The First
“The First reflection, more specifically its region of Norvrandt, is the setting of the Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers expansion, and the world from which the Warriors of Darkness hail.
— In-game description
The First is a world in Final Fantasy XIV. It is the setting of the Shadowbringers expansion. It is one of thirteen alternate versions, or Reflections, of the planet Hydaelyn, the "Source." Norvrandt is the only habitable region, with the bulk of the planet consumed by the Empty.
Lore
“A century before─by that reflection's measure of time─the Warrior of Light and his companions journeyed to the First, it underwent a terrible transformation which forever changed the world. A failed Ascian attempt to set in motion an Eighth Umbral Calamity on the Source triggered a Flood of Light, which then swept across the land, leaving naught but blank perfection in its wake.
The tale of the Flood is one of hubris and tragedy. Hoping to restore peace to an embattled world, brave Warriors of Light fought and felled the Shadowkeeper, steward of Darkness─but in their decisive victory unbalanced the cosmic scales. Though Hydaelyn's agent, the Oracle of Light, managed to stem the ravenous tide and prevent the First's utter annihilation, much was lost. Only Norvrandt─a region the approximate size of Eorzea─remained habitable.
Contrary to traditional associations between light and the astral, the Light that consumed the First is characterized by passivity and tranquility─what scholars of the Source would term “umbral” polarity. Thus did the lands claimed by the Flood, known as the “Empty,” come to reach a state of stasis utterly bereft of aetheric activity. Norvrandt itself would be cursed with an empty sky of unyielding Light and ravenous hordes of Light-warped creatures.
Save for the greatest among them─the Lightwardens─these “sin eaters” are largely mindless beings, seeking only to corrupt the aether of the living and give rise to more of their own. Nevertheless, for the First's remaining population, it has been a constant struggle to keep these fiends at bay. Only since the Scions of the Seventh Dawn arrived to destroy the extant Lightwardens and purge Norvrandt of Light's corruption have its people known a measure of peace. They yet pay homage to their heroes as “Warriors of Darkness” for their role in restoring the night sky.