About Jenova And The Cetra/ancient...

Okay, I wasn't sure where I was allowed to ask this question or rather for help, so if it doesn't belong here then move it and I'm sorry about it.

Anyway, I'm going to write a fan fiction story from the time of the Cetra years where Jenova crash lands on the planet and all, but it will be mostly talking about the Cetra/Ancients before Jenova appears. So like....I need help in finding information about the Cetra/Ancient and Jenova for this idea. I want to stick true to the FFVII concept of these things, so I can continue the story to Crisis Core/Before Crisis and FFVII. <D;;

Of course the idea is going to original and about Aerith's, Cloud's, and Zack's ancestors. o 3 o (Why am I adding Zack? I don't know I just do. xD) Of course the names will be changed. :3

Anyway, I would appreciate the help.

There's not a lot out there about the Cetra before Jenova's attack. Sephiroth talks a little about it in the game:

Sephiroth "This Planet originally belonged to the Cetra. Cetra was a itinerant race. They would migrate in, settle the Planet, then move on..."
"At the end of their harsh, hard journey, they would find the Promised Land and supreme happiness."
(He turns to Cloud.)
Sephiroth "But, those that disliked the journey appeared. Those who stopped their migrations built shelters and elected to lead an easier life."
"They took that which the Cetra and the planet had made without giving one whit in return!"
(He looks down.)
Sephiroth "Those are your ancestors."
Cloud "Sephiroth..."
Sephiroth "Long ago, disaster struck this planet."
(He looks up and walks to another spot, facing the wall.)
Sephiroth "Your ancestors escaped... They survived because they hid."
"The Planet was saved by sacrificing the Cetra. After that, your ancestors continued to increase."
(He looks at Cloud.)
Sephiroth "Now all that's left of the Cetra is in these reports."

That's all true, except that the Cetra did defeat Jenova.

The best source I've found for info on the Cetra and Jenova comes from this translation of the FFVII Ultimania Omega at IGN:

***The Ancients*** (Page 214) (005.2)
The race also called "the Cetra," these people lived on the Planet in ancient times. The Forgotten Capital and the Temple of the Ancients along with nature and a single woman are their only remaining traces.

They spoke with the Planet and helped to cultivate it, channeling the Lifestream to many places, inciting an abundant cycle of life. When Jenova came from outer space, some of them moved to the North Pole in an attempt to ease the Planet's wound which had come as a result of the collision [between the Planet and the meteor Jenova had been riding]. Using its mimic ability, Jenova got close to the Cetra and released its virus upon them, nearly driving them to extinction.

Only two Ancients appear in the [game's] story: Aerith and Ifalna. Ifalna is Aerith's mother and the last pure ancient. Due to her mixed heritage, Aerith's ability to converse with the Planet is comparitively lower than her mother's was.

(Accompanying screenshot caption)
As seen in situations with Aerith, the Ancients had a special ability to speak with the Planet. They called it a "Planet reading."

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[Analysis: This section indicates that while normal humans can gain some of the Cetra's abilities despite their lost heritage -- such as hearing the Planet's cries (AVALANCHE and Bugenhagen) and even the ability to understand it (Bugenhagen) -- genetics can play a role in the matter, as well. Due to all humans on the Planet (Cetra and the normal humans) being descended from the Cetra of the past, and because some ordinary humans gained some abilities reminiscent of the Cetra (AVALANCHE and Bugenhagen gained the ability to hear the Planet's cries, and Bugenhagen even interpreted words in the air at the Forgotten Capital), it can be concluded that being a Cetra is a lifestyle or culture, but that those who are directly descended from "practicing Cetra" are more easily attuned to the abilities of the Cetra.

In other words, whereas normal humans have to actively pursue the rekindling of their lost heritage, a child of one with Cetra abilities will likely be experiencing those abilities whether they want to or not (as Aerith did). In other words, being a Cetra is apparently both genetic and cultural.]
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**The Ancients Relation 1: The Promised Land** (005.2A)
The aim of the Cetra was to find the land where supreme happiness awaited. Passed down as an oral tradition, what the land of supreme happiness is supposed to be was never concretely identified.

The Shin-Ra interpreted that a land of supreme happiness must be somewhere where they could find abundant mako [as it would make them even more wealthy],
and wished to use an Ancient to help them find it, while Sephiroth considered the Promised Land to be a place in which he could draw the power to use the Black Materia in his aim to become a "god." Though both of them had different goals, they both got the idea that the Northern Crater was the place they were looking for.

The theory of one of the Planet Life scholars [in Cosmo Canyon] is that the Cetra's mission to find the land of supreme happiness is equivalent to the peaceful sleep [of dying and returning to the Planet] (a line delivered [in the game]). According to this theory, the Lifestream -- to which everyone returns -- is itself the Promised Land, but this is not something that one can assert to be true for everyone. Therefore, it is in each person's hands to take their own interpretation.

(Accompanying screenshot caption)
For one with the conception that the Promised Land is a place where energy swells up from inside the sleeping earth, the Northern Crater -- where the Lifestream breathes forth -- may be it.

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[Analysis: Here, we're pretty much told that there's no correct take on what the Promised Land is, and that it could be any number of different things for any number of different people. It can even be the same thing that another person would consider the Promised Land, but for entirely different reasons. Sephiroth and Shin-Ra both considered the Northern Crater to be the Promised Land; Sephiroth because he knew he could use the energy there to help him use the Black Materia in his plans to become a "god," and Shin-Ra because they saw it as a land where "the abundant Mako will just come out on its own," allowing them to bypass the costly maintenance of mako reactors and just reap profits.

The basic conclusion is that there is no conclusion: the Promised Land is not one thing, and is something specific to each individual. This idea is brought up again in the "Maiden who Travels the Planet" novella at the back of the Ultimania Omega, in which Aerith refers to the Lifestream as the Cetra's Promised Land, while the Northern Crater is referred to as Sephiroth's Promised Land.]
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***Meteor and Holy*** (Pages 214-215) (005.3)
**The Black Materia: Meteor** (005.3A)
It is the Ultimate Destructive Magic; it calls to planets [-- meaning meteor-like rocks --] drifting in outer space and pulls them down to the Planet. It was one of the magicks given to the Ancients, but due to it harnessing enough power to destroy the Planet itself, the Ancients feared it could prove dangerous and sealed it away by their own hands.

After falling into the Lifestream, Sephiroth learned of Meteor from the Cetra's firsthand knowledge of it, and set into motion a plan to gain mastery over the life of the Planet.

(Accompanying screenshot caption)
When the Planet is hurt, the spiritual energy that is the Planet's very life will automatically gather in that spot. Sephiroth planned to make use of this by intentionally harming the Planet and gaining dominance over its energy.


**The White Materia: Holy** (005.3B)
The only means of opposing Meteor, the Ultimate White Magic was passed down amongst the Ancients. It is said that when an Ancient learns of Holy in the Forgotten Capital, prays at the water altar and their mind then links to the Planet, Holy is thereby put into operation. Passed down through the Ancients' generations, the White Materia came to Aerith from her mother, Ifalna, and she kept it hidden in a ribbon in her hair.

How exactly Holy applies its power once invoked and in operation is not definite. It is simply known that "all that is bad for the Planet will disappear."

(Accompanying screenshot caption)
As evidence of the Planet accepting Aerith's prayer, the White Materia laying on the water bed shines a pale green color. However, Holy's movement was being held back by the wicked will of Sephiroth, who had called Meteor.

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[Analysis: This section confirms what many who played the game believed: that Aerith knew nothing of Holy until she got to the City of the Ancients -- to which she felt herself being drawn -- and learned of it there, the same way that Bugenhagen later would.]
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***The WEAPONs*** (Page 215) (005.4)
The WEAPONs, created by the Planet itself, exist for the sake of acting as a self-defense mechanism [for the Planet]. Once, when the Planet had been injured after Jenova collided with it, Jenova became an impediment [to the Planet healing], and the Planet manufactured the WEAPONs to remove the creature by force.

However, because the survivors of the Cetra succeeded in sealing Jenova away, the Planet mixed the WEAPONs with the natural mako within the Northern Crater and put them to sleep for a long time; until they -- perceiving the crisis to the Planet -- awakened simultaneously with Sephiroth calling Meteor. Regarding everything as a threat to the Planet, humans and civilizations became targets of the WEAPONs' destruction, though they faced opposition in Cloud and his friends.

(Accompanying screenshot caption)
Within the Northern Crater, where the Lifestream swells, the WEAPONs were put to sleep. Their faces are visible within the enormous mako which formed within the crater.

***Lifestream*** (Pages 216-217) (005.5)
Everything that lives on the Planet returns to the Planet, and new life is born from their life force, which is also the life of the Planet and is called "Spirit Energy." The flowing collective of this spiritual energy is called "the Lifestream."

When those who live on the Planet die, their life force returns to the Planet, becomes part of the Lifestream and is eventually allocated into a new life that will grow. This cycle of energy normally allows the Planet to function richly.

**Lifestream Relation 1: Mako Energy** (005.5A)
The name the Shin-Ra have given to spiritual energy. This nickname is "Mako Energy." In the Study of Planet Life's philosophy, it is called "Spirit Energy," but it is called "mako" by others in its use in humans' daily lives. Both labels are used, but the title of "Spirit Energy" is opposed in modern times, as the use of mako in peoples' daily lives rapidly spreads.

**Lifestream Relation 2: The Study of Planet Life** (005.5B)
The study of the Planet, which the scholars in Cosmo Canyon reared. In Cosmo Canyon, the voice of the Planet can be heard, and there it is treated with great care, regarded as a living entity, a way of thought -- stemming from ancient roots -- that has been systematically organized. Red XIII's tribe and Bugenhagen's tribe -- called "the Bugah Tribe" -- follow the ideology of the Study of Planet Life, giving great consideration to the life of the Planet and making advanced progress in researching the subject. In addition, the Bugah Tribe also conducts research on the Ancients.

The Lifestream, Spirit Energy, and the circle of life are all aspects of the Study of Planet Life. The anti-Shin-Ra group AVALANCHE was founded by one who had been strongly influenced by the Study of Planet Life.

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[Analysis: This section tells us that Bugenhagen's tribe has a name ("the Bugah Tribe"), but sadly leaves us with no name for Red XIII's tribe. Despite popular misinterpretation, Bugenhagen is not Red XIII's biological grandfather; this is simply a title of familiarity.]
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*The Planet's circle of life*
1) A person grows......Their knowledge increases

2) Return to the Planet (the Planet's growth)......When a soul returns to the Planet, the Planet grows

3) The Planet produces new life......The next generation is born (the Planet now bears the evolved energy gained from the previous generation of life it produced)


***Jenova*** (Pages 210-213) (005.1)
An intelligent lifeform from somewhere in space. Approximately 2000 years ago, it crashlanded at the North Pole ["Knowlespole" in the English localization of the game] (the vicinity of Icicle Lodge's ["Icicle Inn" in the English localization] present location), negatively affecting the Planet; it came to be feared as "the Calamity from the Skies" by the Ancients, who still existed in great numbers at that time.

Vicious, extremely aggressive and cunning. Having no thoughts of creating anything following bringing destruction, it only follows its instincts to incite ruin, utilizing its mimic ability (-->P.211) to infect other living organisms with its virus. In addition, due to its abnormal resilence, even if dismembered, its cells will call out to one another, seeking to reunite into their original form (-->Reunion/P.211).

The scar Jenova's landing left on the Planet remains even to the present day, being now known as "the Northern Crater."

(Accompanying screenshot caption)
The parts that are seperated from the main body are still able to function as extensions. That is what those monsters called "Jenova" are that Cloud and company fight during the journey.

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[Analysis: This section informs us of a few things we already knew and a few we may not have. Jenova came from an unidentified point in space, and -- though quite intelligent and cunning -- is nothing more than an instinctual monster made up of viral cells, which it seeks to spread to other lifeforms. This instinct to infect other lifeforms -- and its desire to rejoin when its cells get seperated -- are the only things this creature lives to do.

This section also further confirms that the Jenova-BIRTH, LIFE, and DEATH bosses are merely seperated parts of Jenova's main body.]
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**Jenova Relation 1: The Jenova Project** (005.1A)
Approximately 30 years ago, a plan to find "the Promised Land of abundant mako" is set in motion by way of the Shin-Ra Science Department beginning a project under Gast's direction. The purpose of the project was to artificially produce someone with the abilities of the Ancients (Cetra/-->P.214). Jenova, discovered in the Northern Crater, was incorrectly identified as an Ancient, and its cells were to be injected into a normal human with the expectation that they may artificially display the abilities of
the Cetra as a result.

Research was conducted at the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim. It began under the responsibility of three members [of Shin-Ra's Science Department]: Gast, Hojo and Lucrecia; but Gast withdraws midway [through the project]. Authority over the project is then transferred to Hojo. "The Sephiroth Clones Project" (-->P.213) follows as an extension of this.

I hope that's helpful.

Oh yes. It is very very helpful. I have a few ideas to start the fan fic now. I was just wondering about the Cetra and the other tribes. Hopefully I'll be able to write this fan fic close to the info available.

Thank you so much, Anastar. :3

You're quite welcome, Rini!