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WiredBones · **01-16-2015, 11:43 AM**

Spoiler Disclaimer

Hi guys! So my main character is heavily into end game content. I'd like to discuss a few things I've been noticing lately. I'll try to be very clear what I'm discussing and if you don't want to know about it, just skip over that section. I'm basically just hyped lately about the void since it looks like we'll get more information about it next patch. So please! Contribute to the conversation however you can. Feel free to bring other void-related stuff up that's off topic too.

T13

Phase 2 game mechanics.Â

Minor storyline/cutscene spoilers (Naming boss).
Minor mention of Pharos Sirius.

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SpoilerSo, I'd like to first bring our attention to a mechanic in phase 2, that has to do with balls of dark aether. Bahamut Prime can summon dense balls of dark aether, that get tethered to an individual and start to drift towards them. Another party member can move in front of the targeted person, and absorb the ball of dark aether if they want, but if they don't this aether will hit into the person who it was originally drifting towards. When the dark aether hits you, a powerful explosion goes off causing you physical harm (about 1.5k damage), and you gain a new debuff called Suffocated Will. A player can only take 1-2 stacks (depending how geared you are, I believe our OT once took 3).

Now this Suffocated Will debuff will remain on each player until Bahamut casts a spell called "Rage Of Bahamut", when your stacks will explode and the debuff will go away, causing yet more damage (this time around 3.5k per stack, I believe). A person can take dark aether, recover, and then absorb more afterwards. Throughout the fight we go through three dark aether cycles where we absorb and lose the effects of it.

Anyways, guys. I want to know what you think this can mean when brought into a roleplaying aspect! I have a character who is often experimented on by a mage (who will end up kidnapping, and torturing/messing with some people in the future) who is extremely interested in the void, aether, and black magic. Do you think if someone is messing with the void they can find a way to pull dark aether from the void and have it merge with a person? I feel like they'd be ill with the damage the character takes, so it hurts going in. And it hurts when it is extracted even more. But what do you think would happen while it is in them? By suffocated will, do you think it means the person who puts it in is trying to control them? Do you think it means their body will be in an enormous amount of torment that they'll be struggling to control their movements? Do you think dark aether should have different effects each time it's in the person?

Now, another topic: Where do you think it comes from? I'm assuming dark aether comes from the void for the following reasons. In Pharos Sirius we also see corrupted aether leaking out of a pipe that we need to turn off that does damage to the party. This allows us to assume that aether can be tainted, and corrupted by outside sources in our realm. And it seems any type of tainted aether really can end up doing damage to the character if they're around it/absorbing it. Dark aether however seems to be something completely different to me. It's own substance from a dark place like the void. It's much different than corrupted aether because of that suffocated will debuff.

What do you guys think about this mechanic and what are ways you think it can be incorporated into an in-character aspect?

Allied Beast Tribe Quests
The quest recieved after reaching max rank in all beast tribe quests.

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SpoilerTo start off, this quest makes it clear that alchemy can be a very dark thing in this game. When Voyce goes to ask questions at the alchemist's guild, he finds a book and mentions some mixtures require rotten voidsent flesh and all other sort of ingredients that are illegal to get, and illegal to make mixtures with. The enemies decide that they are going to make an undead army from beastmen children they're kidnapping. I was just asking a few days ago if alchemy could be an illegal thing, and now it's obviously confirmed there's a whole world of powerful illegal alchemy.

There is one more part in the quest that had me questioning something. The Ebon Blade, the fierce miqo'te who is hired to do all this kidnapping, and has a terrible reputation all over Eorzea. The first time we meet him he is being threatened by Novv. He responds by letting of a dark mist that surrounds his body, then it fades and all he finds himself doing is throwing some daggers at the beastman's back. We never see this dark mist again and it's never explained just what that is. What's your theory on this? Does it seem he's an adventurer who got sucked into the void and came back darker than ever? Do you think it's just some type of "inner beast" type power like the WAR? To me, void-related things are more black/purple/blue colored. I'm not really sure where else I see black/red coloring though. I'm thinking of playing through Tam-Tara once again to see the coloring of things there to double check for any similarities.

Anyways, back to the alchemist part. I thought this was really cool because it opened up all sorts of new possibilities for potions. This one required sacrifices where they'd then enslave the souls of the beastmen and force them to carry out their bidding forever. I wanted to discuss the possibilities you guys think we have. I have a character who will heavily be researching the void and creatures who live there. I'd love for him to focus in on instead of making potions that enslave being from Eorzea, trying out mixtures that control voidsent. Maybe researching into if there could be corrupted aether, or dark aether mixtures that could help support a void and keep it in the realm without sucking aether out of all those around it. Maybe he'll be trying to find a way to merge a void and regular citizen together so they'll be a whole new creature entirely. Hell, perhaps that dark mist the mysterious miqo'te was giving off was some evil potion the man who hired him gave him, and that's why he was so powerful and strong. This quest opened up my mind to so many more possibilities I just wanted to hear anything you guys think about this sort of stuff.

Aduu Avagnar · **01-16-2015, 01:18 PM**

I don't believe dark aether, in and of itself, comes from the void. The void is, if you will excuse the pun, void of Aether. That is why they want to come here so much, to consume the Aether of the material world (Eorzea of which is heavily saturated in it, aparently more than most), however, it could be from the void and it is simply a misnomer ascribed to it given that is the only thing to really compare it to from the material world.

As to where it comes from, Well, I believe the Aether in Pharos Sirius was corrupted due to the proximity and damage caused by the attack by Bahamut (the yellow crystals of aether piercing the entire tower). I think that the balls of Dark Aether are simply, either a more corrupted version of that. Or as I mention above, it could very well simply be a misnomer.

As to the Alchemy, I don't know that much, the mist does indeed look like Void corruption, either that or a manifestation of I.M.E Â or Individual Magic Effect (Read Goblins if you haven't Tongue

) which in essence is the individuals personal manifestation of Magic (a different coloured glow with funky stuffs)Â

And it sounds like a cool thought regarding the voidsent and trying to control them, better hope he keeps it quiet however, as there are people that would be knocking on his door to destroy him and his lab Tongue

Sounsyy · **01-16-2015, 01:44 PM**

Alchemy can certainly have nefarious uses and I think lore supports this pretty well throughout the game. So your second point sounds perfectly viable via lore and sounds like a very interesting plot point.

As for your first point, I have to agree with Nako'li in that the Void is devoid of Aether, hence why Voidsent are desperately trying to claw their way into our world. As for the origins of "Dark Aether" I haven't the foggiest. We see a good bit of corrupted aether, which is really just dead aether that has lingered too long in one place and cannot return to the Lifestream. This usually is caused by massive aether shifts which cannot cross the Aetherial Threshold and is trapped in our world. This causes such apparitions as ghosts or revenants or corrupted aether crystals. In some cases, lore notes these corrupted aether shifts can drive wildlife mad or mutate wildlife in abhorrent ways.

But as far as Dark Aether is concerned, I struggle to think of a place where it's mentioned besides T13, so as Nako'li said, it could just be a misnomer or it could just be something available to Elder Primals. There's so much we don't know about Elder Primals that it's hard to say. As such, I would recommend being cautious when delving into something we've only seen evidenced by an Elder Primal. It's an interesting plot point though, to be sure.

Last point, as for the aura that appears the Ebon Claw, a similar aura also appears around Ascians or thralls of Ascians in both 1.0 and 2.0. Is this a hint that the Ebon Claw sold his soul to the Ascians or that the Mad Alchemists' plot was actually a plot for the Ascians? We may never know, but it sounds like something the Ascians would do.

More Void Stuff

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes