So, one of the first things I noticed when starting ShB recently was the number of things that seemed like references to FFXI, especially Al'Taiue. Upon zoning in to lakeland, the first things you see are purple trees and a pale landscape with hints of purple and blue that to me at least called to mind the Sea endgame. One of the first areas I ran into in the Crystarium was the Temenos rookery. Temenos being the light aligned region of Limbus in XI.
The sin eaters formed from humans also look like they have a similar profile to the aerns in XI, who were the inhabitants of the celestial capital after it was pulled into the crystal. The names of the sin eaters also remind me of the jailers of virtue (too bad AV was claimed by Eureka)
Recently I read about the power of creation that the original Ascians possessed. I was reminded strongly of the lore and mechanics behind crystal synthesis in XI. In the lore, crystal synthesis was reintroduced to the world by Kamlaunatt and Ealdnarch, being a lost art of the Zilart. the basic process is that after acquiring the base items and using the correct crystal you form a template in your mind of what you want to create and your success relies on your focus along with being able to imagine the item in exquisite detail.
Lastly and why this isn't just XI references is that I'm pretty sure the Great Serpent of Ronka is supposed to look like a Tsuchinoko. The Tsuchinoko is a cryptid that is apparently kinda popular in Japan and all the references of it I've seen are a bulbous snake with a sharply tapered small tail like the great serpent has.
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The sin eaters formed from humans also look like they have a similar profile to the aerns in XI, who were the inhabitants of the celestial capital after it was pulled into the crystal. The names of the sin eaters also remind me of the jailers of virtue (too bad AV was claimed by Eureka)
Recently I read about the power of creation that the original Ascians possessed. I was reminded strongly of the lore and mechanics behind crystal synthesis in XI. In the lore, crystal synthesis was reintroduced to the world by Kamlaunatt and Ealdnarch, being a lost art of the Zilart. the basic process is that after acquiring the base items and using the correct crystal you form a template in your mind of what you want to create and your success relies on your focus along with being able to imagine the item in exquisite detail.
Lastly and why this isn't just XI references is that I'm pretty sure the Great Serpent of Ronka is supposed to look like a Tsuchinoko. The Tsuchinoko is a cryptid that is apparently kinda popular in Japan and all the references of it I've seen are a bulbous snake with a sharply tapered small tail like the great serpent has.
Continue reading...