Looking at the Lalafell

The last article I wrote discussed the history of the Au Ra race, today I am going to take a look at the potato, whether you like them or not they are they are here and they are a natural race, or are they. When patch 3.0 came, out two new items were introduced that give us a better look at what a lalafell might be. The description of Aetherochemical 123 and 666 may have lore for the lalafell that is strongly incriminating if you don’t like the small race.

Aetherochemical Compound #123: This biologically engineered biomass can be found on Azys Lla. Unlike anything else on Eorzea, compound #123 is thought to be another of the Allagan Empire's failed chimerical creations. The creature seems to be harmless enough, feeding only on the tiny water lice which inhabit Azys Lla's aetherochemical pools. Its outer hide, however, has given many a naturalist pauses as it bears a texture almost identical to that of a Lalafell's skin.

This terrifying item looks a little like this.

Aetherochemical Compound #666: A king among aetherochemical compounds, and lord of the aetherochemical spill. When a specimen of what, at the time, was thought to be compound #123 began sprouting tiny...decidedly Lalafellin...hands, no fewer than three Sons of Saint Coinach naturalists turned in their resignations with the organization and have since disappeared from the public eye.

EW

So, are the lalafell horrible chemical reactions that turned into sentient potatoes? Maybe. But the flavor text from the aetherochemicals is not the only origin we have of the little creatures. According to the A Realm Reborn website it is stated that the lalafell come from an agricultural background from the islands of the south seas. Finding their way to Eorzea from trade routes. The lalafell race has two specific subraces the Plainsfolk and the Dunesfolk, and you can garner a lot about them simply by their names. Plainsfolk worked the land much like farmers, and Dunesfolk wandered the desert. Even in Eorzia you can find the Dunesfolk close to Ul’dah and the Planesfolk closer to Limsa. Being that there are two different subraces of Lala, we can possibly associate this with the two separate Aetherochemical compounds. Regarding which one spawned which creature currently, we do not know.

            Let’s look at a real-world example, the Homo Floresiensis, an ancestor of the current human. The most notable feature of Homo Floresiensis is a small body many scientist speculate that the to be on average around three foot six. Not that far off from the lalafell standing around Three foot even. Other notable features are a lack of chin and a lesser angle in the head making them rounder. Many Scientist speculate that the reason the Homo Floresiensis stand so short is because limited food resource on the island in Southeast Asia where they inhabited. Short, inhabiting islands, round skulls, sound familiar. So potentially lalafell could have evolved from the same species as Hyur but because of their limited resources on islands they were not able to survive if they grew taller. Pardon me for being a horrible person, but there is another theory that the bones of Homo Floresiensis were simply that of a Homo Sapiens’ or Homo Erectus’ with down syndrome or similar metal disability. Which also lines up with the nickname of lalafell, potato. My apologies I had to bring that up, it’s a theory.

            Whether the Lalafell grew from horrible chemical reactions, or out of necessity of dwelling is up to the player to determine. Only one thing is for certain, love them or hate them the lalafell are here to stay.