Howdy-do, P’pollerinos! It’s me, P’pol! P’pol Orubasay! Don’t tell me you forgot about me already, did you? Admittedly, I was pretty worried myself there for a bit that I would be lost to time… somehow, my original plan for a prison break got out! It seemed like I would have to hang out in jail forever, the judge was just so angry! Still, every rain cloud has a silver lining, and in my case, it was being small enough to just slip through the bars! Guess they forgot to check, oops!

Since the Empire was so insistent that I remain guilty, I decided it might be time to move on and find somewhere else to go, a new place to call home. And what better place to do that than the lands of my ancestors! I caught a lift with some merchants all the way to Othard! They didn’t even make me pay for it, because I hid the whole time, so if anyone asks don’t tell, okay? I don’t really have the kind of gil that could cover the interest, let alone base ticket cost…

Anyway, I’m sure they didn’t mind. They kept complaining about how heavy the cargo was, so I ate a bunch to lighten the load, so really, I mean, I basically did enough to help them a ton.

After some grueling weeks on the road, we finally made it to the Azim Steppe, and I gracefully cartwheeled out of the wagon and into the hills! Well… Okay I rolled away after I fell out. They were headed to Reunion, and to be honest, that’s where I wanted to go at first because I heard it was pretty open to outsiders. But sometimes life has a funny way of throwing you off course only to gift you with a better path! As a hunter of the secrets of the universe, the bumpy terrain that ruined my nap ended up being a pretty big boon!

Alone, bruised, lost, and confused, I stumbled towards some caves wearing my traditional prison garb. As I approached, the ground shook, pebbles flinging about all over like some sort of crazy jumping party where people go to jump and spin around like mad or something! Do people go to those? Are they real? I’m sure I saw something like that in a movie… Anyway, it isn’t really important, so can I continue my story, please? Thank you. In the cave, I saw a group of hulking entities! Not entities as in ghosts, though. That wouldn’t even make sense because of the thumping ground, are you paying attention? They were large elephant people!

Now, I remember a few months ago at a staff meeting I was invited to, and attended with the knowledge of everyone, that Babbit kept gushing nonstop omg like seriously it was endless ughhhhhh….. about these elephant people she met in her time in Thavnair, the Matanga, or something, I don’t really remember. [EDITOR’S NOTE: I was at the “meeting,” and Babbit only mentioned she thought they were neat.]

So naturally, I knew in my heart of hearts these guys were nice and cool and fun. I mean, how could they not be, they live in a cave naked, right?

Not wanting to give away my most recent living situation and also in part to fit in better, I ditched the prison uniform and went in. Much to my chagrin, they thought I was a bug or a pest or something! Which is reasonable considering my size, but still annoying. For like, I don’t know, thirty minutes? They kept trying to swat me with their weird giant mace thingies! Not the warmest welcome I ever got, but also not the coldest, coughcoughCOERTHAScoughcough. Still, after a bit, they got kind of exhausted and collapsed, the perfect time to chat!

I poked one on the arm and said, “Hey! I’m not a bug! I’m a friend! Let me live here!” but was met with a disheartening “You Au’ra, Au’ra bad, Au’ra die!” Not one to take requests, I decided not to die, but instead yelled “I didn’t do anything to you!” We got to talking more and.

Their speech patterns are really unintelligible mostly… but the jist was basically that they don’t like Au’ra because of something about invading their lands and false gods and blah blah blah I don’t really care honestly, but they wouldn’t let me live there. So I left and wandered off, a little curious about the false gods thing, and also hungry. I set out to find answers to both!

Heading…. South, I guess? I think it was south… Anyway, I found a little village called Dotharl Khaa! They were surprised when I came in, but they must have been pretty excited for a visitor because they gave me a cool skirt and top! It was pretty obvious I was an outsider, but I asked them a bit about their culture.

Apparently, they believe in reincarnation, and everyone in the village is named for who they are thought to have been in a past life! That’s pretty neat, but I was, of course, skeptical, because I mean, how do you know?

All they could tell me about it was that they just knew from birth! Or their parents did, I guess. They also told me they revere Nhaama, a goddess associated with the moon. Actually, there is a giant statue of her just outside the village! Neato! Anyway, they told me that they do their best to die well so they can come back and continue living eternally in new bodies across generations.

Naturally, that seemed like an awful thing to do forever, so I wondered what happens when they get tired of the process. They said they throw themselves into a pit, ending the cycle! How dreadful. I went to the pit because it sounded fun in a morbid way. Who could have known that what I would find there would lead to yet another major revelation?!

I was TOLD that in the pit there was a divine fragment of Nhaama which allowed those who jumped in to be reunited with her in, what I am guessing is, the lifestream. However, upon closer inspection, it became apparent that this was not some holy relic, but instead ancient Allagan technology. With all things, the devil is in the details, and the unique glowy designs gave away the truth that, probably, the Dotharl didn’t know about. If they were wrong about this piece of Nhaama, what else could they believe that is only history misinterpreted?

As a child, I often had to go to temples to pray with my parents. Being Eorzean, of course, we gave tribute to the Twelve, including Menphina, our own representative of the moons. Back then, we all thought that she was tied to both, Dalamud being depicted as her “loyal hound.” After the calamity, though, we all had a rude awakening about the little red orb!

Little, of course, being a comparative term, as many would argue the crash into the world left a sizable impact. Turns out it was a big Allagan construct used to hold Bahamuts! Or…. a Bahamut. I guess it was just the one? Whatever, the important thing is it was Allagan, much like the shard of Nhaama hanging out in this weird spooky cave full of dead Au’ra.

All this got me thinking about what we really knew about the Allagans, about the Twelve…. And even, I suppose, about these foreign deities. Coming out of the cave, the narrow mountain pass led me to another little village inhabited by the Mol people. After dancing like mad for the local morin khuur player, I asked about Nhaama.

To my surprise, the Mol actually preferred her counterpart, Azim, for which the Azim Steppe was named. Coincidence? Probably not, but like it’s also probably not a conspiracy, people name things after important things, it’s not a big deal.

While a connection from Menphina to Nhaama might be a bit of a stretch, when it comes to the sun aspect of the Twelve, Ayzema, compared to the Au’ra’s Azim, it becomes easier to say “Hey, that sounds similar!” This is because they do, in fact, sound similar! I brought up this linguistic anomaly and after getting kind of upset for some reason, the Mol people told me I should go to the Dawn Throne to learn more and so I did.

Walking up to the large bowl that looked like it should probably topple and just might at any moment, I was struck with the visage of a giant figure on the front. I later learned this is supposed to be Azim in all his glory, but at first, I thought it was Nhaama. I almost got in a fight with someone when I asked! What a bozo, like it was an innocent question!

Don’t you just hate that, like yeah sorry I didn’t know but like you don’t have to beat me up over it? We’re allowed to not know things! I’d tell you if you asked a question and I knew! Whatever, what a jerk. And, to be fair, the two giant statue things look pretty similar! Though, this brought something else up, in my mind. Not about to talk to them if they try to punch the curious.

The thing about Menphina and Ayema that most people know or don’t because I didn’t do a poll, I’m in Othard and they don’t really know the Twelve, is that they are thought to be twin goddesses. What other thing that people might not know or that they might know, again, did not ask, is that twins sometimes look alike!

Now, to be clear, the Au’ra counterparts are not considered siblings and Azim is thought to be male, but as I have brought up already, just because we believe something now, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t the result of Allagans. What do we even know about these ancient science mages, or even deeper, what do we know of the Twelve and other modern pantheons?

According to historical records I totally read, historical scholars believe that at some point in the Third Astral Era, worship of six of the modern Twelve became common practice. So what of the others? Did they “exist” back then and were shunned? Or, perhaps something else…

It is said the Allagans were something of unethical miracle workers, achieving incredible feats and even reaching out into the stars. We often look back at them and wonder at their marvels, impossible feats no one today could possibly pull off. Even in modern times, we have heroes who perform incredible trials and I have no doubt their exploits will echo into the future to be retold and reenacted by generations to come.

Even the oldest among us, the Viera, seem to not live on forever and when they are gone, no living person will be around to correct mistakes in the telling of these tales. Over time, they could be exaggerated even further. Perhaps in a few hundred years, someone we see today as impressive might be thought back on as a godlike figure. Could it be that this is what has happened with the Twelve? With Azim and Nhaama?

It seems farfetched, but really, why would this not be plausible? Perhaps the Six the Allagan revered were figures from before their time, maybe during the First Eras? And perhaps the number grew to Twelve from misinterpretations of the little bits of Allagan history passed down from elders to offspring? The Allagans had a far-reaching presence, and maybe cultural barriers wound up spinning things to better fit the norms of the people living worlds apart, leading to the differences between Menphina and Ayzema, to Azim and Nhaama. Perhaps, even worse, the powers that govern us are aware of this.

People need something to believe in, and if you can control the myths you can control the people. And what a useful way to do it! Create a Pantheon of powerful beings that everyone knows but no one has seen because we can prove they did exist in some form long ago. An ancient Allagan fishmonger becoming Llymlaen, for example, or maybe an auctioneer taking on the mantle of Nald’thal as deemed necessary by the secret council controlling every movement of the Grand Companies. Is this fact? Hard to say, but if I have learned anything in my time uncovering secrets it is to never trust the official story.

I think I am going to spend some time out here in the Steppe and reconnect with my roots. Maybe buy some pants or join a tribe and learn to play the morin khuur. Who knows! Maybe something will happen while I am out here and I will be allowed back into Eorzea!

I hope so, I don’t think I fed my cat before I left… But I’m sure she’s fine! Lopp wouldn’t let anything happen to her! Until next time, I will keep hunting for hidden truths and you better do the same!! They are out there!