DISCLAIMER:
I do *not* own Final Fantasy, any locations, characters, concepts, herewith. I do, however own a few of the characters that I invented, as well as a few concepts from the pre-game world that are purely fictional and not verified by anything except my own warped sense of logic. Muahaha.
Shadow66 and I worked together to compile this view of Gaia's early history. I blame any errors on him temporarily.
If you do see any problems, inconsistencies, etc., please tell me! I need to know, before I get any further into the story. Thanks.
Please read & review!
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Excerpt from the Book of Madain:
"And from the early days of the Madain people, they wandered aimlessly through the wilderness, searching for a place to belong. For many years, they tried to settle down in one place or another, but a feeling of unrest compelled them to always seek a new place to stay.
Over time, the Madain people developed gifts, ranging from mild healing to direct mind-speech, and then finally, a young Madain male named Angharad discovered the greatest of all the Madain's gifts, the gift of summoning."
Angharad sincerely wished now that he had never shown any adeptness at mind-speech. Now the elder Madain forced him to sit through hours of lectures, 'educating him about the dangers of having a Gift', 'teaching him how to block off outside emotions', and all the rest of their excuses.
He wished that he had never tried to alert his sister when she had almost walked onto an antlion's nest while the Madain were travelling across the desert. But then she probably wouldn't be alive. He couldn't have it both ways.
But he wanted to be outside, playing with the other children his age, not sitting in here, absorbing boring bouts of information from some old woman with silvered hair and an overly large nose.
"Pay attention, Angharad! If you do not listen, you will likely kill yourself in the near future, and every life is valuable. We cannot afford to lose you youngsters to ignorance!"
That was the standard warning he got whenever he didn't pay attention, forgot this, didn't do that, blah, blah, blah....
"Yes, ma'am. I will try to listen harder." he said meekly, disassembling to cover his inner fatigue and boredom.
"Alright, now where was I..? Ahh.. that's right. I was telling you about the dangers of overstretching yourself. You musn't try to push your Gift, always let it come to you..."
Now, Angharad thought, she is going to start making up a huge list of parables that are supposed to make me want to follow her every whim as if it were written on sacred tablets, dug up in some obscure location...
"So, now I would like to attempt to assess the extent of your abilities. If you will come outside.." she stood up, and moved through the half-open tent flap, and onto the grass outside. The Madain were camped on the coast at the moment, having crossed the desert recently. The smell of sea salt lingered in the outside air.
This was unexpected, he thought. Assessing his abilities, huh? This ought to be fun. Angharad had managed to lift large rocks with his mind, during what little spare time he had. He wondered if he should show this old woman that. No.. then she might put me through endless extra sessions about 'controlling the dangers of his abilities'... but Angharad was driven by the influence of his people, to please his elders.
"I want you to speak into my mind, Angharad. Then move back to that tree over there, and try again. We need to find how far you can cast a thought from."
Angharad nodded, and spoke. I can think to you fine from here.
Good. Now move back.
He moved back to the tree, some ten or twenty metres away, and spoke again. Can you hear me? It was a silly question, though. He had felt her mind receive the thought. His sister had been miles away when he had spoken to her. Why were they testing his range at such small distances if they knew he could speak miles?
Yes, perfectly. Your range is good. You will come back tomorrow morning, and we will try some more.
Yes, ma'am.
At last he could leave! Angharad walked quickly away from the old lady's tent, and back to the circle of tents where his brothers and their friends were playing kick-ball. Angharad wasn't bad at kick-ball, and used his Gift for moving things sparingly â€" it was too obvious when the ball suddenly rolled in one direction without anything touching it.
Angharad woke the next morning with a start. The dream he had been having seemed odd. It was as if there were people.. no, they weren't people.. they were more like creatures of some sort.. were trying to tell him something. Something about it being a long time since they last talked. Something like that.
He shrugged it off. Today was another boring day â€" normal lessons in the morning until lunch, then his 'special lessons' after lunch until the late afternoon, which he had as spare time. There were some other boys his age who had Gifts, but none as strong as his, so he hadn't much company as far as boredom with the lessons were concerned.
Angharad sighed deeply, and then got out of his sleeping pouch. There was still some time before his first lessons started. Since they were camped on the coast, he decided to go for a swim.
The sea was cool today, Angharad noted as he swum around a few tens of metres away from the shore. And peaceful. The only waves were small ones, breaking right on the shoreline. There was one of the younger children building a model of the Madain camp on the beach, but he was oblivious to all but the sand in front of him.
Then it happened. He was swimming around a deeper area of water, when a grey shape suddenly lunged out from beneath him. Angharad moved quickly enough that its attack missed, but he was sure it would try a second time. The creature looked like a big fish, with lots and lots of teeth. He began to swim back towards the shore, hoping that once he left the creature's territory, it would leave him alone. That always worked with foxes and black and white birds. You just had to leave their territory, and they left you alone, but this creature seemed not to have any such instinct. It only wanted food.
The creature came back for a second try, and this time latched on to Angharad's left arm. The pain was intense, and he struggled against the creature's grip. In his panic, he reached out for help inside his mind, and found another waiting, far away in another world.
In the Eidolon realm, Leviathan felt Angharad touch its mind. It immediately sensed the danger, and what needed to be done. Materializing in the water beneath both Angaharad and the creature, it moved in for the attack.
Angharad felt the response of the other mind, in the one part of his consciousness that wasn't vibrating in pain and agony. It was coming. Then, in one sudden swoop, Leviathan surged up from under the water, and grabbed the other creature in its mouth. In a single crunch of its great jaws, it crushed the creature and then spat it out back into the ocean. Leviathan then picked Angharad up delicately in its mouth, and carried him back to the shore. His cry for help had also reached the elders, and they came out of the trees just as this happened. When they saw that Angharad's left arm was gnarled, with sharp tooth marks running its length, they immediately sent back for women in the camp with either healing Gifts, or knowledge of herbs and remedies.
Slowly recovering from shock, Angharad let go of Leviathan's mind. It immediately swam back out to sea and disappeared. Then, he promptly lost consciousness.
Angharad woke to find himself lying on top of a pile of sleeping pouches. His arm ached dully, but he could still feel it, so it wasn't gone. Then he remembered everything that had happened.
"So, you're awake, are you?" said a female voice.
"Yes.. my arm hurts.."
"So it should. You are lucky to still have it. The creature you encountered was a seafeeder. The Madain have run across them before. I'm surprised you hadn't been warned about them, since you were camped on the coast."
"The Madain..? You mean, you're not.."
"No, I'm not part of your clan." the woman laughed gently. "But I am watching you. You summoned one of us to help you when you were attacked. That was a Gift that none of your race had developed yet. Now I must go.."
"Wait.. what is your name?" he asked quickly.
Shiva. The word echoed in his mind.
"So, Angharad, you've woken up finally, hmm?"
This voice he recognized as that of one of the elders. He suspected that Shiva had been mind-talking to him, so Elder Taury wouldn't have heard anything.
"Yes.. what bit me?" Angharad asked, wanting to verify Shiva's story.
"It was a seafeeder. We've known about them for a while, but we didn't think they lived this far east."
So it was true, then.
"Now, Angharad, we're just going to put you back to sleep for a while, to help that arm heal. But you'll have to try and eat something first.."
As if what he said had been a cue, his mother came through the tent flap, holding a clay plate with some fruit and bread on it.
"Just eat this, and then we'll put you back to sleep." Elder Taury said.
After he finished eating, and talking a bit with his mother, Taury nodded to her, and she locked her son under a mind influence she hadn't used on him since he was a babe.
"I'm surprised that worked. I haven't used that trick in years." Daria said to Elder Taury quietly as they left.
"Ahh.. once a mind skill is learnt, it is very hard to forget." was Taury's reply, as he changed directions to go back to his tent.
"Good evening, Elder." Daria said by way of farewell as she did the same.
Back in his tent, Taury thought more about the incident. That boy had definitely summoned some kind of creature to help him from being eaten by that seafeeder. He had not asked Angharad outright, because he was sure that the boy would not answer the question with the information that Taury wanted so badly. To create or summon creatures like that was something his ancestors had dreamed about when they first discovered Gifts among themselves. To fulfill it would bring great honour to him and his family. "Elder Taury of the Madain, the man who discovered summoning." Yes, that was a title he liked.
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Alecky-Nicosai: Ooo.. there's gonna be a bad guy!
Taury: Ssh! Don't tell the damn kid that. Otherwise I'll never be able to adopt that threatening posture that I'm working on! All the other bad guys have it except me!
Angharad (waking up): Whaa...
A-N and Taury together: Nothing! Go back to sleep.
I do *not* own Final Fantasy, any locations, characters, concepts, herewith. I do, however own a few of the characters that I invented, as well as a few concepts from the pre-game world that are purely fictional and not verified by anything except my own warped sense of logic. Muahaha.
Shadow66 and I worked together to compile this view of Gaia's early history. I blame any errors on him temporarily.
If you do see any problems, inconsistencies, etc., please tell me! I need to know, before I get any further into the story. Thanks.
Please read & review!
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Excerpt from the Book of Madain:
"And from the early days of the Madain people, they wandered aimlessly through the wilderness, searching for a place to belong. For many years, they tried to settle down in one place or another, but a feeling of unrest compelled them to always seek a new place to stay.
Over time, the Madain people developed gifts, ranging from mild healing to direct mind-speech, and then finally, a young Madain male named Angharad discovered the greatest of all the Madain's gifts, the gift of summoning."
Angharad sincerely wished now that he had never shown any adeptness at mind-speech. Now the elder Madain forced him to sit through hours of lectures, 'educating him about the dangers of having a Gift', 'teaching him how to block off outside emotions', and all the rest of their excuses.
He wished that he had never tried to alert his sister when she had almost walked onto an antlion's nest while the Madain were travelling across the desert. But then she probably wouldn't be alive. He couldn't have it both ways.
But he wanted to be outside, playing with the other children his age, not sitting in here, absorbing boring bouts of information from some old woman with silvered hair and an overly large nose.
"Pay attention, Angharad! If you do not listen, you will likely kill yourself in the near future, and every life is valuable. We cannot afford to lose you youngsters to ignorance!"
That was the standard warning he got whenever he didn't pay attention, forgot this, didn't do that, blah, blah, blah....
"Yes, ma'am. I will try to listen harder." he said meekly, disassembling to cover his inner fatigue and boredom.
"Alright, now where was I..? Ahh.. that's right. I was telling you about the dangers of overstretching yourself. You musn't try to push your Gift, always let it come to you..."
Now, Angharad thought, she is going to start making up a huge list of parables that are supposed to make me want to follow her every whim as if it were written on sacred tablets, dug up in some obscure location...
"So, now I would like to attempt to assess the extent of your abilities. If you will come outside.." she stood up, and moved through the half-open tent flap, and onto the grass outside. The Madain were camped on the coast at the moment, having crossed the desert recently. The smell of sea salt lingered in the outside air.
This was unexpected, he thought. Assessing his abilities, huh? This ought to be fun. Angharad had managed to lift large rocks with his mind, during what little spare time he had. He wondered if he should show this old woman that. No.. then she might put me through endless extra sessions about 'controlling the dangers of his abilities'... but Angharad was driven by the influence of his people, to please his elders.
"I want you to speak into my mind, Angharad. Then move back to that tree over there, and try again. We need to find how far you can cast a thought from."
Angharad nodded, and spoke. I can think to you fine from here.
Good. Now move back.
He moved back to the tree, some ten or twenty metres away, and spoke again. Can you hear me? It was a silly question, though. He had felt her mind receive the thought. His sister had been miles away when he had spoken to her. Why were they testing his range at such small distances if they knew he could speak miles?
Yes, perfectly. Your range is good. You will come back tomorrow morning, and we will try some more.
Yes, ma'am.
At last he could leave! Angharad walked quickly away from the old lady's tent, and back to the circle of tents where his brothers and their friends were playing kick-ball. Angharad wasn't bad at kick-ball, and used his Gift for moving things sparingly â€" it was too obvious when the ball suddenly rolled in one direction without anything touching it.
Angharad woke the next morning with a start. The dream he had been having seemed odd. It was as if there were people.. no, they weren't people.. they were more like creatures of some sort.. were trying to tell him something. Something about it being a long time since they last talked. Something like that.
He shrugged it off. Today was another boring day â€" normal lessons in the morning until lunch, then his 'special lessons' after lunch until the late afternoon, which he had as spare time. There were some other boys his age who had Gifts, but none as strong as his, so he hadn't much company as far as boredom with the lessons were concerned.
Angharad sighed deeply, and then got out of his sleeping pouch. There was still some time before his first lessons started. Since they were camped on the coast, he decided to go for a swim.
The sea was cool today, Angharad noted as he swum around a few tens of metres away from the shore. And peaceful. The only waves were small ones, breaking right on the shoreline. There was one of the younger children building a model of the Madain camp on the beach, but he was oblivious to all but the sand in front of him.
Then it happened. He was swimming around a deeper area of water, when a grey shape suddenly lunged out from beneath him. Angharad moved quickly enough that its attack missed, but he was sure it would try a second time. The creature looked like a big fish, with lots and lots of teeth. He began to swim back towards the shore, hoping that once he left the creature's territory, it would leave him alone. That always worked with foxes and black and white birds. You just had to leave their territory, and they left you alone, but this creature seemed not to have any such instinct. It only wanted food.
The creature came back for a second try, and this time latched on to Angharad's left arm. The pain was intense, and he struggled against the creature's grip. In his panic, he reached out for help inside his mind, and found another waiting, far away in another world.
In the Eidolon realm, Leviathan felt Angharad touch its mind. It immediately sensed the danger, and what needed to be done. Materializing in the water beneath both Angaharad and the creature, it moved in for the attack.
Angharad felt the response of the other mind, in the one part of his consciousness that wasn't vibrating in pain and agony. It was coming. Then, in one sudden swoop, Leviathan surged up from under the water, and grabbed the other creature in its mouth. In a single crunch of its great jaws, it crushed the creature and then spat it out back into the ocean. Leviathan then picked Angharad up delicately in its mouth, and carried him back to the shore. His cry for help had also reached the elders, and they came out of the trees just as this happened. When they saw that Angharad's left arm was gnarled, with sharp tooth marks running its length, they immediately sent back for women in the camp with either healing Gifts, or knowledge of herbs and remedies.
Slowly recovering from shock, Angharad let go of Leviathan's mind. It immediately swam back out to sea and disappeared. Then, he promptly lost consciousness.
Angharad woke to find himself lying on top of a pile of sleeping pouches. His arm ached dully, but he could still feel it, so it wasn't gone. Then he remembered everything that had happened.
"So, you're awake, are you?" said a female voice.
"Yes.. my arm hurts.."
"So it should. You are lucky to still have it. The creature you encountered was a seafeeder. The Madain have run across them before. I'm surprised you hadn't been warned about them, since you were camped on the coast."
"The Madain..? You mean, you're not.."
"No, I'm not part of your clan." the woman laughed gently. "But I am watching you. You summoned one of us to help you when you were attacked. That was a Gift that none of your race had developed yet. Now I must go.."
"Wait.. what is your name?" he asked quickly.
Shiva. The word echoed in his mind.
"So, Angharad, you've woken up finally, hmm?"
This voice he recognized as that of one of the elders. He suspected that Shiva had been mind-talking to him, so Elder Taury wouldn't have heard anything.
"Yes.. what bit me?" Angharad asked, wanting to verify Shiva's story.
"It was a seafeeder. We've known about them for a while, but we didn't think they lived this far east."
So it was true, then.
"Now, Angharad, we're just going to put you back to sleep for a while, to help that arm heal. But you'll have to try and eat something first.."
As if what he said had been a cue, his mother came through the tent flap, holding a clay plate with some fruit and bread on it.
"Just eat this, and then we'll put you back to sleep." Elder Taury said.
After he finished eating, and talking a bit with his mother, Taury nodded to her, and she locked her son under a mind influence she hadn't used on him since he was a babe.
"I'm surprised that worked. I haven't used that trick in years." Daria said to Elder Taury quietly as they left.
"Ahh.. once a mind skill is learnt, it is very hard to forget." was Taury's reply, as he changed directions to go back to his tent.
"Good evening, Elder." Daria said by way of farewell as she did the same.
Back in his tent, Taury thought more about the incident. That boy had definitely summoned some kind of creature to help him from being eaten by that seafeeder. He had not asked Angharad outright, because he was sure that the boy would not answer the question with the information that Taury wanted so badly. To create or summon creatures like that was something his ancestors had dreamed about when they first discovered Gifts among themselves. To fulfill it would bring great honour to him and his family. "Elder Taury of the Madain, the man who discovered summoning." Yes, that was a title he liked.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Alecky-Nicosai: Ooo.. there's gonna be a bad guy!
Taury: Ssh! Don't tell the damn kid that. Otherwise I'll never be able to adopt that threatening posture that I'm working on! All the other bad guys have it except me!
Angharad (waking up): Whaa...
A-N and Taury together: Nothing! Go back to sleep.