Legends and Rumors from FFVII
Ancients
"In my veins courses the blood of the Ancients;
I am one of the rightful heirs to this planet!"
Sephiroth, the child of the Jenova Project, long thought himself to be an Ancient. In actuality, Sephiroth was not a Cetra, he was a descendent of the "calamity" that destroyed the Cetra. In Nibelheim, Sephiroth called Cloud a traitor, told Cloud that his race was the cause of the destruction of the Cetra. Sephiroth could not have been more wrong. It was Sephiroth's own "mother" Jenova, who destroyed the Cetra. In Sephiroth's time, only two Ancients still survived: Ifanla and Aeris. Ifanla was the person responisible for the recorded history of the Cetra and their destruction. The legends were passed down orally through the ages, and Ifalna was the last of her lineage to learn them.
Cetra and the Promised Land
"The Cetra speak with the Planet, unlock the Planet, then return to the Planet where they will find the Promised Land, a land of Supreme happiness."
The Cetra were intrinsically bound to the Planet. They were able to help harvest the Life Energy, or Lifestream, and help the Planet use this energy effiecently. The Cetra were nomadic, they did not settle down in one area. Constant culvitation of one area was thought to diminish the Lifestream of that area. The Cetra were careful to plant and harvest in means that would cost the least energy loss to the Planet. They wandered often, and their legends spoke of a land of supreme happiness that awaited them at the end of their sojourn. Because of this bond, the Cetra were extremely reluctant to leave the area of Knowelspole at the Planet's behest. It was this bond that unwittingly lead to their downfall.
2000 years ago, give or take a decade, an object fell from the skies and injured the Planet. The Cetra gathered to help the Planet, but only time would heal the hurt. The Planet told the Cetra to leave the area, but a man came. He decieved the Cetra, infected them with a loathsome virus, and they died. After some time, a few uninfected Cetra were able to confine this person.
But...the Promised Land? Does it really exist? Yes. It is the area around Knowelspole. Not an inhabitable area, but rather, a well-spring of Life energy. That is what the Promised Land truly is, a place where many souls are gathered to aid the Planet..
Neo-Midgar
The Neo-Midgar project came about because of the belief that the Promised Land would be filled with Mako, and that the Shinra would be able to line their pockets. Neo-Midgar, ironically enough, became the ruins of Midgar, after the clash between Holy and Meteor.
