What kind of aetherical things or otherwise can people sense?

I've been wondering for awhile what types of things people can sense. We know that Hearers i.e people who can hear the elementals, but were not made a Padjal can sense where corrupted/tainted aether is. The Oracles of light can sense the direction of where a Lightwarden is. The Alchemists at the Great works can sense that Estinien has dragon blood in his veins. Even the Blessing of Light can be sensed. Both Ifrit and Garuda make comments about it. Garuda also makes it sound like it has a smell as she says something like "I know that foul stench".

Venat says she senses it on us when we meet her in Elpis. Then there's the whole thick and thinness of one's aether or of an area. As just about every researcher in Elpis sooner or later turns into a parent that's worried their child isn't eating enough and tries to thicken our aether. Elidibus when we accidentally call him hints that our aether doesn't ring any bells for him. Course this is most likely due to his memory being Swiss cheese.

Then there's the basics of conjurey. Where part of their whole thing is to help with cleansing tainted or corrupted aether in nature. Another example is Urianger is able to sense that Emet Selch when we meet him at the Crystarium after coming back from Il Megh initially is using an illusion.

I think for a lot of these it's probably along the lines of 'if you're trained to see it, you can'. The Hannish alchemists have a lot of firsthand experience with a dragon, so they can recognize that on someone else (while Ishgard probably couldn't because everyone they know has some of that so they can't see a difference). Ifrit, Garuda and Venat know what the Blessing of Light is and have different reasons they'd be specifically noticing it. This is pretty much the literal text around the conjruers and Hearers.

There's also some elements of people with extrasensory perceptions, though. The Padjali clearly have that going, as does Ryne regarding the Lightwardens.

I just find it funny if not odd that the first time we have anyone pick up on the whole your aether isn't like other people's when it comes to Ishgardians is that scene. And yes, I know that the devs probably didn't think of it or felt there would be a difference back in ARR and HW like a whole lot of things. Yet we don't get no one not even Lyse who seems to say things like "Oh I thought Ishgardians felt differently." as some kind of dad joke at some later point in time. And yet we knew even back then that having specialized blood was noticeable thanks to G'Raha. Then there's the whole 50-60 alchemy quest where we get told everyone's aether is different. At least when it comes to color.

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Originally Posted by SannaR

Then there's the whole 50-60 alchemy quest where we get told everyone's aether is different. At least when it comes to color.

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Which is actually also corroborated by how Emet's soul-sight is written, it's just that the Alchemist's Guild has figured out how to observe that without that sort of extra sight, which may or may not actually be held by post-sundering people anyway.

There's likely a trained way to sense it with a sort of, "Aether Sense." that the residents of Etheirys have. Like how Alphinaud has lines about sensing, "the swell of aether" as a trust and what not.

Then we've got a few pieces of tech that sort of put it in technological terms.

There's the device Nero had that looked like a compass mixed with a sonar mixed with something else. It could detect aether as a calculable number. The mechanism by which it does that is unknown, but most Magitek is electromagnetic (See Garlean Radios, Cid's mentioning of Lightning Aether etc.).

It could be that like birds, residents of Etheirys have lodestone in their heads or the special proteins in their eyes that allow them to see that magnetism (or aetherial field). Some have more, some have less, depending on idk, Dynamis Adaptations?

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Originally Posted by Cleretic

Which is actually also corroborated by how Emet's soul-sight is written, it's just that the Alchemist's Guild has figured out how to observe that without that sort of extra sight, which may or may not actually be held by post-sundering people anyway.

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We do have one example of a post sundered person who has that type of sight. Yet I'm not sure if it's due to who his great grandfather was or the resonate. That being Zenos. As near the beginning of meeting Fandaniel he makes the whole "that color" line. Even though we haven't seen any proof it could be how the Dotharl figure out who has been reincarnated.

I swear the Devs didn't know what they wanted that device to be as he opens it up and uses it to cut in and then have his chat with Cid before our fight with him in the Praetorium. A bit disappointed that it got dropped down into the ravine next to the Crystal Tower and was forgotten about.

Given that all of the Ancients seem to possess at least some capability to perceive the aether in the environment, I'd assume it's an innate human ability that was diluted by the Sundering.

Both Fordola and Zenos have an abnormally keen ability to perceive aether after the Resonant procedure so I further assume that ability is tied to the soul somehow.

I really wish the Echo hadn't just fallen by the wayside amidst all the other plot elements that were given increased focus...though I suppose they could still decide to do more with it going forward.