Gridania



Gridania is one of the city-states in Final Fantasy XIV, located on the Aldenard continent. It is located in the midst of the Black Shroud, a dense forest also known as the Twelveswood that serves to filter out those hostile toward the Elementals and those in cooperation with them. Gridania is by far the most unified of the city-states. Its guilds all work in cooperation with each other under the guided hand of Kan-E-Senna, who brought back the Order of the Twin Adder.

Profile
In the eastern reaches of the Aldenard landmass, home to vast, dense woodlands and coursing rivers, lies the forest nation of Gridania. The cityscape is a mosaic of labyrinthine waterways and great wooden structures, so gracefully constructed they seem a part of the surrounding environment.

The Gridanian emphasis on natural harmony has led to its preeminence among Eorzea's city-states in trades such as forestry, agriculture, carpentry, and leatherworking. Gridania is also home to the Wood Wailers, a militant band of polearm-wielding sentries charged with the protection of their homeland.

The favored goddess of the citizenry is Nophica, the Matron, but great faith is also placed in the wisdom of the Seedseers—young oracles who guide the nation based on the will of the forest's elementals.

The elementals in the Twelvewoods around Gridania pervade all aspects of Gridanian culture. The Gridanians respect, and even fear, the elementals for the power they wield, and appease or communicate with the elementals through festivals and ritual dance. The elementals in the woods guard and watch over observant Gridanians, and would normally control creatures of the forest and use them to attack outsiders. A sort of barrier called the Hedge prevents outsiders from being subject to this violent elemental nature, called "woodsin" or "woodwrath". The Hedge occasionally falters, however, and when it does, those affected with woodwrath need to be purified through ritual dance.

Emporiums and Services

 * Fen-Yll Fineries
 * The Whistling Miller
 * The Centaur's Eye

Guild Districts
During the game, the player character may find work by asking the Adventurer's Guild for Guildleves, decorative cards which each hold a quest for the character to complete. These include Regional Levequests, which involve combat or gathering outside town, and Local Levequests, which involve crafting. The Regional Levequests can be completed alone or with a party of other players, with everyone being able to reap the benefits of the quest. The Local Levequests can only be completed alone. Additionally, each class's specific guild will offer three story quests for adventurer's at levels 20, 30, and 36.

Carline Canopy
The Carline Canopy serves as Gridania's Adventurers' Guild. As in the other city-states, this is primarily a tavern that links to an inn. The inn here is called The Roost. On the lower level of the Carline Canopy is an airship travel agency unique compared to the design used by the other two nations. Rather than high in the sky, the airships land low to the ground.

Stillglade Fane
Arguably one one of the more significant Guilds in Gridania, all Conjurers, including the Seedseers that guide Gridania, come here to nurture the ability to communicate with the Elementals. Cooperation with the Elementals ensures the safety of both the individual and the city-state as a whole, so it falls to the Conjurers to maintain strong ties between people and the Twelvewoods. The Elementals deem what man is and is not allowed to reap from the Twelvewoods or where they are allowed to tread, so without the Conjurers' efforts, Gridania would lose the protection of the wood, if not incur the woodwrath. It is possible that a growing understanding and relationship with the Elementals allowed mankind to leave the subterranean civilization of Gelmorra to found Gridania, but little is known of the transition between the two civilizations.

Wailing Barracks
The Wood Wailers form the Lancer's Guild. They are the soldiers of Gridania and work in close cooperation with the Conjurers of Stillglade Fane and the Archers of the Quiver's Hold. They can serve as bodyguards, enforcers of the law, or a standing militia.

Quiver's Hold
The Quiver's Hold is the Archer's Guild, training the ranged units in Gridania's armed forces. They act as scouts, as they are able to see great distances. The Wildwood Elezen in particular excel as Archers for their keen sight. They work in close cooperation with the Wood Wailers and the Conjurers of Stillglade Fane. Moreso than the Wood Wailers, they depend heavily on the Carpenters of the Oak Atrium.

Oak Atrium
The Oak Atrium is the Capenter's Guild, closely associated with both the Wailing Barracks, the Quiver's Hold, and Stillglade Fane, who depend on them for weapons and arrows. The Oak Atrium also has a wooden playground in back (labeled Figaga's Gift in Eorzean). The children who play here also benefit from the wooden toys made by the Carpenters, but yearn to see the forest beyond Gridania.

Greatloam Growery
The Greatloam Growery is the Botanist's Guild. It is first and foremost a garden for both produce and flowers. The garden itself can only be accessed during certain quests. In addition to gardening, Botanists also act as lumberjacks that supply the Oak Atrium with wood, which is then made into things such as staves, spears, and bows for the Conjurers', Lancers', and Archers' Guilds respectively. At one time the Leatherworkers would also require wood chips to make leather before the transition to techniques that use Alumen.

Atelier Fen-Yll
The Leatherworker's Guild provides the world's luxury leather items such as shoes and purses, the Fen-Yll brand being renowned across Eorzea much like real world "designer" products. Leatherworkers will also make armor, a much less vain endeavor.

2.0
Player reception of Gridania as a starting nation has been poor, many complaining about the layout of both the town and the outlying Black Shroud region. Because of this, Akihiko Yoshida and his team have made its complete redesign one of the top priorities for 2.0. In the Seventh Umbral Era, it is expected that either this region or the adjacent region of Mor Dhona will be "ground zero" for the landscape-changing catastrophe.

Images of the redesigned region were released at E3, including concept art of a completely redesigned town and gameplay screenshots in a more open forest area. Unlike the current city-states, the new town will have an Aetheryte crystal in the middle of the town square, rather than in a secluded area on the edge of town.