X'rhun explains the connection to Theodoric real early in the questline when you're in the graveyard at Saint Adama Landama.
It's important to note that Red Magic seems to have had it's own unique identity before the Duelists got a hold of it and made it all "For Ala Mhigo!" That very much appears to be a Crimson Duelist thing and not a Red Magic in general thing.
There's a part of the questline where you go digging around in/near the Ziggurat and find alchemical formulas, histories of Amdapor and histories of Red Magic. Archeological information on learning it appears to be available to those who look hard enough for it not to mention the Sharlayan connections. Additionally it's also ambiguous if the art actually even requires a soulstone to use. Judging from the quests, you could learn it from tablets or records.
My personal headcanon (Read: this means my opinion) is some advanced RDM abilities might require a soulstone but it doesn't appear Arya has one and if Alisaie does it hasn't been showcased. If you wanna Jolt and Verthunder/Aero and Corps-a-Corps your sword around all fancy like then go ham.
The fact that it seems so easy to pick up and learn makes me really balk at the "Crimson Duelists are the only Red Mages" stance. It just doesn't make sense. So despite the information being so readily available for the picking in and around Gyr Abania there is absolutely no other group of Ala Mhigans in the region that know it or no researcher in Sharlayan learning it or no archeologist digging stuff up about it right now? Even without the line of dialogue below I'm not inclined to find that logical.
There's a line of text after you find Lambert where it says that X'rhun and the Duelists "studied the faded teachings" and either taught themselves the magic or were perhaps taught themselves.
Did they have a teacher? Did they learn it from written archeological finds? You can really infer it one way or the other from this. My question is: Where's all this generational passdown? We don't really know. We don't get to see it.
This is the kind of stuff SE has a habit of leaving painfully ambiguous and ends up getting answered at a lore panel the next year.
It's important to note that Red Magic seems to have had it's own unique identity before the Duelists got a hold of it and made it all "For Ala Mhigo!" That very much appears to be a Crimson Duelist thing and not a Red Magic in general thing.
There's a part of the questline where you go digging around in/near the Ziggurat and find alchemical formulas, histories of Amdapor and histories of Red Magic. Archeological information on learning it appears to be available to those who look hard enough for it not to mention the Sharlayan connections. Additionally it's also ambiguous if the art actually even requires a soulstone to use. Judging from the quests, you could learn it from tablets or records.
My personal headcanon (Read: this means my opinion) is some advanced RDM abilities might require a soulstone but it doesn't appear Arya has one and if Alisaie does it hasn't been showcased. If you wanna Jolt and Verthunder/Aero and Corps-a-Corps your sword around all fancy like then go ham.
The fact that it seems so easy to pick up and learn makes me really balk at the "Crimson Duelists are the only Red Mages" stance. It just doesn't make sense. So despite the information being so readily available for the picking in and around Gyr Abania there is absolutely no other group of Ala Mhigans in the region that know it or no researcher in Sharlayan learning it or no archeologist digging stuff up about it right now? Even without the line of dialogue below I'm not inclined to find that logical.
There's a line of text after you find Lambert where it says that X'rhun and the Duelists "studied the faded teachings" and either taught themselves the magic or were perhaps taught themselves.
Did they have a teacher? Did they learn it from written archeological finds? You can really infer it one way or the other from this. My question is: Where's all this generational passdown? We don't really know. We don't get to see it.
This is the kind of stuff SE has a habit of leaving painfully ambiguous and ends up getting answered at a lore panel the next year.