Shepherd to the Stars

• The Soul
• The Stories
• The Visions
• The Return

ㅤMSQ Placementㅤ
Promise of Eternity.
Tidam is currently waiting at the end of MSQ, he has his own special ties in certain places but beware potential spoilers or feel free to talk to me about your thoughts on the Story so far.

  Prologue.    Our Little "Star" < Click Here
In the early days of his life, Tidam was just a boy. A boy born to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders, even if everyone including himself was oblivious to that fact. This is the beginning of his Tale.

  Chapter One.    The Prodigal Son < Click Here
When disaster visits the Star, heroes shall inevitably rise from the fallout. Alas not all heroes are recognized right away for the virtues of their spirit. Often times they are shunned, or viewed as too weak and insignificant to do anything to change the state of things.  Chapter Two.    Journey to The West
This Journal entry is Coming Soon. Please Look Forward to it!

  15th Sun of the First Umbral Moon, 1561, Sixth Astral Era.
Somewhere in South Eastern Meracydia lies the Village of Akuna.  The eyes of a babe are ever wide with curiosity. As they take in their first sights, a newborn will inevitably latch onto that curiosity, just as they do their caretakers. When he first opened his eyes, his first sight was the stars through the veil of the surface of a lake. Those eyes of umber laced with green rivers beheld that magnificent light and reached for it. So was his fate sealed, as it had been for well over ten thousand years.Village healers brought the baby boy up from beneath the water's surface, the warm summer night nipping at him. He wailed into the night as fireflies danced by the water’s edge. He was placed into his mother’s arms as his father looked on in awe.“So, my love, have you decided?” The chieftain was exhausted, as her son had decided to be born slightly earlier than anticipated. “What shall we call him?”An outsider to the Yiramiilan tribe, he was a Wanderer of Meracydia’s wastelands. A slayer of beasts who had saved — and was then vouched for by — one of the tribe's wayward youth. He was a boisterous and loud young man who had won the chieftain’s heart with sincerity and a novel view of the world they shared. He saw his son’s eyes glued to the heavens while his ever so tiny hands clutched onto his much larger finger as if it were everything.“Do your people have a name that means Star? He keeps staring up at them. He must like ‘em.”The chieftain was barely much older than the outsider but she had a fierce and mature air about her. She stared down at the infant clinging to her skin. His eyes glued unwaveringly to the star-speckled sky before she hummed, drawing his gaze to her. She nodded sagely in agreement with the man.“Tidam then, our little star.”This was the world’s first memory of Tidam, but not its first memory of his soul. That humble Traveler had graced the star many times since the world was split across ten and three. But now that the most adventurous of souls had once again graced the land, myriad gazes were sure to fall upon him.

  Approximately 7 Years Before the Fall.  It took a village to raise him as elders, young and old, watched that boy. They were there when Tidam spoke his first word; Dada. They were there when he took his first shaky steps. They were there when he was granted the Sight that would make him their leader one day in the future. Twas a shame then, that the two who watched him most fervently sat quietly as their toddler rested after receiving the eye from his mother. While the chief’s focus was unwavering, her beloved was waning.“You’re doing it again, Yannathan.” she spoke sweetly, sipping on a cup of juice.“Doing what?”“Hiding.” She rose, putting down the cup.The chieftain stepped down from the dock where she watched her son bask in the sun, opposite the lake. She knew Yannathan’s gaze would not leave the boy and so she turned hers upon him.“What am I hiding, Yindi?” The man smiled hollowly as Tidam became a perch for the nearby butterflies and dragonflies.“I do not know. But the way your gaze lowers to the earth, and your sighs vanish into the breeze… I can tell.”“Look who’s noticin’ the small things now…” Yannathan looked away from their child and held his partner’s hand. “It’s… it’s much easier to give than it is to take.”Yindi’s brow furrowed, her lips tightened, she lowered herself so they were eye to eye. Signaling to her own mother to keep an eye on Tidam. The woman’s thumb ran along the scar her dear fool bore upon his face before she cupped his cheek.“I have told you time and time again that what is mine is yours to take. I know what this is about… and I understand—”“I know he will be fine here. But… he’s still my son. I don’t want him to think I have just abandoned him. But I have a duty too. To Meracydia, to my tribe. To myself.” He frowned as his grip on her hand tightened. “But he is my son. I may go out there and die, and then he will never know me. He may think I’ve abandoned him—”“I would never allow him to think that.”“But you can’t dictate how he feels, Yindi. Neither of us can. This will be his life, he will decide how he views everything he comes across, all we can do is serve as guides until he no longer needs us.”

  Approximately 4 Years Before the Fall.  “This is from father?”Tidam sat in the branches of a tree holding a letter in his hands, he twirled it around but didn’t break the seal on it. Rather he slid the note into a hollow in the tree which he used for hiding precious things. It was his nameday, and seven summers had done little to dull his excitement for them.“I’ll read it some other time.”“Oh? But you were just asking about him the other day.”Yindi ran a hand through the boy’s hair, plucking grass and grain. She only stopped when he held fast to one of the golden wheat stalks he had braided into his hair. She narrowed her eyes before holding up her hands defensively.“You are now seven summers old, tell me how you fare with controlling the Gift of Dawn?”Tidam’s legs dangled off the branch as he looked down at his mother. He shimmied down the trunk and stood before her in a respectful posture. When it came to matters relating to the tribe and the powers that protected it, Tidam was not her son, but her equal — the next chieftain. She was only holding that mantle until he was able to defend the tribe himself. He opened and closed his palm before frowning.“I think I am ready, chieftain. But, I won’t know for sure until I try.”Pride filled his mother’s dark green eyes, but she quickly caught herself. Her gazed had almost always been a numb one, for as long as Tidam could remember. But he knew that she loved him and so that was enough. He did not require the affections other children had received from their parents. He was the future guardian of Yiramiilan, the Dawn’s Inheritor. The chieftain began to walk, prompting him to follow her towards the training field. Tidam stood behind the fencing as older children and young adults stood before the village weapons master, Illuka."Ah, the chieftain approaches. Backs straight warriors!"Tidam was rather swift with his approach to the fence, hopping onto the lowest wrung and leaning over the top. His mother on the other hand stalled near the gate to enter the field proper. She gave him a look that spoke every word she did not, causing the boy to make his way over. Hindi guided him across the dirt to the line and tilted her chin up at Illuka."Prepare his test, weapons master. It is time to see if our future chieftain has been gifted with combat prowess or magical proficiency worthy enough of the mantle he now bears.""Of course, my lady. Just a moment."Illuka began barking orders all while placing a hand on Tidam's back and guiding him deeper into field. He left the boy in a well worn spot, crouching down to his height."Your mother once stood in this same spot, as did her father, and his father, and his mother. All the way back to the Great Founder of our tribe. Yours is a lineage blessed by the Dawn, cherished by its gift. Whatever that gift may arise as, hold nothing back and unleash it upon this training dummy."The weapons master pointed to a metal monstrosity that the other trainees had dragged out of storage. They were setting up a weapon rack as well, before they all ran over to Yindi, practically hiding behind her."Now is the time, choose your arm, and unleash the light."Tidam picked up a sword, though a child his size should've struggled, he raised the blade with ease. He turned its point towards the training dummy and took a deep breath. He knew his gift, he knew as soon as the Eye of Bahamut was given to him. He was sure it was the same as everyone else who had received the "Gift" of Dawn. But they didn't let him speak on it, he practiced alone and this would be the first showing of his strength with something real. He was perhaps too eager for this, as the moment the blade connected with the dummy both shattered.The blade splintered as if it were made of glass, sending metallic fragments flying at insane speeds. One shard cut Tidam's cheek as he attempted to shield his face. The dummy on the other hand was launched far and fast, kicking up a cloud of dust as it plowed through the ground in its path as it too fell apart. Yindi was swift, having put up a number of manawards to prevent anyone else from being hurt. The chieftain marched over to her son as the dust settled, as he looked up at her with tears in his eyes as he held his cheek."Your first lesson complete. Power, however right it may feel, must be used sparingly."With that she walked off, likely to return to her self-imposed solitude. Leaving her child to lick his own wounds.

  Year 1572 of the Sixth Astral Era - The Day Dalamud fell, The End of an Era.  The boy's eyes were alit by starfall as the skies reddened. The entire village watched as the lesser moon Dalamud fell beyond the horizon. The young found it hauntingly beautiful, the old found it ominous. Tidam and his mother shared one simple feeling, dread. Though a figure of the night, Dalamud had long been regaled as part of the cycle of Dawn in their belief. For most in Akuna, Dawn was a deific progenitor figure—but for those chieftains and the high elders, it was the eldest Great Wyrm of the first brood, Bahamut.At a mere eleven summers old, Tidam couldn't comprehend the full weight of the event. Even so, he knew that the ramifications of the fall of the lesser moon would send ripples throughout the entire star. This would be the event that would truly start his dedication to his duty as the strongest member of his people. This would be what set him to train harder than he ever had over the course of the next five years.And it was all because he felt a pair of terrifying and powerful eyes locked on him from thousands of malms away. A future encounter he could feel press itself into the stone tablet that was his fate. It's gnawing dread digging into his very spirit.

  Year 4 of the Sixth Umbral Era.  The great doors to the Hall of Confluence were just closing as Tidam shuffled into the people's meeting chamber. This building was an ancient thing — constructed of stone and wood. Most of the houses had been rebuilt over the ages, but the Confluence merely withstood the test of time, requiring only irregular maintenance. Some of the stone slabs that made up its foundation were engraved with draconic iconography, whilst the wood had carvings of a lost arcane knowledge that even his mother did not know. The building hung over the lake where he and nearly every other chieftain had been born. It was a storied place, if the lake was the village's heart then the Confluence was it's brain. Tidam always felt the weight of his future when he entered. But it was all the heavier when his entering came upon the back of a declaration to convene.The young man was covered in dirt and bruises. He had been near the village's border training when the news of the chieftain's summons had reached him. It was rare for his mother to call meetings like this, something must've been amiss. Pressing his back to the wall he took note that almost everyone was present, all squeezed into a hall that had long since outgrown them. Hazel eyes scanned around, the circle of elders sat facing the group. This wasn't just amiss, this was bad. As the chieftain entered Everyone saluted her, Yindi's stoic face showed a frightening level of exhaustion. She made her way to the center of the circle of elders, leaning on her staff for support. She looked as though she may faint at a moments notice. A heavy silence loomed over the room, only the sound of the lake beneath the floorboards offering a deviance."One is quite bemused, my friends." Yindi began. "For an age have we stood shoulder with our ancestors, in honor of an ancient vow our founder made to the Dawn."Yindi's eyes moved throughout the crowd. Everyone here was a warrior, even the elderly. Then her eyes fell on her son in the back of the room, that viridian gaze of hers was like a knife. It dug deep into his very soul and twisted as though it were a cyclone. The woman's gaze stayed squarely on her child as she continued."Never in our long and storied history have we known betrayal, never have we known defeat. Only once, by my hand, did we know infiltration. But what I say now is no fault of his." She took a deep breath before her next declaration. "The Yirawulin has stirred from its slumber. Doubtless roused by the vanishing of Dalamud."A metaphorical wave broke upon the the shore. The clashing of manic whispers and wails of woe. Children looked confused, elders looked panicked. Tidam hadn't even realized that when the words were uttered he had stopped breathing. The air got heavier as the chieftain's eyes narrowed. The boy's whole body tensed as he began to approach her, carefully navigating the crowd. Over the course of their long history, the vast majority of the tribe knew only of the mythos and codes that kept them bound in isolation to their village. They were only allowed beyond the villages bounds during the winter months to hunt when harvest was bad. This was the accepted norm of their society, and only the chieftains knew the full story of their five millennia history. A number that Tidam was fortunate enough to be born amongst.The indisputable commandment of mighty Bahamut, from whom the chieftain's great "sight" was freely given to fulfill that order. In the twilight years of the Meracydian war Bahamut's consort, Tiamat, had discovered a weapon that was set to leech the very aether from the land. The great wyrms instructed Tidam's ancestors to hide the device the empire had mockingly named Yirawulin, meaning Sunset. All this time, these past fifty centuries in isolation and training for a fight that may never come, were in honor of this order. Yindi's gaze finally soften as she held her hand out towards her son, a hush falling over the room."The solution is at hand. Tidam, come here." she calmly urged, a gentle wave to draw him nearer.The young warrior approached, moving through the crowd as his people parted for him. In his grip was the spear he had crafted, made of dense metal and able of withstanding his might. Yet it still felt as though it would buckle as his steps brought him to his mother's side."After much deliberation and rumination with the wise council of our elders, It has been decided that one member of our tribe shall leave our borders and seek a way of disarming or destroying the Yirawulin. No longer can we simply safeguard it. It poses too great a threat. Tidam — as bearer of the Gift of Sunrise — shall be a participant of this test whether he wills it or not. But anyone who believes they have the mettle to endure the hardships of the outside world is welcome to participate. The assembly point shall be the training field at twilight. Prepare yourselves well. Dismissed."As the hall began to clear, Tidam glanced towards his mother, a thousand questions on his lips. But she gave a knowing nod before she sat down in the circle of elders and motioned for him to sit down."We are sorry to push this upon you so suddenly. We debated throughout the night in the best course of action… this was what I could come up with.”Elder Kalina, the oldest person in the group held out one of her calloused hands towards Tidam. The boy turned to her and lowered his eyes as he did so. She was quiet most of the time, allowing for the chieftain and other elders to say what needed to be said. But this was different. She placed a firm grip onto Tidam’s bare shoulder with a deathly serious look on her face.“We have arranged a test most daunting. We can not just allow you to go merely because you possess the Gift of Sunrise. Only the best among our warriors may brave this solitary journey. If you feel you can not succeed, even for a second, yield that gift back into your mother’s hands.”Eyes wide, Tidam’s head quickly scanned through the gathered elders. They all shared similar looks. When at last he chose to look at his mother, her brows were knitted together. Even she was conflicted, but this was the purpose of his life. To serve his people. To die for them if it was ever necessary.“I will do no such thing. I am a son of Yiramiilan blood. I will defend my home and my people. Even if that means leaving it behind to save it.” Tidam declared as he rose from the floor. “To ask me to return the eye to my chieftain is one thing, but to think me a coward who would choose to quiver in behind these walls as others are in danger is unacceptable. I apologize for this outburst, but I have a trial to win, so I shall be leaving.”Tidam placed his spear on his back and left the Hall of Confluence, he marched to the training field where he sat in the footfalls of his ancestors. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. Fifteen summers and everyone still thought him a helpless child. By the end of next summer he would be a full-grown man. But this was no reason to fly off the rails, he wanted to prove himself and the best way to do that was to succeed. Travelling was in his blood just as much as his duty to Akuna and the Yiramiilan people after all. He closed his eyes, he’d already been active all day, a spot of rest would do him well.But his rest only stirred further confusion. He wasn't sure how long he'd slept, but a whisper awoke him.“Worh ool Teedan Merah…”
{fight for Meracydia, Tidam}A strange golden vestige circled him in a place between the waking and dreaming spaces. Whatever it was it felt right, and so Tidam opened his eyes. A few people had gathered, ready to take this trial in his stead. He rose to his feet as the moon hung overhead. His mother and the elders were approaching the group. One of the older men looked at Tidam and sighed.“Are you sure you want to do this, my lord? No one would fault—”“Coen, if there’s a chance to save even one person, I'm going to take it… that’s what I was born to do. I'm sure.”Coen looked at the young man’s determination and smiled softly. He placed his hand atop Tidam's head and ruffled his hair as he began to walk towards the elders.“I changed my mind Chief, I’m gonna leave this to those with stronger will than me.”Yindi looked the man up and down before nodding to him. He approached and spoke into her ear before he went off to join the spectators. Tidam watched him go, thus bringing the number of people he had to out perform down from five to only four. The gathered participants looked to the chieftain as she cleared her throat.“Children of the Sunrise, we convene at this point to witness the divergence of these five souls. They shall allow the mighty river to carry their light westward, across the bleached remains of our homeland. There they shall seek to survive the trials of the Forbidden Lands, they shall seek to make it across by whatever means they deem fit. I for my part shall leave ahead of you all, and await your arrival at the scar where the dawn shines brightest. But knowthis before you depart. It is highly likely only one of you shall survive this trial. If you fear death, then remain here. None shall judge you. Is this understood?”Tidam nodded along with the others. His mother hadn’t looked at him. Her gaze had met every other warrior's, but perhaps his earlier outburst had angered her — or worse still, it had disappointed her? He shook it off as the group began to move towards the western border of the Yiramiilan tribelands. They all stood at the barrier that had sheltered them from the prying eyes of the outside world, a thin wall of ancient magicks that hid their sacred enclave. Many times had Tidam stood before this wall, many more had he watched it from the perch of his tree or in the reflection of the lake. It was an inviolable symbol of everything he could know. It was his safe haven and his prison warden.Magical blue fire crackled to life atop the chieftain’s staff as she continued walking through the barrier. In silence she led the gathered five to the starting point of their trials. When she reached the scarred remnants of the war-torn land she sighed.“This is what you strive to circumvent, brothers, sisters. Daughters and sons.” Finally her gaze landed on her child, a hesitation in her voice. “This is the fate that awaits all of Meracydia should the Yirawulin remain intact. The dangers you will see, the horrors that yet persist… not even I know them all. This remains the most fitting test of will. I shall see you where the dawn shined brightest. May the Dawn guide you and… hmph. Never mind.”Chieftain Yindi waited not a moment more, she vanished in a flash of fiery magicks that teleported her elsewhere. Of the participants Tidam was the youngest by a couple years. But he was the only one required to participate due to his status as inheritor of the Dawn’s "sight". That was understandable. Why then did the others look at him so hostilely?“You shouldn't be here Tidam. This is a situation that requires delicacy... and I mean no offense, but you are anything but delicate.”Inala was one of the few people skilled enough to withstand sparring with him, yet even she seemed to think he’d have been better off staying at home. She took her spear from her back and began to walk into the wasteland proper.“This is your one chance, we all heard the stories from your father. The wastelands aren't a place for you… You're just barely a man. Go home, give your mother back her strength.”Those words coming from a friend were like knives in his heart, yet Tidam made no argument against them. He merely looked at the others. Brave Inala, Resilient Allam, Prideful Waalitj and Cunning Talia. All of them shared his same determined look. He acknowledged them all as he moved past them."I will remain. Regardless of my age, regardless of your beliefs. I am the future of Yiramiilan, I will survive this."And the youngest was the first to set out on the trial that would determine the course of his life.