Ayakashi

Category:BestiaryCategory:AvatarsCategory:Notorious Monsters
Family: Avatar
Weak to: Varies	
Zone 	Level	Drops	Steal	Spawns 	Notes 						
Waughroon Shrine	 	 	 	1Assists: Onki	A, L, S, Sc						
 	 	 	 	 	 						
===Notes:===
:*Appears in battlefield event for SAM AF3: A Thief in Norg!?.
:*Summoned by Onki when it uses Astral Flow
The other Ayakashi
On many FFXI websites, Ayakashi was listed as one of 3 Birds appearing in the BCNM Birds of a Feather, along with Macha and Neman. The only mentions of Ayakashi are before the July 2004 update (that BCNM was created in April 2004). All reports dated after that update report 3 birds and only 2 names for the 3 of them. It is doubtful Ayakashi existed as a Bird NM which was renamed to be the 2nd Neman because a July 16, 2004 entry on a Japanese blog mentioned there was 1 Macha and 2 Neman, dispelling any idea Ayakashi was ever a part of this BCNM (not to mention FFXI does not have 2 monsters of different types bearing the same name). Another point against this is that Ayakashi would have been the 3rd named bird since Macha and Neman are part of a triad in their mythology, but the 3rd character in that triad is Morrigan, not Ayakashi. This error likely originated from one FFXI website looking through the .dats and trying to assign each name in Waughroon to the new BCNMs, and didn't know where Ayakashi fit so put them in "Birds of a Feather". 
== Historical Background ==
"Ayakashi" is an everyday word used to refer to a number of related otherworldly spirits. Most commonly used to describe ghosts that appeared at sea during a shipwreck, the word now refers to any kind of demon spirit or lost soul. 
"Ayakashi" also refers to a type of mask used to represent a deceased, phantom or mysterious character in Noh theatre. Avatars in previous Final Fantasy games bore names like Eidolons or Espers, names associated with ethereal, phantom like beings. Using Ayakashi in the context of the Noh masks is a logical inferrence. It might be proper to say Ayakashi, who can appear as any Avatar, is/are the equivalent of the Dark Aeons from Final Fantasy X International.