Kori Vaela

Larian Astrapira

Iris Helleborae

Pollux Troy

.
"Loyal to a fault, as always..."Those she cares for hold a place in her heart. While her loyalties, if pressed, will always lie elsewhere, her friends are important to her- she doesn't have many after all. If its within her power to aid them, she will throw herself into the task without reserve."Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it."Kori's memory is faulty at best. While she tries to remember things that are important to her, she finds it very difficult- for reasons she can't grasp- to retain information about the cultures, lands, and details of Eorzea. Her past is even harder to recall. Memory, for Kori, is always a bittersweet concept.

Her Story

Kori grew up in the First, long before the balance of light and darkness tipped, on the coast of a large tropical island settled in the heart of the oceans along the star's equator. She grew up in a world of heat. Hot days that left the white sands blistering even as the sun set and the waters warm through the night. Storms would roll in, showering the colorful world in warm rains as lightning filled the horizon. She spent much of her time by herself, wandering the shores and tidepools and dreaming of exotic places. Many a night would she spend gazing at stars and wondering what else was out there. Here, her name was that which her mother gave her: Karayna.She was, by no means, unhappy though. Her life was one of peace and pleasure. She dreamed of travel and adventure without knowing what that really meant. She, like most young girls around her, looked forward to the assumed future of spouse and family and of living out their lives on the island. Perhaps if she were fortunate, she might gain the attention of some wealthy merchant and marry someone who could take her to far away places every now and then. Perhaps, if she practiced enough, she would be like her mother and play the harp, filling the hearts of those that listened with hope and peace.Really, the only two areas of her life that provided trouble or intrigue were her young brother and her father.
Her brother, some years her junior, was what any good, kind-hearted, well raised boy would be: constant trouble. But Kori loved him and was proud of him, because, under all the daring dos that left him scraped and battered as much as any other boy on the island who'd just started to learn how be a man, he was a good son. She knew he would become the man he wanted to be.
Her father, too, was a good man. He wasn't around often, always away for work. But, when he was home, he always had time for her. His work was stressful- she knew that much, though for her own safety she was never allowed to know what he did. She knew that, years ago, he needed a break, a place to unwind, and thus found their island, met her mother. She knew that his work was something that he often needed a break from still, and rarely took it. But, more than anything, she knew it was not her place to ask, and so she didn't.And such was her life, for 17 years. And in her 17th, everything changed.On a dark night, she woke to find large hands reaching for her. In a silent scream, she vanished.It was only later that she learned part of what had happened. Her father had chosen a fiancé for her, a man she would become engaged to on her eighteenth birthday. That fiancé was none other than a man her father worked closely with, a powerful archmage, La'rin, who had pulled her the night before her birthday to the Source where he resided. Though Karayna never learned much of his work or his intentions, she did find his favor and they fell in love. Not long passed before things went wrong. His work, his ambitions, his magik... it all turned against La'rin. He and Karayna, who's aether become unbalanced- his void, and hers overflowing- imploded. Their aether joined, giving birth to a primal. This primal was defeated by a hero of the day, for that day was very very long ago.Once the primal was destroyed and their aether returned to the cycle, La'rin and Karayna found themselves at the edge of fate, sitting on a ledge looking out at the passing of time. Neither alive nor dead. They spoke of many things, things that went wrong, why they perhaps had ended up here, wherever here was. Then their cycle began. Their second life. Each awoke in a different time on the Source with no memories. Karayna was her seventeen year old self, just as she was the night La'rin took her from her room, but more. Herself, yes, but with the unknown addition of one of her reflections from a shard. She and La'rin, who also woke without memories and with the name Larian, lived their lives, they met without knowing who they were, they fell in love, then things turned dark and La'rin grew in equally dark magik. Again, they died, fused together to form their primal. Again, a hero of the time defeated them. And again they sat at the edge of fate. They spoke, they planned, they tried to find some way to break the cycle. Again their cycle renewed, their wheel turned. But with no memories to follow them into life, how where they to stop the inevitable? They lived, they met, they fell in love, they fused, they died. Their third life. And their fourth, and their fifth, and so on. Some lives were better than others, some were nothing short of tragic. In some they lived decades, while in others they had only months. Such was their fate, their cycle, until their thirteenth life began.Limsa Lominsa. A city of pirates and rogues. A city where ideals of a peaceful future are challenged by the violence that is its past. It was here that Karayna woke in her thirteenth life. A city she knew nothing of, a world she didn't recognize. No memories, no understanding of who she was, nothing after that night she was taken- as she'd woken each time before. In this life, she was almost complete, 13 shards of herself had returned to her, though she knew nothing of that.She learned a few things very quickly here. Having woken with nothing but the clothes on her back and no memory of the events leading to her arrival, she held no value. Though she searched map after map and questioned what merchants and seafarers she could, no one knew of the home she searched for. And what memories she once took for granted, memories of who she was and where she belonged, began to rapidly fade, leaving behind holes and gaps where nothing made sense.Life is cruel to a young woman with nothing to offer. Those around her soon decided she wasn't in her right mind and paid her little heed except to encourage her quick departure from their sight. Those that found a use for her did so in the dark of night and in the scum of the lower alleys where choice was not a right, but a privilege of the strong, and safety was bought in blood.
Her suffering was great for the first few months after she woke. [Content warning: sexual assault and suicide] She was assaulted and raped often, almost nightly, and when it became too much to bare, she sent herself over the edge of the walls to find relief in the watery death that awaited her. But death would not have her. Confused, she thought at first they must be dreams. She sought death in many ways, seeking one that would accept her, but each time she would wake to the same hell she'd tried to escape from. After so many attempts, she found she was no longer able to distinguish what was real and what she assumed to be a dream.What she did not yet comprehend, and would not begin to even suspect for many years to come, was that the aether she'd collected from her reflections would not be allowed into the lifestream of the Source. Thus it would hover for a time before slowly filling her once more, and she would wake.Though she did not see this, there was someone who did. Ever watchful for new opportunities, the Mistress of the shadow organization, Solem Nigrum, took an interest in her. A member was sent to offer her a chance and to assess her strength.She recalls a figure cloaked in fine robes appearing before her. They gave her a knife, told her no one was going to save her and that she needed to save herself, then disappeared.And save herself she did. She bought her safety in blood, built the strength she needed to fight back. And as she rose up from the lower alleys, lifted herself from the grime and rancor with her own strength, the Mistress saw potential. She was invited to join the organization. But her name, Karayna, was never one that could be pronounced by those she spoke to, or perhaps she had come to understand she needed to let it go, that she was no longer and would never again be that girl... And so was born Korina. And the name she gave at inns and pubs when pressed: Kori, Kori Vaela.She was given a sizable stipend. Her training was encouraged. Her skills were honed. When she was ready, she was given access to contracts that she had her pick of. The gil they paid was unlike anything she'd known. She took whatever work they offered. Morals, honor, mercy- she had no use for them. What good had they been for her? Power and freedom were what she sought. A place among the ranks of her organization is what she earned.For four years, it suited her well. No home was needed. No friends were desired. She had her freedom, she had her power, and she had the wealth she needed to explore the star as she wished. She would have claimed she was happy.And then she met him.Leodaire was a knight of House Fortemps, stationed in Dragon's Head. It was there that she first met him. It was there, among the cold and bleak days and frozen hearts and suspicious minds of its people, that his hope and light mesmerized her. He was everything her younger self had dreamed of: kind, brave, undaunted by the darkness of the world. His joy in the face of sorrow and constant warmth were a beacon to her. She fell in love, quickly and without warning or understanding until it was far too late to stop it. And he loved her.All was well for a while. They made a place for each other in their lives. He introduced her to his family, his father and brothers, and reminded her what having a home and loved ones was like. She realized only once he'd filled it how empty her life had become. She came to fear for the first time since her days in Limsa. She feared she would lose him.She reached out to the only people she knew to be stronger than herself, people who had time and again proven they had the means to do what seemed impossible. She made a deal with her organization, with her Mistress. Keep him safe and happy. Do so, and she would pay any price they asked of her. Her Mistress accepted the deal. The price was set: a life for a life. Korina belonged to her. And thus her freedom was traded for the guaranteed protection of the one she loves.But what she did became a point of contention. He didn't want her to do what he saw to be wrong, didn't want her to risk her safety for gil. He hated when she came home injured, feared someday she might not come home at all. He'd never learned of the deal she'd made. He begged her to stop taking contracts. She refused.And so it went until a contract came up that required risk, danger, more so than the others. She was the one assigned to it. She had to take it.It was that fateful day when, unaware of the task looming over her, Leodaire took one knee and asked her for her hand, swore he would protect her, that their love would conquer all. She accepted. Of course. How could she not? Yet, before he could place the ring on her finger, the call came in. Her target was at the location. She tucked the ring safely away and left, flustered from events, distracted by the future, unaware that he followed far behind her. He would save her, he thought, keep her from harm...When he was delt a killing blow that she couldn't shield him from, he fell. Her target escaped. She had failed. She was about to lose all that she held dear. As the light faded from his eyes, she called out to her Mistress with pleas and threats and curses alike. Her Mistress answered her. She was given a crystal, its power flowing into her as she held it. It gave her the power to bring him back.Though she assumed it would only work on him, in fact she'd been given the power- or perhaps it had been merely awoken within her- to raise anyone who's aether she was familiar enough with and who's death she was only moments away from. But everything comes at a cost. To create the shield that forces their aether back into them, she must expend her own. Almost all of it. She would live if no further harm came to her, but it opened her up to truly dying if something affected that small thread of aether that remained.She fell into sleep for three days, and when she woke, it was to find she'd succeeded. He was safe. But he had heard her words, had listened to her call out to her Mistress, and he now understood that what she did, what she suffered, was for him. He was the reason she was trapped. He saw little else. Though he woke, his recovery was extended as his mind spiraled and fought with what he'd learned. She watched over the next moon as his light died. She watched his hope fade to misery, his warmth dim to the cold darkness of a broken mind. She watched him go mad. And she knew, she had done this to him.And so she called out again to her Mistress, declared the deal had two points. Safe. And happy. And, ever a being of her word, her Mistress again answered. If Kori was the reason his light had died, then she would remove the cause all together. Another crystal. Another gift: to take memories.Kori erased every memory Leodaire had of her. She intended to disappear, to never darken his life again. She explained what was needed to be said to his father who grimly accepted the fate of his children.But on the day she intended to embark, never to return, Leodaire woke. He went to his father who was seeing Kori off. Upon seeing her himself, Leodaire's mind spun, the holes she'd left too big to live with. To protect itself, his mind filled them in. With her. But not with their love. He was suddenly overjoyed and confused at once as to why his beloved little sister- for that was the cruel fate his mind had settled upon- would leave without a word. Thus Kori stepped into the role, the lie.She attended family events with the family that would never be hers, went to his engagement celebration, and watched the man she loved- the man she lived for- marry another woman. She celebrated the birth of their first born, a daughter, her niece. And every moment of it was the cruelest torture she'd faced. Every moment of it, she smiled brightly and played her part. The loving little sister.Drink was one escape, if she had enough. Somnus was another. Anything that brought her distraction, a moment of pleasure. She gambled and flirted and played with fire, and filled the void her heartbreak and guilt and self-loathing carved into her with whiskey. And when the darkest hours of the night came, she would go, pistol in holster, knives in sheaths, into the night to pay off one more day of her endless debt. And he lived. Safe and happy.Thus it was for four more years. When on one sunny day in Limsa, she met a man, a dark skinned xaela, who called to her. He was an owner of a tavern. He'd caught her at a good time, a drink was what she craved. A body beneath hers for the night was what she needed.His establishment was unlike other taverns she'd been to. Perhaps she should have come and gone, never returned. Perhaps she should have walked away before setting foot into it. But she didn't. She sat, she drank, she laughed, and Pollux, the xaela who'd found her, came to her again as the evening progressed. She found, unlike the nights prior, her craving was satiated. She found, as she lay in the aftermath of pleasure, that she had felt... something. For the first time in a very long time.She should have run. But she didn't. She returned again and again.So many people she'd met, come to know, to care for. So many lies she'd told, yet every day it felt like she was closer to offering some the truth...

How many times had she broken her rule? Kori never slept with the same person twice, never saw those whose bed she warmed again. It was a rule- don't get too close. Don't care. But she didn't know that first night after drinks at the Ginger led to a night of passion with its owner, Pollux, that she had met someone special. She didn't realize how easily she would find peace with him, a connection she hadn't felt in so long. She didn't realize how easy it would be to fall.They became lovers. How many times did she lay in his arms? How many nights did they share together? The moons passed, one after another. Adventures, sorrows, dreams, secrets. They shared much of who they were with each other, and she began to feel safe with him. And she fell for him, deeply.But he wasn't meant to be hers. He belonged to another, to the woman he married. And though he assured Kori that their marriage was polyamorous and that she had a place with him... she was never first on his mind, never first in his heart. He came to her with his anger for the woman he loved, his sorrow and hurt when they fought. He would smile at Kori with eyes like stormy seas and she would be lost within them; he would sleep with her and send her heart and body yearning for his touch, and she would lose herself in him; he would lay next to her in the afterglow... and he would speak of his wife, his love. He spoke of his commitment to her, of their connection, of her place beside him that no other could take. And so Kori followed, a few steps behind, knowing with every word from him that her place would never be the one she longed for.Though he was not to be her own, Pollux remained her lover for a very long time. He remained her dear friend, someone who knew her like no other, even after they ended their nights together. And she never did stop loving him. She held him in a place within her heart, one reserved only for him, just as she she held such a place for Leodaire. Really... she never learned.It was then that she turned to a duskwight who had caught her curiosity. His manner of speech, the air of mystery that shrouded him, those gold eyes that captured her own... His name was Malorin. Where Pollux was steady warmth, Malorin was a bright blaze that burned hot and fast. She was drawn to everything he was, wanted to know the secrets he kept. He fascinated her, challenged her mind in a way no other had. She found herself unable to think of others, unable to keep herself from his side. He too became a friend. He confided in her- the darkness of his past, the burden that he carries with him. She vowed she would do what she could to aid him. She admired him. And his gifts and words and touch called to her like a siren's song. She found her heart swayed. He thought her in love. She knew she was far from such a thing, but still he mesmerized her.But Malorin's heart could not be hers. She was permitted no further than the surface, the warmth of his bed, but never closer. His heart belonged to another, his rose, the beautiful young Astraea. Though she would not return his affection, he longed for her. He loved her. And no warmth of words or passion of touch would have him see Kori in that place. Where Kori was a lily, Astraea was his rose. And his rose would bloom far longer and with far more beauty than a tattered lily could ever offer.And then it came time for her to share- her secrets, her past, the burden she carries. Fear. Fear is what she felt. She was sure he would turn away from her if he knew. But she took the chance, she spoke of her past, of Limsa eight years ago, of what it led her to become. He was kind. He showed her affection, took her hand, led her to his bed. And she wondered if maybe she could pretend she was still desirable. Their night of passion was as her time with him. Hot, bright, and over far too suddenly.That night was the last time he touched her. He did not reply to letters, did not seek her out, cancelled any plans they had. After the silence stretched immeasurably, she went to him. Little did she know of the traumatic events he had just seen... for he didn't tell her. He was cold, distant, angry. She asked too much, pushed too far. It pushed him back. And she knew that night had been a mistake. She knew he regretted it, that he saw her for the tarnished creature she was. A lily cannot grow in salted earth...That night was the last they spoke for many moons. She would not force herself upon him, would not sully him with her presence... but still she sought to aid him. Still, she wished for his happiness.It was in this desire for Malorin's happiness that two souls rose up and their stories bound to her.Iris and Larian.

Iris was the beauty of freshly fallen snow, the light of the moon, the reflection of stars. She was kindness and soft warmth, a gentleness that Kori would never be. She was lovely. And she was Malorin's closest friend. She too loved Malorin and, as Kori's fire for the man faded, Kori found herself noticing the one who stood by his side more and more. Iris had always been there for him, supported him, looked to him. Kori knew that a lily would be nothing against a rose, but perhaps an iris could woo his heart. She came to know the lovely vieran woman. And she came to love her too. She found in Iris the rare sort of light that was worth protecting at all costs.She worried for Iris' heart, but she needn't have. Iris found in her own time that Malorin would not be swayed by her love either. She moved on to find a young viera, Frey, who would love her as she deserved and saw in her the light Kori saw. She was happy for them and wished them nothing short of love for all their days.Larian... Larian was someone she'd met long before when she'd discovered Pollux's tavern. She's spoken to him, questioned him, hoped to get information from him about the unusual patrons of the tavern. Instead of useful information, in him she found a most unexpected friend. At first she found him to be simple. He was the white knight type. Always there to help. Always there to make other's laugh. He wanted to help her, save her, without knowing at all what that meant. But as time passed, she came to know him better. She came to understand more. And he became the one she looked for when she entered a room, the one she thought of when she found herself amused, the one she looked forward to seeing. He was her friend, a very dear friend, her best friend. She'd never had one before.He made her laugh, he was kind, and loyal, he was always there for her. And of course he was, because- though it never occurred to her- he was in love with her. She cherished her friendship with him over almost everything else. But she didn't see him in a romantic light. She found him to be loose lipped, physically fragile, and emotionally naive. But... he did glow. He gave off a light from his soul that was good, that was warm. He was special. And he reminded her terribly of the man who's ring she never parted with.She was careful, one might say. Her obliviousness to his feelings made it easier. She kept him firmly in the bounds of friendship. Until one day... she didn't.

And then.... the wheel turned. One night of passion blossomed into an adventure that had them toying with memories, battling pirates, stranded at sea, lost on a deserted island of paradise and hell. Their one night became a love that grew immeasurably. For many months they were almost happy. Almost. Though there was passion between them, their relationship was rocky at best. She lived a life he could never accept, wanted to save her from. She never trusted him enough to tell him all. She watched as each day she darked his light a bit more, watched as each day he seemed to follow yet another step in Leodaire's footprints. She tried to push him away, but found she could not.When, one day, Pollux was killed, she went to him. But it was not her who brought him back to life, but that of his lover Mizuki. Feeling useless, she desired to help in some way, and so she went after the one who'd felled him, fought them to stop them from taking his life again. She brought them to her Mistress. But in that fight she was deeply wounded and healing would take many weeks. In that time, her team, A'li and A'zeyra, were tasked with keeping her place in her life peaceful and above suspicion. How wrong it all went...The wheel had turned, its cycle in motion. They had met. They had fallen in love... so they must end.Larian knew immediately that the woman before him was not his love. Though it would be many weeks before he learned it was A'zeyra, he fought to find the truth. A'li, in fear that Larian's hubris would harm Kori as she healed from a fragile state, brought Ainkel to his side.Ainkel was someone Kori had met at the tavern, but it was only through her connection to Larian that Kori eventually became friends with Ainkel. But they did become friends, shared secrets and truths they hadn't told others. Kori found she had another friend... Ainkel and Iris, Pollux and Larian. Her circle had grown.And as the wheel turned, it challenged that friendship. People took sides and the truth began to blur. Larian, who searched for that truth reached out to dark magiks and they consumed his mind. Though he claimed to want to save his love, he never made it past the desire for power. It consumed the last of the light Kori loved in him.His friends saw this and sought to stop him. But they were too late. They landed a would-be fatal blow only to find that it summoned Kori to his side. She thought to save him, but he saw only another false illusion in her, and he drove his sword through her heart. As she fell, so did he. In a moment of shared love, they died.And from their aether rose the Primal of Balance. Their friends that brough Larian low faced the threat and, in time, it too was defeated.The 13th Life was complete. The wheel settled into stillness.Karayna and Larian, who was in fact La'rin, found themselves for the 13th time at the edge of fate. It was here that they regained their memories of their thirteen lives, here they remembered each other. It was here that La'rin told Karayna that in her fourteenth life, she would be whole. And he would be all but gone. It was in her fourteenth life that she must save him, or he would be lost. She resolved to do so, for in this next life, she would retain her memory, though he would lose his. Realizing the steps of their cycle, she determined that, no matter how close they became, she would never let him fall in love with her. If they were not together, the wheel could not turn, could it?And so, she woke... in her 14th life...

She woke in the deserts of Thanalan to find very little time had passed since her last death. She was able to step back into her previous life. It was not long after that she found Larian had awoken in the Black Shroud, though he was gravely ill. She brought him to the aether train that travelled around Eorzea where he recovered quickly and met the woman, Zahra.Faced with the weight of letting the man she loved move on with his life and find another to love, another to take the place she so earned for, yet again, Kori turned to another goal. She would become all that she could be, and she would save her La'rin. She would learn again all the skills of martial arts and weapon fighting. She would, this time, learn the arts of magik and healing. And between that, if she had time, she was determined to see all that life had to offer. In her last life, she'd pushed so much away for so long, that she wanted to know now what the world could give if only she was willing to receive it.Iris began to teach her magik...{But the rest is yet unwritten}