Ever wondered where the Red Mages of Eorzea originated in Final Fantasy XIV?
Well, lucky for you, we have a story to tell today! Red mages are characterized by a specific thing that differentiates them from their black and white counterparts.
That being, red mages only use their bodies’ own ether to cast their spells. Doing so allows them to become much more aether-efficient.
But why use your own mana when there’s an overload of mana just in the environment?
Well, to answer that question, we have to go back to the end of the Fifth Astral Era, when in the mountains of Gyr Abania (GEER uh-BAH-nee-uh ) a mage war would take place between the mages of Mhach and Amdapor. A war among the white and black mages.
The aftermath of the war was disastrous. The land’s aether was completely drained; there was a lot of destruction overall, which led to a mass relocation of the inhabitants of Gyr Abania themselves
The plight of the mages in Final Fantasy XIV
Mages were now rightfully looked down upon and treated as the main cause of the massive wreckage.
And while many mages quit after the event, there were those who refused to let their magic roots down. So they shed their robes of black and white, and invented the classiest and the most fabulous way of using magic!
Red mages essentially learnt to completely cut down on the environmental aether usage and balance both the white and black mana in their own body to create a unique way of dealing damage.
It is even said that amongst the red mages, the use of environmental aether was not only looked down upon but even outright forbidden.
Throughout history, red mages always signified a theme of revolution and perseverance through their use of magic.
The forebears of the red mage school even made a ziggurat in the wake of the Gyr Abanian tragedy to not only suppress the aetherial disturbances post-war but also double as a library whose knowledge will be passed down to the next generation of red mages.
But sadly, with time, like all specialized skills, the art of red magic was also lost in history, with only a few who still practice it today. X’rhun Tia is one of them! As your mentor and co-founder of Crimson Duelist, he travels the land of Eorzea not only as hired help for those in need but also in search of people worthy of taking forward the legacy of the red mage!
