(01-16-2014, 10:20 PM)ansemaru Wrote: I thought summoning/killing a Primal disrupted the flow of aether, rather than destroying aether forever. The issue would be the massive concentrations of it that then disperse over very specific locations, rather than "massive concentration>oh that aether is gone forever".

Also, now I've got another question. If the Primals were created as the servants of the Twelve, why are they so universally regarded as the pinnacle of evil? As far as I know, they never rebelled like the Scions in Ivalice... Or, for that matter, why would the Twelve create servants that disrupt the world and damage its balance of aether/Hydaelyn so much?

Actually, are the Twelve even aligned with Hydaelyn?

(01-16-2014, 11:05 PM)ansemaru Wrote: It's kind of weird, to be honest... There's nothing telling us the Twelve are benevolent, or even what we think they are. And honestly, the fact that they could be summoned just the same as Primals makes it seem that they're not what people accept at face value at all!

I mean, it's sort of a staple of FF at this point that religious authorities and gods aren't necessarily trustworthy, and more often than not end up being antagonists. The Church of Saint Ajora, Yevon, the Occuria, the Fal'Cie, the Warring Triad... at this point, it's honestly more shocking to find a wholly benevolent religious organization or deity than one that is antagonistic or at least dangerously apathetic to the plight of mankind. I know it's easy to say "oh, the Primals are the evil gods in FFXIV", but at the same time, isn't that like assuming the Scions in FFXII are the ultimate evil?

(01-16-2014, 09:41 PM)Sounsyy Wrote: Elementals are within every rock, tree, and river. Whether or not they choose to reveal themselves is another matter. And in most cases, even the Elementals within the Twelveswood don't reveal themselves unless angered. But they are there. They whisper to those who will listen.

(01-18-2014, 10:27 AM)Flickering Ember Wrote: 1. Since Elementals are the land basically, do they exist in other regions of the world? They seem to only be talked about in the context of the Shroud and they seem to be the equivalent of nature spirits but the Shroud isn't the only place that is 'nature.' There are different kinds of nature, even. 

Is it that Elementals exist in other regions of the world but it's not a part of their culture to pay any heed to them? Maybe their ways have weakened and silenced their own regions' Elementals? And perhaps that could be why Gridanians seem so xenophobic?

(01-18-2014, 10:27 AM)Flickering Ember Wrote: 2. How does one become a Hearer? They're described as Conjurers but not all Conjurers are Hearers. So is it that they somehow become one while learning to be a Conjurer? Or is it that people are born Hearers and are drawn to becoming Conjurers because of their ability?

(01-18-2014, 10:48 AM)FreelanceWizard Wrote: Great catches on those dialogue snippets, ansemaru. I had vague recollections of some of those that informed my "elementals are far less powerful in 2.x than they were in 1.x;" seeing the actual NPC dialogue is very telling. There's also Alphinaud's reiteration of that in the main scenario quest, so people outside of Gridania are aware of it, too.

It remains my supposition that the Gridanians continue in their traditions because of strong inculturation and a belief that the elementals will return to their prior strength as the forest is healed -- which makes aiding and protecting the forest an even higher priority than it was before. 5 years can't undo millennia of tradition and religious beliefs. On the flip side, though, this means that Gridanians are at least sometimes using "the elementals wouldn't like that!" as an excuse to be jerks.

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(01-18-2014, 10:27 AM)Flickering Ember Wrote: 2. How does one become a Hearer? They're described as Conjurers but not all Conjurers are Hearers. So is it that they somehow become one while learning to be a Conjurer? Or is it that people are born Hearers and are drawn to becoming Conjurers because of their ability?

I seem to recall some quest text indicating that one is born a Hearer. Per their quest line, all Conjurers have the ability to sense and feel disturbances in the Aether around them, but that's not the same thing as being a Hearer. At any rate, if you can heal the whispers of elementals and feel their pain, that might lead you to become a Conjurer to help them; it's also possible you had no idea what that was and discovered your talent while training to be a Conjurer for other reasons.

(01-18-2014, 06:24 PM)ansemaru Wrote: There is also an NPC in the Conjurers' Guild who makes mention of being haunted by "voices" but having done nothing to anger the elementals to his knowledge. Is the implication there that he's got the abilities of a Hearer as well?

(01-18-2014, 07:29 PM)ansemaru Wrote: Are there any precedents for the undead or Voidsent actively communicating to people through dreams, though? IIRC the only Voidsent that actually gets anything approaching speech attributed to it is Mormo in the THM quest line.

(01-18-2014, 07:54 PM)ansemaru Wrote: Okay, revising my question: have we any precedent for the Voidsent doing that? They seem to primarily stick to dungeons and dark places of the world unless specifically summoned, and the worst that show up in the world at large are trickster imps. We know that the elementals are evidently incapable of warding these creatures off, so it's not surprising that they wouldn't be able to drive them away from this man, but at the same time I really have to wonder how likely it is for Voidsent to sneak into a person's home, wake him, and depart without him seeing them.

I'd honestly put more faith in this NPC being an untrained hearer than on the idea that he's got secret Voidsent breaking into his home. Occam's Razor and all that.