Beginnings
Once upon a time, there was a country named Auturn. It used to be a peaceful land with peaceful people. Auturn had no major cities ruled by cruel monarchs, but humble villages with wise, just leaders. Everyone lived a simple life, reaping the bountiful benefits of their fertile land. Life was easy for the people of Auturn, until the fighting started. The population was increasing, and people demanded more land for their growing families. Soon enough, the craving for land led to family feuds, which led to fights, then battles, and finally wars. The once peaceful people turned against each other. That's why they say that Sin came to Auturn
Tales of the destruction Sin caused from the neighboring country, Spira, had been passed from generation to generation to prevent the people of Auturn from turning bad. Unfortunately, the stories were forgotten in this time of war and Auturn plunged itself into an age of darkness. Sin wreaked havoc upon the country, killing countless numbers of people. The survivors split up into even smaller villages, trying to avoid the wrath of Sin, but that didn't seem to work. Even if Sin didn't attack them, monsters would terrorize the citizens night and day. Finally, with no other hope in sight, the people prayed their hearts out for help. Those who had the strongest will and the most faithful prayers were bestowed with a wonderful gift. These select few were given the ability to summon powerful entities called Aeons from the Heavens and use them to fight Sin. With their loyal guardians to fight along side and protect them, the summoners were able to push Sin away from Auturn. The people of Auturn rejoiced, for they had been delivered from a horrible fate. They were able to return to their peaceful ways of life for a few years until population boomed, and once again the people were fighting amongst each other. Just like the stories in Spira, Sin returned once again after a number of years to attack, only to be eventually be stopped by another powerful summoner and their guardians.
During a Sin free year, some of the village leaders decided that they should take a more influential role in their villager's lives. Since the older, wiser and more just village leaders had died out, arrogant, fresh leaders had stepped up to take their place. The village leaders claimed that they could keep away Sin for good if the villagers obediently paid taxes to make the leaders more powerful. Soon enough, the desperate villages were under the thumb of the village leaders who had made themselves monarchs. This is how the royal families of today came into power.
Our story begins with the adopted daughter of one of these royal families, the most wealthy and powerful in Auturn to be exact. Her name is Raven, and she is a summoner by blood. Both her mother and father were powerful summoners that had won the respect of everyone in Auturn. Unfortunately, during a particularly violent battle with Sin, Raven's parents died defeating it. All her life Raven has been kept inside the massive castle her stepfather, the King, owns. If it were not for her maid, Linda, Raven would have no knowledge of the outside world, or summoning. Behind the King's back, Linda, a retired summoner herself, had been instructing Raven about the ways of the summoner. Over time, Raven's desire to become a true summoner grew stronger and stronger. Unfortunately, the King wanted to keep her where she was, and he wasn't the easiest man to persuade either. It was important that Raven did become a summoner, because for a mysterious reason, summoners nowadays had become quite scarce, hurting Auturn's defenses against Sin. Now we join Raven in her sixteenth year of life, just after a day of mediation and prayer with Linda…
