[SPOILERS] Revelations from Patch 3.3

[Vulcwen]

Definitely think what we've been doing is safe, as we're not wielding the auracite. But, if you noticed,

Regula did have Servant Enkindle as ability.. would that mean he, and his legion is developing methods to implement the arts of summoner in magitek? Without a natural ability to control aether, they can't attune to primal aether waves like we can, so that means it has to be stored in a way.. perhaps using auracite?
Also.. what thing was in Regula's weapon? If that was a primal's essence...

[Belhi]

Definitely think what we've been doing is safe, as we're not wielding the auracite. But, if you noticed,

Regula did have Servant Enkindle as ability.. would that mean he, and his legion is developing methods to implement the arts of summoner in magitek? Without a natural ability to control aether, they can't attune to primal aether waves like we can, so that means it has to be stored in a way.. perhaps using auracite?
Also.. what thing was in Regula's weapon? If that was a primal's essence...

I wondered that too. That was a rather strange thing he whipped out. Perhaps Garlemald has been experimenting themselves. Hell, that could be a reason for us going to Garlemald in a future expac.

[Theodric]

Well, if Eorzeans were the ones who couldn't use magic I'm pretty sure they would be experimenting with ways to get around that too. Not to mention a lot of the potential power(s) that the Warrior of Light and certain other Eorzeans wield is pretty dubious too - such as what WAR, SMN, BLK, WHM and DRK wield. Though in each case they're currently fairly rare.

Personally I'm hoping that Garlemald makes some pretty major advances and it becomes a necessity for the Warrior of Light to rely upon that technology at some point in the story to deal with a greater threat. It doesn't even have to happen directly - just indirectly, much like how Shinra in FF7 were responsible for taking out a Weapon and opening up the path to Sephiroth at the end of the game. Without that it's very likely that FF7 would have ended very differently and with Sephiroth/Jenova winning.

[Anonymoose]

I was under the impression that Reglua's

Ceruleum Servant was primarily a reference to Tiger, Power, Machine, and Magic from the pre-Kefka Statue of the Gods. Ceruleum is basically the "crude oil" of aetherial substances, and if magitek can shape it into a big flying X, I suppose magitek can shape it into a brooding tiger. But I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do...

[Belhi]

Well, if Eorzeans were the ones who couldn't use magic I'm pretty sure they would be experimenting with ways to get around that too. Not to mention a lot of the potential power(s) that the Warrior of Light and certain other Eorzeans wield is pretty dubious too - such as what WAR, SMN, BLK, WHM and DRK wield. Though in each case they're currently fairly rare.

Personally I'm hoping that Garlemald makes some pretty major advances and it becomes a necessity for the Warrior of Light to rely upon that technology at some point in the story to deal with a greater threat. It doesn't even have to happen directly - just indirectly, much like how Shinra in FF7 were responsible for taking out a Weapon and opening up the path to Sephiroth at the end of the game. Without that it's very likely that FF7 would have ended very differently and with Sephiroth/Jenova winning.

Im more specifically talking about Garlemald doing their own experiments with containing and using primals like the Allagans did. Don't get me wrong. Im not arguing an 'all things Garlemald do are evil'. While he isn't working for Garlemald, we still are effectively using Garlean expertise and technology whenever we get help from Cid. Garlemald is still the most technologically advanced nation we know of so I imagine that one way or another we will end up using their stuff again even if it ends up being us stealing from them.

What I'm basically doing is looking at ways we could end up going to Garlemald. There has to be an antagonist and with the strength and breath of power Garlemald holds its likely that if we are visiting Garlemald that there are elements within Garlemald that might be a threat. Say for example the Uncle who got beaten for the throne gains control over a group of Garlean scientists that have figured out how to power magitech with imprisoned primals and draw upon that primal energy as a weapon. Suddenly he has a potential means to win a fight for the throne. However the primal energy starts seeping out and corrupting the people using the tech. Suddenly we have reason not only to go to Garlemald but to potentially work with Garleans who oppose said uncle politically and who see the technology as flawed and dangerous.

I would also say that comparing Garlemald to Shinra might not be the best option. Shinra was still an antagonist for the lifespan of FF7 and most of the problems in that game were due to actions carried out by their people. When we do finally see them truly move out of the antagonist role they have fallen a very long way and Rufus is both humbled and regretful of the actions of his company.

Anyway, I was really just speculating, rather baselessly, on the potential implications of Regula's weapon.:P I'm currently assuming that the Garlean presence in this story will have some future payoff rather them just harassing us while we put down the 3 Warring Triad primals.

[ADVSS]

how is burning crude aether not a bad thing, when obviously hydaleyn is dying from it?

so a primal is summoned, we kill it and its aether goes back to the lifestream. bad for hydaelyn sure. but its returned. Magiteck and allagan technologies? and replicas of said allagan technologies? Are they good for hydalyaen? I dont really think so at all
which could explain why she is so weakened she had to eat minfilia's essence just to speak with us

again what really differentiates hydylaen from zodiark at this point? when they both need aether pools to survive? Or does zodiark not?(voidsent sh**)

at some point maybe the rejoining will have to happen. if the current point is ravaging hydalyn so bad

[Belhi]

I don't think Ceruleum is necessarily a problem. Certainly Hydaelyn has never raised it as an issue with us. Even the city states use Ceruleum. Ishgard ignite their dragonslayer spears with it to inflict additional damage on the target. The Airships that are used between the city states use Ceruleum. Regardless Hydealyn has never made an issue of it and we have frequently used it ourselves. Primals on the other hand are constantly being brought up as a huge red flag. Regardless of what Ceruleum is, the impact doesn't seem particularly severe. It seems very much like its just like a form of liquid crystal.

As for what differentiates Hydealyn and Zodiark, all we really know for certain is the actions of their agents. Zodiark's minions constantly spread chaos, conflict and harm wherever they go and seem to hold mortals in contempt. For our characters perspective that's an evil thing. The Rejoining is something we aren't clear on either but most of what we have seen so far suggests it's not likely to be pleasant for the people living on Hydealyn.

Now one thing we can say is the current status quo is off balance and to be fair we have only really have had Hydealyn's side of the story. What she has said however is that her act of casting out Zodiark was due to his attempt to swing the balance in his favour. While she could be lying or just wrong, its worth noting that going by her actions so far she has shown herself to be very benevolent. The only questionable thing she has done is the creation of the Voice and even then Minfilia was a willing participant. Even her orders to us suggest she wants us to make our own choices. Remember her very first words to us?

I think in the end the goal will be to find a way to restore balance between the Light and Dark. However I very much doubt the Ascian's plan is the one we want, particularly since their members have talked about the world drowing in darkness a number of times.

[Cilia]

I was going to correct the issue, but did not feel like it - ceruleum is not "crude," so to speak. The ceruleum used as fuel is highly refined; that is, after all, what the Ceruleum Processing Plant in Northern Thanalan is for. We're only able to get into the Praetorium by dumping unrefined (impure) ceruleum into the shield generators protecting it in Castrum Meridianum.

The ceruleum used as fuel is more akin to magical gasoline, though there is impure ceruleum that is like crude oil.

[ADVSS]

Thanks for the clarification on that but first off , I get that hydaleyn is severely weakened, and is weakening. It seems to me like every Primal we kill she gets weaker. Yet to me, I thought defeating them would reduce the amount of aether shes constantly losing, seems to me that isnt really working so well at all, while everyones freely using ceruleam all the time everywhere and its like "magical gasoline"... Seemingly harmless I suppose. Yet my biggest confusion is probably lack of understanding where the Allag come from. For starters were they from another "star" or inhabited hydaleyn as part of her creation during the split from zodiark? This is what confuses me, cause im not sure if they used ceruleam, but did use primals like batteries. Given their extensive knowledge about aetherial research you would think they wouldnt knowingly use energy sources that would destroy the planet they are living on, or at best, would choose the least dangerous, more efficient route to do so.

[PArcher]

It seems to me like every Primal we kill she gets weaker.

No. Every Primal summoned weakens her, and the longer they are "alive" weakens her further (which is also why we're really interested in shutting down Alexander, even though it doesn't seem urgent thanks to the raid release schedule. Its much more likely that there's barely days between clearing each arm). Summoning drains (and corrupts) Aether, and their existence continues it. Slaying them puts an end to the draining and new corruption, and releases Aether back to Hydaleyn, but the corruption remains (look at all the corrupted crystals left from when Bahamut broke free. That's all trapped Aether that cannot return to the Mothercrystal at this point). And any Tempered remain tempered, and start to feed the Primal pre-summon once more.