#ffxiv theorycraft

[scrollsfromarebornrealm]

Knight-Dragoon timeline (as pulled from Encyclopedia Eorzea)

Hee :D

So it occurred to me today that the possible Knight-Dragoon timeline (condensed) isn't really like...established anywhere so you know what? LORE BE UPON YE

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360: Elezen settlers move into the Sea of Clouds, and start building what will later become Saint Thordan's Basilica on a mountainside. Small villages to support this endeavor spring up nearby, laying the groundwork for what will eventually become the city-state of Ishgard.

350: As part of the overall migration waves, hyuran tribes--along with a band of displaced elezen from Central Aldenard--come to settle in Coerthas.

370: Hraesveglr and Shiva commit consensual vore and entwine their souls together. This triggers an era of peace between man and dragon. (This is probably when a proto-Knight Dragoon order formed or at the very least, the beginnings of one)

550: King Thordan and his knights twelve launch an unprovoked attack on Ratotoskr, killing her and consuming her eyes to gain power. Nidhogg kills the king and half his knights, but is defeated and summarily robbed of his eyes by Haldrath, Thordan's son. Haldrath renounces his rights as king to become a dragon hunter. Nidhogg gains an eye from Hraesveglr and swears vengeance. He invokes the power of the First Brood to blood-curse the remaining knights twelve and their future progeny. (If there was a proto-Knight Dragoon order, this event would have KO'd it)

565: Exhausted from hunting dragons and fighting Nidhogg's influence, Haldrath passes on his mantle to Berteline Cordillelot. Subsequently he is then given a mercy kill by Berteline and her father as Nidhogg threatens to overwhelm his will. (At this point the Church is possibly brought into the loop regarding Nidhogg's eyes. Haldrath's Eye-embedded corpse is interred and probably magically sealed away, while Nidhogg's other eye is used by Berteline.)

interlude: This is probably the point where the foundation is laid for what becomes the Knight-Dragoon order we see and encounter in ARR/HW.

761: The Azure Dragoon Valeonyant repels an attack by Nidhogg, who has been asleep for several decades.

787: The Azure Dragoon Valeonyant leaves Ishgard to defend a small village from the Dravanian Horde, but is killed in battle protecting a group of shepherds (personal note: I fucked up on this one a while back in a previous post, I listed Valenoyant's death year as 763. ^^;)

817: 30 years after his death, Valeoryant is canonized by the Holy See.

1058: An unnamed Azure subdues a massive dragon in the western highlands of Coerthas, laying the groundwork for the dragon's corpse to become the floating isle known as the Dreaming Dragon.

1146: The Lady Dragoon Reinette avenges her lover by slaying the dragons that killed him. She then gives up her Gae Bolg and takes holy orders, becoming a nun for the rest of her life.

1189: Lady Reinette, former Azure Dragoon, dies in a nunnery at age 66.

1289: In an attempt to distract the public from corruption in the Church, the Holy See canonizes Lady Reinette as a saint. It fails as a distraction.

1380: Ursulie the Meek creates the Dragonlancer's Armor and Brionac. Following the rejection of her creations and smithing techniques by the Holy See, she leaves Ishgard.

1557: Azure Dragoon Alberic Bale forces Nidhogg to flee after his destruction of Ferndale. He then resigns as Azure, seeing to raise the only survivor of the attack--Estinien Varlienau.

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(more personal musings on the dates to come later)

[haellen-o]

"I write ophelia more because haellen is very uninteresting. she is just a boring person (affectionate)"

also me

"So yeah haellen is a pioneer in the field of firearms as well as the first person to make commercial magitek prosthetics and wheelchairs"

[capriccio-ffxiv]

Tbh I find the whole "the ancient world must have had NO moon" to be a bit stupid given that Elpis is a highly artificial environment that might not even exist in real space which deliberately mirrors Labyrinthos in form & function. It'd be like if someone from another universe got teleported to Labyrinthos & shown a ghostly model of Limsa & then based everything they know about Ethyris on that. Or someone from another planet coming just to Disney World and being shown a digital recreation of Manhattan & trying to figure out what the rest of the planet is like just from that information.

Like it's entirely possible that the "ghost moon" effect is actually some illusion over the sky parting to show the real sky for a moment.

[corvid-lullaby]

Xiv theory good shit good shit

What is the definition of 'being alive' and does 'being alive' actually matter?

What is consciousness?

[leftoblique]

This is so obvious in hindsight that I can't help but wonder if it was intentional by the designers.

While I was playing Endwalker, Labyrinthos was the obvious parallel to Elpis - built out of the same hubris, but lesser as the Sharlayans could only stockpile and not create.

That said, you're absolutely right: if Labyrinthos was the pale mirror of Elpis, Azys Lla was the dark mirror; the same drive to create, but out of a desire to conquer rather than to perfect the world.

I am not saying that Amon was trying to recover the place Hermes lost but…building a floating Allagan city in the sky to research and create new creatures does echo a twisted sense of Elpis

[ecosystem-administrator]

the road to Horizon

I was watching a video recapping someone's journey through FFXIV and it made me think back on the start of my own, so I have some thoughts to ramble here, on my departure from Azeroth and arrival into Eorzea. From the perspective of a WoW refugee who arrived before the big waves of exodus, who left before all the bad news broke at Blizzard.

I don't talk about it much. At first it was because I was still grieving what I'd left, adjusting to the new normal I'd found for myself and trying not to be that person who compares everything to their only other experience in the genre; then, it was because the news had broken about all the things broken in Blizzard behind the scenes, and suddenly it no longer felt cool to have ever enjoyed what they were doing. But I started playing WoW during Wrath of the Lich King, and I continued to play until somewhere in the patch cycles of Battle For Azeroth. 2009-2019, a full decade of investment in the lore, of anticipation and disappointment, of theorycrafting my way around plotholes so I could keep enjoying the things that were enjoyable.

At some point, there was a news announcement coming, and I found myself anxious, dreading the possibility that the plot would focus on some of the characters I'd come to like, and in doing so wreck the stories I'd been building in my head. I had to stop and replay that moment for myself: I was dreading my favorite characters getting spotlight time, because I was afraid of what the writers would do to them. This is, I had to finally admit to myself, no way to live. I had reached my limit. My trust was broken, years of disappointment having finally dismantled my hope. I had to walk away. I wouldn't uninstall, not yet - but I would instead try out that beautiful Final Fantasy game my fiancee and some of her friends had started playing. I had watched over her shoulder one time a good while back as a tiny pink cupcake of a girl drank a goblet of poisoned wine, and at the time I had envied the power of the scene on display. Perhaps starting fresh with a new story would help ease the grief of finally stepping away from a decade of giving my heart to a game that was simply no longer giving back.

It takes time to adjust to a new game, of course. New controls, new abilities, what do you mean crafters are classes just like combat classes, wait what's the difference between a class and a job, how do I know whether I'm where I'm supposed to be, what do you mean dungeons aren't optional content, etc. I stumbled my way through the start of ARR, increasingly enthused to be learning a whole new set of lore but still anxious about how new I was. In FFXIV, we call new players 'sprouts' and tend to them; but I hadn't yet learned that mindset. I had to be told not to remove the sprout icon that flagged me as new and learning, because to me it looked like a 'kick me' sign on my back, a bright waving flag that said "Fresh Meat". That's what it would have been, where I had come from. I didn't know any better yet.

I made my way out of Gridania, around the capitals, through the baby dungeons, back to Ul'dah to get my invitation to the Scions, doing my best to absorb new lore, new controls, and new attitudes simultaneously. So it wasn't until I was leaving Ul'dah and headed out into Western Thanalan toward the Scions, on foot because I hadn't unlocked mounts yet, because I hadn't yet gotten the Horizon aetheryte, that I suddenly had a series of revelations.

I couldn't see player levels just by looking at them. I would have to click on a player and examine them in order to identify what level they were. Conversely, no one could see my level unless they went to that effort. They couldn't tell at a glance if I was overleveled or underleveled, if I was out of place in a zone or where I was meant to be.

The plot I had been through so far had gradually converged on this point in a way that suggested the story was melding with the starting storylines from the other two cities. In WoW, there are overarching plotlines for zones sometimes, but the presence of a Main Plot is a very recent development. Players rarely take the same path from starting zone to max level; but here, we were all walking the same road.

There were no factions. We were all walking the same road, and this was what struck me the hardest. From level 1 to level 70 (at the time I started lmao), every single player around me was somewhere on the same plotline. No one was a threat. There was no world PvP. I would never be ganked, griefed, have to wait for critical NPCs to respawn after max-level players from the other faction had come in and killed them.

Me, to me, at level 15 as the light began to dawn:

This is really how it felt, after all those years of WoW. The road to Horizon was the place where I finally realized I wasn't a soldier anymore, an erstwhile mercenary trying to dodge getting drafted back into a forever war. Of course there were still enemies, but all of the enemies were NPCs. I didn't have to worry about enemy PCs coming in raids, about staying out of their way or deciding to stand and fight. There were no such thing as enemy PCs. The war was, finally, over.

And so I trod onward lighter, still on foot until someone saw fit to give me a chocobo, my faction tabard abandoned in the dust of Thanalan, only an adventurer at last.

[ceescedasticity]

More random ffxiv theorycrafting, sorry

What the Ascians meant to happen on the First is for Ardbert and company to kill Cylva, restoring peace to the land, and leaving five fully realized Warriors of Light to keep it that way. They would maintain peace and keep the shard from tilting back towards Dark at all, and were expected to keep it up long enough to trigger something on the Source.

What went wrong wasn't sparing Cylva, but going on to kill Mitron. Since Cylva was in fact a Warrior of Light and all the chaos she created was calculated, killing her wouldn't have had much impact on the balance, and neither did sparing her. But Mitron was a large enough fraction of the First's Darkness that his death caused a sudden drastic tip, and everything exploded.

(And Mitron turned into… that. Really cold of Emet-Selch and Elidibus to just leave him that way.)

I'm not sure what Elidibus was hoping to accomplish by bringing Ardbert et al to the Source, unless it was exactly what happened — get Hydaelyn to send an expert to stabilize things. (The 'warriors of darkness' may have been told they were hastening the rejoining, but I don't see how anything they did would have encouraged stasis/peace/light.) It seems unnecessarily oblique, but I guess Elidibus logic is a little special.

So they do get Hydaelyn to send an expert, who stops the Flood before it can completely consume the last 10% of the First. After that they can leave it mostly alone and work on the trigger on the Source.

When the Thirteenth was 100% overrun by Darkness, the Ascians decided it was unfit for rejoining. This time they apparently decided to bet that the remaining 10% was enough to keep the First viable.

And that's a possible reason the Eighth Umbral Calamity had to be unwritten — what if they were wrong? What if all that stasis, all those souls consumed by Light, couldn't be absorbed and rebalanced by the Source? So two centuries later there are still dead zones worldwide, and like half the population is haunted by corresponding sin eater soul fragments too corrupted to rejoin, but they know they should rejoin so they keep trying, and usually they kill the target by aetherial poisoning?

The Ascians panic and start unleashing Voidsent in the hopes an injection of Darkness will help. It does not. Eden-Mitron is roaming the seas attacking various islands. Okay that's beyond theories enough now.

[noxinara]

Obey Me! Satan if he played FFXIV (Probably)

Ideas based on an old post from cinnabun-faerie - My headcanons beneath the cut!

He would be Miqo'te, of course.

Seeker of the Moon Miqo'te specifically because they get the big ol' eyes and cute little fangies- 🥺

I believe he'd main Warrior and Scholar with a preference on tanking.

If he had to play DPS, he'd play Summoner or Monk

His class preference would be WAR > GNB > SCH > SGE > DRK > PLD > SMN > MNK > Everything else

As for crafting, he'd mainly do Alchemist/Culinarian. the bonus is that they make the most money.

Honestly, he has every class maxed.

All 90s across the board. There is no class he hasn't played.

Would spend a lot of time achievement hunting.

He and Levi would turn achievement hunting into a race to see who could complete all obtainable achievements first.

Would literally make FFXIV guides and theorycraft the classes he plays.

Uses either the 'Keeper of Knowledge' title or the 'Lone Hero' title.

Would carry you through any content if you asked.

Would also take you to the prettiest spots in the game and just sit there with you (and would secretly snap pictures of you)

Bonus points if you're a Miqo'te like him!

His minion favorite list would look like this (his favorite mount list would look the same, but i don't own any of the lynxs from this expansion hhhhh):

[bunboy-extraordinaire]

I was inclined to agree because it would be cool, until this line. Makes it really unlikely, but one of his crew members easily could have been a viera

OK calling it now, this Ketenramm is Erenville's grandfather or something. 80 years is nothing for a Viera, and oh my, what a coincidence that Tural has had 80 years of peace, and this dude arrived 80 years ago.

Also, G'raha what the hell you're the last person who should be judging people's lifespans, how old are you again?

[scrollsfromarebornrealm]

dragoon theorycrafting: FRESH DRAGOON LORE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SIX YEARS (new Rising story)

SIX YEARS.

FINALLY WE ARE GIVEN A NUGGET OF DRAGOON LORE.

(I'm counting the Stormblood side story in this yes)

HERE HAVE MY STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS UNDER THE CUT

-----------

So where to begin? First off, we're setting Estinien to the side and the fact he's drinking off to the side as well. We'll get back to it, don't worry.

MOTHERFUCKING HALDRATH MAKES A GODDAMN APPEARANCE! AND WE ALSO GET A NEW DOT ON THE OVERALL TIMELINE!

Ratatoskr's death is in 545. Twenty years later puts this in 565, which means Haldrath has been witness to the gross rewriting of history that's taken place in Corethas.

(also shoutout to @mariyekos and their Haldrath -> Estinien theory let's gooo~~)

So the first Azure Dragoon's shown up, and he is not in a good way. Nidhogg's Eye (the first) has fused itself to his armor, and is now effectively corrupting Haldrath's flesh. He's beginning to have fits more frequently and intensely --moments where Nidhogg's will threatens to override his own. Haldrath has been a solitary hunter of dragons for twenty years, and he is fucking tired. His will is starting to falter.

He passes out from fighting another dragon, and wakes up a while later to find himself in a tavern. And much to his surprise and pleasure, he's among friends-- one of the original Twelve knights who survived and (wisely, I might add), fucked off once Nidhogg was robbed of his original eyes.

Ser Aureniquart de Cordillelot, who decided to open a tavern, and is insinuated in lore to have been the founder of the Forgotten Knight. It's his daughter Berteline who found Haldrath, and she's been raised on stories of him as the dragonslayer. She wishes to be a dragoon like him too!

Berteline however, admits that she didn't find Haldrath on her own, that a voice that sounded like 'storm winds' led her to him. Haldrath, who has recognized that Berteline has drive and passion, realizes that the young woman's been lured by Nidhogg's eye.

(And here is when we enter the territory of fuckery)

At this point, Haldrath makes a choice. He's doing this on the fly, but also probably had been stewing on his thoughts for a while. He's tired. On his last legs. This is probably not how he wanted to do it, but he's got no choice. And Halone seems to have merciful enough to let him be in a safe and warm environment among friends.

Haldrath tells Berteline that she's heard Nidhogg's voice, that the Eye seeks out those who desire power. That it's fused to him, that it's corrupting him, and he is in danger of becoming the elder wrym's thrall. And if that happens, he will be a mighty threat to Ishgard, which is still finding its feet. He looks Aureniquart in the eye and asks that his old friend, his brother knight, kill him before that happens.

Aureniquart refuses to pick up arms against Haldrath.

(side note: I'm wondering if Aureniquart was possibly Haldrath's First Knight/general 2IC.)

Haldrath, before the Eye tries for the final time to take him, also officially recognizes Berteline as the new bearer of the evil orb and names her his full successor.

Berteline de Cordillelot is now charged as the second Azure Dragoon. We won't have another named Azure Dragoon show up until 761, when Valeroyant fends off Nidhogg. (Valeroyant dies two years later in 763).

We are also given confirmation that Azure Dragoons essentially are on a limited lifespan once they receive the Eye. This possibly gives new meaning to this:

When searched on Google, score is equal to twenty years. Two score and ten equals 50 years. Ere means 'before'.

Basically? 'Your ass will be dead before you turn fifty.'

Which in the story, makes sense because:

Aureniquart has aged. It's possible that by this time, he and Haldrath were in their mid-40s, if they were in their 20's back in 545.

Becoming the Azure Dragoon is a death sentence. And now your mileage is gonna vary, because not everyone's gonna have the same mindset regarding power and duty and protection of Ishgard. We have the door open for some high level shenanigary here! An Azure Dragoon who may not have wanted to pick a successor? An Azure Dragoon who might have been forced into the job?

(No no we're not discussing Alberic don't @ me I'm typing this out on my phone and it's taking me forever WE WILL POKE AT HIM LATER)

Anyroad.

Haldrath feels one final fit coming on, and knows this is the one that he can't fight against. Nidhogg will claim him. He needs to die. He realizes almost too late that Aureniquart can't kill him, because of the bond of love/friendship/battle blood/loyalty to my liege and he's cursing him to suffer another sin. But Berteline steps up to the plate, puts her hands on the spear, and helps her father perform the mercy kill.

Shoutout to @autumnslance for this spot on commentary on THAT:

Aureniquart: Perma-traumatized now. Man gets like twenty years of peace and then it just gets blown outta the water. Had to kill your leige-lord as he lay dying on your floor, under your roof, violation of sanctuary and hospitality and your sworn oath to protect him, to spend your life before his own so he could be safe...

What?

Anyroad. We have one final interesting tidbit.

This...is interesting. Sovereignty has various meanings, but the one that stood out the most to me from Merriam-Webster was 'freedom from external control'. There was also 'supreme power over a body politic', 'controlling influence' and then 'one who is sovereign, especially: an autonomous state'

It's said in lore Nidhogg was dismissive of mankind. And at that point can you blame him? He's lost three siblings to Allag, his other brother's lost his damn mind mooning over some elezen before consensually participating in voreplay, and his sister drank ALL the mortal Kool-Aid.

Oh and baby brother? Is hiding somewhere.

That also possibly has Ascian fuckery hiding somewhere in the depths. What exactly, I don't know what to say or imply. But a good friend of mine pointed out that Nidhogg's attitude towards humans could have been a rather toxic ingredient that could have maybe been added to a growing resentment of dragonkind that had been festering. Maybe old grudges that had been settled by Shiva's sacrifice were coming back from the dead. Maybe mankind was growing too much in the region and was straining natural resources.

We don't know.

Last but not least, Estinien. Nevermind that this man decided to hit up a bottle of Raz-at-Han alchemist-made liquor.

Estinien. Pls.

However there is real world historical context for alcoholic spirits being used to help a body and mind relax so that one can see visions/perform magic. And as I stated one time, we don't know fully about all the changes Estinien has undergone ever since absorbing the remnants of Nidhogg's essence. This could be a random fluke--brought on by unpredictable draconic magic mixing with whatever unholy abomination against the gods concoction this particular Hannish alchemist thought to brew.

(listen Raz-at-Han alchemists fear neither gods, nor man, nor dragons, nor aliens. YOU KNOW I'M RIGHT)

But it's definitely interesting to see more of a solid connection between the first and the last Azure Dragoon. Especially since Haldrath hasn't shown up in anything dragoon connected since the level 50 questline, in which he helps you violently snap Estinien out of a Nidhogg-induced frenzy.

Hoping this story leads us to more dragoon stuff, especially considering the class is getting a revamp in 7.0!

[sizhune]

Cards, Cats, & Chaos ✨

Hi there, I'm Sizhune—aka Sizh, Sizhu, or Sizhucchi (I’m pretty flexible, honestly), the biscuit cryptid, chaos gremlin, and fandom enthusiast you didn’t know you needed. 😸 Also, I’m obsessed with Red Lobster garlic cheddar biscuits—if you bring them to me, we might just become best friends.

✨ Here’s a little bit about me: I juggle art, writing, and computer science (while trying to keep it all together with ADHD, PCOS, and POTS). Grab a comfy seat and let’s dive into the wonderful madness of my world! 🌟

✨ What I’m About:

🎨 Art (Rough but Ready) A decade’s worth of rust can’t stop me! I’m picking up the pencil again, experimenting with sketches, and bringing my ideas to life one "Hey, that’s not too bad!" at a time.

📚 Fanfic Writer (Old Fics, New Fandoms) My oldest fic is old enough to drink (please, no underage drinking). I’ve written across fandoms like Yuri on Ice, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, D.Gray-man, Haikyuu!!, and My Hero Academia.

💻 Learning Computer Science (Breaking Into Tech) I’m diving into the tech world! From coding (hello, ITF cert!) to taking apart old PCs, I’m finding my way one broken thing at a time. Who knew tech could be this much fun? 💻

🔮 Tarot (Not Open for Readings... Yet) I love tarot, but I’m not doing readings right now. I’m using the cards for personal growth, reflection, and some much-needed chaos magic. 💫

🎮 Gamer Girl at Heart (tragically, yes, I do drink Mtn. Dew. And I got the Mountain Zu mount in FFXIVs end help) When I’m not writing, drawing, or tinkering with code, you’ll find me deep in Genshin Impact, Final Fantasy XIV, or Guild Wars 2. If you love chatting about quests, game lore, or theorycrafting, hit me up! 🎮

📺 Leverage is My Forever Fave Just one more heist show you’ll never get tired of. Leverage is everything—grifts, heart, banter, and family. I could watch the entire series on repeat forever. 🖤

🐾 Cat & Dog Tax Payer I proudly pay the kitty tax 🐱 and doggo tax 🐶 on an aggressively irregular basis. If you’re here for fur baby pics, you’ve come to the right place! Occasionally. When I remember. Or when Jasper and Luna want to cooperate.

🌿 Living with ADHD, PCOS, and POTS My life is a messy, chaotic whirlwind, but that’s what makes it mine! I’ve got ADHD, PCOS, and POTS, and I’m learning to embrace all my quirks and challenges along the way. 🦋 (please, just let me take a nap, I beg-- I am so tired all the time)

⚓ Ships: OTPs and Forever Faves Ships? Oh, I’ve got them. I ship Rivalshipping (both DM and GX!), Yullen, Tododeku, Chilumi, and (waaaay) more. If we don’t agree, that’s fine—live and let live. In the words of the Old Magic: Don’t Like, Don’t Read.

✦ Final Thoughts ✦

If you're into art, writing, gaming, tarot, or just enjoy a good dose of chaos, you've found the right place! Stick around and let's embrace the madness together! ✨

💌 Thanks for dropping by! Whether you're here for the weird, the quirky, or the absolutely nonsensical, I’m glad you came.

[would-anyone-like-some-bears]

Last rb got me heated about xiv again.... they managed to make an amazing example of things that bother me with Viper and Picto

Picto has plenty of buttons and its mechanics require an ammount of reading and theorycrafting to understand and a little creativity to line it up for a raid encounter

Viper is click shiny button BIG NUMBERS YAAAAY

Every class used to require a bit of thinking and talking to other players to line things up remember when dragoons and bards were best friends cuz drgoon used to apply piercing damage debuff on the enemy? That wasnt needed to clear any fight you could still do any party comp and win but there was the optimization potential. Instead of removing that kind of ability from the game why not give other classes a way to also apply that debuf? Ffxiv devs remove mechanics from the game and dont add them back in if anyone has played summoner fot as long as i have saw the way the devs were just taking things away taking away complexity for what? For new players to get bored in arr and still not play? Or are they trying to cycle the playerbase and get older fans to leave? Cuz both of these are happening and the game is dying. Dawntrail was actually a pretty good expac and yet.... most of the people i knew didnt come back for this expac because the game did not fundamentally change, its boring now.

Unless you just treat it like VR chat congrats! Now you have 2 games to do nothing in except this one you pay per month

[iamthespineofmybook]

I just played through Porta Decumana thanks to the Duty Roulette, and I think it interesting to note that Lahabrea never says the name of his god, but that the Heart of Sabik is just a fragment of its power.

And we saw at the end of the Abyssos raids of Pandaemonium that he re-absorbed the part of himself that became Hephaistos, which he split off entirely because of how that pseudo-merging with Athena affected him.

So it's entirely possible that Lahabrea was also "tempered" by Ultima, but managed to hide it from the others. He may even have been the source of the idea of teaching the flawed Primal Summoning Ritual in the first place, building towards Ultima Weapon (which almost worked in the Allag's time, but then it got buried) so he could bring about a resurrection of The High Seraph, rather than bring about Zodiark's recompletion and return.

Oh right the pandaemonium raids made me play connect the dots in my brain. I'm conspiracy boarding the new information with very old information.

So like. I've been playing a Call of Cthulhu tabletop campaign for a few years with some friends. The minute they brought the Heart of Sabik back into the story and started referencing Ultima, everything really clicked in my brain. Ultima, in her state as an extra-dimensional being, resembles the portrayal of the Outer Gods within cthulhu mythos, and the Heart of Sabik and other sorts of auracite act like cthulhu mythos objects, corrupting those who come in contact with them. So wow! Yeah! Seemed possible that she's their take on an outer god.

And then the P12S transition happened and they slapped tentacles onto Athena. So my initial "woah just like my tabletop setting" thoughts basically confirmed, especially with the transition alluding to the idea that the xiv reality was contained within the Heart of Sabik (Ultima), because this mirrors a common idea used in Lovecraftian horror, that our reality exists within Azathoth's dream and everything will end when he wakes.

So to connect all this to madness, we know that the Heart of Sabik can't create certain desires out of thin air, Athena was already a horrible person before she got her hands on the auracite, but it DOES have the power to corrupt. My conspiracy boarding for all of this is that given how it affected Athena, she was then able to use it to corrupt other ancients within pandaemonium, and that although this was for her own purposes, it ALSO would likely serve the interests of Ultima, The High Seraph. So we've got this rock that was used in Pandaemonium, prominently to make people act completely obsessed with their devotion to another being, demonstrated with Hesperos, Hephaistos, and Hegemone. This is very interesting in retrospect, considering what we know happens to the Heart of Sabik after we've wrapped up Pandaemonium in the ancient past. Lahabrea holds onto this thing for ages, and uses it to sew chaos at multiple points throughout the history of etheirys post-sundering. Interestingly, Lahabrea was also the unsundered responsible for teaching bastardized creation magicks to the oppressed peoples of the source in the form of primal summoning.

So basically I'm saying in my own conspiracy boarding headcanon, Ultima is the conceptual origin of Tempering in the ffxiv universe.

Also Ultima has like a zillion Jenova parallels but that's another post.

Thanks for reading this if you read it. Byeeeee

[duskargentum]

I've spent the past two hours poring over the Fire Emblem wiki and a whole bunch of other websites trying to theorycraft out a team build for a Maddening run of Three Houses. Don't know why I'm bothering considering FFXIV Dawntrail comes out next week but I'm having fun

[bluedorke]

sorry to all who finds this

Call me Blue, Larke, or K.

I write, draw and theorycraft. But mostly I talk about my ocs.

Tags

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@Meteorstormxiv - FFXIV oc blog (to be renamed and still fairly empty)

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Find me elsewhere

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[strangecloud]

Been playing some FFXIV lately. I bounced off of it pretty bad when I first played it back in the day.

It's a strange game for me personally because it should appeal to me in theory. MMO theorycrafting is nifty but it's more trouble than its worth, so FFXIV does away with character building almost completely. Your kit is more like a Monster Hunter moveset than a class that you can shape. The Fantasy is great, full of cool worldbuilding and distinct visuals and areas and lore. Focusing on MSQ gives solo players like me a good reason to log in every day.

I don't know what it was about it that drove me away, but I think it's the combat. I remember just not being able to keep up with DPS rotations and being too anxious to play anything else. I'm excited to try the Trust system and see if that ameliorates things a bit.

Also, I just want to praise what a stroke of genius it is to let people level more than one job per character. That's just a massive bonus to the pacing in general, although I can see the value in leveling alts that this doesn't really provide.

What made me come back is that the concept of a massive emerging narrative with my character as the point of view is appealing in concept, like your own version of a shonen anime. Helps that the world is actually cool to be in and even the filler quests usually teach you something about Eorzea.

I'm having fun.