What is: Ceruleum - FFXIV Lore

[@nice2835]

Turns out it doesn't power anything in the pictured area

[@WyrmLimion]

I was pretty sad too.

[@ketsuekikumori9145]

There are some aspects of ceruleum lore that could be expanded on. Namely the differences between it and crystals. For example why, seemingly, don't the Garleans use crystals at all? Cid and the other defecting Garleans of Garland Ironworks have extensive knowledge of aetheric material properties considering the number of projects they worked on. From the large, brute force crystal- I guess you would call it aetheric manipulation contraption against primals like Garuda to small scale improvements of the warding scales. So its still surprising that Garleans haven't made more extensive use of crystals in conjunction with ceruleum. Granted, Garland Ironworks isn't exclusively made of Garleans, but much of their knowledge is still based on Garlean understandings of aetheric properties. Or what makes crystals less suitable for one application over another and vice versa. We use crystals when we craft, but never seem to use ceruleum in any of our recipes, not even as a crafting ingredient. Silver Tear Lake crystals have ceruleum mixed in with it, I'm surprised someone hasn't made use of it. Then again, maybe the two of them together are more volatile than either alone. The default answer is that it requires aetheric manipulation or that it is easier to manipulate ceruleum to the point that even a race like the Garleans can use it, but that's the cop out answer. Their extensive knowledge should be more than enough to get some benefit out of crystals. The other answer is the Garleans' pride. They may view crystal use as "barbaric technology", inferior to their ceruleum tech. Which considering their ability to match or even exceed other nations' power, it wouldn't be surprising if they do take on that view. Lastly, the two's formation. As you've said, both are aetheric in nature, but why does one form into crystals, nevermind into specific elements, while the other is a liquid that seems to be consistently unaspected. Again, how does their formation affect their properties?

[@WyrmLimion]

An excellent analysis, Ketsueki! I touched a bit upon the process of Crystal formation in a previous video about Aetherial Weapons. As I understand it, Crystals are a by-product of the life cycle in the FFXIV universe, specially how the lifestream works and the flow of life and death. An example is if an adventurer is fighting and it struck down instantly, their life energy, the corporeal aether would return to the aetherial sea. A by-product of this process is the sudden release of aether from a living being who dies can manifest in the form of crystal formations. This is the reason we can often find crystal in the wake of a creatures death(aka who some mobs drop crystals). This process is best viewed in relation to the planet itself. Places where the land has been severely damaged by sudden or cataclysmic forces can cause the aether of the land that's released to undergo the same process, forming large crystal formations. This is why we see crystals all over Eorzea, a realm that's been ravaged time and time again by cataclysms. In essence, any place you see where crystals have formed was likely subject to some sort of major damage at some point.

[@wadeyyy]

Love your videos! This might be overstepping but I think your channel would really benefit from adding a bit of variety with your vocal inflection to prevent every sentence from ending on a downward pitch :)

[@WyrmLimion]

I fully agree! I end up doing it alot to try curb my speech impediment, which happily has very much improved. But I will take this feedback into considering going forward. Ty for the support :)

[@edstairs4888]

I'm also very interested in ceruleum and what story it has to tell. Since the Whalaqee people see it as sacred I wonder if there's some secret behind what it is or it's Origins and if it's similar to mako from FF7.

[@WyrmLimion]

Hopefully they elaborate more upon it, as we really don't have a full grasp on its origins. Like you, I tend to treat it like Mako from VII or the equivalent of Oil IRL.

[@Apt23-v8u]

Not really, the walaquee see the color Blue as sacred, and everthing Blue is sacred for them, that is because of the principle in their religión and Blue Magic, everthing under the Blue sky is important

[@ViewTube_Emperor_of_Mankind]

As long as we do not need to make a necklace of it I am fine with whatever Ceruleum is created from. (Warcraft Battle for Azeroth reference)