[Ongoing Thread] Endwalker Lore Questions [Spoilers]

[Laisera]

I've tried to read up on the aether lore/system of FF14 and honestly I don't understand it?
I've read that Astral and Umbral are the "polarities" aether can have.
Is it correct that Astral is Light and Umbral is Darkness (umbra = shadow)?
So if the Astral flow = the Light flow is already weakened, why do you need to summon a primal of Darkness to balance it out? Should that not tip the imbalance even further away from the Astral polarity?

Correcting a misconception here, as per a conversation with Urianger in Shadowbringers.

Light is Umbral (the Aether of Inaction and Stasis. Thus why Alexander, a Primal of Holy Light, can stop Time.) Darkness is Astral (the Aether of Action and Motion).

Elements of motion (Wind, Fire and Lightning) "naturally" take Astral forms (though Umbral incarnations exist. A raging wildfire is Astral Fire, while the stiffling heat of the desert is Umbral Fire), and Elements of stasis (Water, Earth and Ice) "naturally" prefer Umbral forms (though again, Astral incarnations can exist. A rampaging blizzard is Astral Ice, while the all pervading cold of Coerthas or Garlemald are Umbral Ice).

This neatly ties into White and Black Magic using (or in the case of White, having once used) 2 elements of one type, and 1 of another. White Mages use Stone and Water which are umbral elements, and Wind which is astral. Black Mages meanwhile use Fire and Thunder which are Astral, and Ice which is Umbral.

This thread has a really nice and easy to understand writeup, but they're basically like the polarities of electric charge (Positive or Negative). Some things naturally possess a charge tending to one direction, but can be influenced in the other.

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/392704

[Loggos]

Ooh ok, calling light Umbral (=shadow) felt very counter-intuitive to me, haha. Thank you for the information!


Another question:

Does "Meteion" mean anything?

Considering most other concepts and characters in Elpis have names that refer to either Greek philosophy (entelechy, dynamis) or mythology (Hermes, Hades) and the planets/zones in Ultima Thule are named after Greek numbers (deka pente/dekapénte, deka octo/dekaochtó, deka hexi/dekaéxi) I wondered whether her name either means anything translated directly or is constructed from several Greek words (or words from another language).

[Fenral]

"Meteio" is Greek for "meteor," which is also basically what Hermes says. "Meteion" might either be a variant that ye olde Google Translate can't pick up, or they tweaked it it to keep it from being spelled the same as "Meteo," which is the Japanese name for the spell "Meteor."

[Loggos]

Oh, I see. Thank you!

[Laisera]

Ooh ok, calling light Umbral (=shadow) felt very counter-intuitive to me, haha. Thank you for the information!

Yeah, Thancred has a similar reaction when Urianger mentions this.

Astral and Umbral are the source terms for these. Astral, the active; and Umbral, the passive. Urianger asked what the people of the First call them

Urianger: "I was told that as life's myriad colors combine to produce black, the active pole had been termed "Darkness". While Peace and Tranquility being as purest white unmarred by color, the passive pole had given the name of "Light"."

Thancred: "That's Umbral Light and Astral Darkness, yes? ... I'm no Aetherologist, but it strikes me that the nomenclature of the First is rooted in the origin of these forces, while our own is focused on the effect. Which makes me wonder... Have we had it backwards all this time?"


Edit: which actually mirrors a real life thing in the history of the study of electrical charge. When Benjamin Franklin wrote the convention on electrical charge, he wrote down that the static charge left on silk by glass was *positive*, since it was represented by a buildup of static electricity. We now know for certain however, that static charge and lightning are representations of *negative* charge. (Electrons are negatively charged). The idea that the thing that is represented by a surplus of energy seeking a way out was *negative* rather than positive was, well... Absurd at the time. Franklin's observations were based on the effects of a charge, not the origin.