This whole overnight discussion has been an interesting example of people arguing emotionally rather than logically.
As has been mentioned, the Chosen Few are the Padjals. There's official word-of-god lore that the only non-Padjal White Mage is the Warrior of Light, for now. There may be other ways to channel succor, but they also phrase that method as being "nefarious."
Also, to wit: A White Mage is someone Chosen by the Elementals to wield Succor and protect the Shroud. If you steal Succor, you are not a White Mage. That would be like me stealing a cop's badge and gun and declaring myself a police officer. It doesn't really work that way (and the folks in charge will probably be pretty pissed!).
White Mages got a short straw for roleplay. Every other class is a one-of-many situations: Monks have a dedicated faction trying to rekindle the arts. Warrior is the same way. Paladins come in two flavors for RP: Sultansworn, which are glorified bodyguards, and Free Paladins, which are just acknowledged adventurers by Ul'dah trained in a specific fighting style/philosophy.
Black Magic is a forbidden art, but there are those who practice it. Summoning magic is difficult-but-not-impossible to rationalize due to the prevalence of Soulstones (the egis are a different story). Scholars are the same way: There's means to find Soulstones or the Fae of Nym. Dragoons are an entire arm of Ishgarian war effort, and while the Azure Dragoon is the creme de la creme, there's plenty of not-Azure Dragoons dragoons. Hell, there's a difference between Capital D Dragoon and dragoon, the latter just being someone Ishgard acknowledges has killed a dragon.
Ninja is slightly more difficult to explain for non-Doman roleplayers, but it's also practically a handwave for anyone from the doomed country. Did I forget anybody? Oh, Bards. That's even looser; I've never met anyone ICly claiming to be the Godsbow, just folks who sing songs (which isn't even really a Capital B Bard thing).
White Mages are Padjal. Have been since the fifth(?) Umbral Era. The only White Mages are the most exceptional ones, a race of higher beings created specifically by the Elementals (so they say) to protect the Shroud. Hundreds of years went by before a non-Padjal was permitted to become a White Mage. It's kind of a really big deal.
Again, nobody in this thread said NO, WHITE MAGES ARE WRONG, I WILL NOT ALLOW THEM THEY HAVE TO CHANGE. People, myself included, said that people are free to roleplay however they like, and as an audience we're allowed to parse what we want to keep in our own headcanons. That's sort of the definition of the middle ground. No one's saying they won't RP with a White Mage. No one's saying they'll retcon them from existing. We're just saying that, in light of keeping our own views and interpretations of the lore straight (just as White Mage roleplayers have kept their own interpretations!) people are permitted to nudge events into making sense for their world.
Full disclosure: If someone comes to the Grindstone claiming to be a White Mage and wanting to heal, I'm not going to deny them that experience. Just don't be upset if I remember you as a very talented Conjurer later on. Is that fair?
As has been mentioned, the Chosen Few are the Padjals. There's official word-of-god lore that the only non-Padjal White Mage is the Warrior of Light, for now. There may be other ways to channel succor, but they also phrase that method as being "nefarious."
Also, to wit: A White Mage is someone Chosen by the Elementals to wield Succor and protect the Shroud. If you steal Succor, you are not a White Mage. That would be like me stealing a cop's badge and gun and declaring myself a police officer. It doesn't really work that way (and the folks in charge will probably be pretty pissed!).
White Mages got a short straw for roleplay. Every other class is a one-of-many situations: Monks have a dedicated faction trying to rekindle the arts. Warrior is the same way. Paladins come in two flavors for RP: Sultansworn, which are glorified bodyguards, and Free Paladins, which are just acknowledged adventurers by Ul'dah trained in a specific fighting style/philosophy.
Black Magic is a forbidden art, but there are those who practice it. Summoning magic is difficult-but-not-impossible to rationalize due to the prevalence of Soulstones (the egis are a different story). Scholars are the same way: There's means to find Soulstones or the Fae of Nym. Dragoons are an entire arm of Ishgarian war effort, and while the Azure Dragoon is the creme de la creme, there's plenty of not-Azure Dragoons dragoons. Hell, there's a difference between Capital D Dragoon and dragoon, the latter just being someone Ishgard acknowledges has killed a dragon.
Ninja is slightly more difficult to explain for non-Doman roleplayers, but it's also practically a handwave for anyone from the doomed country. Did I forget anybody? Oh, Bards. That's even looser; I've never met anyone ICly claiming to be the Godsbow, just folks who sing songs (which isn't even really a Capital B Bard thing).
White Mages are Padjal. Have been since the fifth(?) Umbral Era. The only White Mages are the most exceptional ones, a race of higher beings created specifically by the Elementals (so they say) to protect the Shroud. Hundreds of years went by before a non-Padjal was permitted to become a White Mage. It's kind of a really big deal.
Again, nobody in this thread said NO, WHITE MAGES ARE WRONG, I WILL NOT ALLOW THEM THEY HAVE TO CHANGE. People, myself included, said that people are free to roleplay however they like, and as an audience we're allowed to parse what we want to keep in our own headcanons. That's sort of the definition of the middle ground. No one's saying they won't RP with a White Mage. No one's saying they'll retcon them from existing. We're just saying that, in light of keeping our own views and interpretations of the lore straight (just as White Mage roleplayers have kept their own interpretations!) people are permitted to nudge events into making sense for their world.
Full disclosure: If someone comes to the Grindstone claiming to be a White Mage and wanting to heal, I'm not going to deny them that experience. Just don't be upset if I remember you as a very talented Conjurer later on. Is that fair?
![[Image: yEROfKO.png]](http://i.imgur.com/yEROfKO.png)
