Ascian

The Ascians, also frequently referred to as Paragons, are a mysterious cult of supernatural beings in Final Fantasy XIV who taught the beast races of Eorzea how to summon Primals from the aether. Legends say that Ascians arrive in times of need to lead those in darkness to the light of the Primals, but in fact they have secretive agendas of their own revolving around their deity Zodiark. There are two kinds of Ascians seen so far: the human-like overlords and more bestial creatures encountered in the original game's Path of the Twelve storyline.

Appearance
Each Ascian overlord, regardless of gender, is dressed in the same uniform: A single black leather hooded coat with purple markings and adornments. When they ready for combat, a red mask-like adornment appears over their face. The overlords have the ability to possess others and use them as puppets, though they also have their own forms that they can assume when not possessing others. Their leader also wears a red mask over the top half of his face.

The bestial Ascians have a very different appearance; they are similar to contemporary representations of grim reapers, with skeletal bodies and long habits with hoods that completely cover their heads and faces. Their legs are not visible, and they have skeletal bird-like wings sprouting from their back.

Final Fantasy XIV
The first hint of the Ascian's presence appears to be during the Limsa Lominsa storyline. The Adventurer encounters two mysterious figures called Emerick and Travanchet, who are linked to recent attacks on shipping by the Sahagin beast tribe. Travanchet, who wields mighty powers and, for some reason, does not cast a shadow, later steals a stone "key" from the Miqo'te sage Y'shtola before knocking the player unconscious and vanishing.

The Ascians are properly encountered during the Path of the Twelve storyline. The Adventurer is tasked by Minfilia with visiting a Amalj'aa excavation site in Gridania to negotiate with two of the beast tribes: the Amalj'aa and the Ixali; the two tribes are on the verge of summoning their respective Primals, which would cause untold destruction. Just as the he/she stops the tribes from going through with the ritual, a bestial Ascian appears and frightens the tribes away. The Slyphs, who are in the process of opening crystal trade with the two tribes again, later mention the Ascians by their alternative name "Paragon", saying that they were the ones who taught the tribes to summon their Primals. Although not seen in the rest of the original game, in flashbacks during A Realm Reborn, the Ascian leader Lahabrea is shown to have been watching the unleashing of Bahamut.

A Realm Reborn


In the aftermath of the Seventh Umbral Era, the Ascians start to emerge from hiding, influencing local criminal groups across Eorzea, the beast tribes and the Garlean invasion force lead by Gaius van Baelsar. Their leader is a masked Mage named Lahabrea, first encountered in a vision received by the Adventurer from Hydaelyn's crystal: Lahabrea appears from a black void and attacks him/her just as the vision ends. Lahabrea is later seen when the Adventurer finds the pirate group behind the kidnappings from the former-pirate established settlement Summerford Farms. When the Adventurer comes upon the leaders, Lahabrea, who is in hiding nearby, activates an archaic Golem to attack him/her. After he/she defeats the Golem, Lahabrea comments that he/she is no ordinary adventurer before vanishing.

Eventually revealed to have possessed the body of Thancred, Lahabrea reveals his organization's true intentions to revive Zodiark by using Gaius and the Ultima Weapon under his control. Though the Ultima Weapon is destroyed and he is purged from Thancred's body by the Adventurer, Lahabrea regains physical form as he meets up with more primary members of the Ascians (with three of them identified as Pashtarot, Igeyorhm, and Nabriales) to make preparations for Zodiark's resurrection.

Members

 * Lahabrea (Leader)
 * Pashtarot
 * Igeyorhm
 * Nabriales

Etymology
Ascian is a Latin word derived from ancient Greek: the word means Without shadow. Their alternative name, Paragon, means a person who acts as a model of some given quality.

Trivia

 * The Ascians overlords appear to be named after the Scions of Light mentioned in Final Fantasy XII. This fits with their deity named after the Esper seen in the Ivalice Alliance series.
 * Lahabrea's mask resembles the kind of masks used in the Noh theater tradition in Japan, albeit only partially covering the face.