#gelmorra

[talnub]

Day 6 - Traveling to Gelmorra.

[ffxiv-swarm]

Junelezen 22: Solid

This corner of once-ruined Gelmorra isn't much. She thinks it was probably a crystalmancer's abode, by the fineness of the screens cut into the solid stone. There's enough space for a bed, a bath, a kitchen. She's hung curtains to soften the echo of the stone. But it's no palace, and she's seen the outside of the former Mordeterre manor.

Avery doesn't seem to miss the open sky at all.

[iso-calamistra]

On namedays.

As of yesterday, I am twenty and seven.

The Scions my friends put together a little celebration. I specifically requested for it to be private, and not some grand feast; in fact, I asked for it not to be at mealtime at all. I know that's customary, but I can't stand that sort of thing these days. We just sat in the Rising Stones and told each other stories.

Namedays are strange. When my friends spoke to me about celebrating mine, I felt... ashamed, though I can't imagine what for.

In my family, a nameday was celebrated with food. No delicacies or anything, just plenty. Plenty was a special thing.

It wasn't as though we were starving. We found our ways. Even when resources dwindled— and they always did— my grandmother would never let us think of ourselves as poor or destitute. I am told we used to be nobility, the clan of Calumistre. This would have been long, long past, in the days of a thriving Gelmorra, of course— by the time my siblings and I came around, all we had were eighth, ninth, tenth-hand retellings.

I'm also told that other kinds of families have a sort of expectation that their children, at a proper age, set out on their own. I only heard that sort of thing in faerie tales. It was all very dramatic to me, at the time— it always had a fancy name like "leaving the nest" or somesuch. How foreign.

I'll be honest, dear reader— I was not the brightest child. Not well-suited to practical physical labor, nor crafting pomanders, nor any particular field of study. Daydreamer. Sick. Et cetera. I liked faerie tales. They felt about as real as the rest of it, to me.

So, what's something only a dull child who likes faerie tales would do? I asked my grandmother, the once-great Radegonde Calumistre, if I could leave.

"You wish to flee to the surface, where we are so clearly despised? This is the only home for us. It has been our home for hundreds of years. If you leave, know well you can never come back. If you abandon this place, the Gridanians who walk over our heads will spurn you, shun you, and bury their dead where you used to sleep. Is that what you want, Isolée?"

I can only approximate the words; it was a long time ago, now. Only the venom is still there.

It wasn't as though Grandmother was a monster, or anything. She helped us live. I remember, on one of my namedays (maybe my tenth? Thirteenth? I haven't the foggiest) she talked some Keepers that lived nearby into getting us a jar of honey. I was so scared of wasting it, I put only a drop in my frumenty. Oh, she was incensed. Something like "I work myself to bones, and you refuse to eat the stuff?! Two more spoonfuls!"

It makes me want to laugh, thinking back on it, but back then I was so confused. I remember feeling like I always was, about everything.

I remember toad legs and dried plums. Fermented mun-tuy. Mushrooms roasted over fire.

This nameday was the first time I told most of the Scions where I'm from. Lyse and others more familiar with the Shroud weren't surprised, but the twins were shocked that there are still a few settlements in the ruins. I made everybody guess at what age I first saw the sun. Everyone was way off until Yugiri finally got it. Ten and nine. I thought the reaction to that was somewhat excessive, but I guess that's partially on me for giving it a dramatic set-up.

When the rest trickled out, Thancred and I had a drink. He may be one of the only people on this star I trust to pour me anything. I miss him when he's gone.

We shared our own stories, quieter ones, the kinds you don't tell around a table. He talked about Minfilia. The early days with Ryne. Times before that, times when he was alone. He talked about Papalymo. I wasn't as close to Papalymo as the other Scions, but I cared for him, and I have a little scar on my stomach to show for it. I showed Thancred. He laughed, and then he wept.

I talked about Zenos yae Galvus, about seeing my face reflected in his and wanting to vomit. His blood, red on the pink flowers. The colors clashed so horribly.

I tried to talk about the light-poisoning, but my throat closed up. Thancred knows how it feels to have your body betray you.

We went through lists of both our dead, and drank to each and every one. Once we were well and truly inebriated, we confessed things; our tiny childish fears, our stupid hopes, everything we didn't know how to explain. For his sake, I will not repeat what he told me, and I've already written my worst. I needn't repeat myself.

I've rambled on quite long enough. The writing has served its purpose in distracting me from this murderous hangover. My apologies for any ink smudges; it's early enough that the light is yet low, and my hand is unsteady besides.

I have no philosophical revelations, no sage closing remarks for you, but I have sentiment to spare; overflowing, sappy sentiment.

I still don't believe that love is the answer, but it has to be, or we'd never have made it this far. It is all we have.

[odisauv]

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[cosmicharm]

In Between Worlds

[rivenroad]

Lost dungeons of the Black Shroud

I’ve been thinking about the Gelmorran ruins in 1.0 and what might have been planned for them, had things gone differently...

There is the above-ground structure that returned after the Calamity in the North Shroud, albeit in a more dilapidated state, but what was its purpose?

And there are some ruins that were inaccessible even back in 1.0. One, in the West Shroud, near the “Knight’s Round”, contained strange mechanical doors and devices, which presumably are ancient technology... but what’s the story here?

Another dungeon in the East Shroud, south-west of the Hawthorne Hut, contained many rooms full of supplies and training equipment such as a target dummies and archery butts.

It’s around the same place that the Mun-Tuy cellars are in ARR, but those used to be located in the North Shroud, presumably moved to balance out the maps a bit better (and are now a great example of them actually using the ancient structures for something other than a dungeon or an empty ruin, plus further suggestion that there are still Duskwights and possibly others who still live underground in the area).

There was also a dungeon in Peacegarden in the North Shroud full of Ixali banners. At the time, Peacegarden was named on the map but had no other landmarks, which makes it likely that this dungeon was intended to be the relevant point. It makes sense given that there have been Ixal in this area since 1.0, but it’s interesting to think of a Gelmorran ruin being taken over by them. 

All of these dungeons were inaccessible in the original version of the game, but exploring the maps subsequently reveals these interesting remnants of plans that never came to be. (As a side note, I lightened all these screenshots considerably because these dungeons are VERY dark. And mostly full of the same rooms over and over in typical style for the original game).

I would love to see more lore about Gelmorra. Palace of the Dead was great and a perfect choice for a deep dungeon setting because it’s clear that there are many, many ancient tunnels running underneath the forest.

But these mysterious unused locations, along with other structures seen in ARR, show that there is still plenty of potential for new discoveries, and the stories behind them remain unexplained. We may already have several dungeons in the region, but it would be great to learn more about life in this ancient civilisation. 

[windupsanson]

Dark. In darkness we build light and hearth.

[ansemaru]

Drawn as an entry for the 2016 Fanfest art contest. I didn’t place, but I’m still proud of this piece! Talking about feelings in the ruins of Gelmorra. Relationships bloom in the shadows of the Shroud.