I couldn't miss the chance to practice my drawing!
Etheirys [ɨˈθɛər.ɪs] is the world, or "star", in which Final Fantasy XIV and its expansions take place. It consists of one Source world that was split into thirteen additional, parallel 'reflections' (鏡像世界, kyōzō sekai?), numbered First to Thirteenth. The Source is where the majority of Final Fantasy XIV takes place, while the First is the setting of the Shadowbringers expansion, and the Fourth is the setting of the Evercold expansion.
History
A view of Etheirys during the Final Days.
Etheirys was a planet rich in aether, one of the two fundamental forms of energy that make up the universe. Its original inhabitants were known in the future solely as the ancients. They had the power to weave anything they desired into existence, a magick that they named creation, and which they used to peacefully cultivate their home in the pursuit of perfection. 12,000 years ago the original Etheirys and its inhabitants were split in an event known as the Sundering into fourteen near-perfect copies. The aether of the star was equally divided between them, resulting in beings much thinner in aether who were mortal, incomplete, and without the ability to use creation magicks. Over time, each reflection diverged into its own world, with its own cultures and historical events.
Some of the original inhabitants survived unsundered and began a long campaign to rejoin the shards to the Source to liberate the deity sealed in the events of the Sundering, and restore the 'true' mankind. Besides their first disastrous attempt that resulted in the Thirteenth becoming a vacuous, unstable "void", removing the possibility of a Rejoining, this group and their followers succeeded in seven of their subsequent attempts. As a result, only the First, Fourth, Eighth, Ninth, and Eleventh shards remain extant, yet most of them have suffered a calamity of their own. The First was nearly wiped out by a Flood of Light. The Fourth fell to a calamity of ice, as its surface was completely frozen. The Ninth suffered a calamity of lightning, which has left its surface desolate.
The world unsundered
The original Etheirys, as it was before the Hydaelyn—Zodiark conflict.
- Amaurot – The capital of the ancients' world, overseen by the Convocation of Fourteen, a group of mages who were the top experts in their various fields when recruited to the group.
- Elpis – A facility located on a floating continent where the ancients test their creations before approving them for life on Etheirys proper.
- Pandæmonium – A facility far beneath Elpis that contained and researched monsters created through the ancients' creation magicks that were deemed too dangerous to be released into the world of Etheirys but too valuable to outright destroy.
The Source
Also known as "Hydaelyn" after the goddess believed to be the will of the star, this is the world where the Warrior of Light and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn are from. After events in Endwalker, "Etheirys" is used instead by those who are aware of the original name. As the "Source" of the shards, it is intrinsically linked to all of the other worlds, so much so that if this world were to be destroyed, the shards would follow its fate.
- Eorzea – A geopolitical region which includes Aldenard, the westernmost of the Three Great Continents, and its surrounding islands, the largest of which is Vylbrand.
- Ilsabard – The largest of the Great Continents and home to the militaristic Garlean Empire, from which they launch their campaign of conquest. The island of Thavnair to its south is also treated as part of the same geographical region, though it and its surrounding areas are often known as the "Near East".
- Far East – A geopolitical region including the eastern Great Continent of Othard and its surrounding islands, including the Hingan archipielago.
- Tural – A continental group to the west of the Three Great Continents, known to Eorzeans as "the New World". It is divided into Yok Tural in the south and Xak Tural in the north. Home to the Mamool Ja, the continent boasts a multicultural civilization of disparate peoples.
- Meracydia – The southern continent, known to have once been inhabited by dragons.
The First
Once a vibrant world like the Source, it was afflicted by a Flood of Light that wiped out nine-tenths of its geography, leaving it mostly a desolate wasteland.
- Norvrandt – The only surviving continent on the shard, equivalent to the Source's Eorzea, and the last surviving bastion against the legions of aether-suffused monsters known as sin eaters.
- The Empty – A Light blasted, overaspected wasteland where the sin eaters originate from. It covers the majority of the planet's surface.
The Fourth
A world frozen in ice where the inhabitants reside above the cold on flying islands.
The Ninth
The ninth reflection of the Source, given the name "unlost world", this world seemingly fell to a calamity of lightning as nations vied for control of a special lightning aspected mineral named electrope.
- Alexandria – A kingdom with vast reserves of electrope, whose people survived the calamity with a dome barrier. Neighboring the kingdom of Lindblum.
- Lindblum - A kingdom of innovation, they were the ones to invent airships in this world. They warred with Alexandria over electrope and created an electrical superweapon that triggered the calamity.
- Cleyra - A nation surrounded at all times by a sandstorm.
- Conde Petie - A town near the Iifa Tree, where Milalla greeted each other with "Lali-ho!".
- Treno - A harbor nation located on the Mist Continent, near to Alexandria's location prior to its displacement to the Source.
The Thirteenth
After falling to a Flood of Darkness, this world became known as the "void". Its inhabitants were twisted beyond all recognition into aether-starved, immortal monsters known as voidsent, the strongest of which carve domains of their own from the unstable world.
- Cloud of Darkness' domain – Domain of the Cloud of Darkness, once accessible from the Source through a voidgate created by Syrcus Tower's energies.
- Troia – Domain of the voidsent Beatrice, serving as a twisted recreation of a castle from before the Flood.
- Zero's Domain – Domain of the voidsent Zero, serving as a sanctuary for voidsent that wish to escape from the service and machinations of more powerful voidsent.
- Storm's Crown – Free moving domain of the voidsent Barbariccia, one of the Archfiends of the elements.
- Red moon – Once housing a shard of the primal Zodiark, Golbez claimed it as his domain.
The sea of stars
Beyond the confines of the world lies what is known as the "great expanse"; an unimaginably vast void that separates the stars and is near impossible to traverse. The ancient Allagan Empire barely breached the boundaries of the planet by launching an artificial satellite only after millennia of technological advancement. However, many more worlds dot the sea of stars, some with the technology and physical means to cross the distances.
- Dalamud, the lesser moon – Known as the "red moon", and referred to in Eorzea as "hound of Menphina", this celestial body was actually an artificial satellite harnessing solar energy and housing the elder primal Bahamut. It was shattered apart when the elder primal broke free during the cusp of the Seventh Umbral Calamity, its fragments embedding themselves across Eorzea.
- Menphina, the greater moon – Contrasting with Dalamud, this "silver moon", occasionally known as "Menphina" after the goddess, but more commonly simply referred to as "the moon", is the nearest celestial neighbor to Etheirys. Among its many craters, the crater known as Mare Lamentorum is where the Loporrits make their abode as well as the seal on the fragmented Zodiark lies. The satellite is also claimed to have been artificial, made by Hydaelyn and as an "escape ship" from Etheirys should Zodiark be freed.
Etymology
The name of Etheirys is derived from "aether" due to the star being especially rich in it. According to ancient and medieval science, aether, also spelled æther or ether, is the material that fills the region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere. In ancient Greek mythology aether was supposed to be the breath of the gods, which formed the air which mortals breathed. The deity Aether is the personification of this idea as well as the upper sky itself.