Thread: [4.4 Discussion] "The Reunion"

With Y'shtola with us we will be able to hopefully find out just how much the burn is devoid of aether. Do we know for how long it's been like that? Since depending on how long it's been like that it would have potential to have seen a few calamities and yet still be that dead. Which would bring up a few questions into why or how it hasn't seemed to recover.

Originally Posted by SannaR

There has to be some aether for things to be surviving there as the 4.4 page says there are ferocious beasts that live there.

Actually, yeah, the 4.4 page pretty much explicitly says that there's some Aether left that the critters fight over (bolded for emphasis):

Once a verdant region teeming with flora and fauna, repeated summonings saw it bled of aether and reduced to a barren desert. But even in an unforgiving environment such as this, life has endured. In a fierce struggle for what little aether yet remains, the Burn’s beastly denizens have grown uncommonly savage, and you and your comrades must contend with their dangerous ilk as you scour its white sands.

There's probably exciting new species of anaetheric bacteria, as well, but those will be less of a threat. :3

Anyone not Garlean would understand why Cid left after how his father died.

Honestly, knowing Cid, he probably would have eventually left even if no harm came to his father. He's a goodie-two-shoes to an almost absurd degree, and I think it's inevitable that he'd eventually object to his toys being used to blow people up. It's hard to say for certain, though; his father's death very likely WAS a significant milestone in the development of his current character. Whether it was the sole reason for his departure, one of several reasons, or not a contributing reason at all is up in the air.

I also wonder what the Burn would do to Y'stola's aether-sight. Perhaps it would be harder to see her surroundings, but a person in the distance (or hiding over a hill) might be like a beacon.

Alternately if the land is so aether-starved, can it be absorbing what little energy people give off, and make it even harder for her to see?

Notably, Y'shtola's current outfit still has her aether-detecting Sharlayan goggles in a holster on her sleeve. It would be an easy handwave to have a line of dialogue or something about how she had it modified to work in places like the Burn, to assist her own aether-sight.