Something doesn't add up regarding the connection between Amdapor and Norvrandt...

[ObsidianFire]

The whole of Eureka was to drive this point home as you further progressed into the island. As "light", "dark" and elemental monsters existed there, transformed from the native inhabitants of the island.

This is not what is happening in Eureka.

Eureka got dunked in the Aetherial Sea/Lifestream which infused the island with a lot of aether. So much aether that it started attracting Voidsent from the Void and the Source. Just look at any of the FATE descriptions and it's all either Voidsent from the Void or monsters that got exposed to aether and became more dangerous as a result.

The previous inhabitants of Eureka all got dunked in the Lifestream which killed them since that is where souls go when they die. When Eureka, the primal, forced the Isle of Val out of the Lifestream, those souls didn't leave the Lifestream with it.

[Nightsword]

This is not what is happening in Eureka.

Eureka got dunked in the Aetherial Sea/Lifestream which infused the island with a lot of aether. So much aether that it started attracting Voidsent from the Void and the Source. Just look at any of the FATE descriptions and it's all either Voidsent from the Void or monsters that got exposed to aether and became more dangerous as a result.

The previous inhabitants of Eureka all got dunked in the Lifestream which killed them since that is where souls go when they die. When Eureka, the primal, forced the Isle of Val out of the Lifestream, those souls didn't leave the Lifestream with it.

There is plant and animal life on the island, both and monsters count just the same as being able to be transformed in one aether based direction as seen in effect on the first with the lesser Sineaters formally being animals and monsters. Plus there is the case that the first three zone bosses were likely humans before the island was taken in the Lifestream before being turned into or merged with elemental monsters.

[ObsidianFire]

Plus there is the case that the first three zone bosses were likely humans before the island was taken in the Lifestream before being turned into or merged with elemental monsters.

We know this is wrong and not the case because the game tells us what the zone bosses are in their FATE descriptions. They also are not the only FATEs that are confirmed to be Voidsent.

The wind howls with voices of those long dead, heralding the advent of the high voidsent, Pazuzu. Weather the winds he wields, lest your own screaming soul be added to the chorus.

Logic would dictate that killing the undead makes little difference to their overall situation. The voidsent Louhi─and his lethally sharp pair of ice blades─begs to differ.

The gathering of moths to the flame has drawn forth the irresistible Penthesilea─but though the voidsent warrioress may stoke the passions of mortal hearts, she has made plain that naught will satisfy her burning desire but glorious death on the battlefield.

Other Voidsent Eureka Fates would be...

A wicked puppetmaster's abrupt disappearance from this plane has left his insentient servant free to wreak whatever havoc its mechanical mind can muster.

Slaying a massive carnivorous scalekin may seem the end of one's troubles, while in fact, it is just the beginning. That corpse left rotting in the forest is the perfect means for an aether-starved voidsent to worm its way into our realm...and start killing again.

Hyperbole can be employed to suggest that the stench of rotting goobbue seven days dead is enough to kill a man. If that rotting goobbue, however, is being used as a vessel for a voracious voidsent host, then the need for hyperbole is no more.

Don't be fooled by his choice of attire. Come from the void to aid his hungry brethren in their quest to consume this realm's aether, the White Rider is a deadly beacon for the forces of darkness.

Once known to his loyal subjects as King of the Flame, for years Hazmat has wallowed in the lightless void, unable to wield his brilliant, fiery magicks. Now, unbound from the darkness, the self-proclaimed regent is free to set the world alight...literally.

As the old saying goes: every wyrm's ending is just a voidsent wyrm's beginning. Banish this particularly vicious example, and remember that no one's to blame—except the adventurers that killed the high dragon whose dying breath summoned forth this monstrosity.

When commanding an army of voidsent abominations on a campaign to quell a world of its light, two heads are always better than one. Luckily for Amarok─dread wolf of the deepvoid─he has three.

The hells have no fury like a woman scorned. They are, however, home to many a dead woman scorned, whose fury is possibly worse. The voidsent queen Lamashtu would know, since she's the bloodsucking demon who killed them all.

Ever discontent to frolic in the autumn mist like other, less sinister scalekin, the Ash Dragon would smother the world in pursuit of ambition if given the opportunity. Indeed, with his voidsent army's ranks depleted, he already seeks new hosts for his cohort of conquerors.

Unsurprisingly, Arch Angra Mainyu misses none of its surroundings─meaning that, upon its summoning, it immediately located the band of mortals responsible for murdering its voidsent brethren and vowed to take an eye for an eye.

With all manner of demonic powers at his clawtips, Grand Duke Batym is unused to inconvenience. Thus it was with some annoyance that he awakened from his abyssal slumber to find mortals cutting their way through the ranks of one of his thirty legions.

Guided by the sweet symphony of suffering souls, King Goldemar has emerged from the void with an eye toward trade with our realm. Lord of smithies he may be, but accept neither his wicked works nor his curse-forged coin.

After consuming a great many nutritious voidsent with its assorted jaws, Leuke proceeded to set its sights on attracting a veritable army of pollinating insects so that it might grow even larger. It is evidently not best pleased to see their ranks thinned.

Several of those FATE descriptions even specify that the Voidsent have come from the Void and are possessing the corpses of life to be in our realm. And that several of them were summoned by someone else...

[Iscah]

It's possible that they were able to "manufacture" Sin Eaters, but that would mean many volunteers chose to give their lives to become monsters, they were converted by force, or they were using wildlife and mangling them to suit their own ends. I always got the impression that, as healers, and of the "light" they were about virtue and kindness, so the latter options two seem very unlikely.

That's the impression they give, but maybe not necessarily. The Lv60-70 SCH quests (which deal with some characters who are actually Nymian and had been in stasis since the War of the Magi) and talk about Setoto's father who had to "infiltrate" Amdapor seeking a cure for a sickness, and was caught and interrogated by the Amdapori. We don't know what happened to him after that, but Setoto believe it likely that they killed him.

No, Umbral is stasis, which is Light. Astral is creation and Darkness.

Yes, this is correct, and was confirmed in the MSQ. We are all well aware that it runs contrary to the REAL LIFE meanings of Umbral and Astral (the former meaning "shaded" which lends itself more to darkness, and the latter meaning "starlike" which lends itself better to light). In-game Light is Umbral, and Darkness is Astral.

I figure the Source's choice of "astral" and "umbral" is arbitrary - they just picked two opposing concepts to name the active and passive energy poles.

The Norvrandtian logic for naming active=Dark and passive=Light is also pretty arbitrary, except they coincidentally got it correct rather than back-to-front.

I'm pretty sure they are still 2 different poles. I'm referring to this article

It gets confusing because there are two different uses of "Darkness" and "Light" now. There are the actual forces/energies that we're dealing with at a large scale, which is what Koji is talking about in that interview (the only concept we had at that time).

Now Shadowbringers has thrown in Darkness and Light as Norvrandt's terms for the active and passive energy poles, which coincidentally line up with the aspects of actual Darkness and Light.

I remember Urianger saying something about that when he pointed at an elemental chart and asked whether we had gotten it all wrong since the people of Norvrandt saw Light as destructive and Dark as peaceful.

You're misremembering. They do question if we got it wrong, but the reasoning is different. Key quotes from his explanation:

The people of Norvrandt associate "the pole aligned with activity and growth" (Eorzean astral) to Darkness because "life's myriad colours combine to produce black".

"The pole aligned with passivity" (Eorzean umbral) is associated with Light because "peace and tranquility [are] as purest white unmarred by colour".

The conclusions are correct, but the logic seems very arbitrary.

[Ardox]

/snip

I'm pretty sure they are still 2 different poles. I'm referring to this article

It gets confusing because there are two different uses of "Darkness" and "Light" now. There are the actual forces/energies that we're dealing with at a large scale, which is what Koji is talking about in that interview (the only concept we had at that time).

Now Shadowbringers has thrown in Darkness and Light as Norvrandt's terms for the active and passive energy poles, which coincidentally line up with the aspects of actual Darkness and Light.
/snip

That interview was made in March 2017, 3.5 had launched in January 2017 and 4.0 launched in June. I'm going to make the assumption they had started to really pinned down what Astral/Umbral and what Light/Darkness were by that moment since they were already planning for the next expantion.

I really think the revelation we got from Urianger is that Astral and Umbral should now be distinguished from Light and Darkness. What was confusing me (and what i feel confuse a lot of player atm) is I made the relation Astral=Light and Umbral=Darkness since ARR and nothing made that assumption false up to that point. The explanation is pretty clear thought:
1) There's no umbral or astral energies, it's only a state of how one element or a mix of element manifest;
2) Darkness and Light are true energies, not elements;
3) Darkness and Light are not the same thing as Astral and Umbral; (But we now know they can have Umbral/Astral charges)



---EDIT---
Adding the relevant quote

Koji Fox: So, you have the elements—and it’s still six elements, there are no newly-discovered ones. Those elements have charges—umbral and astral. If something has “umbral energy”, it is one or more of those elements, individual or combined. So if elements have an umbral charge, it can be said that they are “umbral energies”. That’s where those terms come from, “astral energies” and “umbral energies” are not individual things, it’s a blanket term. Light and Dark are not elements, but they are energies…in a different sense. They are not elements, they are not of the elements, and they are not astral or umbral. It’s a different type of energy. You might see a Light and Dark sprite and think, oh, they must be elemetals, but those are made of an entirely different form of energy.

emphasize mine

[Iscah]

That interview was made in March 2017, 3.5 had launched in January 2017 and 4.0 launched in June. I'm going to make the assumption they had started to really pinned down what Astral/Umbral and what Light/Darkness were by that moment since they were already planning for the next expantion.

I really think the revelation we got from Urianger is that Astral and Umbral should now be distinguished from Light and Darkness. What was confusing me (and what i feel confuse a lot of player atm) is I made the relation Astral=Light and Umbral=Darkness since ARR and nothing made that assumption false up to that point. The explanation is pretty clear thought:
1) There's no umbral or astral energies, it's only a state of how one element or a mix of element manifest;
2) Darkness and Light are true energies, not elements;
3) Darkness and Light are not the same thing as Astral and Umbral; (But we now know they can have Umbral/Astral charges)

I'm not saying that umbral and astral are "energies". They're polarities or aspects which can apply to any of the elements.

And while Eorzea uses those terms, they are labeled differently on the First.

The active polarity is named "astral" in Eorzea and "Darkness" in Norvrant.

The passive polarity is named "umbral" and "Light".

Meanwhile, separate to the Dark (active) polarity and Light (passive) polarity, there is Dark energy and Light energy. They're separate concepts using the same terms.

[Ardox]

I'm not saying that umbral and astral are "energies". They're polarities or aspects which can apply to any of the elements.

And while Eorzea uses those terms, they are labeled differently on the First.

The active polarity is named "astral" in Eorzea and "Darkness" in Norvrant.

The passive polarity is named "umbral" and "Light".

Meanwhile, separate to the Dark (active) polarity and Light (passive) polarity, there is Dark energy and Light energy. They're separate concepts using the same terms.

Ok, I see what you mean now,

To be honest, the Source people don't really use Astral/Umbral either in their dialogues. At this point, I'd have to replay the game and pay attention when they use the terms astral, light, umbral and darkness to see if they make any distinction. From what I understand, in Eorzea, astral and light are just as much synonyms as astral and darkness would be in Novrant.

yeap.. it's confusing..

[Iscah]

Ok, I see what you mean now,

To be honest, the Source people don't really use Astral/Umbral either in their dialogues. At this point, I'd have to replay the game and pay attention when they use the terms astral, light, umbral and darkness to see if they make any distinction. From what I understand, in Eorzea, astral and light are just as much synonyms as astral and darkness would be in Novrant.

yeap.. it's confusing..

They're totally separate concepts in Eorzea, and not used interchangeably.

The polarities (and eras) are referred to as astral and umbral, but never directly as light and dark - although you naturally might connect the concepts.

The Scions talk about the Light and Dark forces in the battle between Hydaelyn and the Ascians, but never describe those powers as astral or umbral.

[Ardox]

They're totally separate concepts in Eorzea, and not used interchangeably.

The polarities (and eras) are referred to as astral and umbral, but never directly as light and dark - although you naturally might connect the concepts.

The Scions talk about the Light and Dark forces in the battle between Hydaelyn and the Ascians, but never describe those powers as astral or umbral.

It's here our reading diverge. Urianger is surprised to discover that light can be describe as umbral by his sejourn on the First. How would someone be surprised by something they already know? (That Astral/Umbral are entirely different concepts)

[Seraphor]

Ok, I see what you mean now,

To be honest, the Source people don't really use Astral/Umbral either in their dialogues. At this point, I'd have to replay the game and pay attention when they use the terms astral, light, umbral and darkness to see if they make any distinction. From what I understand, in Eorzea, astral and light are just as much synonyms as astral and darkness would be in Novrant.

yeap.. it's confusing..

I think it's more that on the Source, people know about Astral/Umbral (or Active/Passive polarity) and they also know about Light/Dark energies, but having not witnessed a flood as they did on the First, they never had a direct link between them.
With Umbral having manifested on the First as a 'Flood of Light' whether or not they're technically the 'same' thing, they were able to make that link.