Slightly confused about FFT story details

Okay, so, are the Holy Stones evil? Are they the housing or containment of their respective Lucavi? I know Rafa used the stone to revive Malak and it happened that way because she's pure. But doesn't that means that Alma must evil like Wiegraf because the stone draws Altima out of her, it seems.

Are the zodiac braves real? I know this is probably in the Germonik Scriptures, which I have read, but not lately. If the zodiac braves are real, then why does a demon appear every time someone enovkes the power of a stone (except Rafa)?

And finally, why weren't there more scenes featuring guys getting run through like when Wiegraf confronted Gustav? You really don't see enough of that. Excellent sprite animation, if you ask me.

I feel the Stones are neutral, they draw upon the power of those who bear it and the Lucavi just happened to use them as a means of entering the real world again.

Alma was able to bring forth Ultima but I don't think she's evil as the details of her possession are very different from the others. She did not make a contract with the Lucavi nor did she die. They even had to sacrifice humans to bring Ultima into the world. For that reason, I think Alma was just being used as a vessel since she happened to be compatible with the Virgo Stone.

As for the Zodiac Braves, they are apparently real but the story behind them is few in details and I'm pretty sure that like St. Ajora, the reality is far different from the legend. St. Ajora just used the stones and the legends to give him sway over the people which is why Germonik was sent in to infiltrate her regime.

wait, you can read them? how?!

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Originally Posted by NeoTifa

wait, you can read them? how?!

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If you open up the Germonik Scriptures in the treasure screen, you will notice a small sentence that says if you hit the triangle button you can read them.

XD

The zodiac stones (auracite - see FFXII: Revenant Wings for more info) aren't necessarily evil - i think Dr. Cid in XII created the first one to unleash Famfrit. It's all about how you use them.

The Lucavi themselves might be evil because they require much bloodshed to take down the Occuria (who require much bloodshed to fulfill their goals themselves) - I think they want to create a world of chaos and violence.

I think the Zodiac Brave story is in fact real, the point made in the game is that it was used by the Glabados Church in order to legitimize their rule.

I'm not sure if Ajora is necessarily evil either, it may be that she just used the stones for her ends, much like the party in FFXII: Revenant Wings did for theirs.

Yeah, the sprite animation was awesome, especially all the scenes of people getting ran through. Classic game.

Is St. Ajora male or female? I was under the impression that the St. Ajora of antiquity was a male, but was resurrected in the body of Alma as a female.

Also, does anyone find the storyline for Final Fantasy Tactics growing more difficult to follow due to the development of the Ivalice Alliance? It is like they cannot decide the chronological order of the games for themselves sometimes.

It seem likely that the stones prey on those with weak or frail souls. Look what Velius does to Wiegraf. But Razma ultimately lugs up to thirteen of them and it does him no harm!

I'm not how or why the Lucavi get contained in stones, but they are certainly evil and corrupt. They seem to revel in bloodshed and misery (particularly Queklain and Velius).

In essence the Zodiac Braves are messianistic followers of Ajora and Germonik is the Judas figure. The Glabados church makes the followers of Father Fara out to be the villains, but it seems likely to be the other way around. So imagine an inverted version of the gospels.

The original Ajora was male, but the new 'body' is female.

I always thought the female Ajora at the end was a further signification of how the truth gets distorted over the course of history. For an institution's main male figure to actually have been a woman would have been craaaaazy.

I think the Ultimania states that "female St. Ajora" was the one, on the timeline of events in Ivalice.

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Originally Posted by Roogle

Also, does anyone find the storyline for Final Fantasy Tactics growing more difficult to follow due to the development of the Ivalice Alliance? It is like they cannot decide the chronological order of the games for themselves sometimes.

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Not at all. It's been made obvious that FFT happens waaaay after FFXII. It's also obvious that FFXII: RW takes place 2 years after XII, TA2 a short while after Revenant Wings. the original TA has been stated to be a fantasy world based on a game, that game being FFXII, I believe (the 2 were in development simultaneously and were most likely to have near-coinciding release dates - before the delays of XII that is). The only one really unclear is Vagrant Story. We're not sure if it takes place in the time of Alazlam, who wrote about the Lion War after the events of FFT, or the quote of him in the beginning is the introduction to the tale that's about to take place.

i always thought of ajora as a female. its a girly name :p but how does alma <-> ajora?! is she ajora reincarnated?

I think they're spirits are compatible or something. Which both of them might be compatible with Ultima(Altima in original). I'd have to go read about Ultima to find out more, preferably a XII bestiary entry.

so is 12 an extension of fft?

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Originally Posted by NeoTifa

i always thought of ajora as a female. its a girly name :p but how does alma <-> ajora?! is she ajora reincarnated?

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Her spirit is compatible with Ultima, one hint is that Ultima is associated with the Zodiac sign of Virgo which also happens to be Alma's sign. I believe Bolivar is right in that Ajora was most likely the last person to bring Ultima into being and thus now a part of Ultima herself.

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Originally Posted by NeoTifa

so is 12 an extension of fft?

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Its a prequel, XII takes place both a 1000 years before the game and in the lands located East of FFT Ivalice region in the lands of the Galtean Alliance. XII also features the Lucavi as summons and finally expands a bit on their back story. Basically, Ultima is a Lucifer figure who leads the other scions of light in a war against the gods. They lost and were banished to the mortal realm. Zodiark is the exception who was sealed away cause the gods feared his power. Interesting enough, you can steal Zodiac stones from each of the espers in XII.

oh, well maybe now i will have to play that pos :mad:

Why are the espers controlled by the protagonists in Final Fantasy XII, yet extremely antgonistic in Final Fantasy Tactics?

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Originally Posted by Roogle

Why are the espers controlled by the protagonists in Final Fantasy XII, yet extremely antgonistic in Final Fantasy Tactics?

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Well you do have to beat them, into submission before they will help you... Besides, we have a 1000 year gap and the Epsers appear on the other side of the continent by this point. I get the feeling that alot happened between XII and Tactics, like the Great Cataclysm mentioned in the XII Ultimania. In fact, it may even have to do with the events of XII. The gods no longer have control over humanity so perhaps the Lucavi decided to take their absence as a new chance to revolt. Its just a theory of course.

The most interesting thing is that of all of them, only Zodiac still behaves like a summon. The others only appear when they possess their hosts. And is Serpentarius the same as Zodiac? Does the stone contain one or the other or both?