Revelations from Patch 6.4: The Dark Throne

[Cleretic]

The Azem crystal's always been summoning something that's not 'real allies' as far as being completely flesh-and-blood people; illusory is as good a word as anything, we don't exactly have a lot of details on how it works.

Remember that the distinction in Ultima Thule was that Hydaelyn turbocharged it to the point where it was summoning real people and giving them physical bodies, which it's otherwise not capable of doing. Probably the best comparison example there was that back in the Seat of Sacrifice, it could only summon a spectral Emet; in Ultima Thule, Hydaelyn's amp-up let it summon the real deal.

[Carin-Eri]

The Azem crystal's always been summoning something that's not 'real allies' as far as being completely flesh-and-blood people; illusory is as good a word as anything, we don't exactly have a lot of details on how it works.

Remember that the distinction in Ultima Thule was that Hydaelyn turbocharged it to the point where it was summoning real people and giving them physical bodies, which it's otherwise not capable of doing. Probably the best comparison example there was that back in the Seat of Sacrifice, it could only summon a spectral Emet; in Ultima Thule, Hydaelyn's amp-up let it summon the real deal.

Interesting you refer to Seat of Sacrifice, as I've always wondered if our summoning is an improved version of the "Champions from Beyond the Rift" that Elidibus pulled during that trial, particularly considering how surprised he was that we could do that.

[Cleretic]

Interesting you refer to Seat of Sacrifice, as I've always wondered if our summoning is an improved version of the "Champions from Beyond the Rift" that Elidibus pulled during that trial, particularly considering how surprised he was that we could do that.

Elidibus (twice over), the crystal and the Exarch basically all seem to reach the same result by different routes. I wouldn't be surprised if one of Elidibus' is basically a half-baked version of the crystal's, though.

[Thighland]

So I have two theories about Pandaemonium:
1.

Could it be that Auracite is literally crystalized Dynamis, or something similar? The connection seems obvious to me, since Auracite turns people with negative emotions into monsters, while giving people with heroic resolve, like the Zodiac Twelve of Ivalician Legend, power to succeed against all odds.

2.

The answer to how the Twelve reached godhood, or how Hydaelyn gained enough power to face Zodiark at his full strength is still a muddy at best. Is there really good reason to believe that Venat's sacrifice to become Hydaelyn was truly enough to even the scales against power gained through the sacrifice of billions of people, considering Venat had to keep her knowledge about Dynamis mostly secret? I don't believe it.

But: Pandaemonium has taught us that the Heart of Sabik has existed on Etheirys even during the times of the ancients.
What if the Heart of Sabik was not the only piece of Auracite on Etheirys during the time of the ancients? It seems likely there could have been more, because in the current setting, Auracite is not only found on the Source, but on other shards as well, like the Thirteenth.
What if Hydaelyn and her followers found Auracite of their own, and used it to gain power, like the Zodiac Twelve of Ivalician legend?
If Dynamis and Auracite share a connection like I suggested, then Venat would recognize this and and be able to use it to her advantage.
I think this would be a perfectly clear explanation for how Venat and her followers gained enough power to change the world as they did.

Final thoughts:

Nevertheless, I believe Auracite will still have a big part to play in the future. It would make sense, because the lore implications of Pandaemonium are quite a big deal

[Alleluia]

So I have two theories about Pandaemonium:
1.

Could it be that Auracite is literally crystalized Dynamis, or something similar? The connection seems obvious to me, since Auracite turns people with negative emotions into monsters, while giving people with heroic resolve, like the Zodiac Twelve of Ivalician Legend, power to succeed against all odds.

2.

The answer to how the Twelve reached godhood, or how Hydaelyn gained enough power to face Zodiark at his full strength is still a muddy at best. Is there really good reason to believe that Venat's sacrifice to become Hydaelyn was truly enough to even the scales against power gained through the sacrifice of billions of people, considering Venat had to keep her knowledge about Dynamis mostly secret? I don't believe it.

But: Pandaemonium has taught us that the Heart of Sabik has existed on Etheirys even during the times of the ancients.
What if the Heart of Sabik was not the only piece of Auracite on Etheirys during the time of the ancients? It seems likely, because in the current setting, Auracite is not only found on the Source, but on other shards as well, like the Thirteenth.
What if Hydaelyn and her followers found Auracite of their own, and used it to gain power, like the Zodiac Twelve of Ivalician legend?
If Dynamis and Auracite share a connection like I suggested, then Venat would recognize this and and be able to use it to her advantage.
I think this would be a perfectly clear explanation for how Venat and her followers gained enough power to change the world as they did.

Final thoughts:

Nevertheless, I believe Auracite will still have a big part to play in the future. It would make sense, because the lore implications of Pandaemonium are quite a big deal

This is rather good and I'm hoping for it now.

[Cleretic]

I don't think they'd be setting up for 'auracite is crystallized dynamis' in the same expansion where they introduced an entirely separate, unrelated and benign form of crystallized dynamis. That's just leaving themselves open to really easy gotchas.

I also feel like if that's what they were going for, they would've floated the idea in Anabeisos; I'll grant that Lahabrea and Themis weren't up to speed on what dynamis was, but over in Labyrinthos it's a pretty recently popular subject, everyone there would at least be familiar enough to consider it. The devs had a perfectly good hook to bait there, and they didn't.

[Carin-Eri]

So I have two theories about Pandaemonium:
1.

Could it be that Auracite is literally crystalized Dynamis, or something similar? The connection seems obvious to me, since Auracite turns people with negative emotions into monsters, while giving people with heroic resolve, like the Zodiac Twelve of Ivalician Legend, power to succeed against all odds.

2.

The answer to how the Twelve reached godhood, or how Hydaelyn gained enough power to face Zodiark at his full strength is still a muddy at best. Is there really good reason to believe that Venat's sacrifice to become Hydaelyn was truly enough to even the scales against power gained through the sacrifice of billions of people, considering Venat had to keep her knowledge about Dynamis mostly secret? I don't believe it.

But: Pandaemonium has taught us that the Heart of Sabik has existed on Etheirys even during the times of the ancients.
What if the Heart of Sabik was not the only piece of Auracite on Etheirys during the time of the ancients? It seems likely there could have been more, because in the current setting, Auracite is not only found on the Source, but on other shards as well, like the Thirteenth.
What if Hydaelyn and her followers found Auracite of their own, and used it to gain power, like the Zodiac Twelve of Ivalician legend?
If Dynamis and Auracite share a connection like I suggested, then Venat would recognize this and and be able to use it to her advantage.
I think this would be a perfectly clear explanation for how Venat and her followers gained enough power to change the world as they did.

Final thoughts:

Nevertheless, I believe Auracite will still have a big part to play in the future. It would make sense, because the lore implications of Pandaemonium are quite a big deal

Nice theories! And in terms of the one pertaining to

Auracite, I have to say the first thing that sprang to mind was Venat's sword. Could it have been comprised of it, or had it in it's 'core'? I mean, regardless of the authenticity of the cutscene in which Venat initiates the sundering, she channeled/directed her power through that sword. And there seemed to be some unspoken relevance to the fact that she dropped it during the 'answers' walk (cut)scene.

[Thighland]

I don't think they'd be setting up for 'auracite is crystallized dynamis' in the same expansion where they introduced an entirely separate, unrelated and benign form of crystallized dynamis. That's just leaving themselves open to really easy gotchas.

The item description says it is rich in dynamis, not that it is "literal" crystalized dynamis.
Being "rich in dynamis" can mean several things.
For example: the creatures of the Final Days were given form through dynamis, but when destroyed they immediately return to an incorporeal form, as if they were never corporeal to begin with. What does that say about things that are "rich in dynamis"?

I also feel like if that's what they were going for, they would've floated the idea in Anabeisos; I'll grant that Lahabrea and Themis weren't up to speed on what dynamis was, but over in Labyrinthos it's a pretty recently popular subject, everyone there would at least be familiar enough to consider it. The devs had a perfectly good hook to bait there, and they didn't.

That might be due to the students of Sharlean having preconceived notions about what Auracite is.
It is impossible to measure dynamis even as of now, so all the data Sharlayan might have about Auracite might be releated to aetheric phenomenons brought into motion by the auracite.
Auracite has never been studied with the concept of dynamis in mind, and that might actually be what is going to happen, now that the Heart of Sabik is in the hands of the scholars of Labyrinthos.
I think if you're a scholar of Sharlayan, you wouldn't jump to conclusions, but investigate first with measuring equipment, experiments and so on.

Nice theories! And in terms of the one pertaining to

Auracite, I have to say the first thing that sprang to mind was Venat's sword. Could it have been comprised of it, or had it in it's 'core'? I mean, regardless of the authenticity of the cutscene in which Venat initiates the sundering, she channeled/directed her power through that sword. And there seemed to be some unspoken relevance to the fact that she dropped it during the 'answers' walk (cut)scene.

I had that idea as well, that Venat's sword might literally be made of Auracite. But then again, she had that sword even before she knew what Dynamis is, so who knows.

[MikkoAkure]

So I have two theories about Pandaemonium

I felt like Pandaemonium was an attempt by the writers to just wrap up any remaining loose ends before moving onto new things. Hydaelyn, Zodiark, and Ultima are all dead so I think it’s unlikely their stories are going to be explored much further.

As far as the “billions of sacrificed” comment, I’m not sure that’s true either.

Extremely long/lived species tend to be fewer in number in fantasy fiction and they just got over a literal apocalypse. In many of the scenes of the Final Days we see many more dead than living and nothing at all in Amaurot is untouched, leaving the entire city a smoldering ruin.

I would be very surprised if half or even a quarter of the original pre-Final Days population of Ancients survived to the end and my impression was that it was part of the reason why Venat and her followers seemed more keen on letting their civilization return to the Star and new life take over. It would only really make sense for that to be an option if your civilization was on the very brink with grim prospects and bringing everything back to how it was. They had to summon a literal god to restore the Star’s health and repopulate it with life, there couldn’t have been many Ancients and all their cities must’ve been completely destroyed if Amaurot is anything to go off of.

Even with that, Hydaelyn wasn’t close to Zodiark’s power at all and had to resort to shattering reality and separating Him into pieces in order to imprison him. I don’t think She stood a chance in a fair fight so there’s no reason for me to believe she had a hidden edge or even a connection to auracite. Dynamis is a weaker force in the presence of heavy amounts of aether as well, so I don’t think that would have helped.

[Thighland]

As far as the “billions of sacrificed” comment, I’m not sure that’s true either.

The point is that an equivalent of more than 50% of an entire planet's population was used.
Not to mention that an average Ancient counts for roughly 14 "normal" people in terms of power.
We could argue about how many people were actually alive to be sacrificed for Zodiark, but I don't think Emet Selch would speak of this sacrifice in such a meaningful way if it was just a handful of people

Even with that, Hydaelyn wasn’t close to Zodiark’s power at all and had to resort to shattering reality and separating Him into pieces in order to imprison him. I don’t think She stood a chance in a fair fight so there’s no reason for me to believe she had a hidden edge or even a connection to auracite.

That argument has never made sense to me.
It's like someone with a slingshot throwing a nuke at his enemies, even though he shouldn't be able to lift it.
I get that Hydaelyn was desperate, but you can't just sunder reality itself if you don't have power at least comparable to a being with power on a global scale.

Dynamis is a weaker force in the presence of heavy amounts of aether as well, so I don’t think that would have helped.

I did not suggest that Auracite fills people with Dynamis.

There are two kinds of dynamis reactions:
1. Dynamis that drowns out Aether. This is what the Endsinger did to create Blasphemies.
2. Dynamis that compels aether into a certain behaviour. This is what happens for example whenever an Elpis flower changes color.

My theory would place Auracite into the latter category: It takes the aether of it's bearer and changes / embellishes it with surrounding aether, similar to the summoning of a primal.
So case in point: Dynamis is the cause for the change, but it is not part of the end-product.