#mhachi

[ffxiv-langs]

Evolution of "Mhach", "Belah'dia", "Ul'dah", and "Eorzea" through Mhachi, Belah'dian, Ul'dahn, and Eorzean

Mhachi "Mhach" (ṽax) -> Belah'dian "Mwa" -> Ul'dahn "Kwa" Eorzean loans native name as "Mwak" (gen. "Mwaki" independent derivation, original "Mhaing" not attested) The genitive is regularized to "Mwani" in Belah'dian and "Kwani" in Ul'dahn.

Reconstructed Mhachi form "belɔhe dax" to Belah'dian "belaa dja" spelled belah'dia, genitive in early Belah'dian was beluenti, and did not regularize like other demonyms formed with the genitive case. the use of the <h> in the orthography is due to historical h in Mhachi lengthening vowels. In Ul'dahn it is often called "Bela'dah", but in Eorzean the original name was loaned back, hence "Beradia" and "Berwenti". However, note that "Belwenti" is used in the modern day (as is Eorzean "Berwenti") as a term for those of Ul'dah who are not Lalafell. As a funky creole/interlang thing, Eorzean's phonotactics is simple yet loosely defined. While most of the Ul'dahn vocabulary lacks sonority plateaus, clusters especially with the rhotic <r> are more common in words from other sources, such as Eorzea {iorsia} and Aldenard {ardenard}. A lot of words also preserve aspects of earlier spellings, such as the <l> and <r> being written separately in "Aldenard". "Ul" is a loan from Dunesfolk Lalafellin, which had begun to lose the rhythmic system of the classical Lalafellin language, largely retaining it in names and in some residual reduplication rules. "dah" (phonetically: daa) is the phonetic evolution of "dia", in fact, so is "dih" in Sil'dih. In Eorzean, the name is spelled Uldah and pronounced "urdaa".

"Eorzea" {iorsia} as a word has a complicated origin in Eorzean, and cannot be directly traced to Ul'dahn origin and is likely an amalgamation of multiple terms for the land. However, it is definitely influenced by Ul'dahn {joroz} (whence {iorus} would be expected). These come, much more straightforwardly, from Belah'dian jorza, from Mhachi nhorza, from Allagan nórθ, from the Amaurotine formation noɬθ, whence also ultimately Norvrandt. The Mhachi/Belah'dian branch and the Voeburtic branch on the First (the origin of much of Norvrandtic's vocabulary, serving a similar role to Ul'dahn on the Source) are the only languages where noɬθ was not replaced (in fact, it was extremely uncommon in Allagan as well; some speculate it to be a term introduced by Emet-Selch directly as was the case for some Garlean terminology, namely the middle-name titles.)

[tallbluelady]

■ -  Bedroom/house/living quarters headcanon

... Uh. Wait. I may not have shared this detail yet...

After she marries Emet-Selch, Aoife lives in a magic cottage. A bit of a fusion of the Tardis (bigger on the inside), Baba Yaga's hut, and Howl's Moving Castle. Most of the time it's trundling along the borders of Mhach, but it'll make forays into Mhach proper if Selch needs some sort of artifact.

Aoife's room in particular is very pink because it reminds her of the field of flowers she and her sister would go to as children.

Thanks for the ask!

[seaseren]

What if...baby Dion... was a Riku...

[anneapocalypse]

Heavensward was a while ago and I remember almost nothing about the Sky Pirate raid storyline at this point, but reading Encyclopedia Eorzea I'm enjoying all the lore about the Void Ark from the Fifth Astral Era, and also realizing that the striking similarity in color scheme between the Void and Void-related things, and Heritage Found and electrope-related things, is probably not at accidental.

The Alexandrians are not the first people to prey upon the people of another reflection and attempt to harvest them as a resource. The Mhachi of the Source did something not entirely dissimilar, summoning voidsent across the rift and making thralls of them to fuel more and more powerful spellcraft. The Void Ark, intended as an escape from the impending Calamity of Water, was powered by voidsent thralls sealed within its hull.

And as we now understand, voidsent are people. People dramatically changed by the flood of Darkness that laid waste to their world, but people all the same.

[or-fi-s]

Wing-it TF for bobjoestevebill

She learned this old Mhachi trick to become beautiful and powerful! Conjurers hate her!

Posted using PostyBirb

[misedejem]

I really did just log in today mainly to put my Elezen in fun seasonal outfits and not much else

It’s his nameday so I had to give him a little bit of appreciation, in the form of getting him a deeply OOC new outfit :3

Mise’s all saints wake glam from last year has evolved into her pvp glam, so I think instead of embracing the edge today I’m going to give her cat ears in seal rock :3

[amons-hat-enthusiast]

Roevember 2024: Day 2 - Roots

To stand upon the place your ancestors built... It can take your breath away...

For some context here - Set'ia is a mage of Mhachi ancestry

[lizzy-calaxio]

Which jobs are canon to Lizzy? Did she get trained by the Canon npcs? What are her thoughts on her teachers?

Lizzy's canon jobs are BLM, DRK, GNB, SCH, NIN, SAM, and PCT

She doesn't learn any of them through the canon NPCs, her teachers are: - a mhachi mage that's somehow still alive (Black mage) - Feo Ul (Dark Knight) - GNB.....I haven't worked out yet - She's a self taught Scholar - yugiri teaches her ninja - Shio Shinju teaches her SAM - Krile teaches her PCT

She's fond of all of her teachers, and dating a couple of them

[mimble-sparklepudding]

White Magick.

The mages of Amdapor devised the arcane art of white magick during the Fifth Astral Era to counter the destructive black magick of Mhachi sorcerers in the infamous War of the Magi. Focusing upon spells of restoration and purification, the practice of white magic led to great advances in Amdapori society. 

[ffxivxd]

Calofisteri was once a Mhachi mage who transformed into the voidsent you see by combining the power of an aether-infused crystal with the ritual consumption of voidsent blood. This form not only granted her immense power but also immortality.

[xiv-wolfram]

WolfBahn Ship Summary - Part 1

Prequel

I realized the comics are... a lot. So I decided to make a short summary of my Wolfram x Raubahn ship. As I started to write I realized it was also... a lot. So clearly WolfBahn is simply... a lot. Eh, this is still way less to read than the comics, enjoy.

Warnings - imperfect neurodivergent protagonist, voidsent, domestic argument that turned a teeny tiny bit physical

Ul'dah

Wolfram Vought and Raubahn Aldynn met 15 years before A Realm Reborn at ages 25/29 in Thanalan. Wolfram (A recently reformed bandit, Gyr Abanian refugee, and the future Warrior of Light) wanted gladiator training as he was accustomed to a rapier. Raubahn, a gladiator (for the guild, not a prisoner), just thought he was trying to pick him up after a tourney. They ended up talking and hit it off almost instantly, bonding over being from the same country, shared interests, and good ol' fashioned Garlean hatred. After hours of walking around Ul'dah conversing, Rau had given up on his assumption that Wolf was interested in him romantically but was happy to have a new friend. Demisexual Wolfram just needed a bit of time to get to know him and surprised Raubahn with a kiss after they had talked all night. Wolfram decided to stay in Ul'dah, but not as a gladiator. He became a cook at the Quicksand.

They fell in love unnaturally quickly and lived together happily for 2 years. Raubahn appreciated Wolf's sincerity, sense of humor, and being non-judgemental and supportive. He even enjoyed his empathic abilities. Wolfram loved how the gladiator could keep him grounded, admired his heroic nature, that he helped him calm down during panic attacks, and generally made him feel safe (the dude has trauma™). They were great friends as well as partners. Wolfram taught Raubahn how to cook. Raubahn taught Wolfram more fighting techniques. They enjoyed sparring and fighting monsters. Exploring together. They’d a whole future planned out. Wolfram was going to propose they be eternally bonded, but couldn't in good conscience until he told Raubahn about his past. One night, after a horrible nightmare, he confessed. 

6 years prior, the Decurio who led the small group of Garleans occupying his village requested Wolfram’s young sister’s hand in marriage in exchange for going easier on the family’s inn. He overheard his parents considering the offer. Wolf had been secretly studying his grandmother’s tomes on void magic and in his anger summoned a hellhound. Something went wrong and the voidsent that arrived was far more powerful than he could control. It possessed him and forced him to watch as it transformed, using his body to not only kill the Garleans but his whole village, including his family. His Mhachi grandmother did a ritual to bind it before her death, saying it was still within him and he would have to control his emotions to keep it imprisoned. (He didn't mention to Rau that the voidsent often talked to him.) Wolf then fled to The Black Shroud and became a bandit while adjusting to his new reality.

Raubahn was shocked but kept his poker face and asked for some details. Wolf admitted to killing several other bandits who he thought were a threat but insisted he only robbed rich travelers. After a few years, he had gotten control over the hellhound and wanted a more stable life, so he moved to Ul’dah. He said he was so glad when he met Raubahn because the gladiator was able to calm him down when the voidsent was causing him to panic and so clearly a good person that maybe he could help Wolf become good too.

Raubahn was horrified at his partner's actions and the fact that he'd lied and put him in danger for the entirety of their relationship, but even more so that Wolfram refused to accept responsibility for his own decisions and insisted on blaming the Garleans. As if all that wasn’t bad enough, he had robbed and murdered people he didn’t need to. Rau questioned if Wolf actually cared for him or if it was a selfish love born from wanting to be taught ‘goodness’. Wolfram seemed to have changed now - but could Raubahn ever be sure? Could he ever trust the man who would do those things and refuse to accept the guilt for them? The conversation got away from them both. Wolfram was defensive, panicked, and pushy. Raubahn was angry at Wolf’s insistence on his innocence, downplaying what he did. The gladiator tried to walk out, Wolf tried to stop him, Rau shoved him away then left, telling him if he ever saw him again he’d have him arrested. Raubahn quickly calmed down and returned to apologize but Wolf had already gone. They wouldn't speak for many years.

The Shroud

Wolfram traveled back to the Black Shroud and quickly acknowledged to himself that Raubahn had been right about everything. He would have immediately apologized and accepted the guilt, but he was terrified of going to jail if Rau made good on his threat. In part, because it didn’t sound like a pleasant experience, but also because he could be made to fight in the Bloodsands and was worried about what would happen if he lost control of the hellhound in a crowded coliseum in the middle of a large city. After a month-long bender (in which he realized alcohol would quiet the voidsent’s voice) Wolfram decided to join the Conjurer's Guild to learn to heal and become a better person on his own. Raubahn was right about that too - it had been selfish to expect the love of someone to fix him. Besides, white magic would become useful for something he had to take care of if he ever made it back to Gyr Abania.

Red Magic

After 6 years Wolfram heard that Raubahn had bought the Coliseum, joined the Syndicate, and reformed the Immortal Flames. The conjurer gathered the courage to head to Thanalan to offer his services to the Flames - hopefully winning Raubahn's forgiveness. On the way, he ran into a fellow Gyr Abanian named X'Rhun Tia. The miqo'te had a unique fighting style that combined magic with a rapier. They got along well and X’Rhun offered to train Wolfram in red magic. Wolf couldn't pass up the opportunity, deciding he'd been a fool to believe he could return to Ul'dah anyway.

Calamity

For the next 3 years, Wolfram trained with X’Rhun, quickly mastering Red Magic and helping his friend find more apprentices to teach. Then came the 7th Umbral Calamity. Wolfram was away in Kugane at the time but once word reached that the Eorzean Alliance would be fighting Garleans at Carteneu he teleported himself to the South Shroud and rushed to make it to the battle in time. He was almost there when the moon cracked open. Wolf couldn’t help but watch as fire rained from the sky. Once it was over, he saw from afar that Raubahn had survived. He couldn’t bring himself to approach the General, but knowing he was safe was enough. Wolfram quickly started aiding the injured soldiers. He healed many before the Echo visions of the dying overwhelmed him.

The next 5 years were spent in well-masked anxiety - assuming that the voidsent had gained the ability to show Wolfram nightmares while he was awake. Something he didn’t tell a soul. Helping victims of the calamity as a member of the Adventurer’s Guild was a nice distraction. He didn’t make much gil but it was enough to buy a small apartment in Limsa Lominsa. In all that time Wolf kept tabs on Raubahn (easily, he was famous after all). Wolfram's love never faded, but he learned to live with the pain and focus on helping others as a way to make amends for his past. He was so resolved to not even date that it often worried his best friend and roommate Rhun. 

Raubahn had been busy in those 13 years, but everyone knows his story. He adopted his son Pipin. He became a wealthy politician and military commander. He did *try* dating, but didn't find anyone he could see a future with. As his political power rose so did the rumors. Simply dancing with his friend Merlwyb at an event had sparked gossip and accusations of collusion. He gave up on public relationships completely after joining the Syndicate for fear of what the Monetarists would do to any partner of his. The General did have a few casual lovers who respected his need for discretion but his focus was on leading the city he’d come to truly call home. Raubahn often found himself wondering if Wolfram was still alive but couldn't track the former bandit down due to his penchant for using an alias.

Part 2 - A Realm Reborn

[beholderfromthenorth]

Day 10: Stable

“It’s done!” Over the savage crackling of unleashed lightning aether buzzing all around him, Domitien Noirterel, errant thaumaturge and scholar of ancient Mhach, cackled in ecstatic triumph. In his right hand, he clutched his arcane staff, crescent head ablaze with scintillant blue light; from the outstretched fingers of his left, arcs of lightning sparked and danced. His aether coursed back and forth, from his core to the head of the staff by way of the robe bound tightly around his body. The surface of its midnight-blue fabric was alight in rivulets of that same blue light as his aether followed the esoteric patterns of the threads sewn across it. Each was soaked in arcane power; dyed with aetheroconductive inks of the very highest quality. Not quite as potent as the techniques of the Mhachi, who substituted ink for the lifeblood of contract-bound voidsent, but damn close – and more importantly, finally stable and consistent in the aetherflow they were able to carry. Each arc and symbol, an arcane geometry in itself, focused and magnified his power as the aether passed through it. By the time it reached the staff where it may coalesce and obey the command of his magicks, it was compressed and augmented far beyond his body’s normal capacity. Ahead of him, some twenty-five yalms away, the remains of a training dummy smoked and crackled – blasted apart seconds ago by a single horrid bolt of lightning. Violet light blazed behind Domitien’s eyepatch as the crystal and bone within his false eye drank deep of his coursing aether, just as it was designed to do. Trial and error after trial and error had finally carried him here, step by arduous step, and his progress in understanding and emulating the techniques by which the voidmages of eld amplified their magic had finally borne its sweetest fruit yet.

[pointyhatspointyears]

Silly question, but does Yasumi have a second name? And is her heritage Dunesfolk or Plainsfolk?

Curious why you'd ask, Mimble. Hmmm~~

Well short answer is not really. Granny Yasu doesn't follow traditional lalafellin naming conventions because she probably wasn't a lalafell to begin with and Yasumi is only one of the names that aren't her original name but people saw fit to call her (Hingan wife used it once to describe how she made her feel, so she kept it.)

Longer answer re: her heritage is a bit of an oc lore dump.

She was born an Amdapori child (probably a hyur) with a name now lost to time. Her soul was used among many others' to power the guardian golems that would counter the Mhachi attack and she was consequently sealed in the same prison as Diabolos after the war. For the first 500 years or so that as they waged their own war in their own void bubble, he called her Kuribu (though it wasn't her own name so much as the amalgamation of all the Amdapori souls sacrificed to animate that particular guardian.) For the following 1000 years and as their initial animosity slowly turned into a sort of mutual empathy and then mentorship, he gave her a new name, Oriax, as well as the power that came with it and partial command over his legion.

Later when she was released from the void back into this realm she found she had taken on the features of what were once her people's enemies, the Mhachi Dunesfolk, carrying residual knowledge of their void magic passed onto her by Diabolos as well as her original Amdapori white and summoning magic.

No one was there to give her a lalafellin name, but Matoya did give her a proper Sharlayan name just so she could get her into academia, which she eventually despised and has long since done away with, the only remnants of which can be found scribbled in the margins under less-than-flattering doodles of certain Sharlayan individuals or cited in the footnotes of some books in the Gubal library..

[scrollsfromarebornrealm]

Free Day #3: Built

-----

Neyuni frowned, pressing herself as close as she could to the wall. Normally she could hear very well, but ever since Riven and her friends had arrived, it’d become hard to pick up on conversations. A frown crossed the little Hhetsarro’s face as only muffled noises came though. Getting up, she moved over to the sealed door and...ah!

“-sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry.” Mathye said. “If anything, I should be the one apologizing. I should have been able to sense what’s been going on, but—”

“Mat, you said it yourself. The machina and the regulators play merry hell with your white magery. Unless you and Halone picked up another skill that we didn’t know about, none of us expect that you’re able to see what’s going on with the soul.” Augustine interjected.

“Just the fact that you were able to pick up on ‘wrongness’ I would think is pretty commendable.” Reinhardt added. He sombered. “But to think Zoraal Ja went this far, just to try and replicate us…”

“Do you think Sphene knew?” Riven asked. Mathye snorted.

“Knew? She was probably up to her little machina head in it!” He replied, his tone acidic. “Damn the so-called First Promise! Here’s even more empirical evidence that he wasn’t fit for anything, dabbling in affairs that were far beyond him!”

“Also the possible fact that our kind is unique amongst the reflections.” Sebastian said dryly. “As if we needed more proof that Emet-Selch was completely and utterly deranged.”

“Not just the reflections.” Augustine’s gaze flicked to Yaana. “You and any other fighter that are…for lack of a better word, my apologizes—” He made quotation marks with his fingers. “pure Turali, so to speak. Your bloodlines may have never been tampered with. That’s probably the primary reason why there have never been Dominants and Eikons on this side of the world.”

“Tampered with?” Yaana repeated, tilting her head in confusion. Then she blinked as a thought occurred to her.

“Wait, I do remember you all talking about this when the tournament was going on! You said that your bodies have been designed for your sou—I mean, Eikons! That’s not just limited to you lot?!” Neyuni’s eyes widened.

“No. High-aetherical bloodlines are extremely common in both Eorzea and the Far East.” Mathye said, gesturing. “The body that houses an Eikon needs to be able to hold and channel a vast amount of aether—without giving out. Millennia ago in Eorzea, every single race—Hyurs, Lalafell, Viera, just to name a few—all were subjected to enhancement and breeding programs by the Allagan Empire. The goal was to create powerful bloodlines in almost all the population—essentially ensuring that Eikons could endure from generation to generation.”

“A few millennia later, three warring nations only added to what the Allagans had started.” Sebastian added. “The Mhachi, Nymians, and Amdaporians considered high aetherical ability to be an extremely attractive trait in a person. Not only did they breed for powerful spellcasters, but also for their own Dominants and Eikons as well.

“So, you lot are quite literally built for this.” Yaana breathed. She looked at Mathye. “Is this something that can be reversed?” The group looked at each other, and Riven was the first to speak.

“Maybe?” She offered, shrugging. “The problem is, the idea of reversing the process is still very new. And now there’s a general push for our kind to repopulate, especially since in certain cases we are the only ones that can fight and defeat certain…creatures.”

“Which is a tall order if I ever heard one.” Reinhardt muttered.

“Repopulate?” Yaana repeated. “Wait. I thought there were more of you?!” Her eyes widened as the Eorzeans shook their heads.

“The Garlean Empire did a very good job of exterminating our kind.” Augustine said softly. “Wiping out entire bloodlines and damaging the Eikon to the point where all they could do was rejoin the Lifestream, so that their aether could disperse into the great flow.”

“There’s been a few instances of a distant-enough relation and the remnants of the Eikon are able to rejoin, but they won’t be as powerful as they once were.” Riven inhaled, remembering what had happened in Sharlayan shortly before Wuk Lamat’s arrival. It had been discovered that there was a surviving member of one of the Hingashi Eikon bloodlines living and working in the city as a researcher on the Ragnarok. That distant connection had been enough for the Eikon associated with the emperor’s family, Yahata—to manifest in the newborn the survivor had given birth to.

Not to mention, some Eikons don’t follow bloodlines…they follow the soul. Valefor being one of them. Then there had been the events involving the Twelve—those who had stayed behind were still working on reestablishing their connections to the planet.

“That might be something worth talking to the Vow of Resolve and the Vow of Reason about.” Mathye’s voice broke into Riven’s thoughts. “Zoraal Ja wasn’t the first fool to try and replicate an Eikon/Dominant pair, and he won’t be the last. If someone was motivated enough to cross the sea and try to get their hands on a turaal vidraal…”

"More artificial Eikons.” Sebastian finished. Riven frowned, turning her head towards the room’s door.

“Little ears.” She said. Neyuni gasped.

[anneapocalypse]

What is "the occult" in FFXIV?

Ever since I first laid eyes on the EE3 bit about Urianger's parents I have been noodling on one thing in particular. Encyclopedia Eorzea volume 3 refers to "the occult" as Urianger's parents' field of study (and the reason they were so absent from his life). Every since that discovery, I have been curious what that actually means. What is "the occult" in a universe where magic is real, measurable, and a highly legitimate and prestigious field of study?

So, where else is "the occult" referenced in the game?

Thanks to this invaluable searchable transcript, I've found a few other references in MSQ.

The first use of the term "occult" in MSQ that I've found is way back in the Gridania starter quests when some Ixali "Occultists" are trying to summon Garuda at the Guardian Tree. In isolation I'd take this one with a grain of salt since it's very early in ARR, but I think it's consistent with other usages. The description for Whorleater Extreme also uses the term, referencing "the occult knowledge of the Ascians," so from the start there is an association of the occult with Ascian magicks and specifically with summoning.

The only other mention in MSQ comes from Alphinaud in Endwalker, where he and Krile are giving us the tour of Sharlayan, and specifically Phenomenon:

Alphinaud: As the center of what would later become the Studium, it was established to promote the study of aetherological phenomena, hence the name. Alphinaud: Though with aether being a fundamental aspect of nature, its scope expanded to include every conceivable facet of life and even the universe itself. Alphinaud: And then, in the four hundred and thirty-second year of the Sixth Astral Era, Phenomenon was decreed complete and the Studium officially opened as a place of learning. Alphinaud: With a long and storied history, it is without question the world's leading authority in aetherology, the arcane, the occult, astromancy, and countless other fields, standing proud as─ Alisaie and Krile: ...Sharlayan's foremost educational institute!

Okay, so "the occult" clearly falls within the general field of aetherological phenomena and magic, though that we could have guessed already. Something that catches my eye is how in more than one place, "occult" is contrasted with or referenced as distinct from "arcane." This is the case in Alphinaud's speech above, as well as in the Blue Mage quest "Everybody Was Fukumen Fighting," wherein Bluehood says, "No occult tricks or arcane incantations can contend with the all-surpassing might of blue wizardry!"

In the Loporrit Allied Society quests, we also get this odd little quest "Hare-Raising Thrills," in which we're asked to make "Occult Paraphernalia" for a Loporrit called Thrillingway. Depending on crafting job, dialogue with Keepingway will elaborate thus:

"It seems he requires a pair of shears─but not just any pair. No, he desires blades sharp enough to carve fur clean off!"

"He wants a sturdy coil of rope suitable for binding all four limbs of…a 'friend,' allegedly."

"Seems he wants a highly acidic gel for some dubious purpose I did not have the heart to inquire about. Honestly, I think it's best if we don't know."

Which. I mean. Okay. lol. Do what you will with that.

But probably most illuminating is the use of the word "occult" in a couple of Red Mage quests, and in the Sky Pirate raid quests.

In "The Weeping City," Cait Sith says, "Thus did the Mhachi magi construct an occult device that would more securely bind the voidsent to their will..."

And in the Red Mage quests "With Heart and Steel" and "Traced in Blood" we have, respectively:

"The tomes with passages pertaining to the voidsent Lilith are all forbidden occult works..."

and

"...the secrets behind Lambard's occult transformation."

In both contexts, "occult" seems to be connected to voidsent, specifically to Lilith in the case of the Red Mage quests.

And this ties back to the references in ARR as well, since from the beginning Ascians have been connected with the Void, even before we knew what the Void actually was. So it's safe to say at this point, I think, that "occult" can refer to magicks connected to the Void and to Ascians.

There's just one more reference I found that flummoxed me a bit, and that's this description of the Arcanist class, which refers to arcanist weapons as "occult grimoires." I found it odd initially because in most other contexts "occult" seems to refer to magicks seen as illicit, as opposed to the socially acceptable "arcane." But it does make a kind of sense, given that it is from Arcanist that we get Summoner. If summoning of primals is occult, then by extension so is summoning in the arcanist sense, even if it's not truly the same thing. This would seem to be the exception to "arcane" and "occult" being distinct categories, which leads me to believe that the distinction is more cultural than ontological.

So I think from the above, we can consider "occult" to be a fairly broad term that may be used in several distinct but overlapping senses:

Magic related to the summoning of primals.

Magic related to the Void, voidsent, and Ascians.

Magic which is taboo, forbidden, or otherwise outside of that which is socially accepted.

As a footnote, I think this is particularly interesting in the context of Urianger being introduced as our resident expert on primals, despite the fact that that's... really not specifically his field of study but merely adjacent to it. Urianger's primary interest is prophecy, and certainly plenty of prophecy seems to reference primals and Ascians and that's where we see him doing a lot of his research, but it's not the same field, merely overlapping.

Without more information we can't know for certain what his parents were actually studying. Maybe they were interested in primals, or Ascians, or the Void. Maybe they were studying Void-related magics. It's also possibly they were simply arcanists particularly interested in the summoner side and we shouldn't read much more than that into the reference to "the occult." Who knows.

But nonetheless, several of these interpretations would mean that in a way, Urianger has followed in their footsteps despite their making apparently little effort to guide him that way, which I find to be an interesting angle to his character and also profoundly sad in its own way--not that he found his own interests in those areas, but that the Augurelts had a child so naturally inclined toward their own interests and still took so little interest in him.

[morocosmos]

FFXIVWrite 2024 Day 6 - Halcyon

Masterlist Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV Characters/Pairings: Leofard Myste, Warrior of Light Rating: Gen Additional Notes: - Ao3 Link

As time with the Redbills passed, pockets of routine began to form in Moro’a’s day, like water carving out the bends of a river. Sky pirates weren’t exempt from dirty clothes and dusty surfaces, and mealtimes were often had together, far more often than Moro’a thought a band of ruffians from all walks of life might. Stacia would scold Utata for trying to skip their shared repast to tinker at machinery; Ghimsald would sometimes burst into song, picking out one of the many tunes he’d gathered from his days as an altogether different kind of pirate, and cajoling the other Redbills into joining him when the ale had settled into their bellies.

And on many nights, including this one, Moro’a found himself on Leofard’s rooftop, gazing up at the Sea of Clouds’ endless swathes of stars. The air smelled of T’kana’s cooking, and the lightly-perfumed smoke wafting from Leofard’s direction; the hyur rarely indulged, or so he claimed, but tonight was just the right sort of evening for a drag.

“I worked me arse off haulin’ those baubles out of that cave!” Leofard exclaimed in offence when Moro’a questioned him. “Wasn’t my fault some ancient Dravanian decided to bury her keepsakes there, or that a ruddy ‘bo tried to launch flamin’ rocks on our heads. A puff or two is me demonstrating restraint.”

Moro’a grinned, content to let it slide. “You know, the Dravanians sometimes burn camphor branches in Anyx Trine. Mostly to keep the Gnath away, but some of them like the smell.”

“Are you telling me dragons smoke? Ess Khas should’ve given me some.”

Moro’a snorted. Leave it to Leofard to consider something like that without an onze of hesitation. He shifted, resting his head on his palms as he settled into the pile of blankets Leofard had spread out on the rooftop.

“It’s a good life, eh?” Leofard said, somewhere between a remark and a question. “Adventure just ‘round the corner, wherever and whenever you wish. A peaceful night when you’ve had your fill.” 

“You? Desire peace?”

“Hah! Still full of surprises, am I? Though I suppose you weren’t in a position to take everything in when we were huntin’ down that Mhachi ship.” He paused, holding the cigar to his lips before exhaling a stream of smoke. “To be honest, I’m mighty chuffed you accepted my offer.”

Moro’a turned to look at him, curious. “Why’s that?”

“I suppose I wanted to give you a taste of this.” Leofard’s hand swept across the sky, gesturing at the whole expanse. “The Redbill way of life. We do as we please and go where we please, aye, but we still have the things what define us. A place to rest our wings. And when it comes to it, there’s nothin’ else like home.”

Home, Moro’a considered. He’d long accepted for himself that home was something he carried with him, memories and bonds he held in his heart. A wanderer’s refuge, incapable of being rooted to any one place. 

But he did like it here — an isle suspended amongst eternal clouds, fashioned into a home for a found flock. It would never be a permanent fixture for him, he knew, but a familiar haunt? “I could get used to this,” he admitted softly, moreso to himself than Leofard.