TinyRedLeaf

Most of the questions have already been tackled, so I thought you might find a few more details useful for fleshing out your character's background. Y'mhitra, the summoner trainer, specifically asked for someone with a background in arcanima (and requisite experience in defeating a primal) because of the discipline's affinity with summoning. Arcanima is essentially the "science" of manipulating the aether of objects through arcane geometry. The "summoning" of carbuncles is the most vivid example of arcanima in practice, but the discipline works in other ways too. Arcane geometry can, for example, be used to trigger aetherochemical reactions within objects, causing debilitating, entropic effects that are likened to "diseases" (bio, miasma, etc). (Later in the main quest line, especially in the post-Heavensward story, you'll encounter other uses of arcanima, like the creation of powerful magic barriers.) Arcanima can also create "dams" within an individual's life force, allowing an arcanist to hold a portion of his aether in reserve, and then release it in an explosive burst (ie, aetherdam, aetherflow). And while it has never been explicitly stated in the game's lore, I've long believed that an arcanist's aetherdam ability was essential to the revival of Allagan summoning. That's because, unlike arcane summoning, Allagan summoning requires the summoner to power the egi with his own aetheric life force (and this in turn explains why the summoning of more powerful egi is impossible; no mortal summoner has enough life force to do so). It should be further noted that Allagan summoning, in its current form in the Seventh Astral Era, is still very much a work-in-progress. It's not entirely clear that the original Allagan summoners used "disease"-related spells the way the modern arcanist-summoner does, for example. You could think of the current summoner template as one in which your "arcanist researchers" filled the archeological gaps with modern arcanima. By-the-by, it appears that arcanima, like astromancy, is very much a niche discipline. Most magic-users in Eorzea appear to practise either conjury or thaumaturgy. The branch of arcanima practised in Limsa Lominsa is said to have originated from the inhabitants of the southern islands (and I like to imagine that it may have evolved from the mathematical calculations for sea navigation). The Sharlayans appear to be the only other major practitioners of arcanima, with major NPCs like Alphinaud, Alisaie and Urianger being arcanists in the Sharlayan tradition. Hope you find the above useful.

Lyland is from one of the islands of the Ciedalaes.

Thanks for making this topic. I don't often make drastic departures from the main storyline, but I do bend quite a lot of plot points to suit how I imagine my character, Lyland Battersea, to be growing within the official lore. He started out as an arcanist, but is now a summoner, the only one of his kind in Eorzea at this point in the story. As for how I go about doing this, it mainly depends on two things: 1) My personal reflections on the key themes, as presented by Square-Enix. 2) How I believe Lyland would react to key developments, based on his own beliefs and values, as I imagined them. My character is a part of me, no doubt, inspired by my personal experiences, but he does also have a "life" of his own. And his "thoughts" may not always be the same as my own. To fill in the details that are essentially left open to interpretation. As someone else pointed out, there are a great many things that are left open to us within the main storyline, and there's where our imaginations are free to run wild. Our characters' backstories, for example, as left to us to fill out. And to make these back-stories fit, it's sometimes necessary to finesse some of the details. To me, it's more important to get the "feel" right, rather than to stick pedantically to the official story. In other words, I'll do whatever it takes to make my character "work", without breaking the official story. It'll be a huge list, haha! I'll keep it to a couple of examples. (1) Lyland is from the Ciedalaes. It's not entirely clear whether the Ciedalaes is a part of Limsa Lominsa. Canonically, the Lominsan Navy does have a squadron named after the Ciedalaes, and this suggests the archipelago may be under the thalassocracy's rule. But there's very little in the story itself to corroborate this. The Ciedalaes are usually mentioned in a very off-hand manner that doesn't seem to suggest Lominsan sovereignty over the islands. Rather, the archipelago seems to be under very loose control, and appears to be the hideout for various pirate gangs. So, I imagine the Ciedalaes to be under Lominsan "protection" instead. It lies within Limsa Lominsa's sphere of control, but isn't actually under direct rule. And this allows me to explain how Lyland is a foreigner, despite being fairly familiar with Lominsan culture. (2) I've largely departed from the Anima weapon questline as it's presented within the game. There's too much background to go through. In short, though, the quest to build Lyland's Draconomicon is not driven by Ardashir, but rather by Lyland himself. Lyland has come to a point where he realised that he needed a better way to control the chaotic primal essences that now reside within his aether, and Ardashir's quest to create an artificial soul provided the means to achieve this. The anima (which Lyland has named Saravasna) currently acts as a counter-balance to the roiling primal aether within that was coming close to overwhelming him, especially after he learnt to tap Bahamut's power through the Dreadwyrm trance. More pertinently, Saravasna is essentially a "filter" that's helping to reduce the primal taint on his soul, allowing him to stay in control of his growing power without being consumed by it. It pleases me that, despite this major deviation, there are elements in the official Anima weapon storyline that dovetail nicely with my own interpretation of events. Take for example, the latest revelation that the anima is sustaining itself on its user's aether. Well, that's basically what Saravasna is doing as well. And if later developments in the canon were to throw up some kinks, I guess I'll have to manage by making further bends along the way.

Like others in this thread, I spend a lot of time crafting names for my RPG characters, and their names are typically linked to their backstories. Before I started playing, way back in version 1.0, I decided that my character would begin in Limsa Lominsa. Based on what little I knew of the city-state, I imagined it to be a fantasy version of early modern England, a society that was on the cusp of industrialisation. So, the surname "Battersea" came very easily: It's the name of a famous power station in London. I chose it because of its literal reference to the sea, and for its historial association with industrialisation. After that, it was a matter of coming up with a first name that would go well with Battersea. I eventually settled on "Lyland" (pronounced: lee-learn'd). The second syllable "-land" juxtaposed nicely with the "-sea" in Battersea. More importantly, Lyland was inspired by an actual place name, Leyland, a location closely associated with early industrial England. =========== As for the names of Lyland's retainers: C'lafhina Tykha: Her name follows the naming convention for Sunseeker miqo'te, ie, Lafhina of the coeurl tribe, daughter of C'tykha Nunh. Her first name in full is pronounced as Kalafina. Yes, she's named after a Japanese vocal group, best known for performing the songs of Kara no Kyoukai. Kazaori: An au ra of the Raen clan, a kunoichi dispatched to Lyland's service by Yugiri. Her name is a rare, but actual professional name once used by Japanese courtesans (oiran). It means "bending in the wind (風折)". I haven't settled on her "second" name yet, but I've toyed with a number associated with "wind". Suggestions are welcome. There's also Ahtynswys Denkyrdaegwyn (the "Sister who Judges", daughter of "Thinking Soldier", later known as Elildaeg, "Exiled Soldier"). She was Lyland's arcanist mentor, who died a year after the Calamity.