The Shape of Vengeance

Appearance
A porcelain doll in her own right, the raen’s snowy mane curtains an elegant visage naturally carved into a serene, yet dolorous expression. Shimmering pale gold horns encircle her cheeks in graceful arcs, and the smooth scales that marked her as Au Ra lay claim to her throat, yet their coverage elsewhere is sparse.She favours flowing gowns and silken summer dresses, or leather and linen for practicality, though she appears to eschew accoutrements altogether. There are no rings on her fingers, no necklaces around her neck, and nothing decorating her horns.Familiars
Wherever Ruin goes, she is never seen without one of her familiars. These clay creations are astoundingly lifelike, often taking the form of terrible beasts of myth and legend, albeit reduced to miniature stature and neotenous proportions.Those unfamiliar with the processes by which they are rendered animate would easily mistake them for scalekin hatchlings or primal scions, yet a keen eye perceptive to aether could discern that they are naught more than mud and metalwork granted form and motion.…for the most part.Personality
In her manner of speech, Ruin comes across stilted and intense. It can feel as though she was delayed in acquiring her social graces, though she doesn’t read as naïve or gullible. If anything, she has a calculating air about her.On the whole, she expresses very little emotion. Her curiosity is near limitless when it comes to magic, even if she never quite attains the heights of enthusiasm or passion.Hooks
- The girl who played with shapes: She is a doll maker by trade, a freelancer who takes commissions under the name ‘Rui’ and enjoys minor renown amongst the artisanal craft guilds of Eorzea. Her favoured mediums are clay, clockwork, and cloth.- Fleeting Words—Family, Outsider: To a lesser clan of Sui-no-Sato was a cursed child once born, sealed away in an isolated shrine and revered as a kami in the hopes of appeasing the troubled spirit that dwelt within them. That child eventually escaped their gilded cage. There is a handsome reward for any that would see her returned.

About her name
If she introduces herself by her given name, those who understand Hingan would know its meaning to be ‘Ruinous Omen’. She usually goes by ‘Rui’, which has a few different meanings depending upon how it is written (precious stone, life, flow, etc. to name a few). She writes it ‘Ocean’.About her
- Race: Raen
- Age: Unclear, though more youthful than mature.
- Height: 5ft
- Weight: 84 ponze
- Occupation: Doll maker (puppetmaster)
- Status: Untethered.OOC
- EU timezone.
- Lore adhering. If you’ve played through the ‘porxie’ portions of the 5.X MSQ, that magic is the basis for Ruin’s abilities, with a dash of arcanima and mammetry thrown in. I’m flexible, but I’ll let you know if anything feels like it’s too out there for me.
- I’m open to long-term connections, and there is an overarching plot behind the character, but Ruin is best served in small doses.
- While I don’t have a minimum or a maximum posting length, I gravitate towards more rather than less.
- /tells are welcome for the purposes of coordinating roleplay, however I have received some very unwelcome messages on this alt. I’m not sure how to put this. I’ve tried wording it a number of different ways, and it always feels awkward to say. This character’s highest priority is getting her own back against those who wronged her. I’d prefer my RP with her to centre around that, or the plots and narratives of other characters. Much obliged.

PERSONALITY:
Brusque and stubborn, fiercely driven. A staunch adherent to the chain of command. Manipulative, cunning, deceptive, even if she isn’t much of a people person. Some sociopathic traits, though she isn’t devoid of empathy. Possibly a weakness to be excised through training. Notable shortcomings are her pride and arrogance, though thus far they have yet to be successfully exploited to the detriment of her performance.LAST KNOWN WHEREABOUTS:
Known to be travelling aboard the airship known as the CETEA under its captain, Sven Cloudwrath, and currently serving as its chief engineer. She has assisted the Unsung adventuring group on numerous occasions. While her identity is known to them, she steers clear of populated areas and travels only aboard the CETEA airship, or by one of the ship’s smaller, more mobile aircutters. At present, she is not sought by local authorities, nor are there any domestic agents in pursuit of her return to the capital. There is no one to report to.NOTES:
Following the reversal of the agent’s status as MIA resulting from her return and the verification of her identity, she was found to be suffering with long-term, lasting injuries that may impact upon her performance in both combat situations and as an engineer after examination by a senior medicus. It was recommended that the agent be transferred to an administration role, though she chose to continue to reconnoitre and resumed her covering post as the chief engineer of the CETEA airship.Addendum: Document declassified. I will here herein describe the presently-known status of my house for posterity, should anyone seeking these records desire closure. My father, Benero dus Centrus, fled the hostilities—during the fiercest fighting that occurred during the civil war, as far as I can tell from the timeline I’ve been able to piece together. I have yet to discern his location.I couldn’t say why, but my mother, Sana dus Centrus, stayed and fought alongside a small contingent of soldiers belonging to the Ist Legion. It looks like she and they perished when the tempering took hold, in the initial moments of confusion, having turned their weapons on one another.A vain, stupid death.The whereabouts of my brother, Galbraius, shall remain classified for the time being as I understand that it was my father’s wish that he abscond with the house’s liquid wealth.

The Pale Warden

(Guardian of Gelmorra)
♀ | Duskwight“It is said that those who wander into the condemned depths of Gelmorra’s crumbling carcass are lost from the first step. The spirits shall shun them henceforth, and shadows shall haunt them ‘til the ends of their days. There lies the stain of something dark and unfathomable, beyond mortal reason, bereft of remorse, knowing only an inexorable, all-consuming voracity, empty and black.“There, a harmless, weathered arch becomes the gateway to another realm, its stonework a blunt-fanged maw, inviting the unwary into sprawling secrecy, the colonnade of its branching gullet. At the termination of that esophageal expedition lies only death, rest assured. Though there are those who are as one with this malevolent malice, who take unto themselves and survive by assimilation.“They are the ones you ought fear, for if there is aught more frightening than the darkest shadow, it is he who gifts it his will, his desire, his soul—spoken word and sentient thought. Now, come. Let us quit this place.”OOC
(EU-based)
Pale Warden is a heavily plot-centric character. She is an intense person with strong motivations and a zealously protective instinct towards her home, Gelmorra. Encounters with her typically range from tense to fatal, though she reserves cautious curiosity for those who demonstrably share her sympathies and she is compelled to travel extensively at times. In terms of alignment, she is solidly creed—based lawful.The abilities she possesses are reminiscent of the Shadowdancer from Pathfinder.Hooks
If she caught anyone in the act of attempting to steal relics from the crypts or destroy the architecture, she would attack them with the intention of ending their life, though we could play this out in ways that are decidedly less lethal. I’m not at the end of her story yet, and I’m sure most others are not at their character’s either, so we can write a scene with outs, fortuitous interruptions, or skilled escapes.Some of her work involves recovering stolen books and relics, which necessitates venturing into places unfamiliar and uncomfortable to her. In these instances, she might desire a guide—possibly an unwitting one, possibly an accomplice, to aid her in the task of breaking, entering, dealing with anyone who got in her way.Lastly, most obscurely, she would get along well with anyone who would be interested in seeing a certain civilisation restored to its former glory.For those interested in her orientation, she is a Gelmorromantic recluse with stunted social skills who spent her late childhood in isolation.Writing samples!
(Still editing these for public consumption!)
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L’sahali Nakh

• Race: Miqo’te, Seeker of the Sun
• Sex: Female
• Height: 5’2” fulms
• Weight: 127 ponze
• Tribe: The Golden Vipers
• Role: Chieftain
• Title: Beast Singer

A dark band is painted over L’sahali’s eyes, a pale smudge thumbed under each. She wears a dried white flower in her hair, its petals flaking and weathered, yet stubbornly held together.She’s direct and blunt, but not without warmth, nor unfriendly. She is well-spoken when she does speak despite her otherwise brutish mannerisms.

The Beast SingerAmongst the Golden Vipers, there are those who dedicate their lives to a closer understanding of the beasts their tribe walks Eorzea alongside. During adolescence, those with the desire to become Beast Singers take their leave of the tribe and live amongst beastkin for several twelvesmoons instead.All that the trials encompass would be too varied and elaborate to detail, and there is no mentorship provided by elders once a young hunter embarks on their path. Those who speak of their experiences tell tales vastly different from one another, depending on the creatures they lived and fought with.There are a few shared similarities between each journey, however. All prospective Beast Singers must gain the trust of their chosen companions, first of all. This could be a solitary individual, or a pack. Depending on the beast, they might have to fight to defend themselves—without causing significant injury in turn—and bring the creatures sustenance to build rapport for suns, or even sennights.Once they have established themselves, their sole objective is survival, and where it is within their power to control such, the survival of their charges. Tools, including weapons, are forbidden. The Beast Singer fights with naught but tooth and claw. They must overcome all their struggles using only their wit, speed and what little strength of arm they possess.But a miqo’te has not a pelt to warm her, nor armoured scales to guard her hide. Her fangs, if she has any at all, are short and ineffectual, and the same could be said of her nails. She has two legs where others have four, or wings. She is small and soft, weak. Her use of tools was all that elevated her above the helplessness of a newborn in the wilds.Thus, she takes into herself the spirit of the beastkin. She learns to shape her aether, and for just an instant, she acquires tangible fangs that ravage as surely as any wolf’s maw. Her fingertips become talons that latch and flay. When she lowers her head and charges, it is with the inexorable force of a stampeding herd. In time, she may even master a scalekin’s breath or the wroth of the clouds.Beast Singers function not dissimilarly to Blue Magi, though their abilities tend to focus on evoking the physical more than the magical capabilities of beastkin. They are also endowed with an intimate understanding of the minds of beasts that is rivalled only by those shielded by the Echo.They are often known to be stubborn and independent, and to bond more quickly and closely with beasts than with the Spoken, though those who return to the tribe—and not all do, either due to death or a preference for a simpler, solitary life—often grow to become valuable assets with ample leadership qualities.