Aetherytes, Garleans, and You!

[PArcher]

It actually makes me wonder why he needed to possess Thancred for this, unless that was solely to find out the exact location of the Waking Sands, which seems unlikely because there were a lot of people who already knew where the Scions were, and he could probably have possessed some other, lower-profile Scion adventurer Or was it that he needed to possess Thancred in order to bypass whatever security measures they had on the Waking Sands?

Trust. He was an Archon, one of the most trusted and respected members of the Scions. He had access to all sorts of information that others (even the WoL at the time) didn't. Which should have included when you returned to the Waking Sands so you could be captured...but something went wrong and the plan went off early (I debate whether Livia was too impatient, or Thancred himself was able to fool them into thinking you were there)

[Theodric]

We're kind of in a weird spot where Pureblood Garleans and magic are concerned. We were originally led to believe that they could not cast magic at all - and that anything they did do that looked like magic was purely linked to magitek. The lore book, however, confirmed that although it is rare some Pureblood Garleans are capable of using it. Yet we can't really confirm what, exactly, is an example of a Pureblood Garlean using magic when there's the possibility of it simply being tied to magitek or simply being something flashy in the typical 'Final Fantasy' style.

Out of every Pureblood Garlean we've seen so far I'm inclined to believe that Zenos was one of the few gifted with the ability to manipulate aether directly. Though on the other hand there's the whole 'Artificial Echo' angle to consider....which is an additional complication when trying to figure out who is capable of what.

(Super off-topic, but I find it funny how you refer to Thancred with the past tense, as if he's already dead... because he might as well be, with how stunningly relevant he's been in the story since 4.0.)

I hope we see more of Thancred, Krile and Y'shtola during the remainder of this expansion. It's almost certain that we'll be seeing more of Alphinaud and Alisae - which I don't mind at all since their progression has been wonderful so far - but I'd like to see Lyse shelved for a while in favour of the spotlight falling on some of the other major protagonists. More of Hien, Magnai and Sadu would be great as well. I'm hoping for that to be the case in 4.2...

[Enkidoh]

Even long before that reference though, there was already mention in the game about anima still being the factor behind whether someone could teleport or not (and how often) - the gate guard next to the aetheryte in each of the three starting city states will explain about this if you speak to them as early as when you first attuned to it at the start of the game:

"As Return merely involves allowing the body to be drawn back to the strongest aetherial beacon - one's home point - it is fairly easy to execute and requires very little spiritual exertion. Usually a few moments of rest is all that is needed before it is safe to attempt another jump."
"Teleportation on the other hand, comes with a greater price. A great deal of spiritual energy known as 'anima' is required to fight the natural flow of the Lifestream and guide one's body and soul to a comparatively weak aetherial beacon."
"If one's body lacks sufficient anima, teleporting to a location may prove impossible. Luckily for most of us, anima is restored quickly and should not prohibit regular travel."

And connected to that, the in-game Help window on teleporting actually mentions about anima as well, although it does not actually refer to it by name:

"Unlike other spells, Teleport does not require MP to cast, but a type of naturally regenerating spiritual energy."

Additionally, not long after ARR's launch an official lore post by Camate in this forum clarified the situation: anima is the body's aetheric tolerance to teleportation, but not everyone has the same consistent 'anima level', some people have higher anima than others, with some having virtually none, thus this means those with low anima can only teleport a few times before needing 'to rest' compared to others. The player's character, by contrast, was mentioned as having a 'very high' anima level and so could teleport constantly with no ill effect (this was basically the explanation for the gameplay replacement of anima cost for teleporting with a cost in gil, the later written into the story as a tax used to pay off the high cost of rebuilding the aetheryte network after the original one was destroyed in the Calamity), which also works towards explaining also why pure-born Garleans cannot teleport as well by extension, as quoted below:

Why doesn't everyone use aetherytes?
To traverse the Lifestream safely with Teleport and Return requires a great deal of spiritual energy, known as anima. While many individuals, such as adventurers, possess the fortitude to endure such travel, some individuals do not. What’s more, even if one has the ability to use aetherytes, the frequency with which one can do so varies. In essence, for some, the recast time for these spells can be far longer than for an adventurer.

As a result, only a fraction of the populace can utilize aetherial travel habitually, which is why chocobos, airships, and other forms of transportation still play a major role in Eorzea.

Presumably this is also the core reason why Thancred in Heavensward and beyond can no longer teleport as well as pure-born Garleans not being able to teleport at all - he probably has virtually no anima at all now due to Flow stripping it from him, and pure-born Garleans have never had any significant anima to start off with.

[Mysterysword]

It makes me wonder, if only a fraction of the population can actually use aetherytes regularly, why so much money is sunk into maintaining all the crystals. Does the cost benefit of being able to teleport really outweigh simply travelling by traditional methods?

Especially when it seems like you can't teleport a large amount of physical items or goods with you.

For that matter, does travelling via aetheryte shard also deplete anima?

[PArcher]

It makes me wonder, if only a fraction of the population can actually use aetherytes regularly, why so much money is sunk into maintaining all the crystals. Does the cost benefit of being able to teleport really outweigh simply travelling by traditional methods?

Especially when it seems like you can't teleport a large amount of physical items or goods with you.

For that matter, does travelling via aetheryte shard also deplete anima?

I wonder if comparing Aetheryte travel (Teleport) to air travel IRL would be good. Anyone can use it is they have the money/Anima and all.

As for Aethernet (city) travel, what about comparing it to subway or bus travel? Much more accessible, but still has a minor cost

[ObsidianFire]

I remember reading somewhere that Return is often cast when people go unconscious, aka why we show up at our homepoint when KOed. For most people, they're more of an emergency measure then anything else. That said, there's so many people who can make regular use of anima/teleport, that taking away fast travel doen't make economic sense. It would essentially cause the adventurer system to grind to a halt for the most part. I got the feeling that a lot of the large-scale side-quests exist because most adventurers can get around the realm faster then the people hiring them can.