Cracked Soul Crystal

[Bradicus]

So, I'm rather new to roleplaying but have been part of a small group for a time doing rp in the game here and there. I'm not huge on the lore, but I had a question regarding Soul Crystals. 

So in story, a summoner friend of mine had their soul crystal damaged in battle and has claimed that it has inhibited their ability to summon their carbuncle (which is effectively their beloved pet). The fandom wiki for Soul Crystals states that "the crystals for Summoners are used as a catalyst for the summoning of a primal's Egi, and Scholars' crystals are used to store their fairies when they are not summoned so that they are not dismantled and can continue to learn."

Since the summoner's egi is tied to their soul crystal and this particular summoner's crystal has been damaged, does this possibly mean that the Carbuncle is technically lost or could the very same Carbuncle be re-summoned using another crystal? Or can a crystal be repaired and brought back to full use? I know Dark Knight's go through something similar in their story, but not sure how that is resolved... 

If my character were to visit the Arcanist guild in Limsa Lominsa, what would be something they might say in response to this if my character were to inquire about this? I'm kinda using responses here as a basis for what a skilled Arcanist/Summoner might say to my character regarding her friend's soul crystal & carbuncle...

[Unnamed Mercenary]

In a strictly OOC sense, a soul crystal may not have anything to do with a carbuncle, seeing as they're summoned from an arcanist's books (and a gemstone?) and not a soul crystal, which is part of how our characters unlock a job.

 

But it should also be noted that equipping a soul crystal is like inserting a memory card with a bunch of cheat codes/saves on it. It's a tool for accessing the memories/experience of the past wielders, but it's not a strict requirement for the job itself. (My thoughts here are: someone had to initially have the soul crystal to etch that experience onto it). That said, the Black Mage quests are an excellent example for "this is what happens when someone doesn't fully understand what they're doing" when they try to use magic that the player character would otherwise access using a soul crystal. 

 

If we look at the Monk quests, you unlock your first chakra before getting a soul crystal, sort of as a mark of "this person is worth of learning the whole skillset."

 

So if we're talking about a Summoner's (as in, capital S not lower case generic s) soul crystal, then they might have some difficulty summoning an egi, but those aren't the same as a carbuncle. The Arcanists' Guild may have some older books on the art of summoning, but I can't recall anything related to how to make/repair a soul crystal itself. We do know blank ones exist, as you get one of those when you unlocked Machinist, as it's considered brand-new and the player character is the first person to use it.

 

But carbuncles are also weird in the sense that they take after their summoner's influence. (See: the roaming carbuncle in Mor Dhona or Tataru's attempts at being an arcanist.) So if that's the route your friend wants to go, then it could be that they believed their Summoner's crystal to be the catalyst behind summoning a carbuncle, which is otherwise generically not sentient or sapient or having any personality of its own. The ones that misbehave seem to be more of an indicator that the summoner hasn't quite mastered summoning, from my interpretation of the lore. And in that sense, a Summoner's crystal may have helped fill in some of those blanks.

 

For a personal take on the lore, I feel like the Arcanists' Guild would recommend studying up on the basics, as that's the foundation for summoning a carbuncle. Egi's are like the leftover essence of a primal that the Echo-enabled Warrior of Light (or people around them) soaked in and formed back into -something- they could summon, which is why you don't see a lot of summoners, even after its semi-revival. And a Scholar's faerie is effectively tied to their crystal, but that doesn't quite relate to how an Arcanist casts. (This is sorta in the same vein of thought that what our character learns is not the definitive or "best" or "more accurate" version of a magic. We are very much learning City Brand <class> by <school>, effectively.) So I think you'd have some leeway here to sort out story details in a manner that will be satisfying to both you and your friend.