Aether

[Keroa]

Hello all! I come to you today to discuss Aether, the very lifeblood of Hydalen.
I have actually been attempting to study Aether, and I am discouraged by how little and how vague the information available about the topic is. I am hoping that in this thread we will be able to solidify what knowledge we have, speculate on what may be possible, and if we're lucky, get some Loremaster input.

What I do know:
Aether is found in anything and everything in Eorzea. aether has many names, some including; Lifestream, and magic power.
While Eorzea's atmosphere is thick with Aether, the other realms of Hydalyn are not, causing adverse affects to those unnacustomed to such thick levels of Aether upon their first visits to Eorzea.
A high concentration of Aether can cause sickness if exposed for too long.
What I want to know:
A whole lot more.
How do you treat Aether sickness?
Are there Aether points in the body?(chakra)
Is magic simply Aether manipulation?

[Aeora]

Aether just seems to be this Final's name for the lifeforce that the planet has..... like yourself I don't have a whole lot of info, but I suppose the lore from all other finals could be applied to the Aether of Hydalen

[Myranda]

I can tackle a couple of these at least:

Are there aether points in the body (chakras)? Depends on who you ask. Certainly the Order of Monks (the Fists of Rhalgr) believe so, and this is a big point in the MNK storyline. Those not of the Monk order may be inclined to simply call it how attuned one is with the aether that forms their own life force, but stop short of actually calling it chakra.

Is magic simply aether manipulation? Yeah, pretty much. Not sure what else to say here besides the CNJ storyline says just about exactly that.

[Naria]

Spoilers for Disciple for Magic Job and Class quests.

Magic is aetheric manipulation but there are a couple different ways to go about it:

Thurmaturges manipulate thier own aether to cast spells.

Conjurers use ("borrow") the aether of nature to cast spells. You can technically fuel conjury only from your own aether, but it will eventually kill you.

Arcanists use pre set patterns (arcane geometries) in their grimore's to manipulate their aether into summons and spells.

Black Mages use aether of the planet to fuel their spells

White Mages were created as a counter to Black Mages and also uses the planet's aether to fuel spells

White and Black Magic seem to use the plant's aether to a much greater extent than any other form of magic we know as the over use of these two magics are believed to have caused the Sixth Umbral Era.

Scholars use magic to bind "other worldly creatures" -- fairies to their control.

Summoners Use aether captured from defeated primals to create egis (summons).

Aether sickness has been mentioned but I have not come across anything saying what it is or how to treat it.

[gornotck]

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Aether This is what certain obsessive people have collected on the subject of aether, though it relates mostly to 1.0.

[IrisBlanchimont]

I would presume either Conjurers or Alchemists can treat people for Aether sickness, since both hve strong medical backgrounds and it is clear treatment is possible.

Most Final Fantasy games have a force that fuels magic, be it Mist, the Lifestream or so on. In this case, it's Aether. Eorzea's potent aether can be seen as a parallel to the Mist Continent in FF9.

The Lore forums have discussed some interesting theories about Aether, including the notion that it's what we Earthlings know of as 'dark energy', that it gave birth to the Twelve in the same way it does the Primals and so on.

[gornotck]

I guess the real question is: why does Eorzea have more aether than the rest of the world?

[IrisBlanchimont]

I guess the real question is: why does Eorzea have more aether than the rest of the world?

My only thought would be the Primals, but that only explains why it does now. The other thought might be the remarkably simple "The Allagans did it."

[Enkidoh]

The very nature of aether it seems goes beyond being just mere 'life energy' - from info it seems that it is essentially the very energy of creation itself - the main 1.0 storyline pretty much stated this flat out, specifically talking about crystals, but by extension aether, particularly in crystal form, has the literal 'power to create', as mentioned here in this 1.0 storyline quest scene:

Minfilia: "I assume you are familiar with crystals - the elementally charged clusters of concentrated aether which craftsmen employ in synthesis?"

and

Nananoby: "While not as rare, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would not attest to the fact that crystals are often deemed more precious than even mythril. It is their power to create that makes them so valuable. There is a place in Mor Dhona called Silvertear Falls where crystals lie strewn about the land. However the corrupted wastes are crawling with Garleans, not to mention preternaturally strong beasts, driven mad by the land's taint."

This also neatly explains why the Primals require not only aether and crystals to exist, but also worship, as well as how beings like Good King Moggle Mog the XIIth, even an ACN's Carbuncle can exist despite not being a Primal - with enough aether/crystals and a strong enough will a person could make even the most abstract or intangible desire corporeal. Pretty much, a 'wish made manifest'.

Coincidentally, this could also explain how Disciples of the Hand actually 'craft' - despite appearances and the tools they're equipped with, they're actually not making an item by hand, but instead employ a magical shortcut using a crystal to basically 'will' that item into existence from raw materials, hence the term 'synthesis' (this also why crafting requires the use of a crystal) - this was actually how it was explained in FFXI (where synthesis indeed showed the player seeming to throw the ingredients together into a formless spinning mass in the air while they 'crafted', rather than using tools).

Of course this raises questions as to why Disciples of the Hand still require tools to be equipped, but it's possible they use a tool as some kind of conduit for the required thoughts or desire to make the object. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.

[Keroa]

This also neatly explains why the Primals require not only aether and crystals to exist, but also worship, as well as how beings like Good King Moggle Mog the XIIth, even an ACN's Carbuncle can exist despite not being a Primal - with enough aether/crystals and a strong enough will a person could make even the most abstract or intangible desire corporeal. Pretty much, a 'wish made manifest'.

Oh goodness, this is actually an aspect of Crystals I have not even thought to question, as well as a door to more questions, I am still curious as to how crystals are formed. I know how they form in our world, but I wonder if the process would be similar?
Also: how would you think, if a persons Aether has become corrupted, to purify that coruption? Assuming any new Aether introduced would also become corrupted and ultimately take it's toll on the body (like what you see in Pharos sirius)