(09-08-2013, 10:12 AM)Naunet Wrote:(09-08-2013, 12:01 AM)LiadansWhisper Wrote:
With that in mind, you'd have to have convinced one of them that you were worthy (which would seem to be no small task), and then hidden the fact that you were a completely selfish, self-serving person during the training itself. Â And then if you were to succeed in all of that, you'd still have to consider that the Padjal would be unlikely to be okay with you running around abusing your power. Â It's highly likely they'd send someone (or multiple someones) to prevent you from further abusing it.
So while I'm not saying that it's impossible by any means, I think that for it to be believable, you'd have to take the consequences of such a situation into account, as well.
Honestly, I think this is just far too restrictive to be taken at face value. All of us can become White Mages OOC if we wanted. Simply by nature of it being an available class/job, there absolutely needs to be a way for one's character to be ICly said job without skirting the line of the "Chosen One" story. The Padjal can't possibly personally train all of the potential White Mages out there; it's absolutely unrealistic. So acknowledging that, there needs to be some give in how one becomes a White Mage.
Anyone can potentially be a White Mage, and apparently this has been the case for centuries, but no non-Padjal has been one in all of that time. Â *shrugs* Â The White Mage questline is why I ultimately decided not to RP my character as a White Mage. Â It would seem to beggar belief that there would suddenly be hundreds of non-Padjal White Mages when just getting yourself accepted was an epic effort in and of itself. Â
You're free to feel it's restrictive. Â I personally wish that they'd gone about the questline another way, because I also see it as a mite restrictive. Â But it's the Lore they've gone with. Â *shrug*
(09-08-2013, 10:22 AM)Jove Wrote:(09-08-2013, 09:48 AM)Siobhain Wrote: And I'm not sure what they did. Like I said, I'm thinking immortality. The only other thing I could imagine doing with White Magic is necromancy but I haven't seen any such thing relating to that so I doubt it even exists. I also imagine torturing people to death and rezzing them over and over again until they forfeit. That's a way to abuse dem White Mage powers!
It's interesting that you mention Necromancy, because you're right I haven't seen it mentioned any where either, but you only have to go to the Deepcroft to see the undead shambling about.
Restless spirits, trapped in a corporeal form maybe, but it seems likely they were raised by Cthulhu's son and his cultists, which makes me wonder if corrupted white magic was used to raise these dead. After all, healers can use the raise spell on the almost dead, so what happens if a particularly powerful mage forces it on the long dead?
Is it possible that white magic becomes corrupted when used for unnatural purposes? I could easily see the corrupted white mages of old drawing on the aether to extend their physical life, or to bring loved ones back from the dead, like you say.
(Torture is also a good suggestion! Fling a man with Aero, break his bones every time he's smashed against the wall while slinging cures at him. Gruesome)
Raya-O-Senna tells you that Succor (White Magic) is every bit as destructive as Black Magic when it's misused.
However, I don't think it has anything to do with Necromancy or raising the long dead. Â There's nothing about the spell Raise or the lore surrounding it (via the Conjurer questline) to suggest that it's more than something that brings you back from the brink of death. Â I honestly don't believe that it would work on something that was actually dead.
E-Sumi-Yan tells you that Conjurers draw upon the power of the elements and nature for their abilities. Â Apparently Conjurers access a part of Succor, but are restricted by the Elementals. Â White Mages can access the full power of Succor.
E-Sumi also tells you that the power Conjurers draw upon cannot be taken, only borrowed, and must be returned. Â Others have speculated (in other threads) that the power the Conjurers are drawing from is the Aether streams, though they know it by another name. Â If we follow that line of speculation, then White Mages would be drawing even harder on that same power source.
Now imagine if hundreds, or even thousands, of White Mages were drawing on the Aether streams of the world at a rate never before seen. Â We know that when Aether is stripped from an area, it becomes barren, because the Aether is a lifeforce not unlike Mako in FFVII. Â So to me, the most likely explanation for "how did White Mages almost destroy the world by misusing their power" is that they drew so hard on the Aether streams with their abilities that they nearly drained those Aether streams.
(09-08-2013, 10:40 AM)FreelanceWizard Wrote: To the OP's question, as long as you have a lore-friendly, plausible explanation for why your character was able to progress sufficiently as a Conjurer and learn the Art of White Magic, you're good. Maybe your character's an excellent liar. Maybe he was trained by someone else with less scruples than the Padjal. Maybe the stress of constant battle makes him ultimately cynical and self-serving ("All this pressure and what do I get? Nothing? Godsdamn that!").
Definitely wasn't trying to suggest that it was impossible. Â I don't think it's a bad idea, necessarily. Â I just think that it would be more believable if consequences were factored in, and I personally find it much better for RP when I completely think about the factors affecting my character. Â Having set down, if only in my mind, the steps that led to my character being where she is currently helps me immensely in portraying her.
Quote:And corrupted white magic? Oh, there's all sorts of things. Torture is the most obvious application, but you could also harm the environment to your own benefit, overuse magic (a city where no one ever dies or gets injured), manipulate minds, abuse the elements... the possibilities are endless. I'd suggest reading through a bit of the Exalted information on their First Age; First Age Solars had both significant magical power and unbridled hubris, and they're a great example of how even seemingly "nice" powers can be bent to oligarchic, abusive evil.
Was not really talking about that. Â I've also read quite a bit about the Exalted - used to play the game! Â Kinda miss my character. Â D: Â But that wasn't really where I was going with the mention of "corrupted white mage."
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