#but conjury is a good representation of her desire to help others

[lightparty-fullparty]

So, I plan on having Edda swap from Conjury to Thamaturgy in LIGHT PARTY. She does get both Black Mage and White Mage eventually, but for the majority of the ‘A Realm Reborn’ main story, she’ll be a Thamaturg.

Edda as a character, is someone who is defined mostly by her relationship to another person. Avere specifically has the biggest impact on her, but during the Corspe Groom quests, Paiyo Raiyo states that: “To the rest of us, our little party of four was but a means to riches and glory - such as adventurers seek. But to Edda, it was her life...”

Everything she cared about was contained within that little group of four. She blames herself for Avere’s death and the group falling apart, largely in part I believe at least, because she doesn’t value herself outside of her use or importance to other people. She cannot cope with Avere’s death, because she defined herself as ‘Avere’s Fiance’.

Which is why I think she struggled so much with conjury. Edda did not have an understanding of herself as a person. Of her wants and needs outside of her relationship with Avere and the rest of the party. It’s mentioned several times during the Conjury quests that in order to draw aether from the land, you need to understand how nature works, and be able to reach out and connect with it. There’s even some advice on meditating in nature to help you gain a feeling for the land and so on. Something I think would be almost impossible to do if you cannot connect with yourself. You need to have an internal balance and sense of harmony before you can effectively reach out to others. I think at least. 

So this is where Thamaturgy comes into play. Thamaturgy requires a caster to use their own personal well of aether to cast spells. The Coco squad remark a few times about needing to understand your own limits as a person so you don’t injury yourself and to better control your mana and thus your magic. You need a strong sense of self and arguably your emotions to prevent unintentional flames if you become emotionally unstable. So I think it would be quite lovely to have Edda, a character who is best defined by her relationship to another, go on this journey of self-realisation through Thamaturgy. And come out with a better understanding of herself and heal from the abuse and trauma she suffered. Thus letting her finally connect with the land and access Conjury and healing magic again. (Botanist also helps bridge that gap, since running around learning about all of Eorzea’s native flora and fauna would definetly give you a practical understanding of how to live in harmony with nature.)