(08-07-2017, 03:19 PM)Valic Wrote: It just sounds like there's everything to do with manipulating aether both elementally and it's polarities, but not a true definition of where it's based from. How or what defines the changing in polarities, or rather what are the polarities themselves(not the properties of active vs passive, but the polarities themselves known as astral and umbral)?
(08-07-2017, 03:19 PM)Valic Wrote: Again, those are just my thoughts because it sounds so abstract with the game not properly explaining everything to the point by now.
I feel as though I'm failing to understand what it is you're asking for at this point. I'm not even sure what the bolded mean? I'm not sure what you're expecting of the game's lore, beyond a lore book dedicated solely to the intricacies of aether that have very little conscious bearing upon the everyday lives of Eorzeans. These are "scientific" theories of magick that are. One does not need to understand them to live their lives, just as I don't need to know how the atoms within my body interact for me to accept that science and people smarter than me have proven they are there - even if they themselves might not yet fully 100% understand every purpose they serve in the world.
A polarity is defined as "the state of having two opposite or contradictory tendencies, opinions, or aspects." Good vs evil, light vs dark, astral vs umbral, what is above the earth versus what lies beneath it, etc.
Everything is aether.
All aether is made up of six elements of varying strengths, weaknesses, conquers, and submissions.
All elements are polarized between astral and umbral poles or states, activity and passivity, kinetic vs potential.
Some elements are more naturally aspected towards one polarity than the other.
The manipulation of any of these elemental or polar aspects is called magic.
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(08-07-2017, 03:19 PM)Valic Wrote: Where exactly the "depths below" or the "heavens above" are.
It's best not to think of these as literal locations. We're dealing in abstractions of an ancient people's understanding of how the world works. It could be as simple as above the firmament versus the earth below. It could not be that at all. The most simplest understanding of the astral heavens is the the top of the elemental wheel versus the umbral depths being the bottom of the elemental wheel. An abstraction of a polar north versus a polar south as the six elements of the wheel spin 'round and 'round.
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(08-07-2017, 03:19 PM)Valic Wrote: As far as I figured, I thought the polarities were based on either the personal reserves of a user determining them to be one way or the other.... OR depending on where you are (based on what/where? I still have no idea) would affect the continuity of your spell.... Such as casting in a hot/dry place would only strengthen the fire aether to be more "active" (kinda like burning dry grass leading to wildfires). Whereas casting perhaps in the cold, it would be less active/astral but more umbral/passive to create a dryness and heat to that of melting snow/ice(not that it would be weaker than the active idea of astrally aligned aether, but the fact it's effect of the spell "Fire I" would change due to the area you're in and it's polarity specific).
Polarities are not based on personal reserves. All aether is made up of all elements. All elements are constantly flowing and ebbing, reacting one another as submissions or conquers, being polarized into activity or reservation.
The elemental aspect of an area or environment can affect the tendencies of those living within it, as seen in many flora and fauna, such as scalekin who've adapted to heavy earth aspect by lithifying their flesh. But it is not the defining aspect of one's aether. Nor would it necessarily affect the aether drawn to cast a spell, though in some cases it may aid that cause depending mainly upon the art in which you're manipulating aether, as all elements exist in all aether just in varying strength of aspects.
A summoner seeks to recreate the extreme aspects of the primal they wish to tame in order to first perform the summoning rite and draw forth an egi. The summoner quest specifically cites the caster as having to actively attune to that aetherial aspect.
Y'mhitra Wrote:According to the records we recovered, the summoners of old would perform these rites in a land in which the naturally dominant element matched the aspect of the avatar they wished to call forth. Only in such a place might one sufficiently shift one's aetheric balance in the desired direction. Now you must focus. Visualize the aether flowing through you, a vibrant current of energy transforming into living fire. Hold this image in your mind, and the raging heat of your life force shall spawn an egi wreathed in flames!
However, as Thaumaturges, Arcanists, and Red Mages use only their own internal aetherial reserves or mana - the external aspect of their environment, no matter how it may be polarized, is of little consequence. They seek only to manipulate the as-yet neutrally aspected aether within their body into the desired spell, focusing that aether into the desired aspect, polarity, or spell.
Versus a Conjurer, White Mage, or Black Mage which borrows aether from their environment. While an extreme, environmental aspect might affect the ease in which certain aether is drawn in quantity enough to fuel spells - in the end, even these spellcasters manipulate that drawn aether into the desired affect through incantation or meditation. Which is why a conjurer can still cast water-aspected magicks in the desert.
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(08-07-2017, 03:19 PM)Valic Wrote: As for the examples, they help but they still leave some things questionable. Such as voidsent casting "Umbral Fire" for example
Perhaps this is also adding to the confusion? I've noticed several instances so far where you've seen the term "Void" and replaced it with "Umbral" and are combining this into your understanding of the polarities. There are no spells in game called "Umbral Fire," the voidsent you're citing use "Void Fire" or "Void Aero."
Void ≠Umbral. These two terms are not interchangeable.
The Void is a realm starved of aether. It eats away at any aether which seeps its way inside and thus is lost from the Lifestream.
Sometimes in areas hit hardest by the Calamity, a dark mist charged with Umbral-aspected aether, known by skywatchers as "Gloom", will appear. There are some who believe this "gloom" is spewed forth from the void. But the veracity of this theory is unknown and highly suspect. (Gloom existed prior to the Calamity, though it was less frequently documented publicly.) Especially given that the void was only proved to exist in very recent history. Beforehand, most people believed the Void to be the source of any occurrence they could not explain.
Any connection between the two terms pretty much ends there though.
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I'm sorry but I really don't know how else to explain this topic. All lore on the elements and the polarities has been provided, as well as all lore regarding the elemental wheel, illustrations for how the elements and polarities affect spells, and I think I've spent too much time on this topic. You're of course more than welcome to continue to search for more satisfactory answers, but I feel as though I have nothing more I can contribute to this.
