Revelations from Patch 4.4

[ObsidianFire]

Very sure, I'd say. This happened before in 1.0 before the 7th Umbral Calamity happened. At the very least, Y'shtola and Urianger recognize the aether drain.

This is what Y'shtola has to say about what's happening.

Y'shtola
A local miner who supplies crystals for the rebuilding effort. Of late, he claims to have struggled to find a crystal with so much as a trace of elemental energy.
Upon learning that I had some knowledge of aether, he came seeking my counsel. Just now he brought me one of his recent finds.
It was precisely as he described─devoid of elemental energy...and eerily reminiscent of the deaspected crystals that manifested in Eorzea in the days prior to the Calamity. We would be wise to investigate this phenomenon more closely.

Y'shtola
While the device itself harbos a surfeit of aether, the opposite is true of the surrounding area...
An effect of regulation, perhaps? A similar phenomenon seemed to be occurring in Doma...

Y'shtola
One other thing, During my visit to the Far East, I observed a strange phenomenon.

Urianger
Thou referest, I presume, to the localized reduction in aetheric density?

Y'shtola
Well, that spares me the trouble of an explanation. Yes. I noted precisely that the two apparently unconnected locations. I take it the phenomenon is not limited to the Far East?

Urianger
Indeed not. Of late, our agents charged with surveiling the beast tribes have spoken of little else. In every corner of the realm, they tell of places in which the aether hath grown thin.
Naturally, my suspicious first turned to primal activity, but the areas thus affected betray no evidence of summoning. I must confess to being quite perplexed.

Y'shtola
If the same phenomenon is being observed in multiple locations on opposite sides of the world, we may safely discount regional factors. Needless to say, this warrants further investigation.

So the same aether drain prior to the 7th Umbral Calamity is being seen world-wide again. Unless Urianger and Y'shtola are mistaken, then it's very good evidence for another Calamity happening. At least, until the next patch and we find out more information.

[Nestama]

Wasn't aware that the aether draining deal was a worldwide thing. Assumed that it only occurred in the place the Calamities took place (which are almost exclusive to Eorzea).

We do know that either a Calamity or Flood will take place (as the voice implied), which leads me to believe that if we don't let a Calamity happen, then a Flood will occur (since there's still an imbalance. The second Mitron was defeated in the First, the Flood occurred. The moment we defeated Lahabrea, Elidibus immediately saw us as a threat to the balance).

Is the history we're going to change going to somehow bring Lahabrea back into the story?

[Iscah]

So the same aether drain prior to the 7th Umbral Calamity is being seen world-wide again. Unless Urianger and Y'shtola are mistaken, then it's very good evidence for another Calamity happening. At least, until the next patch and we find out more information.

That still doesn't rule out a Flood of Light. It could just mean that the flood itself *is* the Calamity. (an Astral calamity to match the Umbral?)

If we know it happened before the Calamity *and* before the Flood, that just further suggests they could be the same thing.

[Rocl]

That still doesn't rule out a Flood of Light. It could just mean that the flood itself *is* the Calamity. (an Astral calamity to match the Umbral?)

If we know it happened before the Calamity *and* before the Flood, that just further suggests they could be the same thing.

The Seventh Umbral Era is technically the "Astral" calamity (Lore Book 1 states its element was all of them tipped astrally).

[ObsidianFire]

"Calamity" in FFXIV is not a general term. The other, more specific term for it is a Rejoining. There's a very good reason the Voice says "Twin Dooms" are coming and then mentions a Calamity and then a Flood. They aren't interchangeable. We also have yet to see any evidence of a Calamity happening on a Shard and a Flood happening on the Source. We do have lots of evidence of Calamities happening on the Source and two Floods happening on the Shards. Going by Occam's Razor, the Source is gearing up for a Calamity again.

A Food and a Rejoining are opposite ideas in a lot of ways. A Rejoining is when a Shard joins the Source because the walls between the Shard and the Source have been broken. A Flood is when a Shard receives an influx of Light or Dark so strong, that either the Shard looses all aether (Flood of Darkness) or the Shard looses all life (Flood of Light). Most importantly, a Flooded Shard cannot be Rejoined to the Source. I'd be very, very surprised if the two phenomena were capable of happening in the same dimension at once. I would not be surprised if the Shard that is about to be Rejoined to the Source in the next Calamity is about to go through a Flood and everyone (Hydaelyn and the Ascians) want us to take care of that somehow...