Over on the official forums, there's this link to an article that is a must for anyone interested in the story of FF XIV 1.0, heck, it's a great read even for people not interested in playing XIV:ARR. The article gives us a summary of 1.0's story, by focussing on the man who, in-universe, brought us A Realm Reborn: Nael van Darnus.
Gamer Escape » The Rise And Fall Of The White Raven
Nael van Darnus is quickly starting to rise as one of my favourite Final Fantasy villains, even though I've never even met him back during the 1.0 version of FF XIV. Everything I know about this guy comes from the DVD that comes with the CE, Youtube and this article. And the more I learned about him, the more he kicked ass.
He had style and flair. He looked like a Judge from XII, but took the look up to eleven. He gave us insight into a lot of the world's lore. He showed Sephiroth how one does Meteor properly by succesfully dropping the friggin' moon on Eorzea. He had some kind of telepathic connection with Bahamut, of all primals.
And he has not one, but two battle themes that are all kinds of awesome. "Tempest" is played during the first battle with him, followed by "Rise of the White Raven", the final battle song of Final Fantasy XIV 1.0, which is quickly becoming one of my favourite Final Boss songs ever.
If you are interested in becoming a fan of Nael van Darnus, read the article above, it's well worth it. Especially for those of you who're planning to play ARR but missed out on the original version.