Seventh Umbral Era

The Seventh Umbral Era is a cataclysmic event that is prophesied to happen in the near future on Final Fantasy XIV. The entire Seventh Umbral Era subplot is being used by the development team to explain in-lore several updates - such as enlarging the monsters and other events, all of which will culminate in the release of Final Fantasy XIV 2.0, as the cataclysm will eventually happen and reshape Eorzea itself, justifying the new version's updated maps. The last umbral era happened 1,500 years ago.

The Umbral Eras
The Eorzeans believe the land is always shifting from periods of abundance followed by catastrophes that bring scarcity, and sometimes destroy entire civilizations. These periods are know as the Astral (abundance) and Umbral (scarcity) eras.

Information on periods prior to the Fifth Umbral Era is hard to come by, and little is known about the other eras beyond their elemental alignments and the destruction of the Allagan civilization on the Fourth Umbral Era. Because all the six previous Umbral eras are based on the six elements, the people of Eorzea have believed that there will be no more. But since the discovery of the 7th Verse of Mezaya's prophesy, they are beginning to believe in an impending 7th Umbral Era.

The elemental alignment of each Umbral Era is as follows:
 * The First Umbral Era of Wind. Marked the end of the divine era and the beginning of men's age.
 * The Second Umbral Era of Lightning.
 * The Third Umbral Era of Fire.
 * The Fourth Umbral Era of Earth - Destroyed the Allagan civilization.
 * The Fifth Umbral Era of Ice.
 * The Sixth Umbral Era of Water - Severe flooding caused the submersion and damage of many parts of Eorzea.

The Seventh Umbral Era


The first signs of the coming of a new Umbral era came in the form of a sudden change in both monster behavior and size. Creatures all over Eorzea became larger within days, and Dalamud itself became considerably brighter in the night sky. A prophet by the name of Urianger soon started spreading the coming of the seventh Umbral Era, and was quickly deemed a heretic by the Garlean Empire, that even sent Nael Van Darnus personally to search for him and offer rewards for his capture.

While the populace initially ignored the new prophecy, new signs didn't take long to appear, as weird weather patterns could be perceived in the world; rain became far more common even on the deserts of Thanalan, and the Black Shroud had tempests lasting for days.

The weather has normalized after some time, but Dalamud still seemed to grow bigger with each passing day. The Grand Companies of Eorzea, aided by the Garlond Ironworks and adventurers all over Eorzea, started investigating the cause of these strange phenomena and discovered that the Empire is trying to accumulate high amounts of ceruleum, the substance needed for their magitek technology. After, capturing Garlean spies, the companies obtained several magitek components, which were sent to the Ironworks for analysis.

Putting all the pieces together, Cid Garlond came to a sinister conclusion: The Empire is planning to cast the ancient magick of Meteor, in a desperate attempt to purge Eorzea of its Primals, a project he himself was part of before fleeing Garlemald. Further proof was obtained due to a Gridanian soldier who eavesdropped Nael van Darnus and Gaius van Baelsar discussing the use of such drastic measures. Cid also mentions that Dalamud is actually a colossal machine created by the Allagans and is not a natural moon. To activate it and cast Meteor, ancient stones known as Allagan runestones are required.

After a brief period of respite, Garleans once again started an offensive against the city states, using a new type of magitek weaponry known as Magitek Vanguards, but all the offensives were held back with the help of the grand companies.

All these seemingly random attacks from the empire had one simple purpose: Distract the city states and adventurers, while a massive base was being built in Mor Dhona, where the Garleans are now housing the lunar transmitter - the tool needed to control Dalamud.

The "Eorzean Alliance" readily launched an assault on Castrum Novum, backed up by several adventurers. One such team of warriors managed to sneak into the lunar transmitter room and successfully destroy the equipment. However, Nael van Darnus easily defeated the group right after, powered up by Dalamud's light, and left the room claiming that he has "no further need for towers" and is still able to unleash Meteor upon Eorzea.

Not long after, the companies were able to track down Nael van Darnus's location; the Legatus was seen wandering near allagan ruins in camp glory. An attack group was quickly assembled and sent to the region, only to find a patch of floating islands emanating a light similar to the one previously seem on Castrum Novum.

Suddenly, fiery rocks rained down from Dalamud, as if it answering Nael's call. Without any other alternatives to reach the legatus', the companies sought Cid Garlond's for an airship. After a few preparations, Cid offered his personal airship, the Enterprise. However, it could only carry a small number of passengers, and as such, only a single group of adventurers were able to fly towards the floating islands for the final confrontation against the Legatus.

After a fierce battle, the party seemingly succeeds in defeating the legatus. However, he stands up and is bathed by Dalamud's light, losing what was left of his mind and becoming a being of pure hatred, known as Nael Deus Darnus. The battle starts once again, and the party finally defeats the legatus, whose body becomes pure energy and disappears in a faint light, apparently absorbed by the moon itself, leaving only his gunhalberd behind.

Following his defeat, the magic glyphs keeping the Rivenroad floating are deactivated, and the island starts falling apart. The group has no means to escape, but soon after Cid Garlond appears and rescues everyone, bringing the group to safety.

The Grand companies celebrate victory with a reunion on Gridania, as Cid assures everyone that Dalamud will no longer crash on Eorzea; however the player character wonders if that's true, as there's still something bothering him/her about Dalamud.

Unique Events
Each patch since 1.17 has added some sort of event related to the Seventh Umbral Era. Often, game master controlled characters, such as Urianger, Nael van Darnus or journalists from the major newspapers of each city states, log on near camps or in towns to discuss current events with players. With each patch, the size of Dalamud increases, and random Garlean invasions occur on several camps - fighting them on these invasions grant unique lodestone history achievements.

During patch 1.20, players could find Alfgar wandering near the adventurer guild in Gridania; he directed them to the airship landing, where a woman claimed her son has been taken by a group of cultists called the Lambs of Dalamud, who plan to sacrifice him. Following their trail via an aetherial gate leading to the Sil'dih Aqueducts or Mistbeard Cove, where the player can disrupt their ritual, gaining a lodestone achievement and some potions as reward. On patch 1.21, Dalamud became even bigger and can now be seen any time of the day, and Aetherytes all around Eorzea randomly become completely red, similar to the floating aetherytes seen on 2.0 artwork.

Other changes that happened were the removal of Thanalan's area theme on April 29, 2011, and the high occurrence of rain all over Eorzea - starting at the same time in the entire world and persisting even in towns (normally not affected by any weather effect other than those from seasonal events). Sometimes, the rain would go on non-stop for several real life days, mostly on The Black Shroud.

Players have also been reporting that some bodies of water are disappearing between patches, while other small lakes emerge in areas previously dry; this effect has been most noticeable around Nophica's Wells, in Thanalan.

After patch 1.22, when logging on the private inn room after choosing to sleep in the bed, a random nightmare cutscene may play. In this nightmare, the player character finds many imperial soldiers, monsters, adventurers and even Admiral Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn lying dead in Mor Dhona. When the character kneels to inspect the bodies, Nael van Darnus appears and thrusts for a fatal blow, ending the nightmare.

After patch 1.23, garlean airships could be spotted flying over several areas of the world at random, similarly to the transportation airships normally seem on the sky. Below Mor Dhona, one Aetheryte formation became red and started making a violent humming noise when a player walks towards it.

Every quest related to the Umbral era and some companies' quests will become unavailable after the 2.0 update, including the current Primal battles (those will have their questlines modified), and every reward or achievement acquired on these removed events will not be obtainable again, including a special Goobbue mount.

The Twelve Symbols


After patch 1.23, symbols related to one of the The Twelve gods of Eorzea appeared in various regions of the world, with no known purpose at the moment. This is one of the reasons behinds the monsters being redistributed in these areas. They may be related to the level 1 Twelve rings found in the 1.23 files, which are currently unavailable. Their true purpose will likely be made known in a lettered portion of 1.23.


 * Thaliak - Located in the aetheryte below Mor Dhona, entrance south of Castrum Novum, (6, 15)


 * Menphina - Located in a stone formation at Coerthas, (43, 7)


 * Azeyma - Located in a stone formation near the Sandgate, Thanalan, (50, 29)


 * Llymlaen - Located on the bird monument on the Upper Decks of Limsa Lominsa, (4, 7)


 * Althyk - Located in a stone formation near Lynxpelt Patch, The Black Shroud (45,22)


 * Nophica - Located at the roof of the Conjurer guild, Gridania


 * Nald'thal - Located in a pillar inside the Thaumaturge guild, Ul'dah


 * Halone - Located in a stone formation near the Twinpools, Coerthas (11, 20)


 * Nymeia - Located in a stone formation near Moraby Bay, La Noscea (29, 36)


 * Rhalgr - Located in a stone formation inside Little Ala'Mhigo, south of Camp Drybone, Thanalan


 * Oschon - Located in a mountain near Camp Iron Lake, La Noscea (20,3)


 * Byregot - Located in a lake near Camp Crimson Bark, The Black Shroud (7,29)

Permanently Missable Items and Achievements
Due to the nature of many of the Seventh Umbral Era events, any reward or achievement obtained upon their completion can be permanently missed if the player fails to participate in said event before they are removed from the game; it should be noted that events such as the Garlean invasions or cultist attacks are only available during a relatively short timeframe (usually between two major patches). Those battle events usually reward the players with rare potions such as Elixirs and deaspected crystals.

Other content, for example all sidequests directly related to the Umbral Era plotline, will be available only until the release of the 2.0 version. Naoki Yoshida also stated that all characters active before said release will have something that will "visually distinguish" them from those that weren't.

As a side note, while all cutscenes will still be available on the Undending Journey, most of them will be reworked for the new version, resulting in significantly different viewing experiences for the same cutscene.

Items

 * Deaspected Crystals
 * Goobbue Horn
 * Guild Marks - players will only be able to get refunds for skills removed from the game and bought with marks until 2.0 release, as well as exchanging marks for materia.

In-game Achievements
Due to the changes in certain questlines and the world map, several achievements will no longer be obtainable, but still count towards achievement points for those that obtain them before they are removed:


 * Battle - All Big Game Hunter achievements, all primal battle achievements, "Bane of the Tribes" and "Notorious Monster Hunting"
 * Quests - all guildleve and behest related achievements
 * Seasonal Events - all previous seasonal event achievements
 * Dungeons - all achievements currently under that category
 * Exploration - all achievements currently under that category

Lodestone Achievements
Achievements in italics are no longer obtainable.

Patch 1.17

 * Seventh Moon Rising - Obtained by speaking with Alfgar whenever he appeared to warn about the Seventh Umbral Era prophecy.

Patch 1.18

 * A Taste of Victory - fend off garleans at Camp Horizon, Bloodshore or Tranquil.
 * Rhapsody in White - Obtained by trading deaspected crystals with Ronan Kognan in Gridania.
 * The Empire Strikes First - Obtained by speaking with Alfgar, Roysia or a Militia Outrider whenever there's a Garlean attack.

Patch 1.19

 * Victory in the North - fend off garleans at Camp Glory and defeat the boss at the end.
 * Victory Beneath the Canopy - Fend of garleans at Camp Emerald Moss.
 * Cooperated with the Mythril Eye/Harbor Herald/Raven - Obtained by talking with the newspaper reporters that appear randomly at each city state and trading mole meats for magicked prisms, then using one on yourself; Magicked prisms can also be obtained via trade by roleplaying with a Game master controlled reporter, or bought from other players.

Patch 1.20

 * Escape from Mistbeard Cove/Sil'dih Aqueducts - Obtained by using the aetherial gates leading to the lambs of Dalamud hideouts and defeating them.

Patch 1.21

 * The Gathering Storm: Limsa Lominsa/Ul'dah/Gridania - Fend off Garlean attacks on the outskirts of the city states and defeat the boss at the end.
 * Fragments of the Truth - Acquire a faded page from garlean invasions and deliver it to Urianger.

Patch 1.22

 * Had A Nightmare! - Obtained by watching the nightmare cutscene. The cutscene plays randomly when the player log in their private inn room after leaving the game by sleeping on the bed.