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Aether and Aura's


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cannoncly in the story Aether can only be seen by those who have the echo. Or the head device thing. So what about IC can you see aether or not. I personally believe people overlook this and just believe what our character sees in game is what they can see.

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cannoncly in the story Aether can only be seen by those who have the echo. Or the head device thing. So what about IC can you see aether or not. I personally believe people overlook this and just believe what our character sees in game is what they can see.

 

I wasn't quite sure if this was a lore question or a character prompt, so I've spoilered the lore answer. As for my own character, no, Sounsyy cannot see or perceive aether in its ambient state. She is sensitive to aether exposure and prone to aethersickness, however, after surviving Bahamut's wrath on Carteneau. But unless its an aether crystal or someone casting a spell, she usually cannot see aether.

 

Ambient aether is, as Erik puts it, imperceptible to the senses. It cannot be seen, touched, or felt excepting in high doses with a few exceptions: Sharlayan/Ala Mhigan Aetherometers and Aethersight. Note that aethersight has only been achieved by one highly gifted Sharlayan sage in the story so far, and it is incredibly detrimental to her health to use aethersight.

 

As I laboriously explained' date=' 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.[/quote']

 

Before one might understand aetherial travel' date=' one must first understand the substance that makes it possible - aether. What is aether you ask? Why, only the source of all being! Though it cannot be seen, it is everywhere... or should I say, it is everything. Aether flows around us and within us, and without it we would cease to exist.[/quote']

 

I need not tell you that it consumes your very life force to see by sensing the aether around you. Take care of yourself' date=' do you hear me?[/quote']

 

 

That said, there are perceptible forms of aether!

Heavy saturation of ambient aether, which is more common in Eorzea, can cause aethersickness. Eorzeans claim that travelers soon get used to the difference in aether in the air, but there are also places, such as dungeons. in which heavy saturations of ambient aether cannot dissipate and will eventually solidify into crystals.

 

You must also keep the following in mind - once you set foot in the Maws' date=' I cannot permit you to re-enter until your body has had time to rid itself of the noxious residues of woodsin and aether which permeate the place.[/quote']

 

In large concentrations, aether solidifies into a crystalline structure, giving us the many varieties and aspected aethers across Eorzea. Refining these crystals produces a liquid aether form called Ceruleum, which is primarily used as fuel. These forms are both perceptible to the senses, though that may be owing to their concentration or potency.

 

I assume you are familiar with crystals—the elementally charged clusters of concentrated aether which craftsmen employ in synthesis?

 

Pure, untainted, unaspected aether almost always appears in game as the silvery-blue color. However, aether can be aspected, and this is where we can see some color variance. This is most common in aether’s crystalline form, where we have everything from over-aspected to deaspected aether, fire, earth, wind, water, ice, lightning aspected aether, even Umbral-charged aether (gloom), which is what many naturalists believe spews from void and void-touched, though the validity of this is questionable.

 

Most commonly in game, we see corrupted aether. This is that orange colored aether crystals you see in places like Pharos Sirius, Carteneau Flats, or the Burning Wall for example. Another example is the purple crystals found in areas where the Celestial Wyrms were injured/killed, like Ratatoskr in Churning Mists, Tiamat in Antithesis, and Midgardsormr in Mor Dhona.

 

So in short, aether can appear in a variety of colors based on its elemental aspect, or lack thereof. But now that I think of it, I can’t think of an instance where we see “astral aspected” aether, perhaps this is the silvery-blue we most commonly associate with aether, especially in regards to the Mothercrystal, especially when Zodiark crystal possesses the Umbral-aspected aether color?

 

Now... whether those colors can be seen or the aura surrounding a spellcasting character can be seen by bystanders or if that's just game mechanics for flashiness, we ultimately don't know. The draw of aether or aethershift could be concentrated enough that it is perceptible to the naked eye? Though, if we visit any of FFXIV's CGI cutscenes and look at how spellcasting is displayed, aether is clearly visible, lending more backing to the concentration of casted aether allows for visibility.

 

Hope that helps!

 

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Sounsyy, regarding that sage, I was under the impression that the issue isn't that she's using Aethersight, necessarily, but that she's using it all the time and relying on it for all of her vision. The comment that was made (I think it was from her teacher, but I'm not 100% sure) seemed to suggest that it's something that was intended to be used in small intervals, not as a replacement for sight. Am I wrong?

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Sounsyy, regarding that sage, I was under the impression that the issue isn't that she's using Aethersight, necessarily, but that she's using it all the time and relying on it for all of her vision. The comment that was made (I think it was from her teacher, but I'm not 100% sure) seemed to suggest that it's something that was intended to be used in small intervals, not as a replacement for sight. Am I wrong?

 

 

Here's the conversation in full, Liadan:

 

 

When did the light fade from your eyes?

I might have known that it would not escape your notice. It has been this way since I returned from the Lifestream. An aftereffect of the teleportation magick I invoked' date=' most like.[/quote']

They are called “forbidden spells” for a reason. What were you thinking' date=' girl?[/quote']

I have no regrets. I but did what was necessary to preserve the light of hope─to keep my promise to Minfilia. Besides' date=' it afforded me the rare opportunity to wander the aether─a once in a lifetime experience.[/quote']

I need not tell you that it consumes your very life force to see by sensing the aether around you. Take care of yourself' date=' do you hear me?[/quote']

I will' date=' Master Matoya. And thank you.[/quote']

 

The bolded is the only real lore on the aethersight subject, and Matoya doesn't make the distinction of one-time use versus constant usage in the case of Y'shtola. She simply lays down the blanket fact that using aethersight consumes your lifeforce, whether its one time use or all the time doesn't seem to matter. Though it stands to reason that using something that's detrimental to yourself constantly versus only using it once in a while would take a more drastic toll on your lifeforce, so Y'shtola is probably greatly diminishing her life expectancy by doing this.

 

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We don't even know if she does it constantly. For what we know, the only noticeable thing that changed are her eye and hair colour, but otherwise, who tells us she uses it at every moment?

 

Maybe, maybe not.

 

 

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Mine as well. She seems blind. Doesn't mean she uses aethersight all the time though. I would be naturally inclined to think she actually does, but I was just playing the devil's advocate.

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So in short, aether can appear in a variety of colors based on its elemental aspect, or lack thereof. But now that I think of it, I can’t think of an instance where we see “astral aspected” aether, perhaps this is the silvery-blue we most commonly associate with aether, especially in regards to the Mothercrystal, especially when Zodiark crystal possesses the Umbral-aspected aether color?

 

 

Could the Astral Nodule and Umbral Nodule from the Anima weapon questline count as representations of astral- and umbral-aspected aether?

 

64px-Astral_Nodule_Icon.png

A crystalline amalgamation of astrally charged crystals.

 

64px-Umbral_Nodule_Icon.png

A crystalline amalgamation of umbrally charged crystals.

 

Forgive me if I misunderstood the name/tooltip of the items though! I'm nowhere even near here in the storyline yet (only just finished MSQ "The Sins of Antiquity") so I don't know context; just that the items exist and presumably are named along the lines of their nature, aha...

 

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So in short, aether can appear in a variety of colors based on its elemental aspect, or lack thereof. But now that I think of it, I can’t think of an instance where we see “astral aspected” aether, perhaps this is the silvery-blue we most commonly associate with aether, especially in regards to the Mothercrystal, especially when Zodiark crystal possesses the Umbral-aspected aether color?

 

 

Could the Astral Nodule and Umbral Nodule from the Anima weapon questline count as representations of astral- and umbral-aspected aether?

 

64px-Astral_Nodule_Icon.png

A crystalline amalgamation of astrally charged crystals.

 

64px-Umbral_Nodule_Icon.png

A crystalline amalgamation of umbrally charged crystals.

 

Forgive me if I misunderstood the name/tooltip of the items though! I'm nowhere even near here in the storyline yet (only just finished MSQ "The Sins of Antiquity") so I don't know context; just that the items exist and presumably are named along the lines of their nature, aha...

 

 

Oh... yeah... whooops. Totally forgot about those. Probably cuz I didn't do that part of the quest, but yes, those would count as astral and umbral aspected aether! Ding! Thanks for this!

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If we go deeper into the elemental wheel theory where astral and umbral are actually polarities that adds a third dimension to the base 6 points wheel (fire, thunder, ice, earth, water, wind), does that follow the same pattern than the naming convention for months (astral and umbral moons, each of those under an element related to their proper divinity patron)? Which means you can get astral fire, umbral fire, etc, depending on their location related to the polarity of the element in question? Translated into crystals, would their colour be slightly different depending on their astral polarity? 

 

Everything that I see seems to go into that direction, meaning that the elemental wheel is 6 elements and not 8, most of the calendar is also made the same way, divinities too... (with the exception of the superior ones like Hydaelyn and Zodiark). Or the BLM astral fire / umbral ice which hints strongly at that too in my mind...

 

The only exception I can think of is how moons themselves are structured, which is around the 8 aspects organized into 32 suns.

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The whole aura sensing thing, I don't go into it. I wouldn't have my character sense someone's aura unless that other character wanted it to happen for some kind of plot. However, you can literally see the dark knight 'stance' darkside on someone's character. I assume that's aethery.

 

..And even in the case of my character sensing someone's 'aura' or lack thereof, he isn't the most aether knowledgeable. So he wouldn't be sure what he's sensing in the first place.

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Sorry for bringing this topic back up. I see everyone is going into the lore of the game. But was more curious about people's views in a RP sense. Like my character cannot see aether even if she is a arcanist and stuff. To her she would see fire erupt from someone's hand or staff.

 

The real issue I have though is I see a lot of people RPing out there about Aether example glowing eyes or aura's something under normal circumstances my character cannot see. Yet there are all these special snowflake people that can see Aether somehow. Some explain they have the echo but that land of RPing is another topic all together.

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Sorry for bringing this topic back up. I see everyone is going into the lore of the game. But was more curious about people's views in a RP sense. Like my character cannot see aether even if she is a arcanist and stuff. To her she would see fire erupt from someone's hand or staff.

 

The real issue I have though is I see a lot of people RPing out there about Aether example glowing eyes or aura's something under normal circumstances my character cannot see. Yet there are all these special snowflake people that can see Aether somehow. Some explain they have the echo but that land of RPing is another topic all together.

 

Generally speaking, I RP with people whose RP I enjoy. If I don't like their RP, or I think they're playing fast and loose with the lore in a way I am not interested in being a part of, I just don't RP with them. I don't ask other people if they think that the "snowflakes" are bad people. I don't call them names. I don't give them nasty labels. I don't make forum posts trying to get other people to say they're bad and wrong and shouldn't be doing that.

 

If directly asked, or if someone makes a thread asking if other people think it's a good idea if they do those things, of course I'll pipe up with, "Well, the lore says this, and if you want to follow the lore, that's what you should do. Be aware that if you deviate much or at all, there are people who will avoid you, but ultimately you can do whatever you want because it's your character."

 

So, the point of what I'm saying is, you do you. Sounsyy has already posted what's available in quest text and other available lore. If someone is deviating from this, you have two choices: RP with them, or don't RP with them. Do what's most fun for you.

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Sorry for bringing this topic back up. I see everyone is going into the lore of the game. But was more curious about people's views in a RP sense. Like my character cannot see aether even if she is a arcanist and stuff. To her she would see fire erupt from someone's hand or staff.

 

The real issue I have though is I see a lot of people RPing out there about Aether example glowing eyes or aura's something under normal circumstances my character cannot see. Yet there are all these special snowflake people that can see Aether somehow. Some explain they have the echo but that land of RPing is another topic all together.

 

Well that's the thing, I usually like speaking about lore so that I'm making sure the basis is solid before going into what it implies on our roleplay.

 

Well, nothing says explicitely in lore that you can't see aether and all. That you can't see aether without killing yourself in the process like Y'Shtola does. Maybe there is a way to do it safely, I don't know.

 

I know however that I don't want to be that guy that plays a character that not only equals a sharlayan powerful sage, but goes event further as to do better than her.

 

Though, if you are looking for my personal take on the thing since I play a (modest) character with a certain, some what random, magical affinity... She is a Hearer, so that means she has access to a specific way to deal with the aetheral world around her (not to be confused with the aetheral plane!). She certainly doesn't see it. She doesn't really sense it either (it's not for naugh that people have to resort to contraptions like aetherometers and the likes to measure it in basically every quest and the MSQ). But, she can get a glimpse of what happens around by just Hearing elementals. She is dependent on what they tell and say, and she has to interpret it as best as she can. Not that very different from say, an astrologian that can interpret the stars through magicks, or any other "magical profession" you can think of.

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