(10-10-2015, 04:31 PM)Masaki Moui Wrote: According to Kan-E-Senna, elementals can see into your emotions and know your heart, are sensitive to Woodsin created not just within the Shroud but beyond it as well. Â White Mage players are well-aware that A-Towa-Cant went on pilgrimages to cleanse taints beyond the Shroud because the Shroud is not an isolated bubble immune to the chaos of the external world. Â Taints from without make their way in to the Shroud through sources such as shared groundwater and I believe it would be the same with people entering the Shroud too. Â You see that in 1.0 with Yda, Papalymo and the adventurer entering the Shroud for the first time. (However the Shroud's also changed since the Calamity and I address that below.)
Having watched the cutscenes (I didn't get a chance to play in 1.0, either), I was under the impression that the woodsin that Yda, Papalymo, and the adventurer entering the Shroud accrued was actually from Yda and Papalymo, who got it because their airship crashed (iirc), and the adventurer just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and got "splashed" with it. Â Sucks to be him. Â The "woodsin" was literally trees and such being damaged by them crashing into them - it wasn't an "outside taint" that caused it, unless by "outside taint" you mean "bigass airship."
Quote:Quotes from the Lore seem to demonstrate this to me.  Including: Zezekuta Wrote: "—they were among Gridania's finest warriors. They all fought nobly against the Garleans occupying Ala Mhigo. A necessary evil, I suppose. Yet all that violence doubtless served to compound their woodsin." And Miounne wrote: "From childhood, we forestborn are taught that bringing woodsin into the city brings the greenwrath upon everyone in it. There is no greater danger in all the wood."
Well, yes. Â There's a reason Gridania is pacifistic by nature, and their military all - to the last man - wear masks to absorb woodsin. Â Given the history of the War of the Magi, this is not surprising.
Quote:Around level 25 MSQ, we see people being turned away in Quarrymill (considered the judging grounds for immigrants who want to live in the forest) probably based on the fact that their hearts are too steeped in violence, much like the quote from Zezekuta above. Â If you observe the emotional resonance of Meffrid vs. Albreda and take into account what Kan-E-Senna said about the elementals judging people by the state of their hearts, you can see the implicit connection. Â Albreda's heart is pretty calm; Â Meffrid is emotionally volatile. Â Albreda was allowed to live in Quarrymill; Meffrid is turned away. Â Even though Meffrid may have fought valiantly in the Resistance, my theory is that there's something about that violent experience that the elementals have deemed too dangerous to allow in the forest.
The thing is...that Hearer is...problematic. Â She clearly has the typical issues that Gridanians have with outsiders, and at one point she is ordering players to go destroy artifacts from Gelmorra, ostensibly because some Duskwight archaeologists are in town looking them over. Â The reason this stands out is that there are other areas in the Shroud with above-ground ruins from the time of Gelmorra, and you're never sent to go destroy them. Â There's a lot of speculation as to her motives, so while yes, she may very well be relaying the absolute truth ("Look, Meffrid is a few bricks shy of a full load and the elementals can't deal with his bullshit, but Albreda is okay because her PTSD is controlled"), she may also be letting her own personal prejudices guide her judgement. Â When people talk about the possibility of "corrupt Hearers," she is one of the very first ones people point to.
Quote:However similar some of this is to a sentient dragon wishing to enter, I would imagine that the elementals have a very different concern with the nigh immortal and highly aetherically charged Dravanians because they are not common mortals who have short lifespans while running amok in the forest. Â I think it would also depend on how long the dragon wishes to stay.
Of all the creatures who might understand immortal beings that don't entirely exist in this reality, don't you think dragons might be the most likely to be able to do so? Â They, too, are immortal. Â They, too, have worked for the good of the planet as a whole (Midgardsormir has some connection with Hydaelyn that hasn't been fully explained yet, but it's definitely there). Â And they, too, have suffered greatly at the hands of outsiders. Â They also, so far as we are aware, have no ill-will towards the elementals.
Quote:There's one more topic of interest here and that's the continuing White Mage story through Coerthas from level 50 to 60. Â It's really important to know and just in case people don't want to see a spoiler about job quests, I'll put it behind a spoiler tag:
Quote:It also shows that something can happen well beyond Gridania that brings on the Woodsin without ever being inside the forest. Â I only present all this stuff as enjoyable lore tidbits for the OP to build story with and I hope it's helpful and gets some fun ideas stirring.
As far as I know, you can only accrue woodsin while you're in the Shroud. Â Things you do outside of the Shroud don't matter, and the Elementals aren't going to punish you for them (if they even know about it - since woodsin requires them to know who the hell you are and what you did). Â Woodsin and the "taint" referred to during the 50-60 questline are not the same thing. Â "Woodsin" you pissing the elementals off, a spiritual "coating," if you will, that will drive the creatures of the forest mad. Â The "taint" from the WHM questline is like an actual corruption of aether that's travelling through ley lines (and yes, underground streams of water) towards the Shroud. Â Even after completing the questline, though, I'm still not sure that the "taint" A-Towa-Cant made pilgrimages outside of the Shroud to deal with is the same "taint" that you deal with in the WHM story.
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