Ghosts and Witches

[Frederique]

Hello, I've been searching for answers as I've been piecing together my Xaela, but having a hard time finding answers. If someone could assist me or direct me to information on it that would be fantastic. Sadly, I keep coming up short on my research, that and I've only just (re)started playing so my lore knowledge is lacking.

 

My character is going to be spiritually sensitive, where he's able to converse with spirits and ghosts with ease. To which he's a bit disconnected from the world, but he's squishy cute (as "cute" as an Auri can get) and polite so it's okay if he spaces out every now and again. :love:

 

But, as I'm trying to come up with concrete evidence of his ability, I can't find more than a few sightings of ghosts here and there. Nothing static. Are there ghosts readily in game or is it isolated incidences?

 

Also, I'm hoping to work him into something similar to a kitchen (cottage) witch and/or hedge witch/shaman. Aside taking up cooking and alchemy, I'm not sure how far I can stretch his day-to-day magic without breaking lore rules. I haven't seen information on witches in game other than Halloween.

 

IC I'd rather not give him a job name. He learned through his elders, his natural abilities, and what the ghosts/spirits told him. Would it be too Mary Sue to just introduce himself as a mystic or witch or shaman instead of "Yeah, I'm a Conjurer!" because he hasn't studies by books?

 

*flails* Sorry for babbling. This character is new and FFXIV's lore confuses me at times. Okay, most of the time.

 

Any help would be most appreciated.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Hiya!

 

edit: Sounsyy's shown lore. My post is outdated.

 

So there isn't really any established lore on ghosts and witches that I've seen anywhere outside the Halloween-themed events.

 

I believe Matoya is referred to as a witch, but she's also a Sharlayan scholar. (Noun, not the in-game job).

 

As for ghosts, there are those occasional sightings of Edda from Tam-Tara Deepcrofte. Once could imagine that perhaps a ghost in the FFXIV sense is a soul that has not been able to return to the aetherstream, of is perhaps a voidsent attempting to manifest itself. Headcanon territory instead of concrete details.

 

Off topic, but Auri's an adjective. Like you have an Auri gentleman, but he's still an Au Ra among many Au Ra.

[Virella]

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/39515-Want-Lore-History-Here-you-go!-%28Possible-Spoilers%29

 

 

I shall tell you yet again of the study of aether.

 

As I laboriously explained, aether is not only the source of all magicks, but also the fount of all life. Yet despite its ubiquity, it remains imperceptible to the senses of man. When a living thing dies, the aether comprising its life is released. It has been learned that when this discharge takes place, a portion of that aether remains, lingering in the physical world. No doubt you have come across aetherial crystallizations in the course of your travels. All scholars now agree that these are the physical manifestation of great concentrations of aether. I have a theory, however, that they are not the only such manifestation. Allow me to give an example even you can understand─that of ghosts, spirits, disembodied souls. Apparitions of the deceased come back to haunt and generally unnerve us? False! These are nothing more than the luminescent glow of aether in the atmosphere.

 

It is possible, though highly unlikely, that you are asking yourself why a portion of the aether remains. Right, well, the amount of aether that can shift between the physical and aetherial realms in any given instant is limited. I call this the aetherial threshold. Any aether present in excess of that threshold is left behind. The more violent or dramatic the loss of life, the greater the amount of inner aether released to take the form of crystals or remain imperceptibly in the atmosphere. And you surely recollect the scene I identified as the most apt to produce such violent deaths? On the field of battle! It stands to reason, therefore, that through the aetherial measurement of such sites, I will be able to reconstruct details of the wars waged upon them.

 

And that, is why this military historian has a deeply vested interest in the subject of aether. Despite all we do know, however, many mysteries remain. The study of aether will no doubt continue to yield fascinating and awe-inspiring discoveries for years to come─of that I am certain.

 

 

I don't know much about this subject, but it has the mentions ghosts ect, so perhaps it is something of use?

[Sounsyy]

But, as I'm trying to come up with concrete evidence of his ability, I can't find more than a few sightings of ghosts here and there. Nothing static. Are there ghosts readily in game or is it isolated incidences?

 

Ghosts are a canon part of Eorzea, in fact, quite commonplace.

 

Hengr's Crucible

This oddly shaped isle, floating in the eastern reaches of the Sea of Clouds, is named for the witch Hengr, a figure of Coerthan faerie tales whose cauldron its shape is said to resemble. In recent years, it has become a gathering place for the notoriously territorial toco tocos.

 

Much is told of the corpse-soldier, Flame Sergeant Dalvag, yet mainstream scholarship has lagged woefully on the matter of what became of the rest of him. Efforts by hunter-scholars with intimate knowledge of northern Thanalan have resulted in persuasive identification of a malevolent local demon as the late sergeant's spirit.

 

What would you like done with the remains? He was not a citizen of Ul'dah. You will have to appeal to Arrzaneth Ossuary to make arrangements. I should think medical expenses and internment costs will come to upward of one and a half million gil. ...Then take his corpse out of here yourself. Leave it beyond the city walls, if you must. I'm sure the crows and the beetles will be happy to save you the cost of a burial. But whatever you do, do it quickly.

The cost of not burying the deceased is far greater than the cost of burying them. Those not properly returned to Hydaelyn are damned to spend an eternity wandering the wastes!

I am aware of what the scriptures teach, it's just... There is no money.

 

-Woodsin Thrall

-Tempered Revenants

 

It is said that those who are tempered by the elementals or the Primals lose their soul and therefor, cannot pass on to Thal's Realm. So they remain to haunt the realm as revenants and ghosts.

 

I shall tell you yet again of the study of aether. As I laboriously explained, aether is not only the source of all magicks, but also the fount of all life. Yet despite its ubiquity, it remains imperceptible to the senses of man. When a living thing dies, the aether comprising its life is released. It has been learned that when this discharge takes place, a portion of that aether remains, lingering in the physical world. No doubt you have come across aetherial crystallizations in the course of your travels. All scholars now agree that these are the physical manifestations of great concentrations of aether.

 

I have a theory, however, that they are not the only such manifestations. Allow me to give you an example even you can understand - that of ghosts, spirits, disembodied souls. Apparitions of the deceased come back to haunt and generally unnerve us? False! These are nothing more than the luminescent glow of aether in the atmosphere. It is possible, though highly unlikely, that you are asking yourself why a portion of the aether remains.

 

Right, well, the amount of aether that can shift between the physical and aetherial realms in any given instant is limited. I call this the aetherial threshold. Any aether present in excess of that threshold is left behind. The more violent or dramatic the loss of life, the greater the amount of inner aether released to take the form of crystals or remain imperceptibly in the atmosphere. And you surely recollect the scene I identified as the most apt to produce such violent deaths? On the field of battle! It stands to reason, therefore, that through the aetherial measurement of such sites, I will be able to reconstruct details of the wars waged upon them. And that, Sounsyy, is why this military historian has a deeply vested interest in the subject of aether.

 

 

As you can see, there's several mentions of ghosts, revenants, thralls, and those who cannot pass on. This spiritual shamanism that you're speaking of actually more closely resembles Thaumaturgy than Conjury though, as the Order of Nald'thal specializes in the study of death, burial, and the passage of souls between realms.

 

Might find this thread on Necromancy useful lore-wise, even if it's not quite the same as what you're looking for. ^^

[Frederique]

Thank you everyone for your help! :love::love::love: This gives me a lot to consider, and new lines of thought.