Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume I

Cerbe=l
Cerberus is most commonly depicted in
myth as the three-headed hound who guards the 1

Demon entrance to the seven hells ensuring the living
cannot enter before their time-and the dead
From the great scythes these blackened cannot leave. It has since been suggested
creatures carry have demons become known that, due to sightings of the beast in locu:iom
to the realm as "reapen of souls," and have far from what might be comi<lered the underworld,
been depicted as such in countless myth, and Cerberus is, in fact, a voidsent, and furthermore, one
folktales throughout history. Scholars claim of middling rank. Manmade fetters wnpped about the
demons may have once been normal denizens hound have scholars believing that it was summoned by
ofthe void who were corrupted by the taint the Mhach to serve in its assault on Amdaipor.
of darkness and transformed into mindless
soldiers to serve the realm's cruel leaders. Gargoyle

Ahriman A middling rank of voidsent, gargoyks pass into
the mortal realm by merging their essence with
Ahrimam are a funily of voi<lsent that a suitable rod: or stone. In tertllll of the hicran:hy,
manifest in the physical plane by investing the various species of gargoyles occupy the aixth and
their essences in the eyes of animals. They seventh rungs. Sometimes when a gargoyle's soul elects
are possessed of great arcane ability, to return to the void, the rock it inhabited retains the
and fly by clawing their way along creature's shape, thus giving rise to the mistaken theory
airborne currents ofaether. According that gargoyles are man-made statues given life.
to studies of voidsent hierarchy, the
ahriman funily is of high to middling class, Hecteyes
its various forms occupying the fourth and fifth
rungs. Hecreyes bear much in common with
voidal flans, and as such also occupy the
Succubus tenth rung of the voidsent'a hierarchy of

Succubi manifest on the physical plane by twelve. Eyes on the creature's body
forcing their souls into the bodies of deceased are oft wandering or awash with
women. Once the tramition is CQmplete, the rheum, and individually are not
resultant creature is said to be both fair and fey believed to provide much in the
to look upon. Still more disconcerting, researchers
claim that these voi<lsent occasionally exhibit the way ofi.ight. This, however, is made
personality traits oftheir deceased hosts. Succubi occupy up fur by the sheer number ofeyes the voidsent
the third and fourth rungs ofthe voidsent hierarchy. possesses. Hecteyes appear to be one of few voidsent
capable of reproduction on this plane, as new fortnatiom
Dahaka have been documented growing from discarded eyes.

The dahaka crosses into the mortal realm by possessing the Cloud of Darkness
remains of a f.llen drake. While seemingly bereft of the powers
of speech, this terrifying cre•ture has nonetheless shown itself One of the undisputed rulers of the void and an entity
to harbor an evil intelligence coupled with near limitless ofimmeasunble strength, the Cloud q([)arkness oa:upia
reserves of stamina and magical might. Deemed powerful
even among the voidsent, dahaka are assigned to the fourth the highest nmg ofthe hie=chy ofMdoc. This tcnifying
rung- a relatively high position in the thirteen-rung hierarchy
put forth by scholars in the field. voidsent entered into a dark. covenant with Emperor
Xande ofAllag in • bid to invade the physical
Atomos realm.

Summoning a host ofvoidsent wherever it materialiud, this
monstrous, floating maw was first sighted around the advent
of the Seventh Umbra! Era. At that time, a theory was set
forth which presented Atomos as a link between the void and
the physical realm, citing as evidence the fact that it would
manifest in areas where the boundary between planes had
been compromised. Despite generating significant interest within
scholarly circles, all but the most elementary questions concerning
this enigmatic creature remain unamwered.

Troubadour

It is said that the master technologist Amon-engineer of
Allagan emperor Xande the F int's resurrection some thousand
years .fter his dearh-"pt several of these fifth-rung voidsent as
personal assistants to his research, too fur comumed with paranoia to
trust anyone from this realm. These troubadoutS not only appear have
understood Amon's commands, but were able to communicate their own
thoughts using the Allagan tongue. Though, Amon's own reports claim
that he was troubled by the voidsents' penchant for 6bbery.

Blackguard Parthenope

The equivalent of a veteran knigbr, bbckguan!s Similar to the demons of the ninth rung,
of the fourth rung of twelve arc not ooly highly these occupants of the eighth rung ofthe
inmlligcnt, but also strictly honor-bound to any and all voidsent's hierarchy of twelve are also
blood contract>. Fot this reason, they were chosen by the believed by ,cholars to be the twisted
Mbachi army to acrve as commanden ofthe voidsent legions. remains of oncc-nonnal residents of the
void corrupted beyond repair. Many of
Sawtooth the voidsent thralls summoned by the
mages of Fifth Astral Era Mhach
Sawtecth were summoned were of this type, and were
by Mbachi voidmages fur fitted with magicked chains of
the purpose of poisoning binding to prevent disobedience.
the earth in enemy rer-
ritoriet-an endeavor Forgall
that sought to ruin
crops and force the Forgall was valued by the voidmages of Mhach for his
peoples of Amdapor into starvation. Each
.awtooth was connected to the greater proficiency in the arts of necromancy. Once in our realm,
voidsent •rminsul, the lire energy of each this highborn voidsent of the third rung could open new
victim it devoured siphoned directly into gates into the void from which to pluck lesser souls-placing
the unhallowed arbor. those souls in the hollowed vessels of enemies fullen in battle.

Cuchulainn Arachne

One theoty places the void's formation in the hands Another lesser noble of the third rung,
of champions such as Cuchulainn who wielded a Arachne distinguished herself in battle by
stone known as "auracitc" to conquer their plane's weaving tight webs of impoosibly durable
primals. The weapon, however, possessed a fual silk that she uacd to both protect herself
imperfection: a propensity to bleed primal energies.
from assault and impede the progress
With each '"""''Y• tLc he1uc. ,iwtg,d, tr.wsfunniug of her enemies. Ancient Allagans
used the black blood of this
at bst iato fiends of endless appetite. Insatiable in voidsent to create armies of
their hunger for aether, they ultimately went to war
over the star's ever-dwindling lire force. It chimera that would never see
was during this war that the Flood of the battlefield, but would
Darkness was llllleashed. rather sit in imperial
magnanerics weaving
Hellhound endless spools of thread

Scholars of the void have elected to rank to be used in the construction of
the hellhound low in the voidsent hierarchy- light, yet impenetrable armor.
placing the beast in the ninth rung out ofnvclve.
This is mainly due to a '1lpposed bck of intelligence Echidna
evidenced by the hellhound's willingness to unquestionably serve
a bigbcr-ranked voidsent. The ,trcngth ofthe wolllike crearure, Echidna is the name ofan alluring void.sent bound within
however, is not to be taken lightly, as many a would-be the enigmatic Void Ark. The voidmages ofMhach, a city
voidm,ge have lost their lives to an ill-advised summoning. that thrived during the Fifth Astral Era, were said to have
employed the fiendish entity as a strategic weapon in their
Diabolos
endless confticts. Scholars conjecrure
H igh Voidmage Ce,..ir that as a member of voidsent
conducred the summoning nobility, Echidna should likely
of this powerful voidsent occupy one of the higher
believing that merely the rungs of the hierarchy.
threat of such a weapon
would fiighten the Am-
dapori into submission,
e«i:ctively ending th<: War
of the Magi without further
bloodshed. The Coven-Mhach's
ruling body of magi-disagreed, and commanded that
Diaboloo be sent to destroy th<: ancient city-a feat the

crearure would have accomplished were it not for the
collective c:lforts of Amdapor's white mages.

I £LEMENTALS Elementals are naturally occurring beings almost solely comp~
ofpure aether. Though not present in all creatures belonging to this
class, many elementals also possess the means fur intelligent commu-
nication-a trait only exhibited in the spoken and select voidsent. As
they display many ofthe same properties as proper element.Ii beings,
man-made egis and Carbuncles arc also placed in this grouping.

0 •

Plasmoid Sprite

T hese mysterious spheres of light have been The unearthly creatures known
encountered in both the Bluk Shroud and as spritcl come into being given
the foothills of the Coerthas mountains. As specific actheric condiriom. Whcd>er
sightings were only recorded following the or not they comtirute a true furm of
Garlean Empire's invasion of Eorzea, it has life is a subject of much debate among schobn.
been suggested that plasmoids may actually Sprites were once thought to be kin to the elementals
be waste energy released by machina. Traveler worshipped in the Black Shroud, but it has since been
beware: those who carelessly come into contact prov~ that they are, in fact, unrehted and wholly
with plasmoids are invariably rewarded with a devoid ofsentience.
numbing jolt ofelectricity.
Ghrah
Phurble
Though similar to sprites, Ghrah are much greedier
The body mass of these rclarively harmless creatures, hoarding pools of aether, then using those
creatures consists mostly offlully fur--aa those
who have observed a sodden specimen will clemcnt:tl energies to split and reproduce, crcaMl! cndlesJ
readily attest. Phurbles were once hunted
nigh to extinction due to a groundless identical copies of themselves. Ghtah have also been
rumor which claimed that massaging their observed taking on the approxima,c shapes of 8ora they
blood into one', scalp promoted hair have drained. Thaic who hapupon one ofthese queer elementals
growth. Sadly, their numben; have be forewarned, for the Ghrah are highly "l',Kl'CS$ive and will
yet to recover. attack foes seemingly much more powerful than themselves
without regard for their own safety.
Elemental
Faerie
Guardians of the Twelveswood and creaton
of the Hedge-a protective barrier which The scholars of Nym created the
wards the forest from evil-the people of first f.icries to serve as heralds, delivering
Gridania see these beings of pure aether as
spiritwtl fragments of Nophica, the Matron messages to ship., fiir out to sea. It
Herself. It is ,aid that the elementals can was not long, however, before the
communicate with man but have chosen to only N ymians arrived at the oonclusion
do so through the Padjal-intcrmediaries chosen by that the actherial beings were capable
the wood to serve as its voice. The elementals will ofmuch, much more, and took them on
sullcr man's presence in the Twelveswood unless as f.unilian to assist in the realiz2tion of
they are angered, at which time they will resort to their strat:igcms. To this date, two distinct varieties
violence to see the perpetrator cast out. of fueries have been identified- Ea,, friend to the

Carbuncle sun and healer of hum, and Selene, mend to the

Using geometric 1ymbols to moon and lifter ofspirits.
lend lhlpc to living aether, cenain
magcs can unlock the latent power Egi
with.in certUD gemstones-a power
which can be directed to the "summoning" Egi are, for~ practical purposes, aethcrial
of actherial beings known as Carbuncles. The
inherent tnits displayed by these familian differ beings created by harnesaia& the C11Crgy of
depending on the stone used in their crcar:iot>-
emerald and topaz being the most common, a primal at the moment of its ddi:ar and
with ruby and diamond also proving popular. reshaping it into a biddable avatar-a
process perfected in the Third Astral
En by Allagan Empi,e maga known
as "summoner,," The word "egi" is thought to
represent the ooncept, of"'purity" or "eaence"
in the Ali2gan tongue.

.;0 1

r Simply stated, chimeras are creatures created by cQnjoining the flesh
from two or more difrerent beings. The process is highly complex, and
CHIMERAS was only perfected in the waning years of the Allagan Empire-the
culmination of nearly an entire era's biological research. Despite
recent findings which have shed more light on the process, replication
of chimera-manufucturing techniques remains an impossibility within
the scope of modem science.

THE SIN OF TH E A LLAGANS

The wonder of~erochemistry allowed the Allagan civilization to reach
theretofore unmatched heights, granting them a nearly limitless power with
which they could manipulate the very building blocks ofHydaelyn's myriad
creation. TIiey could forge life anew, and by doing so take the final forbidden
step toward godhood.
Yet the gods would not allow their halls to be corrupted by the taint of
man, and so they cast the Allagans down from their pedestal in a great
calamity ofearth. Their creations, however, survived long afi:er the fall
ofthe empire, the truth behind their origins lost to rime. The scholars
Qf following eras assumed the beings to be natural, albeit twisted, and
categorized them as they saw fit using distinct characteristics as guides.
N aga were reptilian, so they must be scalekin. Chimeras bore the
head of a lion and a ram, so they must be beastkin. It was not until the
discovery of information locked inside receptacles of knowledge known
as tomestones that the true nature of the blasphemous creatures and their
wicked evolution was brought to light.

THE FIRST GENERATION

The first chimera., were crude acations-forbidden marriages of two seemingly
dissimilar acaturcs, one acrving as a "medium" to serve as host, the other as a "catalyst"
to incite a transference of characteristics. What traits from the catalyst would manirest in the host could
not hr. prr.~im-n with any arn,r:,ry, !raving much of the proccH to chance. The result was coundeu
expensive "f.iil.urcs" that lleqUircd suffering while awaiting the emergence of an acceptable subject.
What is worse, the resulting chimeras were all inli:rtile, meaning that the only means fur mass
production of the crearurcs was via cloning techniques that, at this time, had yet to be perfu:ted.
Pu a result, very few of these first-generation chimeras still exist today.

T HE SECOND GENERATION

A,; aetherochemists continued their first-generation trials, the process ofsplicing biological infurmation
from one acature into another grew more refined. Scientists could now isolate certain rraits from the
catalyst and transfer those to the medium with a high rate of success. This brc:ikthrough succeeded in
both significantlyi;ducing the probability fur test failure while also solving the problem ofinfertility.
Second-generation chimeras could reproduce on their own, removing the need fur costly and
time-consuming cloning and opening the door fur military mass production.

T HE THIRD G ENERATION

Chimera dcvclupmcnt Look its next step furward following the discovery of
methods allowing rraits of multiple catalysts to be spliced into a single medium.
Yct, while the incorporation of additional characteristics led to more complex
and diverse acaturcs, maximizing strength, agility, and intelligence, the rcsuhing
abominations proved unsound ofmind. Many and more would simply refuse to take
orders, attacking their siblings, or even their acators. The scientists were forced
to watch as the sanity of their creations collapsed in on itself, rendering the beasts
useless masses of quivering Resh.

THE FOURT H G ENERATION

!u tb,e Third A,;tral Era neared its end, Allagan aetherochcmists finally succeeded

in stabilizing the psychological deficiencies present in many of the third-generation

dwncras, the result being what was ultimately hailed the perfect construct. Nor only

did the fuurth-gcncntion creations exhibit strength and intelligence rivaling that of

even a spoken, but they were no longer prone to the erratic behavior that plagued

the past gcnc,l'ations. To achieve this, however, the Allagans would test their very

ll!Ol'al limits, "lecting to pcrfurm their research on beastmen and even members of the

live races. !u a result, near-Bawleu creations such as the shabti and the ilcsalion were

achie'lc<Lbut at what price? -

--------------~---

Mirrorknight Minotaur

A second-generation Minotaurs were thinl-gencnrion
construct boasting the chimeras assigned specifically
st=gth ofa bear and the to security detail fur the Albgan
acute vision of an owl As Empire's complex and sprawling
with many early efforts at biologicil governmental and military research
synthesis, lack of intelligence and f.icilities. Tales of the terrible beasts
a proclivity fur violence limited its roaming the labytin\binc halls of these
practiciluse. forbidden superstrucnucs remained
long after the full of Allag, tlowly
Pegasus transforming int<> the lcg1'11d ofthe
bull-like warden of the maze that
These second-generation chimeras lives on to this day.
were developed out of pure hubris
in an attempt to rccrcatc beings Reptoid
which, until that time, had existed
merely in fulklore-the mythicil The rcptoid is a gruesome asscmbbgc of8esh and
constructs of the divine. Much to the blood taken &om multiple scilekin specimens
chagrin of their creators, several of the and spliced together to form an all but
pegasi escaped their pens soon after their invinoble killing machine. A tiny metal box
unholy breeding, and took to the skies of apable of cmittii,g lightning-aspected sbocb
the Sea of Clouds to once again become the is inserted into the brainase of each and every
stuffof legend.
rcptoid so as to deliver commands to the creature
Chimera that they may be controlled &om afu-a lcarurc
implemented speci&ally fur the Allagan Empire'•
A nightmarish combination of Mcracydisn ampaign.
lion, goat, and dr,gon, the fell
chimera has three heads, a Shabti
pair of mighty wings, and
a cruelly barbed tail I ts A fuurth-generatios, construct, and one of the first to
origins have been furiously etlcctively employ ,wtainable cloning technology,
debated, with some insisting the highly intelligent shabti was hailed as a major
the creature a aucl jest ofthe breakthrough in chimera creation. To serve as a
gods, while others believe it the detcrrcot fur tempering by Meracydia's primals,
twisted creation of forbidden each shabti had within their bodies implantccl a
sorcery. Recent decipherings of pawemtl explosive device which would trigger
Third Astral Era texts have whCII bombarded with high concenttations of
given increased weight to manipulative aethen, effi:ctively destroying
the latter. the subject while delivering extreme damage
to any C11emy targets in its viciniiy.
Lamia
lksalion
The people of this serpentine race appear as Hyur
women &om the waist up, and sinuous snakes from The birdlike ikulions prOt'ed re1mrkably illtelligent constructs
the waist down. It is now known that th~ aea.. and were thus employed by Allagan e n ~ to perfurui
tures were bom not of the gods, but of an unholy maintenance tasks requiring a capacity fur advanced
union between witches and beasts in ages past-on problc,n solving. though notable flaw, included
unholy union guided by the hands of mad Allagan a weakness against tho elements and certain
scientists. Lamiae are capable of harboring massive genetic instwilities. The offspring of these
quantities of aether within their bodies allowing crcarurcs would eventually evolve over
fur accelerated healing and potent spellweaving. the next fuur milli:nnia to become the
I:ul-a fact ofwhich none oftheir tnbc
Naga remains aware.

The naga is a sizable scilckin-like creature, large enough Hydra
to ,wallow whole an entire phurble. Originally thought to
be native to the eastern continent of Otha.rd, naturalists Developed by the Imperw Allagan Army fur dcp)oymc,u: in the Mcracydian
now know that the aberrations are actually chimeras pieced campaign, the hydra is very much draconian in appearance. This appears to be
together in a Third Astral Era laboratotium from the limbs
of voidsent summoned to this reabn by godless Allagan by dcsigli, the blood ofdr,gons not only providing the
aetherochcmists. Reconls claim that they created the naga chimera with a nigh-impenetrable
fur no other reason than to discern whether such grafting hide and a wide array of breath-
and splicing of voidal 8esh was, in fact, possible. based weaponry, but serving
to mock their ,:ncmies while
Empuse flaunting the god-like abilities
of the hydra's creators.
Uaing lcnowlcdgc g,ained in the creation of the naga,
Allagan aetberochemists ultimately succeeded in
cloning flesh that, fur all intents and purposes, was
identicil to that &om creatures ofthe void despite
being grown C11tirely on this plane. This flesh
was subsequently provided to the imperial army
whose weapons division scientists fused it with
anding tissue, creating what they believed to
be the periioct infu>try soldier.