The Missing Story within Final Fantasy 14



There’s only so much time within an expansion to tell a story. But there’s one tale in particular that feels as if it’s being ignored or walked around at every opportunity. Today I wanted to discuss that, but also hear your opinions and ask what untold tales you wish would be covered in the future!

Palace of the Dead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua8DB-AQbqQ

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Disclaimer: The MMORPG known as FinalFantasy XIV Online as well as all its related publications and merchandise are owned by Square Enix. I have no claims to it.

Primary Sources:
Video Games-
FinalFantasy XIV Online

Publications-
Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume I
Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume II
Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume III

Alternative Sources:
FinalFantasyXIV, The Lodestone/Sidestory
FFXIV, Letter from the Producer
Published FFXIV Brand Art Books

#ffxiv #lore #dawntrail

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33 thoughts on “The Missing Story within Final Fantasy 14”

  1. the fickleness of the elementals always reminds me a bit of Japanese legends about how local Kami will get mad and cause disasters if not properly worshiped, so a small part of me can't help but wonder if part of the reason the "elementals problem" is never really addressed is because the writers are hesitant to do a plot that might come across as "Shintoism bad"

    Like it's pretty much a cliche of JRPGs in general to have "Catholicism bad" as a plot point, but I could see them being less inclined to say bad things about "the home team" for lack of a better word.

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  2. The thing that has bothered me since starting in ARR was that they have never once expanded on the underground CITY under the Black Shroud. Aka Gelmorra….The one that Duskwight Elezen come from, and still live in!

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  3. I remember when they released the Variant Dungeon for Uldah and they mentioned that there would be 2 more Variant Dungeons to come out during Endwalker, many people theorized each city state getting their own Variant Dungeon. That would've been a perfect time to expand on the lore of Gridania or Gelmorra, it still could happen in Dawntrail/8.0 but it really could've been interesting to get the city-states all getting expanded on at the end of this story arc.

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  4. Literally all my respect and interest in Nophica leaving my body when she vouches for the elementals was on par with the immense eye rolling and groaning when the EW tank quest was more elemental shit.

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  5. What would be nuts is if the Gelmorrans were fighting a war underground for centuries, but a sudden surge in their enemies' strength causes them to surface and ask for help, prompting a reconciliation between them and Gridania.

    Imagine if said enemies were void powered remnants of the a Mhachi invasion from the War of the Magi and them getting stronger was a result of the Thirteenth 'collapsing' into the Source like Y'Sthola theorized at the end of Endwalker. That could easily be a X.4/X.5 patch setup into a void based expansion.

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  6. If we get another round of class based quests, I would positively love for the healers to have something in Gridania dealing with the elementals and finding out more about them

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  7. I always feel sorry for that poor duskwright in front of the lancer guild. Poor guy is just exhausted and being hassled by the guards. I've always wanted to interrupt their harassment.

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  8. Aahh glad to see people touching this bit of the story! It is very much touched if you do the certain yellow quest in the black shroud, but very briefly. I hope later they do touch in more lore about the duskwright, they are so forgotten.

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  9. I swear, it feels like they don't want to dive into Gridania-centric stories because they've written themselves into a corner and the only way out would be a whole lot of ret-conning. Nearly everything from 2.0 onwards is very hand-wavy when it comes to the elementals. They're too powerful. They have to be appeased because they were downright malevolent prior to the formation of the pact. The pact is a bit cruel. etc. etc. But at surface level, from the perspective of anyone playing now… they do just about nil and their "power" has had zero impact on the greater story. They're just… there. Beyond 1.0 and the encyclopedias, their existence is barely important (outside of a handful of quests which are resolved faster than you can say "I'm sorry, you do what to the padjali children??").

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  10. Yes. More Gidania and the Hyur Midlander homeland. All we know is they are travelers that adapt very well to wherever they decide to live and hail from many homelands, but I want to know where they come from as a majority.

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  11. I highly doubt an MSQ related entry right now, but Gelmorra would make for a great V&C content and side-story! Like what they did with Sil'dihn!

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  12. I really appreciate what you do. I started in Ul‘dah myself back in Heavensward. And I did realise how the story centers around Ul‘dah very much.
    Ironically, Kan-E-Senna is my most favorite of the three leaders. Perhaps it was why I enjoyed the Endwalker Rolequest for Tanks so much with her. And I completely agree! More development around Gridania would be great. After all, didn’t Nophica talk about the Elementals too?

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  13. Watching 1.0 content has given me a lot of good answers for why things are the way they are for Gridania. If nothing else they've got plenty of untapped potential for Deep Dungeon content in Gelmorra or even something that could do more with the Elementals directly. In 1.0 they were very, very strict and wrathful at times, whereas post Calamity supposedly their efficacy has waned.

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  14. The elemental stuff is even worse when everyone tells you that the war with the Ixal only exists because the elementals punished them as a race and kicked them entirely out of the twelveswood. The Ixal themselves state that the elementals took away their flight. We never hear what the Ixal did to deserve the punishment, but the elementals sure are quick to recruit others to fight for the forest when they literally started their own war.

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  15. I hate that one gate guard in Old Gridania who says we’re not important enough to go to the upper class neighborhood. Dude lives under a rock if he doesn’t recognize THE WARRIOR OF LIGHT AND SAVIOR OF THE WORLD

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  16. The lack of development in Gridania has had the knock-on effect of throwing both Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te and Duskwight Elezen under the bus, as both groups are commonly subject to racism by Gridanians, trapping them in that vicious cycle of being forced into precarity out onto the margins and then resorting to poaching and theft to survive, feeding the stereotypes. It's also possible that they've earned the ire of the elementals because the Conjurer's Guild monopolizes negotiation with them, rendering outgroups effectively deaf to their voices. Rather than address these issues, it feels at times like the writers hope we'll just forget about them, since the focus of the story has long since shifted away from Eorzea. At this point, Gridania might as well just be the padjali, who get trotted out whenever there's a white magic problem that needs fixing.

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  17. I have said this before, with all expansions I wish they would do a side quest for each city state. Have the side quest update us on what is happening int he city state. Give us more delicious lore for the city state. Also update us on popular NPCs. Do it for Gridani, Uldah, Limsa, Ishgard, Kugane, Gyr Abania, Norvrandt and now both Thavnair and Sharlayan. Just a quest or two for each and have them be side quests us lore junkies could get into. Those interested in the lore can just ignore them.

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