Would you be willing to find anything on Sharlaya and the history of Idyllshire? Please and thanks :3 Your blog is my favorite!
Fourchenault Leveilleur: “As Sharlayans, it is our task to observe—to chart the course of history, not to change it. Civilization shall not be advanced through petty conflict, but by the passing of recorded knowledge from generation to generation.”
Sharlayan, the Old World, is a city-state located far to the northwest on an archipelago across the Bloodbrine Sea. A nation that prizes knowledge, learning, history, magic, and science, Sharlayan has been the world’s frontrunners in all fields of study. It deplores violence and as such has no military. It considers Eorzeans at large to be barbarians, but dedicated a colony to study their continent, peoples, and history none-the-less. This colony was situated in Dravania and was also called Sharlayan. However, 15 years ago, it was abandoned overnight after 5 years of peace negotiations with the Garlean Empire, following the fall of Ala Mhigo, fell through. The Old World spans across several islands, though we know of only one such named one - the Isle of Val, home to the Studium and its Students of Baldesion. Here it was that young scholars of Sharlayan would bury themselves in their chosen studies. Exceptional intellects who went on to become masters in their chosen field adopted the title of “Sage” and received the “Mark of the Sages” tattoo found on the Sharlayan members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn and other Sharlayan NPCs we’ve come across such as Moenbryda, G'raha, and Rammbroes. Unfortunately, the isle of Val was destroyed along with the Students of Baldesion in an attack by immensely powerful magicks.
Fernehalwes: “They’re always trying to learn about everything. They went to Eorzea so they could gain knowledge on that place so of course they probably sent parties into Dravania to study up on them and they would have known about the dragons as well. Their whole thing is they’re a city state of knowledge and they gather it and use that knowledge. They send people out everywhere around the world and bring it back to their island nation. Sharlayan in Eorzea was basically an outpost. So saying they weren’t connected would be a lie because it was more to educate people.”
The Old World’s History, Government, & Magicks
The Old World: “Sharlayan is an island nation situated within an archipelago to the north of Eorzea. Like the city-state that its citizens would go on to form in Dravania as a colony of their homeland, Sharlayan is dedicated to scholarly study and the archiving of history. The Forum that governs the nation is a staunch opponent of military intervention, leading to the abandonment of their Eorzean colony in the year 1562 of the Sixth Astral Era after peace talks with the Garlean Empire fell through.”
Levava: “Sevestre─leader of the Bibliothecs─a powerful group of conservative fundamentalists who seek to control the whole of Sharlayan’s knowledge. They believe that our people should not become involved in history, only be witness to it. Then analyze it until all the lives lived and lost are but numbers on a page. You may remember Sevestre, Jannequinard, because he was the selfsame man who pushed for old Sharlayan to batten its doors and abandon Eorzea…and used my father’s death as his rallying cry.”
Lore Lowdown: “The aetherytes currently found in each of the city-states were reconstructed following the Calamity by Sharlayan engineers. These engineers were the only ones who possessed the skill and knowledge necessary to do so, and so they were richly compensated for their services. These are not an original Sharlayan design, but the product of research into existing aetherytes constructed in ancient times by civilizations unknown.”
Gamerescape Interview: “Q: We’re told that the Sharlayans helped rebuild the aetherytes in A Realm Reborn, but a long time ago, like 2010, we were told that those aetherytes were there when people arrived and perhaps that’s why they chose to settle. Who made those?MCKF: Nobody knows! Even the Sharlayans don’t know. Maybe it was the Allag, maybe it was people before that. It could have been a lot of people. They were there, they were useful, and after people come back to rebuild after Calamities, they rebuilt around these useful things. Sharlayan was able to adapt it, but they have no idea who created it. In the Dravanian hinterlands, there’s actually an aetheryte factory. I don’t think it’s named on the map, but go look for it.”
Much Ado About Aether: “As is broadly believed, aether is the essence of existence, the fount of life wherewith the stars stay suspended in the stellar sphere. Bereft of its boon, magic would be naught but a fruit of fiction, and our lives would doubtless detail double the drudgery.According to ancient Miqo’te mystics, aetheric energy permeates all creation even as it exists in its own distinct dimension, parted from the physical plane. If Eorzea might be compared to a colossal creature, aether would be the lifeblood that courses through its veins, supplying it with sustenance.The people of the past were adept in the application of aetheric energy. Not only did they possess the proficiency to pinpoint those places with high concentrations of aether; they had the expertise to exploit that power, and thereby created the gateways that allow us to travel tremendous distances in hardly a hairy heartbeat. Thought to have been long lost to mankind, this knowledge is in the midst of a revival, brought about by the beneficent backing of the Circle of Knowing.Under the supervision of the Sharlayan natives, a plan is in progress to install an intra-city teleportation network. The purpose at present is purely military, but its channeling for civil and commercial use cannot be ruled out as an eventuality.”
Lodestone Astrologian: “Ever has man coveted knowledge, and none more so than that of his fate. Thus did he labor to master the skill of foresight—but initial efforts bore little fruit. That is, until he looked to the stars above, which foretell the coming seasons, and learned to read the heavens.Though this gift is known today as astrology, the people of Sharlayan saw fit to not only read the stars, but to write their movements as well. By attuning their aetherial energies to that of constellations, they learned to wield magicks with heretofore unseen properties. Thus was astromancy born—a new form of magick which grants its users power over fate. Employing a star globe and divining deck in their miraculous deeds, fortune always smiles upon these masters of arcana.”
Gamerescape Lorecast #7: “ ‘Familiars’ are created from regular animals (e.g. Poroggo from frogs; Skatane from owls). Does their taxonomy change once they’ve been enchanted?KF: No. They stay the same and if the magic cuts, they go back. We have that quest with the Poroggo like, “Nooo, I don’t want to be a frog again!” So they’ve only reached sentience because of the magic; they haven’t changed at all. The magic gives them the ability to think and reason, but once that’s gone they go back.”
Poroggo Card: “Poroggos were once lowly toads, transformed into creatures of speech and reason through the magicks of Sharlayan mages. Their intelligence is such that they can even be taught to cast spells. Should poroggos be isolated from other sentient beings, however, their minds gradually regress into a feral state.”
Yloise: “You’ll never guess who put the bounty on Stolas’s head - it was sent by a Sharlayan astrologian, all the way from his homeland across the seas. He lived here before the exodus, conducting his scholarly experiments. In one such trial, he used his magicks to bind an owl to him as a familiar. The test succeeded, but by some quirk of fate, the owl gained a prodigious intelligence, outstripping even that of its master. But when the exodus came, the owl revolted. It attacked its master, stole a tome of forbidden knowledge, and escaped into the hinterlands. It seems the tome contains secrets of such cataclysmic power that, for the safety of the realm, this owl cannot be suffered to live.”
Fernehalwes: “Publication: The Five Ages─An Eorzean ChronologyAuthor: Lewphon of Sharlayan, master theologian and astrologistPenned in the Year 233 of the Sixth Astral Era to weave together the disparate histories of the nations of Eorzea with a common thread─the thread of time.”
Note: The above quote is interesting in that it dates Sharlayan’s existence to at least the Year 200 of the Sixth Astral Era. It’s likely that Sharlayan is even older than this, but we have no confirmation.
Y’shtola: “The ‘mark of the sages’ is attributed to persons whose knowledge in a given field has been recognized by the Sharlayan scientific community. To bear it is an honor that belongs to the most elite of our scholars.”
Note: The Lore Train’s: Inked article does a wonderful explanation of Sharlayan’s Studium higher education and an explanation for the tattoos on various Sharlayan NPCs’ necks. The Mark of the Sages tattoo is essentially the equivalent of achieving a Doctorate in a Sharlayan field of study.
In Louisoix’s Wake: “Recent graduates of the Studium, the twins were now sixteen summers old─old enough to be considered of age in Sharlayan society. And so, although he opposed his children’s planned journey, Fourchenault had not sought to bar their way.”
Note: Alphinaud and Alisaie began their studies in the Studium at 11, and this was considered a very advanced age. It’s likely that most students are not accepted into the Studium until much older, likely 16 years, the age of adulthood in Sharlayan. The twins also completed their education in 5 years, but we can’t be sure if this was also accelerated or if the Students of Baldesion undergo an initial 5-year course of general study before moving on to “major” in a chosen field in an attempt to earn one’s Mark of the Sages.
Gamerescape: “Led by Louisoix, the Circle of Knowing organization was active from Year 1562 of the Sixth Astral Era until the events of the Calamity ten years later. After Louisoix’s disappearance, the remnants of the Circle of Knowing combined with the remnants of the Path of the Twelve to form the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.”
Urianger: “We of the Circle are not possessed of the power to quell such quarrels. We can but stir men to wakening with words born of ancient truths. From far to the north and west have we traveled, from a place where knowledge floweth as water from a riverhead. Hither have we come to save this realm from a great sorrow that lieth all too near.”
Krile Baldesion: “We had forests* like these on the Isle of Val. My grandfather and I used to go for walks together when I could prise him away from his work.”
*Krile says this quote while walking through the chocobo forest, which consists largely of caelumtrees, tall alpine trees with large exposed roots and bear edible fruit. These trees. while once believed to have thrived only in marshlands such as Yafaem and other waterlogged areas, have now adapted to alpine climates and rocky soil. I think Krile’s description of caelumtree forests being common on the Isle of Val, as well as its geographical location, are the best indicators of its biome, which is likely either Alpine or perhaps Taiga. And as Val is an island of the Sharlayan archipelago, we can infer similar climate.
#013 Heavensward Vista Record - Tailfeather: “Founded by hunters who came to the frontiers in hopes of snaring the wild chocobos of the forest, this settlement and those who call it home are shielded from the eyes of the dragons by the canopy of the majestic caelumtrees that rise high above it.”
Caelumtree Root: “A segment of the hard exposed root of a caelumtree. Scholars of botany are unclear as to why such a large portion of the caelumtree’s roots grow above ground in a similar fashion to the mangroves of Mor Dhona, despite the lack of marsh-like conditions in the Dravanian forelands. Some, however, have concluded that the area must once have been submerged in water for an extended period of time─a time in which the trees adapted. And though the waters have receded, the roots remain the same.”
Ripe Caelumtree Fruit: “Though slightly bruised from its long fall, this caelumtree fruit appears ready to eat.”
Valfruit: “A bitter berry found growing on the distant Isle of Val. While typically avoided by the five races, it is a favorite amongst chocobos, and is known to lighten the green hues of their feathers.”
Krile Baldesion: “Regrettably, the Students of Baldesion’s headquarters - and the Isle of Val itself - were obliterated by a magick of immense power.”
Y’shtola: “ ‘Knowledge Seeks No Man’… So says the motto of Sharlayan engraved upon yonder stone. The meaning is simple: it falls to us to seek enlightenment. During the Sixth Astral Era, at the turn of the thirteenth century, men from the northern nation of Sharlayan journeyed across the seas to Eorzea in search of knowledge. Upon arriving at these shores, they established a camp for their scholarly endeavors. Over time, this camp grew into a settlement, and the settlement prospered, and so much so that it came to be counted amongst Eorzea’s great city-states. Alas, those glory days are now but a fading memory. With her keepers lost to her, Sharlayan has become an empty husk of her former self.”
In Louisoix’s Wake: “Louisoix’s eldest son was an influential member of the Forum, the body responsible for shaping Sharlayan policy, and he, like so many of his colleagues, was a staunch opponent of military intervention. It was, he believed, the duty of his countrymen to chronicle world affairs, not to interfere in them. When the steel-clad wolves of the Garlean Empire descended upon Ala Mhigo, it was Fourchenault and his fellows who had attempted to parley a peace. In the bitter wake of the failed negotiations, however, they saw no recourse but to forsake the colony they had built within the borders of the war-threatened realm. Following five years of elaborate and painstaking preparation, the plan to evacuate the settlement’s entire population to the northern archipelago of their homeland was put into motion. In the year 1562 of the Sixth Astral Era, the city of Sharlayan—a renowned center of learning, situated in the Dravanian lowlands—became an uninhabited shell in the space of a single night.”
Dragonproofing: “I never cease to be impressed by the buildings in Sharlayan, made of sturdy stone and vastly different from the architecture of the Pillars. Ere it was abandoned, the city-state was known for effective fortification techniques to protect their scholars against Horde attacks. Mayhap there is knowledge yet to be found within those walls to fortify our own bulwarks. Journey to the Dravanian hinterlands and bring back samples of Sharlayan flagstone so I may better learn what kind of materials were used.”
Sharlayan Sympathizers (L): “While the inhabitants of Sharlayan held an abhorrence of our war with the Dravanians, the style of their architecture speaks of more than neutrality. Rumors have spread among the denizens of camp about secret sympathies of the scholars towards the dragons, which was written in code on the walls of their buildings. I find these to be absolute rot, and ask of you to bring back pieces of Sharlayan flagstone so I may put such conspiracies to rest.”
Old World Fig: “A symbol of long life and femininity, this autumn fruit was originally brought from their home land to Eorzea by the Sharlayans.”
#031 Heavensward Vista Record - The Cenotaph: “A towering monolith erected in tribute to the great scholars who have passed on, leaving behind the knowledge that has shaped the realm. The names of countless men of learning are etched in the mighty stone, along with the motto of Sharlayan: ‘Knowledge Seeks No Man.’”
#029 Heavensward Vista Record - The Arkhitekton: “Once home to Sharlayan masters who fashioned aetherytes within its halls, this workshop is now home to the Illuminati, a nasty band of goblins who would wield the ancient technologies within for their own nefarious ends.”
#030 Heavensward Vista Record -The Answering Quarter: “This Sharlayan settlement stretches across the western banks of the Thaliak. Home to Saint Mocianne’s Arboretum and a center for education and scholarly pursuits, it hearkens back to the cities of learning that flourished in bygone times.”
In a sincere attempt to shorten the length of this lore post, the remainder of the lore related to the Dravanian Sharlayan, aka Idyllshire, will be below the cut. This will consist on lore on their constructions, magicks, creations, etc. Please read below the cut for a lot more info!
@xxdeliakatxx Hope this helps! ^^
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