What is a soul crystal?

[Xeia]

I haven't done Paladin, so I don't know if I'm missing context, but to me it sounds like they could mean "stolen" in more of a metaphorical way. Or, like. Not so much he went and stole a crystal, but that he left (or was cast out? or what?), and the crystal went with him, so they considered it stolen from them. Or I guess since it's a literal crystal, he may have considered it his, when he left with it, but the Sultansworn didn't?

Yes, I agree! Completely. I should have explained more clearly that this is how I interpret what Jenlyns said, since I don't believe and of them were literally stolen. This would work if you were given Solkzagyl's or if he managed to make one based on the fact that he had his (which the Sultansworn still considers stolen).

I didn't really believe there was any specific lore aspect to the soul crystals other than what was stated in the item description - i.e: that they're crystals containing the memories of those who had that Job in the distant past.

I guess in a literal sense they're essentially a container for the souls and knowledge related to that Job. But I guess that's just me rationalizing what is just meant to be a game-play mechanic and giving it a lore-based explanation.

That still begs the question of how they're equipped. If just holding them is good enough then why don't we have the skills of all eight jobs at the same time? And what if somebody snatched my White Mage crystal from me and ran off? Would they then become a White Mage? It's true that it isn't really elaborated beyond what you've said, but that's why speculation is necessary ^^ And fun, I think.

[Skies]

That still begs the question of how they're equipped. If just holding them is good enough then why don't we have the skills of all eight jobs at the same time? And what if somebody snatched my White Mage crystal from me and ran off? Would they then become a White Mage? It's true that it isn't really elaborated beyond what you've said, but that's why speculation is necessary ^^ And fun, I think.

I believe that this in particular is still dependant on knowing what the nature of each soul crystal is. It's clear that it's not possible to steal the Black Mage's crystal, it chooses the owner. The Dragoon crystal is useless for someone who is not chosen to be the Azure Dragoon as well, despite not being the source of their power (and there is certainly more than one, after all there is ANOTHER chosen one, he clearly must have his own soul crystal).

Also one could easily see them as catalysts, rather than sources. They do not grant you any special power by merely being there, but they do allow you usage of special skills if you have trained yourself to do it. As such a Dragoon's skills would be incompatible with Conjurer training, hence why you don't even have access to all the skills for cross-classing.

[Xeia]

Also one could easily see them as catalysts, rather than sources. They do not grant you any special power by merely being there, but they do allow you usage of special skills if you have trained yourself to do it. As such a Dragoon's skills would be incompatible with Conjurer training, hence why you don't even have access to all the skills for cross-classing.

Ooooh. That makes a lot of sense. Then the minor issues still associated with not having access to all the abilities at once can then be explained away in the same way we explain away not having access to (all of the) MRD abilities when we're, say, an archer. Simply that the weapons we're using don't allow us to take advantage of that training.