Yeah... I think spell-focusses [i.e. sceptres/canes] are a highly intrinsic part of casting CNJ/THM magic. That and cast time.
Spoiler tags because I'm rambling and I don't have sources on hand for any of this, but it all fits in with what I know/remember of NPC statements and lore occurrences.
Spoiler tags because I'm rambling and I don't have sources on hand for any of this, but it all fits in with what I know/remember of NPC statements and lore occurrences.
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SpoilerI think that because chakra are mostly about enhancing your own strength, there's little to no transmutation required. That, or it's unaspected magic (like, but not, Ruin). Which means you don't need to spend time filling a spell-focus with aether, or transmuting that aether into something like fire. You're just shunting aether around your own body to enhance it, or expelling it as-is with intent to harm. Right?
Either way, with no spell focus and no cast time, the effect you'd produce in trying to (again using as an example) make a fireball projectile would be very weak, if noticeable at all; since, with no vessel to hold the aether as you siphon it off, you'd be having to transmute it in real-time as it left your hand.
Like...
Casting a fireball with a spell focus and cast time =
Casting a fireball without either =
The same metaphor applies for healing energies (unless your character has a rare gift in that specific department - again see CNJ storyline) and earth/water/air/ice/lightning projectiles.
And that's assuming it's even safe to cast such things without a spell-focus. Like I said before, I think it's likely that there's always a risk with trying to transmute aether that isn't somehow tangibly separated from you (for example, by placing it into a spell focus). Like, "you might accidentally transmute some of your own soul and blow yourself up" dangerous.
...in fact, I'm pretty sure that's the mechanism by which the posthumous character in the CNJ storyline - who had aforementioned healing gift - died. Albiet not by blowing herself up. Probably.
And note I said CNJ/THM and not WHM/BLM. White Magic and Black Magic are both highly restricted, highly illegal forms of magic that require the prospective user to go through certain channels to obtain the knowledge/soul-crystals that make them possible/safe.
Using black magic without a soul-crystal means you burn yourself alive from the inside. (Possibly because you're transmuting aether before it leaves you? I didn't get that far in the BLM chain yet.)
Using white magic without the permission and tutelage of a Padjal means you're making yourself a huge target for all sorts of nasty forest business.
Either way, with no spell focus and no cast time, the effect you'd produce in trying to (again using as an example) make a fireball projectile would be very weak, if noticeable at all; since, with no vessel to hold the aether as you siphon it off, you'd be having to transmute it in real-time as it left your hand.
Like...
Casting a fireball with a spell focus and cast time =
- filling a bucket of water [siphoning aether into the spell focus],
- heating it up until it's boiling [transmuting it into fire-aspected aether],
- and then throwing it over their head [throwing your projectile fireball].
Casting a fireball without either =
- flicking lukewarm water in their general direction.
The same metaphor applies for healing energies (unless your character has a rare gift in that specific department - again see CNJ storyline) and earth/water/air/ice/lightning projectiles.
And that's assuming it's even safe to cast such things without a spell-focus. Like I said before, I think it's likely that there's always a risk with trying to transmute aether that isn't somehow tangibly separated from you (for example, by placing it into a spell focus). Like, "you might accidentally transmute some of your own soul and blow yourself up" dangerous.
...in fact, I'm pretty sure that's the mechanism by which the posthumous character in the CNJ storyline - who had aforementioned healing gift - died. Albiet not by blowing herself up. Probably.
And note I said CNJ/THM and not WHM/BLM. White Magic and Black Magic are both highly restricted, highly illegal forms of magic that require the prospective user to go through certain channels to obtain the knowledge/soul-crystals that make them possible/safe.
Using black magic without a soul-crystal means you burn yourself alive from the inside. (Possibly because you're transmuting aether before it leaves you? I didn't get that far in the BLM chain yet.)
Using white magic without the permission and tutelage of a Padjal means you're making yourself a huge target for all sorts of nasty forest business.
![[Image: tUzrT.png]](https://puu.sh/tUzrT.png)
