Creation . The Versi (Ver-s-eye) were like any other evolving race on their Star but grew in advancement quickly due to their hive-like nature where they could telepathically communicate and live. The way their species was created allowed them to easily relate to the natural worlds they lived in. They almost consumed and then changed the world around them wherever they took home.

This of course eventually leads them to naturally terraform their world into an unlivable place as they became sick to themselves. With an almost desperate want to survive the Versi created a process of becoming pure Aether. To use their telepathic nature to rid themselves of physical form and to relinquish their memories and soul into the live stream; they refer to as Star keeping.

Arrival on Etheriys. A group of Versi arrived on Etheriys long before the 3 rd Umbral era. They took home in the parts of the plains and Skatay Range located in the country of Corvos. For hundreds of years, they have lived there through countless calamities they have fought to live, their unique nature allowing them to survive the harsh environments. From this point they became known as apart of the Xia (S-hay) tribe as a third of its people.

Garlean Invasion. As the Garleans made for Eorzea, the Xia tribe disputed options and the Versi, unlike the other thirds, was divided. The Stargazer at the time spoke of the Stars not making the decision for them, so half of the Tribe choose to stay and learn to live with the Garleans, and the other half choose to head towards the Corvos Strait and eventually make their way across the seas to Mericydia in hopes to avoid the coming conflict.

The Xia tribe was later massacred and killed by the Garleans when they refused to be slaves to the empire, but not before the remain Versi were able to create a “Golden City” within the Skatay Range. This place was called the Versiti Sanctum where they sealed their memories and souls within the life stream joining their people within the life stream.

The people that left towards Mericydia retook their name of Versi and found land to live. For a few years they lived there without conflict or disaster and eventually grew.

Goul’s Slaughter. Unfortunately, the Goul (jauw) tribe that lived across the strait where the Versi took home attacked, killing all the Versi except one woman: The Stargazer Miltifan Versi. The slaughtered souls had been taken over time by Miltifan during her enslavement and kept within a crystal necklace that she wore around her neck called a Phylactery . It was here that a Shepard was born from Vrakni Ros and Miltifan Versi who was later named Gabriella Miltifan Versi.

The two Versi lived among the Goul for 20 years between the two before they attempted their escape. As tension rose and racism was shown by the Goul and the primal, they worshipped towards Gabriella the young Shepards father was killed by the primal.

At the age of 16 she ran as the primal came for her next, her mother worked to get her to leave trying to help save her but, in the process, they were caught. Miltifan Versi was drowned in the river, and Gabriella was brought to the Primal where she was fed to the lava. This marked the end of the Versi tribe on Etheriys until current history.

Return of the Shepard. Gabriella Versi the Shepard having hidden among the people of Eorzea as a pirate and later quartermaster. It was after she gave stillbirth, an event called The Offering to her daughter Melody Versi that she made the decision to join the Gladiators. She returned to her father’s tribe and ended the primal, Apoldyon . She took where she buried her mother’s body and returned to the Versi’s homeland in Corvos eventually she began to re-realize the Versi name on Etheriys once more.

Birth of the Second Shepard. Gabriella Versi and her wife bore through magics their 3 rd child Kiara Melody Versi who during childbirth died to stillbirth, but the souls with the Phylactery help Kiara through her Awakening even before she had taken breath. Kiara kept the Phylactery on her until her mother took her and they returned to the Versiti Sanctum where the souls were freed.

The Dawning of another City of Gold. Gabriella was tasked with stopping a rogue group of Versi from a land known as Alexandria who called themselves the Endless from mangling the Source with their reflection. Helping her friends and other warriors of light by finding the rogue Versi and eradicating their souls from existence.

Society . The Versi Tribes had always remained very Nomadic, having suffered from their advancement before. Much more of a spiritual tribe focusing on believing that the stars were the source of life and form. They eventually moved to turning themselves into pure memories that lived in the cosmic web that was the life stream, an almost eternal and immortal daydream.

Government and Religion . The tribe was governed through Stargazing where a Shepard read the stars and made decisions for the tribes. An almost Theocratic government which often left them to a Matriarch run by a democratic vote unless the stargazer said otherwise. This stargazing tended to enforce the mindset that “What is what is”, a concept where the world is known to be chaotic and order needed to be molded, but the tribe cautioned to let the world breath and move as it is meant to.

Fashion . They wore basic fabrics and leathers, preferring wearing less than more as their belief was that the materials were a part of the star, but that the closer their physical form was to the Stars the healthier they were. They often wore necklaces and rings made of bones, but fashion was usually left to simply being for warmth and utility.

Every Versi goes through an awakening at some point in their life as they choose. This awakening is meant to brand a person’s destiny onto their skin from their soul. It’s the first step in the process of joining the stars truly. This Awakening Starts with the “Revealing of Memories” where an individual must pilgrimage to the aethereal sea and swim among the stars life stream. They will either die or return. If they return, then either two things happen; their skin is inked with the stars they are destined to or they come back bare.

Returning with their skin inked is the most common response with an almost 99% likelihood. To return without markings is so rare that it’s unlikely to happen. Those who return unmarked are called Shepards also referred to as a “Walking Memory”. They are looked at as the Stargazers as it is thought that their souls are so new that they are unbiased and would lead them to their destiny. Also, it is believed through experience that Shepards are blank canvases for the Stars Will .

A Shepard is also recognized as shapeshifters or better termed Aethershifters, as their being is pure Aether. They often have the inner spirits of the Stars that they bond with but can take on any form they wish so long as they continue to meditate and bond with the Stars. They are also known to be able to speak directly to spirits, both dead or alive, or more accurately they speak with the memories of those spirits.

Phylactery . A container of souls, referring to the necklace that a Shepard used to keep the Versi safe until they could be returned to the life stream.

Awakening . The process of a Versi joining themselves to the life stream to eventually join their people within.

The Offering . Refers the a Shepards first child who is always stillborn and unsavable as an offering to the life stream to continue their way of life. It’s known that a second offering can happen, but this offering can be saved through intervention of the Versi.

Xia . A Combination of 3 tribes of Au’Ra, which included the Versi who took the Au’Ra’s form to stay hidden.