Allagan Summoners

[Anonymoose]

The idea of synthetically tainting a person is interesting, albeit entirely speculative. I can only really add more speculation, lol.

To recap some history, Allag faced primals with an ever-increasing frequency as the Third Astral Era collapsed, eventually turning to its mages to find a way to combat them without taking heavy losses - the result was the invention of summoning. Such was the summoners' power and ability to repel the primal threat that the title itself came with respect and awe ... until some summoners succumbed to corruption. Using their power to advance their own agendas, some summoners became tyrants, and respect turned to fear. The commonfolk turned on the mages, hunting them down until summoners vanished entirely.

Synthetic "starter deck" tainting seems an obvious military training approach, but I wonder if we can be so sure that Allagan technology had progressed that far by the time summoners vanished. Likewise, the idea that summoners were the end result of the mages' research suggests that arcanima (shaping aether into living constructs) was known to them in some form. The apparent rarity of and respect commanded by summoners sounds to me like they might have been more likely to be veterans of the primal assaults already, negating the need for a "starter deck." And, if they did need such experience, why not start with basic arcanima constructs, like we did? I almost worry for a summoner who evokes an Egi of something they've never defeated. Would they even be able to make the thing submit to their will?