The history books of Final Fantasy XIV are riddled with blank pages.
From each Astral Era, and every Umbral Calamity, the lore is as fragmented as the world itself.
However, while the ancient stewards of this brilliant star might be reluctant to share
their knowledge, it is possible to collect these pieces and form the picture on our own.
But such knowledge comes at a price, and will only be acquired by those willing to tred
a world covered in magic, monsters, and living gods.
Welcome to the Wizards and Warriors series on the history of Final Fantasy XIV, beginning
with one of the greatest civilizations the world ever knew, the Allagan Empire.
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We begin our journey on a world called Hydaelyn.
This planet gained its name from a goddess whose voice could be heard echoing from the
heart of the world.
Here there are countless varieties of monsters and people, with the most common mortal races
of man being known as the adaptable hyur, honorable elezen, clever lalafell, rugged
roegadyn, traditional miqo'te, proud au'ra, mystical viera and respectable hrothgar.
These races and their various cultures make up the bulk of the world's population and
spearhead most historic events.
But our story brings us to Eorzea, a land located on the continent of Aldenard.
This place is sacred, as energy called aether, which is responsible for creating life and
magic, is denser here than anywhere else in the world.
It's within this land that the Allagans would eventually emerge.
The history of the empire begins in the scorching heat of the 3rd Umbral Calamity, also known
as the Calamity of Fire.
The Calamities are cataclysmic events that cover every inch of the planet for years,
with every age afterwards being called an Astral Era.
The 1st calamity was that of Wind, scaring the world with constant tornados and hurricanes.
The 2nd was that of lightning, as massive bolts of electricity would fall like rain.
This, the 3rd Calamity, saw the entire world plagued by stifling heat.
Crops withered and died, lakes dried up, and it felt as if the entire world had become
akin to a desert.
The various races and cultures that populated the world at this point were very superstitious.
Believing that the sun itself was punishing them for trying to stand at the side of gods
through the creation of magic and sorcery in the 2nd Astral Era.
While the 3rd Umbral Calamity would humble the survivors of this tragedy, they became
wary of the gods.
So if the use of spellcraft to emulate the divine was forbidden, then they'd attempt
to uplift themselves through the hands of man alone.
Eventually, the heat of the 3rd Calamity subsided, allowing the world to return to normal.
This gave way to the 3rd Astral Era, and an age of science had begun.
The races of Eorzea that had abandoned the excessive worship of gods, found that they
had more time to spend on things like scientific research.
No longer were people simply concerned with what magic could do for them.
Instead, they developed various tools and devices that could use the energy of aether.
Most commonly this condensed energy is seen as elemental crystals, and they found ways
to use them to power a variety of devices.
This only fueled their passion for discovery, as practices like chemistry began to emerge
as well.
But amongst all the people trying to create the next best thing, stood a man who would
eventually control most of the world.
The great and powerful Xande took to the field.
Xande was a man of mystery.
He appeared within Eorzea seemingly out of nowhere.
But when he arrived, everyone saw him as a genius.
His knowledge of both magic and the material surpassed what many could imagine.
This vast understanding of the world combined with his charismatic personality made people
flock to him in droths, eager to work alongside or learn from him.
As small groups of followers began to grow into massive organizations, Xande's influence
started to give birth to a new nation.
The culture of this budding society was rich with diversity as he welcomed scientists,
mages, priests, and scholars from all over Eorzea.
In time, the magical and scientific development of his people couldn't be matched.
And shortly after, the nation of Allag was officially created.
Being the most advanced nation to rise in the wake of the 3rd Umbral Calamity, Xande
and his forces were unmatched.
By making exclusive use of both technological might and battle mages, their nation's military
was already a force to be reckoned with.
Xande would spread his nation's influence throughout the entirety of Eorzea, hoping
to bring all of its people under one unified roof.
The various tribes and small towns across the land stood no chance of winning.
It was with shows of strength that Xande encouraged many people to peacefully surrender to his
growing country.
Upon realizing the benefits of becoming one with the nation of Allag, most conceded.
Those few groups that refused to back down without a fight were overwhelmed and made
part of his nation regardless.
After annexing large sections of Eorzea, Xande crowned himself emperor, and so began the
years of the mighty Allagan Empire.
Over time, Xande would start to promote the wisest and most powerful mages in his country
to stand as military leaders and overseers of scientific development.
This proved to be the best possible move, as embracing magic instead of shunning it
made sure the minds of his followers were open and curious instead of short-sighted
and paranoid.
Eventually, a breakthrough was made as the spellweavers and engineers began to discover
ways to hybridize magic with technology.
With the right enchantments, siege weapons would not only shoot further, but they would
strike harder as well.
Similarly, cranes made to lift heavy objects were pushed ten times past their normal weight
limits with these advancements.
This made the minds of creative individuals run wild, wondering how far they could push
the bounds of magic and physics.
The fusion of spells and science was steadily applied to everything, from construction and
agriculture to military and medicine.
This became its own unique field of development and was officially dubbed, Aetherochemistry.
It's on the foundations of aetherochemistry that the Allagan Empire would grow into a
paradise.
With this new revolutionary field of research their society was finally without equal, and
thus began the Allagan's Golden Age.
At the peak of his time as Emperor, Xande had conquered all of Eorzea, and the glory
of his country was there for all to see.
But no man lives forever, not even the emperor.
Xande knew that in order to maintain the empire's strength after his death, a set of strict
rules and expectations needed to be set in place.
So it was that his direct descendants would follow his example even after his passing.
These new emperors would do as their founder demanded, and continue the expansion of their
country across all three of the great continents.
Once the rest of Aldenard was secured, it would only be a matter of time as they conquered
the rest of Ilsabard and Othard.
Because of the power brought on by aetherochemistry, no other nation on the three great continents
could stand up to the Empire for long.
Gradually, all of them would live under the Allagan flag.
With no enemy that could possibly stand up to them, the Empire entered a time of peace
that would ultimately benefit everyone.
Even the conquered nations were able to partake of the benefits that came with imperial rule.
Advanced science and medicine saw their people prosper like they never had before, and all
living within the three continents would enjoy this peace for generations.
They even began crafting various machines that would make their day-to-day lives even
easier.
One such creation was the Syrcus Tower, known by its more common name, the Crystal Tower.
This gigantic magical battery stood as a testament to what mortal men are truly capable of when
given the chance, and the clean energy this tower provided the empire would benefit the
lives of countless people.
However, the Allagan Empire would soon realize that paradise isn't truly everything you'd
hope it is.
After many generations, the Allagan people no longer knew the true meaning of things
like pain, suffering, and trauma.
They could have almost anything they wanted, and live long carefree lives thanks to their
medicine and technology.
But without any threats to overcome or strife to measure against their joy, their happiness
steadily became hollow.
People became lazier and content to indulge in selfish pleasures whilst their machines
did most of the day-to-day work for them.
The allagans quite literally became bored with life.
As such, their society began to spoil, and fester like an infection.
Things like reason, empathy, and even love started to disappear as the allagan people
became numb to their own existence.
But the worst part arose when inflicting horrors upon their fellow man, became a source of
entertainment.
The Allagan Empire was now fully corrupt, spoiled by its own glory.
Only a handful of intellectual groups remained.
They could still think rationally about the future of their country, and what they saw
on the horizon was a complete societal collapse.
As they debated on how to correct the direction of their failing empire, one man would take
it upon himself to do just that and more.
The scientist, Amon.
He had observed the Empires fall from grace with disgust, and saw the selfish whims of
its people as ugly blemishes in need of fixing.
He came to the realization that what the Empire needed wasn't a new invention, but a strong
leader.
Though instead of waiting for one such person to arise, Amon would create one.
In fact, he would recreate the greatest leader in Allagan history.
He would bring back Emperor Xande.
After unethical experiments that resulted in the altered minds and bodies of his colleagues,
Amon began the process of cloning Xande.
But this time he wouldn't live a mortal life, Amon would give Xande an immortal body so
that he might rule for all eternity.
Eventually, he succeeded, and Emperor Xande walked the earth once more.
After a few days of educating Xande on everything that had happened in his absence, the emperor
rolled his eyes in annoyance and decided to get to work immediately.
He began assassinating the current Allagan Emperor as well as executing anyone that dared
to stand in his way.
Most allagan people had become so powerless that none could stand up to his might.
After seizing power, Xande declared the three great continents was not enough for his Empire,
so they were going to liberate a massive continent to the south, they were going to invade Meracydia.
As Amon predicted, the fear of Xande's wrath had injected pain back into the hearts of
the allagan people, and their Empire began to mobilize just like it had in ages past.
With pride, Amon stood by Xande's side as the Empire began moving their military might
towards the shores of Meracydia.
Societies that lived alongside dragons had long since endured here, and the dragon's
leader, Dawn Wyrm Bahamut, would meet the Empire on the fields of battle.
His might held them back for the longest time, but after creating fiendish chimeras to outnumber
and over power him, Bahamut would die and leave Meracydia defenseless.
However, the people would not take this lying down, and summoned god-like entities called
primals to push back the empire's forces.
As living things born from raw aether and the unflinching faith of those that summon
them, the primals were a force that the Empire had trouble overcoming.
But this made Xande's blood race with excitement, as his military would devise creative ways
to outmaneuver and subdue these would-be gods.
The primals would fall and be captured by the empire, preventing more summoning.
Yet the climax of this war would only happen when an image of Dawn Wyrm Bahamut would be
summoned into the form of a primal.
This new primal Bahamut would become the greatest threat to the empire's crusade.
But instead of worrying about casualties, Xande's madness began to show as he enjoyed
the back and forth this war had created.
Like a massive game of chess with people's lives on the board, he kept playing.
But even this new form of Bahamut couldn't stand up to the darkness that Xande was about
to unleash.
Emperor Xande had made a pact with the Cloud of Darkness, a demonic entity from a hellish
realm called the Void, and with her power, he unleashed legions of voidsent upon Bahamut
and Meracydia both.
This was the final play, as the combined power of the void and a new weapon called Omega
defeated and captured Bahamut.
They sealed the dragon away in a red sphere called Dalamud, which was made to orbit the
world as a second moon.
While the Empire's campaign against Meracydia was a success, many allagans saw only cruelty
and insanity on full display.
They knew that once the war was over a new reign of terror was bound to begin and that
the allagan people, while foolish, would be made to suffer.
Many groups would put plans into place to safeguard the empire's best interest should
the worst come to pass, but eventually a massive revolution to dethrone the mad emperor would
occur.
Xande would retreat to Crystal Tower and attempt to use it to open a massive gate to the void
and allow the Cloud of Darkness itself to overrun the entire world.
But Xande made a fatal error.
Due to his actions, the world's aether was unstable and his attempt to use the tower
to such an end was the last straw.
The very earth beneath the Crystal Tower shattered, and the monument sank beneath the ground as
earthquakes began to ravage everything the empire had worked to build.
These tremors spread across the world, and so began the 4th Umbral Calamity, the Calamity
of Earth.
Bringing a tragic end to the prosperous Allagan Empire.
There were people within the Empire that wanted to prevent this outcome, but Amon's madness
had become Xande's mania, and together they sowed the seeds of chaos and destruction.
Not only for their empire, but for the entire world.
There are countless lessons that can be taken from the events of the 3rd Astral Era, but
this will end our first episode on the recorded history of Hydaelyn.
In our next episode, we will understand why so much history was lost during the 4th Astral
Era, and how the 5th Era was a time of peerless magic and spellcraft.
More videos on the history of the Final Fantasy 14 Universe are on the way and we are planning
to cover the battles of many other fantasy, sci-fi, and space opera universes, so make
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