The world of FFXIV is one filled with just as much progress as it is setbacks, with every grand
discovery usually having a dark reflection later down the line. Is this by chance? Or
are malicious entities eager to see someone rise up, just to knock them back down all over again?
Welcome back, to the Wizards and Warriors series on the history of Final Fantasy XIV.
Today we'll be continuing from our previous episode where we discussed the rise and fall
of Allagan Empire and discussing the war of the Magi: exploring the great
cities that would rise in the Fifth Astral Era, the terrible magics they would wield,
be it black, white, or beyond, and the biblical ruin they would bring to Eorzea.
When we last discussed the bountiful world of Hydaelyn, we revealed how the majesty of
the Allagan Empire had come at a tremendous price. Ease of living and global conquest had
come at the cost of empathy and reason, with most people realizing all too late how their choices
had doomed the entire world. The 4th Umbral Calamity, the Calamity of Earth, was upon them.
This worldwide catastrophe saw the land shake and split apart in ways unimaginable. Entire cities,
towns, and industries were either sunk beneath the earth's crust, or had their foundations so
thoroughly ruptured, that even the grandest of monuments would be made to collapse.
The regality of the Allagan Empire was made to pay for its arrogance. The only
places spared this global destruction were flying structures like that of Azys Lla.
But even so, their ruin was only delayed, as all the supplies, energy, and reinforcements they once
received from the land were now completely gone. Most people on these floating structures steadily
began to die of starvation as they became trapped and isolated, or were eventually killed by their
own monstrous creations as they no longer had the means of keeping them contained indefinitely.
But not all was lost. As stated previously, there were indeed groups that had gone out of their way
to try and protect the people from the cruelty of Allag’s first and last Emperor Xande. Princess
Salina, one of the descendants of the original Xande, had survived the quakes with a small group
of people at her side. She wept at the countless lives that were lost to the calamity, but upon
realizing what had happened to the crystal tower, she knew that the Xande and Amon were likely still
alive, and their madness wasn't over. Lacking the means to destroy the tower, she knew it
was only a matter of time until it would surface again, releasing Xande upon an unsuspecting world.
In her wisdom, Princess Salina knew that the emperor's deal with the Cloud of Darkness was one
of blood. So as long as someone with her heritage survived into the future, there would always be
someone capable of commanding the crystal tower, and banishing the malicious voidsent that would
devour the world. As such, she used what little Allagan technology that survived the quakes to
her advantage, passing on the blessings and burdens of the Allagan Royal bloodline to
one of her dearest friends. A commoner in whom this power would be passed down from generation
to generation without notice until the day it was needed to counter the newly emerged Crystal Tower.
Eventually, this royal blood did survive into the modern age, becoming the responsibility of the
Miqo'te belonging to the G tribe. Any miqo'te in this tribe born with red eyes were marked as the
ones who had inherited Princess Salina's legacy. But for all the preparations made, there was no
going back. The earthquakes had claimed untold lives, and those that survived had next to
nothing. The grief caused by such a tragedy eventually created hysteria as the victims
hopelessly looked for someone or something to blame for all this destruction. Eventually,
the blame was laid at the feet of their technology, progress, and even education itself.
Many survivors regressed into an exceedingly primitive mindset, seeing any kind of
technological development or higher learning as sinful and ruinous. This caused them to burn
books, destroy what little allagan technology survived the quakes and willfully demolish
buildings. This marked the beginning of the 4th Astral Era, otherwise known as the Forgotten Age.
The 4th Astral Era created no end of crazed individuals and religious zealots
who did everything in their power to crush higher learning. Even philosophers and scientists would
be killed simply for knowing more than others. This war against knowledge would persist for an
unknown amount of time, as no records detailing the 4th Astral Era were ever created. In fact,
this age and those people living within it, are the sole reason almost all knowledge about the
1st, 2nd, and 3rd Eras have vanished from history. We don't know what groups may or may not have
existed during this time. The only thing we know for certain is that their hatred for
reason and learning wouldn't save them from the elemental tragedy that was about to befall them.
For about fifteen hundred years, the 4th Astral Era would persist. But at the end of that time,
another Calamity would visit the ignorant masses of the world. No one knows how,
when, or why this Calamity began, only that it spelled doom for many more people and cultures.
The 5th Umbral Calamity, the Calamity of Ice had begun to freeze the entire world.
The only reason we know that it was indeed a calamity that had frozen the entire planet,
is because all tribes and cultures in the world began creating folk tales of endless blizzards and
frozen rivers all at the same time. This calamity saw most crops fail as they couldn't survive the
harsh cold, leaving many to die of starvation if the freezing winds didn't claim their lives first.
No amount of book burning or divine worship could save them,
as this calamity had claimed just as many innocent people as the ones preceding it.
Some tribes took advantage of the ice, migrating over places where even the ocean had frozen over,
attempting to find a location where they could thrive despite the constant cold.
These individuals would have seen massive mountains made entirely of ice floating across
the ocean's surface as they traveled, with some of those gigantic glaciers even existing to this
very day. Meanwhile, within Eorzea, it was around this time that a resplendent cathedral was built,
the location of which would eventually become a massive forest that is now known as the Black
Shroud. This church was built as a refuge, a place where people might gather to escape the
harsh cold of the world and pray to deities known as the Twelve Gods for protection.
It was in this church that magical spells and rituals would be created in an attempt to please
the gods, and beg for their aid. But eventually, whether by divine intervention or natural causes,
the snow, and the cold did relent. Allowing the warmer locals of temperate and tropical
regions to steadily return to normal over time. This breath of heat and relief, would mark the
beginning of the 5th Astral Era, which would later be known as the Age of Enlightenment.
As the entire world once again became warmer and more vibrant, the people would become
more eager to leave whatever locations they had used to hide from the cold.
The people that hid themselves in or around the cathedral in Eorzea, began to spread out across
the continent of Aldenard once more, taking with them the teaching of their favored god,
as well as the spells and rituals used to appease them. As they spread, these small groups of people
would grow into various settlements, towns, and then cities as their cultures became more diverse.
There would eventually be twelve city-states in total across Eorzea, each devoted to a
different god of the Twelve's pantheon. However, as these city-states grew in size and strength,
the differences with their neighbors became more apparent. This would create friction between the
various countries, as things like territorial disputes became all too common. Small skirmishes
would become localized wars as they began to fight for their gods and their claim to the land.
Though as time progressed, these wars would die out and peace would finally reign over Eorzea.
After the dust settled, there stood twelve proud nations, each with their own patron god.
But among these twelve, only three would rise to prominence. These were Amdapor located near
central Aldenard, Nym which occupied the entire island of Vylbrand as well as most of Eorzea's
western Coast, and finally, Mhach which found itself in the western basin of Yafaem.
With the borders of these countries now well defined, each city-state began to prosper in
their own way, with many of them creating and developing their own forms of magic
thanks to the rituals they inherited from the worship of each of their Twelve gods.
The one country considered to be the greatest of all city-states during this Era was that
of Amdapor. The leaders of this country were considered as generous and understanding as an
older sibling, since Amdapor repeatedly did everything in its power to keep the
peace and encourage the development of the smaller city-states surrounding it.
Eventually, this civilization would become known as Ancient Amdapor,
as it was believed that this country acted with wisdom and maturity well beyond its years.
This focus on inward improvement made the Amdapori excel at spellcraft,
developing many magical means to not only improve their lives, but defend themselves as well.
Instead of magical development, the country of Nym became more well-known for its navy and
commerce as they became a center of trade within Eorzea. This earned it a good deal of geopolitical
security, for to harm Nym would be to disturb supply chains that everyone benefited from.
Moreover, Nym would eventually create the finest Marines within Eorzea, making engaging with them
in naval warfare a death sentence. Between their command of the ocean and eagerness for trade, Nym
more than earned its place as one of Aldenard's three superpowers during the 5th Astral Era.
However, in the northwestern reaches of Eorzea, the smaller city-state of Mhach would eventually
develop something that fundamentally shifted the balance of power within the continent.
Halfway through the 5th Astral Era, a powerful mage would be born and raised in the country
of Mhach. Her name was Shatotto, a lalafellin woman of great renown and prestige who only ever
had one goal in life, to test the boundaries of magic itself. To that end, she would inevitably
weave the first ever incantations of a ruinous magic school, Shatotto had created Black Magic.
The people of Mhach immediately saw Black Magic for what it truly was, the most powerful school of
magic ever developed in terms of raw destructive potential. It was so strong that almost no barrier
could defend against it, and almost no healing spell could fully mend what damage was done.
Shatotto had not a care in the world for what her country did with the spell school she crafted,
as she was already researching new forms of magic.
But the leadership of Mhach took her research to heart, and through the teachings of Black Magic,
the city-state of Mhach had gained the most powerful standing military in all of Eorzea.
However, as the old saying goes, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and the leadership of Mhach
steadily became all too eager to test their strength against their neighbors.
With these new Black Mages at their disposal, the city-state of Mhach began to launch campaigns
against their neighboring countries, and such overwhelming force was there for all to witness.
Many smaller civilizations had no means of countering these new potent forms of
offensive spells, and became deeply fearful of being conquered. These aggressive actions
did not go unnoticed by the people of Amdapor, who immediately knew that Mhach and its Black
Mages must be made to yield. The many years that Amdapor spent weaving spells for the betterment of
all were not in vain, as the greatest mages among them would create the antithesis of Black Magic.
Where the people of Mhach would destroy, corrupt and reduce, this new spell school would protect,
purify and mend. With great success, the archmages of Amdapor became the first ever White Mages, and
with this new spell school they had the strength to stop the relentless assault of the Black Mages.
This became the first magical war between these two countries within the 5th Astral Era.
Mhach was shocked to see that the White Mages of Amdapor had become their perfect counter,
stopping their country's expansion in its tracks.
Mhach's leadership hesitated, ending their campaign against Eorzea. However, the end of
this war had shifted the power on the continent. Where once there were twelve proud countries,
only six remained. Having either been conquered by Mhach, or joined other city-states out of fear.
But this fragile peace would only last a handful of centuries. The mages of Mhach had found and
created another spell school in the form of Void Magic, allowing them to channel the corrupting
powers of the Void and command legions of Voidsent much like the Allagan Empire did before them.
Meanwhile, the country of Nym, in its desperate attempt to avoid conquest,
created the magic school used by Scholars in order to shield themselves from Black
Magic. Amdapor on the other hand attempted to counter the use of Voidsent, by weaving their
White Magic into creating armies of living stone in the form of golems that would do their bidding.
Tension was now at an all time high, as such, no one knows what the actual catalyst for the coming
conflict was, only that it sparked what would forever be known as the War of the Magi. This war
lasted for many years across multiple generations, and during this time, magic was at its peak.
Many sorcerers and witches would engage in the greatest arcane duels in Hydaelyn's history, as
demons from the void would collide with animated golems mid-air. Mhach and Amdapor both would gain
and lose ground for decades, with the people of Nym being forced to abandon their country
due to a plague placed on them by the voidsent of Mhach. However, over the course of the war,
the near-constant use of magic by many thousands of mages had drained the ambient aether of Eorzea.
Much like the excessive violence of Xande before them, the War of the Magi had caused
the world to be thrown off balance, and as such, another calamity was soon to come.
Just as it seemed that the capital of Amdapor might finally fall to the might of Mhach,
the world broke once again. It all began with a ceaseless cloud cover, and mild rain. But
eventually, the seas began to rise, and the rain began a torrential downpour that refused to end.
The world was now drowning in the waves of the 6th Umbral Calamity, the Calamity of Water. The
flooding of the world would ensure that neither the generous Amdapor, or the violent Mhachi,
would ever rise again. But how the world survived such turbulent waters is a story for another day.
Join us next time as we discuss the 6th Astral Era and how it eventually became the modern day
for players within FFXIV. We plan to cover the battles of many other fantasy, sci-fi, and space
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