Final Fantasy XIV is beloved for having some of the deepest and richest lore in MMO gaming, with civilizations spanning back thousands of years, customs, traditions, and other flourishes that bring the world of Eorzea and beyond to life. One tiny detail that a keen-eyed player brought to light was that there’s lore behind even the snowmen in FFXIV.
In a response to the post “Snowmen in Snow instances” in r/FFXIV, u/Lyramion pointed out that: “official Snowman Lore this Snowman is a Garlean as it is made out of three balls. Eorzean Snowmen are only made with two balls.” The post, which was originally made to spot the snowmen Easter Eggs that occasionally pop up in instances and around the game, instead highlighted this unusual and interesting piece of lore.
This little nugget of lore is from the 2014 Starlight Celebration Snowman furnishing item, whose full item description reads “Garlean scholars have conducted extensive studies on the subject of why Eorzean snowmen are constructed of only two balls of snow rather than three─the number of choice throughout Ilsabard. The prevailing theory is that extensive studies should not have been conducted on said subject.”
As a result, the snowman that can be spotted in the back of Shiva’s arena in Akh Afah Amphitheatre is definitely a Garlean snowman, while the mount, minion, and furnishing items are Eorzean examples. Perhaps this short item description wasn't intended to be so deeply analyzed and thought about, but it's these tiny flourishes that really bring life to a game like FFXIV.
Fanbyte’s reporter scoured the Ilsabard, Garlemald area for examples of a Garlean-type Snowman in Garlemald, but couldn’t find one. Considering Garlemald is currently rebuilding after a huge conflict, perhaps this isn’t surprising. However, a quick trip to Coerthas Central Highlands, at Dragonhead, we were able to find an Eorzean snowman. Perhaps we might see a Garlean example in a future Starlight event, hopefully bringing some much-needed cheer to Garlean children.
