(10-11-2013, 05:52 PM)Swift Nightclaw Wrote: Regarding the monks, I think this is the easiest way to think of it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakra
Yeah, I know about Qigong and Chakra as both application and philosophy, but its application into superior techniques in this game is something that I'm trying to nail down. It's actually really important, since it either limits or expands on what Monks should and shouldn't be able to do in-character.
For example, if Chakra DOES come directly from the soul, then that means that Monks manipulate Aether using their body, and that they use the Aether to unclog both their personal Lifestream and the Lifestream of the planet. This means that Monks are MUSCLE WIZARDS RAAAAH! ...but seriously, this means that Monks are, essentially, magic-users that deal damage using internal-strikes by both enhancing themselves and by sending Aetheric shockwaves into their foes.
However, if Chakra does NOT work like it is meant to, and that Chakra is NOT Aether like the game has been alluding to (as far as I have seen, it does), then that means that Chakra is not in fact any form of magic, and that it is excess energy from the Lifestream itself... which means that who knows what the hell this means because there is next to no lore about how the Lifestream operates.
So, what basically is going on here is one of two things: either Chakra works a lot like "energy" that people would be familiar with in various mainstream media formats, though it has a more "magical" flare to it - meaning, no "Kamehameha" or "Spirit Gun" nonsense, but it would still be entirely possible to exude an aura of Chakra around a person for defense; OR, it would mean that Chakra is so lost in this game's lack of fluff that it cannot be labeled by any means.
Keep in mind, when I say "aura for defense", I'm thinking of Fists of the Earth, not "YAAAAAAAAH NOW YOU SHALL SEE MY TRUE FORM".
The Monks cutscenes certainly do add a lot of pretty lights and aura effects as well, but what I want to know is what kind of energy this is supposed to be, how well Monks manipulate it, etc.
So far as I have seen, it's pretty much what I stated in my earlier post - "Chakra" is Aether generated from strong souls, and that Monks manipulate Chakra to open gates within a Lifestream. However, what I'm asking is if there is further specifics, because I can't find any.
