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 opera universes, so make sure you subscribe and
press the bell button! Please, consider liking and sharing, as it helps immensely, and don’t forget
to comment - we will try to read and respond to every comment as we want to know what you think
about this video and which videos you hope to see in the future! This is the Wizards and Warriors
channel, and we’ll catch you on the next one!
