#||green fields||

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Moana - Does your muse believe in fate or destiny? What is theirs?

He’s averse to the concept of fate and destiny, preferring to deny soothe himself with rationality and a notion of self-will. However some things can hardly be ignored, and there does seem to be a flow of all things here on Gaia. 

It is something he struggles with actually, so this is highly pertinent. It is however something he will most likely denounce in his words. 

Since the remake I headcanon that Cait Sith was stopped by the Fates/Whispers regarding plate fall and he can henceforth see them.

I also have an additional headcanon about his destiny as an Inspire being steered by Jenova back when the Calamity first came down from the skies - because if Gaia rids all humans from its crust on its own, that is less work for the alien to be able to take it over and terraform for its/her purposes. 

And his design of the Mako Reactors was a crucial tipping point. 

As much as the rest of it. His constant drive and efforts to produce “good” is in fact against the very flow and nature of the planet - aka a more technologically advanced and progressive state of society vs. a less natural state of being.  

He struggles and fights hard against that fate / destiny - as much as the concept itself - even as he is not aware of it. He genuinely wants to do right by the planet and for all those who reside upon it. 

Interestingly, for his Cetran ancestor AU, which explores the above headcanon, Novak is very much the opposite. As Jenova gives him visions of the future, and twists his mind, so much it seems like a purpose and the only right fate.

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Oh brother of mine

Green Fields Verse || Starter for @cinderella-gurei

The wind and snow was biting in its flurry around him, even as Novak was bundled up amidst layers of clothes, including the furs hooded around his features that lent him somewhat of a leonine edge. Sensing he was close to perishing (all members of his clan could feel how the cold diminishes the flow of life running through their veins but Novak has taken to also measuring the slowing of his biology through his own unique heart rate and number of strides, both of which he was pushing to their limits right now) he orients himself by shivering a hurried gloved look at a contraption he has devised that measures the directionality of flow of the lifestream and detects wind factors in terms of speed and direction also. 

It takes one last gasp effort to make his way into the great cavern, and he staggers down two pathways to an alcove before collapsing against the rock there. His skin is already sticky with paradoxical sweat and it takes more than a few moments for him to bring himself round enough to start to strip off a few layers and build a fire. This was nothing new to Novak, he was born in the Knowlespole and it was the only life he knew, but it was no less disorientating and uncomfortable setting out across the great glacier region, apart from the others and the communal defences to the elements that they all provide. But he was an architect now, a seeker. He would have to start getting used to being alone. 

He knows what he did at the hot-spring bordered on the blasphemous, but he could not help but explore the qualities and utility of the new materials he had traded last he had visited the capital. He had met the most interesting fellow there, with a name as uncommon to his tongue as the metal he had carried - Cid. Novak knew that was not a common Cetran name, even though he has not before done what he is now bound to do. That is, to cross over the continents and learn from the others. He sighs and shivers, moving closer to the flames, huddling his arms around his legs in thought. It was a pity Caenholdt had not met Cid too, or perhaps he had? Knowing the other man he might have even accidentally blown up that skeleton of an air sail that Cid had arrived in during one of his prodigious magic and materia experimentations. 

Thinking of Caenholdt has Novak shuffling down to sleep, arranging a layer into a blanket and with one last look around lets his head meet one worn out limb. He was tempted to ask the other to join him, knowing that this life would probably appeal to the pointy-eared lad. And selfishly, that way he would not be so alone. But, no, that was entirely unfair. Caen still had a culture around him, families to love and elders to frustrate. This was his own responsibilities to carry and he was going to try his best in his duties. Head still spinning from the cold and also from the vast possibilities ahead of him, Novak finally falls to sleep, the flames of the fire licking shadows over his features.

It only takes him another two days to reach the capital and Novak hastily carries out trading, another thing well-known to him from his upbringing, swapping out furs and leather for lighter clothing for the next step along his journey. He would be sailing between the various landmasses of the knowlespole to beach at the continent to the South of them. From what he could gather it was a far more temperate climate than what he was used to, though he keeps his furred hood, affixed now with rope to the side of his backpack. As he makes his way down through the conch like structure he stops outside a pearlescent door, holding out his palm against the material and feeling it resonate an announcement of a greeting to the occupant inside. Wind whispers and runs through the glowing aquatic-blue tunnels, bringing the sounds of the sea to whip round his features. 

He might not be asking Caen to join him any more, but he was still like a brother (or so he figures for his affections) to him, and he wants to see him one last time, “Caenholdt, are you inside? It’s Novak. I have much to tell you, my friend.”

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Green Fields Verse, Character Details:

Novak is born to a small Cetran clan who live amidst the icy wastes close by to the Forbidden City Capital and part of the Knowlespole. It is a particularly harsh landscape leading to a very stoic and hard people. Akin to norsemen - they are traders, farmers, fighters and are also skilled at seafaring. Most of the materials of his culture feature animal skins/fur and wood including their shelters, clothes and ships. They honour the flow of life and they also hold very traditional beliefs that are linked to the Summon Alexander and Minerva the Goddess. 

Novak spends a lot of his young life in the Forbidden City, especially around the development of the machinery there. This is where he meets Caenholdt ( @cinderella-gurei​ ). The culture in the Capital is a lot more refined and learned, suiting his enquiring mind more than the traditional grimness of his day to day. Nonetheless he does learn a lot from his parents and is liked for his skills at fixing and utilising / adapting things despite the harsh climate. His habit of seeking knowledge and challenging traditions however is much less appreciated. 

This becomes most apparent the year he converts a hot-spring into a stable, fixed energy source. This flies in the face of their semi-nomadic traditions and is seen as perilously close to showing a lack of honour for what the planet provides - an overconsumption of resources, rather than out of necessity. So, when the time came, there was little question from the elders that he be put forward as an architect / seeker.

Role: Architect / Seeker 

A Cetran culture could choose to send out an individual who was to make the journey across continents. It was their solemn duty to share learning and knowledge primarily, to protect the customs and the lores of the lands, as well as to provide solutions and aid to problems. They were known as Architects, as they were seen as foundational to the building and continuation of the variety of Cetran culture and peace. 

The start of their journey was marked by a ceremony whereby they gave up any and all affiliations, allowing them to move freely and become adaptive to new change. In eschewing having a home, they ensured that others continued to have their own. Novak goes on to help provide shelter and support to countless other Cetrans and the humans who are starting to form settlements. Through meeting both he gains knowledge of customs and hardships in order to provide solutions to shared problems. He has built up quite a name for himself, and is generally received favourably in his travels. He also falls in love, though his duties prohibits any official joining.  

Then something arrives that sends shockwaves throughout the whole of Gaia, to be felt by all who could hear the cries of the Planet. The Calamity from the Skies crashes into a crater close to his original clan. Novak must make his way back to the Northern continent, to join up with others in assessing this novel threat. 

He starts seeing visions. Of great cities made of metal and concrete. Tensions escalate, and he starts to see the ripples of war too. Fellow Cetrans are turning monstrous, and there seems to be little in the way of a chance for survival. Then he meets her again. She talks to him, lies with him, gives him the answers to these terrifying visions. Gives him a sense of peace and purpose. 

But is it really the woman he loves? And can he survive the madness that Jenova has brought down upon his peoples?

Abilities: 

Innovator / Inventor

Polymath  

Survivalist skills

Ends up with visions after being tainted by Jenova 

Magic:   

Can use magic but prefers to use inventions / tools / traps / diplomacy depending on situation. 

Carries Water and Enemy Skill from Forbidden City. 

Further magics to be developed. 

Religion / Affiliated Summon / Deity: 

None, Minerva the Goddess and Alexander from birthplace but renounced. Future Summons tbd.

Relationships (to be added to):   

Caenholdt - met at Forbidden City when they were both still young. Caen is inquisitive, experimental and learned. The only choice for a companion when starting off as an architect. 

Evelyn - met at Forbidden City, when she was learning more about how to control her magics there, Novak soon becomes enamoured with this powerful and beautifully etheric mage.

Esme - 

Roisin - met during the passing of her relative into the lifestream and ascension to Council Leader. A fair minded woman who is equally fair in beauty, she is interested in exchanging information with humans and seeking progress into the future just as much as Novak is. 

Wolfram / Rem - met during the trial of Leviathan in Wutai, a life-sower, doctor and animal/monster trainer of indeterminate gender who is having illicit relations with a human.

Illyria -

Sexuality: Heterosexual (Biromantic)

Faceclaim: Ben Barnes