Lalafell are aFinal Fantasy 14race that is accessible for player characters. They are one of the races, along with the Hyur, Miqo’te, Elezen, and Roegadyn, that have been around since the beginning. Their design is based on the Tarutaru race fromFinal Fantasy 11, andthey are the favorite race ofFinal Fantasy 14Director Naoki Yoshida.
The Lalafell are famous for their small size, resembling other well-known fantasy races such as hobbits, halflings, and dwarves. According to the character creation menu, they are also one of the most populous racesacross Eorzea. Like most fantasy races, Lalafell have their own culture, history, language, and diversity.
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History Of Lalafell
The Lalafell race is native to the south seas, which is a collection of little islands with a warm climate. They used catamaran-like ships to travel from island to island and eventually began using those ships to migrate to Eorzea. It was also these Lalafell immigrants that introduced arcanima to the realm, which isthe school of magic that arcanists study.
In the Fifth Astral Era, it was Lalafell that founded the ancient cities of Nym and Mach. When both those cities fell, the survivors of Nym returned to the south seas and the survivors of Mach settled in Thanalan. Much of the Lalafell that remain in the southern seas still do much trade withports like Limsa Lominsa.
The Plainsfolk And Dunesfolk
Lalafell are comprised of two clans, the Plainsfolk and the Dunesfolk. While being a little different, the clans have never had any fighting or rivalry against each other. In fact, many Lalafell have both Plainsfolk and Dunesfolk DNA due to inter-clan marriages being common.
The Plainsfolk are most populated in La Noscea and the southern seas. Compared to the other clan, their hair tends to have more earthen shades, andtheEncyclopedia Eorzeaclaims that the hair color difference is meant to camouflage these Lalafell from creatures in their southern island homes such as vultures. In the southern seas, many Plainsfolk Lalafell live as farmers, traders, and fishermen in thatched-roof houses which have underground tunnels between each other like an ant colony would have. They are known for traveling great distances with simple canoes.
The Dunesfolk are most distributed in Thanalan, and their physical attributes have adapted them to the desert. They have tanner skin than Plainsfolk and even have a membrane in their eyes that keeps out any sand. These are the Lalafell most known for their magic, particularly in thaumaturgy. In terms of gathering, they also make up many miners. Their family lines go back all the way to the ancient city of Mach. When Mach fell, they lived a nomadic existence in the desert and founded the city of Belah’dia,which would eventually become Ul’dah and Sil’dih.
Lalafell Culture
While there are two different clans, Lalafell all share some similarities in their culture.Lalafellin fashionloves to make use of scarfs as a tool to unfurl in the vast seas and deserts to make signals and/or just be noticed. They also tend to like more relaxed-fitting garb to naturally hide their plump builds.
Family is very important to Lalafell, but not in an exclusionary sense. They love connections, which is part of what makes them so excellent as merchants. In fact, they are a race that rarely faces any discrimination due to their love of connecting with others. They were actually one of the first non-Hyur races to masterthe Hyur common tongue.
Lalafells did have their own language, which they still use for their names. Plainsfolk use names from songs and stories in their old tongue, which uses a lot of repetition and rhyme. Male Plainfsolk use an AB-CB rhyme scheme with names such as “Alka Zolka,” while females use ABB-AB with names like “Tataru Taru” and “Mimimo Mimo.” Male Dunesfolk names use a different pattern in their rhyme scheme. Males use AAB-CCB with names like “Lolorito Nanarito.” Female Dunesfolk are the same as female Plainsfolk.
Final Fantasy 14: Endwalkeris available now on PC, PS4, and PS5.
