside the birth of the Althyk and Nymeia, and made it's contract with Hydaelyn. However, in Endwalker, when Meteion had come into contact with the dragonkin, Midgardsormr had already left the Dragonstar, and considering that dragons cannot be found in the Reflections, it seems sure that Midgardsormr had arrived to Etheirys after the Sundering. Then when water came into being on Etheirys immediately after the Sundering? If then, I am curious to why this era is referred as "The time that water came into being", and what exactly was the contract that Midgardsormr and Hydaelyn had made.

A15. Answered by Oda Banri Please keep in mind that "Midgardsormr came out of the Whorl" is merely an expression for mythology regarding the Twelve, and that this is not an exact representation of reality. Midgardsormr did arrive after the Sundering. We will have to avoid mentioning what the contract was exactly about up here on stage, but since it has been a long while, I would like to share one piece of information: it is no coincidnece, that Silvertear Lake, which is where Midgardsormr resides, is a location easily connected to the Omphalos.

Q16. From time to time, you see some very unique skills/spells being cast by the enemies. I am curious if the enemy labels and gives a name to their own skills/spells, or if the Warrior of Light takes a look at the enemy and goes "Thats gotta be called that skill!"

"Hon why are you doing this?" A variety of reasons honestly. After DT dropped I saw a lot of folks who did at least one of the following:

Commented on the Old West theme park aspect

Called it "miqo'te Texas"

Generally just called the whole map "Texas"

And if I'm honest... it bugged me! Not because I thought anyone was being malicious about it (it's mostly pop culture saturation I'd suspect), but to me it stung a bit that this zone, which I grew up on the fringe of, was... kind of flattened by a lot of people?

I don't know, the response to me just felt like people assumed they knew everything about it because they'd seen it already in movies or TV or Red Dead Redemption rather than the same open-mindedness about what was presented in places like Urqopacha.

This zone isn't just Texas -- yes there are some bits and pieces here (because it's pulling from the Chihuahuan Desert and the Sonoran Desert), but so much of it reminds me of New Mexico, Mexico, and Arizona. There's some Colorado, Utah, and Nevada there too! And the background story going on there is something that still happens in a lot of those states, by both the government and corporations alike.

That variety deserves to be celebrated! So come learn with me about the inspiration for Shaaloani!

Shaaloani Geography

Shaaloani has three major regions in the zone -- Eshceyaani Wilds, Pyariyoanaan Plain, and Yawtanane Grasslands. To get this out of the way, I'm going to tell you the one that reminds me most of Texas.

Ready?

Lake Taori of the Pyariyoanaan Plain.

It's river-fed, with canyons on both ends of the Niikwerepi. The trees crowding around it are cypress trees, as you can tell by the little nubby off-shoots called knees. To compare, here is a photo of cypress trees along the Frio River:

This is also reminiscent of places along the Rio Grande and Pecos Rivers, two significant water sources in West Texas. I also would not call them bayous! Bayous typically have brackish water, are slow-moving, and are way too far east.

However, it could be partly considered a ciénega -- which according to its wikipedia article:

"Ciénagas are usually associated with seeps or springs, found in canyon headwaters or along margins of streams. Ciénagas often occur because the geomorphology forces water to the surface, over large areas, not merely through a single pool or channel."

As a caveat, ciénegas generally don't have trees around them, but I also know that you can't really drown a cypress and they love sunshine. Regardless -- if you see trees in the desert they are typically growing along a water source. Balmorhea State Park has some cottonwood trees native to the area that are going strong.

Yawtanane Grasslands reads as a mix of the Chihuahuan Desert and the Eastern Plains of Colorado. Both are rather arid and home to a variety of grasses that can thrive in such a climate -- which has historically made both areas home to large cattle industries (whether or not this was ever a good idea is debatable, since cattle are very thirsty animals).

Meanwhile the Eshceyaani Wilds looks similar to the Sonoran Desert -- the red-hued soil and rocks, the abundance of cacti with the scrub brush and some drought-tolerant grasses. Here's a shot of the Sonoran within Saguaro National Park in Arizona:

Saguaros also only grow in Arizona in the States! As well as the organ-pipe cactus, which you see in Tender Valley. And prickly pears grow just about anywhere they can get a chance -- as well as barrel cacti, both of which we see in Tender Valley (along with what could be agave!).

You could probably make a case for it being a piñon-juniper scrubland -- everything's very short compared to those cypress trees, including the juniper trees! Piñon-juniper scrubland's found throughout the Southwest. There are also piñon-juniper savannahs and persistent woodlands intermixed in the same places. The difference lay in what plants you find with the piñon pines and junipers.

Visually, aside from the Sonoran Desert, I can also see a lot of New Mexico, like the Ghost Ranch in Rio Arriba:

It matches up with the mountains you can see, and both Yowekwa Canyon and Tender Valley. And of course, Tender Valley is likely a Grand Canyon reference, going by the sheer height of the cliffs. But you could also make a case for Canyonlands National Park in Utah.

There's a shot from Grand View Point Overlook within the park -- the closeness of the canyon walls and the warm earth tones also evoke Tender Valley!

There's also a lot of these sandstone formations in Utah that better fit Shaaloani -- like here in the Valley of the Gods:

Shaaloani Structures

I also at this point want to call attention to one of the two sites with cliff dwellings & adobe structures. We just saw Tender Valley above, which is confirmed to be old Yok Huy structures. But check out these Tonawawta buildings below.

As I stated before, I don't want to state which tribe these two styles remind me of. But I do want to say this again strikes me as another New Mexico and Arizona callback; both the Gila Cliff Dwellings and the Puye Cliff Dwellings are found in two different areas of New Mexico. And the Gíusewa Pueblo, also in New Mexico! Montezuma Castle is found in Arizona, and is pictured below! Look at that rich reddish earth color.

I also want to call attention to the place of worship for the Tonawawta in Yowekwa Canyon:

When I saw it my kneejerk response was to call it an ofrenda. But that's ultimately an incomplete response -- that was just the vibe I felt after seeing them during my life! What it also reminds me of are pictographs and petroglyphs. You find these all over the Southwest (the climate helps preserve them!), but I'm going to link some really great examples. I won't provide images to all though!

Crow Canyon Petroglyphs:

Piedras Madras Canyon at Petroglyph National Monument (New Mexico) Petroglyph Point Trail at Mesa Verde National Park (Colorado) Petroglyph Panel at Canyon Reef National Park (Utah) Nampaweap at Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument (Arizona) Horseshoe Canyon at Canyonlands National Park (Utah) and the Hueco Tanks State Park (Texas)

In contrast, I don't want to spend a ton of time on the boom town structures in this zone; they are pretty straightforward references to mining towns during the different resource booms (gold, silver, copper, oil).

Similar blocky shapes, built out of wood. One thing I noticed as a neat addition are the decorative patterns painted on it -- again, I don't want to presume if there's a specific tribe tied to this. But I do think it's a neat touch and I want to think that's a design choice to convey the underlying theme that this is a zone at odds with advancing technology and wanting to keep hold of important traditions.

I WILL talk about the ceruleum wells and pumping though. Mostly because I'm impressed that they went with structures that so closely resemble early 20th century oil derricks. Those were also predominately made of wood (including the barrels, yikes!). The pump part of what's called a pumpjack were covered in the old days -- the ones we're most used to seeing now are made of metal and are thus left uncovered.

However, as you can see from this century old rig, even the wheel's made of wood:

I don't think ceruleum gushes the same way oil did -- it seems to behave more like natural gas. However, most natural gas pipelines do burn off excess, which can be seen as a little spout of flame atop.

Oil's occupied an awkward spot in the Southwest, and still does. Aside from the heinous crimes committed in Killers of the Flower Moon (where members of the Osage tribe were murdered for their oil shares in Oklahoma) and the Teapot Dome Scandal, oil is just... well.

Bear with me, I'm about to rag on Koana a moment.

The people who make the most money and have the most power over the average roughneck's life never live in the Southwest. They work in the c-suite and have more money than sense.

I find it very fascinating that DT chose to recreate this dynamic, this uncomfortable push-pull of a region rich in a resource, and it's being harvested at the suggestion and behest of a power that is physically removed from the area. And to some NPCs it's with a certain level of disregard to traditions and practices in place before, with the focus on the nebulous quantifier of 'progress'. Progress how? It depends!

But the folks at the highest seat of power never have to grapple with those questions, because to them it's a fairly cut and dry answer. This is the way to proceed, and if they want to take this nation into the "future", then this is the clear way to do it. It speaks to Koana's fixation on foreign technology to the point he de-values his own (partly due to his childhood trauma, which kind of prepped him to be susceptible to it).

Meanwhile the locals are the ones grappling the most with this change -- how it affects their plants and animals. Sometimes pits open up in the earth and ceruleum burns (which, Santa Rita New Mexico sank multiple times into the earth thanks to copper mining). On the map there's even discolored plants -- and they only occur in the vicinity OF the bulk of the ceruleum pumps.

This is at odds with core beliefs, keeping up with traditional practices. It puts people in the place of 'do I participate in this system, which promises work and the means to take care of my family, even as it pits me against my cultural heritage?'.

Growing up in West Texas, one of the weirdest things to me (to this day) is how many people will claim they love the land. They do! They love the outdoors, they worry over how certain species of animals have become scarcer. But they also work in the single most damaging industry because it pays the most money. It lets them cover bills and give their kids what they never had.

That same push-pull is in Shaaloani narratively; when progress has been thrust upon you, how do you survive it? How do you make sure what's dearest to you comes along with you?

In Conclusion