(07-30-2016, 04:54 PM)LiadansWhisper Wrote: Please bear in mind that it's stated in multiple quests that Elementals simply cannot understand the speech of mortals anymore than mortals can understand the speech of Elementals. Hearers (and, by extension, Padjal) bridge this gap because they are capable of communicating with the Elementals, while naturally being able to understand and communicate with other mortals as well. They're the translators.
The Elementals have also been shown to lack care for the intent of mortals who draw their interest or provoke their anger. Again, they are still wholly unable to communicate with a regular person with anything other than violent response. We are two sides speaking entirely different langauges, in a situation where even body language doesn't translate.
It doesn't matter if your intentions are good. You could have the best intentions in the world, but if you do something the Elementals aren't okay with, they're still going to try to kill you...and everyone around you, probably.
Yeah. I know. Like I said before:
Quote:It doesn’t seem possible to… explain things to Elementals, I guess? They perceive your existence by looking directly at your aether and what it’s doing, how it’s resonating, what aether you’re similar or different from.To elaborate: We know this manner of perceiving things causes severe problems in mortals who employ it. And looking directly at your aether now isn't a good way of understanding what you want for the future, what you're going to do next week, or your more complex thought patterns and opinions - it's just the only way the Elementals have. So of course it's necessary to employ translation skills in order to foster any kind of understanding.
Quote:They’re probably not so keen on “if I do X, it’ll hurt the forest temporarily, but in the long run it’ll bring about Y†either. All they’ll perceive is your lack of inhibition towards hurting the forest.To elaborate: The way Elementals would perceive "intent" isn't the same way we, as humans who think of our more complex thoughts as being part of ourselves, perceive it. They perceive what you are doing, right now, and the intentions behind it. If your intention is "damage the forest", they don't see as far as "...so I can save it from greater damage later" before getting mad. They're aether-readers, not mind-readers. (I know that's a difficult differentiation to make lol.)
Quote:We know Elementals can’t really differentiate between different individuals with similar aether.In other words: people with similar personalities, similar goals, the same heritage (possibly out to and including being of the same race), who spend a lot of time in the same place as each other...
Now I kind of want to see a story about a Qestir who, on arriving in Eorzea, learns that they are a Hearer. That'd be interesting.