(08-08-2017, 05:32 AM)Valence Wrote: On Aether polarization: I think the answer you are looking for is simply that the current lore lacks a clear exploration and clarification of where does astral and umbral comes from. Maybe the MSQ or some quests might explore it further at some point? I personally suspect it has something to do with said aether proximity with stars and constellations while umbral is the opposite, the difference here is that light and dark aren't an element like in some other FF titles. Which means you can get light fire or dark fire. I want to insist that it's not lore but my own suspicion through various hints ingame or the way it's often worded.Precisely ^, I feel it wouldn't have been as much conflict if it was just said earlier, but that's fine. You're absolutely accurate in the ideas of how it all comes together though, makes the most sense to me and applies reasonable logic to both the mystic babble as well as the actual logically stated facts of how the polarities work.
Other people have said above that aether polarities are similar to electricity, but I feel like a better analogy would actually be heat. For one electricity's polarity is binary (or at least discontinuous) and here we have a very organic scale of infinite degrees between pure Umbral and pure Astral. Secondly, heat tends to agitate atoms while lack of heat makes them still. I feel like it's better suited as an analogy to aether: umbral aether is very still and lingering while astral is rather active and swirling. This is also why some elements are more attuned naturally to one or the other polarity: fire, wind and ligthning are restless, elements full of life, while ice, earth and water are often the opposite. The former will burn or sweep everything they touch while the latter will probably more seep, sap, and slowly gnaw at things. So. Heat? The closer to stars (cf, astral), the "hotter", the more stirred it will be. All this in very rough layman's terms of course. It also doesn't mean closer in distance. Just more magically exposed to either stars, or at the contrary, exposed to the umbral depths (light vs dark).
Edit: you might ask, how does the Coco brothers THM school of magic fits into this? Well, I'm pretty positive that you would probably be able to invert the method and use astral ice and umbral fire and whatnot, though that sounds very clunky and counter intuitive to use, requiring a lot more effort probably considering those elements' affinities. Hell, maybe you can even use other elements instead, like astral wind and umbral earth and whatnot? In any case, the umbral aspect in that specific school of magic seems to increase tenfolds the personal aether regen while the astral one sacrifices it in favor of an increase magic potency.
Specifically your analogy toward heat representing them, as that's exactly how my lore savvy friend described them as well. As for the thaumaturge mention at the end, we actually recently had that talk as well. Discussing if they were somehow in an area much more aligned umbrally that they would be more like to use the reverse of what they use now. Though again like you said, it would be clunky and counter intuitive to be using what forces would be considered less devastating as a main offense and vice versa. It can be done but it's just not simply because of logic.
The best relative concept about your heat analogy is that the idea of umbral passiveness is the result of entropy. Entropy being the result of something that happens that can never be undone or redone the same way. To quote my friend again...
"Also, entropy vs order. All order falls to entropy, it never goes the other direction
Umbral is a state of entropy, it pulls in energy from the more active/ordered astral state"
So heat that comes off a flame would be a good concept of what the polarity would be defined as. Since without the flame, where would the heat come from?
As for the mention about the stars... I like the concept but it's like you said, we don't have quite enough information to support it just yet it seems. It seems to be the most logical and mesh with all the information but I'm just being a skeptic at this point. In any case, thank you @ everyone who gave me information and helped, while I don't sound like it, I really do appreciate it. I just get aggravated with lack of information to further concrete the understanding of an idea(but leaving it just open enough makes it enjoyable for RP purpose so, I guess I shouldn't complain).
![[Image: gLGk1P9.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/gLGk1P9.gif)
