Background Story

Final Fantasy XIV – World History (Part 1)

The Ancients, Meteion, Zodiark, Hydaelyn and the Sundering

The World of Etheirys

The world of Final Fantasy XIV is called Etheirys. Long before the present age, there existed only a single highly advanced civilisation. They did not think of themselves as a people or nation, but simply as humanity. In later ages, they would be referred to as the Ancients or Amaurotines.

The Ancients were physically and mentally far superior to the peoples of the present day. They lived for thousands of years, aged only slowly and possessed exceptionally dense aether reserves. This allowed them to use what was known as Creation Magicks.

With this magic, they could create matter, plants, animals and even complex living beings through nothing more than imagination and control of their aether. However, every Ancient had to learn to control their thoughts completely. Uncontrolled emotions could produce flawed or dangerous creations.

The centre of their civilisation was the enormous city of Amaurot, which served as the capital and administrative centre of the world.

The Convocation of Fourteen

The world was governed by the Convocation of Fourteen.

Each member possessed a title instead of a personal office and was responsible for a particular area. Whenever a member stepped down, their title was passed on to a successor.

Among the best-known members were:

• Emet-Selch, responsible for administration, history and long-term planning.
• Lahabrea, responsible for research and Creation Magicks.
• Elidibus, the mediator of the Convocation and guardian of balance.
• Azem, the traveller of the Convocation, who journeyed across the world, solved problems directly and maintained contact with its people.

The soul of the later Warrior of Light is a fragment of the last person to bear the title of Azem.

Venat

Before Azem, the title was held by a woman named Venat.

After voluntarily stepping down from her position, she remained a highly respected figure within society. Unlike many members of the Convocation, Venat believed that progress was only possible if new generations were allowed to gain their own experiences and make their own decisions.

This conviction would later change the course of the entire history of the world.

Elpis

Outside Amaurot stood the research facility known as Elpis.

Researchers developed new plants, animals and lifeforms there. Every new creation was initially tested in Elpis before a decision was made as to whether it could be introduced to Etheirys.

The head of Elpis was Hermes.

Hermes differed from most Ancients in that he was exceptionally compassionate. While many of his colleagues primarily judged creations according to their usefulness, Hermes felt deep sympathy for every living being that was created and frequently questioned the reasoning behind the decisions made by his society.

Meteion

Hermes eventually created a new kind of lifeform.

Her name was Meteion.

Meteion possessed an almost bird-like body covered in blue feathers, and she was not alone. Hermes created numerous identical sisters who collectively formed a shared consciousness.

Unlike the Ancients, Meteion made little use of aether. Instead, her unique ability was to perceive and influence Dynamis.

Dynamis is an energy that responds to feelings, desires, hope and despair. While aether forms the foundation of matter and magic, Dynamis is closely connected to emotions.

Because the Ancients possess exceptionally large quantities of aether, they can only perceive Dynamis very weakly. Beings with less aether, however, have a much stronger connection to Dynamis.

The Search for the Meaning of Life

Hermes gave Meteion a mission.

She and her sisters were to travel across the universe and answer a single question:

"What is the meaning of life?"

The Meteia travelled to countless stars.

They encountered innumerable civilisations.

Yet almost every world had already fallen or was approaching its end.

Some peoples destroyed themselves through war.

Others lost all desire to live.

Some were wiped out by disease.

Others evolved so far that they completely lost the desire to continue living.

Through their shared consciousness, all the Meteia exchanged their experiences with one another.

Gradually, they accumulated almost nothing but memories of suffering, hopelessness and extinction.

The Birth of Despair

Eventually, Meteion reached a conclusion.

If every civilisation eventually fails...

if every life eventually ends...

and if even the happiest worlds ultimately descend into suffering...

then life has no meaning.

To Meteion, the end of all life became an act of mercy.

Not out of hatred.

Not out of malice.

But out of profound compassion.

She believed that no one would ever have to suffer again if there were no life left.

Through Dynamis, she began sending this despair throughout the entire cosmos.

Eventually, this wave of hopelessness reached Etheirys.

The Final Days

When the despair reached Etheirys, the catastrophe later known as the Final Days began.

The Ancients lost control of their Creation Magicks.

Their fears and worst imaginings materialised instantly.

People transformed into grotesque monsters.

Creations ran rampant.

Cities were destroyed.

The world stood on the brink of complete annihilation.

No one understood the true origin of the catastrophe.

Even the Convocation believed it to be some unknown natural phenomenon.

The Creation of Zodiark

In order to save the world, the Convocation decided to make an enormous sacrifice.

Half of all Ancients willingly sacrificed their lives.

From their souls, the most powerful Primal ever summoned was created.

Zodiark.

Zodiark stabilised the laws of reality.

The Final Days came to a halt.

The world was saved.

Afterwards, further Ancients sacrificed their lives so that Zodiark could restore the devastated natural world.

Plants began growing again.

Animals returned.

The world began to recover.

The Conflict

Many members of the Convocation now wanted to take a third step.

They planned to sacrifice the newly created life of the world.

Through this sacrifice, they intended to resurrect all the Ancients who had given their lives for Zodiark.

To Emet-Selch and many others, this was a fair exchange.

They regarded the new lifeforms merely as temporary replacements.

Venat vehemently disagreed.

To her, the new life possessed the same value as the old.

She refused to accept that future generations should be sacrificed in order to restore the past.

Hydaelyn

Venat gathered like-minded individuals around her.

Together, they created a second Primal.

Hydaelyn.

While Zodiark represented order and restoration, Hydaelyn stood for change, freedom and the future.

A battle between the two beings followed.

However, Hydaelyn did not defeat Zodiark by destroying him.

Instead, she used her entire power to divide reality itself.

The Sundering

This event became known as the Sundering.

The world was shattered into fourteen parts.

These became:

• The Source, the original world.
• Thirteen Reflections, mirror worlds of the Source.

Almost all souls were divided along with the world.

One complete soul became fourteen fragments.

This is why modern humans possess only a fraction of the strength, aether and lifespan of the Ancients.

Most memories of the original world were completely lost.

The Unsundered

Only three Ancients escaped the Sundering completely:

• Emet-Selch
• Lahabrea
• Elidibus

They would later become known as the Unsundered Ascians.

To them, the new humanity was incomplete.

They saw the inhabitants of the Source and its Reflections merely as fragments of the people they had once known.

From that moment onwards, they devoted their entire existence to a single goal:

To reverse the Sundering.

To restore the original world.

And to bring all the sacrificed Ancients back to life.

Thus began the millennia-long history of the Ascians and the Hydaelyn–Zodiark saga.

Timeline in Final Fantasy XIV

The story takes place after the events of Shadowbringers, with G'raha Tia having returned to the Source and awakened in his original body.

Character Information

Physical age: 24 Psychological age: 324 Origin: Corvos Race: Miqo'te / Seeker of the Sun Name: G'raha Tia; among friends, relatives or lovers, he is called Raha.

Information About the Miqo'te / Seekers of the Sun

Diurnal

As one might expect from their self-chosen tribal name, the Seekers of the Sun have many followers of the sun goddess Azeyma among their ranks.

Despite their relatively small numbers, their 26 tribes are scattered throughout the region. Small groups of Seekers can be found in the sandy Sagolii Desert, southern Thanalan and as far as the jagged mountains of Gyr Abania.

Other Seekers have even settled in Limsa Lominsa, attracted by the freedom of the pirate lifestyle.

Many Seekers, particularly those of the younger generation, choose to set out as adventurers, perhaps following the same call of the wild that their ancestors once heard.

Main Habitats

• La Noscea (Limsa Lominsa)
• Sagolii Desert
• Gyr Abania
• Forgotten Oasis (U Tribe)

Physical Characteristics

Approximately a head shorter and physically more slender than the average Hyur, Miqo'te are blessed with wiry strength, above-average agility and the stamina to run for hours beneath the heat of the sun — a combination of traits that makes them perfectly suited to hunting in arid climates.

Many Seekers of the Sun who are skilled at climbing and diving are therefore also excellent sailors.

One of their most striking physical features is their eyes, with their narrow, vertically aligned pupils and barely pigmented irises.

Culture

The Seekers of the Sun are a highly patriarchal society.

Each tribe centres around a breeding male, known as a Nunh, whose role is to form a harem and lead his people towards fame and prosperity.

All males are born and raised as Tia. In order to claim the position of Nunh, a Tia must challenge the existing Nunh and defeat him in single combat.

If the Tia is victorious, he takes the Nunh's place as the breeding male until he is challenged and defeated himself. The former Nunh becomes a Tia again, provided he survives the ordeal.

This system is intended to ensure that the tribe's offspring inherit the strongest genes.

There is only one other way for a Tia to become a Nunh: he can leave his tribe and establish his own.

However, he needs several female Seekers of the Sun to join him, and they are generally not very impressed by a man who cannot defeat the reigning Nunh.

The status of Nunh is not connected to a leadership role within the tribe. In fact, very few Nunh ever become tribal leaders.

In particularly large tribes, multiple Nunh may exist within the same community, although such cases are relatively uncommon.

The ratio of Nunh to women is generally between 1:10 and 1:50. The exchange of women between tribes also appears to be a logical practice.

Contrary to what many assume, women are likely to hold considerable influence within a tribe. They are the driving force behind hunting and gathering. If they do not support their Nunh, he cannot maintain his position.

Women possess a strong sense of community with one another, and being chosen as the wife of a Nunh is considered a great honour.

To them, it is perfectly natural for the Nunh to have a harem.

Traditional Cuisine

The traditional dish of the Seekers of the Sun is Yugr'am Salmon à la Meunière.

One of the ingredients is Yugr'am salmon, which is coated in flour, fried in butter and served with herbs.

Another speciality is grilled tuna skewers.

Faith

Seekers of the Sun are known for worshipping Azeyma.

Naming Conventions

Male

Most male Miqo'te have simple one- or two-syllable names whose pronunciation is similar to English.

The additional "h" found in names such as "Bhee", "Kuzh" and "Pahsh" represents a slight hissing sound made by the feline Miqo'te when speaking.

Most other races in Eorzea cannot reproduce this sound correctly, meaning that the "h" remains silent in their pronunciation: Bee, Kuz, Pash.

A letter is always placed before the given name to represent the individual's tribe.

During the mass exodus in the Fifth Astral Era, the 26 Seeker tribes crossed the sea to Eorzea — which had completely frozen over as a result of the Calamity — in search of food and a warmer climate.

The names of these tribes contained many sounds that were difficult to represent using the Eorzean alphabet.

However, the fact that there were exactly as many tribes as there were letters in the Eorzean alphabet was interpreted as a sign of destiny, indicating that Eorzea was to become their new home.

Thus, each tribe was assigned a letter or sound that most closely resembled its name.

Over time, their pronunciation gradually became more similar to that of the corresponding Eorzean letter, moving further away from the pronunciation of the original tribal name.

The tribal names originally derived from traditional animal totems that were believed to protect each respective tribe.

Male Seekers of the Sun do not have surnames because they themselves are the "origin" of new families.

Instead of a surname, they receive a title indicating their tribe and their position within it.

There are only two different positions for male Seekers of the Sun: breeding males (Nunh) and everyone else (Tia).

All male representatives are born as Tia.

A Tia may challenge the tribe's Nunh to a fight at any point during his life.

If the Tia wins, he takes the Nunh's place as the breeding male until he is challenged and defeated himself. The former Nunh becomes a Tia again, provided he survives the ordeal.

This is intended to ensure that the tribe's offspring receive the strongest possible genes.

Depending on the size of the tribe, it may have several Nunh, with the average ratio being ten to fifty women per Nunh.

There is only one other way for a Tia to become a Nunh: he leaves his tribe and establishes his own.

However, he needs several female Seekers of the Sun to join him, and they are generally not very impressed by a man who cannot defeat the reigning Nunh.

The status of Nunh is not, however, connected to a leadership position within the tribe.

In fact, very few Nunh ever become leaders.

Although separated by an apostrophe, the tribal sound usually flows naturally into the given name.

For example, O'raha is pronounced "o-RA-ha", rather than "OH. raha".

Appearance

Reddish-brown hair, short and tied into a small braided ponytail at the back.

Blood-red eyes.

Reddish-brown cat ears and a cat tail.

Pale skin with beige-coloured Miqo'te clan markings beneath the inner corners of his eyes.

He is 1.57 m tall and has an athletic build.

Otherwise, he prefers loose, comfortable and practical clothing suitable for adventuring with the Warrior of Light, usually in shades of red, black, brown and grey.

Personality / Behaviour

Personality

G'raha is polite, warm-hearted and exceptionally attentive.

He treats almost everyone with respect and genuine kindness.

Outwardly, he usually appears calm, composed and optimistic, even in difficult situations.

Behind this façade, however, is a man who often puts his own happiness last.

He tends to consider the needs of others more important than his own and almost regards making sacrifices as a matter of course if doing so can help someone else.

Despite his enormous intelligence and experience, he possesses an almost youthful enthusiasm.

New places, unfamiliar cultures, good food or shared adventures can pull him out of his otherwise controlled demeanour within seconds.

A Particular Strength

G'raha possesses an extraordinary understanding of people.

He often recognises insecurities, worries and unspoken desires long before anyone else notices them.

His time as the Crystal Exarch forced him to lead people and inspire hope across generations.

Because of this, many people experience him as someone who makes them feel immediately understood.

Ironically, this talent applies to almost everyone except himself.

The Crystal Exarch

Shadowbringers Timeline

The memories of the Exarch and those of his younger self now coexist within him.

As a result, G'raha carries experiences that far exceed his actual 24 years of age.

He remembers decades filled with responsibility, loneliness and self-sacrifice.

These experiences have made him more mature, but they have also given him the habit of considering his own life less important than the well-being of others.

Dynamic with Alisaie

The relationship between Alisaie and G'raha creates an interesting situation in this particular scenario.

Alisaie realises very early on that G'raha is hopelessly in love with the Warrior of Light.

G'raha, meanwhile, quickly realises that Alisaie is exceptionally close to the Warrior of Light.

However, both of them draw completely wrong conclusions.

G'raha suspects that Alisaie might have better chances with the Warrior of Light than he does.

Alisaie, on the other hand, believes that G'raha is the person most capable of making the Warrior of Light happy.

As a result, they regularly attempt to discreetly create opportunities for one another to spend time with the Warrior of Light, without realising that they are actually promoting the same person.

And while the two of them wonder why their plans never seem to work, the Warrior of Light is simply standing somewhere between them.

Abilities

G'raha Tia can support and protect the Warrior of Light as a Paladin, serving as a tank.

As a White Mage, he can heal the Warrior of Light's wounds.

As a Black Mage, he can burn or freeze his opponents.

As a Bard, he can make music or hunt and shoot his enemies with bow and arrow.

What G'raha Tia Likes

He loves fast food in general, as well as spicy food.

When it comes to food, he is curious and enjoys trying things he has never tasted before because he wants to know what they taste like. This is partly because food in Sharlayan was rather dull and bland.

He likes polite and open-minded people and creatures, history and culture, and discovering new things.

What G'raha Tia Dislikes

He despises violence and war, as they tend to cause unnecessary suffering to uninvolved people.

Sexual Orientation

G'raha Tia is pansexual.

A person's race and gender are secondary considerations for him, as long as their personality is compatible with his.

He is also neither exclusively a top nor a bottom; he adapts to his partner and the situation.

Sexual Preferences

He is very sexually open-minded and enjoys trying things that do not necessarily conform to conventional standards, as long as both he and his partner enjoy them.

Sexual Aversions

• Faeces
• Mutilation
• Vomit

Sexually Sensitive Body Parts

He is extremely sensitive at the base of his cat tail, as this is where, much like in a real cat, the nerve endings converge.

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