Observations Of Eorzea

Join me, as I document my thoughts and observations of flora, fauna, citizens, and places of Eorzea! If you wanna see neat things that others have posted about FFXIV, check out my collection at Random Eorzea!

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For half a moon, I was lucky enough to share my adventure with a handful of friendly Kobolds. Accompanied by the rhythmic beat of mechanical components, and the sound of small pebbles getting crushed under solid steel wheels, steadily my journey continued through la Noscea from atop a metal carriage, pulled by a machine born of Kobold ingenuity; the automaton digger! Engineered for the sole purpose of burrowing deeper underground, the automaton diggers have been a driving factor in Kobold productivity, aiding in the gathering of ores within the O'ghomoro mines, with numerous variants being designed and manufactured every year! Even though most models are simply powered by coal, the ingenious mechanisms incorporated into the seemingly rudimentary combustion engines greatly increase the automaton's output, making the efficiency of these machines second to none in their category. Furthermore, coupled with three rotating drills specifically shaped to create compressive stress fractures in the rock, these machines are proven juggernauts, known to dig unhindered for moons! Now, although these machines are highly efficient in burrowing, I can say with certainty that the automaton digger isn't the fastest (or most comfortable) of rides.. Despite its inherent design though, it hasn't stopped some Kobolds from making slight alterations to a decommissioned model, adapting it for travelling ABOVE ground! Unfortunately due to some slight miscalculations, the machine broke down, cutting our road trip a little short.. But you know what? I still really dig this machine. :P

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There are many sounds that can keep one awake, especially when trying to sleep in an unfamiliar region. Late at night during one of my expeditions through Outer la Noscea, my much needed rest had once again eluded me as I decided to venture forth in hopes of finding something worth trading my sleeping hours for. Not far from my campsite was a pair of Raptors (Velociraptors to be exact), minding their own business. Since I was too tired to walk further, I decided to observe them instead. Velociraptors are bipedal scalekin that tend to inhabit dense forest regions, but unlike other cold-blooded scalekin, the Velociraptors are unique in the sense that they are actually warm-blooded to some degree, as they require a significant amount of energy to hunt. Another unique feature that stood out to me are their prominent ears! (Possibly a result of divergent evolution). These protrusions provide Velociraptors a means to aid in localizing (directionally) the originating source of perceived sound as well as allowing them to detect discrete bands of frequencies among the electro-magnetic spectrum! As I continued my observations, I realized that the Velocireptors were gradually taking a keen interest in my presence. Taking care not to make any sudden movements, I slowly backed away, making sure not to avert my gaze from the pair, until I was safe enough to walk back into the safety of my campsite. Reflecting on my encounter, I wondered to myself.. "With a Velociraptor's heightened sense of hearing, how do THEY filter out the sounds to get a good night's rest?"

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While repairing my wares during my quick stop in Idyllshire yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised to find that someone had recognized me! With a friendly wave, I was called over, and warmly greeted by the incredibly delightful @momo-faerie !

It was quite an exciting moment for me because after our conversation, she called over some of her free company members to take a picture! This is probably one of the warmest greetings I’ve ever had the pleasure of having in Eorzea, and I’m very grateful that you all took a moment to smile with me. Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to run into each other again! You guys made my week, thank you so much! :)

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While wandering through the the Floating city of Nym, try not to get too distracted by the surreal beauty of its scattered floating rocks, because you’ll find that there are other strange rocks about, and they are sure to keep you on your toes! I’m referring to the colossal Basalt Golems that inhabit these parts, but slow as they may be, they can pack quite a punch.. And with so many of them around, you certainly wouldn’t want to be caught between a rock and a hard place!

Basalt Golems have been imbued with temporary life from the magic of otherworldly forces, and as their name suggests, they are mostly composed of.. Well, basalt! Basalt is a fine-grained igneous rock, and is usually grey to black in colour, but rapidly weathers to brown or rust-red, due to oxidation. From what I’ve heard and read, ancient tomes claim that the creation of these beings is only possible when the laws of nature are weakened by the chaotic influence of an Umbral calamity.

An interesting thing to note when I managed to get close enough to one, is that I was able to catch a glimpse of the magical core that animates them! What remains a mystery to me though, is why these constructs react aggressively to most things that pass by.. What are they trying to protect, if anything at all? What controls their reactions? Do they have a will or conscience? With all these questions in my head, I spent the next few bells observing, and testing theories to no avail.. Further observations will be required…

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It isn't very often that I would get the chance to run into others who document their adventures, but just the other day, I had the pleasure of running into the very vibrant, Sage Windfeather! I'm sorry that I didn't get to post this sooner, but it was pretty awesome meeting you! For those of you who haven't already done so, check out @stoutnstarchy . They've got some pretty neat things over there! :)

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I know that I haven't been feeling particularly "sharp" for the last few moons, so I ventured forth; deep into the East Shroud, with hope that the solitude and scenery would aid in providing me with some inspiration. As luck would have it, I slipped from the path and fell down a slope, just narrowly avoiding being impaled by the numerous thorns within the Bramble Patch! Now you may have looked at some of these plants, and wondered "Why do they have to be that way? Why are they so unpleasant??" Well if you think about it, most plants around Eorzea cannot simply move away from danger. A plant's "goal" in life is to survive and pass on its genes, and in order to survive, they have to adapt to the environment. These thorns around me are an evolutionary adaptation to minimize the danger of being eaten! Perhaps somewhere along the line, a woody plant grew some defective shoots, but this didn't turn out to be a disadvantage. Instead, the stubby shoots were useful for discouraging whatever herbivore was dominant at the time from chewing off the ones that were growing properly! Over the course of millions of years, these "defective" shoots evolved; the mutations that led to a pointy end became more effective, and plants that had these "defects" left more offspring. This continued process of adaptation eventually produced the thorns we see here today. :)

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Hey everyone! I know I haven't been posting my observations as frequently lately, but thank you all for sticking around! To my newer followers, don't worry. You haven't followed a dead blog! :P I will try to post when I can, but for now, I'm just sorting some things out.. Thanks for your patience! -Kev

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The Central Shroud truly is a beautiful place, but it can feel a little unsettling at night. While taking notes of the surrounding flora, I felt as though something (or some things) were observing ME! The air was silent, and thick with spores, but it wasn't long before I began to hear an escalating amount of low pitched grunts. Immediately, I realized that I had wandered into Funguar territory.. On most days, these creatures tend to conserve their energy, occasionally moving short distances for comfort. Interestingly enough though, my night time excursion happened to coincide with the Funguar spawning season, and the specimens that I began to observe were unexpectedly active.. And numerous! For those who were wondering, their reproduction happens by self-cloning or through sex with compatible partners. (They don't "get freaky" like we do.. Instead, they just release a lot of spores..) Funguars don’t have just two sexes though (like male and female), instead they have what are called 'mating types', and there can be as many as 20,000 different ones! Unlike plants, which make their own food, Funguar are kind of like.. creepier versions of our stomachs, turned inside-out. They 'eat' by releasing enzymes outside of their bodies that break down nutrients into smaller pieces that they can then absorb. They also differ from the stationary Fungi that live in and on their food, because Funguars physically hunt down, and incapacitate their prey! As the night went on, I decided to leave them to their reproductive activities.. There was too much "love" in the air, and the Funguar were getting a little too friendly for comfort...

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I would like to take a moment to pay tribute to one of my favourite artists. His songs, and creativity has been a large inspiration for me, as well as for countless others, and I know that his music will continue to inspire many more, for generations to come.

“I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.” -David Bowie

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For the longest time, I’ve been struggling with finding the perfect mode of transportation for my long journeys. I’ve always been on the move; hurriedly moving between locations, in hopes of bumping into something that would spark my creativity, so I thought… Perhaps a speedy airship would be perfect? Or maybe I can zip around on a flying broomstick.. Or even traverse the land, on a sprinting Coeurl! Little did I know back then, that I would eventually decide to leisurely observe Eorzea from on top of my very own tortoise!

Steadily moving at a slow pace, I began to reflect on how we often go through our lives rushing to reach the next goal, the next destination, the next year.. It isn’t uncommon that in all our haste, we would forget to appreciate where we are, and what we have, until we have finally reached the end. I guess, observing the numerous Adamantoise species across Eorzea has helped me gain a deeper appreciation for the present moment; eventually bringing me to the conclusion that nature does not hurry, yet everything gets accomplished.

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If you ever end up wandering deep within the blistering heat of Southern Thanalan, there’s a chance that you may experience the ground trembling in a rhythmic pattern. During my initial experience, I mistook the shaking for tremors, produced by Hydaelyn’s shifting crust.. To my surprise, I later found the shaking to be caused by a particularly large Adamantoise specimen; the Aspidochelone!

Being a rather diminutive Lalafell myself, I was quick to make a size comparison beside the gargantuan tortoise. If you were wondering why WE haven’t adapted to grow so large, know that not just any animal can attain a size like this. Warm-blooded creatures (such as ourselves) tend to generate a lot of heat internally. This becomes a problem at large body sizes, as there is a danger of overheating. Cold-blooded animals on the other hand, (Reptiles such as Aspidechelone) tend to depend on the environment to regulate their heat. Thanks to a voracious appetite, and the consistently warm temperatures of Southern Thanalan, this Adamantoise was easily able to obtain its colossal size!

To further explain Aspidochelone’s evolutionary size advantage, as any object gets bigger, the ratio of its surface area (its outside) to its volume (its inside) gets smaller. What this means for Aspidochelone, is that it loses heat much more slowly, therefore making it more efficient with its food; a rather appropriate trait for places where food is scarce. Also, when you are big, you have a bigger stomach; particularly among herbivores! this means you can eat very low quality food and then digest it over a long time frame to gain nutrition. A small stomach cannot do this! As the day was ending, I felt a different trembling; this time, coming from MY stomach.. I may be small, but I can say with certainty that my appetite parallels this giant tortoise! :P

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As I was fleeing from some enemies in the Dravanian Forelands, I managed to run into something bigger.. A Pterygotus.. I thought I was done for! But to my surprise, this specimen remained surprisingly calm, and I was able to make closer observations.

Pterygotids can consume huge amounts of food in one sitting, which may explain why this one one wasn’t bothered by my presence.. It must have already eaten. They have a very efficient food storage organ, and a very low metabolic rate combined with a relatively inactive lifestyle. This enables them to survive long periods when deprived of food; some are able to survive for 6 to 12 moons of starvation!

The large pair of forward-set eyes, strongly suggests that the Pterygotus is a visually oriented predator, with a potentially good degree of depth perception. It has exceptionally long chelicerae (claws in front of the mouth) with strong, well developed “teeth” on its claws. All these features combined with it’s menacing tail, certainly sends the message that on a bad day, a Pterygotus would have made a formidable foe.. And for those who are wondering… Yes, I am poking its mouth.

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There are many strange things that can be found in the East Shroud, and to me, the Giant Gnat is certainly one of them. From afar, they may seem like your ordinary, gigantic, swift-breeding, disease-carrying insect, but upon closer inspection, you'll find that these voidsent exhibit peculiar traits that make them quite... Intriguing.. Despite their size, the Giant Gnats are actually surprisingly agile. The two pairs of wings they boast, provide enough power and precision for instant liftoff and complicated flight movements such as tight spirals, zigzags and even backward maneuvers! On top of their terrifying agility, they also possess a large pair of pincers under their abdomen, which I presume are for capturing prey.. But those things are fairly common for insects.. The grotesque appearance of Giant Gnats is further amplified by a pair of menacing horns atop their heads, but the real eye-opener for me, are their teeth! Unlike other insects, Giant Gnats have jaws that are capable of moving sideways. The eight front teeth they have (incisors) are wide, narrow at the tips, and somewhat chisel-shaped, making them useful for biting off chunks of meat, or plant material. While common in nature among many vertebrates, the incisors that these Giant Gnats possess, have made them quite a bizarre anomaly among all the natural things found around Eorzea. But then again, when have the voidsent ever fit into the "natural" order of things? Our world sure is full of strange creatures! O___O

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Venturing through lower La Noscea, I turn my gaze towards the windmills, as I feel the gentle caress of the ocean breeze. When the land gets warmer throughout the day, warm air rises and creates a low pressure. The colder onshore air then flows in, to fill the lesser pressure, creating wind. With such abundant free energy along the coast, it only makes sense that we would harness this natural resource!

The benefits of using windmills are obvious; wind is free, and they are fully compatible with farming. These windmills convert the energy of wind into rotational energy, by means of vanes called sails, or blades. As the wind blows, it turns the blades of the windmill, which spin a central shaft (or pole) that extends from the top, to the bottom of the windmill. The spinning shaft may be attached to many different mechanisms at the base of the windmill, which can be used to mill grain, pump water, or both!

Form and functionality aside, the windmills in lower La Noscea are also quite a sight to behold. Embodying the architectural design found throughout Limsa Lominsa, one cannot help but admire these beautiful structures!

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Wine is a beverage that often goes hand in hand with celebrations, gatherings, and of course, the holidays! With all the festivities happening around this time of year, I found it appropriate to visit a well known vineyard, to better understand the work it takes to cultivate the ingredients needed for wine. Situated to the west of the Agelyss River, in Eastern la Noscea, is the famous Wineport; known for providing the best wine in all of Eorzea!

Vineyards are basically plantations of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking. The science, practice, and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. As you can see behind me, in order to maximize the amount of sunlight that falls on the grapevines in Wineport, the vineyard has been strategically placed on the hillside. Although these conditions would make most other agricultural products uneconomic, the vines actually thrive on this type of soil! As the saying goes, “The worse the soil, the better the wine!”

It has been hypothesized that early Eorzeans climbed trees to pick berries, liked their sugary flavor, and then began collecting them. After a few suns with fermentation setting in, juice at the bottom of any container would begin to produce low-alcohol wine. With our ancestors settling down, the transition from a nomadic to a sedentary style of living eventually led to agriculture, and subsequently, wine domestication! After tending to the vines in Wineport, I was left reflecting on how much we have achieved as a civilization! ..Perhaps we’re just re-learning everything that the Allagans already knew though..

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After many moons of searching, I finally was able track down the ever elusive Gigantopithecus. There was once a time when the presence of the Gigantopithecus was more prominent throughout the Hinterlands, but as it stands now, there have been fewer and fewer reported sightings. It’s size alone effectively makes the Gigantopithecus immune to predators, so what could have caused their numbers to dwindle?

A number of small things added up are more likely to have been the reasons for the decline of this species, rather than a massive catastrophe. Together, they can be just as devastating as a single freak event! For example,‭ ‬the arrival of civilization did not have an immediate effect upon the Gigantopithecus,‭ ‬but our presence in the ecosystem meant that over time, there was less food and resources for these great apes.

From what I’ve gathered, the Gigantopithecus mostly supports its body with all four limbs in a hunched‭ ‬quadrupedal‭ ‬posture,‭ ‬although bipedal locomotion would be occasionally observed‬ as part of displays, or moving short distances. Its lower jaws are very deep and robust, which hints that they are built for strength in chewing tough fibrous plants.‭ I would have wanted to study the interactions between a group of Gigantopithecus, but sadly, this specimen remains to possibly be one of the last few to exist in the wild…

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Many of you may be familiar with the dynamic duo, Mr. Hildibrand Manderville, and Ms. Nashu Mhakaracca, but today I’ll be focusing on Nashu. While assisting them on their search for a missing vase, I couldn’t help but notice that Nashu had been nodding off, even while standing! I’ve accompanied the duo before, and Nashu had similarly nodded off in the past.

Nashu is an interesting individual, but her odd habit indicates that she is indeed narcoleptic. Narcolepsy is a chronic brain disorder that involves poor control of sleep-wake cycles, and unfortunately, currently has no cure. Those with narcolepsy, experience periods of extreme daytime sleepiness and sudden, irresistible bouts of sleep that can strike at any time, with “sleep attacks” usually lasting a few seconds to several minutes!

This condition is life-long; affecting both males and females equally with symptoms often starting in childhood or adolescence, but can also occur later in life. Despite her condition, Nashu enthusiastically does her best to prevent it from hindering her work as Hildibrand’s faithful assistant! 😄.