FFXIV Lore- What it Means to be a Paladin

the city-state was in chaos bella dia was caught in the middle of a war of succession between the king's two twin princes people with dark intentions began to take advantage of the civil unrest by lashing out at others with differing agendas in the heat of this disturbance a child was knocked to the ground confused they looked around not seeing their family in the crowd with wet eyes they called out for someone anyone but it was every man for himself just then a blast from an out of control spell erupted nearby threatening to engulf them and everyone around it as the child screamed a knight charged in without fear placing themselves between the spell and the child they brought up their shield and with their unbreakable will bared the full force of the explosion protecting the young one and all those behind them their shield and armor sung with the sizzling heat of spent aether slowly bringing it down to stare at the castor from their position of power not one more soul the knight declared as they began to charge the assailants shield raised and sword drawn nights are not an uncommon occurrence in the world of heidelen there are many kingdoms nations and city-states where men and women pledged their strength and skills to serve the leadership of their lands such knights existed in the sun-kissed nation of belladia as well these knights eventually grew in reputation and power as bella dia gave way to the city-state of ul da becoming more than an armor-clad soldier today we will discuss what it means to be one of these elite royal guards today we will discuss what it means to be a paladin the history of paladins begins right before the fall of bella dia a new order of knights specialized to the defense of the sultan and nation were beginning to become popular in the upper echelons of the biladian military in less than a decade of this group's budding debut a war of succession broke out between the sons of the previous sultan one of these two princes was none other than sosagan ul sisigan he rallied the knights that had pledged fealty to him and thus the first sultan sworn were officially born their first command was to protect sausagan and whatever people wished to join him in the new nation he was building the sultan sworn were remarkably efficient their unique combat arts that combine sword and shield play made them seemingly unstoppable as the new city state of ul da began to form stories of the sultan sworn defending the budding nation blossomed into fantastical tales of heroism these men and women clad in armor were selflessly giving all for their king country swearing oaths of chivalry these tales slowly saw the sultan sworn become the heroic defenders known as paladins the paladin order officially began in the year 969 of the six astral era which means they've been honing their craft as brothers and sisters in arms for more than 600 years in those hundreds of years new generations of paladins took up the oath of the sultan sworn pledging their lives in service to the ruling sultan and inheriting the soul crystals of their mentors their style of combat became refined their armor took on the now familiar white and blue we see today and there are countless stories of selfless paladins sacrificing everything to protect the sultan and their people it's no exaggeration to say that the ul da we know today would not be standing if it weren't for the paladin order these loyal knights had delivered olda from ruin on many occasions and some were heralded in song but as time passed and the sultan lost more and more power to the syndicate the paladin order steadily began to weaken as well with the syndicate becoming the main body of governance and no longer singularly ruled by the sultan the paladins steadily became little more than throne guards eventually members of the syndicate began to employ their own forms of peacekeeping outside of the order leading to groups like the brass blades in addition the quality of the sultan swarm began to drop with only a handful taking their roles as seriously as the ones that came before them but over those hundreds of years since their founding something remarkable began to occur between the paladins themselves you see in honor of their loyalty and unshakable resolve the first captain of the sultan sworn was given a blade called oath keeper in its hilt he placed his soul stone and as his will power filled the memories of the crystal the blade itself began to shine with a brilliant light this phenomena marked the first captain of the sultan sworn as the captain general of all paladins you see this phenomena continued past the first generation of knights over the years a paladin's will and resolve would be judged by their soul stone and if it was seen as weaker than that of other paladins in the order the soul stone would resonate and bend a knee to the stronger knight this strange communion between the soul crystals revealed who was the best choice for a leader however there are instances where two paladins may have similar strength of spirit and the soul crystal's hierarchy declares there can only be one captain whenever the soul stones of two paladins fail to bend the knee to one another the paladins must fight for if they are both equally strong of spirit then the paladins must prove who is stronger of body once the soul stones have established their hierarchy the one whose soul crystal never bent a knee is called upon to hold oath keeper should this person's will and resolve match that of the first captain then oathkeeper will shine just as brilliantly as it did those 600 years ago declaring them to be the new captain of the paladin order this is why the paladins were never weak the soul stones ensured that only those with honest hearts were in charge the order was never led by a corrupt individual because the oath keeper would fail to recognize them which brings us to the modern day while the sultan sworn could be called a shadow of its former self thanks to the corrupting influence of the syndicate there are a few who are just as resolute and powerful as the paladins of years long past here in the seventh astral era the sultan sworn still exists as the royal guard of the current sultana however the paladin order itself has begun to break away from that role this has created a new breed called the free paladins no longer simply vowing to protect the throne of vulda a free paladin swears to become the unbreakable shield that defends the world itself from what i've seen this new order of paladins has begun to grow and without the restraints of the syndicate to bind them their soul stones are already crying out for a captain to lead them into glory given time it can be assumed that these free paladins will become the new order and in their hallowed halls these brothers and sisters in arms shall create their fraternity of protection anew having covered the history of paladins and understanding their origins let us now discuss their arts and abilities that makes them so tenacious on the battlefield as most of you know a paladin fights using a sword and shield and after hundreds of years of refinement their style has grown in both elegance and lethality a paladin's footwork keeps them between their opponents and other targets forcing the enemy to focus on them and only them this form of constant intervention is encouraged by their shield passively they use their shield to block of course but actively they use them to rush bash and even stun their opponents they're even wise enough to reinforce their shield arm with their own aether to withstand blows that would be able to break most people equally efficient however is their swordplay a paladin's mastery of the blade is not to be underestimated what began as ruthless swings became fluid motions that both cut deep and stabbed deeper keeping the paladin in motion but their swords and shields are not the only tools of a true paladin you see their personal resolve and strength of their oaths resonates with their spirit allowing for the channeling of their aether into spells a true paladin doesn't hesitate and this strength of will causes their spells to be released in full force while there aren't many spells at a paladin's disposal what they do have is surprisingly aether efficient they are able to cure themselves or others create defensive barriers and even cast offensive spells that strike opponents at a distance eventually the paladins married their spells with their swordplay creating a fighting style that makes use of both might and magic to overwhelm their opponents this versatility makes them very hard to put down as even the strongest opponents will usually exhaust themselves long before the paladin runs out of aether lastly let us go over their choice of weapons in a tire the sword and shield is the trademark of the paladin order since the original sultan sworn were pledging their lives to their liege what better tool to defend them than that of a shield shields have been used to great effect by many cultures throughout history but a paladin brings the full strength of their shield arm to a fight instead of cowering behind it the paladin shields have been made of various types of wooden metals through history and even though a wooden shield might not seem as wise a choice as a metal one they've not fallen out of fashion for two reasons one is that a wooden shield is lighter and easier for those of more slender build to carry and second is that wood itself is easier to enchant and empower when compared to lifeless metal likewise one-handed swords have been a staple of martial combat since time immemorial by countless cultures they have come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and are often made with decorative filigree to show rank or station there are often stories of blades possessed of powerful enchantments that can perform various magical feats even if the wielder is no mage finally we'll go over their attire the original sultan sworn didn't stop at shields to keep themselves in a fight they also favored plate armor to ensure they had an even more stalwart defense but it didn't take long for them to realize that full plate armor severely limited their movement and perception in battle on top of that thanolin has ever been known for its blazing days and chilling nights the paladins in full plate were steadily getting cooked during the day and freezing at night thanks to the armor not being made with these things in mind eventually the order moved away from plate armor and began wearing reinforced chain mail in surcoats this steadily evolved into the decorative outfits we see today usually any protective plates or chainmail that is worn by the paladin is covered by some form of cloth to absorb the heat of the sun and keep the metals cool this is also why surcoats and capes became increasingly popular amongst paladins as the loose fabric would keep the heat off of their armor and legs for longer periods of time however wearing white and silver was actually an aesthetic choice the unpainted silver of a paladin's shield and armor was a symbol of their purity of heart and dedication to the throne even now the blues whites and silver colors of a paladin demonstrates their untainted pledge to protect and serve and that my friends is what it means to be a paladin from their history to their skills and their dress their story is one of honor sacrifice and unshakable resolve those who walk the path of a paladin do so knowing they might not come out of a fight alive but this does not intimidate them since their life will have been what allowed others to live to any walking the path of the new paladin order hear me now countless people and i see your resolve and hear your oaths your pledge has not fallen on deaf ears and i know that behind your radiant shield all of heidelin will be well good day thank you for staying to the end of my lesson it's my hope that you found something new and interesting in between my ramblings if you did consider subscribing and liking this video doing that is the easiest way to tell me i'm doing a good job at feeding your thirst for knowledge if there is a topic you'd love to learn more about that i've yet to cover let me know in the comments and i'll see where my research takes me i'd also encourage you to share what you learned here with your friends and adventuring companions and if they're interested bring them to the next assembly i hope to see you and any other curious travelers in the next lecture till then stay safe my friends

Channel: Synodic Scribe

Views: 26,969

Keywords: ffxiv, FFXIV, Final Fantasy 14, mmorpg, mmo, lore, gaming, educational

Id: txgiEdHEepE

Length: 15min 1sec (901 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021