Personality: When Arthur was younger, he was a very quiet child. He was shy and insecure, and more often than not, his father wouldn’t even realize he was around the archives because of how silently he would appear and just get right to reading. His best friends were by and large his books, as he never really knew how to deal with children his own age. This was only made worse when he began going to school, where he outpaced his classmates and was often teased and bullied for being a bookworm.
For a while, Arthur was content to just roll over and take it because he disliked making others worry, but his brother caught him out before long. One little boy can break his own spectacles only so many times, after all. Morgan tried for years to shape his brother into the kind of person who could fight for himself, but Arthur’s heart just wasn’t in it. He didn’t like fighting, and he liked the early mornings even less. Finally, Morgan pulled Arthur aside, looked him in the eye and said, “Why do you let them do this? You’re smarter than them.” And that’s when it clicked.
Arthur began retaliating when his classmates teased him, not with his fists, but with his words. Over the years he transformed himself from a shy little nobody to a young man with a quick wit, and a dry sense of humor that was sometimes self-depreciating, sometimes scathing, but always sarcastic. Sarcasm became both a defense mechanism and a force of his personality. Even as an adult, it’s a habit he still keeps, with a remark for nearly every occasion— especially where Tessa’s penchant for dragging him around on odd jobs or random adventures are concerned.
Sort of in that same vein, Arthur was quite vocal about being taken out of his comfort zone when his family first ushered him out of the archives and into the world. He’s always been a bit of a complainer, ever since Morgan decided that he needed to be awake before the sun was up in order to learn how to use a sword, but he seems especially vocal about it now. More than anything, it’s a way for him to cope with the whirlwind his life has become after over two decades of stagnation. He acts like every task he’s asked to do is The Worst, like the weather or the world at large is out to get him specifically. He’s got this sort of beleaguered “why me?” air about him, which slots in alongside his penchant for sarcasm rather nicely.
However, Arthur isn’t unkind by any stretch of the imagination. After spending more than ten minutes with him, it’s very clear that he’s got a good heart. Sure, his interest in Nymian magic started as an academic pursuit, but he also came to realize that there’s a lot of good he can do as a healer. He likes to help people, and it took being kicked out of the library and landing in Tessa’s company to help him fully realize that. There were people like Tessa and Morgan out there, risking life and limb to be of aid to other people, and he was, what? Wasting away in some dark corner with his face shoved in a book? What a waste. He realized he wanted to help others, to help Tessa, in any way he could.
When he has no reason to make dry remarks or lament his current situation, Arthur is exceedingly formal and well-spoken. While his family may not be the richest in Ul’dah, and in fact they are nowhere near the level of the wealthy merchants who hold seats in the city’s governing body, they are still fairly well-off. Arthur attended a fine school, wears fine clothes, and has never wanted for much of anything. His upbringing is clear in the way he addresses people. It will take a while and many, many occasions of telling him to knock it off before he’ll stop prefacing someone’s name with “Mister” or “Miss”, or any other title they might have.
He’s still trying to come to grips with the new direction his life has gone. While he’s extremely book smart and loves to learn, he’s not so street smart. There’s a lot about how the world works that he may be aware of academically, but he has no idea how it works in practice. He’s not naïve, exactly, but he’s quite liable to walk himself into trouble without someone there to help him out. His travels have been quite the eye-opening experience for him, but he realizes he still has a lot to learn.
Abilities: Magic is quite prevalent across Eorzea, with several different schools at the forefront. When Arthur exhibited some magical talent at a young age, no one was all that surprised. His mother had her own small gifts for conjury (white/healing/nature-based magic), but Arthur being the bookworm that he is, he gravitated more towards arcanistry— a school of magic wherein spells are closer to math than simply calling fire out of thin air.
As a boy, Arthur never expressed interest in magic as a serious pursuit, and therefore never bothered to make the trek to the Arcanists Guild in Limsa Lominsa. Instead he kept to his books, teaching himself whenever it caught his fancy. It wasn’t until his brother introduced him to the history of Nym and their scholars that magic became something of a more serious interest. Arthur threw himself headlong into whatever information he could find about the long-lost city-state and its magic.
Without a soul stone, it took Arthur years to become a scholar of middling skill, but once he obtained the soul stone and thereby his faerie companion, the magic came much easier and he’s actually quite good at it.
Scholars are healers and tacticians, relying on spells that shield from oncoming damage as their bread and butter. They do have some vanilla healing spells at their disposal, as well as a couple of potent instant-cast heals that rely on a finite resource called Aetherflow. A scholar’s faerie companion is there to help with the heavy lifting, with healing and support spells of their own, such as a heal over time (regen) spell, or a haste spell. A scholar can also tether their faerie to an ally to allow for potent healing over time.
A full list of a scholar’s abilities, including faerie abilities, can be found here.
It should be noted that “Eos” and “Selene” are canonically two sides of the same being, just divvied up into two summons for gameplay purposes, so it stands to reason that one faerie has access to all the fey skills listed. Also, the spell “Resurrection” cannot bring a person back from the dead, it can only revive them from KO.
Magic is where Arthur really shines, and he’s nothing special with a gun. He can aim, and shoot with a decent degree of accuracy. He doesn’t even really count as a machinist, since he doesn’t have access to most of the machinist’s in-game kit, including turrets, flamethrower, etc. He’s just a dude with a gun to help him get out of jams when throwing spells at things isn’t quite enough. In the same vein, a little bit of his brother’s lessons took and he’s okay with a sword, but he’s been out of practice for several years. He could probably pick one up and swing it around without hurting himself too badly. Maybe. Hopefully.
On the more mundane side of things, Arthur has trained to be an archivist and knows his way around books with ease. He’s a fast reader with an excellent memory. He can also scoot his way around those giant ladders on rails like a pro.
arthur inkwell | original (ffxiv)
For a while, Arthur was content to just roll over and take it because he disliked making others worry, but his brother caught him out before long. One little boy can break his own spectacles only so many times, after all. Morgan tried for years to shape his brother into the kind of person who could fight for himself, but Arthur’s heart just wasn’t in it. He didn’t like fighting, and he liked the early mornings even less. Finally, Morgan pulled Arthur aside, looked him in the eye and said, “Why do you let them do this? You’re smarter than them.” And that’s when it clicked.
Arthur began retaliating when his classmates teased him, not with his fists, but with his words. Over the years he transformed himself from a shy little nobody to a young man with a quick wit, and a dry sense of humor that was sometimes self-depreciating, sometimes scathing, but always sarcastic. Sarcasm became both a defense mechanism and a force of his personality. Even as an adult, it’s a habit he still keeps, with a remark for nearly every occasion— especially where Tessa’s penchant for dragging him around on odd jobs or random adventures are concerned.
Sort of in that same vein, Arthur was quite vocal about being taken out of his comfort zone when his family first ushered him out of the archives and into the world. He’s always been a bit of a complainer, ever since Morgan decided that he needed to be awake before the sun was up in order to learn how to use a sword, but he seems especially vocal about it now. More than anything, it’s a way for him to cope with the whirlwind his life has become after over two decades of stagnation. He acts like every task he’s asked to do is The Worst, like the weather or the world at large is out to get him specifically. He’s got this sort of beleaguered “why me?” air about him, which slots in alongside his penchant for sarcasm rather nicely.
However, Arthur isn’t unkind by any stretch of the imagination. After spending more than ten minutes with him, it’s very clear that he’s got a good heart. Sure, his interest in Nymian magic started as an academic pursuit, but he also came to realize that there’s a lot of good he can do as a healer. He likes to help people, and it took being kicked out of the library and landing in Tessa’s company to help him fully realize that. There were people like Tessa and Morgan out there, risking life and limb to be of aid to other people, and he was, what? Wasting away in some dark corner with his face shoved in a book? What a waste. He realized he wanted to help others, to help Tessa, in any way he could.
When he has no reason to make dry remarks or lament his current situation, Arthur is exceedingly formal and well-spoken. While his family may not be the richest in Ul’dah, and in fact they are nowhere near the level of the wealthy merchants who hold seats in the city’s governing body, they are still fairly well-off. Arthur attended a fine school, wears fine clothes, and has never wanted for much of anything. His upbringing is clear in the way he addresses people. It will take a while and many, many occasions of telling him to knock it off before he’ll stop prefacing someone’s name with “Mister” or “Miss”, or any other title they might have.
He’s still trying to come to grips with the new direction his life has gone. While he’s extremely book smart and loves to learn, he’s not so street smart. There’s a lot about how the world works that he may be aware of academically, but he has no idea how it works in practice. He’s not naïve, exactly, but he’s quite liable to walk himself into trouble without someone there to help him out. His travels have been quite the eye-opening experience for him, but he realizes he still has a lot to learn.
Abilities: Magic is quite prevalent across Eorzea, with several different schools at the forefront. When Arthur exhibited some magical talent at a young age, no one was all that surprised. His mother had her own small gifts for conjury (white/healing/nature-based magic), but Arthur being the bookworm that he is, he gravitated more towards arcanistry— a school of magic wherein spells are closer to math than simply calling fire out of thin air.
As a boy, Arthur never expressed interest in magic as a serious pursuit, and therefore never bothered to make the trek to the Arcanists Guild in Limsa Lominsa. Instead he kept to his books, teaching himself whenever it caught his fancy. It wasn’t until his brother introduced him to the history of Nym and their scholars that magic became something of a more serious interest. Arthur threw himself headlong into whatever information he could find about the long-lost city-state and its magic.
Without a soul stone, it took Arthur years to become a scholar of middling skill, but once he obtained the soul stone and thereby his faerie companion, the magic came much easier and he’s actually quite good at it.
Scholars are healers and tacticians, relying on spells that shield from oncoming damage as their bread and butter. They do have some vanilla healing spells at their disposal, as well as a couple of potent instant-cast heals that rely on a finite resource called Aetherflow. A scholar’s faerie companion is there to help with the heavy lifting, with healing and support spells of their own, such as a heal over time (regen) spell, or a haste spell. A scholar can also tether their faerie to an ally to allow for potent healing over time.
A full list of a scholar’s abilities, including faerie abilities, can be found here.
It should be noted that “Eos” and “Selene” are canonically two sides of the same being, just divvied up into two summons for gameplay purposes, so it stands to reason that one faerie has access to all the fey skills listed. Also, the spell “Resurrection” cannot bring a person back from the dead, it can only revive them from KO.
Magic is where Arthur really shines, and he’s nothing special with a gun. He can aim, and shoot with a decent degree of accuracy. He doesn’t even really count as a machinist, since he doesn’t have access to most of the machinist’s in-game kit, including turrets, flamethrower, etc. He’s just a dude with a gun to help him get out of jams when throwing spells at things isn’t quite enough. In the same vein, a little bit of his brother’s lessons took and he’s okay with a sword, but he’s been out of practice for several years. He could probably pick one up and swing it around without hurting himself too badly. Maybe. Hopefully.
On the more mundane side of things, Arthur has trained to be an archivist and knows his way around books with ease. He’s a fast reader with an excellent memory. He can also scoot his way around those giant ladders on rails like a pro.