A question about conjury.

[LineageRazor]

I don't think that the Elementals directly provide conjury power. The reason the Conjurers of the Shroud need to gain the blessing of the Elementals is because the Elementals are essentially their landlords. Gridanians can't do ANYTHING without getting the Elementals' blessing first. Elementals are particularly touchy about white magic, though, given the disaster that happened in the war between the Amdapori and the Mhachans.

Conjury is powered by nature, and while the Elementals are "closer" to nature, they're not able to stop anyone from drawing upon natural forces. If you're in the Shroud, though, they ARE capable of punishing you if you use those forces inappropriately. (Well, maybe; the Elementals really don't seem to be all that active or powerful in ARR, at least compared to how they were in version 1.0.)

[Enkidoh]

I don't think that the Elementals directly provide conjury power. The reason the Conjurers of the Shroud need to gain the blessing of the Elementals is because the Elementals are essentially their landlords. Gridanians can't do ANYTHING without getting the Elementals' blessing first. Elementals are particularly touchy about white magic, though, given the disaster that happened in the war between the Amdapori and the Mhachans.

Conjury is powered by nature, and while the Elementals are "closer" to nature, they're not able to stop anyone from drawing upon natural forces. If you're in the Shroud, though, they ARE capable of punishing you if you use those forces inappropriately. (Well, maybe; the Elementals really don't seem to be all that active or powerful in ARR, at least compared to how they were in version 1.0.)

Except the level 1-30 CNJ quest line actually stated that to use Conjury you actually are directly calling upon the elementals to borrow their power (after all, what do you think are those coloured orbs that fly around your staff when Conjuring?). Also the elementals are not 'closer' to nature, they are nature, they are the natural world personified and given a will of it's own - a will that is actually beyond the comprehension of most mortals (this leads often to resentment when mortal needs and wants do not fit in with the needs and wants of the elementals).

Before you can use Conjury, you first have to accept the existence of the elementals and be open and accepting of their will - someone who is closed minded and refuses to accept their existence simply cannot conjure (this was Sylphie during the CNJ storyline - E Sumi Yan clearly stated she could not "conjure so much as a whiff of air or a single pebble" due to her stubborn refusal to hear the elementals, insisting instead of drawing on her own aether to heal people on a whim (essentially the traditional White Magic ability 'Sacrifice' from previous FF games), something that was slowly killing her. Once the player's character (under E Sumi's direction) finally made her let go of her stubborn pride and 'open her mind', she suddenly realized she could hear the voices of the elementals and accordingly could now Conjure spells effectively (you even train her how to do so).

Hence any npc that uses Conjury specifically would have to accept the elementals existence before they could cast Conjury - it's not just something anyone can do on a whim. And Sylphie's case is not isolated either - many Eorzeans (especially those from outside Gridania) regard the elementals as nothing but a myth at best and an outright lie employed by Gridania simply to control their population at worst, and it is these people who will never be able to use Conjury, because they are close minded and regard the elementals as a fairy tale, so of course the elementals are not going to give them the powers of nature at their disposal. This was a particular driving point of the original version 1.0 Gridania storyline especially.

And it should be noted that the elementals do not only exist in the Black Shroud, they exist in everything, even rocks, water, the air. For some reason they have always been more potent and powerful in the Black Shroud than anywhere else in Hydaelyn though.

So basically, to answer your question, anyone that uses Conjury has to be accepting of the will of the elementals - because the elementals have no concept of the idea of 'good' and 'evil', at least, in mortal terms, this is why you see antagonistic forces using Conjury, to the elementals the petty affairs of man are not their concern, only as long as those who want to use their power abide by their will and accept their existence will they then allow them to Conjure equally.