Fayth

The **fayth** are dwarves, elves, gnomes, or humans who willingly had their souls sealed in statues in a state of dreaming. Their powers allow a summoner to coalesce the power of pyrelights to create physical forms from the fayth's dream, called aeons, or other magical phenomena.

In the world of Ozuma the fayth are the souls of the people who willingly underwent a ritual that removed their souls from their still-living bodies and sealed into stone tablets. This technique of creating fayth was first used in Bavel. When the religion of Yevon arose in the Mahkina War's aftermath a thousand years ago, summoning was recognized as one of its core dogmas for defeating Penance and thus it became pertinent to train summoners. Many fayth were placed within the temples of Yevon where they reside within the Chambers of the Fayth, perpetually singing the "Hymn of the Fayth." These fayth are visited by summoners on their pilgrimage who pray for them to receive the power to call forth their aeon.

The fayth's aeon form is the physical embodiment of the fayth itself. Aeons usually embody the fayth's strongest emotion.

## Story

Back in ancient times during the Mahkina War the fayth were created by the summoners themselves with the help of someone they shared deep feelings with, in a ritual implied to be romantic in nature, although it is said that is not the only way to make a fayth. The summoner and fayth must then share a mutual sympathy to summon an aeon.

## Known fayth

Each fayth has two physical forms (not counting the aeon form): The spirit-like fayth, and its soul form, sealed in a stone tablet.

* **Fayth of Bahamut**: A child-like fayth. The halo behind Bahamut's head is present on the hood of the fayth's clothing.
* **Fayth of Valia**: A young girl who lived at Be-Sia.
* **Fayth of Iferna**: A male Crusader who was stationed at Ki Kila Temple.
* **Fayth of Luxia**: A man dressed in clothes from the seas who was stationed at the Digoza Temple.
* **Fayth of Shiza**: She was a Molacalman priestess prior to becoming the fayth for her temple.

## Creation

Consenting to the procedure of creation may be a requirement, as only those offering themselves to become fayth have been known to exist. In any event, a fayth must willingly offer its aeon to a summoner, but once the fayth's imaginings have been summoned, the summoner can keep summoning it as long as they have the strength to do so.

The temples themselves may have created the fayth placed in each temple of Yevon summoners visit before traveling to Kanarzand to aid them in preparation for the Final Summoning.

The fayth predate the Kanarzand war, since Bavel was the long-time home of the summoners in the battle against Kanarzand. During those days summoners created their own fayth with help of someone they shared a deep bond with, but this practice faded after the rise of Yevon as the dominant religion in the world. Summoners summon aeons, which are themselves associated with individual fayth. It is to be assumed the fayth are at least as old as the existence of summoning itself. The fayth are different from spirits as they are in a state of dreaming.

## Etymology and symbolism

"Fayth" is an obsolete spelling of the English word, "faith." It is believed to be an intentional use, giving religious undertones to the fayth, who are referred to as "children of prayer" in the Japanese.

The Siddham Sanskrit script, which is the basis for the script of Yevon, is used in Japan mostly by the Shingon School of Buddhism that draws on early Hindu traditions. One traditional concept is that deities manifest their thoughts or spiritual energy in the physical world on several different "wavelengths:" Sound, Form, and Symbol. The form through which a deity can manifest is an anthropomorphic representation that is not the deity itself, but a living form humans can comprehend. The form physically expresses the deity's essence in the same vein the aeons represent the fayth's dreams rather than their temporal bodies. In some Hindu and Buddhist practices one can invoke a deity through the physical representation of a statue, similar to the link between aeons and fayth. The fayth also sing the "Hymn of the Fayth," which may represent the "sound" part of the different ways deities manifest in the physical realm in Shingon School of Buddhism.