(10-28-2013, 09:10 PM)LiadansWhisper Wrote:(10-28-2013, 08:59 PM)Leomoon Wrote: Black mages are never really had bad guys, they just wield a destructive power as appose to White magic where its more of a healing force. One FF I am playing though IV on the DS has them all in a study group. I am not huge on XIV's lore or anything but as I see it, they would just be another school of magic much like in Elder scrolls, yes there are bad magics but we as players can pick if we want to take them or not.
You can't really take into account other games when speaking about XIV and the lore. Â There are some changes.
Black Magic is destructive, but so is White Magic (according to the White Mage quest). Â And as Olo pointed out, both draw from the Aether of the world (the literal life force). Â At one point, the conflict between Black and White Mages nearly destroyed the world (and ushered in an Umbral Age). Â White Mages are much, much more restricted now, with Conjurers themselves being restricted as to which parts of Succor (the White Magic) they can access by the Elementals. Â But Ul'dah is home to the Thaumaturge guild, which are basically less-powerful Black Mages from what I've seen. Â And as Olo also pointed out, some of the issues with Thalnalan's environment may be tied to this fact.
It also isn't a question of whether the magic is actually evil, but how it is perceived by other people. Â And given the destructive power inherent in Black Magic, it could very well be perceived as evil by those not intimately familiar with the the art.
To expand on Liadans point about Thaumaturgy in Ul'dah
The home of the Black Mage tutor (or at least his go between) in 1.0 the Sacrarium, has been closed as of 2.0 (perhaps some calamity?) and during the 1.0 quest line, the guild receptionist is extremely skeptical of any claims to the lost gem of Shantotto. She is surprised by Lalais appearance let alone the master who comes to teach you, being that he has escaped from a deep jail for a heinous crime.
As further evidence of their taboo nature, even the beast tribe representatives who teach you the art are shunned and in one case exiled from their homelands for the practice.
To touch on the idea of "lobbing fireballs" Thaumaturgy is the art of manipulating ones own Aether, which has set limits, any one with enough talent can perfect Fire, Frost or Thunder. That is the Danger of the Blackmage, it is checked by no inherent limitation, its power (like White Mages) is subject to the whims of the user.
