Nald'thal

Nald'thal
(ナルザル, Naruzaru?) Alternate names: The Traders (商神, Shōshin?, lit. Trade God)
Enemy appearances	Boss
Biographical information
Home	Heaven of Fire
Affiliation	The Twelve
Physical description
Gender	Male
Gameplay details
Type	Boss
Behind the scenes information
Designer	Tetsu Tsukamoto
Japanese voice actor	Riki Kitazawa
English voice actor	Jay Saighal

Nald'thal, the Traders, is one of the Twelve in Final Fantasy XIV. He is the overseer of the underworld and god of commerce, and the guardian deity of Ul'dah. He commands the element of fire and is associated with the tenth moon of the Eorzean calendar. Nald'thal is the single manifestation of twin deities: Nald, keeper of the living, and Thal, keeper of the dead. He is most often depicted as a discerning merchant holding a balance. His symbol is the cowry, an ancient shell currency.

History

Creation myth

At the beginning of time, there was no death. Oschon invited Halone on one of his journeys. During the travels Halone's ambition slowly transformed into a lust for battle. While on the road, she challenged every creature She met, honing Her skills and methodically devising new techniques for killing. When Nophica, mother of life, learned of Halone's wanton destruction of Her creations, she was angered beyond words and swore revenge. Oschon, feeling responsible for this rift, devised a plan to calm Nophica. From within the mountains of His creation, Oschon summoned a fount of magma that spewed forth onto the land. Upon cooling, the magma took form of the Twelfth and final god—the dual aspected Nald'thal. With Nald'thal, Oschon had provided a god to oversee the souls of those who met their deaths and provide them with peace in the afterlife. Satisfied that Her creations would no longer wander the void aimlessly, Nophica agreed to a truce with Halone.

When the Twelve considered their work in Eorzea complete, they created a realm where they could reside and watch over their creation, leaving the rule of Eorzea to mankind. This realm is known as the seven heavens that were associated with each of the six elements. In the Heaven of Fire, Nald'thal built an endless city out of golden bricks fired in the heat of the Azeyma's sun. It is believed that after death the just and the fair, the honest and the philanthropic reside in the Heaven of Fire. While the Hell of Fire is where those who wrongly judged their peers, those who tricked their customers, and those who gave and received douceurs burn. This Heaven is represented in Sharlayan astrology by the constellation of the Balance.

Eorzean worship

Nald'thal is the patron deity of Ul'dah. While many believe that Nald'thal is possessed of a dual nature, Ul'dahns see Him as twins, and worship Nald and Thal separately. Since times of eld, the Order of Nald'thal has devoted itself to this task, and encourages the devout to donate their coin, for virtue in this life, and happiness in Thal's realm. The Order of Nald'thal maintains two notable temples devoted to each of its aspects: Milvaneth Sacrarium for Nald, and Arrzaneth Ossuary for Thal.

Before it was closed for repairs due to Calamity, Milvaneth Sacrarium used to be visited by devout followers, the majority of whom were merchants praying for wealth in life, and success in their endeavors. Meanwhile the Arrzaneth Ossuary is visited by the destitute praying for fortune in the realm of the dead, and the moneyed seeking extravagant funerary rites. The virtuous are interred in Erralig's Burial Chamber, to ensure their safe passage into the realm of the dead.

Nald'thal has three saints canonized by the Council of Loetstym. The first was Saint Adama Landama, a merchant who bought items without haggling over the price, which allowed many new specialty merchants to enter the industry. The second is Saint Bodenolf, the leader of a group of mercenaries who dug and defended a well in a town that had taken care of him and his men years before. And finally Saint Zozonan, a shepherd who sold the few valuables in his chapel to buy provisions to feed refugees fleeing a war.

In recent times, Ququruka, who has been confined to the Marasaja Pit for a hundred years, claimed to have heard the voice of Nald'thal himself. This voice had prophesied that an adventurer with the same name as the Warrior of Light would appear and obtain the Gem of Shatotto. He was considered a heretic.

Column of light in Nald'thal's stone in End of an Era cutscene.

In preparation for the Seventh Umbral Calamity, the archon Louisoix Leveilleur carved the symbols of the Twelve across Eorzea and encouraged adventurers to pilgrimage and pray to the Twelve. When the Calamity arrived, Louisoix used the accumulated aether from the prayers to summon a primal manifestation of the Twelve in an attempt to defend the realm from the elder primal Bahamut.

Myths of the Realm

The Twelve reveal themselves to the Warrior of Light.

After the events of the Final Days, the Warrior of Light, along with G'raha Tia and Deryk, investigated a mysterious phantom realm. Byregot, Rhalgr, Azeyma, and Nald'thal made an appearance claiming to be of true divinity and not mere primals. They warned that the explorers were intruding upon the realm of the gods, and revealed their intention to replace the now deceased Hydaelyn as the Will of the Star. They challenged the Warrior to gather as as many allies that they could to stop their "ascension" before leaving.

After the Warrior traveled through the Heavens of Lightning and Fire and bested them in combat, the gods revealed their claims of taking over the world were a lie to spur the Warrior into action, and referred to the Warrior and their comrades as their "children". They reaffirmed they were not primals, but true divinities. When questioned further, the Twelve refused to divulge their exact nature as they were unable to do so at the time, but stated they had "hopes" similar to mortals. They told the Warrior to continue challenging the other gods to face further trials and uncover what they actually were before leaving.

Characteristics

Appearance

Concept art.

Nald'thal appears as a dual-winged entity sharing a single body dressed in white robes and golden armor that changes form by vertically flipping their torsos. As Nald, the white robes form a toga, the wings flow upward and appear blue with his torso being visibly disconnected from his legs. His head has several dark horns forming a crown and his flames are gold in color, flaring back.

As Thal, the robes cover most of his body save for his arms, with an additional hood over his head with his wings being red in color. His horns are fewer in number and are lined with candles. The now blue flames form from rings and flare forward, forming the silhouette of his symbol.

When casting Tipped Scales, the two forms can separate and exist independently by splitting from each other.

Personality

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Gameplay

After creating a character and choosing a birth date, players must align to one of the twelve deities. Originally, this slightly raised the character's elemental resistances based on the element of the chosen deity. As of Patch 4.2, elemental resistance stats were removed, leaving this decision with no in game effect.

Battle

Nald'thal is the final opponent faced in the Aglaia raid, faced in the Heaven of Fire. The main mechanics of the battle consist of both Nald and Thal using different mechanics at the same time. Only the mechanic of the personality in control will be performed, Nald and Thal can also switch after the mechanic has started forcing the players to adjust.

Triple Triad

Nald Card
	Card No.	336
	Total stats	22
	Type	None
	Description	Overseer of the underworld, god of commerce, and guardian deity of Ul'dah, Nald is conventionally depicted alongside Thal as either his twin or a single god of dual aspect. In Aglaia, he appraises the value of pilgrims' souls as any good trader would.
	Obtain	Potential drop from Aglaia.

Thal Card
	Card No.	337
	Total stats	22
	Type	None
	Description	Thal is but one aspect of the Traders who govern the underworld and commercial affairs. According to the teachings of the Order of Nald'thal, Nald presides over the world of the living, and Thal, the halls of the dead─and indeed, the twins' seamless transformations in Aglaia are strikingly reminiscent of the cycle of death and rebirth presented in the Order's liturgies.
	Obtain	Bought from the Triple Triad Trader in the Gold Saucer for 24,800 MGP.

Miscellaneous

Stone with Nald'thal's symbol in A Realm Reborn.

The "Living on a Prayer" quest in version 1.0 required the player to visit all the Twelve symbols throughout Eorzea. Once completed this rewarded with the ring of one of the Twelve, this included the Nald'thal's Ring. Nald'thal is the only member of The Twelve to have two stone symbols. The stones' location remain unchanged. They are located in the statues of both Nald and Thal in Ul'dah at the Arrazaneth Ossuary in Steps of Nald, and at the Milvaneth Sacrarium in Steps of Thal. The second location is currently inaccessible as of version 2.0. Although the original quest was removed with the re-release of the game, in patch 2.45 the quest The Ties That Bind was added, which repeats the same pilgrimage through the marks of the Twelve.

The Miner action Nald'thal's Ward increased the drop rate of fire shards, fire crystals, or fire clusters while gathering, and the action Nald'thal's Counsel increased the chance of obtaining an HQ item on the next gathering attempt. Both actions have been removed in patch 5.1 and 6.0 respectively. The Miner Action Nald'thal's Tidings increases the item yield from Gatherer's Boon by 1. The Astrologian card The Balance represents the Heaven of Fire, the card artwork depicts Azeyma holding a scale with Her and Nald'thal's symbols in the background.

The Traders' Favor introduced in patch 3.05 could be bought for Gatherers' Scrips. The Traders' Favor conferred a status that revealed miner concealed nodes for rare items from a particular region. In patch 5.2 the Favor items have lost their effect and can no longer be obtained.

Behind the scenes

During the Fan Festival NA 2014 when asked about the origin of the in-game expletive "Thal's Bloody Balls", Michael-Christopher Koji Fox said that during the creation of Twelve he thought of a name that could be used in a swear word. Koji Fox wanted a name that rhymed with "ball" and so he chose Thal. The name was too short in Japanese, so Koji Fox suggested Nald'thal and made it a dual aspect deity so he could separate the name and use the "Thal's Balls" in game.

The Traders' Spurn is a necromantic powder named for Nald'thal that infamously caused the fall of Sil'dih.

Two shrines, Nald's Reflection and Thal's Respite, can be found in Southern Thanalan and Eastern Thanalan, respectively.

Gallery

Stone with Nald'thal's symbol in version 1.0.

Stone with Nald'thal's symbol in version 1.0.

The Balance constellation.

The Balance card.

Nald and Thal in a hidden room of Sil'dih.