Aether Explained- Spell Craft/Schools, FFXIV Analysis

welcome back everyone today we'll be resuming our lessons on atherology and all factors there within so far we've covered the nature and physicality of aether as well as an introduction on the principles of magic but now that we've gotten all that out of the way today we'll be addressing the multiple types of magic and various spell schools they've created gather around my friends as we come to appreciate the study of spellcraft and its rich history like i've discussed in some of my lectures thus far the origin of spells can be dated all the way back to the second umbral calamity the calamity of lightning it suggested that the only reason some groups of people survive that calamity was because of magic's discovery and the initial creation of spells while we don't know exactly what spells were made or used it's asserted that they began as healing rituals and eventually evolved into both defensive and offensive incantations the first generation of mages were actually considered priests and clerks as their magic was assumed to be a gift from the gods but as we've discussed so far magic is available to almost everyone that wishes to tap into it divine intervention is not required so to honor the first mages and their acts of assumed benevolence let us discuss the spell schools that encompass the restoration support and healing arts the people using spell schools that involve the rejuvenation and mending of individuals and living things are often referred to simply as healers while not a poor name choice it doesn't do the variety of healing arts justice so let's begin by addressing the true nature of restorative spells the spell schools that involve healing rituals demand more of a caster's aether than any other type of magic the reason for this is because you're essentially giving an overabundance of aether to the entity in question to accelerate their healing factors in very specific ways from minor cuts to major injuries wounds cause the victim to lose aether a healer not only restores that missing power but provides more of it than normal all that excessive aether is used as free energy to mend open wounds and cleanse illnesses faster than naturally possible a surplus of this energy means your body can quickly recover without exhausting itself even individuals that suffer enough physical trauma to be knocked out cold can be revitalized through spells casually known as raises but this is where the limits of healing magic begin to show themselves the healing arts can save someone before receiving a fatal blow allow an individual to fight longer than they could have on their own and even purify harmful etheric effects but even with all these miraculous talents they cannot bring people back from the dead are limited to how much they can alter the diseases within someone and cannot heal a wound that has damaged someone's body beyond repair for example if an attack causes someone to lose massive amounts of blood or destroys multiple organs there is less and less the healing arts can do to have aether recreate the missing blood tissue and cells necessary to save that person's life in a manner of seconds would not only require more aether than the caster likely has but it would be far too complicated a task for any one spell to accurately perform so unless the caster has the talent to cast a dozen different spells at once with perfect focus as well as provide the steep etheric cost there is little a healer can do for those passing on however while death is typically beyond a healer's limits there are many ways to cast healing magic and aid those who might yet be saved the conjurer's guild of gridania is one such organization that attempts to place the ability to save others into the hands of those willing to learn conjuration teaches the respectful use of ambient aether the energy found in all things around you by using ambient aether healing spells can have significant power without putting the caster's own life at risk make no mistake if you attempt to heal someone exclusively with your own aether and use no medium to refine the spell you'd essentially be shaving years off of your lifespan resulting in your early demise conjuration reminds everyone that the world is abundant with power and so long as you only take what you need you can help countless people without harming the land these are the same principles that the modern day white mage follows white magic takes hold of and shapes the raw potential of ambient aether into extremely powerful healing spells as such white mages like the legendary ottowa kant decided to use their magic's close ties to nature in a proactive way tapping into the ambient aether found with an earth wind and water he would travel across ayorzia using the elements as his guide as he would cleanse corrupted aether restore the land and heal many people during his pilgrimage similarly astrologians draw upon the ambient aether gained from gazing towards the starry sky while white mages draw upon the earth astrologians draw upon the heavens our universe flows with vast amounts of unseen ether and some of that celestial energy can be tapped into with the right tools and training as such the spell schools created by charlene astrology revolve around magic that uses these cosmic forces offering up the life-giving properties of stars and planets to aid their allies but not all healing schools use different types of ambient aether like white mages or astrologians for example the scholars born of nemium pride mostly used their own aether for almost every spell the reason their life is never threatened by this method is because their aether is always optimized the various pages in a scholar's grimoire are filled to the brim with geometric symbols and incantations that act like rules for their aether to follow this causes even small amounts of energy to act in very specific ways bringing out the true potential of structured magic because of this precision scholars are most well known for their defensive spells weaving their aether into powerful barriers and shields that cause attacks to bounce off of and fail to harm the target indeed a magical barrier is essentially the manifestation of solid matter out of thin air but the aether that makes up this matter is limited and as such cannot exist indefinitely though it stands to reason that the more densely packed said aether is the stronger the barrier will be meanwhile sages follow a similar practice while they don't use the extensive pages of a book to structure their spells a sage has an intimate knowledge of physiology by educating themselves on the fundamental and complex needs of living organisms a sage knows where and how to apply their aether for the greatest effect they even know how to create barriers by temporarily altering the form their aether will take upon casting a spell [Music] now that we've covered a small collection of healing schools i hope you have a better understanding of the various methods from which we can draw upon and cast spells all of these helpful arts are essentially doing the same thing but through different mediums forming barriers to negate or reduce incoming damage mending the injured and cleansing corruption is standard for these magic schools it's only their methods that set them apart if someone has no affinity for one magic school nothing says they can't try another although what happens when these mages need to defend themselves what do they do when someone or something refuses to back down and all they're left with is a fight on their hands well in that case we must now address the potency and ruinous effects of offensive magic the chaotic nature of destruction can be found in all things even the healers we've discussed have created potent spells to put down those that would cause harm in the first place for example while an astrologian teaches the restorative benefits of celestial magic there's absolutely nothing stopping someone from focusing on the destructive nature of the cosmos forging and hurling stars to burn their foes using gravity to force them into submission even solar winds to knock enemies back all these things are possible such is the versatility of magic while an astrologian is known as a healer the offensive reflection would be a dangerous celestial mage indeed however while anyone can attempt to create new types of offensive magic there are multiple spell schools that have already stood the test of time and are uniquely lethal we'll start with one of the most accessible schools in our current age thalmaturgy unlike conjuration the thaumaturgic arts don't make use of ambient ether instead it teaches a mage how to make the most out of their own power by breathing it through astral and umbral stances these states of action and rest allow a thaumaturge to fight for longer periods of time than most mages could as spending your eighth or with no actual method is both wasteful and dangerous this spell school primarily uses elemental aether belonging to fire ice and lightning burning freezing and striking their foes with immense force and yet thalmaturgy is but a children's game when compared to the devastating power of black magic when it comes to raw destructive potential none stained taller than a black mage the modern black mage teaches similar spells to that of thaumaturgy but by drawing upon and using ambient aether as well their spells become supercharged and are that much more ruinous what used to be a searing flame is now a blazing inferno without much effort and past that raw unaspected energy that ravages anything that stands in its way after all the original black mages were so powerful that it encouraged the creation of white magic just to act as a hard counter and yet as we move along we've another introductory spell school found within the arcanist guild like the scholars we discussed earlier an arcanist uses a book filled with arcane symbols glyphs and shapes to direct their personal pool of aether each sign and spell seal is like a language that only aether truly understands and when spells are cast via these incantations a large variety of things are possible this is why the magic taught by the arcanists can be so varied offensive spells curing magic and the ability to stimulate life within certain crystals is all possible for an arcanist but a spell school that takes this one step further are that of the summoners summoners are essentially arcanists that don't limit themselves to the ethereal commands in their book since primals are beings made of raw energy their essence carries within itself a type of code that's unique to the primal in question a summoner can expose themselves to that code memorize it and learn how to channel aether through it to recreate said primal while primal summoning is considered taboo in most cultures for a variety of reasons a summoner is a unique exception as they don't fully commit to the primal's creation they only bestow the summoned spirit with enough aether to aid them in battle before their existence fades away completely negating the danger that comes with the primal's constant drain on ambient aether this gives summoners the benefits of possessing god-like power in small yet frequent bursts which should speak for their strength all on its own though speaking of avoiding dangerous outcomes we now bring our attention to the red mages of abelathia's spine red magic is unique as this spell school was created by taking what were considered to be the best parts of black and white magic without the use of ambient aether without using the world's energy red magic is noticeably weaker than that of black magic although what it loses in raw destructive power it gains in both speed and versatility red magic is efficient teaching the mage how to recycle spent in lingering energy to not only empower their spells but their bodies as well the mountains of girobanya are littered with the remains of those who underestimated the red mages conjuring winds that cut deeper than some blades condensed fire flaring outward and reducing things to ash as well as crystallizing their own aether into additional swords and weapons that fly through the air and pierce their foes lastly we'll address a new spell school that's still being tested blue magic blue magic was just recently introduced to aorzia from tribes native to the new world a massive continent far to the west of eorzea however this spell school is unique as it follows a very specific set of rules as we've discussed aether exists in all things even monsters what blue magic does is attempt to observe and copy the behaviors of said monsters while that might not seem impressive at first glance it would be unwise to overlook creatures like a behemoth chimera or dragon are dangerous on their own but if one person was able to collect the strongest powers and abilities of all these monsters they'd become a force of nature themselves by extension after all mimicry is often called the most sincere form of flattery [Music] and that my friends will bring an end to our analysis on some of the most refined spell schools in the modern day but don't think that's the end there are countless more ways to use magic if you can imagine it it might be possible for example there are the geomancers of the far east who draw upon the land's aether like a white mage but possess the divination spells of an estrologian there's forbidden necromancy causing the souls of its victims to scream in agony while being puppeted on mass by the caster there are even mages rumored to have a grasp on spells that can take hold of time's fabric in fact there are new spell schools less than a thousand years old that still have room to grow dark knights have developed their own type of spellcraft burning their aether like an abyssal flame to shield their friends and consume their foes with darkness in fact these dark arts have come so far in such a short time that it's entirely possible for a strong enough dark knight to use magic as much as if not more than their favored weapon similarly ninjas use hand signs like the symbols of an arcanist's book combining different types of aether into swift yet diverse spells even the bards of gridania weave aether into their songs to create magical melodies to either empower or befuddle those around them magic and the various ways to use it are so diverse that i could spend an eternity discussing it but i feel you've the right idea now while a soul stone might teach you the strict rules of a certain spell school there's nothing stopping you from experimenting or creating an entirely different form of magic in fact some individuals forgo the narrow path of one spell school and combine multiple arcane methods into their own unique style of spellcraft so whether you plan on charming the weak willed teleporting in an instant conjuring objects or even seizing control of the laws of nature these spell schools can help you do just that i for one have already begun my own studies into the world of magic so if you ever find yourself advancing one of these spell schools to even greater heights or end up developing something entirely new let's compare notes sometime but until that day comes i hope your days find you well and until next we meet stay safe my friends [Music] if you like this video don't forget to like and subscribe big shout out to my patrons rovacus monsolo 97 potato runa tear the yellow couch papaya cyan sage mouse valvala soma and eb the gt if you want to see more lore content in the future share this with your friends my dream is to share as much as i find with as many people as possible and if you do end up helping me thank you so much in advance and have a wonderful day

Channel: Synodic Scribe

Views: 16,856

Keywords: ffxiv, FFXIV, Final Fantasy 14, mmorpg, mmo, lore, gaming, educational

Id: HFhRPnaSkeM

Length: 18min 51sec (1131 seconds)

Published: Tue May 17 2022