This post is [participating in the Nexon PEAK Post Challenge].

If I remember right, I first encountered the Mabinogi Mobile IP back in 2004 through Mabinogi Online. More than 20 years have already passed. Mabinogi Online, Mabinogi Heroes, and Mabinogi Mobile all belong to the same IP. And out of those, the youngest is the one I’m playing now: Mabinogi Mobile. That got me thinking about why I was so devoted to Mabinogi Online in the past, why I’m so devoted to Mabinogi Mobile now, and why the Mabinogi IP has been loved for so long.

I think a big part of the answer is Mabinogi’s distinctive world and its unrivaled character customization system, which still feels like the ultimate standard. Of course, it’s the Mabinogi IP that has stood the test of time—not Mabinogi Mobile itself, since it has only been around for about a year and a half. It would be a stretch to call it a long-running game already. Still, as someone who plays it, I truly hope Mabinogi Mobile will have a long life ahead of it. I want this version of the Mabinogi IP, told differently from the other Mabinogi series titles, to endure. So with that, let’s begin: the Ten Symbols of Longevity Project in Mobinogi.

The Ten Symbols of Longevity refers to ten things associated with long life. It’s one of the first ideas that comes to mind when we think of longevity. In Korean history, the Ten Symbols of Longevity often appeared in paintings made to wish for a long life. Taken literally, the name sounds like ten long-living creatures, but if you classify them more broadly, they divide into inanimate things and living things. The inanimate ones are the sun, mountains, water, stones, and the moon or clouds. The living ones are the elixir herb, deer, pine trees, turtles, and cranes. I’ll start with the inanimate ones.

First, the Sun (Sun)

This is a photo I took during New Year in Mabinogi Mobile. The sunrise looks wonderful, doesn’t it? The sun comes first among the Ten Symbols of Longevity. Maybe that’s because it feels eternal. It’s easy enough to look up why it became the first symbol, but that isn’t today’s subject. Today’s subject is finding the Ten Symbols of Longevity inside Mabinogi Mobile, so I wanted to start with the sun. Stay in the sky for a long, long time like this bright sun, Mabinogi Mobile.





Second, Mountains

Mabinogi Mobile really has so many beautiful mountain views. Once I started looking for them on purpose, I realized they were everywhere. I ended up taking far too many screenshots. Still, the scenery in Mabinogi Mobile feels more moving when you experience it while traveling through the world, so I’ll share just one here. This mountain was photographed in front of the Tir Chonaill observatory. Isn’t it lovely? The second symbol came together quite simply too.



Third, Water

Water is the third of the Ten Symbols of Longevity. When I thought of water, the first place that came to mind was the Idelia Stream in Tir Chonaill. According to Endelyon, the priest of Tir Chonaill’s Morrighan Church, Priest Idelia once served at the Tir Chonaill church long ago. She was a great source of strength when the village was going through hard times, and she cared for people throughout her life. It’s said that her spirit remains all around the village in the form of the fields and the stream. That is why, as I understand it, the stream that runs through Tir Chonaill is called Idelia Stream. In any case, water is the third symbol of longevity. I hope clear water will always flow through Tir Chonaill.

 It felt a little incomplete to introduce only the stream in Tir Chonaill, so I wanted to share the sea of Colhen as well. Colhen, the village of mercenaries, stands before a wide sea. There’s a dock there, and fishermen too. I included it with the same hope—that it will endure for a very long time, like the sea itself.



Fourth, Stone

The fourth of the Ten Symbols of Longevity is stone. Stone feels eternal. But there were so many stones to choose from that I spent a while wondering which one I should feature. In the end, I picked this rocky cliff near the fishing spot on Gairech Hill. Isn’t it beautiful? I hope this game grows into one that lasts for a very long time—solid and steadfast like this stone.

Fifth, the Moon or Clouds

The fifth symbol of longevity is said to be the moon or clouds. Because of that, I put quite a bit of effort into capturing both the moon and the clouds in a single shot. Of all times, when I went wandering around to take this photo, it happened to be a crescent moon—or was it a waning moon? So I kept adjusting the angle carefully to make it clearer and easier to see. At this point, we’ve made our way through half of the Ten Symbols of Longevity—the inanimate half.





Sixth, the Elixir Herb

The sixth of the Ten Symbols of Longevity is the elixir herb. When I looked it up, the explanation I saw most often was that it referred to reishi mushrooms. Maybe Qin Shi Huang really did eat a lot of reishi in the past. With that in mind, I started wondering which mushroom in Mabinogi Mobile most closely resembled this elixir herb. The first one that came to mind was the Amplification Mushroom in Cloud Prairie. The color is a little off, but the shape seemed the closest to reishi. The second was the Hazel Mushroom growing in Emain Macha. Its round shape is different, but the color looked the most similar to the reishi photos I found, so I brought that one too. Since the amplification mushroom is useful for potion-making and the hazel mushroom is useful in cooking, I felt they had a meaningful connection as well.





Seventh, Deer

The seventh symbol of longevity is the deer. In truth, the deer is actually the shortest-lived among the Ten Symbols of Longevity. From what I’ve read, it’s generally hard for them to live much beyond 30 years on average. So why is the deer included among these symbols of long life? There are said to be several interpretations. One of them is the old belief that taking antlers from a stag could help someone live longer. I found deer around Colhen village and in the Pale Mountain.



Eighth, Pine Tree

The eighth symbol of longevity is the pine tree. Pine trees live a long time and carry a certain dignified elegance. To be honest, part of me does wonder whether the ginkgo tree might live even longer, but in any case, this one is the pine tree. And after traveling diligently across the fields of Mabinogi Mobile, I finally decided it was time to compromise a little. Maybe it was because I found seven of the ten symbols so easily. Starting with the pine tree, I really had to walk around and think hard about how to find the meaning of these symbols inside Mabinogi Mobile. Then I settled on one idea: pine trees are conifers, and conifers are pointed trees. That became my compromise.



Ninth, Crane

I don’t actually know much about cranes, so I brought in a screenshot of the crane entry from Naver Knowledge Encyclopedia’s endangered wild animals of Korea. A crane—what is that again? The bird on the 500 won coin, right? Exactly. Cranes are large birds, and apparently they grow over 150 cm. I had wondered whether “durumi” and “hak” referred to different birds, but it turns out they’re just two names for the same one. With its image of nobility, elegance, and a kind of scholarly grace, the crane is also one of the Ten Symbols of Longevity. The problem is that it’s genuinely hard to find one in the game. So I decided to bring in the closest stand-in I could.



 If we’re talking about large birds, there’s the eagle. It’s smaller than a crane, but still a big bird. Even the colors are somewhat similar. Not convinced? Please squint a little. As a stand-in for the crane, the symbol of longevity, I think the coloring is close enough... if you look at it kindly. Though it does seem a little small, doesn’t it? I remembered eagles being bigger. So I looked it up, and there it was: a picture of an eagle from back when Ruairi and Triona were nearly eaten.



It’s fairly large, and the coloring does seem a little similar too, doesn’t it? You’re telling me not to force it? Yes, I am forcing it. I just couldn’t quite figure out how to represent a crane here. Still, I brought in a bird that’s as similar as possible, fairly large, and relatively long-lived, so please forgive me on this one.



After thinking it over, I was reminded of the fable of the crane and the fox, so I brought along a fox photo too. This is my way of wishing Mabinogi Mobile a long life. Please take that to heart.



Finally, Tenth, Turtle

The final, tenth symbol of longevity is the turtle. To be honest, I think the turtle is the most iconic—and the most literal—of the Ten Symbols of Longevity. It lives longer than the others, after all. More than anything else, the turtle really is a symbol of long life. But there are no turtles in Mabinogi Mobile. The very creature I think of as the greatest symbol of longevity simply isn’t there. There are reptiles like snakes and lizards on Gairech Hill and Sen Mag Plateau, but no turtles.



Of course, I did find a slime in the Pale Mountain that looked like it could serve as a turtle shell, but it still wasn’t a turtle. It was even a monster slime. Still, I couldn’t just let the turtle go—the symbol of symbols when it comes to longevity—so I made a decision..

 I decided I would become the turtle myself. What does a game need in order to last a long time? It needs love from its players. In the end, a game can only continue if players are there for it. Of course, there are still games that shut down even when they have players. Even so, I hope that doesn’t happen here. I want this game to live a long, long time so I can keep enjoying it.



+P.S.+

I wanted to try making

a Mabinogi Mobile version

of the Ten Symbols of Longevity painting,

and after spending an hour messing around with AI,

this was the most convincing image I got.

They say the people who use AI well will be the ones who survive,

so... I wonder if I will.