Corvos (コルヴォ地方, Koruvo chihō?, lit. Corvos region) is a currently inaccessible country in Final Fantasy XIV. It is located on the continent of Ilsabard. Corvos is considered the ancestral homeland of the Garlean people, who refer to it as Locus Amoenus (ロクス・アモエヌス, Rokusu Amoenusu?).

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Corvos is located in the southeast of Ilsabard, near Bozja and across a strait from the island of Thavnair. Like much of southern Ilsabard, Corvos is a warm, temperate climate with fertile farmland. Labyrinthos's artificial environment is based on Corvos.^[1]

Corvos is the home to a sword style called the Unyielding Blade, the secrets of which are only passed down from master to pupil.^[2] Practitioners of the Unyielding Blade are called Swordmasters.^[3] The style has the user channeling aether into their weapon to unleash it as an attack. The patterns on Swordmasters' blades condenses the wielder's aether to increase the power of their attacks.^[4] Practitioners of the Unyielding Blade would train in a mountain valley where rocks which floated with magnetism could be found.^[5]

The Corvosi have flying carpets.^[6] Corvosi fabrics are similar in style to the nearby Radz-at-Han.^[7] Grapes are known to be indigenous to Corvos.^[8] A type of ore mined in Corvos can power some devices, such as radios,^[9] and proximity to the ore can ward off primal tempering.^[10] This ore may be the same as the above-mentioned magnetic rocks.

The Merchant's Tale is a well-known fable passed down in Corvos and beloved across the Near East. Its original author is unknown, and it has many variations depending on who is telling it, but the main plot is always about a young merchant searching for treasure to win the heart of a woman.^[11] In Corvos, there exists a legend of a lamp-dwelling spirit that grants wishes to its master.^[12] Legends pertaining to mermaids are also common in the Corvos region, foremost among them the tale of a mermaid princess who falls in love with a man.^[13] For generations the seafarers of Corvos have told tales of Deadly Dandan, a monstrous wavekin that is the embodiment of all things great and terrible.^[14]

The strait that separates Corvos and Thavnair is known as the Corvos Narrow. On the Corvosi shore of the strait, there is a massive stone foot called the Anchorite at Corvos. Legend says that there used to be an immense statue that stood over the strait with feet on both Corvos and Thavnair, but now all that remains is the right foot in Corvos.

The known population of Corvos includes Hyur, Garleans, Miqo'te, and Au Ra.

History

Background

Thousands of years ago a race of people originating from the island city of Goug would settle in the area that would later be known as Corvos. These people, who would come to be known as the Garleans, worked the fields as peaceful farmers. The date of the Gougans' arrival is unknown, taking place sometime after the creation of the Ridorana Cataract.

In the Third Astral Era, over five thousand years ago, the Allagan Empire conquered the region just as it did the rest of the known world. They sent many Miqo'te from Eorzea to serve as slaves on the region's fertile fields. After the Fourth Umbral Calamity destroyed the empire, those Miqo'te remained in the area. When the Fifth Umbral Calamity several centuries later brought an ice age to the world, many of the Miqo'te tribes migrated across the frozen Bloodbrine Sea to Eorzea. The G tribe remained behind to guard the Allagan artifacts from any who would abuse them.^[15]

The Garleans living in Corvos were unable to use magic, and so were oppressed, persecuted, and slowly pushed off their lands by groups (referred to later as simply "the Corvosi") who could. Finally, 850 years ago, they were completely forced out of Corvos and were driven into the uninhabitable frozen wastes of northern Ilsabard. These people would come to join as the Garlemald Republic, and developed methods of survival such as pacts with voidsent in order to ensure their survival in the harsh climate.

The next known settlement in the region was the kingdom of Corvos. It is said an ancient king of Corvos, upon conquering a tribe of faeries, bid the faerie queen weave her magicks to forge an object the likes mankind had never seen. The queen was executed shortly after presenting the king with a flying carpet.^[6]

Some time ago, Au Ra from Corvos traveled west and founded the nation of Werlyt.^[16]

800 years after the Garleans had settled in the cold north of Ilsabard, their fledging Republic gave way to a powerful empire. 50 years before A Realm Reborn, Emperor Solus zos Galvus rallied his armies to take back their ancestral lands of Corvos, and so it was conquered by the Garlean Empire. After brutally subjugating the Corvosi, the Garleans wiped the name of Corvos from all records, retitling it Locus Amoenus. Corvos was the only province in the Empire's history to have its name erased, evidence that the Garleans still held a grudge.^[17] The Corvosi attempted to rebel against the Garleans, but were quelled by the IInd Imperial Legion.^[18]

When the imperial House Darnus began searching for Allagan relics in Corvos, the G tribe Miqo'te, having lived there thousands of years, feared discovery by the empire and buried their ties to ancient Allag. G'raha Tia, who had inherited the Royal Eye entrusted to the tribe by Allag's last princess, was spirited away to Sharlayan to keep him safe.^[19]

The imperial crown prince Zenos yae Galvus's sword teacher came from Corvos.^[2] He was the final practitioner of the Unyielding Blade style to hold the title of Swordmaster, and was captured by the Garleans after a failed rebellion. Zenos ultimately killed him.^[3]

During one of their attempts to fight Garlemald, the Corvosi summoned the legendary sea monster Deadly Dandan as a primal.^[14] Deadly Dandan is implied to be the Primal that powered the Sapphire Weapon, as the Sapphire Weapon consumed a Primal in the Corvos Narrow.^[20]

Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker

Corvos was heavily affected by the Final Days. While the Warrior of Light was busy in Elpis, several of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn members traveled to Corvos to try to aid the people there. According to a Corvosi youth who reported to the Scions, after the capital of Garlemald was destroyed, the chain of command in Corvos fell into chaos, resulting in a slow response time when the Final Days struck.^[17] The IInd Imperial Legion was overrun and wiped out by the beasts of the Final Days, while survivors fled to Garlemald.^[21]

After the Final Days were overcome, Hoary Boulder and Coultenet Dailebaure traveled to Corvos to help ease tensions between the Corvosi and Garleans they were sure would flare up in the wake of the empire's collapse.

Some time later, Hien Rijin of Doma was invited to a summit at Radz-at-Han between many nation leaders and the leaders of the now fractured Garlean community. As the imperial viceroy of Corvos would be in attendance, Hien asked for knowledge from a local─G'raha Tia─about the country.^[17]

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail

Y'shtola's sister Y'nazqha Rhul was given a magical book of Corvosi fairy tales by their late father, Y'rhul Nunh.^[22] Y'nazqha and the Warrior of Light enter the stories in the variant dungeon The Merchant's Tale, giving a glimpse of Corvos through the colorful lens of a storybook.

When Hoary Boulder and Coultenet returned to Eorzea from Corvos, they reported that the strife in the region had settled enough that the two of them were no longer needed. Coultenet was hopeful for the issues all being resolved in the future.

Etymology

Corvos may be derived from corvus, which means "crow" in Latin.

The Garlean name for Corvos, Locus Amoenus, means "pleasant place" in Latin.

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