Nymeia

Nymeia
(ニメーヤ, Nimēya?) Alternate names: The Spinner (星神, Seishin?, lit. Star God)
Biographical information
Home	Heaven of Water
Affiliation	The Twelve
Physical description
Gender	Female
Gameplay details
Type	Boss
Behind the scenes information
Japanese voice actor	Yuu Asakawa
English voice actor	Bethan Cullinane
Related pages
Enemy appearances	Boss

Nymeia, the Spinner, is one of the Twelve in Final Fantasy XIV. She is the watcher of celestial bodies and goddess of fate, commands the element of water and is associated with the Second Umbral Moon (fourth month). She is depicted as a weaver donning a white, silken veil. Her symbol is the spinning wheel. She is the younger sister of Althyk, mother of Azeyma and Menphina, and the master of Rhalgr.

History

Creation myth

Nymeia was the second deity born of Whorl. She was but a girl who could do naught but weep, and soon Her tears had created a vast lake. At this time the waters also came into being, and through it the Silvertear Falls came to be at the center of everything. These waters were also the source of all magic. At this time the great wyrm Midgardsormr also appeared. Fearing that the Falls would fall into the hands of evil, Althyk and Nymeia ordered Midgardsormr to become its protector and warden.

Althyk, seeking companionship in the empty realm of His creation, took the younger goddess under His wing and cared for Her as one would a daughter. As Nymeia grew, however, so too, did their love for one another, until it could no longer be contained, culminating in a divine coupling which resulted in the birth of two holy daughters: Azeyma, the sun, and Menphina, the moon.

After Thaliak's birth, he looked upon the silent and unchanging lake left by Nymeia's tears and coaxed from it a river to carry that water to the far corners of the realm. Eventually the creations of Thaliak, Oschon and Llymlaen expanded uncontrollably bringing great chaos to the realm. To bring order to this chaos, Nymeia prepared a powerful comet from the heavens and gave it life, becoming Rhalgr. She directed him into the world so that he could destroy the excess that her children had wrought, and thus bring harmony back into the realm. When Whorl awoke again bringing to life two more deities: Byregot and Halone. It was feared that the untamed and ambitious siblings might once again usher chaos unto the world, so to see that they were properly disciplined, Nymeia quickly made them wards of Rhalgr.

When the Twelve considered their work in Eorzea complete, they proceeded to create a realm in which they could reside and watch over their creation, thus leaving the rule of Eorzea to mankind. This realm is known as the seven heavens that were associated with each of the six elements. To create the river which runs through the Heaven of Water, Nymeia melted a star, to which Thaliak added the essence of knowledge and then poured it forth from his Ewer. Here reside the scholars and inventors, the teachers and the entrepreneurs. From the bed of the celestial river did forsaken droplets fall to the Pit where they settled and stagnated, creating the Hell of Water. Here drown deceivers, counterfeiters, mountebanks, and false prophets. This Heaven is represented in Sharlayan astrology by the constellation of the Ewer.

Eorzean worship

Nymeia is usually worshiped by weavers throughout the Eorzea. Since Nymeia spins the destiny, she is also often worshipped by gamblers.

Nymeia's face in an one hundred-gil coin.

About a hundred years ago as a means of strengthening trade relations in the aftermath of the Autumn War, the gil was adopted by the city-states of Eorzea as universal currency. A consensus of experts from all nations decided to adopt neutral designs, not rooted in the traditions of any culture or nation, in the interest of avoiding unnecessary debate. To this end, the Twelve were chosen to illustrate the coins, and the Nymeia's face, the Spinner, was chosen to grace the hundred-gil coin.

In the year 1546 of the Sixth Astral Era, King Theodoric tried to escape the influence of the Fist of Rhalgr. He proclaimed himself ordained by Nymeia herself and forbade the worship of the Destroyer. In this way Nymeia briefly became the matron deity of Ala Mhigo until the fall of the city-state eleven years later. Under Garlean rule, the Empire banned the worship of any god in the city-state.

Nymeia has two saints canonized by the Council of Loetstym. The first is Saint Llafymae, a bard who sang realistic songs about heroes instead of embellished heroic epic songs. Her songs helped a number of fledgling heroes on their journeys. The second is Saint Lathme, a widow gave free weaving lessons to new widows so that they could support themselves after the death of their husbands.

The Starlight Celebration is a seasonal holiday of Eorzea held to honor the kindness of Ishgardian knights who broke the rules to offer shelters within their barracks for war orphans. The children who survived the winter, lived to repay the kindness they had received. The orphans adorned themselves just like the scarlet uniforms of the knights, and delivered gifts to the children in the coldest week of the year. Thus the Starlight Celebration was born. Over the years, the celebration underwent gradual changes. The captain of the knights became known as the "Saint of Nymeia", and children believe that he delivers their hopes and prayers directly to the goddess herself. Likewise, his knights have become the saint's "little helpers", and their role is to bring gifts to each child who sends a prayer to the Spinner.

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.

Characteristics

Appearance

Nymeia during the battle in Euphrosyne.

Nymeia appears as as a fairly young woman with platinum blond hair and red eyes, dressed in a white and purple robe with gold accents and wearing a hood over a her head. Upon her back is a large apparatus with a wheel-like compartment, from which her symbol as the Spinner is derived. When invoking the power of time, she summons a set of glowing cards around her.

Her disguise form is a floating blue fish.

Personality

Like the other Twelve, Nymeia is a benevolent goddess who watches over the world. She has a playful personality and is very attached to her brother Althyk, to the point of appearing uninvited to help him fight the player characters in the Heaven of Earth, in spite of being a water goddess.

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

Nymeia and Althyk are faced simultaneously as the second boss of Euphrosyne raid.

Before the fight begins Nymeia will cast a spell on both herself and Althyk that will apply an 8-minute long status effect on them. If neither are downed before the timer is up, they will cast Neikos, creating a large black hole that will suck every living player and kill them instantly.

Nymeia's abilities go in tandem with Althyk's, mainly taking the form of waves of water and dealing cards to players whose effects are determined if they're upright or reversed. She will either deal elemental cards that will apply elemental status effects (fire if upright, ice if reversed) or love cards that will attempt to charm the player characters (those who look at her if upright, or those who look away from her if reversed). Althyk will then occasionally accelerate time shortly afterwards, causing her cards to take effect much more rapidly than expected.

She hasn't been observed to use both elemental cards and love cards in the same fight, and which one is chosen seem to be instance-based as she hasn't been observed changing card types after wipes or boss resets.

Miscellaneous

Stone with Nymeia'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 Nymeia's Ring. 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 mark of Nymeia is located at the south of Moraby Drydocks, Lower La Noscea. Prior to the Calamity, it could be found on a cliff at Moraby Bay, Lower La Noscea.

The Nymeia's Ward was a trait common to Botanist and Miner. It occasionally increased yield for items without HQ versions, such as seeds. The Nymeia's Wheel was a specialist action common to Alchemist and Carpenter, it restored the item durability in a given quantity depending on the current number Whistle stack. The Astrologian card The Ewer represents the Heaven of Water, the card artwork depicts Thaliak pouring the water with his Ewer, His and Nymeia's symbols can be seen in the background.

Behind the scenes

The Nymeia Lilies was said to allow safe passage for those embarking on a journey. So their bouquets came to be placed upon lichstones as an offering to the dead. The Nymeia Lily is said to be beloved of the Spinner. The Tears of Nymeia are an ancient and potent poison, to which the scalekin is extremely vunerable.

Gallery

Stone with Nymeia's symbol in version 1.0.

The Ewer constellation.

The Ewer card.