Yume's Translation Thread

I hope it's the last time I have to rebuild this thread orz


Tales of Xillia Timeline
The Events From 2000 Years Ago and Energy Problems
Cults and Legends in Rieze Maxia
Xillia 2 World Mechanics *spoilers*
The Kresnik Clan *spoilers*
Spirits/Spyrix/Spyrite Mechanics
The Reincarnation Cycle in Xillia 1
Naming Lore
Writing System
Long Dau Guide
Xillia 2 Unused Main Plot Idea
Calendar Systems (rewritten)

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It must stink to rebuild this page again.

YUMI lolololol

But yeah copy pasta ahoy....

This is a timeline of the history of the world of Tales of Xillia, up until the beginning of the first game.
There are two versions of this timeline;one using the localized terms, like the version written here, and another using the original terms for those who are more familiar with the Japanese version or dislike the localization's policies when it comes to name adaptations.

• Localized edition: link (download as pdf)
  

• Original edition: link (download as pdf)
  

Notes:

*This timeline is spoiler-free when it comes to Tales of Xillia 2, so if you have only played the first game, you can read this without fear. There are, however, spoilers for all of Xillia 1.

*Trames is the name of the Rieze Maxian calendar and Primia is the name of the Elympion calendar. If you are reading this on Tumblr, hover above the Trames date to see its Primia counterpart. If you are reading this on the forum, only the Trames date is given.

*Sources: Tales of Xillia, Tales of Xillia Official World Guidance Book, Tales of Xillia Perfect Guide, Tales of Xillia Fan's Bible, Alvin Chronicles.

*All of the credits&reposting rules of Taleslations apply! Please read and respect them!

Many thanks to bleakdaydream and renachan82 for proofreading, and to everyone else who has helped me in this endeavour, readily answering questions and providing advice when needed. And reminding me to sleep. You know who you are ;-)

Originally posted on Taleslations.

Eh, don't fret about it.

This is all for the justice of spreading amazing lore.

Tales of Xillia: The Events From 2000 Years Ago and Energy Problems

Summary-style version of what led to the events of the game. Most of those events are already described in the timeline.

Sources: the game itself, the official guide books, backstory novels and CDs, and development team interviews. More detail can be provided upon request.

Warning: spoilers for Tales of Xillia 1.

A Long Long Time Ago: Spirits and Spyrixes

Ever since the creation of the world, humans have coexisted with spirits, unawares of their existence. There existed legends and they would channel them instinctively to cast spirit artes. However, despite how practical artes made life, there were a lot of limitations, especially since mana lobe ability would vary from person to person.

A device that would remove these limitations, aka spyrixes, was eventually developed. Casting artes stoped depending on someone’s ability, and spyrixes enabled more powerful artes to be cast instantly. The drawback was that they in fact killed spirits in the process, but the people of the time not only did not know the spirits’ role in the environment, they did not even know spirits existed at all, and spyrixes were thus allowed to take off unhindered.

Maxwell, who had sensed the danger of spyrixes, managed to establish contact with Kresnik and warned her of the risk they posed. Kresnik gathered followers and tried to warn humanity. But as most people did not believe in the existence of spirits, few listened to her, and spyrixes continued to be used.

So Maxwell decided to create a sealed world where as many spirits, animals and believers that could be gathered would live. His plan was to let Elympios die off on its own and then dispel the schism once spyrixes have disappeared and repopulate the world with those living in Rieze Maxia to prevent its destruction.

After the Schism: Rieze Maxia

Kresnik and her followers established themselves in Rieze Maxia and immediately worked to make the new world forget about Elympios. Through a set of regulations, they rendered talks of their original world taboo to insure that future generations would never know of it. One of such regulation even actively discouraged exploration, which is why it took Rieze Maxia around two thousand years and a daring adventurer to finally have a more or less complete map of their island… which has gone through very little update in two centuries.

700 years after the creation of Rieze Maxia, descendants of Kresnik’s six disciples (Banya, Fenn, Ilbert, Travis, Sharil and Zumay) established states in the southern part of the island, establishing the foundations of the country of Rashugal.

A further 700 years later, the so-called seven descendants of Kresnik herself established their tribes in the North.

1800 years after the creation of Rieze Maxia, the spirits’ existence was finally proven thanks to Dr Howe’s thesis, and from that point on culture really started to flourish around channeling.

After the Schism: Elympios

The events of Kresnik’s time and the disappearance of the Maxwell believers became legends that are still told to this day.

After Maxwell had sealed off Rieze Maxia, Elympios continued relying more and more on spyrixes. As people stopped casting spirit artes, mana lobes started degenerating because of disuse. Nowadays, most Elympions cannot emit mana anymore.

Though the world was slowly declining due to the loss of spirits, the effects only started manifesting themselves roughly 2000 years later (100 years before the game). Spyrixes started malfunctioning due to spirit shortage, and the government decided to tackle this problem in year 4204 of the Elympion calendar, 2193 years after the creation of Rieze Maxia. However, at the time, the cause of the problem could not be found, and production and the economy started declining 40 years later.

30 years after that, thanks to research based on old documents and legends concerning Maxwell, the existence of the schism could be proved. They also confirmed that the world within the schism held a considerable amount of energy. The government established the “Next Gen Energy Bureau” and proposed the “Otherworld Reactor Plan” (ORP), a project to use the energy on the other side of the schism to resolve Elympios’s own energy problem. The bureau got cooperation from the military to develop a device to break the schism.

A prototype of such device was completed and 12 years later. The device managed to pierce a hole in the schism, but due to loss of control little data could be collected.

The Hole in the Schism: Maxwell’s Intervention and Exodus

Maxwell, who up to then had been hiding in the Temporal Terminus, felt the break in the schism and came out to fix it, fighting off the Elympios army preparing for invasion. He created the Great Spirit Muzét from a part of the schism and sent her to destroy the rest of the army. He later assigned her the task of protecting the schism.

When the hole was made, a luxury cruise ship, the E.S.S. Zenethra, was sailing in the area and got sucked into Rieze Maxia, and then became unable to go back to Elympios after Maxwell sealed the break. Fearing what they could bring to Rieze Maxia but reluctant to show himself, Maxwell created a decoy: a human he called Milla who he would have the Four Great Spirits raise as if she was Maxwell herself.

Meanwhile, the stranded Elympions tried to settle in Rieze Maxia, but their inability to cast spirit artes prevented them from mingling well with the population. They eventually got back together and lived in a hidden community on a small island. The organisation Exodus was at first created by an ex-soldier to support the civilians, but its structure and goals changed once Gilland took over.

Renewal of the Otherworld Reactor Plan

Though the experiment had failed for all intent and purpose, the ORP was not completely abandoned. Six year after the disappearance of the Zenethra, Gilland managed to establish contact with the Elympion military by chance, confirming the existence of Rieze Maxia once and for all. Together with the military and the government, they plotted the development of the plan, deciding to make use of Rieze Maxians as well as spirits. For that purpose, the “Next Gen Energy Bureau” was renamed “Department of Otherworld Affairs” and given more power.

Two years later, Gilland introduced spyrixes to Nachtigal in order to have him build the Lance of Kresnik, another device to break the schism. One year later, spyrix research data is stolen from insurgent tribes from Auj Oule, and they start developing boosters in Labari Hollow.

Boosters and Spyrites

Spyrite research made a breakthrough six years later, when Wingul, who had resumed the research after the laboratory was seized at the end of Gaius’s conquest, volunteered himself as a human experiment. It took a further six years for the research to be completed, at which point Exodus sent Alvin as a spy to steal the data. However, Alvin was discovered and only managed to bring back data on old models. Data from the third generation model was finally obtained one year later, over the course of the game, when Exodus members took it from Teepo.

Thanks to the stolen booster research, Gilland and a team of researchers from Elympios were able to develop a new technology that would, if it worked, have the same function as spyrixes without harming spirits.

Meanwhile, the ORP was put into motion and forces were sent to invade Rieze Maxia. One of the goals of the invasion was to bring Rieze Maxians to Elympios and force them to cooperate with spyrite research, as the help of spirit artes users was required for the research to progress. Gilland and the Elympion government were planning to use the ORP as intended, using Rieze Maxia as a source of energy, while the researchers tested whether spyrites were a viable solution.

Elympios was opposed by two sides:

* King Gaius, who was planning to destroy all spyrixes with the help of Muzét before dispelling the schism, as he deemed the opening of the schism while spyrixes still existed too risky and was reluctant to bet on an uncertain technology yet at the early stages of development.

* The party, who decided to bet on spyrites and dispel the schism immediately and use its mana to fuel Elympios’s spyrixes until spyrites can replace them.

In the end, the latter won, and the three parties started to work together to further spyrite development, though many obstacles still lie ahead.

Cults and Legends in Rieze Maxia

Rieze Maxia is interesting, because it doesn’t really have an organized religion, but instead a series of cults that come and go depending on time and place.

What they have in common is that they are all centered on spirits.

But each place and the spirits revered are different.

Additionally, the discovery of the spirits’ existence has lessened their mystical appeal, and as such spirit faith has been on the decline, as they are now considered an everyday part of the world. Still, traditions remain.

Rashugal is less spiritual than Auj Oule, perhaps, in a way, because spirit artes are more developed there. But they seem to rever Kresnik the Sage.

Auj Oule’s own legends about Kresnik are a bit different, as they like to focus on the fight with the Chimera, which has become a symbol of the country. There are three canonly known named spirits for which a cult exists or has existed.

- Maxwell, the Lord of Spirits. Revered in Nia Khera, a community that passed down the Maxwell faith and legends related to the creation of Rieze Maxia through the ages. A shrine dedicated to Maxwell was built on the outskirts of the village and a family of shamans have been serving it from generation to generation. The place, situated at the base of the Hallowmount, holds a special significance to Maxwell, and it is no wonder that this was where Milla was to be raised. In addition, the village, though belonging to the territory of Auj Oule, is a bit closed off in its own world, and there is little contact with the rest of the world. I imagine they went through the warring tribes periods and Gaius’s revolution quite unconcerned by what was going on.

- Efreet, the Great Spirit of Fire, is a favorite in Xian Du, as he is considered the guardian of warriors. Legends about the reincarnation of souls is also strong in the city, and they are the reason statues of strong warriors are built and displayed everywhere. This tradition of statue building is around six hundred years old and was instigated by a tribe leader called Shaman.

Xian Du has two known customs: prayer pennants and sword lilies. The former are hung with a wish from the person who made them, and the latter are offered to warriors going to fight in the coliseum. The latter is also specific to the Kitarl tribe.

- Pluto, Lord of the Abyss, used to be revered in the Xailen Woods Temple near Khan Baliq, though aside for two suspicious twin maidens who don’t age, the temple has now been abandoned and the faith dwindled. Legends say that the Lord of the Abyss was sealed in the temple by Maxwell a long time ago.

There must exist countless other cults and legends about other spirits, but these are the only ones developed in the game and side materials. It’d be interesting to learn or think about others.

Remnants of spirit faith remain in Elympios in the tradition of middle names. The words used for middle names used to be special words used to communicate with spirits, and now parents pick them according to their meaning and what they wish for their child.

Traces of those names can also be found in Rieze Maxia to a lesser extent, in the Rashugal Six Houses and Auj Oule’s tribe names.

As for naming tradition in Rieze Maxia, there are maidens associated with each week (a bit like saints if you want), and it seems that some parents name their child a similar name as the one of the week they were born in.

During the game I've started to feel really bad for Exodus.

They're trying so hard to save themselves (and their world), and most of the Rieze Maxians just give them the finger for most of the game.

A very inspiring concept though. The lore for this game is amazing.

I didn't realize it took so long for practically everyone to notice whether spirits existed or not.

Well, most people of Exodus were indeed just trying to save themselves, but Gilland and the Elym gvt. made sure to give them a bad rep. After what they went through when the Lance was fired, you can't really blame the Rieze Maxians for being hostile...

And yeah it took a long time. One of the reasons things have been accelerating lately is that spyrix technology kept advancing and lately they developed ways to make them last even longer, killing more and more spirits in the process.

But although his methods are definitely questionable, even Gilland was just trying to solve the energy crisis of his people. I felt really bad considering what happens to him.

To me, he's been one of the most relatable well-intentioned extremists in the series so far.

Considering he did it mostly for personal gain, I personally don't feel very sorry for him. Even if his actions did indeed indirectly save the world, he kinda got it coming. He's a shitty human being all around, and won't be missed by anyone.

Hey Yume, I have a question. Do you still have that Xillia 2 choice guide? It wasn't uploaded to your Tumblr (apparently) and the entries about it on the Livejournal community are gone. With the localization out, I'd love a proper guide about affection choices, but I think yours was the only complete one in existence.

Replied by PM.

Anyway, now that the game is out, I want to introduce those who haven't seen it yet this wonderful Crama CD track about cats and Gaius Dumplings.
(Note: This was translated before the game came out in English, so some of the names are still in Japanese.)

Might be off topic, but are there any supplementary materials about Ludger & Julius when they were younger? Actually just interested in the idea of Chibi!Ludger and BigBro!Julius

It's coming ^^

Yo Yume, just wanting to confirm, is the tapestry in Gaius' throne room depicting the creation of Auj Oule(or Kanbalar)?

Oh, is that you who sent me a PM on my old Tumblr account? (I use a new one now.)

And I don't know tbh. That thing just before the throne does look like the Chimera's head, doesn't it? XD

Yeah that was me lol, I was looking around for your tumblr but I saw that the last thing you blogged there was in January so I decided to post here jic.

Yeah, it kinda does, if you look a little closer at the chimera demon thing's head it kinda looks like a little person(I'm assuming Kresnik) is on top of it, plus the city and mountains were there too so I was like "Hmmm, if they did what I think they did that's hella cool." Ah well though, if you of all people don't know then there's probably no way to confirm it. *shrugs*

Nothing is certain, but this sounds like a good interpretation

I made a backstory post about the Kresnik clan. Just linking to it because it's full of spoilers for ToX2.

I still wish they'd included all that information in the freakin' game. I was telling a few other Xillia 2 players about it and they were shocked to find out about this stuff. It really makes you look at certain characters in a whole other light.

Yeah.
One thing that I found really strange (before reading it here) was the thing about a person named Claudia. If I didn't miss anything in the game you only hear one thing about her:

:

I think at one point Rideaux mentions Cornelia and says

Spoiler:

Yeah. X1 already did it with including so little of the Chimeriad's actual backstories in the game (worse, they sometimes were so vague about it that it lead to misconceptions), but this is taking it to a whole other level. Ludger's the main protagonist ffs! I wonder if it's not partly the fault of his silent status...

I just hope if they will ever make a remake of these two games that they will include more important story stuff. It's obvious that they didn't have enough time for both games