(11-07-2015, 05:25 PM)Merak Wrote: About that last part: The way I see it, corpses in XIV follow the same pattern as corpses in real life. They 'return to the earth' through decomposition. I don't think its ever said that the bodies literally break down into raw energy, ever. But rather, 'return to the aether', as far bodies and other physical objects are concerned, could just be another way of saying they 'decompose'. After all the aether is energy that composes everything and everyone, including the earth, and a body breaking down to its smallest parts and being seeded into the earth the usual way is 'returning to the aether' just as much as it would be if it broke down into raw energy. I couple that thought with the thought of process in the opposite end of this spectrum: Conception of new life. I think we can safely assume that happens 'The usual way', and doesn't entail to Lifestream bombarding a woman's belly, forming a baby's body within her until it is done. So if a new person's body is composed the normal, biological way, then I'd say it's decomposed in the same manner.
All we know with 100% certainty (or, whatever passes for that when you remember that you are speaking to probably-biased, possibly-confused sources) is that the soul itself returns to the lifestream. The body returns to the land, but the soul itself is apparently composed of aether and it flows through ley lines in the earth to Silvertear Lake, where it passes into aetherius.
Quote:Likewise, the Lifestream, as far corpses are concerned, doesn't necessarily have to mean a flowing stream of energy. It could just as well refer to the cycle of life, being formed, living through its useful life and then breaking down.
As far as it is referred to in the game, it is, in fact, a river of aether made up of souls. It's referred to quite explicitly as such in the game.
Quote:Certain statements can't really have their meaning taken at face value because they're statements made by individuals who live in a different environment and society, with different concepts to ours, and that might lead us to describe the same process through different expressions.
While that is true, it also seems silly to try to hold a fantasy setting to the same standards that we hold the real world to. If a trusted NPC says, "This is a river of souls," then we have no reason to disbelieve them.
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