Random Thoughts.....What Are You Thinking?

Q:
After Bahamut Prime is defeated, it is assumed that Bahamut's regenerating body is dispersed into aether so he can finally rest in peace. Does this mean that Bahamut may once again be resurrected as a Primal in a future patch, should we ever step foot in Meracydia?

A:
As has been mentioned in past quests, most primal summoning comes down to the faith of the primal's followers. That faith acts as a beacon for the primal's dispersed aetherial essence, allowing for the remanifestation of a being whose infinite number of parts were tossed into that giant blender known as the Lifestream. If enough followers of Bahamut (or perhaps Dalamud, which, ultimately is the same concept) were to gather and perform a summoning, then technically anything is possible (with the proper amount of aether to act as the catalyst), and it doesn't necessarily need to be on Meracydia (which, in many places is still a smoldering waste, even today). What needs to be understood is that the state of the believers when the summoning occurs directly affects the manner in which the dispersed essence of the deceased is reconfigured. Tiamat, knows of this first hand due to her failed attempt to resummon her fallen beloved. She and Bahamut's brood knew Bahamut better than anyone, but since their hearts were darkened by sorrow stemming from the loss, coupled with hate directed towards the Allagans, the Bahamut that was ultimately brought back ended up being naught but a twisted shell of the dragon Tiamat remembered. This also explains the differences between the actions and temperaments of other primals spanning from 1.0 to 2.0. The needs and desires of the believers doing the summoning changed following the Calamity, resulting in changes in the primals they summoned, Ifrit and Titan, even Shiva all being good examples (though Shiva's differences span back further than just 5 years ago).

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Q:
Why are Meracydian ruins plastered with the mark of Azeyma, the Warden?

A:
So, as is documented in the adventure log entry for the Azys Lla's Cathedral, the structure was an actual place of worship in Meracydia used by the followers of Sephirot, until it was picked up and moved in its entirety by the Allagans so they could study it (in particular, study the ties between faith and primal summoning). So, if it is a Meracydian structure, why does it feature stone carvings almost identical to those found in the Sunken Temple of Qarn (including the repetition of a symbol that has an uncanny resemblance to the sign of Azeyma, the Warden)? We've officially stated before that worship of the Twelve is something found almost solely in Eorzea. Is this proof that Meracydians also worshiped the Twelve? Or perhaps that Azeyma is a transplant from Meracydia? The answer is, in fact, neither. However, there is an interesting connection between ancient Meracydia, the Sunken Temple of Qarn, and ultimately Azeyma.

As can be seen from existing Allagan artifacts (runestones (from 1.0) inscribed with the symbols of the Twelve), Twelve worship existed in the 3rd Astral Era (before eventually losing steam amongst the Allagans as their civilization became increasingly scientifically advanced). When the Allagans first visited Meracydia, they were surprised to find a symbol almost identical to that used for Azeyma, the Warden being prominently featured in various types of architecture. Further research, however, revealed that the Meracydians they encountered did not worship Azeyma, but instead a deity named Sephirot, the Fiend, and that the symbol was being used to mean something similar, but ultimately different.

The original Meracydian tribe which worshipped Sephirot believed him to be a massive tree. As all plants require light to grow and thrive, it was only natural for the tribe to believe that their god also came into his power by bathing in the brilliance of the sun. The tribe recognized the importance of the sun, and thusly adorned their Sephirotic temples with their people's symbol for it. This lead the Allagan scholars to conclude that the Meracydian symbol for the sun, and the Allagan symbol for Azeyma (goddess of the sun) must have both have the same origins, and that somewhere, countless years in the past, that symbol made its way to several different regions across the globe, the evolution of its meaning differing slightly depending on the location.

Now, as for the runic patterns seen in both the Meracydian Cathedral and the Sunken Temple of Qarn, when the Allagans lifted the Cathedral from its home in Meracydia and brought it to Azys Lla, they conducted extensive studies on the building and its architecture--much of that knowledge making its way (in limited form) to the Allagan populace (much like information on, say, the ancient Egyptians is available to anyone in rural Kentucky with a library card or Internet connection). There were even people who took to copying it in newer buildings (much like modern government buildings on Earth might use a decidedly Roman style of architecture). When the Calamity of the 3rd Astral Era hit and ushered in the 4th Umbral Era (a dark age of regression), much of that knowledge was lost, and only fragments lingered--fragments that the few remaining survivors were ill-prepared to fully comprehend. Knowledge of Sephirot? Meracydia? The Cathedral's purpose? All were lost. What people did see was that many of the buildings that were still standing amongst the destruction wrought by the Calamity were covered in these arcane symbols. Many superstitious people took this to mean that they were some kind of wards that protected these structures (not realizing that a lot of buildings with those designs also were destroyed as well). Millennia later, when Belah'dia was founded with the Warden as its matron deity, they naturally incorporated the symbols associated with the deity (symbols taken from much older concepts--symbols tied to what appeared to be the mark of Azeyma) into the architecture of their temples--the Temple of Qarn being one of those. (It also helped that Qarn was built atop the remnants of something much, much older than the Belah'dian civilization)."

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Q:
How are dragon names decided? Many of the dragons in and around Anyx Trine have names made from words in from the dragon language, but there are others--Vidofnir, Vedrfolnir, Gullinkambi--who have names taken from Norse Mythology like Midgardsormr and his children's are. Is there a reason they have their own unique names? Are names like this earned?

A:
Every dragon has a name in the base draconian tongue, including the more prominent figures such as Bahamut, Vidofnir, Midgardsormr, etc. The 'Eorzean' names have been earned through the dragons' interactions with past civilizations. The elder dragons (especially those of Midgardsormr's first brood) have spent thousand (tens-of-thousands) of years roaming about Hydaelyn. During that time, they have come in contact with many different peoples--some primitive, some advanced. Some with which they warred, some with which they fostered peace. Those peoples gave the dragons names in their own tongues. Some were based on existing words in those tongues, while others were phonetic interpretations, bastardizations, and subsequent degradations of a language that they could not accurately pronounce. These names took hold amongst the people of Eorzea, being passed down orally and in print, and effectively became the second names of the dragons. Rather than fight this, it was ultimately easier for the dragons to simply allow man to call them what they wished. Some of the dragons have even grown fond of these names, choosing to use them even when speaking with other dragons (who would otherwise know them by their draconian names).