A WILD HYPOTHESIS APPEARS - Hydaelyn, The Void, and Dark Knights

[Jpec07]

SO I HAVE A HYPOTHESIS and I need lore hounds to help me determine its viability/veracity! There may or may not be a character concept wanting to root in this.

We know that Hydaelyn (the planet) has an internal aetherflow, akin to the Lifestream in FFVII. We also know that the Void is a thing (though how much about that thing we know, I'm unsure) - and we know that Black Magic evolved from Thaumaturgy, so Void magic can be manipulated in a manner similar to aether.

We also know that people have internal aetherflows, as well as an inner darkness that can be harnessed in much the same way as one's internal aether - this is what allows Dark Knights to join the Darkside.

So what are the chances that a person's inner darkness is analogous to the Void, in the same manner that a person's inner aether is analogous to the planet's?

And a bonus question: are Au Ra dravanian or voidsent in origin?

[Kaiser-Ace]

The "Inner Darkness" could be seen as Umbral Aespected Aether. But it ultimately has no discernable connection to the void as, as far as Eorzean Physics is concerned, is anything outside of Hydaelyn's Aetheric Plain not including the 7 hevens (Though the Seven Hells are sometimes considered part of the void).

As for the Au Ra, they are neither Dravanian. Nor Voidsent in origen. They are an independent species native to Oethard that has superficial similarities to Dragons.

The Horns for example actually function more like ears.

Also as far as Aether was concerned energy is energy. The Void has Aether too but it seems to be of a different nature than Hydaelyn's Aether due to the Voidsent presence sustaining off of Aetheric energy.

I kind of consider the void's energy to parallel to Dark Energy Irl. It's not that it isn't there, we just know to little about it to understand how it works.

[Anonymoose]

Unless this Fish Guide description of the Void Bass rings true about XIV Cosmology.
Talk about a wrench in the works; I'm still trying to find the truth on Dark vs. Umbral.

On rare occasions a dark mist will settle over areas of Eorzea hit hardest by the corrupting hands of the Calamity. This mist is commonly referred to by skywatchers as “gloom” and is believed to be umbrally charged aether drawn forth from the void itself. That the void bass is drawn to the gloom may be evidence of the wavekin's true origins

[Kaiser-Ace]

Unless this Fish Guide description of the Void Bass rings true about XIV Cosmology.
Talk about a wrench in the works; I'm still trying to find the truth on Dark vs. Umbral.

We know a good bit about the cosmic geography of FF14 but Astral and Umbral aspection as well as De/In Aespected Aether are relitivly obscure and in many cases comeatly unknown in nature.

If we consider Astral Aether to be positive energy, Umbral to be Negative Energy, and unexpected go be nutraly charged then it would make since for Umbral Energy to be void based. I even suspect Oasok the Elemental of Nillity to be akin to anti-energy/anti-existence since his purpose seems to be destruction for the sake of destruction.

Which, if that's the case, anything Umbraly Aespected would actually origenate in The Void's energy.

[Jpec07]

So basically, if I'm understanding this right:

- There is no connection between the Au Ra and the Voidsent and that was just a wild fan hypothesis.

- The Inner Darkness that Dark Knights square off against is considered to be Umbrally Aspected Aether (or something of that ilk)
- Any correlation between the Inner Darkness and Void magic is coincidental. They ARE similar, but there really isn't anything more to it than the aspect of the aether

Is that roughly accurate?

Do you think a Dark Knight facing a Voidsent would be able to detect any kind of synergy in their magicks? If they were particularly sensitive to it?

[Frederick22]

So basically, if I'm understanding this right:

- There is no connection between the Au Ra and the Voidsent and that was just a wild fan hypothesis.

- The Inner Darkness that Dark Knights square off against is considered to be Umbrally Aspected Aether (or something of that ilk)
- Any correlation between the Inner Darkness and Void magic is coincidental. They ARE similar, but there really isn't anything more to it than the aspect of the aether

Is that roughly accurate?

Do you think a Dark Knight facing a Voidsent would be able to detect any kind of synergy in their magicks? If they were particularly sensitive to it?

This questions being answered long time ago

[Kaiser-Ace]

The Au Ra were confirmed before 3.0 to have nothing to do with Dragons or the Void by Lore Master Fern himself. So that is confirmed information.

Cilia is our resident Dark Knight lore expert but from my past discussions with her it would seem The Dark Knight has no void connection as the "Darkness" is a Persona style Shadow and we're simply drawing power from our own darker nature.

Aether is basically the explanation for any energy based attack be it magic or otherwise but any info on Aetheric Aspection or the origin of the Aspection is speculation at best currently.

Hopefully as the 24 man raids progress we'll learn more about the Machi and the nature of the Void its self.

[Annana]

Well, via the DRK 50-60 storyline, we know that Dark Knights pull their power from their emotions. They hatred of the enemy as well as their love for their allies. They don't use void magic.

[Kaiser-Ace]

Well, via the DRK 50-60 storyline, we know that Dark Knights pull their power from their emotions. They hatred of the enemy as well as their love for their allies. They don't use void magic.

Right, and those emotions take physical form via Aether, just like how Paladins create light based energy, Black/White Mages call elements from nothing, and how a Ninja or Monk make their techniques. (Chi and Chakra are both alternate names for Aether)

[Cilia]

Well... let's take a crack at this.

According to Sidurgu, everyone has a tiny, healthy bit of Void in them, and that's where "the power of darkness" comes from. Unfortunately, reaching into that Void requires a strong center and complete self-acceptance if you want to avoid losing yourself. No mention of aether is made, but it's obviously some sort of magic - low-grade Void magic, most likely. Presumably it's either your Umbrally-aspected aether, or you're using your inner aether to bait the power of darkness from the Void and harness it on your own, using strong emotions (love / hate) to channel it without losing yourself to the darkness.

As for Au Ra, they have no clear connection to either Dravanians (dragons) or Voidsent. They were given some aesthetic similarities to both, but said similarities end there.

EDIT
It's actually Fray (your shadow) who tells you everyone has a little darkness in them. Given the nature of his / her existence and relationship with you, the reliability of this is questionable. Nonetheless, given everything else s/he says is true from a certain point of view, it's hard to contest this assessment and, with you and Sidurgu as examples, it's pretty clear that using the power of darkness requires a completely still heart or overwhelming emotions to keep you from falling. Either way it requires complete self-acceptance to fight at full power.

To rectify my earlier statement, neither Sidurgu nor "Fray" ever say a Dark Knight's power comes from Void magic - just "the power of darkness," as it were. Without anyone saying so my best guesses are still that it's either using your own Umbrally-aspected aether, or using whatever aether from your body you can to bait out the power of the Void. The latter seems more likely to me given it's heavily implied by "Fray" that overuse of the art can kill you. (Like all MP using classes, I'm of the mind that when you bottom out your MP you're at the point it would start physically harming you to use more. While casters might be willing to use their HP as fuel given their combat role, Dark Knights can't afford to do so, and so once they hit 0 they can't draw out more "power of darkness." If it were just your personal Umbral aether, you'd probably be able to switch it off before it went fatal, but if you're basically harnessing the Void with your own life force... not gonna last long.)

How this relates to Hydaelyn is beyond me - I'm just the resident Dork Knight. She almost certainly has Umbrally-aspected aether as well, which would sort of invalidate why Dark Knights are seen as outcasts - while we're outcasts for ignoring the established laws and social order for the sake of justice, our shadowy magic is also looked at askance as if it's wrong to use it in the first place. Saying they're people who use their own aether (life force) to bait out the power of the Void does put them closer to the outcast vigilantes they're typically seen as, since doing so is basically a perversion of Hydaelyn's gift of life to us.

Also, props for using the word "hypothesis" instead of "theory."