Story within Pitioss Ruins
- See also: Pitioss Ruins and Lore
Chapter 1: An Idea
The play begins in the main hall of Pitioss Ruins. A spotlight shines on the bearded statue who is holding a door shut with one hand and a platform with the other. This is Titan holding the Door to the Underworld shut while supporting the earth. A second spotlight shines on Ifrit in a cage. Titan is barring Ifrit’s way forward. There is very light, sinister music playing in the background. The stage is set. http://imgur.com/X58taw1
Take a look around, this place has the same architecture as Costlemark Tower and Steyliff Grove, but it is grossly unfinished! There are holes in the ground, loosely stacked pillars, haphazardly placed stones… Solheim started to build this place, abandoned it, and later, Ifrit used it to build a sanctuary for his tale. This can be evidenced by the building materials ALL OVER this dungeon, represented through items like rusty bits, chrome bits, metal scraps, building stones….Ifrit had a specific reason for this location…but we will get to that at the end.
We see Ifrit in a cage. The cage represents that he is either imprisoned, locked in thought, or that he is alone in his way of thinking & morals.
After multiple play throughs, we’ve noticed sometimes as you approach Ifrit’s statue the first time, the OST Overworld Music, “Wanderlust” track begins to play. We think this is important!! The music playing is saying that at this point, Ifrit is outside on the world map, restless, eager to start his journey.
The first puzzle to progress further involves bouncing a giant ball off the cage. We think this symbolizes a Meteor hitting whatever has Ifrit imprisoned. Alternatively, it could represent an “Ah-Ha! Moment, or a sudden idea involving the use of a Meteor.
We want to make note of this now because this pertains to the entirety of Pitioss. From here on out, whenever the player hits a switch, it represents an action being taken. Casting a spell, opening a door, etc. There are also a lot of random items in this dungeon that at first might not make sense like Rare Coins, Gemstones, etc. Ifrit is crafting spells with these items throughout his journey to help himself progress. Anytime the player sees a healing item, it represents a time Ifrit used it to heal himself. The red Glowing Wall Guards are literally daemons he has to fight. They glow with the same red lights we see when an Iron Giant spawns. Ifrit placed these Wall Guards throughout Pitioss for two purposes: one to represent when he fights a daemon, and two, to force the player down the correct path of his story. http://imgur.com/22edcA3
The next puzzle lets you get in to Ifrit’s area after the “Meteor” hits it and the cage is lifted. Next, the player jumps on to Ifrit’s back so they can then jump to the Meteor and hit the yellow switch to trigger a Meteor that smashes Titan’s statue completely. Proof that this actually happened is that the real Titan has been pinned down by the giant Meteor in Duscae.
Of note inside the cage area we find a Blood sword in the corner, and a Garnet Bracelet literally inside of Ifrit’s hand. http://imgur.com/NeuNopK
Blood swords in previous Final Fantasies have the item description of being covered in the blood of its victims. Ifrits in early Islamic lore are said to be formed from the blood of murder victims. Garnets can be associated with fire. Even more compelling here, however, is that they are symbolic of quick returns and a separated love and as such will be given to a lover about to embark on a long journey. AND if we take a look at Ifrit from the battle in Insomnia we can see that he is covered head to toe with jewelry adorned with red garnets…does this outright say that Ifrit is represented by this statue? No, but it certainly is a step in the right direction to proving that it IS indeed Ifrit. http://imgur.com/7B4DRI5
From here, we climb to the next switch that causes a second meteor to blast through the door that had been blocked. Once Noctis hits this switch he says “This’ll work”! as if he’s mirroring Ifrit when he uses the second meteor.
SO….the first Meteor is the one that is holding Titan down at the Disc of Cauthess. http://imgur.com/dTIYTeD
The second Meteor is thrown at the spot that becomes Lestallum in the future. The crater in Lestallum creates an entrance to the Underworld for Ifrit to enter through. http://imgur.com/gGDHe1X
This would explain why daemons sometimes appear in the power plant…not because of star scourge in the meteor, but because deep below is a direct hole to the Underworld! Don’t believe us? Listen to this. It is widely believed that Episode Gladio involves going in to the Underworld. http://imgur.com/daYGUAz
We know Gladio leaves the party at Cape Caem. There are screenshots of Gladio in the Taelpar Crag area with Cor. http://imgur.com/E74VkbZ
We are positive that while Ifrit originally enters the Underworld in Lestallum, he exits the Underworld somewhere in Taelpar Crag. So where does Gladio start his journey with Cor? Taelpar Crag. And where do we first encounter Gladio again after he has left for his mission with Cor?? Answer: The power plant in Lestallum! http://imgur.com/k6yRZY8
It’s such a weird part of the game, isn’t it??? It feels like bad story writing to have Gladio leave the party then randomly reappear later fighting Daemons in the power plant. But no. Square Enix had this planned from the start.
Ok! Let’s move on…we head through the now open door, and the music changes to dungeon music and a notice of officially entering Pitioss Ruins pops up…as if saying you weren't in it before. We think the main hall of Pitioss was built by people of Solheim, Ifrit only adds a few details to this room,such as his statue ,cage, and Titan statue. It’s only once we officially enter the “first” room of Pitioss that we start getting the crazy imagery. From here on out, Solheim only has minor things built, such as hallways or the general shape of the rooms. Everything else seems to be of Ifrit’s making.
The next room has the giant spinning globe with another Ifrit statue perched above it. http://imgur.com/lJLKOFp
Notice that his statue seems to have smashed through a steel beam that runs the length of room…more imagery that he has smashed through something. The globe represents the planet of Eos itself. There’s a giant hole in the globe that you have to jump through to reach the center of the globe…all while dodging fiery spikes (could this represent lava?).
Another thing to notice here is if you follow the statue of Ifrit’s gaze, you can see the statue of Eos far below. http://imgur.com/On4wiww
Until you actually arrive at the statue of Eos, anytime you see her below, it represents Ifrit thinking of her, not that he actually sees her. Why else make her visible at key points throughout Pitioss? Remember….Ifrit is a romantic, Eos is his beloved, & he is undertaking this massive journey for her sake.
Now, the outside of the globe has an interesting patina that looks like earth crust or perhaps an old, yellowed map. Inside the globe itself we noticed something crazy! There is this weird patterned, mosaic interior. Let’s look at it closer: http://imgur.com/0xfhz4z
Do you see it?? These tiles seem to represent the 4 Four Fiends of Chaos from FF!!! Marilith (the 2 headed snake), Lich (The boney face with a red hat that has souls flying to him), Kraken (aka Ultros with his 8 tentacles), & Tiamat (the white flower with 8 petals). What a stunning detail that so many people seem to miss! We think that there could be a connection to the 4 Fiends within Pitioss, but we couldn’t conclusively be sure. In particular, we couldn’t find a placing for for Tiamat & Kraken. But we found hints at Maralith and Lich. Maybe someone else could piece this part together.
The way to continue your path is to literally jump into the planet from the top, as if you’re falling into the planet, past lava, through the hole Ifrit made.
