Aether and Me; Indepth Plot Questions

[Versesai]

Greetings there, first RP question I've hit a stumbling block with since I started on XIV and it's a fairly complicated one, so I'll try to make it simple.

 

I've got a character who is fairly untrained in Aether manipulation of any kind, but is rapidly realizing that against some of the things he's encountering his big axe and can-do attitude aren't going to cut it all the time in bad situations, so he's looking to augment his arsenal by incorporating Aether. Now, this is going to take two forms;

 

Form one, I want him to learn to channel basic aether. I don't want him to cast spells because he's absolutely not the lightning bolt lightning bolt heal type, but being able to add some heft to a blow by making it all magical or enhancing it would be nice. Second, I want him to be able to use some limited earth-type aether manipulation, namely to form weapons out of stone for practical combat purposes. Mostly because (IC) I want him to have an excuse to not have to carry giant warrior axes around everywhere because those are cumbersome and hard to hide and (OOC) I want an excuse to use the Titan Axe and hit things.

 

For the first bit, I'm more looking for an idea of how complicated that'd be and what specifically it'd do or involve, and how long it's reasonably take a smart, instinct-heavy Xaela given he's really only seen people using aether but has it on good authority that it is a nice thing. For the second bit, I'm looking for the same but more importantly, how stable such a thing would be and what kind of drain it'd be to keep that around, or if it'd be able to be manipulated/etc like shifting it's weight or density to certain areas.

 

Tl;dr I've got a warrior who IC wants to hit things harder using magic and wants to turn rocks into big hulking axe-like things to hit people like a truck, how do this?

 

Thanks in advance and I appreciate your time!

[LiadansWhisper]

I believe that Warriors actually are channeling aether when they use various abilities, and this is part of why they hit so hard. But, Sounsyy is the person to talk to about that.

 

As far as magically producing weapons out of stone...I honestly can't think of a single example of that in game or in lore. I'm not sure you could even try do it without actually having training in spellcasting, which you explicitly said you didn't want to do.

[Sin]

As far as an axe wielding mage imbuing his axe with magic, we've an example in the form of Ser Hermenost of the Heavens' Ward. From Dengeki article here, we have this translation.

 

"A veteran from the previous Lord Commander’s tenure, Hermenost was originally a friar in the service of Halone, and is known as a particularly devout man. Although he wields an axe on the battlefield, he is also a skilled mage, and devised a unique method of combat that involves imbuing his axe with lightning."

 

As an Ishgardian friar he would've learned such magicks in the Scholasticate before refining them into his unique style. You'll note that he's specifically mentioned to be "skilled" as a mage.

 

Thereby, I don't think it's a stretch for a skilled Conjurer to do much the same with Stone and develop some unique way to bend stone about their axe--however useful that may prove.

 

As far as crafting a workable axe from stone on demand using that same uniquely developed magick. My thoughts on that would be that it's -possible-, but would instantly put your character's magical prowess beyond skilled as it follows that it takes a skilled mage just to coat a weapon in lightning then to craft one wholly from an element would take just as much skill if not more.

[Sounsyy]

Tl;dr I've got a warrior who IC wants to hit things harder using magic and wants to turn rocks into big hulking axe-like things to hit people like a truck, how do this?

 

We have a few examples of skilled mages and warriors channeling aether into their existing weapon to increase its potency, but I can't think of an example (outside of the Warrior of Light forging the Blade of Light from their aether) where someone conjures a weapon from nothing and uses it. That's not to say its impossible, but I agree with Sin that such a thing would likely fall under the category of an extremely skilled mage, conjurer specifically, than a mercenary/warrior with a passing knowledge of aether manipulation.

 

On the flipside, most Disciples of War have shown some example of channeling internal aether, called Anima, into their attacks to make them more potent. Greinfarr and Ilberd both use aether to power their swords, Warriors can channel their anima to unlock whats called the Inner Beast to loose themselves in a savage rage of aether, pugilists and monk have been known to channel aether into their fists, etc. But all of these are examples of channeling aether into an already existing weapon.

 

Theoretically, if your character was skilled at conjury and marauding, you might be able to conjure a stone axe head onto your conjury staff and use an axe that way? But again, by all accounts, this would take a skilled practitioner to perform. So a lengthy history at the Stillglade Fane or Ishgard's Scholasticate would likely be a necessary addition to your backstory. Or, have this as a thing that your character pursues now in character as part of their story arch. They didn't know what aether was, saw that it was a great thing to use, and decided to take up the earnest study by going to either the Stillglade Fane or Scholasticate.

 

 

I'm assuming because your character has only a passing understanding of aether that your Xaela is fresh to Eorzea? If so, I'd recommend the learning these skills ICly route above. While we know Far Easterners have access to magical abilities, we've not seen many examples of them utilizing advanced magicks and don't seem to have a huge understanding of "aether" beyond its conceptual "energy of life" sort of thing.

 

Also, is your character just an axe-wielder or are they a Warrior, an Abalathian who harnesses their Inner Beast to be more destructive? If the latter, that's another thing you'd have to learn while in Eorzea. But I think a skilled marauder who wishes to become a skilled conjurer and imbue their axe with magical properties would be the way to go, it'll just likely take time?

 

Hope this helps! ^^ Sorry there's not a lot of lore quotes. Sin pretty much used the one I was going to bring up lol and I'm in a hurry to get to work.

[Keerith]

The En-spells that a lot of the beastmen use sound just like what Hermenost is doing (EnThunder), which I would certainly believe from a skilled conjurer. Calling forth stone is also something a conjurer could do pretty easily, although calling it up in an axe shape and sustaining it for a longer period of time would take quite a bit of talent I imagine.