How does magica work ?

[Dalex]

The following is a conversation you can hold with Raya-O-Senna following the level 60 WHM quest. (No worries, no spoilers). It details the advent of the Black and White Magic schools, though what schools of magic may have existed before this time, I cannot say; but it's fair to assume that certain techniques may have been lost and rediscovered many times over the eras.


What is White Magic?

A curious question from one who has borne witness to the tragedy of Amdapor with her own eyes. What is white magic, indeed? Very well. I shall give you my answer, that you might judge for yourself how it compares to your own.

The art now known as white magic dates back to the Fifth Astral Era. It was then that a brilliant young sorceress─for the first time in history─succeeded in channeling not merely her own life energy, but the aether that inhabits the very land itself. Her magic was that of destruction: black magic. The people of Amdapor felt this power was too great to be allowed to go unchecked, and so it was that white magic─the magic of healing and solace─was born. So it was that the forces of magic were brought into equilibrium, and civilization flourished. But this era of peace and prosperity would prove short-lived. War broke out, and the realm was thrown into chaos. The War of the Magi. To rain death and destruction on their foes, mages summoned forth greater and greater powers. The war raged on, until the aether dried, and the land itself could bear the burden no longer. So did the hubris of magi bring forth the Sixth Umbral Era...and with it a mighty flood that swept away entire civilizations, leaving naught but ruin and suffering in its wake. The survivors─what few there were─banded together. Vowing never again to repeat their mistake, white and black magic were declared forbidden arts, never to be practiced again. The elementals of the forest, knowing that men could not be trusted to keep such vows, took action as well. The Twelveswood grew, swallowing the ruins of Amdapor, and the power of white magic was sealed away deep in the forest, far from the reach of mortals. Ages passed, until five centuries ago, the elementals at long last welcomed people back into the forest. So the nation of Gridania was founded, and my people─the Padjal─came into being, to serve as mediators between elementals and those who would reside in their forest home. It is from the elementals themselves that we inherited white magic.

In any case, living beings generate aetheric energy as a natural byproduct, the excess bleeding off into the environment, and still larger chunks dispersing into the flow of the Lifestream, generating currents and forming deposits of crystals and ceruleum. The pure energy can take on different elemental aspects, almost like a "flavor", but at the basic levels it is all the same: it is just easier for aspected aether to manipulate its prospective element. That being said, I don't think that when you use a spell, that you are creating that phenomena from pure energy; instead you are using that energy to effect the phenomena from already present components (condensing water from humidity in the atmosphere, building a voltage between two points to create lightning).

Though yes, in-game play ignores the fact that there's probably not any rocks for a white mage to use on a boat out at sea. Compromises.

Though I do still get peeved when something major happens (like a major character being badly injured or killed), and I as a White Mage can't use Revive or Benediction on them when I CAN CLEARLY STILL SAVE THEM.

[Didimiaou]

Ah ! That's the kind of answer i'm waiting for ! Thank you Dalex !

[Didimiaou]

No more info on other mage ? Like blm ?

[WhiteArchmage]

Black Mage was kind of answered in Dalex's post, as well. Shatotto eventually discovered how to channel her own aether, along with that of her surroundings, to power her spells. The lore on the Black Mages is tied to Mhach which, only having done BLM up to 50 so far, I can't really say much.

I've always thought the aether in XIV close to the Mist in XII: it's everywhere, you absorb it just by walking and any magic effect is just careful manipulation of it. Even the Espers in XII and the egis in XIV are kind of similar; in XII, you deplete your mist reserves (MP in XII) to summon an Esper after you defeat it, while you only use up a relatively small amount in XIV to summon your egi (lore-wise, it's your aether shaped into a form similar to said primal).

[myahele]

In regards to ACN:

“Adepts of the art of arcanum derive their might from symbols of power born of geometric techniques hailing from across the southern seas. Held within occult grimoires, these symbols lend shape to the arcanist's aether, thereby allowing him to produce myriad powerful spells.
Using the selfsame symbols to unlock the latent power contained within gemstones, arcanists are also able to summon forth the familiar known as Carbuncle to carry out their bidding.”

In other words they use aether around them and funnel that aether into their books. That book has an "algorithm" that then shapes/programs it into a carbuncle. Additionally, gemstones contain "power" which explains why carbuncles are all named after the gemstones used in their creation. Additionally, THM/BLM use gemstones in their weapons to channel aether.

When they're finished with Carbuncle that aether is dissipated back into the land

SCH and SMN operate under the same principal due to their base as an ACN, but there are differences on the top of my head:

SCH:
Unlike Carbuncles; Faeries are permanent and are bound into their respective soul crystal. Think of them as a more advanced carbuncle especially since they'll retain all the knowledge of their previous scholar to wield them

SMN:
You summon forth the egi/essence of the primal and beat it into submission.

In either case, the amount of aether capacity/reserve you have is important. You need to have at least enough just to be able to cast spells as seen with one of the THM brothers who wanted to become a THM like the rest, but lack the aether capacity to even cast a fire spell.

Due to that, it seems like there are people that simply cant become mages

[WyrahFhurrst]

“Adepts of the art of arcanum derive their might from symbols of power born of geometric techniques hailing from across the southern seas. Held within occult grimoires, these symbols lend shape to the arcanist's aether, thereby allowing him to produce myriad powerful spells.
Using the selfsame symbols to unlock the latent power contained within gemstones, arcanists are also able to summon forth the familiar known as Carbuncle to carry out their bidding.”

So is Arcamina from Meracydia? As far as I know, it's the only continent that we know of that fits the bill.

[Belhi]

So is Arcamina from Meracydia? As far as I know, it's the only continent that we know of that fits the bill.

Originally? Its probably hard to be sure. After all Summoning is an art that works on the same principles and it originate from Allag. It could still do so, but its hard to be sure since we don't know where Nym and Allag got the knowledge originally.

[myahele]

So is Arcamina from Meracydia? As far as I know, it's the only continent that we know of that fits the bill.

Hard to say, since we know NIN, CNJ, PGL, THM, PGL and other class/ jobs are mobs in Allagan Dungeons like Fractal Continuum/ Research Facility. The fact that their called by their class names and implies that they're atleast as old as the Allagan Empire.

Since the Summoning was specifically invented by the Allagans I am more inclined to think that Aramina is what summoning eventually became due to people actively hunting and killing summoners after Allag's fall.

From what I remember Lalafells originally lived on islands within the Southern Seas and Mhachi apparently had an aliance with them against Nym

[Noka]

OKAY LET'S DO THIS. We've already talked about WHM/BLM, so let me talk about the stuff I know: SCH/SMN. Double posting because of the word limit.

Scholars originate from Nym and Nymian powers; their idea is one of healing and protection, and their summons can persist based on their soulstone. Because of this, their fairies are intricately linked to their soulstones, and while it's possible to summon one without a soulstone, it could take years of research on Nymian techniques; the fairies are basically something uniquely born of Nymian magic. All the Nymian magic learned in-story is mainly healing and shielding; in other words, most of its aims are around structure and protection, as well as cleansing. We see members of the Nym in the level 50-60 quest, which I don't remember off the top of my head, but most of Nymian philosophy is arcane magicks that prioritize protecting those around you, rather than damaging. Their major element is Wind. (The green glow while casting shows this.)

[Noka]

Summoner:
Primals must be fought to be a summoner; the idea is that when a primal dies, anyone nearby is soaked in the resultant aether. Once any prospective summoner has gained a touch of the primal's aether, they're able to summon an egi of that primal from that aether,. Once defeated, that primal is dominated by the Summoner; this allows them to summon them at will. However, the current maximum of egis is 3. To compensate, Summoners are able to enter a Trance state based upon the power of a primal. The example we see in-game is Bahamut, who touched everyone with his aether due to the Calamity. In theory, this can be done with any primal, but Bahamut was the most powerful at the time, and thus is the one that was picked. (Warring Triad Trances in the future? )

We know all of their spells originate from Allag and have been gleaned from Tomestones, so it's most likely still along the lines of ACN: arcane geometry guiding their abilities.