Syhlvi was born in a secluded area in the northern region of the Black Shroud, near the border to Coerthas. She was admittedly sheltered for most of her childhood; never having gone outside her tribe’s territory, unless it was with her father on his work trips to Ishgard. Born to a renowned hunter father and a mother with huge aetheric reserves, one would expect her to be the most gifted of the Ranehru tribe and Syhlvi certainly excelled in what she did. Although in truth, Syhlvi was not interested in becoming the next leader of the tribe.

Syhlvi loved the discipline of archery, but she loved music a lot more. As a kit, she would often hear her grandmother Izah (the tribe's matriarch during that time) sing lullabies to her and her cousins; and most of the time, Syhlvi would be singing along until she fell asleep. This eventually led her to being able to develop her own singing voice as the years went by. Her relatives loved listening to her songs so much that she was given the role of the tribe’s songstress. Rumors say that her voice could seldom be heard echoing throughout the forest.

When the Seventh Umbral Calamity befell Eorzea, the Ranehru tribe was caught in the catastrophe. Yet there were no survivors, save for Syhlvi and one other tribe member (and blood-relative, her older cousin A’jhanyn) who were luckily not within the blast; albeit they were unaware of each other’s survival until they reunited five years later. While the bodies of the tribe could not be recovered, the pair decided to construct a tombstone in remembrance of their family. This tombstone was constructed near where their territory may have been (present-day Alder Springs) and sworn a tradition to visit it together once a year.

From this point, Syhlvi's story branches into two alternate universes: whether she became a warrior of light, or became an ordinary adventurer.