(06-11-2015, 09:51 PM)Scorpio Shirica Wrote: Tattoos aren't done with ink? I'm sure some alchemist could find an aetheric conductive metal based ink that won't poison those with the tattoo on them.
At this point it really depends on the writer and how much they want to bend their own plausibility, and what exactly they want to do with this magic tattoo. Shoot fireballs? Blinding flash of light? Most people probably won't care, but extra attention to detail never hurt anybody.
Real world tattoo inks do occasionally have metals in them such as cadmium or cobalt, depending on the colour that is desired. In FFXIV the metals that are conducive to the flow of aether are typically precious metals, so someone might be able to pick one of those materials or their alloys and make something not toxic, or at least reduce the harmful effects such that a magic tattoo has practical application. Only someone who's anally retentive on minor details like me would actually go to the trouble of finding out whether or not iridium-based tattoos are possible (they're not).
This is an interesting and totally doable concept, mind. I'm not saying it's not possible, quite the opposite in fact, I'm just contemplating the possible drawbacks and limits in such an idea.
EDIT: I believe Rochester posted a character spoiler or something about her character having access to large amounts of aether, in which case the ink not being conducive to aether flow wouldn't be a problem. Having metal-based inks would help amplify the spell but isn't necessary for the spell to work, the spell itself would simply have less power if you used an ordinary henna ink or something similar.
