(09-08-2013, 10:42 AM)Siobhain Wrote:(09-08-2013, 10:22 AM)Jove Wrote:(09-08-2013, 09:48 AM)Siobhain Wrote: And I'm not sure what they did. Like I said, I'm thinking immortality. The only other thing I could imagine doing with White Magic is necromancy but I haven't seen any such thing relating to that so I doubt it even exists. I also imagine torturing people to death and rezzing them over and over again until they forfeit. That's a way to abuse dem White Mage powers!
It's interesting that you mention Necromancy, because you're right I haven't seen it mentioned any where either, but you only have to go to the Deepcroft to see the undead shambling about.
Restless spirits, trapped in a corporeal form maybe, but it seems likely they were raised by Cthulhu's son and his cultists, which makes me wonder if corrupted white magic was used to raise these dead. After all, healers can use the raise spell on the almost dead, so what happens if a particularly powerful mage forces it on the long dead?
Is it possible that white magic becomes corrupted when used for unnatural purposes? I could easily see the corrupted white mages of old drawing on the aether to extend their physical life, or to bring loved ones back from the dead, like you say.
(Torture is also a good suggestion! Fling a man with Aero, break his bones every time he's smashed against the wall while slinging cures at him. Gruesome)
I didn't realize that there were undead about! I haven't gotten far enough in. So yes, very likely, that could be connected too! Interesting...
They gave a dark side to those chubby little Lalafell with their white robes on.
(I can see you and I are going to get along.)
Oh yes, you can find them in Thanalan too! Where you go to face a certain Primal for the first time. Probably a few other places, but I need to level up also so I can go exploring. After all, Logan is the sort to seek out ancient ruins and recover long forgotten trea-archaeological relics, so he'll probably encounter these kinds of things fairly often.
Also Lalafell are always sinister. Always.
(A friendship forged by the abuse of arcane arts, necromancy and torture. Awesome )
(09-08-2013, 02:44 PM)LiadansWhisper Wrote: Raya-O-Senna tells you that Succor (White Magic) is every bit as destructive as Black Magic when it's misused.
However, I don't think it has anything to do with Necromancy or raising the long dead. Â There's nothing about the spell Raise or the lore surrounding it (via the Conjurer questline) to suggest that it's more than something that brings you back from the brink of death. Â I honestly don't believe that it would work on something that was actually dead.
E-Sumi-Yan tells you that Conjurers draw upon the power of the elements and nature for their abilities. Â Apparently Conjurers access a part of Succor, but are restricted by the Elementals. Â White Mages can access the full power of Succor.
E-Sumi also tells you that the power Conjurers draw upon cannot be taken, only borrowed, and must be returned. Â Others have speculated (in other threads) that the power the Conjurers are drawing from is the Aether streams, though they know it by another name. Â If we follow that line of speculation, then White Mages would be drawing even harder on that same power source.
This is a very interesting point, and reminds me of an FF staple that I completely forgot about.
White magic is super effective on the undead, in previous games, cure would do a decent amount of damage and a phoenix down (a potion that revives party members) would in most cases kill them outright.
I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that this staple is in FFXIV, but it's a pretty consistent theme throughout the game, along with the magic which you can read about here.
There's not really much lore for it though, they're just another form of monster, although in FFVII you encounter a group of vengeful spirits who didn't merge back into the lifestream when they died, which is more or less how a lot of general fantasy zombies and ghosts are created.
But this does make me think in regards to what LiadansWhisper said above, it makes me think that Conjurers and White Mages have to maintain a balancing act of receiving and giving back to the aether, which doesn't take much speculation to see why white magic would be so powerful against the undead, because the undead seem to be in direct conflict with maintaining the aether (all take, take, take and no giving back).
Of course that's assuming the undead are inhabited by souls from the aether and not just a kind of puppet. Also there's nothing in FFXIV to support any of this, including game mechanics... but I find this whole concept pretty interesting to think about.
However it throws the whole necromancy thing out of the window, which begs more questions such as which field of magic could be responsible for that, unless it's a naturally occurring event.
But hey the torture is still valid! I also think LiadansWhisper hit the nail on the head with the whole 'too many White Mages drawing on the aether would create a barren landscape' in regards to what harm white magic could do. It's easy to see a cataclysmic event arising from a whole nation of people constantly rejuvenated by white magicks only for the earth beneath them to die.
Which again, leads back to the whole "Can white magic prolong someone's life unnaturally?". If not, then that's the limitation of White Mages today, if yes, then we're going back into necromancy territory.
The reason I say today, is because I think it's important to take a history lesson here. Current White Mages from Gridania are not the same as the White Mages from 3000 years a go, during the Fifth Astral Era.
Quote:The Fifth Astral Era is said to have begun approximately three millennia ago. The ice age that ushered in the Fifth Umbral Era made the land a barren and merciless place, and man was pushed to the limits of his resourcefulness in the struggle to survive. Yet survive he did, through the discovery of magic as we know it - an event which marked the dawning of the Fifth Astral Era.
At first, man was well pleased just to keep the cold at bay and compete with the other races. But man is nothing if not an ambitious beast. It was not long before he sought mightier magicks, hoping to win greater glory. It was this desire that brought forth black magic, the arcane art of destruction, into the world. In order that this force of chaos be kept in check and balance preserved, at roughly the same point in history, white magic, the arcane art of succor, came into existence.
Emboldened by magic, man went on to reach the zenith of glory. But his hunger knew no bounds. Over time, even they who donned the white began perverting their powers for the sake of self-gain, and in this single minded pursuit scrupled not to sully the sanctity of the Twelveswood. In his pride and avarice, man brought down the wrath of the Elementals upon himself. A great deluge was sent to cleanse the land of his wicked presence, in the wake of which the forest rose to swallow up all that was not washed away. Thus did the Sixth Umbral Era begin.
This is my theory. Current White Mages trained by the Padjal are given their power through the Elementals, it's the Elementals that keep them in check so a White Mage can't abuse their power. What kind of powers? No one actually knows, except beings that have been around for thousands of years (such as the Elementals and other ancient beings).
I'm thinking though, that before white magic was regulated, back 3000 years a go, when White Mages would just draw their power recklessly from the aether, things such as necromancy, prolonging life, preventing souls from going back to the aether etc were possible. The spells and the knowledge of this however have been lost to time, except to a few.
This is why White Mages don't have this kind of power now (e.g Raise only working on the still living), the Elementals would never allow it, even hint of it's existence because they full well know the devastation it causes. However, ancient and dark beings (such as the summoned Cthulhu faced cultist) know of these powers and actively use them, which gets us his undead guards.
It's the same as the difference between modern Scholars and the Scholars from Nym, the modern day examples are similar, but different from their origins.
(Sorry for the convoluted wall of text, but I've been reading up on this as I was writing this post and this is pretty much my thought process.
And yeah, reading it now I feel like conspiracy theorist - Those Elementals, hiding dem truths!)
Anyway, to go back on topic (sorry OP) I think Scholar is a good choice! You've got a book to write down all of those bounty contracts and a fairy, which will put people off guard.
As for being a Garlean, I think you shouldn't have any trouble there. It's not unreasonable for Garlemalde to have families that emigrated there long before the Empire and hell, it's only most pure blooded Garleans that have an ineptitude for magic, so even if you had a little Garlean blood in you, it doesn't completely rule out magic.
Also I'm pretty certain it's only conscripts from conquered lands that have a sort of brainwashing happen to them (although I don't know what kind of brainwashing, or even if that's the right word, it could just be an onslaught of patriotic propaganda) and I believe it was only Nael van Darnus that introduced his men of the VIIth Legion to slaughtering an animal each day (because to be totally honest, 75000ish animals being slaughtered each day seems a bit ridiculous, and it was probably just Nael's front line troops).
I know you didn't mention the above, but they get thrown out a lot when Garlean lore comes up and personally, I think of Garlemalde being made up by your average none evil citizens. I mean just imagine, you live in a backwards country that suddenly is boosted by all of these technological advancements, lives become less of a hardship, there's industry, growth, a sense of purpose. Of course they'd elect the man who made it all happen and of course they'd rally behind him if he said Primals were evil (big scary monsters, of course he's right!) and that other nations are holding Garlemalde back, or that we need the space or need to enlighten them (we have magitek, we're the best!).
My only advice for RPing a Garlean is maybe to be subtle about it, even a Garlean citizen with no military background would probably be a target for a lynch mob in some parts of Eorzea and I'm certain they'd know it.