Can Someone be a Self-Serving White Mage?

[YesGood]

Ahhh, Scholars are another one I wonder about. I mean 'scholar' itself, and what they did for Nym doesn't seem like it should be restricted to a place; it's fairly general.

 

“In an age long past, when mankind flourished under the radiance of arcane mastery, the island of Vylbrand was home to a city-state called Nym. Though the history of that age tells of countless wars waged with earth-shattering incantations, it was the brilliant strategic maneuvering of Nym's scholars that allowed their mundane army of mariners to throw back would-be conquerers time and again. These learned men and women defended the freedom of their tiny nation with their unique command over spell-weaving faeries, utilizing the creatures' magicks to heal the wounded and bolster the strength of their allies.”

 

 

But their method includes fairies. I don't know how exclusive that might be. I mean, a scholar/magic user might be from anywhere and I'm sure they've since dispersed to other places in Eorzea and could teach what they know. I assume they know some spells of their own but I imagine most of what they do is like Orihime from BLEACH; their power lies in their relationship with the fairies they use.

 

 

 

I notice that in a lot of these Game Descriptions, it includes 'In an age long past' 'A long time ago' etc. and that gives me the impression you could pick it up from someone, virtually anywhere, so long as you had the mind to dedicate to it.

 

 

If I rolled a Scholar character, I'd probably have a character with an initial lust for knowledge, who learned as much as they could as an Arcanist before witnessing a Scholar in action and begging to be taught.

 

 

I -like- making my classes make sense and FFXIV gives you the beeeaaautiful capacity right there in the mechanics to start a character off as a gladiator or a conjurer or an arcanist or any of the starting classes and finding an RPer who's more advanced to teach you their skill. I haven't gotten a chance to do this but if, by some slim... slim hope... Miqo'tes get a little less popular and, say, Siobhain dies (*knocks on wood*) I'd probably take this route and seek out RPers who are playing advanced classes as their main class. There's not really a shortage of them, so much as people who are actually RPing anything to do with a class and not a merchant or a dancer or a general mercenary.

 

While on one hand I don't see everyone as being a novice at everything unless they're rather young and naive, on the other hand I always get a nice sense of validation and development by starting out with a young or otherwise inexperienced character and finding others to help me develop throughout the course of the game rather than coming in, on like Sio, and feeling obligated to at least get to a level where I -am- a Paladin, in some form of Paladin gear before I start strutting around and calling myself one.

 

My main downfall is that I wrote waaaaay too much about her. She's extremely detailed for one of my characters.

 

@ Iseldia: 'While I don't normally want to be a "sparkly magic special person" I will still be making her a White Mage at some point, regardless of how restricted and rare they are "supposed" to be.'

 

I hope I didn't put the thought in your head that you have to be or not be super, special, or sparkly. I mean, obviously I didn't because you're going to do it, but I've said before and I'll say again-- Don't let the lore-fanatics tell you what to do. The lore is great, it's enjoyable, it's helpful, but what it's -not- is refined. As many pitfalls as we find in the lore and as many dead ends as there are, not completely covering all there is that we want to know, this isn't a game like WoW where you get definitive answers for any tiny questions anyone might have. People are forced to resort to using the skeleton of lore that we've been offered to -try- and disprove or validate ideas but most often we resort to real life and what we know and relating past experiences from reality or other games to this one. It doesn't always work out well.

 

So I'm glad you're choosing to do one, knowing full well how rare they may (or may not, considering how many I've seen so far) be. No one should let the opinions of others scare them out of doing what they want to do and finding the most logical course of action for it.

[FreelanceWizard]

Though that raises a whole 'nother can of worms, when one wonders whether Scholars are exclusively from Nym? It seems like any place that has access to Arcanima and Conjury would be able to pull it off, but the background lore goes into rather exhaustive detail about Nym. Which, from what I can understand, is still around and not an Imperial territory... 

 

One of the complications you may have unintentionally raised here is that the lore of the actual job quest line doesn't always line up with the lore on the site. As others mentioned, there's a lot of "a long time ago" or "in ages past" in the main site lore; that tells me that while, yes, the Scholar came into being in Nym, how a current PC becomes one isn't necessarily "go to Nym and learn from the masters there." It's much how you needn't go to Japan to learn how to make sushi, or travel to Southern California to learn how to write software.

 

All that said, the important thing is that you have a narrative conceit that's compatible with lore for how your character knows what he knows. Learning the ways of a Scholar from a current Garlean, for example, wouldn't be lore-compatible due the Garleans' well-known ineptitude with magic (at the very least). Learning it from a traveling mystic, however, would be, as would be a "genericized" version of the actual SCH quest.

[Cota Orben]

I'd sort of addressed the ineptitude already; my character, and his friend, are both from occupied territories. They're not of significant rank within the army, in fact their main goal is to serve as more or less bounty hunters. The current RP hook I've worked out with -another- mutual friend is that they're trying to hunt her character down because she's a member of an influential family who fled to avoid submitting to brainwashing. 

 

Which is how this character can do Arcanima in the first place. I'd played around with the idea of having him be a Thaumaturge, then nixed it because my friend's going to be one, who used some sort of Magitek device to simulate Thamaturgy, but I don't think the same logic would work for Arcanima. So no pure blooded Garlean heritage. 

 

((And to be quite honest, from a completely OOC standpoint, I want to play a healer/support person. I like the idea of coordinating attacks with the DPS instead of trying to out-flash them, and the idea of a Lalafell tank is somewhat hilariously adorable))

[Jove]

And I'm not sure what they did. Like I said, I'm thinking immortality. The only other thing I could imagine doing with White Magic is necromancy but I haven't seen any such thing relating to that so I doubt it even exists. I also imagine torturing people to death and rezzing them over and over again until they forfeit. That's a way to abuse dem White Mage powers!

 

It's interesting that you mention Necromancy, because you're right I haven't seen it mentioned any where either, but you only have to go to the Deepcroft to see the undead shambling about.

 

Restless spirits, trapped in a corporeal form maybe, but it seems likely they were raised by Cthulhu's son and his cultists, which makes me wonder if corrupted white magic was used to raise these dead. After all, healers can use the raise spell on the almost dead, so what happens if a particularly powerful mage forces it on the long dead?

Is it possible that white magic becomes corrupted when used for unnatural purposes? I could easily see the corrupted white mages of old drawing on the aether to extend their physical life, or to bring loved ones back from the dead, like you say.

 

(Torture is also a good suggestion! Fling a man with Aero, break his bones every time he's smashed against the wall while slinging cures at him. Gruesome)

 

I didn't realize that there were undead about! I haven't gotten far enough in. So yes, very likely, that could be connected too! Interesting...

 

They gave a dark side to those chubby little Lalafell with their white robes on.

 

(I can see you and I are going to get along.)

 

Oh yes, you can find them in Thanalan too! Where you go to face a certain Primal for the first time. Probably a few other places, but I need to level up also so I can go exploring. After all, Logan is the sort to seek out ancient ruins and recover long forgotten trea-archaeological relics, so he'll probably encounter these kinds of things fairly often.

 

Also Lalafell are always sinister. Always.

 

(A friendship forged by the abuse of arcane arts, necromancy and torture. Awesome :moogle: )

 

Raya-O-Senna tells you that Succor (White Magic) is every bit as destructive as Black Magic when it's misused.

 

However, I don't think it has anything to do with Necromancy or raising the long dead.  There's nothing about the spell Raise or the lore surrounding it (via the Conjurer questline) to suggest that it's more than something that brings you back from the brink of death.  I honestly don't believe that it would work on something that was actually dead.

 

E-Sumi-Yan tells you that Conjurers draw upon the power of the elements and nature for their abilities.  Apparently Conjurers access a part of Succor, but are restricted by the Elementals.  White Mages can access the full power of Succor.

 

E-Sumi also tells you that the power Conjurers draw upon cannot be taken, only borrowed, and must be returned.  Others have speculated (in other threads) that the power the Conjurers are drawing from is the Aether streams, though they know it by another name.  If we follow that line of speculation, then White Mages would be drawing even harder on that same power source.

 

This is a very interesting point, and reminds me of an FF staple that I completely forgot about.

 

White magic is super effective on the undead, in previous games, cure would do a decent amount of damage and a phoenix down (a potion that revives party members) would in most cases kill them outright.

I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that this staple is in FFXIV, but it's a pretty consistent theme throughout the game, along with the magic which you can read about here.

 

There's not really much lore for it though, they're just another form of monster, although in FFVII you encounter a group of vengeful spirits who didn't merge back into the lifestream when they died, which is more or less how a lot of general fantasy zombies and ghosts are created.

But this does make me think in regards to what LiadansWhisper said above, it makes me think that Conjurers and White Mages have to maintain a balancing act of receiving and giving back to the aether, which doesn't take much speculation to see why white magic would be so powerful against the undead, because the undead seem to be in direct conflict with maintaining the aether (all take, take, take and no giving back).

Of course that's assuming the undead are inhabited by souls from the aether and not just a kind of puppet. Also there's nothing in FFXIV to support any of this, including game mechanics... but I find this whole concept pretty interesting to think about.

 

However it throws the whole necromancy thing out of the window, which begs more questions such as which field of magic could be responsible for that, unless it's a naturally occurring event.

 

But hey the torture is still valid! I also think LiadansWhisper hit the nail on the head with the whole 'too many White Mages drawing on the aether would create a barren landscape' in regards to what harm white magic could do. It's easy to see a cataclysmic event arising from a whole nation of people constantly rejuvenated by white magicks only for the earth beneath them to die.

 

Which again, leads back to the whole "Can white magic prolong someone's life unnaturally?". If not, then that's the limitation of White Mages today, if yes, then we're going back into necromancy territory.

 

The reason I say today, is because I think it's important to take a history lesson here. Current White Mages from Gridania are not the same as the White Mages from 3000 years a go, during the Fifth Astral Era.

The Fifth Astral Era is said to have begun approximately three millennia ago. The ice age that ushered in the Fifth Umbral Era made the land a barren and merciless place, and man was pushed to the limits of his resourcefulness in the struggle to survive. Yet survive he did, through the discovery of magic as we know it - an event which marked the dawning of the Fifth Astral Era.

 

At first, man was well pleased just to keep the cold at bay and compete with the other races. But man is nothing if not an ambitious beast. It was not long before he sought mightier magicks, hoping to win greater glory. It was this desire that brought forth black magic, the arcane art of destruction, into the world. In order that this force of chaos be kept in check and balance preserved, at roughly the same point in history, white magic, the arcane art of succor, came into existence.

 

Emboldened by magic, man went on to reach the zenith of glory. But his hunger knew no bounds. Over time, even they who donned the white began perverting their powers for the sake of self-gain, and in this single minded pursuit scrupled not to sully the sanctity of the Twelveswood. In his pride and avarice, man brought down the wrath of the Elementals upon himself. A great deluge was sent to cleanse the land of his wicked presence, in the wake of which the forest rose to swallow up all that was not washed away. Thus did the Sixth Umbral Era begin.

 

This is my theory. Current White Mages trained by the Padjal are given their power through the Elementals, it's the Elementals that keep them in check so a White Mage can't abuse their power. What kind of powers? No one actually knows, except beings that have been around for thousands of years (such as the Elementals and other ancient beings).

I'm thinking though, that before white magic was regulated, back 3000 years a go, when White Mages would just draw their power recklessly from the aether, things such as necromancy, prolonging life, preventing souls from going back to the aether etc were possible. The spells and the knowledge of this however have been lost to time, except to a few.

 

This is why White Mages don't have this kind of power now (e.g Raise only working on the still living), the Elementals would never allow it, even hint of it's existence because they full well know the devastation it causes. However, ancient and dark beings (such as the summoned Cthulhu faced cultist) know of these powers and actively use them, which gets us his undead guards.

 

It's the same as the difference between modern Scholars and the Scholars from Nym, the modern day examples are similar, but different from their origins.

 

(Sorry for the convoluted wall of text, but I've been reading up on this as I was writing this post and this is pretty much my thought process.

 

And yeah, reading it now I feel like conspiracy theorist - Those Elementals, hiding dem truths!)

 

Anyway, to go back on topic (sorry OP) I think Scholar is a good choice! You've got a book to write down all of those bounty contracts and a fairy, which will put people off guard.

 

As for being a Garlean, I think you shouldn't have any trouble there. It's not unreasonable for Garlemalde to have families that emigrated there long before the Empire and hell, it's only most pure blooded Garleans that have an ineptitude for magic, so even if you had a little Garlean blood in you, it doesn't completely rule out magic.

 

Also I'm pretty certain it's only conscripts from conquered lands that have a sort of brainwashing happen to them (although I don't know what kind of brainwashing, or even if that's the right word, it could just be an onslaught of patriotic propaganda) and I believe it was only Nael van Darnus that introduced his men of the VIIth Legion to slaughtering an animal each day (because to be totally honest, 75000ish animals being slaughtered each day seems a bit ridiculous, and it was probably just Nael's front line troops).

 

I know you didn't mention the above, but they get thrown out a lot when Garlean lore comes up and personally, I think of Garlemalde being made up by your average none evil citizens. I mean just imagine, you live in a backwards country that suddenly is boosted by all of these technological advancements, lives become less of a hardship, there's industry, growth, a sense of purpose. Of course they'd elect the man who made it all happen and of course they'd rally behind him if he said Primals were evil (big scary monsters, of course he's right!) and that other nations are holding Garlemalde back, or that we need the space or need to enlighten them (we have magitek, we're the best!).

My only advice for RPing a Garlean is maybe to be subtle about it, even a Garlean citizen with no military background would probably be a target for a lynch mob in some parts of Eorzea and I'm certain they'd know it.

[Cota Orben]

Jove, 

 

I'm sorry to respond to only -one- bit of this amazing post (I'm framing it, I really am) but I read it at a bad time... as in, one foot out the door for a night class. My friend and I are, of course, going to be very subtle about things; only going after targets in full hoods and cloaks and masks, unless they're absolutely certain they can win. 

 

As for the fairies, Selene's going to come in really handy with silencing their target, who's a mage. 

 

I'd been sort of jumping between Summoner and Scholar for a bit, but your post clinched it. If Garleans think Primals are evil, even a deep cover one wouldn't summon an Egi. Hell, his best friend was nearly killed in the Calamity.

[Jove]

Jove, 

 

I'm sorry to respond to only -one- bit of this amazing post (I'm framing it, I really am) but I read it at a bad time... as in, one foot out the door for a night class. My friend and I are, of course, going to be very subtle about things; only going after targets in full hoods and cloaks and masks, unless they're absolutely certain they can win. 

 

As for the fairies, Selene's going to come in really handy with silencing their target, who's a mage. 

 

I'd been sort of jumping between Summoner and Scholar for a bit, but your post clinched it. If Garleans think Primals are evil, even a deep cover one wouldn't summon an Egi. Hell, his best friend was nearly killed in the Calamity.

 

No problem! I quite like the idea of masked bounty hunters (and there's some pretty good in game masks to RP that).

 

I came to the same conclusion a while a go when I read the Summoner's description, I mean if the Garlean command found a soldier within their ranks attempting to perform such magic, I'm sure it would be a show trial and charges of treason. I wouldn't be surprised if that soldier was betrayed by his comrades out of sheer fear of anything even remotely affiliated to the Primals, no matter the circumstances (tempering is a scary enough prospect as it is).

 

Anyway I should really emphasize that whole section I wrote about White Mages was a complete ramble and mostly my opinion on the subject, so take it with a grain of salt.

[Ferus Ironlash]

I'm Devin's dragoon buddy that he mentioned before, and I have to agree with him. I love you guys. Lore discussion like this is always awesome, plus it gives me ideas if I ever get around to making a caster alt.

 

And yeah, I'd also like to reiterate that our character's won't be outing themselves as Garleans. Their cover is that they're mercenary adventurers/petty criminals.

[LiadansWhisper]

I'm Devin's dragoon buddy that he mentioned before, and I have to agree with him. I love you guys. Lore discussion like this is always awesome, plus it gives me ideas if I ever get around to making a caster alt.

 

And yeah, I'd also like to reiterate that our character's won't be outing themselves as Garleans. Their cover is that they're mercenary adventurers/petty criminals.

 

Having a cover is good!

[BlessedSilence]

I just finished becoming a white Mage today and the text I read seems they just don't give it out willy nilly. Even the NPCs were surprised an outsider was chosen to get the power. Makes me wonder if it is abused it will be taken away?

 

I built my character around becoming a white Mage. Hope you find your class!

[DAISHI]

You, my friend, have obviously never see the Slayers anime. Ruby eyed Shabranegdo amirite?

[Cota Orben]

So, new developments from the Scholar personal story. 

 

 

Apparently the fairy that you summon is one, specific individual that suffers from some sort of amnesia (Which is why you don't get access to all of the super fun abilities from the get-go). Also, I'm not really sure but it looks like one fairy just... turns into the other? At least there's a scene where Eos, the healing fairy, seems to switch over into Selene, the support fairy. 

 

Now, Nym sort of... got itself wrecked about fifteen hundred years ago, so I don't think I have to worry about the faeries naturally hating the Garleans or their allies, if they're even cognizant enough for political allegiance. Still no word as to whether or not they're primals. 

 

Also, to decipher the ancient scholar knowledge requires Nymian tablets, which are apparently suitably rare and expensive, since there's obviously no one living to impart the knowledge (Unless my character learns from a scholar, who learned from Nymian tablets).

 

 

Would it go amiss to have a character who, a few years after Carteneau, highway robbed a merchant who had the tablets with him, or did an archaeological dig at Nym or something to find some? He's a decent scholar now, in his mid to late twenties, but that's because I'm going for sort of a prodigy idea with him. 

 

Got to work out vulnerabilities then too. 

 

Speaking on it... does anyone know exactly when Lalafell are considered adults? All of the ones you meet in the game seem pretty old, except perhaps Tataru.

[LiadansWhisper]

You might want to put the questline info behind /spoiler tags.  :-\

[Cota Orben]

Done. My apologies.

[LiadansWhisper]

Done. My apologies.

 

Totally okay.  

 

As for your idea, I think it's perfectly plausible.  With regards to Lalafell, I think they age at the same rate as Hyur and but don't physically age once they reach adulthood.  So...18-20?