Ne'ci's History

My name is Ne'ci Aera, which means \"PassionateWind\". As of writing this, I am eighteen years old and thecurrent head of the Aera family. My namesday is the SixthUmbral Moon, Fourteenth Sun. My favorite food is griled,herb-crusted trout, over a bed of rice pilaf. And while myfavorite dessert is apple pie, I'm finding Zahir's rolanberrycheesecake to be a close second. My favorite color tends to vary,but I've always enjoyed a dark green - it reminds me of theTwelveswood. I am forestborn, and a Hearer. I have mismatchingeyes, which if you were to believe urban legends, would mean 1

that I am cursed. Sometimes, it feels like I am. But when Ifeel my thoughts going in that direction, I remind myself of howlucky and blessed I am, to have my current family, the Roses.A group that doesn't judge, that don't press me for moreinformation than I'm ever wiling to share. And they acceptmy Hearing, and my visions without a blink of the eye. Why am I writing al of this? Wel.. I supposebecause it's easier than writing what I originaly intended thisbook for. My history, my past. Before this, I had only sharedmy ful childhood with one other person. Now you can be thesecond one, Ary. But I trust you.. and you deserve to know 2

too. So for you, I wil. ._. She draws a smily face withmiqo'te ears here . I was born to Camile Aera and Kieran Reeves.My mother was a respected conjurer with the guild, and myfather runs a successful apothecary in Ul'Dah. My earliest memories are of me, and my sister, Ra'ni,baking cookies with our mother. Or rather, they baked, whileI'm sure I hung out in the background with my thumb in mymouth, asking if I could have JUST one more coco chip.Then, there were the lessons. Since before I can remember, my 3

mother had both of us in conjury lessons with the otherHearers. I was three or four when I became capable ofchanneling the aether of nature, and at the same time that Iaccessed my magic, I became a Hearer. Being a Hearer is unlike anything else. It's a constantwhisper from the Elementals around everywhere, a diferenttype of consciousness from our own that resides in, wel.. theelements of nature. Earth, Water and Wind are theelements of conjury. As my name suggests, my family has alongstanding preference for Wind, that is to say, that we canchannel and for those of us who are Hearers hear wind 4

more easily. But not me. My preference lies in the ebb andflow of water. It's why I love the ocean, and love being nearLimsa. I find it calming and soothing, assuming theelementals are happy. But when they're angry.. it'sdisconcerting, and I become restless. But back on topic, when I accessed my magic, andbecame a Hearer, I was thrust into training nearly nonstop.The guild, and my mother, realized that I had a gift, and dideverything they could to nurture it. As a child, I loved theatention and thrived on it, so I continued the training. I spentthe majority of my days for several years in the company of 5

adults. I picked up a stronger vocabulary than others my age,I understood concepts like life, death and disease, that my peerscould not begin to fathom at that age. This did not go unnoticed by my peers. I was strange,diferent than them. Not to mention that I am half hyur, halfmiqo'te. While the adults said nothing about it, I saw theirglances. And obviously, they talked while not in my presence.While they said nothing, their children did on their behalf. Iwas not invited to join them. My atempts to socialize wererebuf ed. 6

Strange. Half-breed. Freak. Were the whispered words behind my back, but I heardthem nonetheless. But my family was always there for me, aswere the Hearers and the guild. I threw myself further intomy lessons. Around the same time, Ra'ni and my motherstarted to get into mild arguments. Ra'ni was losing interest inconjury, and mother kept trying to push her back into them. Itwas then that my father started to bring Ra'ni and I to eventsin Ul'Dah. I was five when I went to my first formal bal, 7

where I met a young hyur boy, a few years older than meremind me to tel you this story later.. it's a funny one! Welearned etiquete and business maters. While I learned finewith the etiquete, I had litle interested in the business aspect ofthings. Ra'ni picked that up far beter and quicker than I did. I kept going. Mother continued to lavish atention ontome, as I kept learning my conjury, I learned what she had toteach me about Keeper traditions. I was nine when I became certified to become aninstructor for the guild. I was a Hearer of water, and I 8

began instructing new conjurers on how to tap and control theaether of water. I enjoyed it, however, many were of-put bymy age, and a number of them returned to the guild to seek adiferent instructor. I believe those who stayed with me learneda lot, but inevitably, al of them left - to either seek moreadvanced training, or lost interest. Around the same time, I met an elezen girl only a fewyears older than me named Telina. I had always watched herfrom afar, admired her for her beauty, and her ease ofsocializing with others our age. It was then that she took noticeof me. Or perhaps she heard the rumors that were being 9

spread of me, and felt pity. I stil don't know, but she took meunder her wing, so to speak. Those who wanted to play withher, had to make sure that I was included too. She didn'tstand for anyone trying to buly me. And slowly, but surely,the rumors died of. People started to play with me, andincluded me. I was so happy. That diminished as the fights between my sister and mymother escalated. Finaly, not long before the Calamity,something happened, and my sister left the house for good. I 10

stil don't know exactly what happened.. but my sister wasnever mentioned in the house again, and the townsfolk seemedangry and upset whenever she was brought up as wel. Then when I was twelve.. the Calamity. Our housecolapsed on us, and I had gone outside the barrier range thatmy mother had created. As you know al too wel.. I wasfataly wounded, and as I was dying, I found a glowing whitestone. I grabbed it, then passed out. I woke up a bit over a week later, and it took severalmore weeks before I was capable of moving around on my own 11

again. However, even though I was physicaly alright, myaether was in shambles. I could not cast, any fluctuations inmy aether meant that I would colapse, and stop breathingagain. At the time, no one knew what was going on, and sothey caled in another Hearer, Hearer Chiai. Hearer Chiai had the ability to see aether itself, innature and in people. She was able to see that my aether wastorn apart by the Calamity. She said that when I died duringit, my aether had unraveled and started to separate from theother layers of the being The physical, spiritual, aetherial andsoul , and this was my body's atempts to pul it al back 12

together again. When my aether fluctuated too much, theywould start to unravel again, hence why I would colapse. Mylessons began again in two-fold with Hearer Chiai, mylessons. This time, not in power, but in control and awarenessof myself, two things that I was lacking. However, something had happened that I found evenmore devastating. Terina had been kiled during the Calamity.Without my \"protector\" there, I was no longer ignored, butharrassed. \"If you're such a good Hearer, why did you let her 13

die?!\" \"Why can't you bring her back? That's what conjurersdo, right?!\" \"No wonder you have so many lessons, you're a terribleconjurer!\" The harassment made me resent and question my ownlessons. While they were for my own health, I hated them. Iavoided my peers. Seeing my resentment, my mother becamemore forceful. I stil believe that it was a combination of thingsthat led to it.. my sister leaving.. the Calamity and seeing medead, believing that my sister had been kiled in the Calamity 14

as wel.. and then, her GOOD daughter no longer folowingher mother, but her older, independant and rebelious sister, Ibelieve led to a bit of insanity in my mother. Disobedience started with yeling.. then a slap. Then,wel.. more than that. My father, in between business trips,tried to help however he could. Legaly, he could do nothing, aswhen he married my mother, he agreed to folow her traditions.Which meant that he had no say in how we were raised andhad to folow her word. Personaly, I stil think that he stilloved her, and was in a bit of denial about it al, that my mothercould change so drasticaly from the woman that he loved. 15

By the time I was sixteen and I completed my trainingwith Hearer Chiai, I had become very proficient in healing.I was aethericaly strong, I had natural instincts of what wasailing a person, and I could cure nearly any ilness. My fatherbrought me to Ul'Dah on a business trip though realy, his\"business trips\" weren't much more than his excuse for showingme around Ul'Dah and geting me out of the house . I wentof to wander on my own, and found a flier for the Templars. Iwent to Nadeau, and received a pearl. I was happy again. Here were people who didn't know 16

who I was, but they talked to me anyways. They didn't harassme. They treated me as an equal. After hearing them talk,someone mentioned Limsa Lominsa. While I had heard ofthe third city-state, I had never been. One of them ofered tomeet me in Ul'Dah and bring me there so I could see it formyself. While my parents never gave me money of my own, Iwas able to earn a bit on the side. Enough that I was able toteleport to Camp Drybone, where a Maelstrom oficer metme, and brought me to Limsa. Raelin. In return for his help,I promised to show him around Gridania. And I did just 17

that. To my surprise, he hung around Gridania after that, andwe would meet up after dark to talk. Finaly, after a few weeks,we kissed. And again, I was happy. A few suns later, aftera particularly nasty moment with my mother, I told him aboutmy mother, and what she was doing. I half expected judgementfrom him, as I had seen from so many others. But to mydelight, he showed none of that. Rather, it was horror at whatwas going on, and insistence that we get me away from mymother. 18

With the help of Brynhilde and Oak, we devised andimplemented a way to fake my death. Raelin spread aroundrumors of an aetherial corruption in the ocean not too far fromLimsa, and requested a water Hearer for assistance from theguild. As we expected, the guild asked me to get involved,which I did so. I ended up on a ferry to Limsa, which a\"pirate ship\" it was actualy one of Oak's shipping friendsambushed the ship, and \"threw\" me overboard into Sahagin-infested waters. In actuality, I was snuck onto the \"pirate ship\"and escaped to Upper La Noscea, where after askingNadeau for some hair dye, I changed my identity. 19

Unfortunately, my mother was not so easily fooled. Shesent out search parties regardless. A brass blade came intothe Templar ofice while I was resigning forms as Ka'ia. It was not long after that a beautiful hyur womanapproached me, who was also from the Templar. She ofered toassist me in providing physical evidence of my \"death\". I did noteven know her at the time, but litle did I know then that shewould become my best friend, and like an older sister to me.Yes, you Ary. 20

The rest of it, you know. We eventualy split of from theTemplars and formed the Roses. And now.. we have afamily that loves and cares about you and I both. I love you, Ary! You are my best friend, and someonethat I know I can always turn to, whether I'm happy, orupset, or the visions start to overwhelm me. I hope you knowthat I'l always be there for you, no mater what too. Happy Starlight! Love, 21

Hearer Ne'ci Aera 22

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