Aether

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Originally Posted by Keroa

And if Aether manipulation is possible(magic etc) would it be possible, given enough focus and knowledge to steal the Aether out of a living being? as you watch Ultima weapon do to the primals? And considering tha ether is the life sustaining force on the planet, if one were to remove all of their Aether, is it safe to assume that their body would shut down(die)?

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If I recall the THM quest line (one of my fav), it revolves around the leader of the THM guild's brother Cocobusi being possessed by a demon Mormo. Mormo was running around (in Cocobusi's body) sucking the aether out of THMs and leaving a string of dead bodies in her wake (to regenerate into her true form). I think that answers your question on sucking aether out of people.

Also corrupted aether seems to be the real world version of radiation.

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Originally Posted by Keroa

And is it possible for Aether to become corrupt? or void aspected?

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It is! If I remember correctly, the main questline leading up to fighting Garuda mentions this. Specifically when you go to The Burning Wall, they mention that the crystals there are corrupted aether. I cannot remember if the other locations are corrupted crystals too. The ones at Burning Wall are either from the piece of Dalamud that crashed into it (and collided with the aetherial gate there) or Bahamut spewing aether all over the damn place.

I'd recommend this discussion about the void. I like the theory that the Void is its own form of aether just not of this realm.

And to make longer posts, write it in notepad or something, post the first few lines, then edit to post the rest.

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Originally Posted by Keroa

I am an curious about the monks questline. does anyone have any more information on how monks channel their Aether?

And is it possible for Aether to become corrupt? or void aspected?

And if Aether manipulation is possible(magic etc) would it be possible, given enough focus and knowledge to steal the Aether out of a living being? as you watch Ultima weapon do to the primals? And considering tha ether is the life sustaining force on the planet, if one were to remove all of their Aether, is it safe to assume that their body would shut down(die)?

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Magis did a good job covering this some already but I'll also elaborate.

Not much is said in the quests about how exactly monks channel the aether/chakra, other than generally training at locations where great battles once took place in the past. Would that we had more details, but that's all we've got there.

For crystals, in addition to the examples of the corrupt crystals at the Burning Wall/Pharos Sirius/etc, from v1.0 there were also specific items called deaspected and overaspected crystals, which I suppose could be interpreted as void aspected in a way.

Magis brought up the THM questline for draining the aether of a living being but the CNJ quests also touch on this. Sylphie conjures curative magic from her own life force rather than borrowing from nature's aether reserves, which is said to be endangering her life (and was the cause of her mother's death as well). So you're pretty spot on there. The only thing I'd point out is that the primals are a little different as they're made of pure manifested aether, and can just be resummoned after they "die", but they do cease to exist for a time anyways until that resummoning happens.

The very nature of aether it seems goes beyond being just mere 'life energy' - from info it seems that it is essentially the very energy of creation itself - the main 1.0 storyline pretty much stated this flat out, specifically talking about crystals, but by extension aether, particularly in crystal form, has the literal 'power to create', as mentioned here in this 1.0 storyline quest scene:

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Originally Posted by version 1.0 main scenario quest 'Toll of the Warden

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

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and

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Originally Posted by version 1.0 main scenario quest 'Toll of the Warden'

Nananoby: "While not as rare, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would not attest to the fact that crystals are often deemed more precious than even mythril. It is their power to create that makes them so valuable. There is a place in Mor Dhona called Silvertear Falls where crystals lie strewn about the land. However the corrupted wastes are crawling with Garleans, not to mention preternaturally strong beasts, driven mad by the land's taint."

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This also neatly explains why the Primals require not only aether and crystals to exist, but also worship, as well as how beings like Good King Moggle Mog the XIIth, even an ACN's Carbuncle can exist despite not being a Primal - with enough aether/crystals and a strong enough will a person could make even the most abstract or intangible desire corporeal. Pretty much, a 'wish made manifest'.

Coincidentally, this could also explain how Disciples of the Hand actually 'craft' - despite appearances and the tools they're equipped with, they're actually not making an item by hand, but instead employ a magical shortcut using a crystal to basically 'will' that item into existence from raw materials, hence the term 'synthesis' (this also why crafting requires the use of a crystal) - this was actually how it was explained in FFXI (where synthesis indeed showed the player seeming to throw the ingredients together into a formless spinning mass in the air while they 'crafted', rather than using tools).

Of course this raises questions as to why Disciples of the Hand still require tools to be equipped, but it's possible they use a tool as some kind of conduit for the required thoughts or desire to make the object. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. :)

We also know that aether has a physical substance... there's an aether pump under the lighthouse at Pharos thingie, and no one would build such a thing unless aether could be pumped.

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Originally Posted by Enkidoh

This also neatly explains why the Primals require not only aether and crystals to exist, but also worship, as well as how beings like Good King Moggle Mog the XIIth, even an ACN's Carbuncle can exist despite not being a Primal - with enough aether/crystals and a strong enough will a person could make even the most abstract or intangible desire corporeal. Pretty much, a 'wish made manifest'.

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Oh goodness, this is actually an aspect of Crystals I have not even thought to question, as well as a door to more questions, I am still curious as to how crystals are formed. I know how they form in our world, but I wonder if the process would be similar?
Also: how would you think, if a persons Aether has become corrupted, to purify that coruption? Assuming any new Aether introduced would also become corrupted and ultimately take it's toll on the body (like what you see in Pharos sirius)

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Originally Posted by gornotck

I guess the real question is: why does Eorzea have more aether than the rest of the world?

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Honestly? It's because Eorzea is the setting of the game and it's special because it is. We haven't really been given a better answer other than that, as of yet. :/

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Originally Posted by Keroa

Oh goodness, this is actually an aspect of Crystals I have not even thought to question, as well as a door to more questions, I am still curious as to how crystals are formed. I know how they form in our world, but I wonder if the process would be similar?
Also: how would you think, if a persons Aether has become corrupted, to purify that coruption? Assuming any new Aether introduced would also become corrupted and ultimately take it's toll on the body (like what you see in Pharos sirius)

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Well, it could be as simple as being akin to amber, which is just hardened/fossilized tree sap. Aether is exposed to the elements and just hardens in reaction to its environment.

We see in the portion of the main scenario just before Garuda that exposing overaspected aether to a source of aether has major effects on the source. It could be, again, something as simple as a treatment of overaspected crystals of the element that you are corrupt by. However, if aether poisoning/sickness is anything like radiation poisoning (as the game parallels us to), that stuff is going to have some pretty wicked effects on the body, and adding more aether to the mix is only going to make things worse (like trying to fight off radiation with radiation). If a person's own well of aether is corrupt, you could probably kiss that person, as you know them, goodbye.

I can't help but think of the Aether as being akin to the Lifestream from FFVII. Some people in Eorzea also refer to it as such, so maybe it functions in much the same way. In VII, people's souls return to the lifestream and turn into another life form somewhere else down the line. In that sense it was a metaphysical thing. But, we know that the Lifestream also had a physical manifestation, which was evidenced when Cloud fell into the lifestream and also Shinra pumping the lifestream out to use as energy (Mako). If Aether and Lifestream/Mako are analogous, then perhaps it behaves in the same way. It is a spiritual/metaphysical font of energy that courses throughout the planet, but also has a physical manifestation that can be tapped and used as energy. Crystalized Aether then would be like VII's materia, condensed, concentrated Mako energy.

Of course....if it is radioactive and functions like that.....are we equipping ourselves with the equivalent of uranium and plutonium? O.o

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Originally Posted by Kicha

Of course....if it is radioactive and functions like that.....are we equipping ourselves with the equivalent of uranium and plutonium? O.o

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Soooooort of. Aether is funny in that your own personal wells of aether can affect your surroundings, albeit in very minute ways. We see this with spiritbonding gear, where gear is so transfused with your own aether that it can turn into a crystallized version of itself. The materia goblin in Central Thanalan actually implies that these items hit a critical point of aether overflow that they convert themselves into materia, though I think SE gave us the choice to convert so we don't just automatically lose gear at 100% spiritbond. This crystalline manifestation of personal aether can then be infused with (and removed from) other items through melding. Think of materia as personal crystals/shard/clusters, though they are arguably less pure due to being a by-product of a by-product (crystals as a result of aether run-off from a source that is, itself, a form of aether run-off from the Lifestream).

The other way you can see this is through Aetherial gear. Gear that has been worn, used, and abused, and, more importantly, bonded to its owner through spiritbonding. However, these items are such that they haven't hit the point of conversion when they were suddenly cut off from their source of aether (their owners died). That aether then does sort of the same thing materia does, in that it continued to enrich the item is was infused with of its own accord. That is why we see stat increases on Aetherial gear over what we normally see, similar to materia, which does the same thing.

There may be other game aspects that we can attribute to personal aether, such as light/full party stat bonuses (aether resonating with other, similarly strong sources) or even the Echo (seeing as it is evidenced that two individuals [unnamed for main scenario spoiler purposes] are noted, or implied, as being aether-friendly).

This brings up an interesting point in that those who do not possess strong aether wells are likely incapable of spiritbonding gear. Namely, most ordinary citizens of Eorzea. It seems materia and Aetherial gear is actually kind of rare. Now I'm wondering how strong aether/anima pools come about in a person. Is it hereditary? Random occurrence? Divine intervention? Maybe environmental exposure....hmmm....

On the topic of aether, these thoughts about magic have been on my mind for a while, though I don't think it is a concept big enough to warrant its own thread: When you cast magic, does the swirly effects around you imply the elemental aspect of the spell you are casting?

I'm fairy sure we do not have any lore on this, but this has always been my assumption.
For example, when casting aero - green lights up around you, green being the "air" element. Fire has red lights around you - red being indicative of the fire element. When casting magick, we are "borrowing" aether - perhaps we are borrowing aether aligned to a specific element, and these casting animations are showing this.

So, are the swirly lights around you "aether"? When it's white/rainbow, such as when casting ruin, is that indicative of a non-elemental spell?

This makes me wonder, is "cure" a wind-based magic because of the green? Is flare really non-elemental? Why do the fairies use lightning-based healing magics (they have purple swirls)?

Also, the types of swirls seem to be indicative of the type of spell being formed - straight up lines - attack spells. Spiralling lines - healing spells. A circle with crystals - summoning spell. Random "pyre fly"-type lines around the caster - enhancing spell (like protect and stoneskin). Of course, this pattern isn't always correct - the fairies always have the "healing spell" type animation but not all their magick heals the player - some enhance.