Hydaelyn, Eorzea, The Black Shroud – Gridania.
Hidden in the eastern reaches of Aldenard, Gridania stands as a testament to the bravery
and will of the Gridanian people.
This peaceful and nature loving city-state would find itself in the center of attention,
as the curtain fell on the Sixth Astral Era, and Dalamud descended above the Twelveswood.
Gridania's history can be traced all the way back to the year 660 of the Sixth Astral
Era.
The second migration wave of Hyurs has driven the Elezen to the Twelveswood, where they
planned to construct their new home.
However the Twelveswood was guarded by Elementals, who viewed the Elezen as nothing but intruders,
and almost immediately started attacking them, in an attempt to drive them out of their woods–
or kill them, if necessary.
This came as a huge surprise to the Elezen, who knew nothing about the Elementals.
They didn't understand what was attacking them, or why, and was powerless to retaliate.
After a while, the Elezen finally realized that whatever was attacking them was not going
to stop, and they had no means to defend themselves, so they fled underground – where they would
start construction on a new settlement.
Fifty years later – in 710, the Hyur population of Eorzea had increased so much, they started
inhabiting The Twelveswood as well.
They discover the underground settlement the Elezen had constructed, and a war broke out.
A war that would last for 30 years.
In 740 of the Sixth Astral Era, the Elezen and Hyur finally realized that they shared
a common goal – to avoid the wrath of the Elementals.
They decided to put aside their differences, forming a pact betwixt Hyur and Elzen that
they may prosper together beneath the Twelveswood.
Together, the two races constructed Gelmorra – a massive subterranean city, safe from
the Elementals.
The city-state would prosper and grow for centuries.
It all changed in the year 1076, when a Hyurian Conjurer by the name of Jorin Lightheart finally
manages to commune with the Elementals – and talks are held in Peacegarden.
In the end, the Elementals permit the Gelmorrans to settle in the Black Shroud.
And in 1077 construction began on the forest city-state of Gridania.
A Hamlet was constructed the same year, where materials needed for the construction would
be harvested and crafted.
This hamlet would be known as Quarrymill.
And that's how Gridana was born.
The City-State's flag represents the story leading up to the City-State's birth.
The golden color representing the lands of the Twelveswood filled with the Elemental's
power.
The white lily on top signifying mankind's first congress with the Elementals in Peacegarden,
and the Entwined serpents originate from Gelmorra, proclaiming the goodwill and unity of Elezen
and Hyur in constructing Gridana.
In 1.0, Gridania was the second most popular City-State.
Although it was still miles behind Ul'Dah.
Gridania only really saw high traffic during the latter half of 1.0's life, when Louisoix
was introduced to the game.
This should come as no surprise to anyone, but Gridania used to be one zone in 1.0.
Unlike Ul'Dah and Limsa Lominsa, there was no further division in Gridania.
It was just – Gridania.
For simplicity we'll be covering what we today refer to as New Gridania in this part.
Gridania could be entered through any of the two entrance bridges encompassing Jadeite
Flood – Berlends Bridges to the West and Mistalle Bridges to the East.
These bridges acted as the zone's loading tunnels, covered in bright red fabric that
was very prone to the game's intense bloom.
During daytime passage, it was best not to look at the screen until you had passed through
them entirely.
The covering is obviously there to hide the assets popping in as they load into the zone,
however the bridge did offer some openings that allowed you to catch a glimpse of the
Jadeite Flood and the forest surrounding the City-State.
Like the name suggests, the Mistall and Berlends bridges were a series of bridges, 3 in total,
connecting to landmasses at certain points along the way.
We'll be entering through Mistalle Bridges, as it is the entrance used in ARR.
At the end of the bridges, you finally get to the entrance of Gridania.
With the iconic watchtower and Waterwheels turning in the background.
As you'll most likely notice in this episode, this portion of Gridania mostly survived the
Calamity unharmed.
But there's especially one spot that got a real beating after the Calamity.
This road right here used to a major headache for every 1.0 player in Gridania.
Due to the game's lack of a jump function, maps had excessive amounts of invisible walls
to prevent players getting stuck.
And no invisible wall would be more infuriating than the one near the Carline Canopy in Gridania.
The road leading down from the northern part of Gridania would pass down here, and connect
with the road at the bottom.
And the invisible wall would go ALL THE WAY DOWN.
No jumping or sliding down the side – no- you'd have to walk all the way down.
This became such a big grievance for players, the devs eventually moved the wall back to
this lamppost, easing the pain somewhat.
In ARR however, the path is smashed entirely.
Good riddance.
The Carline Canopy itself remained more or less unchanged between versions.
Only real difference being the lighting and slight graphical updates in ARR.
Another change is related to a system that received an overhaul in ARR.
The Airship Landing.
The actual ticket hall remained the same between versions, but in 1.0, once a ticket was purchased,
you would be let past the barrier, so you could walk down and wait for the airship yourself.
This would allow for a great view of the gigantic waterwheel whenever the Airship Landing was
empty.
Moving out of the Carline Canopy, we make our way up towards what today is known as
the Gridania Aetheryte Plaza.
In 1.0, it was only known as the knot – with a small pond where the Aetheryte Crystal resides
today.
The pond still exists to this day, with the Aetheryte plaza simply having been built on
top of it.
The Knot was also the home of the Chocobo Stables, as well as vendors that are still
there to this day.
Following the path to the North East, you'd have what felt like an eternity to walk before
reaching the Archers' Guild.
And the inside is almost entirely the same as before the calamity.
The only real changes are the NPCs which have all been swapped out with new ones.
But there was always something about the outside of the Archers' Guild in 1.0 that fascinated
me.
It was one of my favorite areas in 1.0's Gridania.
Looking back at it, I can kinda see why, but it might just be because the rest of 1.0 Gridania
was so dull and overgrown.
This large open area just felt like a breath of fresh air.
In ARR this was built on further, with a platform for archers to shoot arrows at targets, and
this large tower-looking thing.
They've also opened it up a bit more, for even more freshness.
Moving back to the Knot, just south of it, you'd find The Oak Atrium, and the Carpenters'
Guild.
This location has not seen a lot of changes between versions.
In fact, they haven't even finished this thing.
They've had 5 years to complete it, but… they've made NO progress.
Tsk, I think this Lalafell has been pretending to work on it for all these years…
Crossing the Black Tea Brook, into the area you'd expect to find the Adders' Nest,
you'd actually find nothing of interest, except for this round building.
Oh, and the playground, which also remains more or less the same today.
The second entrance and exit of Gridania was Berlends Bridges, accessible through White
Wolf Gate.
This gate is locked to new adventurers in ARR, but will open after adventurers reach
lvl 29 and complete a quest.
At this point you might be asking yourself why Gridania was only the second most popular
City-State, and arguably the worst before Louisoix was introduced and the invisible
wall was lowered?
Well here's the aetheryte Plaza.
Located next to Holly Avenue, the Aetheryte plaza was placed far away from most of the
city-state's amenities.
Only exception being the Market Wards which were placed fairly close.
But if you were a lancer, archer, or leatherworker – or gods forbid - a Conjurer, you were
in for a long trek.
Knowing what we know today, the original idea was to place aetherytes inside the Adventurer's
Guilds, as depicted in the opening cinematic, but they quickly realized that this would
lead to massive congestion.
Their solution seems to have been to place the aetherytes as far away from the zone's
hot spots as possible.
The Market Wards for some reason not being part of the equation.
While this almost worked in Ul'Dah, it was a near death sentence for Gridania, which
was already getting complaints about its cramped tunnel-like streets, dim lighting, poor optimization
and bland textures.
The criticism got quelled somewhat with the introduction of the Aethernet system in 1.21,
which made the city-state more accessible, but it didn't excuse the poor layout of
the city-state.
Gridania had a difficult birth, and an even more difficult existence in 1.x.
However the adventurers who called Gridania home soon came to love their City-State, despite
her horrendous layout and color palette.
The 1.0 theme of Gridania might have helped as well.
It was called "Born of the Boughs", and sounded like this:
And with that, we've reached the end of this first part of 1.0 Gridania's history.
Thank you for watching.
Remember to subscribe so you can get notified when the second part is up.
If you enjoyed this little look at Gridania, please leave a like, and drop me a comment
down below if you've got anything to add to this, have a story to share, or just a
reaction to what we've explored today.
I'll be back in the next episode of RoaR!
Until then Eorzean, may you ever walk in the light of the Crystal.
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