Here is my contribution for today's prompt for @fe-oc-week! Oct 10 - Relationships.
Today I have provided some material about some key figures in my fe3h OC Kitt's past and present. :3
Click the read more for the lore! (contains mentions of blood, injury, death, body horror)
Kitt Burgess, Ward of the Church - Part II A few years before 1180, the Church of Seiros was alerted to suspicious activity in the Oghma Mountains. When Seteth and Flayn arrived at the village of Annwen to investigate, they discovered a burning ruin filled with its former inhabitants, either lying dead or transformed into rampaging Demonic Beasts. It was there that Kitt, the sole survivor of the disaster, was discovered in a death-like state with a damaged Crest Stone embedded in the back of their neck.
Sensing signs of life, Flayn attempted to heal Kitt, but was unable to stabilize the corrupting influence of the Crest Stone. Seeing that the convulsing Kitt was in danger of transforming into a Demonic Beast, Flayn begged Seteth to intervene. Together, they enacted a ritual sanctioned by the Archbishop Rhea and performed a heavy transfusion of blood. This miraculously succeeded in halting the transformation - if only for the time being.
Kitt was brought to Garreg Mach Monastery, where they spent a year in recovery adjusting to the blood in their veins and beginning a new life under the watchful eye of the Church. Though the transfusion was enough to save their life, it was not enough to fully neutralize the danger posed by the Crest Stone, nor are they yet visibly able to manifest the necessary Crest. As such, they are subject to violent attacks and transformations on occasion. The ordeal also seems to have affected their memories. They struggle to recall key events and figures in their past, and yet the memories they are able to recall seem 'impossible', as though they belong to someone else.
For a time, they were cared for by Seteth and Flayn, who welcomed them into the fold as though they were family. However, Kitt eventually grew suspicious of Seteth, Flayn, and the Archbishop Rhea, sensing that there was more behind the calamity at Annwen and the Crest Stone in their neck than the three were willing to disclose. The church's politics and secret-keeping only compounded their suspicion further. As a result, Kitt has ceased to trust their new family and has had a falling out since.
But perhaps the reason behind this quarrel runs deeper below the surface. Perhaps Kitt glimpsed something in the memories imbued by the Crest Stone - some terrible truth that Flayn and Seteth tried to conceal from them. Or perhaps something even more terrible happened to the three of them, such that it was enough for them to sever ties.
It is said that the Archbishop Rhea is unable to look at Kitt directly in the eye. Yet, she is the one who declared Kitt a protected ward of the Church of Seiros, and that their safety and well-being in Garreg Mach was to be ensured without question.
Gwyn, the Unsung Hero - Part I It is said that the warrior Gwyn first appeared at Lake Annwen, deep in the Oghma Mountains, when Nemesis began his bloody campaign to conquer Fodlan. When refugees, deserters, and defectors fled into the mountain wilderness, Gwyn took these people under their wing and declared Annwen a sanctuary upon which none will suffer persecution from the church nor conquest from Nemesis. Over time, a small city was built - one that mirrored the now ruined Zanado, defended alone by Gwyn, who was soon revered as a hero by the people they safeguarded.
The growing settlement and the seemingly inhuman strength of their founder attracted the attention of the Seiros Army. However, Gwyn refused to entreat them until Saint Cichol and Saint Cethleann appealed to the warrior directly. Gwyn at last agreed to offer up their strength in service to Seiros, though only after forcing Saint Cichol to swear that the people of Annwen would be kept safe from all harm and allowed to live their lives in peace. As a show of goodwill, the Saints gifted Gwyn the sacred axe known as Canopus to wield in the oncoming battle.
This was the first - and only - manifestation of the Crest of Gwyn known to history.
Gwyn was instrumental in defending Enbarr against Nemesis and his Elites. Though they emerged from the siege heavily wounded, their actions allowed the Army of Seiros to push back and gain a foothold northward. On the day of the founding of the Adrestian Empire, Gwyn returned the Axe of Canopus to Saint Cichol, intent on leaving for Annwen. When Emperor Wilhelm I asked if Gwyn would accept a reward for defending the capital, the hero responded that they only wished for the people of Annwen to live well and in peace for all their days.
When offered a place among the Saints, they refused. And so, from that point on, they faded away from history. Some say that Gwyn perished shortly from their wounds and was laid to rest. Others say they simply fell into a deep sleep at an unknown location and remains so to this day. Others claim that Gwyn lived the rest of their life in full among the ordinary people of Annwen.
After the Battle of Tailtean, Fodlan was unified, bringing an age of uncertain peace to the land. The population of Annwen soon dwindled as its inhabitants began to leave the remote sanctuary to start their lives anew in Adrestian society. Though the city was soon forgotten over the ages, a dedicated few remained to form a place of pilgrimage dedicated to Gwyn. Living quiet lives away from main society, they continued to honor the hero and safeguard the mysterious stone they had left behind, along with the promise that they would one day return.
The Capricious One - Part I 'Capricious' is the name of the Nabatean whose tale is a blemish upon their people's history.
In ancient times, they wandered the land and walked freely among humans, refusing to be tied to such a place as Zanado where their own kind dwelled.
They harbored a mutual disdain for the other Nabateans, including their own family, but deeply venerated the Goddess Sothis.
They were said to be closely related in blood to the Nabatean known as The Hammer of Judgment, he who would later take up the name Saint Cichol. It is speculated that the two were like siblings. Though they confided in one another, their opposing natures often put them at odds.
Theirs was the Sign of the Mist Dragon.
They were notorious amongst other Nabateans for their tempestuous personality and acting upon a wicked whim, true to their name. Whispers of ancient history suggested that they were capable of both limitless kindness and unimaginable cruelty, of great contempt and greater love, as greedy as they were generous, known to show astonishing mercy and yet hold everlasting grudges.
Though these qualities made them wildly unpredictable, they always heeded the wisdom of the Goddess, and would on occasion show deference to their counterpart - The Hammer of Judgment.
Whenever they took their escapades too far, the Immaculate One would often be called upon to reprimand them, which resulted in a growing tension between the two.
Some said they reveled in causing trouble. Others said they simply saw the world differently, and had only the best of intentions.
Even before the fall of Zanado, to whisper their name was to invite shame and sorrow.
…Not because of the unfathomable deeds they committed, but for the horrific fate they suffered as a result.
(to be continued)
