(11-07-2015, 11:58 PM)LiadansWhisper Wrote:(11-07-2015, 11:45 PM)Teadrinker Wrote: Specifically the part about demonic possession: Nahabrahoohaa (screw his name) actually formed into another body while the other laid dead on the floor. This lead me to believe they can just...form flesh bodies. This might be an inaccurate assumption but I also don't remember it being expanded upon.
I think that's new, or it may be unique to extremely powerful Ascians. However, it does beg the question of, if it's possible to do this, why have they simply been riding other people around all these years? Because that's what they've been doing, according to the Scions. It's possible that there's a really bad side effect of simply reforming your body the way he does. That's the only explanation I can think of, since if it was something easy or preferable, I can't imagine why they wouldn't have been doing it all this time.
My best guess would be because of Hydaelyn's Seal. According to Nabriales, only a select few Ascians are able to pass at will into the Physical Plane. All instances we witness of Ascians possessing people (Travanchet, Thancred, etc) take place pre-Midgardsormr, while most instances of named Ascians (Nabriales, Igeyorhm, etc) appearing in places not overly saturated in freshly-shorn aether are post-Midgardsormr.
Nabriales Wrote:But what's this? I do not sense the blessing of light... Oh dear! Could it be that frail Hydaelyn has forgotten Her champion? This I did not forsee! Shorn of light as you are, you are no longer a threat. And better yet, the seal is broken.
Nabriales Wrote:The blessing of light kept you and your fellow meddlers safe. It was that which prevented my kind from entering your domain. My kind, I say, though it had no power over the likes of Elidibus and Lahabrea. Being of this world, they could come and go as they please, while I could only look on.
__________________________
(11-07-2015, 04:45 PM)Ciel Wrote:(11-07-2015, 04:23 PM)Teadrinker Wrote: Something this thread made me think about was the existence of fiends and pyrefly like creatures like in FF10.
I Would think that if a person's "essense" or "soul" if you will was able to stay in the physical realm and manifest it would be a very twisted remnant of what it once was. Some of this is implied in the main story but it's usually explained away with "voidsent".
It's somewhat canon for this to happen in XIV as it is. The ghost mobs (lost souls, etc) that look like floating blobs with wings are detached souls which haven't found their way back to the Lifestream, be it due to denial, bitterness at being dead, or whatever reason they might have. There are a few FATEs with lore blurbs around it as well.
Recently I've seen a bit circulating about how aether works, and how the soul and body both return to aether upon death, but there's part of this which leaves me confused, because we see in game that there are also zombies and magicked bones. Hell, there's even a cemetary at St. Adama Landama church in Eastern Thanalan. You even have quests where you retrieve and bury corpses, and neither zombies nor magicked bones would exist -without- those corpses. So there's a question of whether the physical body, when intact, might take a lot longer to break down into aether than the individual's recently released soul.
In regards to corpses and how they can become... well reanimated, I'll direct you to this lore post on necromancy, burials, and void possession. Essentially, as Ciel mentioned, if bodies are not properly prepared and buried/cremated after death, they can be possessed or reanimated by voidsent or lost souls who refuse to pass on into the afterlife.
As far as Eorzean belief goes, there is a difference between one's aether and one's soul! When a person dies, their aether is violently ripped from their physical body and washing the surrounding land or personal possessions with that aether until eventually it soaks through the earth and returns to the Lifestream. The soul, if properly prepared for the journey, passes on into Thal's Realm or the Seventh Hell, according to Eorzean belief. However, sometimes, for a variety of reasons, the soul may not pass on and can come to occupy an item dear to the deceased, like a spiritbond sword, memento, etc - which is how we get aetherial gear from dungeons and also how souls and experiences become locked into soul crystals.
In most cases, the soul cannot return to its aether-less corpse, and bound or tempered souls go on to become ghosts or revenants. There are cases of souls reanimating long-dead corpses however. And more common instances of voidsent such as succubi and mindflayers possessing corpses as that provides an easy entrance into our physical plane.
(11-07-2015, 05:25 PM)Merak Wrote: 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.
The Lifestream is, as Liadan said, an actual river of that courses through the planet on its way to Silvertear Lake. Lore on the Lifestream can be found at the following links:
-Lore on Voidsent, Lifestream, and Aether
-Lore on Aether, Lifestream, and Teleportation
Hope this helps! ^^
