discussion Defence against dark aether

[Faith Beoulve]

hello everyone. I have been looking through the forums and can hardly express my gratitude for making such a forum!

 

Now what i would like to know is the following.

 

In real life we give certain properties to stones and crystals and metals that supposedly ward of evil, magic, spirits etc. I was wondering if there is such a sing in FF14 as well.

 

Currently I am RPing a plot with a friend who is very susceptible to aether in general. In this particular case dark aether. Is there anything lorewise in the game that could ward off the effects of aether on an individual or at least damper them?

 

I was thinking of crafting a bracelet or neckless made of the said items that she could wear in RP to protect her while we play out our plot.

 

Thank you all in advance for any help you can give

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Certain metals and materials can dampen aetherical effects, but it is important to remember that aether flows through all living things.

 

For some info on aether conductivity/how mages cast, I'd recommend this thread. SOME SPELL CASTING QUESTIONS

 

This thread on Garlean weapons/armor may also prove some use as it includes some lore snippets about aether-dampening.

 

GARLEAN WEAPONRY

[Faith Beoulve]

Thank you! The idea is only to damper the intentional influence from other aetherical sources.

I will read through those two links asap.

[Faith Beoulve]

Hmm ok this may prove more difficult. Considering the person who is supposed to get this ward is a DRK and thus i would weaken her fighting capabilities aswell...

 

Or did i misunderstand something about dark knights...?

[Gegenji]

If it helps, the Garleans use such methods because they cannot use magic and so dampening their own non-existent ability to use it isn't really a factor.

 

So, considering that we're dealing with characters that can externalize their aether via magic... maybe some protective spell woven into a piece of jewelry? One that helps to deflect magic that goes their way? I mean, in a spellcaster-vs-spellcaster battle, I'd assume that there's got to be some manner of protective wards and spells that one uses to reduce the incoming magic damage they're going to take.

 

In which case, the enchantments are going to be more important than the materials... in which case you can include some folklore fluff that actually has no actual weight. A belief that some material helps the process when it's actually just the magic that matters.

 

Alternatively: materia. You use materia to strengthen armor in the Armorsmithing quest chain. And there's certainly a wide selection of materia that protect against certain elements. So maybe some manner of jewelry socketed with the appropriate materia might be the way to go.

[Faith Beoulve]

That is a great idea! Thank you Gegenji! Materia imbued jewelry! in a silver bracelet with some stone i need to check which first....

[Sounsyy]

That is a great idea! Thank you Gegenji! Materia imbued jewelry! in a silver bracelet with some stone i need to check which first....

 

Maybe malachite?

 

Despite being relatively commonplace' date=' malachite is quite sought after, owing to its supposed power to ward off evil. Superstitions notwithstanding, it does indeed have some mild thaumaturgical properties.[/quote']

[Faith Beoulve]

YES! would fit too as the person in question is currently suffering from a dark aether attack.

[Erah'sae]

Hmm ok this may prove more difficult. Considering the person who is supposed to get this ward is a DRK and thus i would weaken her fighting capabilities aswell...

 

Or did i misunderstand something about dark knights...?

 

That might not be a bad idea.  One of my general rules of RP is everything must have a price of some sort.  If they're protecting against something in particular, that should come at a price.  Perhaps in your shielding of them, their projected aether based abilities are dampened a bit as well.

 

At that point use of the new 'protection' comes as a choice instead of an 'always yes' thing.  Meaningful choices make for good stories.

[Stormblade]

Dumb question: What is dark aether? Is it just a kind of aspected aether, like wind or earth aether, or is it corrupted/tainted aether?

 

Basically, is it inherently bad or just another form of naturally occurring aether in the world?

[Aoi Fukiku]

Dumb question: What is dark aether? Is it just a kind of aspected aether, like wind or earth aether, or is it corrupted/tainted aether?

 

Basically, is it inherently bad or just another form of naturally occurring aether in the world?

 

You have cleansed the Taint.

 

Sorry, I had to!

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Dumb question: What is dark aether? Is it just a kind of aspected aether, like wind or earth aether, or is it corrupted/tainted aether?

 

Basically, is it inherently bad or just another form of naturally occurring aether in the world?

 

You have cleansed the Taint.

 

Sorry, I had to!

 

That's corrupted aether.

 

Things can be dark-aspected in the game which is separate.

[Valence]

I've never heard anything about a Dark aspect in lore but we have indeed a handful of powerful attacks from some bosses that are of "Darkness" type, which can't be parried or nullified in any way, or go through shields.

 

Whether this is purely game mechanics or actual lore however...

[L'ohba Tia]

Light and Dark are not elements, but are some different kind of energy that has yet to be explained.

[Faith Beoulve]

Thank you all for your input. I like the idea of a price. It would make sense that way.

 

I just need to figure out how much dampend she will be with the protection.

 

I opted for a silver malachite bracelet with a fire 1 materia in it. I wanted a higher one in it but then I realized the item is too low for a higher materia :cry:

 

With dark aether i meant corrupted aether. Dark influence in this case attributed with fire causing fever like symptoms etc.

[Kieron Lohengrin]

There are many different elements / types of aether, but none of them are explicitly tied to good or evil. Varying enemies and character alignments have used them.

 

The Ascians have been seen using fire, ice, and dark/shadow aether attacks. DRKs also make use of dark/abyssal skills, and can be as heroic as you want them to be. Voidsent are the enemy type most commonly associated with demonic corrupting darkness tropes.

 

On the opposite end of the enemy spectrum, the Heavens' Ward knights and the bosses of Amdapor use holy light attacks, like PLDs. Notably, the final boss of Amdapor uses Cure spells as offensive damaging attacks.

 

Materia types like vitality, elemental, and tenacity can help increase survivability and protection.