Chalcopyrite Coblyn
Taxonomy: Soulkin (Coblyn)
Description: What exactly a coblyn is differs depending on who you ask. In Gridania the theory is that coblyn are beastkin who graft mineral to their flesh in order to gain a measure of armament. In Ul’dah, the prevailing thought is that they are instead true soulkin, ore that has taken on sentience and the ability to walk in order to propagate… somehow. The Ul’dahn theory is increasingly the one accepted as fact within the halls of Sharlayan. These ones are evidently spawned from the ore that can be found throughout the Mines.
Etymology Notes: Chalcopyrite is a copper-iron ore that is the primary ore used in copper mining, fittingly found in the copper mines at Copperbell.
The Hecatoncheires ☠
Taxonomy: Spoken (Gigant)
Description: Sorely mistreated slaves first of their cousins in the gigas tribe, then the forces of Thorne-dynasty era Ul’dah, the hecatonchieres’ journey terminated here in Copperbell Mines, having revolted after the binding magics in their helmets failed and then been sealed in the mines depths by overseers terrified of the consequences of their dark deeds.
There was a number of roles fulfilled by the hecatonchieres in the Mines, the first of which was a warrior caste known as the skullcrushers known for using their enormous pickaxes to do just that- crush skulls. The tremorwards and quakequellers found in the Mines were presumably those gigants that were chosen as specialist workers tasked to work on keeping the Mines intact during earthquakes. These tremorwards also used remarkably similar equipment and techniques to Kottos, a powerful gigant slain in the first purge of the Mines, and he may have been a standout member of their ranks. Stonehoarders were likely responsible for gathering and protecting the ore recovered by the mine.
The gigants seem to have adopted the more sophisticated techniques of their former overseers at least in part, likely learning from the remnants of the Mines’ equipment left over after they were sealed in. This was exhibited by a member of the tribe that referred to itself as the mastermind, and employed the use of bombs and flame as well as magically cowing the slimes of the mind to its will. The wallcrashers seem to have been the mages of the gigant community. If their role predates the rebellion they may have been used to magically destroy rock and further the mine, and if not they may have been intended as breachers, leading the charge into tunnels or chambers occupied by their foes, smashing through the walls magically. Rocksplitters seem to have been simple warriors, employing the use of spears, and they may have been responsible for splitting larger rocks into smaller chunks for ease of transport.
Capabilities: The tremorwards were able to invoke basic magics to ‘immortalize’ themselves by invoking barriers, a technique that was likely originally used to shore up the walls of the tunnels during an earthquake. The stonehoarders were able to ‘boost’ their physical strength, perhaps in order to further be able to lift large pieces of stone and ore, while quakequellers were also able to use this technique, perhaps in order to clear blockages resulting from earthquakes.
Etymology Notes: Hecatonchieres were a species of primordial giant from Greek mythology which bear a hundred of arms. They are linked to their Eorzean equivalent as both were buried beneath the ground, the Grecian ones in Tartarus and the Eorzean ones in Copperbell.
Errant Revenant
Taxonomy: Ashkin (Ghost)
Description: The ghosts of the spoken that were caught in the mine collapse, despite folklore to the contrary, ghosts are actually fully corporeal creatures, solid to the touch. They are bound to the mortal world due to an unfinished purpose, and the term errant, given to them by the miners of Copperbell is merely a reference to the fact that they should not be here in the mortal world. It is unclear whether these were Hecatonchieres killed in the mine collapse now cursed to wander the halls in search of their revenge or the masters of the mine, kept here due to various unachieved goals.
The Spriggans
Taxonomy: Soulkin (Spriggan)
Description: Despite their seemingly corporeal nature, spriggan are essentially the animated forms of aetherial earthen energy, and are frequently referred to as being the ‘will of earth.’ That the personality and abilities of the spriggan are determined by the stones they hold implies that their primary source for this energy is derived from their constant companion. There were a number of spriggans in the Mines, including groups nicknamed miners, though it is unclear if this is merely because they lived in the caves or if they were prying ore from its walls themselves, perhaps to create other spriggans.
Etymology Notes: Spriggan are Cornish nature spirits known for their mischievous behavior, a trait shared by the creatures in Eorzea as is their aspect as nature spirits.
The Slimes
Taxonomy: Ashkin (Slime)
Description: Slimes are produced when humors leaking out of corpses come to rest on an area enriched by earth aether. The earth aether adopts the aetheric energies left behind by the dead individual(s) and uses them to control the congealed biological material. Fiercely toxic, Slimes are completely without will and tend merely to mill around until being taken control of by a magick user. Some of the slimes in the Copperbell Mines were mining dross, offcast elements of the mining that presumably fused with the Mine’s dead. There were also septic slimes, likely so named by adventurers for the foul scent within them produced, one might assume, by the aged viscera within their forms.
Etymology Notes: Dross is waste or rubbish, especially when applied to smelting metals, when impurities sometimes forms a film on the top of the molten metal.
The Bombs
Taxonomy: Voidsent (Bomb)
Description: Bombs are an interesting example of Voidsent, occupying the eleventh rung of the Voidal Hierarchy, they are driven to constantly replenish their internal fuel stores and are thus wildly carnivorous. There were four forms of bomb that the adventurers encountered in the Mines, the flambeau used in the function of the Mine and co-opted by the ‘Mastermind’ as well as fulminators, blasting caps and shattering caps, presumably similar in origin and use to the flambeau.
Etymology Notes: A flambeau is a burning torch, and may allude to the use of bombs by the people that ran the mines. A fulminator is a device that can cause a small explosion.
Biggy ☠
Taxonomy: Soulkin (Spriggan)
Description: Biggy seems to have been a spriggan of particular intellect, boasting even the ability to name itself and speak fairly fluently in the common tongue. This may imply that the aether in the crystal that spawned Biggy was particularly dense or powerful.
Capabilities: In a truly remarkable turn, Biggy seems to have been capable of controlling a pseudo-golem which he rode within. This allowed him access to the protection that thick rock grants, as well as an immensely augmented physical ability. When in the golem, Biggy was capable of causing sizeable ‘rockslides’ by stamping on the ground, slamming his ‘stone skull’ into a target as a headbutt and unleashing massive power directed towards the ground, nicknamed ‘plaincracker’ for its hyperbolic ability to destroy even large plains and sections of terrain. In times of crisis, Biggy was able to vent some of the aether within his golem’s ‘earthen heart’, creating a harmful energy effect on the ground.
Etymology Notes: Biggy’s golem is named gogmagolem in a reference to gogmagog, a giant of Celtic myth who later went on to be recreated in a number of guardian statues, just as the golem protects Biggy.
Kindling Sprite
Taxonomy: Elemental (Sprite)
Description: Essentially a mere conjoining of aether and ideal conditions, a sprite is of no relation to the powerful elementals of the Black Shroud, and are in fact as devoid of reason and sentience as the average weather pattern. These particular sprites were spawned by the fire-aether present in the demolition equipment of the Mines.
Copperbell Nix
Taxonomy: Wavekin (Gigantoad)
Description: Colossal toads coated in slippery mucous and with a gaze capable of shaking even the most steadfast of warriors, gigantoads are fearsome beasts.
Capabilities: These amphibians were apparently capable of using their considerable bulk to bludgeon their foes in a ‘labored leap’ as well as coating themselves in a slippery mucous to turn aside blows.
Etymology Notes: Nix, also known as neck or nixies are german water spirits that drown humans. This likely speaks to the dangers of these creatures in Eorzea.
Ancient Uragnite
Taxonomy: Wavekin (Uragnite)
Description: Living Fossils are Uragnites, an odd species that are naturally rather small but have been twisted into much greater stature by the Nymians in order to farm their flesh, which the Nymians ate. Whether these are those swollen Uragnites perhaps forced below ground by the calamity or the flow of the water sources or as the name suggests, some ancestor of the modern Uragnites who dwelled underground naturally millennia ago and were naturally larger than their kin, is unknown.
Capabilities: These uragnites were capable of emitting potently toxic gas from their shells in jets.
Etymology: Uragnite is a variant spelling of aragonite, a mineral that forms in shells of mollusks and the uragnites of Eorzea are certainly mollusks.
Pit Hippocerf
Taxonomy: Beastkin (Hippogryph)
Description: It was particularly unusual to find Hippogryphs down in the mines as they are typically hill and mountain dwellers. Their vestigial wings are incapable of flight, but can propel them along the ground as they sprint. They may have been brought down into the caves to act as labor for the mines, introducing them to this subterranean ecosystem.
Etymology Notes: A Hippocerf is an odd cryptid from the real world, essentially a combination of a deer and horse that appears to be a large deer. It has been hypothesized that these creatures were actually the last remnants of the Irish Elk, an enormous species from the last ice age that some scientists believe may have remained extant until the medieval ages, inspiring their cryptid status.
Ouranos
Taxonomy: Spoken (Gigant)
Description: Ouranos was a leader and king amongst his kin, famed for commanding a mighty abyss worm as his hunting companion. According to a number of those who combatted him, his vitality was of such immense quantity that the alchemists guild is interested in investigating his body. His son was Gyges, who led the gigants fighting in the first Mines assault.
Capabilities: Ouranous used his immense hammer to inflict ‘grand slams’ upon his foes, as well as twisting his weapon around in an unpredictable ‘mercurial strike’ capable of sending even heavily armored adventurers flying. One of his most fearsome abilities was to imbue his hammer with roiling aether and launch an attack unimaginatively nicknamed a ‘power attack’ by a particularly blunt adventurer who helped to slay him.
Etymology Notes: Ouranos, or Uranus, is the ancient Greek personification of the sky and a leader amongst the titans. He was the father of the Hecatoncheires in myth, clearly a reference to this role as a leader amongst the tribe in FFXIV.
Abyss Worm
Taxonomy: Vilekin (Worm)
Description: The giant worms of Eorzea are, frankly, enormous and utterly terrifying creatures that hunt prey by swallowing them whole. Their preferred method of locomotion is by vibrating their whole body rapidly, allowing them to burrow beneath the earth at speed.
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