History Paraphrased

uhgehgejg Amek's history is long here's the paraphrase short as possible w/o leaving out crucial stuff. below this is the less paraphrasy version w/ more of amek's thoughts instead of just events that happen.(and nw i don't expect y'all to read any of this for forum games unless u wnt to LOL)

TW/CW: child enslavement, drugging, physical/emotional abuse, emotional manipulation

Age 0-8:

• living and traveling with storm spirit pod that he was born into (a crag-coast pod), alongside podmates Kakauja, Tyoveyo, and Ursejr (all his age)
• Pod travel south, and are slowly picked off to illness and unfortunate scenarios until only the four of them are left

Age 8-12:

• the four travel around Pippaf on their own with Amek as leader and protector of the pod.
• They’d always been warned by their now late podmates not interact with other species since storm spirits are treated with fear and awe, more like beasts than fellow creatures. However, Tyo gets sick and none of them know what to do, so Amek makes the choice to seek out help from a nearby village
• they get help, and things are cool for a month or two, until word spreads that storm spirits are at the village and hunters come to check it out. Tyo is killed in the skirmish, Amek, Kakauja, and Ursejr are captured with Amek sustaining a wound to his core that will affect him for the rest of his life.

Age 12-14

• the three are kept in cages, have their magic dampened (to prevent them from shifting), and are drugged into submission while the hunters wait for the best bids on them.
• The drugging + magic dampeners + general shit and stressful conditions greatly exacerbate Amek’s core-wound to the point where he becomes unresponsive and nearly fades away/dies. The hunters separate him from the other two and lessen his medication in hopes that whatever is happening to him will fix itself.
• Still largely unresponsive even after a couple weeks (though Ame is half-playing into it now, half still inundated with pain), the hunters are more lax about guarding Amek’s cage. Amek sees an opportunity to escape and takes it, the desperation for a release from the relentless pain of his core-wound enough to make him abandon Kakauja and Ursejr, although immensely guilty about it + disgusted with himself for it. Proceeds to bury and repress memories of his time spent captured with the hunters and of Kaka/Ur/Tyo in general.

Age 14-current

• Amek escapes and ends up in Daharus/Valencia territory. Still too weak to fight back, the Valencia capture him once they realize they have a rare and mysterious storm spirit on their territory, hoping to recruit/use them in someway
• Valencia proceeds to drug/dampen his magic/restrain him once again but after he explains the drugging is worsening his condition/his condition worsens, they let up a bit.
• August stumbles across Amek’s cell and attempts to talk/befriend them. Amek is confused and snappish but tolerates August‘s presence – everyone else at Valencia he’s met has been much older and treated him horribly.
• August continues to visit Amek once or twice a week and Amek warms up to him, his mere toleration soon turning into friendship. September finds out about these visits, and while initially punishing August, realizes that Amek might be willing to cooperate with them if she uses their relationship with August, encourage it instead of destroying it – give Amek a reason to stay/not want to escape immediately
• September allows August and Amek’s visits to continue, occasionally supervised by her or others, and slowly works towards encouraging/manipulating Amek to want to stay with Valencia. Rewarding good behavior with slowly less restraints + better food + supervised walks/stints outside his cell etc until eventually Amek’s time outside his cell starts become less and his time in the cell (and punishing bad behavior by taking these away or by hurting August in some way).
• After around 6-8 months since Ame was initially captured, September asks Amek if they would like to be officially adopted into house Valencia as one of September’s heirs. Amek agrees.
• Ame is only 15ish at this point so yeah some other stuff happens between here and the start of canon (age 21) but… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrry abt that later. A bit of this is detailed in the latter bit of Aug's history bio if interested.

Early Childhood (Age 0-8)

Grows up living with his Storm Spirit pod alongside his hatchmates Ursejr, Kakauja, Tyoveyo in the far north of Pippaf. The pod is relatively small < 25 and isa crag-coast pod.

The far north’s prospects for survival had dwindled over the years as keyaa-anomaly and concentration increased (and competition over resources had likewise only increased) – the pod decided to travel south over Da Ova on the off-chance of better conditions despite the inherent risk of traveling + living in more populated areas.They had heard there was a pod or two on the opposite side of Da Ova.

However, one by one, either to illness, hunting, natural disaster, or keyaa-related incidents, the pod got whittled down or separated. By the time Amek, Ur, Tyo, and Kaka were all around 8, they were the only ones left. Being the eldest, Amek naturally fitted themself into the role of leader and protector of their pod.

Later Early-ish Childhood (Age 8-12)

Amek and their pod travel and scavenge across the wilds of Pippaf, trying to avoid other species/more populated areas as that’s what they’ve been taught to fear by their late podmates.

But it is still difficult to survive, especially as children in keyaa-overexposed lands. One day, Amek (11) makes the call to interact with other species for help/assistance as Tyo has come down with an illness none of them know how to help and Amek is desperate not to lose another member of their pod.

This backfires. But not immediately. Although awed and fearful at the sight of storm spirits initially, the locals at the village near them offer help for Tyo once they realize the lot of them are kids and mostly harmless. Encouraged by this interaction, Amek and the pod get more lax in interacting with other species, wondering if their late elders had merely exaggerated their cautions. They become known faces at the village, helping around for some spare food and playing with the village kids.

Eventually, talk of a few storm spirits residing in the village spreads around. Then, the hunters come.

Amek attempts to protect their pod, and releases a storm in their wrath and anguish. Tyo is killed in the scuffle, and the rest of them are captured. Amek’s core gets chipped and misaligned in the process of the hunters roughly disarming him – a wound that will stay with him and affect him until his grave.

Captured (Age 12-14)

For a brief period, the three of them are kept together, although in separate cages. Storm spirits are an exceedingly rare and sought-after species and the hunters are waiting for good offers on them. They are kept from shifting and escaping with magic-dampeners and weakening spells.

These conditions are like nails digging into Amek’s already untended-to core injury. He grows weaker, sickly. Dying. Watches helpless as his podmates are poked and prodded, drugged and starved.

Amek becomes unresponsive, and begins to fade away. The clouds of his body thin to reveal his core, huddled in his chest.

He’s separated from Kaka and Ur as the hunters try to figure out what’s wrong and how to fix him, at least enough to the condition where he is still sellable. They unconsciously guard him less, focusing their attention on the healthy storm spirits instead of the one that barely moves. They lessen his drugs, the magic-dampeners, hoping that a temporary reprieve may perk him up a bit, at least make him presentable.

Slowly, Amek comes back to themself, though he tries to hide it. Still beyond weak, body still feeling like it’s shattering at the slightest twitch, but coherent. And they see an opportunity. Their mind drowning with pain, they see an opportunity to escape

The thought of Kaka and Ur flickers in their pain muddled senses, still trapped, still suffering. But the incessant aching of their core chokes out any logical thought. Release. Amek would do anything to be released from this feeling. In that moment, even if they hated themself for it, they knew they would leave Kaka and Ur for it. Leave them to rot, just to take a breath and not feel as though their flesh was being ripped apart. To open their eyes, and not have their surroundings roll nauseatingly in front of them in a mash of blistering colors.

Release, that was all they wanted. And what were the chances of any of them escaping otherwise? Amek would die if they stayed, surely. Even if they escaped, they may still die. At the very least, they wanted to see the sky again before they died.

They took the next opportunity and escaped.

In the back of their mind, they rationalized that once they regained their strength they could return for Kaka and Ur. In their heart, they knew they would sooner rip out their own core than even chance being put into those conditions again. They were disgusted with themself for it. Unconsciously, they began to repress the memories of Kaka, Ur, and Tyo. They had failed their pod, failed to protect them. Worse than failure, they had actively betrayed and abandoned them.

Into Valencia (Age 14-current)

Still weak and disoriented, Amek escapes the hunters and stumbles into the world again. Not yet strong enough to fly or shift, they get as far as they can manage, then sequester themself in a forest of gnarled mangroves.

Unknown to them, they’re in Valencia territory, one of the royal houses. Their breath of freedom is brief. Once they are discovered by the Valencia, they are quickly captured again. (Because storm spirits are rare and valuable of course, and the Valencia would be idiotic to not take advantage of a storm spirit randomly appearing in their territory. Simply having a storm spirit would greatly boost their reputation among the other royal houses, their power. But being able to tame such a wild and volatile beast, harness its power? September Valencia would not pass up the opportunity).

too weak to put up any resistance, Amek simply pleads that they don’t drug him or dampen his magic too much – tries to explain that something is wrong with his core and that doing that will kill him (and he isn’t useful to them dead after all, he prays, he hopes).

The Valencia don’t care to listen at first, but once his condition starts to worsen again, they find an alternative way to hold him – relying more on heavy shackling to prevent him from moving/shifting than drugging/magic dampening. The Valencia also contact, Ghost, a creature with more knowledge about storm spirits who can possibly find out/fix what’s wrong with him.

It’s here, in a cage of stone and gnarled roots, that Amek first meets August Valencia.

The creature who will become his beloved brother. The second heir of September Valencia, her neglected and disgraceful son.

August, always left to his lonesome, stumbled across the place they were holding the storm spirit deep within the winding woods of the Valencia manor. And August had heard vaguely about the fact that they had the storm spirit, that the beast was to be feared. That it was a monster, but it could and would be tamed. But creatures called August a monster as well… and the storm spirit looked to be his age. And yes, the clouds pouring from their skin were strange and their form still rippled with an unknown power – but they looked small and scared and August wanted so badly to talk to another creature.

So August talked with Ame. Cautious, but endearingly, pathetically genuine. With all the fumbled grace that a 12 year-old used to speaking only to themselves has, used to speaking only when spoken to, desperate for a friend, has.

And Amek was… Confused, frustrated. A little annoyed at first. This was still a Valencia, of the same creatures that had been all but torturing him. Even if a child, Amek shouldn’t be friendly with the spinecat. However, any suspicions of ulterior motives soon left at the fact that August was just so… so absolutely transparent it was a little sad. So Amek listened. Every few days, August would visit him and Amek listened, listened and started responding with more than single-words and humms to August’s clumsy attempts at conversation.

The time between August’s visits was spent with September Valencia’s cold, calculated glares, testing different methods in order to get him to break, to obey. Needles and weights, add more add less, coercion and rewards and punishments. Ghost’s disconcerted presence hanging just behind, making sure their tactics weren’t enough to permanently break the storm spirit. And Amek could half play along, just wait long enough until he regained his strength and they let their guard down enough for him to escape once more.

August’s visits, they became his reprieve. A small light. Amidst the harshness of his current reality. He began to look forward to the visits, cherish the temporary warmth they brought. Worried when August skipped a day, a couple days. Then finally, August appeared to him, smiling weakly with a scratched cheek, his little-limb bandaged. Concern and rage howled within Amek. The feeling frightened him. He hadn’t felt anything so fiercely in a long time.

September had found out about their visits. Admonished August for it, punished him for not sharing it with her, but was allowing them to continue. Many visits with her “supervision”, some still thankfully alone – used as rewards for good behavior.

(Because September had realized the benefit of getting the storm spirit attached to her son. Although it mystified her why the beast had chosen August, she could already see the threads that had been twined in her absence. The storm spirit, normally either withdrawn, or twitchy and taut as viper poised to strike, unfurled like a flower towards the sun at August’s presence. The Valencias wouldn’t be able to hold the storm spirit how they were indefinitely, and even if they could, it would be pointless in the long run if they couldn’t get the beast to obey. Once it got strong enough, it would find a way to escape. But perhaps not if something, or someone, was tying it here. Ghost had informed her that storm spirits formed strong pack bonds – or “pod” bonds. Encouraging and monitoring August and the storm spirit’s relationship could be very beneficial.)

Some of these supervised visits were even with August’s other siblings, June and July. While August had alluded it, if not outright casually mentioned it before, his family did not treat him kindly. It was different merely being told about how August was ignored, belittled for his interests or the way he talked or moved, struck or glared at with indifference, frustration for not doing much else than existing – it was much different and much more horrible to actively witness it. Or rather, just see it, as there was no attempt hide or disguise it by any parties.

It made Amek sick to see, especially since him “behaving” began to influence it. So he behaved. Got away with what he could get away with, but nothing enough to end up hurting August.

Three months had passed since Amek had initially been captured by the Valencia. Two more months and Amek’s restraints were loosened, the weights removed. Three more months and they were allowed about the Valencia manor, with supervision, always with a tracking collar. Another month, and they were practically able to roam freely.

Anyways I don’t have enough brainpower to finish this properly so in short:

Amek soon gets officially “adopted” into the Valencia house.

September continues to train him and figure out how to use his storm spirit abilities to her and the house’s benefit – and uses hurting August as a pressure against him as needed.

Amek and August’s relationship grows ever stronger, September tries to get Amek attached to August’s other siblings but fails and thus is forced to stop publicly neglecting August as much as she was/have August now actively participate in royal matters.

Between Amek’s love for August + the harsh reality of being a lone storm spirit in Pippaf and the fear of being captured/treated in worse conditions + the fact that if he does cooperate, being a member of a royal house certainly isn’t a bad gig + getting big time manipulated by September who he realizes is cruel and shitty but who also sometimes treats him kindness and care which he believes is genuine in her own twisted way and he hasn’t had another creature look after him in a long long time…….. Amek decides to stay at Valencia without any plans of leaving.