How does the "Power of Darkness" work? (Minor DRK spoilers)

[Khyzen]

So we've had explanations given for how the different kinds of magic work in Eorzea; white magic draws on the aether from the surrounding elements, arcanima uses geometric designs, etc, etc. We even have pretty in-depth histories on most of them. Summoning was created by the Allagans during the Third Astral Era to combat Meracydia, Black Magic was developed by Shatotto during the the Fifth Astral Era...

However, the nature of the dark magic that Dark Knights harness is... incredibly vague. As far as history, we don't have much. The first dark knight turned against a corrupt clergyman and was stripped of his titles and denounced for it, only to cast aside his shield and "in its place, he came to wield something far more potent: a power born of the abyss which lies at the heart of us all. A darkness which can grant us great strength...at a price." He then trained two apprentices, and they in turn have their own roles in training the player, making us the third generation of dark knights. So not much to go on in terms of history.

Now, its also not any kind of thaumaturgy. If you talk to Cocobuki in the thaumaturge guild before the lv. 60 quest, he says something along the lines of his art being more arcane in nature than that of the dark knight. After completing the lv. 60 quest; "Hm hm hm... You think darkness is your ally? Be wary, [player], for darkness bears no allegiances.

"There's a darkness within us all - nothing dangerous, mind. In fact, it's quite healthy. But the crystal changes you - gives you the power to channel it." - Fray

And it's more than just channeling aether, there's a definite structure and form to some of the spells that speak to something more complex than just "grrr rawr, anger rage rawr."

So what is it? Void magic? Channeling negative emotions into power via aether, à la the Sith with the force? And by using the darkness within, are dark knights actually using their own personal aether to harness that power instead of the aether of the environment? That'd certainly explain "the price," as anyone who's leveled a conjurer will know.

[silverwell]

Considering this dark magic has only been around since very recently, I would wager it hasn't been around long enough to warrant much in-depth detail.
Or, maybe SE made it a recent enough discovery so that they (SE) wouldn't have to put much lore into it.

My theory is that everyone has some amount of aether flowing naturally within them. Some have lots, some have barely any.
When some natives get to the point of an extreme, they may exhibit an affinity for channeling aether in some way, shape, or form.
By what I've seen of this first dark magic user, he simply got to a point his inner/putter conflicts fueled his inner aether, and he just "burst".
But I haven't touched the DRK quests yet.

[Naraku_Diabolos]

I'm thinking that it aether that we have within ourselves, but it is along the lines of negative and dark emotions.

[Cilia]

Exactly how it works isn't very well explained. Implicitly it's channeling your emotions in tandem with aether to produce effects. The problem with that is that negative feelings tend to linger or produce stronger effects than positive emotions.

Part of the 50-60 DRK quest is getting Sidurgu to admit the reason he fights so hard for Rielle is because he loves her (in a platonic way), and that the reason he took up the sword was vengeance against the Ishgardian Temple Knights for taking away his loved ones. It's a very emotional power unlike most other magicks, which can make it very dangerous.

Now where that darkness comes from, well... Zodiark? Don't know yet.

[Grayve]

Up to 50, I think it's clear the WoL is using their anger to fuel their powers. Post 50, it becomes their 'love' for Eorzea, or at least to protect those that can't protect themselves. Sid, in the other hand, is using anger all the way to at least 58... IMO, using Rielle as a justification for his revenge based on what Ishgard did to his family, his mentor, and Fray. It isn't until the penultimate quests that he is able to put that aside and become more focused on protecting others, IMO.

As for the fuel source.... Emotions, positive or negative, drawing upon personal aether. However, unlike WMGs, the DRKs refuel their own aether by stealing their foes aether. This prevents the DRK from burning themselves out.

Just speculation based on the mechanics of the class.

[Kotori_Southburd]

I think it's kinda like WAR

WAR draws from the your inner beast... your inner battle lust... adrenaline rush... that satisfying but arguably immoral pleasure you get when you brutally maim someone

DRK from what I have seen, draws from your inner contempt and bitterness towards the world

I guess in Star Wars term, DRK would be Sith?

[Kaiser-Ace]

I played the 1st quest but haven't leveled it much yet, and based on what I see it seems to be a final fantasy version of The Force with us playing the "Rouge Jedi" roll of trying to balance the Light and Dark sides of the force (In this case keeping our inner light in balance with our inner darkness)

So the power source is literally us. The Aether we're using as DRKs is just our inner energy using Aether to manifest physically in a very similar way to how force lightning is hatred given form by The Force.

(Fun Fact, Aether historically has been thought of as matter and energy at the same time, not explicitly one or the other)

[Dualblade]

if it ends up having something to do with Zodiark that could possibly fit in with my theory of him not being evil...

That said, there isn't much we know about it yet. At the least it draws power from out own self, usually negative feelings but if the whole thing at 58 was pointing towards emotions in general maybe (with certain ones of course being stronger for it EG Love and Hate) then...well that actually shows a good bit how it could be just as destructive towards us as it is helpful. Too much anger and we lose control of ourselves, yet love too could lead us to doing something drastic that ultimately kills us.

[ArcaviusGreyashe]

I fully agree with Dualblade...

As it seems to be pointed out in the post-50 quests, Darkness is the power of feelings, love, hate, and so. Not only positive feelings, not negative, Just feelings. But the pre-50 describes the objectives of darkness. Darkness makes us free. In French, Fray tell us that we can escape all the pressure others are putting on our shoulders, we can flee and be whoever we want, whatever we want. It tells us that the Warrior of Light is no super human, he just happens to be blessed by Hydaelyn, but who asked him what he wants to do, to be ? Nobody. Nobody but Fray, the incarnation of our freedom.

Darkness is freedom, freedom to do whatever we dream of, by consuming our own aether. Why the dreams, you'll ask me ? Because there's a dichotomy between Zodiark and Hydaelyn. And the more the story progress, the more I see their evolution, the more I see, not Light and Darkness, but Reasoning and Feelings.

When did Ysayle's light shard appeared ? When she reasoned about what she was doing, when she let her feelings of dragons being victime aside.
What are the objectives of Ascians individuals ? It is implied several times That every last one of them has its own motivations. They have dreams.

So no, Zodiark may not be the bad guy. Just the one that keeps being beat because he lets his people dream. So... Who's the villain, now ?

Ah, and for those that'll come up saying "Zodiark is chaos, not feelings, he needs to disappear for the equilibrium, blah, blah", yes, Zodiark is Chaos. And Feelings. Those aren't That different at all... And for the equilibrium to be restored, we need both light and darkness, feelings and reasonings, Harmony and Chaos...

[Rhaja]

Good Post

So... we're playing Dissidia =D

O_O I want Zodiark to have the same voice actor as Chaos!!!!