Egi Appearance

[Anonymoose]

My one beef with this idea, is if the primal exists through what the summoners believe... Why are the Sylphs so scared of Ramuh? He shouldn't come out crazy under them like Ifrit or Garuda do for their tribes.

If Catapult's idea is as similar to my musing from the other day as it sounds like, the answer to this would be that these things are not mutually exclusive. If this idea has any merit, then it is only the outward appearance and aspect that the primal takes that is influenced by the summoner - not their core essence. In fact, the core essence may simply be the survival instinct that comes with existing at all - consume aether, get more aether, manipulate or kill anything it takes to get more aether. This raw form, be it the survivalist husk or an actual consciousness, would be given form by its worshipers. For all we know, The Twelve were ancient Allag of great power and importance and we, by worshiping their memory, accidentally deified them and gave form to aetheric concentrations like these, effectively creating the Gods themselves.

This survival instinct is terrifying regardless of what you believe about the primal. You could believe your God is Fernehalwes but it doesn't make it any less scary when he shows up promising lore tomes in exchange for crystals and pelting you with them when your offerings are insufficient. See? Fernehalwes is awesome and you're covered in bruises / papercuts.

Likewise, if my theories hold true, the Ixal and Amal are crazy because their primal was summoned. As beings of concentrated aether, they give off a sort of aetheric vapor at all times (like the mist in FFXII). It is toxic in high concentrations and causes paranoia and violence. The Amal and Ixal weren't crazy until they summoned their primals. This aetheric toxicity's effects were only exacerbated by enduring the crippling co-dependence and abusive manipulation of their "gods."

[Lusavari]

Your theory is also consistent with what the Sylphs had to say. They always said that the scaled-ones and feathered-ones were not violent until after they called the Primals. Another thing, though, is that the Primal summons require large amounts of crystals to summon them. The official page says "In times immemorial, there lived mages who had not only the power to summon the primals, but also the means to transmute the primals' essences, thus binding them to their will." So transmute means to change the nature of something, and then they bind it to their will. So my line of thought is Summoners must acquire a fraction of the Primal's power, which they can then command.

Let's also think about weapon choices here... Traditionally in summoning mythologies, you see summoning circles, or patches on the ground made for summoning creatures. We start to see them appearing in X, but they also show up a lot after X. Let's assume that in XIV, the Summoning Circles don't magically appear as part of the spells (The Beast Tribes seem to like summoning in specific places and have what's needed for ceremonies out ahead of time). The books provide easily mobile summoning circles, and probably lesser consumption of summoning resources (Magic, crystals) which would explain a smaller size, and incomplete summon. I like to think though, what's being summoned is just their essence, which is then bound to a catalyst like a crystal, giving them shape.

[Akujin]

Your theory is also consistent with what the Sylphs had to say. They always said that the scaled-ones and feathered-ones were not violent until after they called the Primals. Another thing, though, is that the Primal summons require large amounts of crystals to summon them. The official page says "In times immemorial, there lived mages who had not only the power to summon the primals, but also the means to transmute the primals' essences, thus binding them to their will." So transmute means to change the nature of something, and then they bind it to their will. So my line of thought is Summoners must acquire a fraction of the Primal's power, which they can then command.

Let's also think about weapon choices here... Traditionally in summoning mythologies, you see summoning circles, or patches on the ground made for summoning creatures. We start to see them appearing in X, but they also show up a lot after X. Let's assume that in XIV, the Summoning Circles don't magically appear as part of the spells (The Beast Tribes seem to like summoning in specific places and have what's needed for ceremonies out ahead of time). The books provide easily mobile summoning circles, and probably lesser consumption of summoning resources (Magic, crystals) which would explain a smaller size, and incomplete summon. I like to think though, what's being summoned is just their essence, which is then bound to a catalyst like a crystal, giving them shape.

Or, perhaps more likely, binding them to our own aether/soul to sustain them. If the transmutation was to say, align the primals essence from ambient aether absorption to a specific type of aether, in this case, ours, it would then become a dependency type of situation. If the primal wishes to exist, it does our bidding, as we're giving it the sustenance it needs to exist at all in our world.

[Skies]

To note, Arcanist magic IS heavily dependant on geometrical shapes. That's been told to me in an Alchemist quest where you need to make a grimoire.
They really depend on special geometrical patterns drawn in enchanted paint, that is why they carry books full of them for more ease than requiring creation of those on the spot, also why grimoires are written with enchanted ink of various types, from silver-based ink to plant-based.

ALSO the usage of Egi... According to Fantasia it means 'To do, drive, lead', or to 'pass or spend time' in Latin... You know, saying "Ifrit Egi" would pretty much be the same as saying "Ifrit Driven" or "Ifrit Led", which is exactly where I think they went the "Powered by" sense of 'driven by'.

Of course i'm not sure if latin works that way but, it makes sense

[Fantasia]

ALSO the usage of Egi... According to Fantasia it means 'To do, drive, lead', or to 'pass or spend time' in Latin... You know, saying "Ifrit Egi" would pretty much be the same as saying "Ifrit Driven" or "Ifrit Led", which is exactly where I think they went the "Powered by" sense of 'driven by'.

Of course i'm not sure if latin works that way but, it makes sense

That makes the most sense out of any explanation of the word's usage I've come across; the pet being "driven by" the power of the relative Primal, tapping into its power, and not actually channelling from the Primal directly.

In a way I can kind of imagine the SMN pets being a kind of empty vessel, and that vessel only takes form once you've called upon the power of the Primal to 'complete' it. In a sense the pet could potentially be the same creature in every Egi state, but it's just being imbued with the essence of a different Primal whenever its summoned.

[Anonymoose]

Egi is the first-person singular active indicative of ago.

Ago can mean a lot more than is listed in this thread so far, including the to manage, to guide, to govern, to put forth, or to arouse (as in stir-up or conjure).

I think that makes perfect sense.