y'akeno lhea (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ofsongandstrings) wrote2013-12-11 09:42 pm
ofsongandstrings) wrote2013-12-11 09:42 pm
Entry tags:
✩ Application
OOC Information
Player Name: Twi
Player Age: 22
Player Contact:twilitfall/![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
twilitfall
Player/Character HMD:
Other characters in game: [ou] Riku
IC Information
Character Name: Y'akeno Lhea
Character Age/Gender: 18 Eorzean years
Canon Point: Post-It Was A Very Good Year main scenario quest.
Character History: Y'akeno's tale begins like so many others in her world - a stranger from a distant land, riding a carriage through the Shroud as she and her fellow passengers headed toward the city-state of Gridania. She was on a mission to earn glory and make a name for herself, and that was what she would tell the kind soul who helped a pair of moogles awaken her from a nightmare of masked men proportions.
Registering herself with Mother Miounne at the Gridanian branch of the Adventurers' Guild, Y'akeno was all set for many kinds of odd jobs, training and proving herself in the Archers' Guild, and hunting the prey normal citizens were either too busy or too weak to handle themselves. Yet right out of the gate, she was met with the animosity that xenophobia brings. Yet she still did her best to show that she was trustworthy in her efforts to leave Gridania in a better state than she first arrived, oftentimes finding herself assisting the Wood Wailers when their numbers were thin.
During one of these excursions she briefly met and fought alongside two scholars and fellow friends of Gridania: a hyur named Yda and a lalafell called Papalymo. She was sent to investigate activity near the Lifemend Stump in the Central Shroud, but upon the sight of a scimitar being stuck stabbed into it, they first accused her of being the culprit until a moogle by the name of Kuplo Kopp cleared her of the most horrendous charge of invoking the greenwrath (wrath of the forest itself). Fighting side by side to dispose of angered treants and other fiends of the forest, they soon uncovered that it was an Ixali chieftain that had stuck his blade in the stump. Though it wasn't before she found a crystal of Light where the final treant stood.
She suddenly collapsed to the duo's knowledge, but in fact was being called by the Mothercrystal herself: Hydaelyn (wiki link not available). In this vision, she was asked to collect more crystals like the one she found, but more importantly, she learned she was not the only one tasked with this. There were others like her, chosen by the Mothercrystal to be her champions. She accepted this task, and awoke to three rather concerned people wondering if she was alright. Upon discovering she was perfectly healthy, Yda and Papalymo soon left her with the task of returning the sword to the training grounds as proof of Ixal involvement.
It wasn't long before she saw the pair again, however - though this time, it was because of something disrupting a sacred duty of the conjurers that entails returning a part of the land they'd once borrowed as a dungeon back to the forest. This Rite of Returning, she found, was disrupted by a masked man in a black hood who sent a clay golem at her while she tried to aid the fallen conjurer and their party back to their feet. She of course slew the beast with ease, but wondered what the dark whispers only she seemed to understand were coming from. Yet when Yda and Papalymo arrived again, she was met with yet another migraine, soon succumbing to the pain again and- were these...memories?
Yet it wasn't her memories, but those of her two new acquaintances that she witnessed from an outsider's point of view. Watching them with the curiosity yet cautiousness, she learned of their Sharlayan history and their past dealings with Gridania leading up to just before they met.
When she became aware of her surroundings once more, she shook it off to their (especially Yda's) concern yet again. Luckily no one was harmed, only dazed. Unfortunately this meant that another group with a Healer would have to complete the ritual that was so rudely interrupted. With Yda helping the dazed Hearer out of the dungeon, Papalymo paused as if to say she seemed familiar to him, but soon followed and wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on them.
Yet this also meant one thing: this dark presence that had been spotted could only be seeking to separate man from the elementals and true owners of the Twelveswood. Concerned, Y'akeno continued working with the Gridanians. Yet she soon found herself more involved with the business of a local chocobo farm. At first it was only a few tiny things that moved to seeing what another Healer was doing because she was late for her ferry back to Gridania (which was luckily just speaking to the Elementals over a dark presence and totally not something that was bad). Somehow, this led to her going after a chocobo egg thief. At first not understanding the gravity of this situation, the handler informed her that this was the only egg from a chocobo whose ancestry was some of the finest in all of Ishgard. The egg meant more than housing in the Lavender Beds in sentimental value alone, not to mention how much it costs.
She headed towards the Tam-Tara Deepcroft, bow in hand and an arrow ready when she found that it was none other than Kuplo Kopp and he was defending the egg from an Ishgardian thief and his men. Wanting to help her moogle friend, she jumped into the fray and many Ishgardians learned not to mess with a determined hunter that day as they met their ends by a multitude of arrows in the weakest points to their armor.
Thanking her for the help, Kuplo Kopp then explained that he was simply taking a nap in the stables when he awoke to the Ishgardian trying to steal the egg. Knowing it was important to the egg's deceased mother, he took it to keep it away from the thieves and now that they were gone, he gave it to Y'akeno to return to the rightful owners. Accepting it, she did so - only to learn that the very same moogle is the reason that the owner of said stables survived the fires that claimed much of the Twelveswood during the Calamity and why the stables were named after him.
Yet the happiness was shortlived, as the one personally overseeing the eggs noticed that the Ixal were flying their blimps over the area of the forest that held the most ancient of trees and elemental. He sent word through Y'akeno to Miounne, who then advised her to speak with the Godsbow Lewin (no wiki page) himself on this matter. Complying, she went to the Nest fast as her legs could carry her, delivering the news to him personally. Just in time too, for just as he spoke of sending troops a scout ran in, reporting that the Ixal were already making their move on the Hedgetree. With such little time to act, Y'akeno agreed to fight alongside them.
The ensuing battle between Twin Adder and Ixali forces raged around the tree, the Twin Adder soon pushing them back away from the tree and leaving Y'akeno alone to stand guard in case one or two returned to try and take the tree. Little did they know that the very dark presence who instigated the whole affair would make his presence known to her, sending a voidsent at her in an attempt to kill her before she grew too powerful and mentioning that she would endanger the plan.
Yet she slew the demon without much problem, and the dark mage then joined the fray himself. Luckily she soon had help in the form of Yda and Papalymo. Going three to one, the mage didn't stand a chance. Soon falling to the onslaught of fist, black magic, and arrows, he reveals himself to being a Paragon - or Ascian to give the proper name. Thus it was revealed that it was the Ascians using the Ixal to cause as much of a rift between man and elemental as possible. Fortunate for the Gridanians, they hadthree meddling kids two scholars and an exceptional adventurer ruining their plans for retaking the forest. Glad for that, Y'akeno then asks if Sharlayan's like them had much experience with these problems. Both were perplexed, but it seemed as though Papalymo had an idea of what kind of gift the young Seeker awakened to.
Again, the three parted ways as she returned to Gridania to speak with Godsbow Lewin once more. Having apologized to her for directing all his troops away when she needed help the most, he congratulated and thanked her for her assistance and was about to reward her when the Elder Seedseer walked in with her guards to thank Y'akeno personally. This wasn't Kan-E-Senna's only reason for being there, however, for a festival was about to take place that's roots were in celebrating the bond between man and elemental and the person she would have to be the Emissary was already there.
She asked for Y'akeno to fulfill this role as her thanks, and it was unprecedented for an outsider to be chosen! This was a huge deal for all forestborn Gridanians and a way to show that they had indeed grown fond of her!
Yet during the ceremony, Kan-E realized the radiance coming off of the young adventurer. Revealing that she had the classic symptoms of aether sickness lately, and had a strange vision of a large crystal, the Elder Seedseer told her of brave souls who held a similar power as she was just beginning to awaken. These brave souls were not from Eorzea either, yet they had helped to reinstate the three Grand Companies and their alliance, before leading the charge against the Garlean invasion force at Cartineau. These lost souls were known as the Warriors of Light, and the power she shared with them was called the power of the Echo.
As Kan-E Senna said it, Y'akeno soon lost consciousness from the sheer overwhelming might of the memories of the Battle of Cartineau: The sights and sounds, the desperation and terrible feeling of loss that accompanied the fall of Dalamud as it crashed like a meteor and unleashed the elder primal Bahamut. Yet she sensed another presence, much like Kan-E had: the Ascians, reveling in seeing Bahamut released once more as the leaders of the Grand Companies gave the orders to withdraw as they left to stand with the Archon Louisoix.
It was a few days later when she awoke in her room at the inn, Mother Miounne teasing her about her constant napping habit. Miounne relented eventually, letting her know that when she was fully recovered that Kan-E wished to see her again. Curious, she headed to the Conjurers' guild before being led to speak with the Elder Seedseer. It was there that she asked Y'akeno to be her personal envoy to the sister nations of Limsa Lominsa and Ul'dah and pass along a message of holding a memorial service for those fallen at Cartineau. She accepted, and was soon, quite literally, sailing the skies on an airship to the other city-states and passing along the message. In her travels, she ended up meeting others like her, some she ran through dungeons with at the behest of the adventurers' guilds in the three city-states, others she created friendly rivalries with, and even met a woman by the name of Lightning who wasn't from this world and fought beside her before she seemed to teleport elsewhere in a sea of white feathers!
That was, until she returned to Ul'dah and came across a refugee being bullied by a merchant by the name of Ungust (no wiki link available which is fine because he's a greedy douche and that's really all you need to know) who could only think with his pants and coinpurse. With no one else standing up for the poor mother, she stood between her and the three bodyguards with an arrow cocked and aimed for their knees. Seeing how innocent the woman was of the supposed theft the merchant "claimed" she'd committed, Y'akeno stood firm until the man ran off. She had, after all, seen her purchasing what was supposedly stolen via the Echo - and not just her, either.
Yda and Papalymo sided with her, too.
The odd pair approached her soon after the event ended, inviting her to join them at the headquarters of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Curious and more than interested, Y'akeno sought them out, soon learning through conversation with them that she was not alone among those still with them to possess the Echo - their leader, Minfilia, also possessed the same power. Deciding to join their little family, she came to know all of them - Thancred especially through working together on a mission to uncover the cause for recent abductions and missing crystal shipments. They soon learned it was the Amalj'aa, gathering crystals and souls for tempering to summon and sustain their primal Ifrit. Together they catch Ungust (the crooked merchant from before) and began planning with the Immortal Flames to spring a trap on the beastmen--
--only for Y'akeno and the group of soldiers to realize they had a traitor in their midst. Also that Sleep spells suck when used on you.
When she came to, she found herself and her companions in Zahar'ak - Amalj'aan land, being prepared to be sacrificed to the primal Ifrit. One of the soldiers found an exit, telling her to swim through the channel and get help while they still could. She complied, returning with three others who possessed the power of the Echo, just in time for the Amalj'aa to lead them before the Lord of the Inferno. Luckily karma was a thing, for the traitor and Ungust the Unjust Merchant were also sacrificed with them-
Only for Y'akeno and the three she sought help from to be untainted by the tempering fires.
Dubbed one of the godless blessed, she prepared her arrows and with the help of fellow adventurers, slew Ifrit. In Ifrit's wake, she found another crystal - one that joined with the first she'd gathered. Angered to see their god laid low by an unbeliever, the Amalj'aa attempted to strike her down where she stood - only for her to be saved by Thancred arriving fashionably late. Not that she minded any, despite his feeling that he failed her. They returned to Vesper Bay separately, meeting again as they discussed the mission's success with Minfilia. Yet there was a heavy weight in the air around them, and only Thancred would say exactly why.
All those soldiers who went with her to Ifrit's inferno would have to be put to death, so that they may be released from Ifrit's thrall.
Something in her stiffened, but she continued to train (and pull a guildmate from her Despair Event Horizon via sparring match) and met Lightning one more time while she fended off a sort of mechanical behemoth on her way back to Vesper Bay. Wondering why she kept running into this strange hyur from another world while they were fighting, she decided to brush it aside for now and continue on to the next mission - becoming a mediator between the Gridanians and the Sylvan refugees in Little Solace. The "touched ones" as the refugees put it, had summoned the primal Ramuh, and it was her duty to make sure that their alliance between the races and beast tribe would still be honored. After some initial resistance, she proved to these ones that this dancing one was most helpful unlike some walking ones. She even went into Toto-rak to save their elder from the fiends inside it!
Yet it was not only fiends, for an Ascian named Lahabrea made his appearance as well. He announced his reasons for wanting to end her and the Mothercrystal, before siccing a superpowered Diremite at her and her friends. Slaying it, she could not help but be troubled by his words. Lahabrea made it clear that they wanted her dead, so that they could end Hydaelyn...
As she pondered this, the Sylph elder freed himself, informing her that the masked devil meant to feed him to the diremite they'd slain. Y'akeno then escorted this one out safely so that they may reconvene back in Little Solace.
Meeting together again, they spoke of the alliance they made with the Gridanians. Assured they would keep it, she was asked to witness for herself how the touched ones would not attack unless provoked or their land was trespassed. Seeing this for herself, she assured the leaders of the forest nation once more before returning to Vesper Bay - only for a sudden screech to fill the halls of the Solar while she was telling Minfilia the details.
Apparently the sylph elder thought it a good idea to send Noraxia, a Sylvan representative, to the Scions, and she'd accidentally startled Tataru at her arrival.
Taking her leave for a while to train under her archery master once more in Gridania, she soon found herself saving Silvairre from being poached by the very poachers he was trying to stop. Both herself and Miah were flabbergasted at how blind he was to his own lying tongue when his heart thought something else. He then admitted to his own faults, and asked the two miqo'te he seemed to hate so to catch the one who'd gotten away from him under his watch. Together, the three of them put down all of Pawah Mujuuk's litter. With Y'akeno as the bait and Silvairre the diversion, Miah took down Pawah with one shot. Vengeance was theirs and it was one more poacher in the dungeons of Gridanian soil.
As a reward, Y'akeno learned one more skill from their leader before being told of a famous archer named Jehantel the Godsbow. He was famous for his skill with the bow, but had picked up song over it since he'd left the Wailers. Thinking he might be able to teach her more than just to shoot an enemy, she sent Y'akeno on her way to meet him. One thing was for sure: Jehantel was surprised when she said she wanted to learn how to play the harp and to sing and not shoot better. After testing her resolve by sending her to the moogle who had started him out on his journey, he told her to keep the relic crystal that the moogle had told her to give to him. After all, [name] had said that she may even surpass her new teacher before long.
Thus began her training as a bard, and her soothing of the souls who could not yet pass on whether it be through song or arrow. She stayed in the South Shroud for a while longer, recuperating and learning her first few songs before returning to Vesper Bay. However, as she set to leave she caught word that Lightning was in Coerthas to the north. Curious as to what brought her there of all places, she went to see if she could find her and then tell a reporter all about her encounter with the woman. Again, she found her battling a magitek-like creation, but it wasn't of Garlean design. Somewhat perplexed by it, she helped destroy he machination before learning of what Lightning figured out: she was being tested, to see how much fight she had left in her.
Unable to think of a way to soothe her stoic friend, Y'akeno watched her vanish into the horizon before returning to Gridania to inform the reporter of what occurred. When she did, however, she was met by Lightning once more. Having been recognized by her fellow warrior, Y'akeno admitted to being an adventurer and briefly spoke to her about their different situations. Though the conversation left her more perplexed and with more questions when Lightning had to leave.
What was she fighting for exactly? And was power and fame really worth it if it meant fight after fight until you were just another mindless killing machine? She soon left Gridania again for Vesper Bay, determined to find the answers herself. There was no rest for the weary or startled lalafells, however - for now there was another Primal that had been summoned, and one that everyone in the room had dreaded the possibility of.
The Kobolds had summoned Titan, Lord of Crags.
Unfortunately for them, the only ones known to have ever defeated Titan were a group of mercenaries called the Company of Heroes. I say unfortunately, because mercenaries are not ones who keep good records of their battles (for obvious reasons). Thus with little information to go on, most of them were sent to gather as much as they could and piece together everything they could come up with. Though with the others not knowing much of the Lominisan ways, Thancred suggested that she depart with Y'shtola (who was the Scions' representative in La Noscea) at once to see if they could find anyone who once worked with this mercenary group. Both parties agreeing, Y'akeno left with her to meet with the Maelstrom Command. Yet in her briefing, she was surprised to find that Merlwyb herself had decided to meet her in person to debrief her of the situation.
Big surprise: some of the pirates had begun to set up camp on the sacred Kobold lands of Mt. O'Ghomorro and broke the peace treaty between the Lominisans and the beastmen tribes due to murdering their kindred in cold blood for said land. The Kobolds, like many other beast tribes, aren't the sort to take this kind of shitty treatment and thus summoned Titan in self-defense and to gain vengeance on those who killed their own.
Obviously not wanting to sacrifice the lives of those innocent (of this particular act of piracy), the Scions took up the task to try and find where and how they might slay them. Though to their surprise, someone who claimed to be a part of the Company was only malms away. Bidding the Admiral goodbye for now, the pair headed off to see this so-called "hero."
Who they found? Was a weakling of a farmboy who couldn't even slay a lamb, let alone a primal made completely of the hardest rocks known to man.
Having been set on one wild goose chase, he was at least kind enough to say where the real captain was - on the shores of Costa del Sol, working as a security guard. Relieved to finally know where the real one was, they departed for the beach resort immediately-
Only for Y'akeno to be sent on yet another fucking main scenario sidequest-athon to gather materials needed for the "feast" they were setting up for some adventurer and scholar of note. This was much to the detest of both miqo'te, but she complied with the good Captain Wheiskaet's orders. Arguing the point further would only delay their chance to defeatTidus Titan.
So it was that she first traveled to Camp Tranquil in the South Shroud to meet with a mercenary-turned-Wood Wailer by the name of Landenel. Of course, the Wood Wailers knew not of his past as one of the Company of Heroes (if they did, they would have discharged him), so Y'akeno promised to not say a word of his past as adventurers barely were above them in terms of honor in most regards. That having been said, he told her of the first ingredient: an adamantoise egg, which would have to be poached from under the watchful eye of his subordinates. Working with him to distract said subordinates with one actually very crucial task of keeping the roads safe from parasitic pests, he warned her of how dangerous it would be - the mother would not be far from the nest, and Adamantoise could stomp a kitten like her flat with one fierce stomp!
Yet Y'akeno was not one to be swayed as she cautiously approached the nesting grounds like her kin, despite all warnings, and with a few arrows that were common for miqo'te to use in their hunts, slew the mother and obtained the egg. Returning to Landenel with the egg and not the size of a pancake, he then sent her to the Forgotten Springs - home of the U tribe and their Nuhn (alpha male), U'lodh Nuhn.
U'lodh Nuhn was also a mercenary before challenging the nuhn before him, and as such was much more cunning in his use of strength. As the U tribe pride themselves in strength and their hunting skills, she found herself being tested like their own kittens in hunting sundrakes and helping the other kittens first learning how to use their fangs and claws (figuratively). Having proved herself a hunter of beast, she was then asked to hunt a beastman. Taking the weapon of one of the local Amal'jaa that had been slain before, she tactfully placed it in an area just inside sight of the nearby camp and waited, slaying the mourning kin of the fallen as he attacked in a rage. The one who joined his brother in the Lifestream that day was the chief of this particular tribe, and in her tactful manner of disposing him, she learned of the next ingredient. With his word of sending it to Costa del Sol, she returned to the beach resort as well.
Only to be told there was one more thing she needed to get: wine. At this point, despite still being a teenager, this was starting to sound like the best fucking idea they had all week.
Luckily, she didn't have to go all the way across the continent this time: just the river to Wineport and talk to a lalafell by the name of Shamani Lohmani. However, what she didn't expect was the reason Wheiskaet had sent her to this particular former mercenary. The answer became clear when he revealed through examining her and the wine order to him that he had indeed lost his ability to seek out adventure through mercenary work when Titan had struck him blind. Briefly disappointed by the fact that nothing in Shamani's stock was worthy of the banquet and the person who did was the least tactful person ever, she helped him try to find a substitute - and learned about the Bacchus vine. Thought to be extinct after the Calamity, they soon lost hope. Though through chance and Shamani sending her to see the man who'd saved him from death's door, they discovered that the vine had survived on the back of a Goobbue due to said person wrapping a coconut wine in the leafs of the very vine thought to have been lost forever.
Taking a branch from the vine for the good people of Wineport to cultivate, the very prick who had so tactlessly turned his nose at her and Shamani gave them the bottle of 1557 Bacchus they needed. Though surprised that Shamani didn't want to keep the wine that had once given him the desire to brew the substance and live to seek out this new calling, she relented to take it back to Costa del Sol and hoped she would soon be a very happy and drunk kitty chilling out on the beach and relaxing after gods knows how many malms she traveled to do this stupid grocery run.
Character World: Y'akeno is from the planet called Hydaelyn, which was named after the Mothercrystal Herself. Most would consider it a sort of medieval setting like most worlds early in the Final Fantasy series, but this is mostly dependent on which area they begin in. As with any Final Fantasy world, magic, summons, and monsters are very much real. As it is Eorzea that is where the game takes place, that is where I will go into detail the most.
It is only since her coming of age that she came to Eorzea, a realm wrought with war with many different factions within itself. It has been five years since the battle at Cartinaeu, in which the lesser moon Dalamud cracked open after the lead mechanic of the Garlean Empire sought to summon it so that the land could be claimed for their emperor. Yet when Dalamud's shell prison was destroyed, the elder Primal Bahamut left naught but fire and death in its wake. This primal left Eorzea scarred and mutilated beyond recognition, and many lost their lives and homes. This included the Archon named Louisoix, who in his wisdom led a band of people who helped to rebuild the Eorzean Alliance between the three city-states of Ul'dah, Gridania, and Limsa Lominsa with the aide of many adventurers of that time. They all fought valiantly that day, a group even slaying the crazed man who had begun summoning Dalamud closer to the planet.
Yet none would "survive" that blast, and the native survivors of the battle with the Garleans that day lost their memories of those brave souls as they vanished in the light. They will never forget what it was that those strangers had done for them that day, yet when they try to recall their names the words die on their lips. They can only remember them as silhouettes between them and a blinding glare. It is for this reason that they chose to call these brave adventurers the "Warriors of Light."
Since then in the realm of Eorzea, the three three main city-states have only begun to heal from the damage the Calamity caused. Yet each have their own problems that have only festered since that day five years ago.
In the coasts of La Noscea rests the city-state of Limsa Lominsa, home to pirates and their families that have sworn allegiance to the Maelstrom and its admiral, Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn. This part of the realm is ravaged with beastmen tribes of Kobolds and Sahagin (also known as fishbacks by the locals), along with the Serpent Reavers who take the Sahagin god Leviathan as their own and kidnap the unsuspecting in sacrifice to said Primal. As much as the Yellow Jackets have done for their city-state, they cannot help but long for the days the Warriors of Light were there to assist them, for when one problem is settled, another arises from the murky depths off La Noscean shores. It is an ongoing war to maintain the peace within itself, never mind the Garleans who have built strongholds within its shores. Brave souls were never more sorely needed in defending these waters.
Within the Black Shroud, most ancient forest at the heart of Eorzea, lies the city-state of Gridania. Home to many Wildwood Elezen, Hyur, and Keeper Miqo'te, the people of Gridania live in isolation from much of the world outside the woods' borders. While all seems peaceful, the people live in fear of what tomorrow may bring as the beastmen tribes of Ixal look to summon their primal Garuda and a faction of the Sylvan tribe summoned Ramuh in response to the Garlean presence in the Shroud. Yes. Like much of the realm, the Black Shroud too was greatly impacted by Dalamud's fall. Yet like most folk who live in isolation, they remain skeptical of those they do now know. While adventurers are sorely needed, they find it hard to gain the trust of many of this city-state's citizenry. Those that do, however, soon find themselves trusted more than some who were forestborn and are often invited to join the Yellow Serpents, headed by none other than the Elder Seedseer Kan-E Senna.
In the deserts of Thanalan rests the city-state of Ul'dah, a desert gem and symbol of defiance against the elements where merchants turn sand into gold. It is here that the government is ruled by both the Sultanate and the Syndicate, though in truth the Syndicate has much of the power in the city and would gladly off the Sultana were it not for the support of the Royalists and the leader of the Immortal Flames, Raubahn Aldynn.
Yet other than the political problems in Ul'dah, there are the beastmen tribes of Amalj'aa that would be happy to take the refugees that camp outside Ul'dahn gates, begging and doing all they can to survive the desert since their homes were destroyed, and sacrifice them and the soldiers that protect all citizens of this city-state to the primal Ifrit. Of all the city-states, Ul'dah suffered the greatest blow after the Calamity and the beginning of the Seventh Umbral Era.
It is in Gridania where Y'akeno Lhea starts her journey as an archer and one of the many adventurers who would come to call Eorzea their second home. She would soon face the mundane tasks and fights that normal citizenry could not. Later, as a member of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn first and sergeant in the Twin Adder second, she would help lead a band of adventurers like herself against the strongholds of the Garlean Empire in all-out war to stop the ultimate threat to the realm: the Ultimate Weapon.
Character Personality: So far as beginnings go, Y'akeno's was a happy one, albiet first faced with the difficulties brought about by those who were sheltered beneath the forest bows and branches of the Black Shroud. For and adventurer, she was a kind and earnest soul who sought to help wherever she could despite how mediocre the task may be. She was happy to do it and smiled at the opportunity to help someone through a rough time. Yes, even those stubborn Wildwood Elezen who looked down on her for not being as tall or presence of a very long tail like her senior at the guild Silvairre. For as kind as she is, she is also a person devoted to the cause she picked up when becoming an adventurer - to see a need and fulfill it even if those she helps do not realize they need it due to pride. This is often shown through her actions towards the aforementioned guildmate: first to prove herself a skilled enough archer, and then later on as he pulled a dumbass move and tried to capture an infamous poacher on his own. One that he'd let escape once before.
Always one to keep a sunny disposition even as the going got tough, she works hard to support her friends as well - why, it's even the reason she became an archer and later a bard! She loves supporting her friends both off and on the battlefield whether it's trying to calm things down or cheer them up or simply putting an arrow between the eyes of someone (though most likely a monster) trying to kill them! Though the calming things down is more common then not in the archery club, helping the people she holds dear find their reason and resolve again is also something she enjoys doing. This she does first for her guildmate Miah, who'd lost sight of her reason for moving to Gridania after her litter were all massacred by Dalamud's fall, and later so many countless others from normal citizens to guildmates and guild leaders alike. To her, seeing their smiling faces return is enough payment (though a bit of coin or maybe a little better armor after a shopping trip is just as fine, too)!
Though that can be a bit of a problem for her as well. For as much as she loves helping others, she will do almost anything for a bit of coin. Most know her as a reliable and compassionate adventurer, much unlike many foreigners that they had met before. but all people need to eat and this kitten seeks power and fame. She wants to be famous for helping others, to be known for her strength and skill on the battlefield and off. This soon comes to bite her after being named Ifrit's Bane when representatives of each grand company of the Eorzean Alliance comes a knockin' on her doorstep, wanting her to join their respective armies. It's Minfilia's quick thinking that saves her from making a rash decision there of course, but later on in her story (later than when I'm taking her), she soon finds that her friends cannot save her from the negatives that power brings and the fame that comes with it. She is selfish this way, almost always shyly hiding behind her fellow Scions when too much fame at once, and it will soon come back to haunt her...
This is why when, after seeing her in action on the battlefield first in La Noscea and then in Western Thanalan, she began to slightly idolize a foreign warrior that she met on her excursions across the realm: a hyur named "Lightning." She seemed to handle her sudden fame after being thrust into a completely different world so well, and obviously she wanted to learn how to manage it too! Yet she was left questioning her motives when she realized that, despite how the Mothercrystal chose her as one of Her champions, she was still free to pick and choose when Lightning wasn't.
She is very much a young woman still finding her path, and how she is left pondering what her desire is worth is a prime example of it. Perhaps strength for strength's sake wasn't what she sought, but rather the willpower to fight under her own power for who and what she believed in...
Character Abilities:
As a Miqo'te of the Seekers of the Sun, Y'akeno has a greater dexterity and strength than the average Hyur, which is what most would consider the human race (though this is not the case in this world for all of the five races are considered human). Due to her race in particular, she also has a superhuman sense of hearing as well as sight. Think of her as a mix between a lioness and a human, only with purple fur. She is skilled mainly in archery and hand-to-hand combat, but with her patron deity being Azemya the Warden, she has an affinity for setting shit on fire.
As if the abilities she was born with weren't enough, she is a chosen emissary of the goddess Hydaelyn. This means she is in possession of a unique ability called the Echo that allows her to see into a person's past (although she can not always control this ability)and interact with those memories, though not outright change events. The Echo also grants immunity to mind manipulation and soul tempering, along with making her capable of understanding anyone who speaks to her in another language and for those who hear her speak will hear her in their own tongues; language barriers be damned.
Classes
Jobs
She also has some skill off the battlefield, though currently they are... lacking in much strength at the present time.
Disciples of the Hand
Character Inventory:
Adventurers have very deep hammerspace pockets when it comes to their inventory, and it is split between the Armory (which is then divided by Main Hand, Head, Body, Hands, Waist, Legs, Feet, Off Hand, Ears, Neck, Wrist, Rings (which they can only equip two of), and Soul Crystals) which they can carry twenty of per subdivision at a time, and Inventory, which they can carry one hundred at a time. This is why there's so much listed, and I apologize for her being a walking department store.
Armory
Inventory
Samples: Test Drive thread
With how overtaxed she'd been in an attempt to get the information she needed to even find Titan in the first place, the respite was a welcomed one that she reveled in. Quite frankly, after doing everything but slay a dragon, she was exhausted, so peaceful city that also needed help? She could definitely do this and then be on her way.
At least, that's what she did as she practiced the two songs she already knew, plucking at the strings with the thoughts of what she'd seen fresh in her mind. From the grizzly sights of Meteorfall through anothers' eyes, to the comrades she lost to Ifrit's inferno. And yet, there was a twang of confusion in the melody. She knew this song, of course- knew the meaning behind it in her head - yet she faltered, gaze lowering. Jehantel had always told her that bards who sung of songs that did not resonate with their soul, who elaborated beyond the truth, always sounded hollow. It was always why she sung of hope and happy things, an encouragement to those around her and of the joys of adventuring.
The last thing she wanted to do was be a hollow din in the crowd like he'd warned, so obviously it was time to do what Miounne had suggested and stick her nose in everyone's business like she always did, make all the friends, and do what she could to help these people even if she wasn't from around here and didn't know their customs. Having given the chilly air the ol' one-two punch in an effort to rally herself up, she placed her harp back where it belonged and began walking back toward the third district. Who knows? Maybe she could find a couple odd jobs to help the locals and guests alike!
"...the Land's alive, so believe..."
Player Name: Twi
Player Age: 22
Player Contact:
twilitfall/Player/Character HMD:
Other characters in game: [ou] Riku
IC Information
Character Name: Y'akeno Lhea
Character Age/Gender: 18 Eorzean years
Canon Point: Post-It Was A Very Good Year main scenario quest.
Character History: Y'akeno's tale begins like so many others in her world - a stranger from a distant land, riding a carriage through the Shroud as she and her fellow passengers headed toward the city-state of Gridania. She was on a mission to earn glory and make a name for herself, and that was what she would tell the kind soul who helped a pair of moogles awaken her from a nightmare of masked men proportions.
Registering herself with Mother Miounne at the Gridanian branch of the Adventurers' Guild, Y'akeno was all set for many kinds of odd jobs, training and proving herself in the Archers' Guild, and hunting the prey normal citizens were either too busy or too weak to handle themselves. Yet right out of the gate, she was met with the animosity that xenophobia brings. Yet she still did her best to show that she was trustworthy in her efforts to leave Gridania in a better state than she first arrived, oftentimes finding herself assisting the Wood Wailers when their numbers were thin.
During one of these excursions she briefly met and fought alongside two scholars and fellow friends of Gridania: a hyur named Yda and a lalafell called Papalymo. She was sent to investigate activity near the Lifemend Stump in the Central Shroud, but upon the sight of a scimitar being stuck stabbed into it, they first accused her of being the culprit until a moogle by the name of Kuplo Kopp cleared her of the most horrendous charge of invoking the greenwrath (wrath of the forest itself). Fighting side by side to dispose of angered treants and other fiends of the forest, they soon uncovered that it was an Ixali chieftain that had stuck his blade in the stump. Though it wasn't before she found a crystal of Light where the final treant stood.
She suddenly collapsed to the duo's knowledge, but in fact was being called by the Mothercrystal herself: Hydaelyn (wiki link not available). In this vision, she was asked to collect more crystals like the one she found, but more importantly, she learned she was not the only one tasked with this. There were others like her, chosen by the Mothercrystal to be her champions. She accepted this task, and awoke to three rather concerned people wondering if she was alright. Upon discovering she was perfectly healthy, Yda and Papalymo soon left her with the task of returning the sword to the training grounds as proof of Ixal involvement.
It wasn't long before she saw the pair again, however - though this time, it was because of something disrupting a sacred duty of the conjurers that entails returning a part of the land they'd once borrowed as a dungeon back to the forest. This Rite of Returning, she found, was disrupted by a masked man in a black hood who sent a clay golem at her while she tried to aid the fallen conjurer and their party back to their feet. She of course slew the beast with ease, but wondered what the dark whispers only she seemed to understand were coming from. Yet when Yda and Papalymo arrived again, she was met with yet another migraine, soon succumbing to the pain again and- were these...memories?
Yet it wasn't her memories, but those of her two new acquaintances that she witnessed from an outsider's point of view. Watching them with the curiosity yet cautiousness, she learned of their Sharlayan history and their past dealings with Gridania leading up to just before they met.
When she became aware of her surroundings once more, she shook it off to their (especially Yda's) concern yet again. Luckily no one was harmed, only dazed. Unfortunately this meant that another group with a Healer would have to complete the ritual that was so rudely interrupted. With Yda helping the dazed Hearer out of the dungeon, Papalymo paused as if to say she seemed familiar to him, but soon followed and wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on them.
Yet this also meant one thing: this dark presence that had been spotted could only be seeking to separate man from the elementals and true owners of the Twelveswood. Concerned, Y'akeno continued working with the Gridanians. Yet she soon found herself more involved with the business of a local chocobo farm. At first it was only a few tiny things that moved to seeing what another Healer was doing because she was late for her ferry back to Gridania (which was luckily just speaking to the Elementals over a dark presence and totally not something that was bad). Somehow, this led to her going after a chocobo egg thief. At first not understanding the gravity of this situation, the handler informed her that this was the only egg from a chocobo whose ancestry was some of the finest in all of Ishgard. The egg meant more than housing in the Lavender Beds in sentimental value alone, not to mention how much it costs.
She headed towards the Tam-Tara Deepcroft, bow in hand and an arrow ready when she found that it was none other than Kuplo Kopp and he was defending the egg from an Ishgardian thief and his men. Wanting to help her moogle friend, she jumped into the fray and many Ishgardians learned not to mess with a determined hunter that day as they met their ends by a multitude of arrows in the weakest points to their armor.
Thanking her for the help, Kuplo Kopp then explained that he was simply taking a nap in the stables when he awoke to the Ishgardian trying to steal the egg. Knowing it was important to the egg's deceased mother, he took it to keep it away from the thieves and now that they were gone, he gave it to Y'akeno to return to the rightful owners. Accepting it, she did so - only to learn that the very same moogle is the reason that the owner of said stables survived the fires that claimed much of the Twelveswood during the Calamity and why the stables were named after him.
Yet the happiness was shortlived, as the one personally overseeing the eggs noticed that the Ixal were flying their blimps over the area of the forest that held the most ancient of trees and elemental. He sent word through Y'akeno to Miounne, who then advised her to speak with the Godsbow Lewin (no wiki page) himself on this matter. Complying, she went to the Nest fast as her legs could carry her, delivering the news to him personally. Just in time too, for just as he spoke of sending troops a scout ran in, reporting that the Ixal were already making their move on the Hedgetree. With such little time to act, Y'akeno agreed to fight alongside them.
The ensuing battle between Twin Adder and Ixali forces raged around the tree, the Twin Adder soon pushing them back away from the tree and leaving Y'akeno alone to stand guard in case one or two returned to try and take the tree. Little did they know that the very dark presence who instigated the whole affair would make his presence known to her, sending a voidsent at her in an attempt to kill her before she grew too powerful and mentioning that she would endanger the plan.
Yet she slew the demon without much problem, and the dark mage then joined the fray himself. Luckily she soon had help in the form of Yda and Papalymo. Going three to one, the mage didn't stand a chance. Soon falling to the onslaught of fist, black magic, and arrows, he reveals himself to being a Paragon - or Ascian to give the proper name. Thus it was revealed that it was the Ascians using the Ixal to cause as much of a rift between man and elemental as possible. Fortunate for the Gridanians, they had
Again, the three parted ways as she returned to Gridania to speak with Godsbow Lewin once more. Having apologized to her for directing all his troops away when she needed help the most, he congratulated and thanked her for her assistance and was about to reward her when the Elder Seedseer walked in with her guards to thank Y'akeno personally. This wasn't Kan-E-Senna's only reason for being there, however, for a festival was about to take place that's roots were in celebrating the bond between man and elemental and the person she would have to be the Emissary was already there.
She asked for Y'akeno to fulfill this role as her thanks, and it was unprecedented for an outsider to be chosen! This was a huge deal for all forestborn Gridanians and a way to show that they had indeed grown fond of her!
Yet during the ceremony, Kan-E realized the radiance coming off of the young adventurer. Revealing that she had the classic symptoms of aether sickness lately, and had a strange vision of a large crystal, the Elder Seedseer told her of brave souls who held a similar power as she was just beginning to awaken. These brave souls were not from Eorzea either, yet they had helped to reinstate the three Grand Companies and their alliance, before leading the charge against the Garlean invasion force at Cartineau. These lost souls were known as the Warriors of Light, and the power she shared with them was called the power of the Echo.
As Kan-E Senna said it, Y'akeno soon lost consciousness from the sheer overwhelming might of the memories of the Battle of Cartineau: The sights and sounds, the desperation and terrible feeling of loss that accompanied the fall of Dalamud as it crashed like a meteor and unleashed the elder primal Bahamut. Yet she sensed another presence, much like Kan-E had: the Ascians, reveling in seeing Bahamut released once more as the leaders of the Grand Companies gave the orders to withdraw as they left to stand with the Archon Louisoix.
It was a few days later when she awoke in her room at the inn, Mother Miounne teasing her about her constant napping habit. Miounne relented eventually, letting her know that when she was fully recovered that Kan-E wished to see her again. Curious, she headed to the Conjurers' guild before being led to speak with the Elder Seedseer. It was there that she asked Y'akeno to be her personal envoy to the sister nations of Limsa Lominsa and Ul'dah and pass along a message of holding a memorial service for those fallen at Cartineau. She accepted, and was soon, quite literally, sailing the skies on an airship to the other city-states and passing along the message. In her travels, she ended up meeting others like her, some she ran through dungeons with at the behest of the adventurers' guilds in the three city-states, others she created friendly rivalries with, and even met a woman by the name of Lightning who wasn't from this world and fought beside her before she seemed to teleport elsewhere in a sea of white feathers!
That was, until she returned to Ul'dah and came across a refugee being bullied by a merchant by the name of Ungust (no wiki link available which is fine because he's a greedy douche and that's really all you need to know) who could only think with his pants and coinpurse. With no one else standing up for the poor mother, she stood between her and the three bodyguards with an arrow cocked and aimed for their knees. Seeing how innocent the woman was of the supposed theft the merchant "claimed" she'd committed, Y'akeno stood firm until the man ran off. She had, after all, seen her purchasing what was supposedly stolen via the Echo - and not just her, either.
Yda and Papalymo sided with her, too.
The odd pair approached her soon after the event ended, inviting her to join them at the headquarters of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Curious and more than interested, Y'akeno sought them out, soon learning through conversation with them that she was not alone among those still with them to possess the Echo - their leader, Minfilia, also possessed the same power. Deciding to join their little family, she came to know all of them - Thancred especially through working together on a mission to uncover the cause for recent abductions and missing crystal shipments. They soon learned it was the Amalj'aa, gathering crystals and souls for tempering to summon and sustain their primal Ifrit. Together they catch Ungust (the crooked merchant from before) and began planning with the Immortal Flames to spring a trap on the beastmen--
--only for Y'akeno and the group of soldiers to realize they had a traitor in their midst. Also that Sleep spells suck when used on you.
When she came to, she found herself and her companions in Zahar'ak - Amalj'aan land, being prepared to be sacrificed to the primal Ifrit. One of the soldiers found an exit, telling her to swim through the channel and get help while they still could. She complied, returning with three others who possessed the power of the Echo, just in time for the Amalj'aa to lead them before the Lord of the Inferno. Luckily karma was a thing, for the traitor and Ungust the Unjust Merchant were also sacrificed with them-
Only for Y'akeno and the three she sought help from to be untainted by the tempering fires.
Dubbed one of the godless blessed, she prepared her arrows and with the help of fellow adventurers, slew Ifrit. In Ifrit's wake, she found another crystal - one that joined with the first she'd gathered. Angered to see their god laid low by an unbeliever, the Amalj'aa attempted to strike her down where she stood - only for her to be saved by Thancred arriving fashionably late. Not that she minded any, despite his feeling that he failed her. They returned to Vesper Bay separately, meeting again as they discussed the mission's success with Minfilia. Yet there was a heavy weight in the air around them, and only Thancred would say exactly why.
All those soldiers who went with her to Ifrit's inferno would have to be put to death, so that they may be released from Ifrit's thrall.
Something in her stiffened, but she continued to train (and pull a guildmate from her Despair Event Horizon via sparring match) and met Lightning one more time while she fended off a sort of mechanical behemoth on her way back to Vesper Bay. Wondering why she kept running into this strange hyur from another world while they were fighting, she decided to brush it aside for now and continue on to the next mission - becoming a mediator between the Gridanians and the Sylvan refugees in Little Solace. The "touched ones" as the refugees put it, had summoned the primal Ramuh, and it was her duty to make sure that their alliance between the races and beast tribe would still be honored. After some initial resistance, she proved to these ones that this dancing one was most helpful unlike some walking ones. She even went into Toto-rak to save their elder from the fiends inside it!
Yet it was not only fiends, for an Ascian named Lahabrea made his appearance as well. He announced his reasons for wanting to end her and the Mothercrystal, before siccing a superpowered Diremite at her and her friends. Slaying it, she could not help but be troubled by his words. Lahabrea made it clear that they wanted her dead, so that they could end Hydaelyn...
As she pondered this, the Sylph elder freed himself, informing her that the masked devil meant to feed him to the diremite they'd slain. Y'akeno then escorted this one out safely so that they may reconvene back in Little Solace.
Meeting together again, they spoke of the alliance they made with the Gridanians. Assured they would keep it, she was asked to witness for herself how the touched ones would not attack unless provoked or their land was trespassed. Seeing this for herself, she assured the leaders of the forest nation once more before returning to Vesper Bay - only for a sudden screech to fill the halls of the Solar while she was telling Minfilia the details.
Apparently the sylph elder thought it a good idea to send Noraxia, a Sylvan representative, to the Scions, and she'd accidentally startled Tataru at her arrival.
Taking her leave for a while to train under her archery master once more in Gridania, she soon found herself saving Silvairre from being poached by the very poachers he was trying to stop. Both herself and Miah were flabbergasted at how blind he was to his own lying tongue when his heart thought something else. He then admitted to his own faults, and asked the two miqo'te he seemed to hate so to catch the one who'd gotten away from him under his watch. Together, the three of them put down all of Pawah Mujuuk's litter. With Y'akeno as the bait and Silvairre the diversion, Miah took down Pawah with one shot. Vengeance was theirs and it was one more poacher in the dungeons of Gridanian soil.
As a reward, Y'akeno learned one more skill from their leader before being told of a famous archer named Jehantel the Godsbow. He was famous for his skill with the bow, but had picked up song over it since he'd left the Wailers. Thinking he might be able to teach her more than just to shoot an enemy, she sent Y'akeno on her way to meet him. One thing was for sure: Jehantel was surprised when she said she wanted to learn how to play the harp and to sing and not shoot better. After testing her resolve by sending her to the moogle who had started him out on his journey, he told her to keep the relic crystal that the moogle had told her to give to him. After all, [name] had said that she may even surpass her new teacher before long.
Thus began her training as a bard, and her soothing of the souls who could not yet pass on whether it be through song or arrow. She stayed in the South Shroud for a while longer, recuperating and learning her first few songs before returning to Vesper Bay. However, as she set to leave she caught word that Lightning was in Coerthas to the north. Curious as to what brought her there of all places, she went to see if she could find her and then tell a reporter all about her encounter with the woman. Again, she found her battling a magitek-like creation, but it wasn't of Garlean design. Somewhat perplexed by it, she helped destroy he machination before learning of what Lightning figured out: she was being tested, to see how much fight she had left in her.
Unable to think of a way to soothe her stoic friend, Y'akeno watched her vanish into the horizon before returning to Gridania to inform the reporter of what occurred. When she did, however, she was met by Lightning once more. Having been recognized by her fellow warrior, Y'akeno admitted to being an adventurer and briefly spoke to her about their different situations. Though the conversation left her more perplexed and with more questions when Lightning had to leave.
What was she fighting for exactly? And was power and fame really worth it if it meant fight after fight until you were just another mindless killing machine? She soon left Gridania again for Vesper Bay, determined to find the answers herself. There was no rest for the weary or startled lalafells, however - for now there was another Primal that had been summoned, and one that everyone in the room had dreaded the possibility of.
The Kobolds had summoned Titan, Lord of Crags.
Unfortunately for them, the only ones known to have ever defeated Titan were a group of mercenaries called the Company of Heroes. I say unfortunately, because mercenaries are not ones who keep good records of their battles (for obvious reasons). Thus with little information to go on, most of them were sent to gather as much as they could and piece together everything they could come up with. Though with the others not knowing much of the Lominisan ways, Thancred suggested that she depart with Y'shtola (who was the Scions' representative in La Noscea) at once to see if they could find anyone who once worked with this mercenary group. Both parties agreeing, Y'akeno left with her to meet with the Maelstrom Command. Yet in her briefing, she was surprised to find that Merlwyb herself had decided to meet her in person to debrief her of the situation.
Big surprise: some of the pirates had begun to set up camp on the sacred Kobold lands of Mt. O'Ghomorro and broke the peace treaty between the Lominisans and the beastmen tribes due to murdering their kindred in cold blood for said land. The Kobolds, like many other beast tribes, aren't the sort to take this kind of shitty treatment and thus summoned Titan in self-defense and to gain vengeance on those who killed their own.
Obviously not wanting to sacrifice the lives of those innocent (of this particular act of piracy), the Scions took up the task to try and find where and how they might slay them. Though to their surprise, someone who claimed to be a part of the Company was only malms away. Bidding the Admiral goodbye for now, the pair headed off to see this so-called "hero."
Who they found? Was a weakling of a farmboy who couldn't even slay a lamb, let alone a primal made completely of the hardest rocks known to man.
Having been set on one wild goose chase, he was at least kind enough to say where the real captain was - on the shores of Costa del Sol, working as a security guard. Relieved to finally know where the real one was, they departed for the beach resort immediately-
Only for Y'akeno to be sent on yet another fucking main scenario sidequest-athon to gather materials needed for the "feast" they were setting up for some adventurer and scholar of note. This was much to the detest of both miqo'te, but she complied with the good Captain Wheiskaet's orders. Arguing the point further would only delay their chance to defeat
So it was that she first traveled to Camp Tranquil in the South Shroud to meet with a mercenary-turned-Wood Wailer by the name of Landenel. Of course, the Wood Wailers knew not of his past as one of the Company of Heroes (if they did, they would have discharged him), so Y'akeno promised to not say a word of his past as adventurers barely were above them in terms of honor in most regards. That having been said, he told her of the first ingredient: an adamantoise egg, which would have to be poached from under the watchful eye of his subordinates. Working with him to distract said subordinates with one actually very crucial task of keeping the roads safe from parasitic pests, he warned her of how dangerous it would be - the mother would not be far from the nest, and Adamantoise could stomp a kitten like her flat with one fierce stomp!
Yet Y'akeno was not one to be swayed as she cautiously approached the nesting grounds like her kin, despite all warnings, and with a few arrows that were common for miqo'te to use in their hunts, slew the mother and obtained the egg. Returning to Landenel with the egg and not the size of a pancake, he then sent her to the Forgotten Springs - home of the U tribe and their Nuhn (alpha male), U'lodh Nuhn.
U'lodh Nuhn was also a mercenary before challenging the nuhn before him, and as such was much more cunning in his use of strength. As the U tribe pride themselves in strength and their hunting skills, she found herself being tested like their own kittens in hunting sundrakes and helping the other kittens first learning how to use their fangs and claws (figuratively). Having proved herself a hunter of beast, she was then asked to hunt a beastman. Taking the weapon of one of the local Amal'jaa that had been slain before, she tactfully placed it in an area just inside sight of the nearby camp and waited, slaying the mourning kin of the fallen as he attacked in a rage. The one who joined his brother in the Lifestream that day was the chief of this particular tribe, and in her tactful manner of disposing him, she learned of the next ingredient. With his word of sending it to Costa del Sol, she returned to the beach resort as well.
Only to be told there was one more thing she needed to get: wine. At this point, despite still being a teenager, this was starting to sound like the best fucking idea they had all week.
Luckily, she didn't have to go all the way across the continent this time: just the river to Wineport and talk to a lalafell by the name of Shamani Lohmani. However, what she didn't expect was the reason Wheiskaet had sent her to this particular former mercenary. The answer became clear when he revealed through examining her and the wine order to him that he had indeed lost his ability to seek out adventure through mercenary work when Titan had struck him blind. Briefly disappointed by the fact that nothing in Shamani's stock was worthy of the banquet and the person who did was the least tactful person ever, she helped him try to find a substitute - and learned about the Bacchus vine. Thought to be extinct after the Calamity, they soon lost hope. Though through chance and Shamani sending her to see the man who'd saved him from death's door, they discovered that the vine had survived on the back of a Goobbue due to said person wrapping a coconut wine in the leafs of the very vine thought to have been lost forever.
Taking a branch from the vine for the good people of Wineport to cultivate, the very prick who had so tactlessly turned his nose at her and Shamani gave them the bottle of 1557 Bacchus they needed. Though surprised that Shamani didn't want to keep the wine that had once given him the desire to brew the substance and live to seek out this new calling, she relented to take it back to Costa del Sol and hoped she would soon be a very happy and drunk kitty chilling out on the beach and relaxing after gods knows how many malms she traveled to do this stupid grocery run.
Character World: Y'akeno is from the planet called Hydaelyn, which was named after the Mothercrystal Herself. Most would consider it a sort of medieval setting like most worlds early in the Final Fantasy series, but this is mostly dependent on which area they begin in. As with any Final Fantasy world, magic, summons, and monsters are very much real. As it is Eorzea that is where the game takes place, that is where I will go into detail the most.
It is only since her coming of age that she came to Eorzea, a realm wrought with war with many different factions within itself. It has been five years since the battle at Cartinaeu, in which the lesser moon Dalamud cracked open after the lead mechanic of the Garlean Empire sought to summon it so that the land could be claimed for their emperor. Yet when Dalamud's shell prison was destroyed, the elder Primal Bahamut left naught but fire and death in its wake. This primal left Eorzea scarred and mutilated beyond recognition, and many lost their lives and homes. This included the Archon named Louisoix, who in his wisdom led a band of people who helped to rebuild the Eorzean Alliance between the three city-states of Ul'dah, Gridania, and Limsa Lominsa with the aide of many adventurers of that time. They all fought valiantly that day, a group even slaying the crazed man who had begun summoning Dalamud closer to the planet.
Yet none would "survive" that blast, and the native survivors of the battle with the Garleans that day lost their memories of those brave souls as they vanished in the light. They will never forget what it was that those strangers had done for them that day, yet when they try to recall their names the words die on their lips. They can only remember them as silhouettes between them and a blinding glare. It is for this reason that they chose to call these brave adventurers the "Warriors of Light."
Since then in the realm of Eorzea, the three three main city-states have only begun to heal from the damage the Calamity caused. Yet each have their own problems that have only festered since that day five years ago.
In the coasts of La Noscea rests the city-state of Limsa Lominsa, home to pirates and their families that have sworn allegiance to the Maelstrom and its admiral, Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn. This part of the realm is ravaged with beastmen tribes of Kobolds and Sahagin (also known as fishbacks by the locals), along with the Serpent Reavers who take the Sahagin god Leviathan as their own and kidnap the unsuspecting in sacrifice to said Primal. As much as the Yellow Jackets have done for their city-state, they cannot help but long for the days the Warriors of Light were there to assist them, for when one problem is settled, another arises from the murky depths off La Noscean shores. It is an ongoing war to maintain the peace within itself, never mind the Garleans who have built strongholds within its shores. Brave souls were never more sorely needed in defending these waters.
Within the Black Shroud, most ancient forest at the heart of Eorzea, lies the city-state of Gridania. Home to many Wildwood Elezen, Hyur, and Keeper Miqo'te, the people of Gridania live in isolation from much of the world outside the woods' borders. While all seems peaceful, the people live in fear of what tomorrow may bring as the beastmen tribes of Ixal look to summon their primal Garuda and a faction of the Sylvan tribe summoned Ramuh in response to the Garlean presence in the Shroud. Yes. Like much of the realm, the Black Shroud too was greatly impacted by Dalamud's fall. Yet like most folk who live in isolation, they remain skeptical of those they do now know. While adventurers are sorely needed, they find it hard to gain the trust of many of this city-state's citizenry. Those that do, however, soon find themselves trusted more than some who were forestborn and are often invited to join the Yellow Serpents, headed by none other than the Elder Seedseer Kan-E Senna.
In the deserts of Thanalan rests the city-state of Ul'dah, a desert gem and symbol of defiance against the elements where merchants turn sand into gold. It is here that the government is ruled by both the Sultanate and the Syndicate, though in truth the Syndicate has much of the power in the city and would gladly off the Sultana were it not for the support of the Royalists and the leader of the Immortal Flames, Raubahn Aldynn.
Yet other than the political problems in Ul'dah, there are the beastmen tribes of Amalj'aa that would be happy to take the refugees that camp outside Ul'dahn gates, begging and doing all they can to survive the desert since their homes were destroyed, and sacrifice them and the soldiers that protect all citizens of this city-state to the primal Ifrit. Of all the city-states, Ul'dah suffered the greatest blow after the Calamity and the beginning of the Seventh Umbral Era.
It is in Gridania where Y'akeno Lhea starts her journey as an archer and one of the many adventurers who would come to call Eorzea their second home. She would soon face the mundane tasks and fights that normal citizenry could not. Later, as a member of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn first and sergeant in the Twin Adder second, she would help lead a band of adventurers like herself against the strongholds of the Garlean Empire in all-out war to stop the ultimate threat to the realm: the Ultimate Weapon.
Character Personality: So far as beginnings go, Y'akeno's was a happy one, albiet first faced with the difficulties brought about by those who were sheltered beneath the forest bows and branches of the Black Shroud. For and adventurer, she was a kind and earnest soul who sought to help wherever she could despite how mediocre the task may be. She was happy to do it and smiled at the opportunity to help someone through a rough time. Yes, even those stubborn Wildwood Elezen who looked down on her for not being as tall or presence of a very long tail like her senior at the guild Silvairre. For as kind as she is, she is also a person devoted to the cause she picked up when becoming an adventurer - to see a need and fulfill it even if those she helps do not realize they need it due to pride. This is often shown through her actions towards the aforementioned guildmate: first to prove herself a skilled enough archer, and then later on as he pulled a dumbass move and tried to capture an infamous poacher on his own. One that he'd let escape once before.
Always one to keep a sunny disposition even as the going got tough, she works hard to support her friends as well - why, it's even the reason she became an archer and later a bard! She loves supporting her friends both off and on the battlefield whether it's trying to calm things down or cheer them up or simply putting an arrow between the eyes of someone (though most likely a monster) trying to kill them! Though the calming things down is more common then not in the archery club, helping the people she holds dear find their reason and resolve again is also something she enjoys doing. This she does first for her guildmate Miah, who'd lost sight of her reason for moving to Gridania after her litter were all massacred by Dalamud's fall, and later so many countless others from normal citizens to guildmates and guild leaders alike. To her, seeing their smiling faces return is enough payment (though a bit of coin or maybe a little better armor after a shopping trip is just as fine, too)!
Though that can be a bit of a problem for her as well. For as much as she loves helping others, she will do almost anything for a bit of coin. Most know her as a reliable and compassionate adventurer, much unlike many foreigners that they had met before. but all people need to eat and this kitten seeks power and fame. She wants to be famous for helping others, to be known for her strength and skill on the battlefield and off. This soon comes to bite her after being named Ifrit's Bane when representatives of each grand company of the Eorzean Alliance comes a knockin' on her doorstep, wanting her to join their respective armies. It's Minfilia's quick thinking that saves her from making a rash decision there of course, but later on in her story (later than when I'm taking her), she soon finds that her friends cannot save her from the negatives that power brings and the fame that comes with it. She is selfish this way, almost always shyly hiding behind her fellow Scions when too much fame at once, and it will soon come back to haunt her...
This is why when, after seeing her in action on the battlefield first in La Noscea and then in Western Thanalan, she began to slightly idolize a foreign warrior that she met on her excursions across the realm: a hyur named "Lightning." She seemed to handle her sudden fame after being thrust into a completely different world so well, and obviously she wanted to learn how to manage it too! Yet she was left questioning her motives when she realized that, despite how the Mothercrystal chose her as one of Her champions, she was still free to pick and choose when Lightning wasn't.
She is very much a young woman still finding her path, and how she is left pondering what her desire is worth is a prime example of it. Perhaps strength for strength's sake wasn't what she sought, but rather the willpower to fight under her own power for who and what she believed in...
Character Abilities:
As a Miqo'te of the Seekers of the Sun, Y'akeno has a greater dexterity and strength than the average Hyur, which is what most would consider the human race (though this is not the case in this world for all of the five races are considered human). Due to her race in particular, she also has a superhuman sense of hearing as well as sight. Think of her as a mix between a lioness and a human, only with purple fur. She is skilled mainly in archery and hand-to-hand combat, but with her patron deity being Azemya the Warden, she has an affinity for setting shit on fire.
As if the abilities she was born with weren't enough, she is a chosen emissary of the goddess Hydaelyn. This means she is in possession of a unique ability called the Echo that allows her to see into a person's past (although she can not always control this ability)and interact with those memories, though not outright change events. The Echo also grants immunity to mind manipulation and soul tempering, along with making her capable of understanding anyone who speaks to her in another language and for those who hear her speak will hear her in their own tongues; language barriers be damned.
Classes
Disciples of WarDisciples of Magic
Jobs
Paladin (N/A) | Warrior (N/A) | Bard (lvl 36) | Monk (N/A) | Dragoon (N/A)
White Mage (N/A) | Black Mage (N/A) | Summoner (N/A) | Scholar (N/A)
AND THE LIMIT BREAKS THAT GO WITH THE CLASSES AAAAAAAAAAH
White Mage (N/A) | Black Mage (N/A) | Summoner (N/A) | Scholar (N/A)
AND THE LIMIT BREAKS THAT GO WITH THE CLASSES AAAAAAAAAAH
She also has some skill off the battlefield, though currently they are... lacking in much strength at the present time.
Disciples of the Hand
Carpenter (lvl 3), Blacksmith (lvl 13), Armorer (lvl 10), Goldsmith (lvl 15), Leatherworker (lvl 9), Weaver (lvl 13), Alchemist (lvl 2), Culinarian (lvl 1)
Disciples of the LandCharacter Inventory:
Adventurers have very deep hammerspace pockets when it comes to their inventory, and it is split between the Armory (which is then divided by Main Hand, Head, Body, Hands, Waist, Legs, Feet, Off Hand, Ears, Neck, Wrist, Rings (which they can only equip two of), and Soul Crystals) which they can carry twenty of per subdivision at a time, and Inventory, which they can carry one hundred at a time. This is why there's so much listed, and I apologize for her being a walking department store.
Armory
Main Hand
Grimoire Wing, Aetherial Hard Leather Grimoire, Aetherial Engraved Goatskin Grimoire, Blazefire Saber, Aetherial Brass Dagger, Mog's Staff, Aetherial Brass Cudgel, Binding Rod, Whispering Ash Wand, Bladed Lance, Aetherial Iron Spear, Tidesplitter, Star Seeker, Serpent Private's Bow, Vega Knuckles, Aetherial Brass Knuckles, l'Cie Bardiche, Aetherial Iron War Axe
Head
Monoa Mask, Cotton Turban, Hard Leather Eyepatch, Pirate's Bandana, Hunting Hat, Velveteen Turban, Steel Sallet, Skull Eyepatch, Bronze Barbut, Aetherial Bronze Celata, Brass Spectacles, Aetherial Ash Mask, Silver Spectacles, Hempen Bandana, Amateur's Headgear (HQ), Cotton Scarf, Hempen Coif of Gathering
Body
Foestriker's Tabard, Plundered Jacket, Aetherial Cotton Tabard, Velveteen Shirt, Toadskin Jacket, Bronze Haubergeon, Plundered Cuirass, Plundered Haubergeon, Steel Scale Mail, Plundered Bliaud, Acolyte's Robe, Velveteen Robe, Hempen Shepherd's Tunic, Amateur's Kurta, Hempen Doublet Vest of Crafting, Hempen Dalmatica of Gathering, Amateur's Doublet Vest, Hempen Doublet Vest of Gathering (HQ), Miqo'te Separates
Hands
Foestriker's Mitts, Fingerless Goatskin Gloves, Plundered Gauntlets, Steel Scale Fingers, Guardian Corps Gauntlets, Acolyte's Halfgloves, Hempen Halfgloves, Hempen Shortgloves, Amateur's Smithing Gloves, Cotton Halfgloves, Hempen Work Gloves, Leather Wristguards, Miqo'te Gloves
Waist
Hard Leather Hunting Belt, Cotton Longsash, Voyager's Belt, Aetherial Goatskin Belt, Toadskin Voyager's Belt, Bronze Plate Belt, Hard Leather Satchel Belt, Plundered Rope Belt, Sylvan Silk Belt, Merchant's Purse, Hard Leather Merchant's Pouch, Leather Shepherd's Belt
Legs
Hempen Trousers, Foestriker's Skirt, Velveteen Sarouel, Serpent Private's Kecks, Aetherial Padded Hempen Trousers, Guardian Corps Skirt, Aetherial Cotton Breeches, Hempen Breeches of Crafting, Hempen Chausses, Hempen Bottoms, Hempen Shepherd's Slops, Amateur's Slops, Miqo'te Loincloth
Feet
Leather Jackboots, Hard Leather Caligae, Plundered Moccasins, Foestriker's Boots, Goatskin Leggings, Bronze Sabatons, Aetherial Iron Sabatons, Guardian Corps Boots, Acolyte's Thighboots, Maple Pattens, Amateur's Thighboots, Leather Duckbills of Gathering (HQ), Leather Shoes, Miqo'te Shoes
Off Hand
Bronze Scutum (HQ), Warded Round Shield, Nightprowler's Targe, Amateur's Awl, Amateur's Pliers, Amateur's Spinning Wheel, Amateur's Grinding Wheel, Bronze File, Amateur's Mortar, Amateur's Claw Hammer
Neck
Ears
Bomb Earrings, Cactuar Earrings, Plundered Ear Cuffs, Sunstone Earrings, Silver Ear Cuffs, Serpent Sergeant's Ear Cuffs, Copper Earrings, Fang Earrings
Wrists
Leather Wristbands, Hard Leather Wristbands, Dawn Wristguards, Goatskin Wristbands, Boarskin Wristbands, Copper Wristlets, Brass Wristlets, Aetherial Danburite Bracelet, Brass Wristlets of Crafting
Rings
Ring of Fortitude, Copper Ring, Gridanian Ring, Silver Ring, Sphene Ring, Bone Ring, Coral Ring, Brass Ring of Crafting
Soul Crystals
Inventory
68,050 gil
Bronze Head Knife, Bronze Doming Hammer (HQ), Amateur's Needle (HQ), Amateur's Chaser Hammer (HQ), Weathered Skillet, Amateur's Cross-pein Hammer, Weathered Saw, Weathered Alembic, Bronze Pickaxe, Weathered Hatchet, Weathered Fishing Rod
Potion x3, Hi-Potion x49, Ether x13, Hi-Ether x3, Earth Ward Potion x6, Potion of Dexterity x3, Hi-Potion of Dexterity x3, Gysahl Greens x98, Lugworm (fish bait) x89, Gridanian Sparklers x40, Hempen Yarn x80, Undyed Hempen Cloth x80, Cotton Yarn x80, Undyed Cotton Cloth x80, Bronze Ingots x80, Copper Ingots x80, Brass Ingots x80, misc. feathers and mineral ores.
Bronze Head Knife, Bronze Doming Hammer (HQ), Amateur's Needle (HQ), Amateur's Chaser Hammer (HQ), Weathered Skillet, Amateur's Cross-pein Hammer, Weathered Saw, Weathered Alembic, Bronze Pickaxe, Weathered Hatchet, Weathered Fishing Rod
Potion x3, Hi-Potion x49, Ether x13, Hi-Ether x3, Earth Ward Potion x6, Potion of Dexterity x3, Hi-Potion of Dexterity x3, Gysahl Greens x98, Lugworm (fish bait) x89, Gridanian Sparklers x40, Hempen Yarn x80, Undyed Hempen Cloth x80, Cotton Yarn x80, Undyed Cotton Cloth x80, Bronze Ingots x80, Copper Ingots x80, Brass Ingots x80, misc. feathers and mineral ores.
Samples: Test Drive thread
With how overtaxed she'd been in an attempt to get the information she needed to even find Titan in the first place, the respite was a welcomed one that she reveled in. Quite frankly, after doing everything but slay a dragon, she was exhausted, so peaceful city that also needed help? She could definitely do this and then be on her way.
At least, that's what she did as she practiced the two songs she already knew, plucking at the strings with the thoughts of what she'd seen fresh in her mind. From the grizzly sights of Meteorfall through anothers' eyes, to the comrades she lost to Ifrit's inferno. And yet, there was a twang of confusion in the melody. She knew this song, of course- knew the meaning behind it in her head - yet she faltered, gaze lowering. Jehantel had always told her that bards who sung of songs that did not resonate with their soul, who elaborated beyond the truth, always sounded hollow. It was always why she sung of hope and happy things, an encouragement to those around her and of the joys of adventuring.
The last thing she wanted to do was be a hollow din in the crowd like he'd warned, so obviously it was time to do what Miounne had suggested and stick her nose in everyone's business like she always did, make all the friends, and do what she could to help these people even if she wasn't from around here and didn't know their customs. Having given the chilly air the ol' one-two punch in an effort to rally herself up, she placed her harp back where it belonged and began walking back toward the third district. Who knows? Maybe she could find a couple odd jobs to help the locals and guests alike!
"...the Land's alive, so believe..."
Canon Update #1
Canon: [OU/OC] Final Fantasy XIV
Previous Canon Point: What Do You Mean You Forgot The Wine Main Scenario quest.
New Canon Point: Build on the Stone Main Scenario quest.
Significant changes due to new canon point:
Physically, she has stayed the same height and weight. Though her hair has grown out some, and the shock and grief caused by witnessing her friends and much of her second family dying at the hands of imperials (via the Echo) have taken its toll. The vibrant purple and lavender streaks in her fur have greyed, and she sports a few scars on her left cheek from taking one of Garuda's plumes striking her in the face. She has matured much in the many months from the Fetchquest From Hell to this point, even so much as cutting her hair a new way in a homage to her deceased mother.
Yet the changes are not just physical for her. Over the many moons, she has mastered her art of war and continued on to learn other styles and begun supplimenting her archery with the skills learned in other forms of the martial arts. If anything, she has begun picking up other classes so as to not feel as much of a burden on her fellow Free Company members - and to be her very best in the trials to come.
Y'akeno has struggled much while home, and this struggle reached a climax when she returned to the Waking Sands after the primal Titan's defeat and she found the corpses her friends left behind and their lifeblood splattering the halls. They, and a few imperial soldiers who were left there to rot. The shock took its toll on her mind to the point where she fled back to the Shroud where she stayed with her Bard instructor, Jehantel, for some few days learning new things while mourning before other survivors began to speak up over their linkshells. Moved to tears in front of her instructor, she soon returned to Ul'dah to sign the Free Company petition for the Crystalborn before transporting Noraxia back to their home in Little Solace so that she may be buried in the Sylvan manner.
It was after consoling Frixio that she did not suffer ere long that she vowed vengeance upon the one who had killed her friend, and realized just why she wanted to become stronger; why she fought. She did not want to lose the others she had left, nor did she want to be a burden on others anymore after a lifetime of being the weakest in her family. Despite her constant smiles and her carefree manner, she always worried about being the runt of the group every time. So she pushed herself a little harder, learning new moves and new songs as she went so that she could better support her friends and soothe the anger and pain that resided within them all. She even began to work on her crafting more in their downtime, in hopes that it would be good enough to protect them in battle.
Even before she is asked to learn the grief of others by her mentor Jehantel, she felt it resonating in her heart and the soul crystal as she drew her bow on the aldgoats who mourned for their own loss. It was the same grief she and her friends still fought through day after day, striving to rebuild after the empire's attack on their shared home. At last, she knew who she fought for.
She fought for her friends, and there was no way that the encroaching darkness was taking that away from her again.
So when Y'akeno learned that Jehantel was the archer sung about in The Vainglorious Fool, she could not help but sympathize with him. She too felt that way, but found herself humbled by the lessons and the echoes that resonated from his past. He had lost his friends in his own pursuit to find a bit of glory for himself, just like she had and never wanted to again. As kindred spirits, the two traveled to Coerthas to pay respects to his fallen unit when the Ixal had other plans. On her own (as Jehantel had difficulty picking up a bow again after failing so hard before), Y'akeno found herself against an entire party of Ixali soldiers and watchwolves. Yet as the battle for their lives raged on, she found Jehantel's songs fortifying her spirit as her own fortified his. In their shared song of grief, the final chord hit a note of hope for them both as he saved Y'akeno from the last standing Ixal with a single shot to the head.
Having taught him how to take a step forward, she was a bard in her own right, and now geared with the traditional garb of one, ready to go to war alongside her friends and family. Standing with the other Crystalborn, they together faced the darkness as others cleared the path before them to Livia sans Arvina and Gaius van Baelsar, and eventually, a Lahabrea-possessed Thancred. With their Crystals raised aloft, their combined Light pierced the darkness like an arrow to the heart. Thus was the realm saved from their imperial foes and Thancred saved from Lahabrea's thrall.
The months passed, and as they slayed the primals once more and the realm awakened as the Seventh Astal Era began, the Crystalborn found themselves amidst preparations for moving the Scions of the Seventh Dawn's headquarters from the Waking Sands in Vesper Bay to the Rising Stones in Mor Dhona. Despite Minfilia's hesitation, all concerns were soon laid to rest as F'laminn reassured her daughter that it would be fine. Thus with packing and much of the Scions already departed, they prepared to make their own leave when they heard the Antecedent scream in pain from the Solar.
Another Ascian had come knocking, and he too sought audience with those who had "the Gift and knowledge." The Crystalborn found him in the middle of broad daylight, and he began testing them as they traveled northward. Leaving naught but cryptic hints as to what the Echo is truly capable of when mastered, even going so far as to say that when it was mastered they would be as equals, Elidibius disappeared once more into the Void.
They began their treck to Revenant's Toll, and as they settled into the Rising Stones, they gained word of a new predicament.
The Students of Baldesion, their distant allies in the Sharlayan motherland, had grown silent...
Overview
Over the course of the ordeal to lay Titan low to the point of her return to Saeng Seong from Coerthas, her relationships with her friends in the Crystalborn have strengthened greatly. Some would even say to the point of surrogate family. Said family includes the lalafellin Allumette Honeycutt (Monk), Kha'li Lakari (White Mage), Arenlona (Warrior), and Gaia (Paladin). The closest of these to her are Gaia and Kha'li, the latter whom has dragged her around on envoy adventures once she learned that her song had a mana-amplifying effect.
She has become a Bard in her own right, and begun mastering other classes of war, and grown up considerably as a result while still remaining the same derpy kitty everyone who knows her has come to love.
Powers
Archer/Bard: progression made to level 46 abilities.
Pugilist: progression made to level 42 abilities.
Lancer: progression made to level 34 abilities.
Gladiator and Marauder: progression made to level 16 abilities.
Conjurer: progression made to level 34 abilities.
Thaumaturge: progression made to level 26 abilities.
Arcanist: progression made to level 18 abilities.
Peaceful skills
Goldsmith: progression made to level 45.
Leatherworker: progression made to level 45.
Other classes of hand and land remain the same as when applied.