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Warren Castille · **10-22-2015, 09:41 PM**

If dying was required to create a soulstone, we can surmise something pretty important: A soulstone isn't required to become a job, otherwise there would never have been one in the first place.

I tend to also go with the materia-like option: Someone dedicated to learning their skills and practicing them with a sufficiently-receptive ornament leaves behind a sort of... Hm. How to put this...

It could work like a Bourne Identity thing: Your character just begins performing feats or stances or maneuvers that somehow seem ingrained, based on someone else's memories of having performed those same feats years prior.

Or, it works like a D&D skill bonus: Someone might have been able to Jump through rigorous training, but a Dragoon soul suddenly makes them pros at it.

Or it works like downloading new information, and you suddenly get access to new skills and mastery.

At the end of the day, we're really only shown one specific example of how soulstones work. The Warrior of Light's perspective: A gifted and blessed individual comes across a new stone having only barely set out in a given profession and endures specific circumstances to awaken new memories. We can't really do anything but make reasonably-safe assumptions as to the greater system.

Leggerless · **10-22-2015, 09:46 PM**

She... probably wouldn't care too much unless you were someone with a soulstone threatening her at the time.

I'd imagine an example IC dialogue would go something like this below:

Elise: "Oh, you got a soulstone?"

Rando: "Yes."

Elise: "Dragoon?"

Rando: "Yep."

Elise: "Alright then."

*Elise eats away on an apple tart for a moment before speaking again*

Elise: "Seriously though, I need that report by this eve. No excuses."

Caspar · **10-22-2015, 09:59 PM**

(10-22-2015, 09:13 PM)Nero Wrote:
(10-21-2015, 06:06 PM)Caspar Wrote: Yeah that's a good perspective, and it's changing my mind a bit on the soul gem. I prefer it that way. Perhaps the soul stone is like a Fate mage seal. It has the entire body of work a family has worked on in their many generations of occult resrarch, but it is up to the inheritor to learn how to utilize it, unless they're properly tutored.

This is pretty much how I view soulstones. They're sort of like personalized bicycles. Using someone else's soulstone requires relearning how to ride the bicycle from the ground up, even if you already know how to ride your own bicycle.

This..bicycle metaphor isn't really working, but you know.

Admittedly, I think some soulstones might function slightly differently.

The description suggests that they are sources of proficiency in some manner due to the presence of information and experiences from previous owners, but how that information is accessed might depend on the stone. In addition, they already mentioned the BLM stone acts as a safety device that protects you from self-immolation during really strong spells like Flare. So I bet that the stones, like the Mage Seal, work differently depending upon the tradition that created it. It could be a focus the user actually needs to handle to survive their new power like BLM or essentially a clean-slate database like the MCH one, which presumably, you are the originator this time and the knowledge will be passed down to later MCH who inherit it from WoL.

I guess then it's not impossible for the soulstone to do what Leanne mentioned and actually have its locked power somehow facilitate learning speed for the owner to "grease the gears" as it were.

But I don't know enough about the actual mechanics of every Job's soulstone to really say for sure.

**Unnamed Mercenary** · **10-22-2015, 10:39 PM**

(10-22-2015, 09:59 PM)Caspar Wrote:
(10-22-2015, 09:13 PM)Nero Wrote:
(10-21-2015, 06:06 PM)Caspar Wrote: Yeah that's a good perspective, and it's changing my mind a bit on the soul gem. I prefer it that way. Perhaps the soul stone is like a Fate mage seal. It has the entire body of work a family has worked on in their many generations of occult resrarch, but it is up to the inheritor to learn how to utilize it, unless they're properly tutored.

This is pretty much how I view soulstones. They're sort of like personalized bicycles. Using someone else's soulstone requires relearning how to ride the bicycle from the ground up, even if you already know how to ride your own bicycle.

This..bicycle metaphor isn't really working, but you know.
Admittedly, I think some soulstones might function slightly differently.

The description suggests that they are sources of proficiency in some manner due to the presence of information and experiences from previous owners, but how that information is accessed might depend on the stone. In addition, they already mentioned the BLM stone acts as a safety device that protects you from self-immolation during really strong spells like Flare. So I bet that the stones, like the Mage Seal, work differently depending upon the tradition that created it. It could be a focus the user actually needs to handle to survive their new power like BLM or essentially a clean-slate database like the MCH one, which presumably, you are the originator this time and the knowledge will be passed down to later MCH who inherit it from WoL.

I guess then it's not impossible for the soulstone to do what Leanne mentioned and actually have its locked power somehow facilitate learning speed for the owner to "grease the gears" as it were.

But I don't know enough about the actual mechanics of every Job's soulstone to really say for sure.

If we go further with Nero's bike example, maybe it's something like this.

I know how to ride a bike!

*gets a soul crystal*

I can ride a bike with one hand now!

*practices some more*

NO HANDS!

SicketySix · **10-23-2015, 08:38 AM**

(10-22-2015, 09:41 PM)Warren Castille Wrote: If dying was required to create a soulstone, we can surmise something pretty important: A soulstone isn't required to become a job, otherwise there would never have been one in the first place.

I tend to also go with the materia-like option: Someone dedicated to learning their skills and practicing them with a sufficiently-receptive ornament leaves behind a sort of... Hm. How to put this...

It could work like a Bourne Identity thing: Your character just begins performing feats or stances or maneuvers that somehow seem ingrained, based on someone else's memories of having performed those same feats years prior.

Or, it works like a D&D skill bonus: Someone might have been able to Jump through rigorous training, but a Dragoon soul suddenly makes them pros at it.

Or it works like downloading new information, and you suddenly get access to new skills and mastery.

At the end of the day, we're really only shown one specific example of how soulstones work. The Warrior of Light's perspective: A gifted and blessed individual comes across a new stone having only barely set out in a given profession and endures specific circumstances to awaken new memories. We can't really do anything but make reasonably-safe assumptions as to the greater system.

I always just figured them to operate like the cyber chip in the tv series "Chuck". I chip somehow becomes implanted in his head and all of a sudden he's able to do all this cool spy stuff, but still requires some training.

Rufus Wightman · **11-05-2015, 04:54 PM**

I'm still not 100% sure how to treat soul crystals. As I pointed out in one of the DRK threads, and something I'm sure we can ALLÂ agree on, is how vague and non-specific the lore on Soul Crystals are. They had to be made somehow, right? But how is it someone managed to craft a crystalline - presumably - hunk of aether in such a way that it became able to give the one it's bonded to additional strength and abilities? I can't really say.

In my case, being a DRK, I thought it would be poignant to imagine the Soul Crystal as the coalescence of negative emotions, brought to the fore after being touched by darkness. It seemed fitting, I suppose. And perhaps a little -more- out there, I like to imagine when they call it a "soul" crystal, they literally mean that the crystal can be infused with the wielder's soul, taking residence inside their form, but can be removed at will.

That's just how I do it, anyway. Not to discourage anyone else, of course!

Susanna83 · **07-17-2016, 01:09 AM**

Well as I see the lore on soul stones, and seeing they are in the lore of many quests, Soulstone are a mean for the warrior of light to access abilities and memories of said job. For a normal person they would have to train in said martial progress. IN each of the stories and quests none but the warrior of light are able to truly unlock its secrets quicker then anyone else. For example in the paladin quest, when the stone only shines with you around. That does not mean you cannot be a job, because you can you have to find your way to learn such abilities. Plus like someone else said earlier on this post it is the way the warrior of light can access the other said abilities as a mechanic. In addition it can also be the power of the echo that allows you to access the abilities, a good example being that the warrior of dark have jobs assign to them. So lore wise it is the warrior of light that has the right to use the soul stones, but that does not mean a player cant be a job thru training. A good example of this is the elementals and thamaturges guarding there secrets. Nothing in lore says you cant be a job. If that was the case then there would have never been any of those in the first place.

Cynel1 · **07-17-2016, 09:06 AM**

i don't know why but i treated my PLD Soulstone as a possession that Cyn's Late foster father had once.

Kaniko Niko · **07-17-2016, 02:04 PM**

Since this thread was resurrected by someone that wasn't me for once, I'll chime in!

It seems to me like the concept of a soulstone would work much better if it wasn't just a generic crystal. Cases in point would be the Gem of Shattoto and the machinst's aetherotransformer. The Black Mage quest line shows that when one pushes thaumaturgy too far, the flow of aether in and out of the body will burn you, but there are specific means of filtering that aether in a safe mannerâ€”the/a Gem of Shattoto, a heat sink in essence. Most of the Goldsmith Guild's early quests were about using materials and gems to act as aether conduits for the thaumaturges. It's all worked into the lore of the game how this artifact would work. In the instance of the MCH's soulstone, it's implied that the 'core' of the aetherotransformerâ€”specifically how the device pulls lightning-aspect aether from your body to power your skills, is the soulstone itself. Which also makes sense because it's literally letting your essence pass through it. Spiritbinding taken to the logical conclusion.

Same goes with the Crafting Plaques. They're a physical representation of one's skill and notoriety in a field and can very well collect a certain 'essence' over time.

The problem comes in instances like Paladin. Where it was essentially: "Hey kid. Wanna be a fighter for truth and justice? Take this rock."

Ritsu · **07-18-2016, 04:09 PM**

Personally, I do not use them for IC purposes. My main is an archer with a hidden talent, which most do not know of unless they are very close to her. Talent..would also be the wrong word to use. XDÂ

Another character is just a lancer, another uses a gun. One is completely civilian. Suppose the only tricky one is Chidori.

As for others. I am not going to rain on someones RP parade. More than likely I would try to steer away from that topic if it came up as I am usually not sure how to IC'ly take it more than Ritsu beingÂ like "Ah, that is lovely." If I was ever going to RP having one myself, I would prob keep it a close guarded thing. Only people close to her would know about it.

Miah Gamduhla · **07-18-2016, 05:28 PM**

To me, soul stones are a shortcut to mastery and are not required (in most cases). Like... there is the normal, real-life way of learning and then there's the soul stone way where you learn at a much quicker rate (maybe like having a grand-master tutoring you every waking hour of the day?). Those are my thoughts on it anyway.

I've considered having the MCH soul stone ICly because of its nature - its a new job and the stone itself isn't inscribed yet (according to the items text), but even though I main MCH, I haven't really put much attention on it in RP so I might just ignore it for now. Before HW, I mained BRD, but Miah was just an archer as far as RP went. I don't play BLM at all... so I don't have to deal with that mess.

S'imba · **07-21-2016, 09:47 AM**

Too me it would be harder to explain the lack of a soulstone if claiming to be able to do a job than how one actually came to get it.

Even if you had a teacher to teach a student it would still mean having a soul stone. It's a secure way to record a person's life's work. Then as it gets passed down more and more people add to that knowledge.Â

Some of the jobs that have more restricted knowledge or just lost knowledge would be needed to. It seems pretty unlikely a person can go and casually find a book titled being a dark knight for dummies.Â

I would say not having one severely gimpy a person. Rather than having access to exactly how a person originally spent a lifetime developing a basic fundamental of a job, the practitioner would have to do all that same work themselves.Â

Kinda the reason why I thought all paladins had a soul stone.

Warren Castille · **07-21-2016, 10:12 AM**

One of the ways I tried to analagonize (that's not a word) how they work:

Have you ever been playing a new fighting game, but tried to input attacks from previous ones? And it works? You're a first-time player suddenly throwing out fireballs and canceling supers in an entirely brand-new situation. It's instinct, yeah, but you shouldn't have it by technicality.

Soulstones, in my headcanon, are just enhancements on those kinds of reflexes. Someone using one just gets the gut feeling of how to throw that one-two-kick combination, or how to brandish a spear to inflict painful, bleeding wounds, or how to manipulate aether to make their spells do specific things. Stuff you have no real training or experience in, but the powerful hunch in your stomach of what should come next.

Shofie · **07-25-2016, 07:45 PM**

I don't actually know! I've never encountered anyone who used one, and my character and the people she associates with don't use them, so I imagine she would find them quite odd if she ever saw one.

OOC, there's reasons some people would have them for sure (i.e. Astrologians, Machinists would almost assuredly have them), but I'm not entirely sure how much soulstones really come up in the average roleplay encounter or how relevant they really are most of the time.

Valence · **07-26-2016, 03:26 AM**

Even for 'machinists', MCH is just a job like any other. You can perfectly be a gunslinger without being a machinist, much like you can be an archer without being a bard and whatnot...

I mean, people with flintlocks in Eorzea are probably far more numerous and don't use aetherotransformers and the associated soulstone, which are the mark of the MCH.

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How do you treat soul stones ICly?

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes