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Sounsyy · **05-10-2015, 09:48 PM**

Kay, I'm gonna drop some lore links and quoted text that's pertinent then I'll go in to try to answer your questions directly.

So without further ado:

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CNJ/WHM Lore

Quote:â€œConjury calls upon the elements of earth, wind, and water and concentrates them to a potency at which spells can be weaved. Through practiced meditation on the essences of creation, conjurers draw forth and absorb aether from their immediate surroundings. A wand or cane made from unworked wood is then utilized to focus the aether until it manifests as the desired spell. Versed also in magicks that restore and strengthen, conjurers are regarded as accomplished healers.â€

My summary of WHM and CNJ:

Quote:White Magic or Succor is the magic of the Elementals. Around the middle of the 5th Astral Era, it was gifted to the Amdaporians to balance the destructive power wrought by Shatotto's Black Magic. These Amdaporians were tasked with restoring what Black Magic destroyed. For many years, this balance persisted, but as Black Mages sought greater and more powerful spells, White Mages stretched the limits of their power and the War of the Magi broke loose, bringing irreparable harm to the planet and the Twelveswood. Furious, the Elementals summoned a great flood which washed the taint of the Magi from the planet and grew the Twelveswood up and around the lost city of Amdapor so that its magic would never be recovered. For 1000 years White Magic was lost to the world, until the Elementals birthed the Padjal race from the Gelmorrans and filled them with the blessing of Succor. These Padjal protected and restored the Wood with their power and lead the new Gridanians into an age of peace with the Wood.

Conjury is the youngest form of magic, born only 500 years ago during the time of Gelmorra. After the 5th Umbral Era had ended and the survivors made their way back to the Twelveswood, they found their way blocked by thick trees and angered Elementals. So the Elezen dug beneath the forest and lived in caves for a 1000 years, trying to make peace with the Elementals above and live within the Wood once more as they did in the time of Amdapor. Now, during this time, Hyur began flocking to Eorzea in great migratory waves, causing wars between the Hyur and Elezen races all across Eorzea. However, when the Hyur attempted to enter the Twelveswood, the Elementals forbade them egress as well. Looking past their racial differences, the Elezen of Gelmorra welcomed the Hyur with open arms. It is believed this act of goodwill and fellowship is what compelled the Elementals to reconsider their stance. The Elementals sent Moogles to communicate with the leaders of Gelmorra and teach them a way to communicate with the Elementals. The magic the Moogles taught the Gelmorrans became known as Conjury, the ability to manipulate the aether in nature using concentration and meditation. This magic birthed the first Hearers, men who could hear the will of the Elementals.

Lore Text from the Padjal:

Quote:"The art now known as white magic dates back to the Fifth Astral Era. It was then that a brilliant young sorceress - for the first time in history - succeeded in channeling not merely her own life energy, but the aether that inhabits the very land itself. Her magic was that of destruction: black magic. The people of Amdapor felt this power was too great to be allowed to go unchecked, and so it was that white magic - the magic of healing and solace - was born. So it was that the forces of magic were brought into equilibrium, and civilization flourished.

But this era of peace and prosperity would prove short lived. War broke out, and the realm was thrown into chaos. The War of the Magi. To rain death and destruction on their foes, mages summoned forth greater and greater powers. The war raged on, until the aether dried, and the land itself could bear the burden no longer. So did the hubris of the magi bring forth the Sixth Umbral Era... and with it a mighty flood that swept away entire civilizations, leaving naught but ruin and suffering in its wake.

The survivors - what few there were - banded together. Vowing never again to repeat their mistake, white and black magic were declared forbidden arts, never to be practiced again. The Elementals of the forest, knowing that men could not be trusted to keep such vows, took action as well. The Twelveswood grew, swallowing the ruins of Amdapor, and the power of white magic was sealed away deep in the forest, far from the reach of mortals.

Ages passed, until five centuries ago, the Elementals at long last welcomed people back into the forest. So the nation of Gridania was founded, and my people - the Padjal - came into being, to serve as mediators between Elementals and those who would reside in their forest home. It is from the Elementals themselves that we inherited white magic."

-Raya-O-Senna

Quote:"White magic and conjury are close relations, the two are governed by the same laws. The former, however, places the utmost upon healing and protection and demands of its practitioners the greatest intimacy with the Elementals. On account of this, its use is granted only to those few who are deemed worthy. It is the sacred charge of the Padjal to ensure that the art survives, and in righteous hands."

-Raya-O-Senna

Quote:"Amdapor was not always thus afflicted. Indeed, the city once owed an age of prosperity to the benevolent art of white magic. But that was before the War of the Magi. It is told that the enemies of the Amdapori abandoned all caution in their pursuit of victory, and used their dark magicks to summon a king among demons. Though the mages of Amdapor eventually succeeded in imprisoning this fell creature, its recent resurgence speaks eloquently to the impermanence and unpredictability of arcane energies."

-E-Sumi-Yan

(05-10-2015, 08:41 PM)SayonaraRevival Wrote: 1. how is the practice of conjury different from the practices of succor (whether modern Padjali forms, or the old forms from Amdapor) exactly?

succor was forbidden because it was somehow misused (how, I wonder?) during the War of the Magi... so how is conjury different from white magic in its potential for misuse?

Firstly, the difference lies in the fact that Conjury and Succor are actually two distinctly different forms of magic. While governed by similar rules, Conjury was taught to Mankind by the Moogles of the Twelveswood in order to communicate with the Elementals, and Succor (White Magic) was gifted to Mankind by the Elementals in the time of Amdapor.

Conjurers, through meditation and communion with nature, borrow aether from their immediate environment and mold that aether into a physical manifestation of that nature. This communion with nature is what allows man to hear the Elementals - which are the spirits of nature. White Mages are given access to the Elementals Succor with the intention of healing the world and its denizens, man, animal, and plant. It draws directly from the Lifestream and is focused through the caster.

While it is never expressly stated in what way Succor was abused during the War of the Magi, we can assume that because the War took a great toll on Amdapor, the White Mages of the time period may have been forced to pervert the magic in order to keep up with the unlimited power of the Black Mages.

(05-10-2015, 08:41 PM)SayonaraRevival Wrote: 2. is conjury necessarily "weaker" than white magic?

I'd assume Padjal are generally much 'stronger' than the average Conjurer, and if so, is this because the elementals' gift of white magic, or is it an innate strength of white magic to have stronger healing potential?

The Padjal were a race birthed into Man by the Elementals themselves. The children are blessed with the succor, and it eventually alters their bodies as they age. These Padjal children are born Conjurers. It is possible to be a born Conjurer or Hearer and not be a Padjal child, just that Padjali children are born specifically for this purpose. So in a sense, yes, they are stronger.

Succor is the far more effective healing magic, as its sole purpose is to bring healing (succor) to Hydaelyn. Conjury, on the other hand, is not completely a healing magic. It is first and foremost a manipulation of nature - all of her aspects. While design changes made by the Battle Team in 1.20 that carried over into 2.0 have brushed the original lore deep under the rug, the Conjurers originally possessed a mastery over all six elements that composed the Elemental Wheel as described in Essences and Permutations - A Treatise of the Six Elements. Conjurers were capable of incredible destructive feats of elemental sorcery, including Flare, Tornado, Quake, Flood, Freeze, etc.

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However, this magic could also be used to heal, not just to destroy. And that's what a majority of Conjurers focused on, but the magic of the Moogles isn't focused on healing like Succor is.

(05-10-2015, 08:41 PM)SayonaraRevival Wrote: bonus: we see Y'shtola using something that to me resembles Holy in this ... but what is it?Â some fancy Sharlayan adaptation of Holy? or is it actually something else? does anyone even know the answer to that? is that more the territory of "headcanons"?

In short, we don't know for sure. There's been some... heated... speculation over the topic, but we're no closer to knowing beyond guesswork. We've known since the very first day of FFXIV Beta in 2010 that Y'shtola was an incredibly accomplished Conjurer. But we know very little about her background, as was made painfully evident by her parting words to Y'mhitra, her estranged sister in Gridania, who is also a Conjurer and student of the lost Allagan Summoning art.

Anyways, I hope this helps! ^^ Lemme know if you have more questions!

the practices of CNJ vs WHM?

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes