#arcanima
Text
FFXIV Write Entry #6: The Form of Magic
Prompt: ring || Master Post || On AO3
--
Synnove sets stick to ground, and begins to walk.
The stick would be better called a rod: two-thirds her height, just thin enough to close her hand so that thumb touches middle finger, made of ironwood. A simple, unassuming tool, save for the simple fact it is over two hundred years old and has only ever been used to map out arrays.
Synnove herself is a mathematical genius with a memory like a steel trap: show her an arcanima array, and she will know it for life, how to tweak it, how to scale it, how to draw it, how to hold it in her mind in two dimensions and in three. She is able to draw a perfect circle freehand, a fact which drove more than one of her teachers in her early days at the Guild into fits of hysteria (and Mhaslona into fits of chortling, smug glee at poaching her from the mathematics department). She is, thus, the perfect arcanist to create the draft for a new permanent array for the Guild’s use on the Range.
The circle is the most basic shape of magic, the foundation for nearly all of the most important spells within an arcanist’s grimoire. Even thaumaturgy and black magic must needs bow to its use, stabilizing their spells else the power they attempt to channel consume them whole. Conjury, too, though less obviously, for the cycle of life and death and the elements was just another kind of circle writ large across creation.
Synnove walks smooth and sure, adjusting her grip on the array rod minutely as needed to ensure the circle growing behind her is as perfect as her steps. Tyr shadows her, ensuring the furrow left by the rod are smooth and flawless, using his equally precise aether control to flick away pebbles and rocks. Across her shoulders, Galette sprawls, though they are working today so rather than napping, she keeps the winds on the work site that blow off the Indigo Deep calm and friendly, and her nose twitches as she takes in the ambient aether, ensuring no sudden changes occur that will affect the efficacy of the array.
Dawn is only just breaking on the eastern horizon.
Ten minutes later, Synnove finishes the circle and a satisfying snap crackles through the air as she closes it, the protective magicks this array will emit already thrumming to life with the intent that Synnove used in the shaping. Tyr packs down the small pile of dirt with a paw, and Synnove side steps carefully inward until she is precisely six feet from the edge. The end of the rod hits the dirt with a soft thud, and once more, she begins to walk.
This time, behind her, other arcanists move in to begin carving out the shapes and equations that will fill the outermost circle. Topaz carbuncles join Tyr in removing the detritus, either pitching it beyond the edge of the array or packing it down into the earth.
Once a permanent array has begun its crafting, they cannot stop. If it takes all day to finish, so be it. If they work into the night and the next dawn, to ensure its perfection, so be it.
When the second circle is complete, Synnove moves further inward, ever and on, creating each and every circle this array requires with surety. Once the last closes, she moves to assist with the secondary lines and equations and shapes, one arcanist among many working as a smoothly oiled magitek engine.
They break at noon for food and water, and as Synnove drinks from her canteen and eats a roll stuffed with cheese and thinly sliced beef and roasted peppers, she walks the array, Tyr at her side. With a critical eye, she tracks every curve, every straight line, every number and letter scored into the earth, ensuring total perfection. Anything less, and the array won’t work.
Or it’ll explode.
Fifty-fifty chance, depending.
After lunch, work resumes, slow and methodical. Someone starts a shanty that helps the afternoon roll by a little faster, though quiet still dominates: concentration is key. But as the shadows lengthen, the carving finishes, and Synnove and the other senior arcanists walk the array once more, stepping carefully into any free spot, examining and double-checking and studying. Her fellows use copies of the array written in plain ink on plain parchment as reference; Synnove needs only her memory.
Then, finally, once they deem the array perfect, it’s the turn of the metallurgists to work.
Ivar and the few other ruby carbuncles the Guild has have been minding the crucibles, ensuring the metal within remains fiery hot, especially now as the metallurgists carefully carry the crucibles out in pairs to the array from the makeshift smithy. And, even more carefully, they begin to pour, melting flowing down the circle’s edge and diverting into the channels made by the other array elements as the metallurgists now walk the same path that Synnove did.
The ruby carbuncles now work to ensure the metal—a mithril alloy the Guild favors for shielding arrays, a proprietary mix they jealously guard—stays just as molten in the earthen furrows as it does in the crucibles. When the metallurgists are finished, every part of the array that touches itself will be a single piece of metal. For now, the molten material glows white with its heat, setting the growing night alight.
By necessity, this step is slow: the metallurgists must tip the crucibles carefully and pour even more so, to ensure no metal splashes and mars the array. And the crucibles must be refilled. It is nearing midnight when every single element glows under the night sky.
Most of the arcanists returned home bells before, but Synnove and a few others remain. They walk the array one last time with the topaz and ruby carbuncles—Tyr is on her right, Ivar her left, sniffing suspiciously at anything that looks remotely like a bubble that could lead to a void in the metal. The radiating heat is pleasant against the chill of the night, and Galette draped around her neck—now asleep, no longer on duty—makes for an excellent scarf.
Finally, they are satisfied.
Force cooling metal so quickly could lead to brittleness and breaks if not performed with care, but with carbuncles aspected to earth and to fire working together, such work is complete in nearly an eyeblink. The final product glitters in the light from the torches surrounding the worksite, perfectly flush with the ground.
The ambient aether thrums with the change. Reality has been warped, if subtly.
Synnove strides out to the very middle of the array and points up. A roiling ball of Ruin rushes forth into the sky, up and up and up and—
—reality twists more obviously, and the spell smacks into a domed shield that glimmers into life, forcibly dissipating the spell into harmless aether. The shield itself is wide: the dome isn’t limited to the array itself, but arches out into the waters beyond the Range. It seals the entire island.
Synnove grins as she walks out to meet her colleagues. “Interior shell seems to hold well on initial application,” she says, softly scritching Tyr’s head where it leans into her hip. “We’ll do a more thorough test with the exterior defenses tomorrow.”
Houxine from mathematics rubs at her eyes as they trudge out the edge of the permanent array. “So glad to have this project nearly finished,” the elezen grumbles.
Murmurs of assent and yawns answer her. Synnove takes one last look out over the array, now lost to shadow, and leans down to rub her fingers over the perfectly smooth outer edge of the circle. The metal is still warm, and the magic in it hums contently to match the song of the aether in the air and soil around her.
A job well done, and Synnove nods her satisfaction, and follows after her colleagues.
PREVIOUS || NEXT
#ffxivwrite2023#final fantasy xiv#ffxiv#oc: synnove greywolfe#synnove's carbuncles#dt's writing#worldbuilding#arcanima#arcanists' guild
35 notes
·
View notes
Text
FFXIV Write 2022 Prompt #1: Cross
Cross – annoyed (among many other definitions)
“Honey? Can I ask you something?”
“Sure can, love. One second.” Aleister called back to his wife. He was in the middle of preparing their dinner, but the sauce needed to simmer for a while longer before he could move forward, so he adjusted the heat levels on their home’s stove and stepped away, towards their living room. “What’s up?”
Gwenefyr Franks stood in front of the shelf he had set aside to store and display the various grimoires and codices he had wielded over the course of his career as an arcanima-wielding adventurer. It contained a myriad of tomes, from simple leather bound grimoires to ornately decorated thick volumes. Three, however, were more prominent displayed than the others. It was these three that Gwen’s eyes were fixated upon.
“Refresh my memory”, she said, her eyes not moving from them. “You’ve mastered two ancient magical arts that have their roots in modern Arcanima, right?”
He nodded. “Yup, that’s right. Allagan summoning and the scholarly magicks of Nym”
“Right. And I’ve seen you use this tome when wielding the former art.” she responded, gesturing the dark blue and black tome in the center. Its cover was more metal, blue lighting, and magitek devices than any sort of leather.
He smiled as he walked over to pick up the….tome? device? He was never really sure which term was more proper. “Ah yes, the ‘magitek grimoire’ as Cid named it. It’s not even really a book, technically, the pages inside are actually a display screen that calls up the various formulae and array designs required to execute the necessary spells.”
A smile came across his face as he recalled the memory of first seeing the device (he was settling on that now, he decided). “Cid actually gifted this to me just before our assault on Castrum Meridianum. After I met him and his memory had returned, I pestered him endlessly with questions about magitek, how it worked, what all it could accomplish. He never once seemed annoyed, though. I think he was happy someone regarded his passion with such wonder. He custom designed this for me, made it look more like a tome just so it would feel more familiar when I used it. That’s why I still use it to this day. It was my first real experience with magitek. Without this….I don’t know, maybe I’d still have gone on to learn as much as I have about engineering and help build the Machinist’s Guild, but, this was still my first step.”
Gwen turned to him, smiling. “I know what you mean, love. And I’m very proud of you for how far you’ve come.”
She pressed a quick kiss to his lips, then broke away, giving him a rueful look. “But no more distracting, I still have questions. This book-” she said, gesturing to the rightmost item. “This one is the one you use when wielding the Scholarly magicks, right?”
The book in question was a thinner volume, bound in red and blue leather, but with a strange series of gear- and pipe-like metallic decorations. Attached to the back cover and extending beyond the edges of the cover were two small cylinders which each contained a glowing substance–pure aether.
Aleister set the Ironworks grimoire back in its place. “Good memory, I know I haven’t needed to wield the Scholar’s art much since you became a Sage, That actually isn’t one of Cid’s or Nero’s, believe it or not. Did I ever tell you about Gerolt Blackthorn?”
Gwen’s face scrunched as she thought. “Isn’t he that legendary weaponsmith you told me about? The one that Rowena keeps around because she’s actually in love with him?”
He chuckled “That’s the one, and just a reminder, don’t EVER say that in front of her. He was part of the Anima project, the one that was trying to create life from aether. As part of it, Gerolt restored a number of ancient relics to functional use, all of which were potentials to use for the Anima’s vessel. We ultimately decided to use the greatsword he made for Dahk, but the restored relics were still perfectly great weapons on their own. This one in particular is called Elements, an ancient treatise on the relationships between the different elemental forms of aether. As you might guess, the metallic bits were additions Gerolt added to help contain the Anima, but even without that, well, I admit I just really like the look of it. It fits my whole aesthetic, you know?”
Gwen snorted. “I’ve seen the attire you wear as a Scholar, husband mine, and yes, I can agree, that like said attire, it does fit the absolutely ridiculous aesthetic you have going there”
“Hey!” He swatted at her backside, which she expertly dodged, giggling the whole way.
“Did you just ask me in here to tease me about my attire choices, or was there something else?” he mock-growled.
“Actually, there was one last one.” she said, gesturing to the leftmost and final of the three tomes given prominent display on the shelf. This particular volume was quite massive, bearing a green and brown cover with a metallic brass covering the edges and in patterns across the font and back, set with green and red gems. The upper corner of the front had a long green horn extending from it. “So if the other two are your preferred implements for your two Arcanima-based arts, then what is this one? You normally keep the older tomes further in, behind the current ones.”
“Ah.” he responded, looking at the volume with a mixture of resigned acceptance and fondness. “Well, that’d be because it’s not exactly old. In fact, it’s probably the newest acquisition of the collection, actually. It’s called Espiritus, another Gerolt restoration, but this one is from Bozja.”
“Oh right! I remember Fearless talking about these, they were the weapons of their old queen’s elite guard, right?”
He nodded. “That’s right. I guess they had a particularly talented arcanist in their ranks. Either that or Gerolt just massively improved on the design. Even the paper within is a rare material.”
He removed the grimoire from it’s resting place and opened it. The paper inside was a dark bluish-gray, the arrays and formulae within inscribed with a brilliant gold ink. Gwen marveled at the beauty. She knew her husband and provided the specifics of the designs to Gerolt to fill the tome’s pages, but it had been Gerolt’s expert hands that actually put them to page. The man was a marvel.
“It’s beautiful, but….if you prefer the magitek grimoire for day to day use, then what purpose does this one serve, then?”
His face twisted up in irritation. “I keep it handy for when I need to visit Maelvaan’s Gate.”
“The Arcanist’s guild? Why?”
“Because the last time I opened the Ironworks one within its halls, every single Arcanist in there looked at me like I’d insulted them personally.”
Gwen was taken aback, crossing her arms. “You’re joking.”
Aleister shook his head. “I am not. I was force-marched to the office of one of the departmental vice-chairs, the one with the insanely piercing eyes, and harangued for a solid hour on the importance and correctness of using ‘an actual, proper paper book’ when practicing Arcanima. Any protests I made about its effectiveness were shushed, and any examples I gave of deeds I had accomplished while using it were met with ‘and think about how much better you could have done with a proper grimoire’ and the like”
Gwen struggled mightily to hold back in her laughter, covered her mouth in the process, but she could tell from her husband’s expression that he wasn’t fooled. The man always could read her moon in her eyes very well, damn him. She regained control of herself and tried to set her mind back on his side. “Okay, funny as that image is, they shouldn’t treat you like that! You’re a Warrior of Light! You not only brought back two Arcanima based styles back out of history, you improved upon them! Please tell me you told Thubyrgeim about this, she needs to have a word with her people.”
To her shock, Aleister laughed, almost bitterly. “Who do you think did the forcible marching?”
She gasped, mostly to cover another laugh. “You’re kidding!”
“I am not. She might present herself as the picture of sanity in a madhouse, but the truth is she’s just as mad as all of them. The whole guild. Sometimes I’m amazed the Gate hasn’t exploded already”
She smirked at her husband “Uh huh. You’re part of that guild too, my love. And don’t even pretend you don’t enjoy a good explosion, I’ve seen the mad inventions that you, Cid, and Stephanivien have concocted before.”
“Quiet, you. I’m going back to making our dinner.”
I dyed the Ironworks grimoire and Espiritus soot black and hunter green, respectively, so don’t yell at me that I got the colors wrong!
#FFXiv Write 2022#Final Fantasy XIV#oldmanfranks#Aleister Franks#Gwenefyr Franks#look I'm not the only one who thinks arcanists are all mad scientists#arcanima
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
Auraugust 2023
Day 29 : Celebration -> The Rising Edition!
Surely the denizens of Revenant's Toll have seen stranger things borne of Svetlana's experiments with arcanima. This one was nothing short of a breakthrough.
-> Auraugust Master Tag
#ffxiv#gpose#svetlana#auraugust2023#auraugust#my ocs#au ra#xaela#co-wol au#the rising 2023#arcanima is the only way i can shakily justify this mount being a thing even for WoL-Lana but i just wanted to take pretty pictures
23 notes
·
View notes
Text
omg i wasn't here today and the arcanima post is gaining notes please please please go see @unionizedwizard's posts on the matter on his blog, it was his tags that got reposted and he's the #1 arcanima theorist in the community i was just making a joke post
#I know thats how tumblr works like a post being completed by an addition#But also his name is not in there and hes my friend and hes written an archon thesis on the topic of arcanima.#So go on his blog if you wanna read more#Ffxiv
7 notes
·
View notes
Photo
Cenric Asher
#final fantasy xiv#final fantasy xiv screenshots#final fantasy 14#hyur midlander#hyur#I've been fixing and replacing some of my old glamours#and removing some#the premise here is ironworks arcanima consultant#or in other words 'we do magitek but we got a guy who deals with spellcraft mumbo-jumbo'
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
want 2 talk about my girl shiloh some more but (1) her backstory is nuts like every single one of my wols (sans fortuna hers is the most normal) and (2) I don't know how else to word "she's railing nero on the side because she saw a man she deemed pathetic in a hot way and had to have him" but that's also part of her character. which happened for whatever reason
#her backstory being she was a sharlayan scholar that blew herself up in an experiment and ended up in the thirteenth pre world of darkness#and was there when everything went wrong. and fought to survive. something happens and she's blasted back home#she finds out oh time passes differently in these two worlds. I was in the thirteenth for what was likely months to years but only days#passed back here at home. this of course fucks her up bad. she tries to find a way to go back. blown up 2 electric boogaloo#she's in the first now. her mental state is now crumbling and she is what you would call ''an antagonist''#ends up fighting the warriors of darkness. is spirited away by an ascian being like WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE GET *OUT*#back home on the source again. again only like a week or so has passed compared to months/years#mental state continues to crumble. sharlayan sends her to limsa to learn arcanima which is slightly less explosive#she becomes a ninja instead and that's her backstory. do you understand why I can't share this shit with people it's TOO FUCKING MUCH#but it's SO FUN to come up with wild shit like that#shiloh tag
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
brb stuck trying to figure out just how dumb my daughter is
#ffxiv#aganaran qalli#to be fair!#she's very smart in certain fields#primarily math and language she picks those up very quickly#she is actually something of a prodigy at arcanima#but actual aetherology or#um#critical thinking#is not her strong suit#'how does she do astrology' unfortunately primarily by vibe
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Junelezen Day 3: A Realm Reborn
“Well, it’s been five years, right? I could stand to get out of the house, stretch my legs a little…”
#ffxiv#junelezen#junelezen 2022#she stuck around the house afterwards to try and continue her father Oliver’s research into the elementals#but because she didn’t quite have his access to conjury#she couldn’t control much#so she started thinking up other methods of research#and decided arcanima may be better suited for her#source of the quote is i made it the fuck up
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
I think one of the most Arisu things I would mention if asked to describe what she's like
Is that the biggest challenge for her is to not excitedly hug her friends in public, while the friends just happen to be high-ranking officials, and "public" is usually an official gathering
#shut up kevin#ffxiv ramblings#I love my precious bnuy#she's just the embodiment of :D with no more than 2 braincells#and even then an extra braincell only grew after she got into study of arcanima... to get her own Carbuncle#she always has her Carbuncle somewhere nearby too... and she calls it Bonky
1 note
·
View note
Text
Estelle de Laussienne
B A S I C S
Name
Estelle de Laussienne (born Fauconnier)
Nicknames
None in regular use; her adoptive brother uses "Essie" to get under her skin.
Age
24 (ARR) - 30 (Dawntrail)
Nameday
17th Sun of the 5th Astral Moon
Race
Half Sea Wolf Roegadyn / Half Midlander Hyur
Gender
Cis female
Orientation
Bisexual
Profession
Chirurgeon. She's a woman of many roles and skills, but only one professional license, though in another life -- say, in a non-WOL AU -- she might have wound up the Scions' "diplomatic advisor" (crisis manager and fixer).
P H Y S I C A L A S P E C T S
Hair
Black; as of the end of Shadowbringers, salt-and-pepper with a shock of white in her bangs. Coarse curls are courtesy of her roegadyn heritage. She has never cut her hair ("long hair is a woman's glory" and all -- have you seen Halone's? You cannot convince me there's nothing in Halonic scripture about it) and mostly wears it pinned in complex updos.
Eyes
A dark violet, inherited from her father.
Skin
A light, rainy-day grey inherited largely from her mother, with her father's cool pink undertones.
Tattoos/scars
Being a healer -- and a terrible patient -- Estelle has few scars of her own, as she takes care of her own injuries and prides herself in the sort of detailwork in her physicking that reduces or prevents scarring. Which means the ones she does have are from the wounds she was too incapacitated to heal herself, gnarly clusters of keloids and ragged hypertrophic slashes from effective but graceless emergency healing: sternum to hip from the fight with Elidibus at Ghimlyt; side to side across her belly from the fight with Zenos at the end of creation; and her oldest, a mottled burn scar around her left shoulder and collarbone from the dragon attack that took her parents. She keeps them glamoured when able and looks at them as little as possible.
F A M I L Y
Parents
Hermine Fauconnier
Her roegadyn mother; the seneschal and right hand woman of House Laussienne, Hermine was in charge of its books, employees, and trade logistics, and her service in return won her family as stable, secure, and comfortable a lifestyle as a lowborn could wish for outside of the Church. Deceased.
Renaut Fauconnier
Her hyuran father; a chirurgeon formerly of the Hospitaliers who transitioned into rural medicine as a traveling physician once he tired of the battlefield. Deceased.
Perette de Laussienne
Her adoptive elezen mother; the head of House Laussienne and a shark in the waters of Ishgard's nobility who raised Estelle like she was her own daughter. For better or worse, Perette taught her much of what she knows. Deceased.
Siblings
Verain de Laussienne
Estelle's adoptive brother. While they had a good relationship in their youth, a wedge formed not long into their teenage years when it became clear his mother's favor rested with a lowborn halfbreed. Still alive and currently head of House Laussienne, having been unceremoniously handed the reins when Estelle suddenly left Ishgard -- a fact that has done nothing to repair the rift between them.
Grandparents
None still living.
In-laws and Other
Over time, Estelle develops no shortage of family-like relations: Edmont, who regards her as a daughter; Alphinaud and Alisaie and Ryne, the little siblings she never had; the Scions, living together like a colony of stray cats. (And, though this is quite far in the future and something she would not want to think too much about even then, Lyna would technically be her daughter-in-law. The absolute dawning horror the first time Lyna calls her "grandmother" as a jest.)
Pets
Animals tend to like Estelle more than Estelle likes the concept of caring for an animal long-term, especially with how much she travels. The absolute closest she comes to owning a pet is spoiling the Rising Stones' resident ratcatchers.
S K I L L S
Abilities
Arcanima
The cornerstone of her combat abilities and field "healing" (more like Preventative Medicine), which branches out into Allagan summoning as she spends the years between Heavensward and Dawntrail refining equations based on primal waveforms.
Medicine
This includes everything in the typical Eorzean chirurgeon's skillset -- everything from general practice to surgery to autopsy is on the table (hah) -- as well as an alchemical background to synthesize and administer basic pharmacological treatments.
"Politics"
The catch-all umbrella for her social skillset, Estelle relishes the networking, information gathering, and strategic maneuvering required to throw one's weight around in powerful circles.
Hobbies
Languages
Though the Echo translates for her, it's still a rare and special skill regarded with suspicion in most corners of the world. Estelle enjoys picking up what she can of the local language in her travels to put people more at ease, especially as she wanders out to more rural locations.
Sketching/watercolors
A skill picked up in a previous relationship, though her fondness for it far outlived her fondness for her lover. She finds it relaxing to draw and paint the sights in her travels, and she keeps extensive journals.
Cooking
A domestic skill cultivated to a high level in the interest of being a "good wife" in her youth, turned into something of an obsession for learning new foods and techniques as she travels the world. Estelle delights in any occasion she has access to a stove and the opportunity to set a lively table.
Piano
All young ladies of good breeding learn the arts during their education, and Estelle is no exception, though the piano is the only instrument that stuck. She enjoys playing when she finds the time, and a piano to actually play on.
"New skills"
Estelle takes any opportunity to throw herself into doing something badly for the simple joy of trying something new. Most attempts to train for more physical skills like archery and swordplay fall under this category: things she'll likely never take seriously, but she enjoys using these moments to build new connections and relationships with her teachers.
T R A I T S
Most Positive Trait: Her friendliness. Estelle finds it natural to move into the lives of others and share their spaces, joys, grief, and problems; if she doesn't find success, it certainly isn't for a cold demeanor and lack of goodwill.
Most Negative Trait: Oh we've got a whole answer for this one. There is only so much friendliness can accomplish when Estelle does not accept the vulnerability of real connection.
L I K E S
Colors: Contrary to her severely black and mostly monochrome wardrobe, Estelle most enjoys dramatic, rich jewel tones and soft pastels.
Smells: The complex layers of an expensive, well-made perfume; fresh-cut jonquils; the chaos of food stalls in an open-air market; aspen woods in a crisp, fresh snow
Textures: Soft furs; the inner lining of a favorite pair of gloves; the smooth gloss of lacquered wood; the weighted feedback of ivory piano keys.
Drinks: A glass of well-aged dry red wine; coffee in the Ul'dahn style, unfiltered and highly sweetened, flavored with cardamom; Ishgardian tea, strong black leaves dressed with bergamot, steeped directly in hot milk and sweetened with buckwheat honey.
O T H E R D E T A I L S
Smokes: Yes, infrequently, and never socially; in times of high stress, she will smoke exactly one (1) cigarette when alone and thinking very deeply on something she wish she did not have to think deeply about, or when she needs to aggressively work over a problem in her mind. She's picky about her tobacco and prefers a Hannish clove-spiced blend. (Her case holds 20 cigarettes and the only time she's had to refill it because she's simply run out is during Endwalker.)
Drinks: Yes! All the time. I imagine Ishgard has a very robust drinking culture woven into most social rituals (alcohol features more prominently in Heavensward than nearly any other expansion except perhaps Endwalker) and Estelle is a very social creature. Of course there's an aperitif! And of course there is a glass or two of wine with dinner. And of course there must be a digestif. And of course there will be a nightcap as the evening winds down. She likely consumes more alcohol in a year than the rest of the Scions combined, and that includes that era where Thancred was getting trashed regularly to avoid coping with the Lahabrea situation. That said, she very rarely drinks alone, and almost never drinks with the intention to get inebriated.
Drugs: Nothing hard, but if someone hands her a bhang thandai during a festival in Radz-at-Han she's not going to turn it down.
Mount Issuance: For the same reasons Estelle doesn't keep a pet, she also doesn't keep a mount; she prefers to take carriages and ferries and airships, ride along with caravans, or rent chocobos. When she needs a pair of wings or to go somewhere she would feel guilty bringing a live animal, she relies on the sliver of his aether that Midgardsormr left with her to summon his form much the same way she might summon an egi.
Been Arrested: Estelle has spent most of her life being a law-abiding citizen. The amount of laws she's broken in the line of duty has spiked rather dramatically since joining the Scions, of course, as it turns out that subversive operations and overthrowing heads of state is illegal in those states, but good luck arresting her.
thank you for the tags @oneiroy, @ubejamjar, @ahollowgrave, and @idalenn!! i actually did a tag thing this time i did it i did the thing i was tagged to do
tagging……..@astralflows @menphinaswhitemage @archaiclumina @yloiseconeillants @rhotdornn @angelinecarax @fairygodpiggy @ilbers @mostlystarsandcandybars @caorann8 @morgana96 -- and anyone who hasn't been tagged yet!! i wanna read your lore
63 notes
·
View notes
Note
Why hallo friend I would like a delightful headcannon on living aether please and thank you
This has taken an absurdly long time to answer because I ended up using this to refine some ideas I'd been tentatively poking at. :P
Anyway: DT'S LORECRAFTING AHOY.
So! Why is living aether, which by the very phrase is different from the ambient aether that's the normal background radiation of Etheirys, predominately found coalescing around pretty stones, like emeralds and topazes and rubies and diamonds?
Because rocks aren't alive.
Oh, sure, they still have aether in them, everything has aether in it, but stone doesn't have that tiny little spark that one day could become a soul. Now, something like a tree does, and if I may go off on a tangent for a little bit (nope, sorry, not actually a choice, you're getting a tangent) it's one reason that Urianger's amber carbuncle is such an impressive feat: amber that is magically conductive still retains the parent tree's unique aether, and it's not particularly keen on sharing with outside living aether or being anything other than a tree. Urianger had to build his arrays completely from scratch because he had to convince the aether in his piece of amber to be a carbuncle at all. Thus, an amber carbuncle, despite the similar appearance, is a very different type of construct compared to a traditional gemstone carbuncle with an affinity for earth aether: different sources of base aether.
Now, living aether that coalesces around stones aren't necessarily guaranteed to be carbuncles; more often than not, living aether is going to end up in a big chunk, spread across many stones, and end up very strongly aspected to earth, which results in earth elementals and golems (and possibly spriggans, although since it is unknown how that type of soulkin manifests, the matter is up for debate). Very rarely, living aether will instead end up highly concentrated in a single vein of a precious stone, and those cases, that living aether will always result in a carbuncle--but the carbuncle isn’t able to spontaneously manifest and is instead initially only able to manifest via summoning.
Now, why is that?
...Great question, I'm still figuring out the specifics of that and reserve the right to override anything posted here at a later date if I come up with a better system. :D Worldbuilding, always a work in progress!
#biot08#dt answers things#final fantasy xiv#worldbuilding#arcanima#living aether definitely leans more into metaphysics than 'actual' physics#and my brain has been rotating this issue like a rotisserie chicken for /years/
31 notes
·
View notes
Text
rohl's tail lore is that its a glamour all thru arr-endwalker bc thats what miqos do in the south for warrior types. armoring them is impractical so its better to just confuse predators/opponents with a longer tail.
with the way i one tracked msq rohl didn't have a quiet moment ever so that glam is never dispelled until rohl disappears for however moons and shows back up as an omnicrafter
the glam is on a doodad their cousin made for them who is way better at arcanima and other magic shit:
56 notes
·
View notes
Text
A few headcanons for my WoL. I'll just dump all the lore I have under the cut.
Lominsan Astrologians
The Lominsan branch of Astrology is still a very new and experimental branch of the secretive Sharleyan/Ishgardian tradition. Initiated by a senior Arcanist Skywatcher of Mealvaan's Gate discovering several Astrology texts and star-charts being used as fish wrapping after their daily walk home by the Fishing Guild, the novel idea of using the arrangement of the heavens as the guiding geometry and the familiarity of using astral navigation warranted further exploration.
Unlike their distant cousins, Lominsan Astrology has a heavy navigational and short-term predictive bent, focusing on extrapolating the present and past by projecting their current state onto the cycle of the heavens via arcanum and predicting their future state by backprojecting their transformation through the tabulated movements of the stars. This, of course, is incredibly math heavy, having already produced several new mathematical theories and driven at least four (4) Arcanists insane from the long nights spent in the meeting room they've barricaded themselves in.
The lack of access to examples of astrologian planispheres, arms, and even decks of cards has required Lominsan Astrologians to make do with jury rigging existing equipment into the vague facsimile of one, both out of necessity and to suit their needs. As such, Lominsan-produced astrologian arms are highly skeletonized and unadorned, and incorporate a minimum of a sextant, a compass, a chronometer, a barometer, a thermometer, a hygrometer, an artificial horizon, and a sundial, with more advanced prototypes incorporating theodolites for more precise surveying and to take advantage of the platform's stability.
They still haven't quite figured out the cards portion of it, and many either use playing card decks or navigation star flash cards to varying degrees of success.
Casting
Whereas the modern Arcanist and it's derivatives safely channel aether through amplifying geometries written in aetheroconductive inks, the relative nature of the heavenly geometries require that the user finally channel the backprojected aether-patterns through themselves and out into a usable form. As well documented in the many historical texts of the guild, this is extremely dangerous except for the most well disciplined or hardened practitioners. In all astral navigation, the observer is first and final point of reference.
A nuanced but important difference between the traditional Sharleyan/Ishgardian and the novel Lominsan branch is their method of foresight. In the traditional method pioneered by Lewphon, user attunes their aether to the heavenly movements, drawing on the constellations with help from the planisphere and sets of cards to transform it into new properties or predict the future. In the mostly-independent Lominsan method, Arcanima is projected onto the position of the stars, transformed via moving the planisphere, and then backprojected into a new form, with the future collective movements amplifying the aether's power. The upsides is that the 6 constellations aren't necessary, and any combination of the 57 navigation stars plus the sun, moon, and current location may be used. The downside is that, unless well practiced, calculations must be done via dead reckoning (really Euler's method) of multiple celestial objects. The pure computation required, even for an expert assessor, is well beyond what is reasonable while holding back enough aether to kill a man. As such, only short-term projections are possible (no more than a week, a month if lucky), greatly limiting the Lominsan branch from the far-reaching predictive gifts of their distant cousins.
Thankfully for the half-mad assessors, by performing these iterative calculations, the aether is "compressed" at each timestep, allowing them to cast spells at a similar strength to their Sharleyan counterparts. Further, by choosing different combinations of stars, different effects can be produced in replica of traditional Astrologian spells. The 6 constellations are also usable as projective stars, and were the first to be tabulated, making them go-to choices in the heat of battle. In addition, this gives the Lominsan branch much better short-term predictive powers of weather conditions than the other branches. An upside the others may find pitiful, but to the Lominsans, it's well worth the effort.
54 notes
·
View notes
Text
arcanists: we wield the most complex form of magic... arcanima. one must master arcane geometry to weave patterns that respect the flow of aether, which in turn will create powerful creature that can help you in combat. this is very dangerous and very powerful, it's not for the weak of mind
also arcanists: anyway we use that power to inspect ship crates lmao
#to my knowledge it is NEVER EXPANDED UPON#that merlwyb needed the arcanists i know. but they were there before already#they were just very much nepotists#so WHY contraband inspection. why not uuuh part of the army. or why not academics.#square enix this is driving me insane
3K notes
·
View notes
Text
I was tagged by ཻུ۪۪♡.@sundered-souls ཻུ۪۪♡. in this fun little tag game! Thank you so much for thinking of me! ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡
I did something similar for Oli dear recently, so I thought I'd do this one for Ren c:
ｂａｓｉｃｓ
Name: Cyfrenne Mirandis
(Phoentic: SIHF-ren MIH-ran-DIHS)
Nicknames: Ren, Frenne (used only by her uncle and occasionally Leontyne.) Cyf (used by Callineaux, to annoy her.)
Age: 34
Nameday: 19th Day of the Second Umbral moon
Race: Elezen
(Her model is Duskwight, but technically, Ren's family have been citizens of Sharlayan for like two centuries, so she doesn't really consider herself a Duskwight at all. She's got no knowledge of the clans experience in Gridania and The Shroud.)
Gender: Female
Orientation: This is hard for me to answer c': It never really comes up in my writing tbh, so I don't bother to think about it. I do ship her with my husband's characters for fun, but nothing we joke about in terms of ships are canon. Ren has no canon romantic relationships. She's married to her work and her research. I guess she's in a platonic life partnership with Oli? lol.
Profession: Archivist, Bibliomancer
ｐｈｙｓｉｃａｌ ａｓｐｅｃｔｓ
Hair: White with hints of lilac, especially toward the tips
Eyes: Violet. One slightly darker than the other.
Skin: Slate blue
Tattoos/scars: None
ｆａｍｉｌｙ
Parents:
Father, Conarique Mirandis
Mother, Venesande Lorenaire
(unmarried)
Siblings: None she knows about, but neither of her parents were married so she could have half-siblings somewhere, potentially.
Grandparents:
Grandfather, Eyvanellain Mirandis
Grandmother, Milesevain Mirandis nee Urseult
Grandfather, Urmenost Lorenaire
Grandmother, Solette Lorenaire nee Haustefort
In-laws and Other:
Uncle, Zancefer Mirandis
Pets: None
ｓｋｉｌｌｓ
Abilities: Aetherolinguistics, Advanced Arcanima, Bibliomancy, Enchantment and binding cants, memory salads*
*I elaborated slightly on this previously here
Hobbies: Weaving, long walks at midnight, making jewellery (especially rings), gossiping and drinking coffee, reading, giving Leontyne social lessons, watching Callineaux lose at cards, eating Oliviede's baking.
ｔｒａｉｔｓ
Most Positive Trait: She's fun!
Most Negative Trait: She's a liar :c
ｌｉｋｅｓ
Colors: Ren likes all colours, as long as they're combined tastefully with accompanying shades. Her favorite colour is gold. (I like to put her in purples and blues because I just like how she looks in those colours in game, but canonically, Ren wears a wide variety of colours and cuts of clothing. She' very vain, you know? c': )
Smells: Peppermint, frankincense, pepper, vellum, wax
Textures: Old parchment, soft chiffon, porcelain, lacquered wood, uncut gemstones
Drinks: Dirty Chai, hazlenut milk, something fruity with rum or gin (two shots!)
ｏｔｈｅｒ ｄｅｔａｉｌｓ
Smokes: Not very often, but maybe something Oli offers her once in a while.
Drinks: Weekly, at least.
Drugs: See above comments regarding Oli.
Mount Issuance: Cyfrenne has a Chocobo whose name is Sorrel, he's very spoiled, he lives on Costa del Cobra with the rest of her uncle's Racing Chocbos.
Fun fact: Sorrel is the little brother of "Bonecrusher" a current, albeit rarely successful, racer at the Gold Saucer.
(Callineaux picked the name.)
Been Arrested: Not yet!
Tagging these beloved moots! As always, no pressure to do it/sorry if you've already been tagged! જ⁀➴♡⸝⸝ @angelinecarax, @dragons-ire, @archivumesoterica, @candycryptids, @improvised-finish, @the-unending-journey, @luck-and-larceny, and @dragonsongmakhali ʚɞ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚
#tysm for the tag! <33#tag games#ren#edited this to fix name pronunciation because I suck at phoentic spellings and it's not a real name so all the translators are like wonk c'
28 notes
·
View notes
Text
B A S I C S
Name: Nabette Vairemont
Nicknames: "Nibbles" (by Lili'a), "Nabs" (by A'vyra)
Age: 30 (as of EW's end)
Nameday: 25th Sun of the Fourth Umbral Moon
Race: Mixed Duskwight/Xaela
Gender: Woman
Orientation: Bisexual
Profession: Physiologist, Healer
P H Y S I C A L A S P E C T S
Hair: Always cut in a messy bob. Black with white strewn throughout.
Eyes: Light green
Skin: Bloo! With dark scales
Tattoos/scars: A paw print tattoo on her ass
F A M I L Y
Parents: Ameline Vairemont (mama, left) and [REDACTED] Ino Ahkiba (step-mom, right)
Siblings: U'nia!
Grandparents: None that bear mentioning
In-laws and Other: None. She has no plans to partner with or marry anyone in the near future.
Pets: Her emotional support carbuncle named Smoothie!
S K I L L S
Abilities: Arcanima that she set aside to learn Sage magic instead.
Hobbies: Weaving, adventuring (now), laying in the sun, sleeping (when she isn't having nightmares), snuggling, pestering U'nia while she cooks
T R A I T S
Most Positive Trait: Protective
Most Negative Trait: Protective
L I K E S
Colors: Greens and blacks! Some dark blues too
Smells: Spicy food (the kind that you feel more than smell), fresh linens
Textures: The warmth of a sun spot, the softness of Smoothie's fur, the ridges and divots of her own scales (that she stims with)
Drinks: Mint tea, Lemon Lassi
O T H E R D E T A I L S
Smokes: Has tried it, doesn't vibe with it.
Drinks: Socially
Drugs: Same as smoking, not her cup of tea.
Mount Issuance: Well, she came to own a Yol after besting Bardam's Mettle at the tender age of 15, but she left said Yol behind when she and her mother and sister fled the Steppe. That same Yol came to U'nia when she bested Bardam's Mettle many years later (during Stormblood)
Been Arrested: Nope!
---
Tagged by: @prudentfolly
Tagging: YOU
20 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
frangipani-wanderlust
Life, The Universe, And Some Other Stuff Probably
millennialgenderabolitionist
lesbians & gays are inherently gender critical.
5amanthus
SHIT FUCK I DON'T KNOW
runaway-art
Where fallen rose petals rest
gandrdraws
Gandr's Art Dump