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[ application: original characters ]
IMPORTANT! We are officially in endgame until August 31, 2020. Applications are on a rolling basis. There is a small "block" period from the 1st through the 4th of every month to allow a bulk of apps to be submitted, and then applications can be submitted at any time during the month. Notices will be sent out all at once after the first "block" period, and then between 24 hours to the end of the weekend depending on how many and our schedule. Applications are guaranteed to be processed during the weekends.
IMPORTANT: Only the following types of original characters are allowed to be applied for—
The following would not be allowed:
Before applying, please be sure to read the following:
We have compiled sample applications from our players to show what the mod team and the application moderators are looking for in terms of writing quality and depth. We hope you find these samples useful!
⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player:
Contact: Journal/Plurk/AIM — anything to help identify since someone might share your name handle.
Age: You must be at least 13 years old to apply.
Current Characters: If a new player, just put "N/A"
⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character:
Age:
OC Type: Indicate whether this OC is a Pure, MMO, or Blank Protagonist type of OC. If it is a Blank Protagonist, indicate the canon here.
Point Taken: A sense of time when the character is taken. More applicable to MMO and Blank Protagonist OCs.
World Building:This is separate from the character's personal history. This section is to provide us with information about the character's “canon” in general. We will have no idea what kind of world that the character is coming from, and this is the only place we can learn about it. We don't want an encyclopedia, but we will need to know important details about it so that we can understand the culture the character is coming from and how that will affect how they think and behave. What countries are important? What kind of geography or political climate? Are there any social conflicts that would impact the character or would influence how they view others? For MMO and Blank Protagonist OCs, linking us to wikis will suffice, but feel free to add more to it.
Backstory: While we don't need a play-by-play, what we would like to see includes how the character lived, what choices they've made and why, what events occurred that developed them, and other important facts that will help us understand the character. For MMO OCs: Most MMORPGs will have a set storyline that the player character has the opportunity to play through. Keep in mind that rather there being a singular "Great Hero," all MMO OCs are to be seen as a part of a large group of heroes if you choose to follow the main storyline. Also keep in mind that all MMO OCs will have to follow their game’s canon lore. For example: A character could not save the NPC that canonly died, nor could a mission fail if it is set to succeed. However, your character could have died and or had difficulty fulfilling the mission. It is also possible that your character had no part in the overall game's story and had their own adventures in the world instead. Finally, there can be no romantic or familial relationships with named NPCs.
Personality: We're looking for how they think, why they act the way they do, their strengths, their weaknesses, their thought processes, their opinions, their conflicts, what makes them feel the way they do, their significant traits. When writing your character, be careful! We want to avoid characters that are the super invincible almighty hero that can do no wrong. The one who can charm anyone with a smile, can easily trick and deceive, has the power to bend wills with ease. All characters have flaws—no one is perfect. But more importantly, such infallible characters are not interesting to play and interact with. In short, the character should be realistic, balanced, and well thought out. If we feel that your character does not meet this standard, then we may ask for a revision or reject if it cannot be changed.
Abilities: If there are any particular abilities the character has supernatural or otherwise, list them here. Referencing to a wiki list is acceptable if applicable. However, if there are any particular abilities that need to be weakened or removed, note them here.
Alignment: Please refer to the Alignment entry to choose which alignment your character would most likely fall under. Include a brief (a couple of sentences max) just to help explain why you think your choice is the best fit.
Other: Anything else you'd like to mention.
⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉
Sample: We have two sample requirements.
General Sample: We should see examples of the character's dialogue as well as some introspection or additional narrative to further show how you intend to write the character. This is the most important part of the sample and where most of the weight will be.
Emotion Sample: This is our "game setting" requirement. Essentially we want to ensure that you have a basic grasp of the game's premise, especially with the use of emotions. It can be a small scene, even incidental to the main sample. A reminder that apathetic characters will also create effects, such as loss of color, surface distortion, holes forming. This section doesn't have to be lengthy, but the effect must be clear for us to see.
The emotion sample can be part of the general character sample. If so, please link directly or directly quote that portion so that it's easier for us to quickly find it.
The samples can be "written" in three different ways and you can choose which one will work best for you:
Format wise, you can use either [ brackets ] OR narrative prose. We do require that the writing at least be coherent, have proper sentence structure, and is mostly grammatically correct (we realize that writing styles can be loose/creative in [ bracket ] form so we're giving a bit more leeway). One last suggestion we have is try to have the character interacting with the environment and try thinking of the sample less of a narrative piece but more like a post or thread prompt you might make in the game. That will help the sample show not only how you will write the character, but also how you will play them in practice.
Questions: If you have any questions, ask them here.
Clean copy and paste form here:
IMPORTANT: Only the following types of original characters are allowed to be applied for—
- Pure OC. These are the typical kind of OC that everyone is familiar with. They are characters that are the player's own creation with their own world that is also of the player's design. There is zero relation to any pre-existing canon.
- MMO OC. MMOs, or Massively Multiplayer Online games, particularly those with a lot of roleplay and character build-up, have existing world building and lore that they have to follow. These characters are created by the player and can have their own story, but they have to follow the rules of the game lore. We consider "main hero" characters as those who are one of many in a great group that influenced the storyline, rather than the singular Great Hero character. This is to help multiple MMO OCs from the same game to have stories that mesh well together. In the sake of fairness to current FFXIV OC players and consistency with previous mod teams' decisions, we do not currently allow FFXIV Warriors of Light.
- Blank Slate Canon Protagonists. For our criteria, these types of characters are those which you control throughout the game and essentially make the player the main character. They may have a name and a couple of personality traits, but everything else is up to the player to interpret. Examples of these are most of the main characters from Dragon Age, Skyrim, Pokémon, etc. Important: Please note that this category ONLY pertains to the protagonists of canons. This does not allow side characters or other support NPCs as they have set stories and personalities. This section has nothing to do with how much headcanon is used and is only about the purpose and design of the protagonist character.
The following would not be allowed:
- Fanon/AU OCs. Characters that are based off pre-existing canons or an alternate version of the canon. We would not allow these OCs not because we are against them on principle, but it could cause unwanted confusion and complications with current existing casts. This type of OC would have needed to be allowed from the very beginning so players would know what they were getting into.
- Game Native OCs. Currently the game is not ready for such a type of character, as it would introduce other complications and worldbuilding that the interested player would have to be aware of. In addition, it would require more close connection with us the mods than we are currently ready for.
Before applying, please be sure to read the following:
- Read the Rules and the Game Information.
- RETURNING PLAYERS! You only need to submit any old application. Does not matter how long ago, as long as it was accepted and you have good standing (ie, not banned), it will be valid.
- Suggestion: Find some character sheets that have questions directly related to character building. These will help flesh out your application and give some guidelines as to how to write about your character.
- Feel free to use the most recent test drive both for practice as well as to use for samples. IMPORTANT! If you submit threads as samples, you must submit the application with that character journal. This is the only way we can ensure that the samples are from you and not someone else.
- Linked samples must have been made within the past year.
- You may apply for up to two characters per cycle.
- Do not plagiarize. If we find that the information provided was directly taken by either another player or some other source material, the application will be rejected immediately. If we find this after processing the application, we will revoke the application and have you removed from the game with potential ban.
- Reusing your own applications from other games is allowed. We only ask any original written samples to conform to our game. That is, we don't want to read samples that are set specifically for another game's premise. Note: this does not apply to threads linked from other games used as samples.
- If you are rejected, you cannot reapply for the same character for two weeks. However, you can apply for a different character in that same period.
- Those accepted must fill out all of the required entries within a week to be considered part of the game. Otherwise, we will consider it a revocation of the application.
- Fill out the form and comment to this entry! All applications must be posted directly to this entry; no linked-in applications allowed.
We have compiled sample applications from our players to show what the mod team and the application moderators are looking for in terms of writing quality and depth. We hope you find these samples useful!
- Sun Wukong (RWBY)
- Luke Skywalker (Star Wars)
- Goro Akechi (Persona 5)
Player:
Contact: Journal/Plurk/AIM — anything to help identify since someone might share your name handle.
Age: You must be at least 13 years old to apply.
Current Characters: If a new player, just put "N/A"
Character:
Age:
OC Type: Indicate whether this OC is a Pure, MMO, or Blank Protagonist type of OC. If it is a Blank Protagonist, indicate the canon here.
Point Taken: A sense of time when the character is taken. More applicable to MMO and Blank Protagonist OCs.
World Building:This is separate from the character's personal history. This section is to provide us with information about the character's “canon” in general. We will have no idea what kind of world that the character is coming from, and this is the only place we can learn about it. We don't want an encyclopedia, but we will need to know important details about it so that we can understand the culture the character is coming from and how that will affect how they think and behave. What countries are important? What kind of geography or political climate? Are there any social conflicts that would impact the character or would influence how they view others? For MMO and Blank Protagonist OCs, linking us to wikis will suffice, but feel free to add more to it.
Backstory: While we don't need a play-by-play, what we would like to see includes how the character lived, what choices they've made and why, what events occurred that developed them, and other important facts that will help us understand the character. For MMO OCs: Most MMORPGs will have a set storyline that the player character has the opportunity to play through. Keep in mind that rather there being a singular "Great Hero," all MMO OCs are to be seen as a part of a large group of heroes if you choose to follow the main storyline. Also keep in mind that all MMO OCs will have to follow their game’s canon lore. For example: A character could not save the NPC that canonly died, nor could a mission fail if it is set to succeed. However, your character could have died and or had difficulty fulfilling the mission. It is also possible that your character had no part in the overall game's story and had their own adventures in the world instead. Finally, there can be no romantic or familial relationships with named NPCs.
Personality: We're looking for how they think, why they act the way they do, their strengths, their weaknesses, their thought processes, their opinions, their conflicts, what makes them feel the way they do, their significant traits. When writing your character, be careful! We want to avoid characters that are the super invincible almighty hero that can do no wrong. The one who can charm anyone with a smile, can easily trick and deceive, has the power to bend wills with ease. All characters have flaws—no one is perfect. But more importantly, such infallible characters are not interesting to play and interact with. In short, the character should be realistic, balanced, and well thought out. If we feel that your character does not meet this standard, then we may ask for a revision or reject if it cannot be changed.
Abilities: If there are any particular abilities the character has supernatural or otherwise, list them here. Referencing to a wiki list is acceptable if applicable. However, if there are any particular abilities that need to be weakened or removed, note them here.
Alignment: Please refer to the Alignment entry to choose which alignment your character would most likely fall under. Include a brief (a couple of sentences max) just to help explain why you think your choice is the best fit.
Other: Anything else you'd like to mention.
Sample: We have two sample requirements.
General Sample: We should see examples of the character's dialogue as well as some introspection or additional narrative to further show how you intend to write the character. This is the most important part of the sample and where most of the weight will be.
Emotion Sample: This is our "game setting" requirement. Essentially we want to ensure that you have a basic grasp of the game's premise, especially with the use of emotions. It can be a small scene, even incidental to the main sample. A reminder that apathetic characters will also create effects, such as loss of color, surface distortion, holes forming. This section doesn't have to be lengthy, but the effect must be clear for us to see.
The emotion sample can be part of the general character sample. If so, please link directly or directly quote that portion so that it's easier for us to quickly find it.
The samples can be "written" in three different ways and you can choose which one will work best for you:
- Test Drive. You can utilize our test drive to cover both requirements of the sample. So long as there is enough character portrayal and a scene with an emotional reaction, be it within the prompt or done during the thread, then it can be used for both.
- Link out + Written. You can link to threads/entries from other games, memes, or museboxes to show character portrayal, and then write an additional short scene for the emotion portion of the sample.
- Original Sample. You can write a complete sample that shows both character portrayal and a scene involving emotion use. This can be one sample or two separate samples. If you opt to write an original sample, you are welcome to use any prompts from any of our Test Drives, Intro Logs, Task Board, and even past events. You are also free to change things up and are not restricted to any of these prompts. They are just here to help offer ideas.
Format wise, you can use either [ brackets ] OR narrative prose. We do require that the writing at least be coherent, have proper sentence structure, and is mostly grammatically correct (we realize that writing styles can be loose/creative in [ bracket ] form so we're giving a bit more leeway). One last suggestion we have is try to have the character interacting with the environment and try thinking of the sample less of a narrative piece but more like a post or thread prompt you might make in the game. That will help the sample show not only how you will write the character, but also how you will play them in practice.
Questions: If you have any questions, ask them here.
Irhya Pendhula | Final Fantasy XIV [1/???]
Player: Qu-ko
Contact: Discord: qu-ko#6810,
Age: 27
Current Characters: N/A
Character: Irhya Pendhula
Age: 25
OC Type: MMO
Point Taken: Patch 4.2
World Building: Wiki link, though it's only the tip of the iceberg! If only I could upload the entirety of the lore book...
Irhya Pendhula | Final Fantasy XIV [2/???]
Things only got more volatile as Irhya became a teenager, and once she finally entered adulthood, she'd had enough. As soon as she was able, she departed for Gridania to become a conjurer, but on the eve of her departure, she and her mother had another argument, one that took an unfortunate turn involving flower pots being chucked about and ended with Irhya saying some cold things on impulse to her. While her mother seemed to take it in stride (at least on the outside), Irhya looked back on it with a cooler head with regret, thinking to herself that she should perhaps write an apology letter, or go back to visit and smooth things over...
But it is not meant to be with the whirlwind of events that follow. Upon discovering a crystal a short ways into doing odd jobs for the adventurer's guild in Gridania, she is quickly scouted by the Scions of the Seventh Dawn for her Echo ability. While she excuses it as wanting to learn more about the blessing itself, Irhya really joins up because she thinks perhaps it'll be more fun than chipping away at menial jobs the way she's been doing.
In time, despite her finding herself at odds with the conjurer discipline, she assists in defeating the first three primals summoned by their respective beast tribes: Ifrit, Titan, and Garuda. With each successive slaying, things appear more and more interesting, even though the looming threat of the Garlean Empire and the Ascians pulling their strings tells her that there are greater trials on the horizon. Soon after, a double agent sells out the location of the Scions' hideout, and Imperials go in for a raid while she and a few others are away, killing and injuring many and kidnapping a few key members in particular to attempt to pry information out of them. With nowhere else to go, Irhya sets out with the remaining members to rescue the kidnapped Scions, entirely by accident uncovering what became of Cid nan Garlond after the Calamity in the process.
The success of the rescue operation paves the way for a counterattack against the Garlean Empire, who has been invasively encroaching upon Eorzean territory with the intent to subjugate the remaining city-states into its fold. During a simultaneous assault on multiple Garlean military bases at once, Ultima Weapon, the threat that Gaius van Baelsar has been hoping to use as part of his plan, is taken down by a group of adventurers, with Irhya assisting the fight.
During the aftermath, in which Garlemald retreats to lick their wounds and deal with a internal war of succession, other primals such as Leviathan and Ramuh become primary threats, which Irhya is again dispatched in a group to deal with. At a later point, Ul'dah, Gridania, and Limsa Lominsa's leaders make an appeal for the Scions to speak with Ishgardian representatives in the hopes of entreating their assistance with pushing back against the Garlean Empire, but notoriously xenophobic Ishgard has its own problems to deal with, and turns down the request. Along the way, she meets a woman named Lady Iceheart, who, after attempting to summon the primal form of Shiva unto herself, suggests that Ishgard is not as righteous or innocent as they would have the rest of the world believe.
Indeed, their problems seem to run much deeper than they would have anyone believe. Upon following the path up to the seemingly lifeless body of Midgardsormr, the wyrm springs to life in a temporary aetherial form, subjecting Irhya to a trial and then completely severing her connection with Hydaelyn for reasons unknown to her until much later. He does, however, provide her with a small vessel for him to observe her actions with before she departs, stripped of her gift.
Following an attack on Ishgard's gates that is only narrowly put down with the help of a team of adventurers, a banquet is held in Ul'dah in celebration of the nation's apparently slowly-renewing interest in rejoining the Eorzean alliance. However, things go awry when the sultana falls victim to an assassination plot that is pinned on the Scions, forcing them to make a messy retreat and scattering them to whereabouts unknown, save for Alphinaud, Tataru, and Irhya. They approach an old Ishgardian friend for asylum, and he works to grant their request while the dust settles behind them.
During the reprieve between these events (between patch 2.5 and 3.0), Irhya learns belatedly of her mother's passing, springing to mind all the things she'd last said to her and the fact she never did get around to issuing that apology. It's something she tucks away inside, for better or for worse, as soon after they are granted entrance to the Holy See as wards of House Fortemps. The members of the house therein eventually grow to become like family to them, bending over backwards to assist them wherever possible.
Her early time in Ishgard is spent transitioning away from the conjurer's cane to take up the dark knight's greatsword, assisted by her mysterious tutor Fray. At first, she is none the wiser that there is something peculiar about her tutor since the moment he appeared before her after touching his soul crystal, but eventually he reveals his true identity, and his purpose in teaching her the arts: it is because Fray has been dead for a long while now, and after having reacted to the aether and the strong will to live housed within the real Fray's soul crystal, a being who is quite literally Irhya's dark side is in fact the mastermind behind her tutelage. It isn't that her dark side hates her or wants to do her in, but quite the opposite; because she feels Irhya neglects her own potential and her own desires in favor of slaving away to nothingness at the whims of others, she rebels, given life through borrowed aether. However, Irhya manages to quell her dark side for a while, coming to a compromise that, although "Fray" will still be there ready to take over for her when need be, she will continue on the way she believes is right.
Just as she subdues her dark side, the real Fray's corpse goes back to being dead, and is promised a burial with full rites. However, having witnessed the spectacle, a few Temple Knights attempt to do her in, a battle during which she meets Sidurgu, a fellow dark knight. He is surprised at how much she has learned, seemingly by herself, though she chooses not to speak the truth of who really taught her what she knows thus far. Sidurgu, or Sid as he prefers to be called, works together with Irhya to uncover the truth behind why the Temple Knights want a little girl named Rielle dead, and they find that because her father was a heretic years in the making before her birth, she is likewise tainted with dragon's blood, explaining in part why her mother, an inquisitor, has committed herself to pursuing and slaying her own daughter in the name of Halone. In the end, during a trial by combat orchestrated by her mother, Sid and Irhya slay her mother and put an end to the crusade.
As time passes and new events are set into motion within the city, the truth behind Ishgard's war with the dragons, particularly the great wyrm Nidhogg, comes to light. While the archbishop of Ishgard and his administration pass it off as a holy war that is Ishgard's right to win, the truth is that man and dragon once lived together in harmony. Yet, the founders of the high houses learned of the power of a dragon's eyes that give them eternal life, and so conspired to trap and kill Ratatoskr, the brood-sister of both Nidhogg and Hraesvelgr, in order to consume her eyes. Those that survived went on to found Ishgard proper, but Nidhogg, driven mad by his grief, seeks revenge against them, their children, and their children's children for their treachery... and so the cycle has continued for a thousand years.
With a mission to end the war peacefully thwarted by Hraesvelgr's unwillingness to turn against his brother, the only solution left seems to be to strike down Nidhogg instead. Irhya journeys with the Azure Dragoon of Ishgard, Estinien, to his den and does the deed, but finds when she returns that she faces accusations of heresy from the archbishop and his knights, upset (and apparently disappointed) with the attempted disruption of the political hierarchy. In their attempt to stop him, a close friend is killed by taking a spear meant for Irhya, a tragedy that becomes the catalyst to the beginning of another chain of events within her...
As for the archbishop? As far as he sees it, it is better for the people to maintain the status quo than to subject them to a harsh truth that will force them to confront their own despair. In order to assert the order that has long been established, he uses the power of one of Nidhogg's eyes and becomes a god-king, one that Irhya is forced to strike down. All seems well until Estinien collects the two eyes of Nidhogg, subjecting him to the great wyrm's influence and causing him to fall victim to possession. Nidhogg then sets out to continue his rampage, only coming to an end after Hraesvelgr is convinced of the worthiness of the Warriors of Light to put an end to the thousand-year conflict. With his help, Nidhogg is expelled from Estinien's body and finally defeated, cast off into the abyss in a split-second decision.
As Ishgard begins to recover and reform itself, Alisaie, Alphinaud's twin sister, is carried in injured with some ill tidings about the "Warriors of Darkness" attempting to spur primal summonings once more. The truth Irhya uncovers is that, in order to same their home world, one of thirteen copies of the original created from Hydaelyn's split from Zodiark at the beginning of time, they are attempting to flood the original world with darkness so as to counteract the flood of light that has overtaken their world. Hydaelyn intervenes, offering to take in the light from the first world and restore balance to it, as well as return the Warriors of Darkness to their original world.
But as one conflict ends, another boils on the horizon. The refugees of Ala Mhigo, having borne witness to Ishgard's salvation, are embittered by the fact nothing has been done to take back their city likewise. Many of the refugees band together under a man named "The Griffin", hoping that stirring up chaos will prompt action. The Griffin reveals his plan when confronted as an attempt to rile up both sides of the Imperial conflict, hoping to end the lull between them, and to summon a primal that would destroy all that threatened Ala Mhigo's freedom using the salvaged eyes of Nidhogg granted to him by the Ascians: Shinryu.
One of the Scions, Papalymo, offers himself up as a sacrifice to buy the Scions time to deal with the threat. It hits them all hard, though they know they must use this gift wisely. In the end, they decide to resort to using the Allagan weapon Omega, designed to deal especially with primals, in order to combat Shinryu, but the two end up locked in a stalemate and crash-land in Garlean territory. In order to recover them before the Garleans can, the Scions turn to the Ala Mhigan Resistance, met with equal parts gratitude and apprehension.
Many residents of Gyr Abania, however, are no longer interested in joining the resistance, having long since accepted that subservience is less painful than rebellion. But while out on a scouting mission, Ala Mhigan natives loyal to the Empire, as well as the Empire's crown prince, Zenos yae Galvus, plow through the Resistance's hideout and slay people without mercy. Irhya, naturally, has to take a stand for this, driven by adrenaline and fury both -- she'd sworn she'd never be blindsided like this again, not after what happened in Ul'dah -- but Zenos handily delivers her a sound defeat, departing without even striking the final blow in order to prove the point that the attack was less about extermination so much as assertion of dominance and wounding the pride of the Resistance.
Outmatched and outnumbered, the Scions decide to turn their attentions to Doma, believing that if perhaps they can free the Domans from Garlean rule, they will be more willing to aid in the cause against the remaining occupied territories. The journey to Othard is long and hardly easy, but they arrive and set out on their quest to liberate Doma, recruiting the various Xaela Au Ra tribes of the Azim Steppe along the way to pad their numbers. Together with the Xaela, who are as eager to test their mettle as they are to rid themselves of encroaching Garleans, they liberate Doma Castle by sacrificing it to a flood that takes it down right on top of the imperial viceroy's head. As Doma slowly begins the long process of rebuilding, they offer what resources they can to the liberation effort in the west.
The fight to relieve Ala Mhigo of Garlean occupation finally begins in earnest, during which Zenos invites Irhya up to the top of the Royal Menagerie for a heart-to-heart. Shinryu is bound by the remaining power of Nidhogg's eye here, and Zenos suggests that, while she could strike down Shinryu if she wanted, it would prove that she and her friends rode on the backs of savagery to get where they are now, that true peace is a futile concept for them when all could be united under the Garlean emblem. Able to do naught but sigh and roll her eyes at the bluff, Irhya summons her strength once more as Zenos merges with Shinryu and takes to the skies, thinking that if none can provide him the fight he desires, then he'll just burn them all to the ground.
It turns out that this was the very fight that he desired, though; as Zenos re-emerges from within Shinryu, defeated, he brings his blade to his neck and slices, escaping any punishment or consequences much to the Scions' chagrin. Without the Imperial prince, Ala Mhigo is free once more, though faced with a bit of a conundrum: while Doma had a leader willing and able to assume the throne in the form of Hien, Ala Mhigo has no such luxury. They are quick to rule monarchy out, but while in the midst of deciding how best to proceed otherwise, the Ananta summon Lakshmi in the meeting hall with the intention of taking revenge for their previously slain primal.
Irhya Pendhula | Final Fantasy XIV [3/3]
Once Lakshmi has been dealt with, Irhya journeys back to Ishgard to meet with Sidurgu, who offers her a friendly patrol session. During this, though, her soul crystal audibly breaks in half, only for the other half to appear in the hand of a peculiar boy named Myste who appears at first glance to be a Brume rat. He claims he has the power to conjure illusions of those who have passed with Irhya's stolen aether, though only for a limited amount of time and distance traveled. In this way, he gives a bit of closure to a few people he believes deserve it, including Sid, but eventually lashes out at Irhya, claiming that she, as the Warrior of Light, has reaped so many lives that didn't deserve it, people that deserve to live again using his power. With the help of her dark side, she pacifies Myste's tantrum, and it is implied that he is a part of her that had splintered off from the guilt of losing Haurchefant, and the weight of all other lives ended by her hands. She accepts Myste back into her heart, feeling deeply unsettled, but at least more whole now that her aether has been reclaimed and her soul crystal repaired.
Soon, the Scions receive word that Yotsuyu, the imperial viceroy who was thought to have been killed in Doma Castle, has been seen alive, and set out on a mission to recover her before the Garleans do. They find that she has lost her memory (seemingly), and has been sheltered by an ally thought to have perished with her in the castle's collapse. Once Garlemald finds out that she has been taken in by the Scions, they dispatch an emissary to barter for her return, who happens to be her stepbrother Asahi. He seems pleasant to deal with at first, but as Irhya and Asahi part ways without having struck a deal, he utters some harsh words to her, and she finds out that he is bitter and vengeful over the death of his idol, Zenos. Perhaps he's only waiting for the right opportunity...?
Personality: If only her life had been set up as such, Irhya might have made an excellent scholar if she didn't lack the discipline and focus for it. From a very young age, she's always been bright and quick-witted, a fast learner who absorbs knowledge of craft (among other things) like a sponge. Her mind is always moving or doing something, and if not her mind, then definitely her hands, which can make her seem restless at times... and perhaps that's not far from the truth, as she is just as easily exhausted and grows bored of things easily. Nevertheless, she's engaged in a constant search for stimulation, or a project to apply herself to, for without it she grows lethargic and listless.
While she's an excellent jack-of-all-trades, talented and proud of that, she will not, however, take commissions for anything, under any circumstances -- which means if she makes something for you without it having been requested, it's a sign of great, heartfelt fondness. Suffice it to say, she's stubborn and a bit stiff at times, a total perfectionist who often is unwilling to bend and is her own harshest critic. Pragmatic and straightforward, she doesn't like to beat around the bush about most matters (excluding when it comes to her own feelings), and can be a bit volatile in her responses. She's a terrible liar, too, and her ears and tail are frequently a tip-off of her real feelings, a fact she hates.
Having so much mental energy means she wears herself down quickly, though. She uses her works largely as a coping mechanism, entrenching herself in crafting during times of stress and denying all but the most basic of physical needs until she's satisfied with herself... or has drained herself dry, whichever comes first. It's very easy for Irhya to burn out and need to turn to a more physical way of letting off stress, like sparring or exercising, which often times just leaves her feeling dissatisfied and unhappy for allowing herself to hit rock bottom. It's true of her interactions with others, too; she can be short with people, sometimes a little less than tactful, especially when she's at a mental low point.
When it comes to fighting, she's usually the one who will voice the obvious (but less than desirable) solution as a matter of course, and it's usually the one that involves death and misery. As a conjurer, this didn't lend well to her relationship with her tutors and superiors, who were frequently guilty of using the "will of the Elementals" to justify their actions (or lack thereof). It does, however, suit her much better as a dark knight, disciples of whom need to adhere to their own codes of morality in order to administer justice to those who would abuse their positions of power.
Deep down, Irhya doesn't feel she has the emotional freedom to get close to people, prioritizing her work and her assistance of others over her own desires more often than not. It's self-defeating behavior and she knows it, but it never occurs to her to actually change, that people might not want her to drain her own resources just for the sake of making other people happy. Secretly, one of her greatest desires was to perhaps one day have a family of her own, something she feels extremely bitter about in retrospect... but even then, she questions whether it was a genuine desire or whether it was simply a goal she adopted to prove herself better than her own mother, with whom she shared a difficult relationship and a whole host of lingering issues. Her older sister has always been good at calling her on her bullshit, helping her settle down when she's brimming with aimless energy and forcing her to clear her mind of excess emotion to be able to focus on things better. Without that guidance, she can be prone to losing sight of her goals and getting overwhelmed by her troubles in moments of weakness.
Irhya is a bit of a whimsical character, ruled largely by impulse and only rarely left to actually construct plans. She can think on the fly like a champ, but not so much in the long term, and in fact looking at things from such a temporal distance actually scares her when she considers she's at the top of many people's hit list, among other things. It just seems easier to take things day by day and not think about it, even though it strips her of the sense of constancy she longs for. For all that she seems like a stable person when not flitting from one idea to the next, she spends more time avoiding her problems than actually dealing with them, from past mistakes to present and future challenges. Even though she ends up hitting those problems head-on more often than not, for better or for worse, there are times when it's a surprise she doesn't break down from all the stress she brings upon herself. As much as she tries to unlearn her self-destructive habits, it may take a helping hand for her to realize when she's veering back into them again and burning herself up from the inside out.
Abilities: Dark knight and conjurer Wiki entries. White mage, the job class of conjurer, is considered a bit special snowflake in terms of the lore, as the player is considered the "only one" outside of the Padjals for a good chunk of the story, so I do not assign those specific abilities to her.
Dark knights spend their body's aether in battle with Darkside as sort of a mortgage arrangement with the abyss through the body's natural connection to it, and the only way to keep from killing oneself in the process is to learn how to recharge that aether. For example, Grit helps anchor a dark knight's emotions down, and blunts external sensory input to keep them stable during battle. Meanwhile, Living Dead outright severs that sensory input, both pain and pleasure alike -- it's incredibly dangerous to do so for obvious reasons, and requires the touch of a truly skilled healer to restore enough bodily function for the user not to succumb to their wounds in short order. Other abilities related to the dark knight are all linked to their calling upon the power of the abyss, from creating a field of damaging abyssal energy to firing that same energy off point-blank at enemies. Irhya in particular has a preference of letting the arcane side of the dark knight's toolset do its job in favor of less armor, granting her increased mobility but making her a little squishier than average. However, she's exceptionally skilled at manipulating her shields and damage reduction abilities as a result.
She is still capable of utilizing the conjurer's arts, too, which are rooted in the borrowing of environmental energy in order to quickly heal the body's wounds, or to likewise channel natural elements to inflict damage upon enemies. The actual practice of it bores her to death and brings back some messy feelings about the Padjals and other stuffy-arse conjurers, so she seldom uses it anymore, but the ability is there if she ever needs it.
Also, lots and lots of crafting of all different schools. It's what she spends a huge chunk of her time on. The crafting classes in XIV include carpenter, blacksmith, armorsmith, goldsmith, culinarian, weaver, leatherworker, and alchemist. While she is capable of dabbling in all of them, there are some she is better at than others; weaving appears to be her specialty, like her mother, and she's quite good at tinkering with goldsmithing as well, while the rest tend to see more situational use. But in order to do things like repair and maintain weapons or fix bits of equipment, the fundamentals are necessary first, and she's constantly trying to grow her repertoire of abilities in that regard. Among other things, she's also a halfway decent artist and writer in her spare time, too.
The Echo grants her a few passive abilities, as well. The ability to see scenes from someone's past, while not able to be controlled by the viewer when or what it triggers, is occasionally afforded to the person who possesses the blessing of Hydaelyn. The Echo also provides protection from mind control or possession, and, as it is described as a blessing that breaks down the barriers between souls, allows all languages to be understood by the listener.
Outside of that, her race as a whole is gifted with strong agility and powerful senses of hearing and balance, and for Keepers in particular, excellent night vision.
Alignment: Daimonia. Irhya in particular is equally prone to deep, black depressions and sincere, passionate enthusiasms. It's something she arguably needs help moderating, so I thought it would be fitting to make it her alignment in this case.
Other: N/A
General Sample: This thread gets NSFW at some point, but I feel it displays her character a bit better than most of the others I have.
Emotion Sample: Irhya's coping mechanisms are not all healthy. Crafting has always been her go-to for stress relief, to work with her hands and narrow her focus to one thing and block out all else in the process, but she tends to take it too far. She's currently staring down at the broad back of a jacket, wondering what to hand-embroider on it for lack of anything better to do. Something simple, perhaps... She starts outlining something, trying to solidify the image in her head.
Everyone tells her, to the point where she gets irritated, that she should find work that puts her talents to use. Looking for jobs is a lot easier when you can apply skills you already have to the prospect, but that she refuses to make a business out of her crafting only hurts her in the end. There are plenty of other things she could do, right? Bookkeeping, maybe... if she just had the discipline...
Adventuring really does seem the next best thing. It means she's only left with the image of her weary, world-worn mother after draining herself dry on her own crafting work rather than the image of her wasting away on her deathbed. Or perhaps it was worse -- did she go quickly? Was it painful, sudden?
Gods. she thinks back to the time Redolent Rose had asked her to collaborate with the guild's most notorious control freak on a rush commission, the way that conversation had gone... It had almost been like an argument with her mother, of all things. Why does she have to get so damned touchy about her crafts--
"Like hells you'll get me to make the same mistake my mother did."
The needle breaks.
Irhya stares at the two halves in shock.
"Bloody-- Are you kidding me right now?!"
As frustration wells up like a liquid thing inside her, the thread she'd been working with starts to discolor and fray as if having gone through many years of wear. Her mouth starts to open; she shuts it, then opens it again.
"This is..."
Without realizing her output, she's outlined and begun to fill in the shape of a woman's silhouette, much like those found on cameos. It doesn't appear to be anything that important, but as she throws the jacket down on the floor and steps over the shards of her needle as if walking over an entire bed of them, she realizes it's strikingly similar to her mother's profile.
"Sod this. I'm going to bed," she grouses. Next thing she knows, the damned thing will catch fire -- and maybe it will be better off that way, frankly. At least then she could use it as a flare...
Questions: I'm hoping to app Irhya as "a" Warrior of Light, one that none of the NPCs (or PCs) in Empatheias remember -- in fact, I would prefer it that way just for the delicious conflict it will create. If anything in the app conflicts with existing rules in place for this sort of thing, though, please let me know and I can tweak it a bit!
Revision
In the interest of remaining consistent and being fair to our pre-existing FFXIV players, we cannot allow Irhya to be apped as a Warrior of Light, even if she would not be present in the memories of the other characters, since the FFXIV storyline is very much built around there being a singular Warrior of Light driving the story. Otherwise, her pre-game history and personality are solid. We would like to see a revised background that gives her a place in the world apart from being the Warrior of Light.
Please submit your revisions as its own comment in reply to this one. You have one week to submit the revisions, otherwise we will consider it a revocation of your application. If you have any questions or concerns, ask away!