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history (pre-ARR)
Content Warning for Medical Trauma
There was some relief, when Raqia Rehw-Setlas first presented as a male. His family had suspected as much for a long time. He was ill-suited to a life of community. Too careful. Too quiet. Too uncannily good at knowing the secrets of those he tried to speak with. Solitude would suit him well. Would make him happy. And his knack for knowing the minds of those he encountered would serve him well in his new role protecting the Wood from the new threat of men bearing fire robed in steel.
It did suit him well. It did make him happy. And he heard the codes that the Garleans used to communicate and decipered them. He was his mentor's favourite - quick and eager to learn and grow stronger, ready to follow instruction without question, and uniquely useful. It would almost be a shame when he became a master himself and took his place amoung the men of the Rava. That usefulness, though, was what told the Garlean soldiers that he might bear an ability known as the Echo. One that their higher-ups wished to study. Using conscript given false information as bait, they lured him into a trap, captured him, and took him from the Wood.
For much of his time as a research subject, he was sedated, and much of what he was awake for is an unpleasant blur. He recalls feeling heavy, always, and weak. Struggling to put together thoughts. At one point, he knows, he was asked his name and, when he was unable to answer, given the name 'Marcel Aan Bestia' by his captors. The rest he has put together from cataloguing the surgical scars and occasional flashes of memory. He was subjected to tests of his physical abilities and the extent to which his echo granted him insight into the words, thoughts and feelings of others. Had multiple organs extracted and replaced.
Eventually, he has no way to know how many years passed, it was decided that he should be brought to Eorzea where the summonings of Eikons were frequent enough to offer his captors opportunity to test how he might be used to protect soldiers against tempering. It was during this voyage that he managed to break free. But it mattered little. He could not return to the wood. So long as he was no longer being used to empower those who might bring his home harm, his work was done. He would have waited there to die if not for an encounter with a miqo'te woman struggling to survive. A fellow Aan. They formed a wordless deal of sorts - she would lead him away from occupied lands, to Ul'dah, and he would see that she survived the journey.
She did survive the journey. And she did lead him to Ul'dah. And there, he learned that a lot of people are more than willing to offer one a purpose in life, if they think they might profit from it. Using his gift for knowing the hearts of those around him, he sought out people willing to give him direction. They did. Mostly, they directed him to do menial work. To carry things. Clean chocobo stables. Guard caravans, once he proved to be strong when he had a full meal in him and a little time to heal. Eventually, those tasks led him to Limsa Lominsa and from there into the actual plot of the game.
There was some relief, when Raqia Rehw-Setlas first presented as a male. His family had suspected as much for a long time. He was ill-suited to a life of community. Too careful. Too quiet. Too uncannily good at knowing the secrets of those he tried to speak with. Solitude would suit him well. Would make him happy. And his knack for knowing the minds of those he encountered would serve him well in his new role protecting the Wood from the new threat of men bearing fire robed in steel.
It did suit him well. It did make him happy. And he heard the codes that the Garleans used to communicate and decipered them. He was his mentor's favourite - quick and eager to learn and grow stronger, ready to follow instruction without question, and uniquely useful. It would almost be a shame when he became a master himself and took his place amoung the men of the Rava. That usefulness, though, was what told the Garlean soldiers that he might bear an ability known as the Echo. One that their higher-ups wished to study. Using conscript given false information as bait, they lured him into a trap, captured him, and took him from the Wood.
For much of his time as a research subject, he was sedated, and much of what he was awake for is an unpleasant blur. He recalls feeling heavy, always, and weak. Struggling to put together thoughts. At one point, he knows, he was asked his name and, when he was unable to answer, given the name 'Marcel Aan Bestia' by his captors. The rest he has put together from cataloguing the surgical scars and occasional flashes of memory. He was subjected to tests of his physical abilities and the extent to which his echo granted him insight into the words, thoughts and feelings of others. Had multiple organs extracted and replaced.
Eventually, he has no way to know how many years passed, it was decided that he should be brought to Eorzea where the summonings of Eikons were frequent enough to offer his captors opportunity to test how he might be used to protect soldiers against tempering. It was during this voyage that he managed to break free. But it mattered little. He could not return to the wood. So long as he was no longer being used to empower those who might bring his home harm, his work was done. He would have waited there to die if not for an encounter with a miqo'te woman struggling to survive. A fellow Aan. They formed a wordless deal of sorts - she would lead him away from occupied lands, to Ul'dah, and he would see that she survived the journey.
She did survive the journey. And she did lead him to Ul'dah. And there, he learned that a lot of people are more than willing to offer one a purpose in life, if they think they might profit from it. Using his gift for knowing the hearts of those around him, he sought out people willing to give him direction. They did. Mostly, they directed him to do menial work. To carry things. Clean chocobo stables. Guard caravans, once he proved to be strong when he had a full meal in him and a little time to heal. Eventually, those tasks led him to Limsa Lominsa and from there into the actual plot of the game.