Magic

The Lifestream¶

The Lifestream also known as spirit energy, is an ethereal substance that streams beneath the surface of the planet of Hydaleyn. All conscious life originates from the lifestream and in death all life returns to it. In several places, it makes springs that shoot from the ground and forms a crystaline structure. The places that are the most connected to the lifestream are usually near the floating crystals called Aetherytes.

Aether¶

Aether is the energy found throughout the world. It is source of both magic and life, and disruption in its flow is either the cause or indicator of catastrophic events, as evidenced by the Umbral Eras.

Aether is part of a series-wide trend to use a supernatural substance to explain the origins of magic, crystals, life, and other phenomena. Of these, aether is conceptually closest to the lifestream: both occur naturally in multiple degrees of density and both are poisonous at extreme levels. The Viera refer to aether as "Mist"

Aetherytes¶

Aetherytes are massive shards of crystallized aetheric mist, precisely cut and fused to arcane machinery. While it is not known when or by whom these devices were originally constructed, their teleportational qualities have become the backbone of everyday transportation throughout the realm, with most managed and operated by individual city-states.

Though the exact mechanism behind teleportation via Aetheryte is still largely a mystery, one theory states that when a sentient being approaches one of the portals, the aether that makes up its body resonates with the aether of the crystals, breaking down the being's mass, allowing it to temporarily return to the invisible aetheric streams that course throughout the planet. The being's soul, which cannot be broken down, then guides the particles to a predetermined destination, and upon arrival, the corresponding Aetheryte receptacle reconfigures the mist into its original form. This process takes only a matter of moments, allowing for nearly instant transportation to faraway destinations.

However, being broken down to the aetheric level can take its toll on one's body, and rest is often required after several consecutive jumps, especially as the distance becomes greater. As a precaution, most city-states strongly discourage over-teleporting, as it can lead to irreversible damage.

You can only Travel to Aetherytes that you have attuned to.

Aetheryte Attuning¶

Attuning to a Aetheryte is simple, one must simply touch the crystal with his or her hand and feel the crystal within themselves. It can be done with a short-rest and anyone could do it.

Aetheryte Shards¶

City-states all have a network of Aetheryte Shards that allows warping between key facilities in the city, at no cost.

Aetheryte travel exhaustion¶

If resting, you can recover levels of exhaustion, for details about exhaustion levels please see the D&D Players handbook under Appendix A: Conditions.

For madness, Please follow the Long-Term Madness table in Chapter 8 of the Dungeon Masters Guidebook

Aether Crystals¶

In areas where aether is over-abundant, giant crystals form from within the land. They can take an elemental aspect from any one of the six elements or can be unaspected.

Mor Dhona is a prime example of a land corrupted by aether which turned the place into a dangerous, lifeless place full of terrible beasts; this corruption manifested into colossal crystals which has taken over the landscape.

Wildlife that live near these creatures become more aggressive and dangerous and can take on the crystals element if aspected.

Elemental Crystal¶

Gemstone, varies - Entire section credit to Alessio

Crystals are aether made manifest in solid form. Whenever a living entity dies, its aether dissipates and returns to the lifestream. The amount of aether that can return therein at once is, however, limited. Therefore in the case of violent and sudden death, such as that induced by a mortal wound, only part of the victim's aether returns to the planet, whereas the rest remains invisible in the atmosphere, until it precipitates in the form of these translucent multicolored gems.

Crystals are the main ingredient of crystal-based synthesis, a technique developed during the Sixth Astral Era that allows a trained craftsman with adequate tools to replicate environmental conditions otherwise hard to attain, such as the heat of a well built forge, in a much more constrained space.

Crystals come in different shapes and forms, varying on purity and elemental affinity. On the practical side, an expert enchanter can use the aether stored within a crystal to manipulate the one without, ultimately unleashing magical effects he or she would normally be able to reproduce on their own but without expending their own energies.

For less arcane adventurers they can also be easily cashed in in any city for raw gils, given the high demand for crafting trade.

Usage¶

A crystal works in the same way a spell scroll would do, allowing an adventurer whose class's spell list includes the crystal's magic to cast it for free. Use the same values as in the spell scroll table from the Basic Rules to determine rarity, save DC and attack bonus for a crystal of a given spell level.

The rules on the enchanter's level still apply, and the caster might need to pass an ability check to use it the same way he or she would do with a spell scroll, suffering the same consequences upon failure.

Whatever the outcome, once used the crystal dissipates, its energies immediately releasing to the purpose of unleashing the spell (or wasted into nothingness).

Crystals can hold any kind of magic, with only two requirements:

• A crystal of a given quality can only produce magics up to a given level, as in the table below.
• The spell must be elementally compatible with the crystal. For example, a Fireball spell can be cast from a fire-aligned crystal, but not from a water-aligned one.

Spells without an explicit elemental alignment are open to interpretation. For example, you could have a lightning crystal cast the Mage Hand spell, on the basis that it uses magnetic force to manipulate an object. Or a water crystal cast the Cure Wounds spell, based on the cleansing properties of water.

Unlike spell scrolls, a crystal's spell cannot be copied in a caster's spellbook, if he or she uses any.

Note: There are no 9th level spell crystals. Magic of that level is too powerful for any crystal to have enough energy to reproduce.

Optional Rule: Elemental Shifting¶

If you wish so, you can drop the elemental restrictions and twist the spell on the fly in such a way that it becomes a variant compatible with the crystal's element.

For example, when cast by a water crystal, the Fireball spell would unleash an explosion of high pressure water, dealing piercing rather than fire damage.

Variant: Spell Slot Battery¶

Instead of binding crystals to specific spells like scrolls do, you can chose to have a spellcaster consume it instead of one of its spell slot to cast a spell he or she already knows.

The restrictions on elemental compatibility still apply.

Astral and Umbral Polarities¶

Eorzean scholars believe that the elements are drawn to two polarities, Astral and Umbral, which represent active and passive states of aether. Where fire-aspected aether in Astral alignment may manifest as a wildfire, fire-aspected aether in an Umbral alignment may manifest as a dry heat.

The elements most commonly found in an Umbral state are Water, Earth, and Ice, with Ice being most closely associated with stasis. Those most commonly found in an Astral state are Wind, Fire, and Lightning, with Lightning being the element most closely associated with activity. Despite this, it is possible to find any of the six elements in an Astral or Umbral alignment.

Unaspected aether (aether that has a balanced elemental aspect) can also be pulled to an Umbral or Astral state. For example, the Seventh Umbral Calamity, wrought by Bahamut's wrath, is said to have been a Calamity of all elements in an astral state.

On the First, the implications of "active" and "static" are reversed. Seeing "activity" as akin to all colors coalescing into black, active effects are identified with Darkness. Likewise, seeing "passivity" as similar to the complete absence of hue, such effects are identified with Light. This understanding is revealed to be closer to the truth, with the Source understanding the observable effect, but the First coming closer to the primordial forces at their root.