Auspices and Dynamis

[LilimoLimomo]

My main point is that while yes, Dynamis is thinner here, it isn't absent. Therefore rather than 1 or 2 beings wishing fervently for water to return or to fly again and it happening fairly instantly, on Etheirys it may be it requires millions of people to hold a religious belief that animals gain sentience and power if they live long enough. Widespread, mass-scale belief over centuries could have a similar effect as what we witness in Thule, but the time required is much longer due to Dynamis being thinner. If it worked for the 12 and the 12 being shaped by peoples beliefs, why not for auspices. If people believe they have a wrathful form (aramitama) then that's what transpires, not unlike how when Dalamud was launched, suddenly the superstition that it was Menphina's hound manifested a pet dog in Menphina's realm.

I think I see how you're getting yourself confused: you're stretching the definition of dynamis. Dynamis is an emotional energy. Emotion is not the same as wishes, beliefs, or prayers. If you want to better understand the difference between these abstract concepts, dictionary definitions and wikipedia articles should get you moving in the right direction.

But all complexity about Dynamis aside, I think the biggest mistake you've made is to make the assumption that auspices are an unnatural phenomenon that needs explanation, rather than a natural part of the way life on Etheirys works. And that's a huuuuge assumption when we're talking about a fantasy world filled with magic and ghosts.

[Cleretic]

I think I see how you're getting yourself confused: you're stretching the definition of dynamis. Dynamis is an emotional energy. Emotion is not the same as wishes, beliefs, or prayers. If you want to better understand the difference between these abstract concepts, dictionary definitions and wikipedia articles should get you moving in the right direction.

But all complexity about Dynamis aside, I think the biggest mistake you've made is to make the assumption that auspices are an unnatural phenomenon that needs explanation, rather than a natural part of the way life on Etheirys works. And that's a huuuuge assumption when we're talking about a fantasy world filled with magic and ghosts.

I also suspect he might be conflating the auspices and the kami; the kami actually are worshipped, and seem to in some level be empowered and shaped by the prayers given to them in a way that's not completely dissimilar to the Twelve (who also have nearly nothing to do with dynamis), albeit not in a way that the story ever gives full focus or explanation to.

Meanwhile, nobody's praying to the auspices; they seem to be figures of myth, but more on the level of, say, the cyclops or the pegasus rather than someone like Hercules. A part of a tale, rather than deities to be revered. ...and people don't seem to know their story very well, either, judging by their Tataru quest. You can pretty safely exclude the Auspices from any discussion of 'maybe belief shaped them', because their entire source of power literally comes from 'hide in a cave in the middle of nowhere and just soak up the ambient aether'.

[Dikatis]

Meanwhile, nobody's praying to the auspices;

That's not entirely true. Seiryu was explicitly venerated as a snake deity prior to becoming a full auspice. In the present, Seiryu is worshipped as a god of geomancy.

Seiryu: The guardian of the east is an imposing dragon with cerulean scales. Artists often show him grasping a jewel of immense power in his right claw. In the tales, said jewel is often put to use creating miracles, and as a result several locales worship Seiryu as a god of geomancy.

The auspices in general are generally respected as any kami and seen as gods.

Auspices: An integral part of Far Eastern folklore since ancient times, an auspice is an animal that has ascended to godhood. Legends tell of birds and beasts which, having outlived their ordinary lifespan by decades, attain a sense of self. Over the course of a thousand years, such creatures gradually amass a mystical strength, until one day they awaken to powers of divine magnitude. Auspices are considered deities in their own right, as awe-inspiring and respected as any kami.

These ascended animals are, however, plagued by a dual nature. When the boundless calm - the nigimitama - comes to the fore, an auspice often serves as a benevolent guardian, protecting the people from malicious entities. But when the primal rage - the aramitama - takes over, the auspice runs wild, wreaking disasters of divine proportions. Many a folktale and minstrel’s verse is the recounting of a heroic effort made to contain these rampaging beings.

[Cleretic]

That's not entirely true. Seiryu was explicitly venerated as a snake deity prior to becoming a full auspice. In the present, Seiryu is worshipped as a god of geomancy.



The auspices in general are generally respected as any kami and seen as gods.

Ah, thankyou for the correction on this one!

It's still a correction that largely underlines the point rather than refutes it, though: the Auspices are revered and prayed to after becoming Auspices, not before. So they can't really be shaped by faith, because the faith comes after the form.

[Lyth]

I'm sure Senri was worshipped with pets and offerings of cat food well before she became capable of killing her opponents five times before they hit the ground.

'Don't know how it is in your homeland, but here, if an animal manages to survive a hundred years, it begins to get ideas. Delusions of grandeur. Some small power, sure, but nothing much to speak of. Survive ten times that and you become a full-fledged auspice, though. Speech! Magicks! It's quite the change, believe me, which is why we call it... the change. What? I never said it was something clever.'

Hard to say definitively how this happens or why, at present. But transforming yourself through your willpower and your belief in yourself? It doesn't sound like a standard aetheric practice, at least. It's a stalemate without the devs weighing in further, but OP's initial question is a sensible one. It's only when you stop asking such questions that dogma sinks in.