The Hyur – From Migratory Conquerors to the Eorzean Everyman

Tome Retrieved – ‘The Races of Eorzea and Beyond‘ by Archon Niniri Niri

The Hyur have long been one of Eorzea’s eminent races, arriving on the continent before even the First Astral Era from an unknown location, although at the time they remained a minor species and it wasn’t until the early Sixth Astral Era that they undertook a migration from northern Ilsabard across the three great continents, swelling in number in Eorzea. They began a second migration centuries later in 660 of the Sixth Astral Era, further increasing their numbers in Eorzea and pushing the elezen out of their ancestral homelands into the Black Shroud. Less than a century later the hyur themselves began to move into the Shroud, further provoking conflict with the elezen. The elementals responded extremely hostilely to this, and within a few decades the hyur and elezen had been forced to come to terms and flee underground, escaping the elementals wrath by founding the city of Gelmorra. Around this time a third wave of hyuran migrations arrived, setting the stage for the hyur to become Eorzea’s most common race. The hyur also seem to have a population in Meracydia, the grand southern continent, judging by records on the worshippers of the goddess Sophia.

Much of Eorzea’s (and beyond) culture has been influenced in significant ways by the hyur, either directly or by the conflicts they have waged against other races. The most widespread of the hyur belong to the midlander subspecies, a massively diverse race that has produced many scholars, innovators, artists and other forms of intellectual, including as mages. These midlanders excel in adopting local cultures and adapting them for their own. The hyurans were largely responsible for developing the Eorzean alphabet and common tongue, and accordingly the midlanders have typically been excellent with the arts of writing.

Less widespread, the physically larger highlander subspecies are found predominantly across Gyr Abania, as well as Thanalan and the Black Shroud after the refugee crisis created by the Garlean invasion of Ala Mhigo. The highlander race emerged in Gyr Abania after hyuran communities fled to the region in the wake of the Sixth Umbral Calamity, where they developed their impressive physiology amongst the rough terrain of the land. They went on to found the nation of Ala Mhigo, a state remarkable for its military prowess. Tattooing and wood carving have become an underpinning of highlander religious culture, and the subspecies are often seen as coarse or overly brutish, but this is a product of the land they adapted in. Many highlanders shave their eyebrows in order to appear more intimidating to their opponents.

Hyuran Names: As one might expect of a race that largely created the common tongue, hyuran forenames draw on this language, and highlanders often merge this with the traditions of northern cultures, often resulting in names similar to, albeit less complex than, Roegadyn. Midlanders typically adopt surnames relating to various factors regarding their ancestors, be their career, place of origin or other characteristics. For example, an individual named ‘Samuel Vale’ might trace their origins to the valleys of inland Vylbrand while one named ‘Lorena Wool’ could have ancestors who worked as shepherds. Highlanders, to the contrary, typically bear surnames that were bestowed upon their ancestors relating to feats of strength or achievements in battle, such as ‘Bowyer’ for a renowned archer or ‘Pike’ for a famed spearman.

Hyuran Hybrids: Ancestral feuds between the hyur and elezen have made hybrids between the two species uncommon, even after the founding of Gelmorra, but they are certainly not unheard of. One of Ishgard’s more famed figures of late, Hilda Ware of the Ishgardian public watch stands out as an example, born to an elezen noble and a hyuran servant. Arenvald Lentinus of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, for his part, is a highlander-Garlean hybrid as are a number of members of the Lexentale Garlean artistic family. Most hyur-Garlean hybrids do not bear the third eye of the pureblooded Garleans, though there are tales of some that have an odd, blackened third eye. Verifying this is difficult however due to the hostility of the Garlean Empire to those who pry into their interests. There does exist a legend in the east of a meeting between the auri Ruby Princess and a hyuran fisherman, birthing a hybrid who apparently bore very few scales, though little other information is given on this ‘Ruby Prince’.