Silf Silverwood

+ Soaring Ever Onward +

Server: Balmung - Crystal Data Center

• About
• Story
• Gallery
• Mun

• Tumblr
• Email
• Art
• DeviantArt

About

• Back
• Forward

Story

Child of the Wood

Sjlf grew up and spent most of her life deep within the Golmore Jungle as part of the Dei-Ijla tribe. Those within the village referred to their home as the “Silverwood” for the surrounding trees had developed a white hue at the base of the trunks, bleeding up into the dark brown bark. This was due to the rich aether concentrated ground the trees pulled water and nutrients from.

Life was simple in her early years. Sjlf trained in various arts and was keen on becoming a salve-maker, following in the footsteps of her older sister, Ysera. Her mother, Petra, was a skilled blade dancer and started to help Sjlf hone her martial skills. Sjlf also found she was extremely keen to the voice of the Green Word and begun learning various instruments to help sing and speak with the word on a deeper level.

Moreover, thru all of this Sjlf was shadowed by her twin, Fjorn. Of both black raven hair and bright green eyes, you could not tell one from the other and sometimes they would use that to play tricks on the other sisters in the village. The two were inseparable and one was never seen without the other.

Then the Warders came.

Sjlf woke to heartache. She had never been given the chance to say goodbye to her brother. When the Wood Warders came to the village she had been asleep, and when she rose the next morning Fjorn, and the other boys she had played with and knew, were gone.
This was the way of the “Green Word”; she understood this as did all within the tribe. It was to be expected, it was known, and yet she found herself profoundly saddened by Fjorn’s absence.

In her sadness and young mind, Sjlf snuck away one night to try and find her brother. It was rare and seldom heard of for a sister of the tribe to leave, heading for the wonders of the outside world, but Sjlf knew it could be done. She wanted to find her brother and run away, to find other sisters out in the world and stay with them instead.

Her journey away from home was short lived. As she traveled, Sjlf found herself outside the village that she knew, in unfamiliar territory. Not used to the terrain and too young to traverse in the dark Sjlf erred in her step and slipped down a steep path. She was spit out at the bottom into a lake, deep and cold, and tried to swim to shore. She was too small and quickly tired out before she could reach safety.

As the shore approached in the distance, she sank.

Sjlf remembers nothing of that night beyond the sudden realization that death was upon her and the sudden sinking darkness as she submerged beneath the black water. She woke on the embankment, a blanket draped over her but there was no signs of her savior. She was once again alone. In the light of day, though, she was able to easily make her way back home and back to her worried family, but she felt different…and there was reason for this. Her once bright green eyes had lost all color. What was left in their place were pale ghostly orbs. Her sight did not seem affected in any real way, but sometimes Sjlf thought she could see discoloration around living things, but as soon as she would notice the aura would fade from sight.

It would be many years before Sjlf ever made her way back to that lake. It had been determined that it was a Mist Pool. A body of water poisoned by rich concentrations of aether. The lake poured out from a small cave and was part of an underground water system. The same water system the trees of the Silverwood drank from and caused the pale discoloration of the trunks. The Mist Pool was deemed too dangerous for the Viera as it could cause Frenzy, but somehow Sjlf came away with only her eyes affected. She still knows not what happened to her that night, or why. If she mediates on the memory, sometimes she recalls a voice, someone singing to her beneath the water, eyes in the darkness peering up at her soft and white…

Raven and Wolf

Life returned to some semblance of normality for Sjlf after her brash run away attempt. However, she would catch the stares and felt that the others saw her differently now, touched in some way, after her accident. This was not in a negative way necessarily, but Sjlf felt it marked a change, a moment in her life where she was no longer seen as the child she was before.

During this time was when Sjlf became closer to one of the other girls in the village, the only one that saw her no different from before.

Her name was Ljot.

Before long, the two became fast friends and where you found one the other would often follow. Sjlf found comfort in Ljot’s presence, after the loss of her twin and everything else, Ljot was a genuine soul who made Sjlf feel at ease. Everyone in the tribe was keenly aware of the bonded pair, noting that they were like mirror opposites of each other. Where one was dark haired and light eyed, the other had contrasted completely with her white hair and dark eyes. The elders of the village remarked on this, noting that it served as a reminder of the old stories – of the Raven and the Wolf – and from then on that’s who they were.

The two grew up together and trained together and for a time life was perfect and simple. Sjlf began to notice more and more that the discolorations she would see was happening with more frequency as she grew older. She was not sure what it meant but as time went on, she found she could sometimes tell when something was sickly and or close to death. Even moods sometimes seem to have a shimmer but the sight was so infrequent she could not never quite tell.

Other than that, Sjlf focused on the day to day and her training. She passed the test for her salve-makers training, catching the vorpal rabbit with ease and efficiency. Sjlf also became a skilled Blade Dancer and soon was allowed to go on patrols with her other sisters outside the village.

However, as she grew into adulthood, political unrest began to grip Ivalice. The news inevitably reached the village, and the cracks in their way of life began to show. The first being between Sjlf and Ljot. Sjlf thought it best not to meddle with affairs beyond the wood; while Ljot could not rest knowing conflict might reach their sisters in the village. Ljot’s view was also shared by a sparse few in the village as well, which only helped spur on her want to leave and defend her tribe. Sjlf was desperate to convince Ljot to abandon these thoughts, to remind her what it meant if she were to break the laws of the “Green Word”. If Ljot were to leave with the others, she would be exiled…and this terrified Sjlf more than the threat of the Garleans. Desperation led to anger and soon what began as another disagreement turned into a fight. Both were left upset and the future that once looked so bright for them was turning to grey and ash.

That same night, without warning, the wolf fled into the night and Ljot was gone.

Reunion

Years went by and though Sjlf went on with her life within the village, she found that things were not the same without her closest friend. Sjlf kept up with her duties and stayed within the wood, but would secretly search for Ljot every chance she could. She knew this heartache well, but it was no easier to cope with than it was the first time. In fact, it was harder this time for the bond she and Ljot shared was more than friendship. She had never said this and wished she had the chance to many times, but Ljot was gone and her love with her. Now all there was left was the bitter taste of memories and what might have been.

Then they came.

Garlemald was a force beyond comprehension. They took Ivalice by storm and left nothing but devastation in their wake. Stories from other villages and rumors swept thru the Silverwood of the battles beyond their borders. It was then, with no real surprise, that more Sisters began to take up arms and leave. Many still stayed behind to defend the Wood and it was known the Warders were on the move as well, but it became harder and harder to ignore the inevitable conflict.

Sjlf still chose to stay behind with her sister Ysera, her mother Petra having passed on just the year before. She was of more use to her people where she was, and if the Garleans did encroach upon their sacred Wood, she would be there to fight them off with her sisters. The temptation to leave, she would admit, was very strong. Ljot was out there somewhere, she knew it, and a part of her wanted to be by her side…

When it became clear the wood was in real danger, Sjlf set out with the patrols to protect their borders. Sjlf even to this day is not sure, why she walked the path she did, something at the back of her mind was tugging, pulling her on a path she had not walked in years. The closer she came to her unknown destination, the more her sight began to pick up the shimmer of colors she had always associated with death.

Breaking thru the underbrush Sjlf felt a slight sting to her eyes, a sign that just beyond was the Mist Pool from her childhood. Something was wrong; the Mist was stronger, as more aetheric current had bleed into the pool over the years. Death was here, adding itself into the Mist and making it more potent. The tickle at the back of her mind, the fear all Viera feel in the presence of possible Frenzy, trickled down Sjlf’s spine but she pressed forward nonetheless.

Just beyond corpses had greeted her. Not many, but it had been clear a fight occurred and it was recent. Garlean soldiers were sprawled about, the ground stained with the blood of the fallen. The air was still, and the sight of Sjlf’s eyes shimmered the color of death and decay in vivid violet. Sjlf does not recall how long she had been standing there before she heard the sound, a muffled low sob in the distance. Had it not been for her keen ears she might not have heard the sound, let alone been able to track its location.

Just beyond there had been another body. Not like the others. Clinging to life and covered in their own blood and the blood of their would be killers.

The Wolf.

Sjlf rushed to Ljot’s side without hesitation, blurred vision as the tears welled up and the worry of Frenzy long gone. Ljot had been mortally wounded after being ambushed by the now dead Garlean patrol and was not long for this world if something was not done in time. It was not an easy task to do alone, but Sjlf was determined to help Ljot and nurse her back to health. There was no way she could get back to the Village with Ljot in the state she was in…and apart from that Ljot was exiled. She would not be allowed back and to do so Sjlf would suffer banishment.

In time, Sjlf nursed Ljot back to consciousness and health. The Raven watching over her lone companion during long nights of fevered dreams and sickness. However, Ljot regained her strength in time, and after some rocky discussions and heart-felt words, the two found their friendship once more. Sjlf was surprised she had so much anger still inside her, she wanted to scream and spit and curse The Wood around them for Ljot’s recklessness. However, in her presence Silf found she could do no such thing, she was just happy to see her friend again and to have been in the right place and the right time to save her.

Many things were shared that night, stories and laughter, tears and sorrow, the fears of the future and the relief of companionship. And something new; Sjlf saw a color she had not seen in many years shimmer around her friend, her Wolf in White, a brilliant golden gleam.

And that night, for the first time, they shared their heart.

Taking Flight

The time for choice had finally come and Sjlf was finding herself caught between two worlds. That of the Wood and the Green Word. The life she had always known and where her home resided among her sisters. Then that of the new life she saw before her. The world where she wanted to follow her Heart into, her new home. To follow her wolf, now known as Leona, meant exile. She could never come back to the Silverwood, to her Sister Ysera. It would all be barred from her…and her keen connection to the Green Word, over time, would diminish. All that made Sjlf who she was, would be gone. Or that’s at least how she felt in the moment.

One kiss from Leona, though, spoke to the truth of her heart more than any words could and in that moment, Sjlf abandoned all. Sjlf had seen what the Garleans had wrought with their invasions, and she felt that together with Leona…the two of them could do more for their tribe together then apart. They were the Raven and the Wolf, and together they would make sure Garlemald would not soon forget. Sjlf made haste back to the Silverwood under cover of night and left word to Ysera of her decision in the form of a letter. The thought of speaking to her sister face to face to break this news was too much for Sjlf to bear and she fled the village with Leona soon after. Sjlf would never speak to this, but she always felt a pang of regret for the deed after…thoughts of her sister still come to her and what might have become of her...

So raged on the battle with Garlemald, and soon it was clear that the Dalmascan resistance was faltering. The decision to flee did not come easily, but after witnessing the destruction by Garleans first hand for so long, they knew there was not many options left to them. Survival, now, was paramount. If they were going to keep fighting, they had to live.

Sjlf, now going by Silf, and Leona escaped together to Kugane and lived within the city for a short time. Being Viera made for interesting times and it was not hard to find work around town. Silf’s techniques at salve making allowed her to pawn off remedies to eager merchants looking to buy wares from the East, and the creations of a Viera were worth even more to some. Leona’s skills that she had learned on her own adventures proved equitable to those that needed a strong arm at their back, or a keen eye to guard their goods on long journeys.

It was not long before word started to spread of resistance efforts of the nations to the west, and the two made plans to travel across the sea. With their goods and talents in tow, Silf and Leona set sail on a merchant vessel bound for Limsa Lominsa. There they would find a means to help the resistance against the Garleans once more, and together sell their services and make their way in this new world.

A new life was on the horizon and Silf now saw with a clarity she had never had before that everything was leading her to this point. The merchants on the vessel rarely saw the two apart as they traveled, and a keen eye would notice the Raven and Wolf, when near each other, would ginergly be touching hands together…
…a glint of something silver on their fingers.

• Back
• Index
• Forward

Gallery

• Back
• Index
• Forward

Mun Things

WORK IN PROGRESS
-check back soon-

• Back
• Index