#FINAL FANTASY XIV ROLEPLAY

[gatheredfates]

Hi! My name is Sea, and I like to collect things. 🌿

Specifically, as of February this year, I have made it my mission to collect as many resources for the Final Fantasy community as I can; including, but not limited to: Communities, Events, Free Companies, How-To Guides, Lore, Tools and more! I have compiled them into Sea's Community Compendium for FFXIV Creatives, a venture I hope will service as a directory for new and old FFXIV players alike to find places and things they might not otherwise know about, and I'm proud to say that the Compendium has over a hundred individual entries!

...But I want more.

Specifically, as much as this is a call to introduce new people to the Compendium, it is a call for anyone who might know of specific resources/communities that not in the document to take a moment's time out of their day to let me know about them. You can submit specific resources via:

My tumblr dm's.

This handy google form.

Or SEAFLOOR, my support and social community for the Compendium and adjacent projects.

You do not need to be a resource/server owner to submit; there just needs to be a publicly accessible link. ✨

Projects like mine equally cannot survive without the support of the community. If you like what I do, please reblog this post or share it with your friends; post it in your community servers or link it on your social media(s). The more visibility I get, the larger the Compendium becomes and the more likely you are to find a resource or community to suit your needs.

Okay, but really, Is my space suitable for the Compendium? Most of the time, yes! Below the read more is some more information/stipulations. This is all publicly available on the document.

Below are the following things I do not accept on the Compendium:

Personal/Single-Character LFC ads. (Though these get posted to the SEAFLOOR Tumblr Community when I find them!)

Content intended for or can be used for bullying, harassment and OOC gossip. E.g. ‘Secrets’ blogs, receipts, callout posts, etc. This does not include IC tabloid blogs or other ventures used to generate roleplay.

Communities that do not have an RP/writing element (large-scale exempt).

Anything I find personally distasteful or goes against the spirit of this project.

Common-sense rule applies.

I want to put my community on the Compendium but we have an application process. Is this okay?

Yes! Just note somewhere in your application that's a requirement. The only thing that is mandatory for the Compendium is that you must be open to new members or have a public-facing/accessible facet. There's no point advertising a community if no one can join it in some way!

I want to put my Community on the compendium but I only have x number of members —

Also totally okay! People don't start with large communities. Activity is a must but, whether your server has two or two thousand members, if you're looking for new people to join, I'd love to help you find people.

I want to put my community/resource on the Compendium but I worry its too niche?

Okay, and? If your Eorzean Fishing Alliance has four members but you roleplay every second weekend, I still want to know about it. The same goes for resources; if it's relevant to the game, it'll be useful to someone.

How active does a community need to be?

If you find a community has not been active in about two/three months, send me a message and I'll take a look at it. Communities have ebbs and flows, especially event spaces that may take hiatuses depending on member interest/life events. I'm not strict in my implementation provided a space isn't dead. If a link or anything is broken, contact me asap!

I have [insert a question not stated here]?

No drama! Send me an ask or use the #Compendium channel in my Discord!

[biff-adventurer]

roleplay tips: characterization

so it's come to my attention that there's a misunderstanding on what "characterization" actually is. we all know what the phrase implies: we make sure we know why characters do what they do, be it an immediate influence or one from the distant past, as well as the beliefs they hold and the personality traits they display.

however, i've seen people have trouble actually executing the character traits they want to the detriment of themselves and others. this post is meant to clarify the execution of characterization in the context of spontaneous roleplay.

i'll take biff as an example just so no one else feels self-conscious. so biff, poster boy wol, himbo, literal meme incarnate (born from the little comic that goes: i wonder what the wol is doing? while wol is bouncing on the egg mount in the background), hero of eorzea blah blah.

what did i want for this character?

thematic cores: love, adventure. what kind of love? love in all directions; what does it mean to love so fully and so easily? what does it mean to have unfettered compassion for the problems of others? life is an adventure, and i want to see the world. i am full of endless curiosity, i am excited to find all that life has to offer. wherever i go, i love and i learn. because i love you, i will do everything in my power to bring you ease and happiness. (i want to be loved. i want to be worthy. do i matter? i'm sorry. i'm trying my best.)

personality traits: passionate to the extreme, whether it be joy, sorrow, anger, fear, guilt, etc etc. not book smart, but heart smart (he has to be able to make friends somehow). self-effacing, to a fault. temper problems. an insecurity driven need to always be useful to the people he loves, or else he will be irrelevant and forgotten. a strong sense of justice. incredibly stubborn. untrusting toward those he loves, and too trusting of strangers. impressionable. very emotionally sensitive, and wears his heart on his sleeve. pretty standard hero character stuff, anyway.

how do i enact this in roleplay?

spontaneous roleplay often puts roleplayers in situations where they have to make quick decisions while they respond to the simuli around them. since we want to be expedient for the sake of others, it can be hard to see what shape your choices take in the long run.

to deal with this, i look at my character's internal emotional reaction first. then, i go on to consider what possible dialogue choices i have to work with, and what trait each would show about my character. since the telltale games were very popular when i was a younger rper, i tend to map out my characters' responses as though they are part of a telltale storyline.

Biff's Husband: “You have such a soft, tender heart. I love every inch of you.”

the options i can consider here:

"Even the dangly bits?" eyebrow waggle (flirty)

"Yer always so kind to me, husband." (low self-esteem)

"I can't help it. I know how it feels to be a stray." (empathetic)

"And your wisdom protects it valiantly." (grateful)

"I wish I could see it the way you do." (frustrated)

the action or dialogue i choose depends on how i want the RP to go, or what tone we established earlier, or what kind of plots we've agreed to cover. from the above, i chose option 3 because it extends to a greater conversation about feelings and motivations. it lets in the other character while also giving biff a chance to talk about himself in a way that invites someone else to share something vulnerable.

obviously, it demonstrates empathy. the other choices would have lead me down other roads. i usually have a flowchart in my head for how i think this will all play out.

flirty > his husband likely feels dismissed > husband frowns and elbows biff (or worse) > biff is embarrassed for trying to flirt so either he laughs it off or very sadly apologizes > if he laughs, it makes his husband feel dismissed again > suddenly our characters are in a conflict and we're tasked with ushering them out of it, which is a pain > can point toward an unwillingness to open up

low self-esteem > husband feels compelled to comfort him > biff grows upset that he's made it about himself > onus on husband to dispel the situation or let biff sulk by himself > uncomfortable for ooc and ic, and demonstrates a self-absorption trait we don't want (unless this story was originally sought out)

empathetic > husband feels invited into the conversation and shares how he feels like a stray > biff asks him to say more about that > suddenly they're having a deep conversation about their pasts > possible character development or bond deepening

grateful > husband feels appreciated and vows to continue protecting his husband > biff holds him tight > romantic sweet nothings ensue in perpetuity > fluff roleplay activate!

frustrated > husband concerned about biff's temper > biff continues to grow frustrated at his own inadequacies > roleplay turns serious in tone > suddenly i have to find a way to diffuse biff's temper or burden my rp partner with the task > can imply instability of character, which can be dangerous for character and relationship

i apologize if this all sounds very "duh, gwenny, i'm not STOOPID", but i think it's important to make explicit what often goes unsaid, for the benefit of those who can't articulate exactly what they're looking to do. i could give another example involving more conflict, but i think that might be overkill.

all the little choices in dialogue are the actions you're taking in character. not just the literal actions of whether or not you're fighting. what your character says reflects what they believe. if you want them to show up as an empathetic person, you've gotta actively choose empathy or make it obvious to others the way your character speaks that they're coming from a place of empathy. it all adds up to a bigger picture, and suddenly you've realized that you're getting the ending that you wanted, because you worked hard to get there.

obviously, you can't always know how others will receive your character. my character would be a lot louder, cartoonish and unhinged in a closed story than he typically is in roleplay venues. that's because venues are active scenes where we're dealing with other parties who want to have a good time! we don't wanna put a damper on their day unless they're expecting meatball-spicy drama. we often have to give a lot more space for others to be included than we normally would in a fic, where we establish everything on our own.

BUT, having several different choices prepares you for any future misunderstandings. you can tell them your character's motive during that period, but when you are ultimately asked to do something different because of some mistake, you have other choices and a clearer picture of how to have your character create and progress relationships in a story. and you show you are willing to work on both your character and yourself, as well as offer compromises via these other paths, in order to tailor the bond between two characters in a way both parties can agree on.

and it becomes a lot easier to own up to mistakes when you look at your character as both a person that is not you and a literary device meant to convey certain ideas. it's not a personal attack on what you believe, but rather a comment on how people feel from what you've written. that is very useful feedback, for both fics and roleplay writing.

trust me, this comes from years of making incredibly embarrassing mistakes and having to write them into character development unwittingly, because i was an idiot. so unto you i bestow these tools to avoid the shame i suffered......

[mooglemeet]

As it has been almost two months since the last headcount post, I thought it was time we do another — kupo!

Please like and reblog this post if you are an active Final Fantasy XIV blog focusing on one (or more) of the following: roleplay, writing & worldbuilding.

It does not matter how active you are at all three, only that you participate in some of it and would like to follow more likeminded people.

The bigger this post gets, the more people can have a look through it and follow people they like the look of! You can also reblog this post to give a little blurb about yourself, which I'll reblog back here, or even make you're own separate post tagging @mooglemeet that I will reblog for extra traction!

This headcount was posted 9/30/2023, to help gauge overall activity of users on it!

[brightblessed]

Not making a real promo yet -- But like / reblog this if you are interested in writing with Roi Coello, an indie original character based in the Final Fantasy XIV universe (primarily as the Warrior of Light). He also has a Final Fantasy XVI verse. This blog is remade but was originally established in 2019. If you damaged angry boys who use big swords and magic --- Please enjoy my son here.

[scion-of-wisdom]

Many people presume a great many things about my sister and I.

One of them is that I simply *must* be an early riser, with my sister being the opposite. I do wonder where this assumption comes from.

More often than not, Alisaie must come and wake *me* in the morning, or I will sleep until the afternoon.

Just some thoughts, as I am up rather early this morning and awaiting her to come in and drag me out of bed to start the day.

[mist-touchedxiv]

Chapter 7

Emerging from the flames of a must unfortunate home came one of the most fearsome sights on any battlefield with the Garleans. Fiery debris slid off the armored hide of the Reaper as it pushed through a wall like it was nothing more than a beaded curtain; the cackle of the Mi'qote woman echoed through the empty street.

"Gods DAMN, you really are an imbecile! You should've kept moving on, vagabond. A few bruises on some nobody, a little something to whet our appetites and we could've just moved on," she taunted from the magitek armor as she languidly stretched in the pilot seat. "But now? Now we have to get rough." To accentuate her point, she let loose a photon stream with a cacophonous staccato at the Viera, who dove out of the way behind a metal container. Arrows weren't going to do much to an armored monstrosity as that. The Mi'qote was an experienced pilot and likely wouldn't allow herself to be vulnerable to arrows, even the praeternaturally skillful archery of the Viera.

"You could save everyone a lot of grief and turn yourself in. A pretty boy like you..." She licked her lips. "Could fetch quite a high price..." she purred as she leaned behind a shield that took an arrow from Loksen with a solid thud. "More than we could squeeze from these bumpkins. You gotta be faster than that," she added with a laugh as she launched another volley of photon stream into the container he hid behind, easily chipping away the metal as he shifted behind the available cover.

Once the burst ceased, Loksen dashed from behind cover and closed the distance with the magitek armor, sheathed sword in hand. With surprising agility, the mech hopped away and launched another burst of strafing fire. A flash of steel and Loksen managed draw his blade and deflect one of the projectiles that got too close as he rolled out of the way.

"Quick little bunny, aren't you," sneered the Mi'qote. "We have the firepower, so just come quietly!"

Loksen's blade gleamed in the firelight as he turned it over on his hand. Retrieving his flask of sake, he took a deep draught then spewed the liquor onto his blade and sheathed it while lowering his stance.

"Real hard arse, ain'tcha," said the Mi'qote with a smirk as she looked at his unusual katana. "We may have to take your head and your steel. Nice piece of work. Probably get a nice-"

Taking a deep breath, the Viera suddenly surged forward with thunderous bang that turned him into a streak of fire that slid to a stop behind the Reaper. Loksen paused a moment in the follow through, holding a now burning blade.

The Mi'qote blinked in surprised, momentarily stunned before trying to bring the Reaper around to blow away the annoyance. Except, she found that the magitek armor's legs had been cut clean through and came crashing to the ground, the cuts glowing red-hot from the slash. As she struggled to extricate herself from the incapacitated Reaper, she found the flaming tip of Loksen's blade at her throat. Looking up, her eyes met the practically glowing icy eyes of the Viera as intense aetheric pressure seemed to emanate from him and with a sigh, she accepted her defeat.

[sugar-rush-monk]

I wanna get in on some fun, too!

Without taking new pics, post one of your OCs as:

1. A Romanceable NPC

2. A Quest Giver

3. Final Boss

[luxscalis]

The night beacons while you dream.

luxscalis﹐semi selective. mutuals only. ashe glasswell/ warrior of light from final fantasy XIV. adored by mephisto ( she/her ). please read googledoc before interacting!

NOT SPOILER FREE

carrd (rules and bio) promo template

[scion-of-valor]

Do you have a soul mate?

Well... how should I know? If I have one, they certainly haven't made themselves known to me.

Although, if you are broadening the term to exist outside of a romantic scope... oh, gods, I can't believe I'm about to admit this, but... there is something to be said about the bond between twins. There is no one that gets me like Alphinaud does. It's not uncommon to see us communicate across a room via subtle facial expressions. If I could only choose one person to spend my time with for the rest of eternity, it would be him.

[brightblessed-aa]

𝖨'𝗏𝖾 𝗀𝗂𝗏𝖾𝗇 𝗎𝗉 𝗈𝗇 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖻𝗅𝖾𝗌𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌 ⸻ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜'𝗺 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱.

 ⸻⸻ 【 rules. ┊about. ┊verses. ┊promo template. 】

[gatheredfates]

Hi everyone! It's been a hot minute since I did a Compendium update, but I promise I'm not dead. For those who don't know, I got a new job! That meant pretty much the entirety of October was spent wrapping up my old job, going to my new site and trying to learn the new one. I'm on break in approximately two weeks, yay! ☃️

These updates will take on a wintery/Starlight theme to celebrate the season, much like All Saints. I hope you enjoy.

Additionally, myself and the lovely folks at SEAFLOOR are having a Catch up (for) Starlight Challenge! You should join us if you're interested. ❄️

However, without further the following communities have been added to Sea's Community Compendium for XIV Creatives.

LARGE SCALE

The Help Lines—We are a community-based discord to be used to play the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV. We host almost all content including DRS and BA, Raiding, Deep Dungeons, Blue Mage and more. Our mission is to create a welcoming space for any individual in need of assistance to reach out and accomplish their FFXIV goals in a toxicity-free environment.

The Aether Entertainer—Founded in 2021 on Aether, The Aether Entertainer is player-made virtual magazine covering music, theatre, art, current events, and Eorzean popular culture.

LORE

Final Flowery XIV—Compiled by ann0yance(bsky)/@sa8oteur, this guide explores the various flowers in XIV, comparing them to their real-world equivalents and meanings.

On Elementals, Accountability and Criticism—An essay written by @morgana96 that explores the lore of elementals and their place in Gridania (and beyond)!

MISC

Vanilla Gpose Tips by Winterdeepelegy—A how-to guide on effectively utilising the vanilla gpose tools to create visually stunning screenshots, written by @winterdeepelegy.

WoL Reference Sheet—Created by @coldshrugs, a handy WoL reference sheet you can build in Canva!

NA GPOSE Studio/Themed Housing Directory—A player-made repository of North American Gpose studios and themed houses!

CHANGELOG

The Scholar's of Nym—The link has been modified at the request of the owner.

Skystone Co.—Has been removed at the request of its owner.

UI Macro Menus—The link has been modified to accurately reflect the bookmark.

Have you thought about joining our Tumblr Community? You can find it here!

Want to submit? You can either fill out the google form here or send me an ask with the relevant information!

Is my space suitable for the Compendium? Most of the time, yes! Below the read more is some more information/stipulations. This is all publicly available on the document. 🦌

Below are the following things I do not accept on the Compendium:

Personal/Single-Character LFC ads. (Though these get posted to the SEAFLOOR Tumblr Community when I find them!)

Content intended for or can be used for bullying, harassment and OOC gossip. E.g. ‘Secrets’ blogs, receipts, callout posts, etc. This does not include IC tabloid blogs or other ventures used to generate roleplay.

Communities that do not have an RP/writing element (large-scale exempt).

Anything I find personally distasteful or goes against the spirit of this project.

Common-sense rule applies.

I want to put my community on the Compendium but we have an application process. Is this okay?

Yes! Just note somewhere in your application that's a requirement. The only thing that is mandatory for the Compendium is that you must be open to new members or have a public-facing/accessible facet. There's no point advertising a community if no one can join it in some way!

I want to put my Community on the compendium but I only have x number of members —

Also totally okay! People don't start with large communities. Activity is a must but, whether your server has two or two thousand members, if you're looking for new people to join, I'd love to help you find people.

I want to put my community/resource on the Compendium but I worry its too niche?

Okay, and? If your Eorzean Fishing Alliance has four members but you roleplay every second weekend, I still want to know about it. The same goes for resources; if it's relevant to the game, it'll be useful to someone.

How active does a community need to be?

If you find a community has not been active in about two/three months, send me a message and I'll take a look at it. Communities have ebbs and flows, especially event spaces that may take hiatuses depending on member interest/life events. I'm not strict in my implementation provided a space isn't dead. If a link or anything is broken, contact me asap!

I have [insert a question not stated here]?

No drama! Send me an ask or use the #Compendium channel in my Discord!

[biff-adventurer]

are you a player looking for a forum to converse with other fans? sign up today for this totally free experience run by people who care! you'll probably get the exact username you want! slow pacing, polite folks and mutual excitement about the wondrous world of final fantasy xiv - join us! (oneofusoneofusoNEOFUS)

[tenuuchlegch]

"Down this road he calls to me,

And yet Truth calls from beyond the fog."

Independent, roleplay blog for a FFXIV Warrior of Light/OC. Is oc and crossover friendly. Penned by Bunny.

Please read the rules, before following.

CARRD.

[nonamedrk]

The Exile's Blaze pt. 1

::Summary:: Ysolie has spent months in exile from the clan and finally someone has come to retrieve them. News about their grandmother's impending death follows. ::Content Warning:: Family drama, Violence, blood, horror, bad parents, sadness... Thanks for reading!!! 💙 [<- Previous: Writing Prompt - Fulsome]

He shivered in the midst of another lovely Coerthas day, “Can we at th’ least speak inside?”

“No. Sawbones needs beauty sleep,” responded Ysolie dryly. They started walking and expected him to follow, not sparing a glance over their shoulder to check. His boots crunched over the snow after the briefest hesitation as he, no doubt, practically drug his feet with reluctance, a thought that made Ysolie’s blood boil.

How dare he be the reluctant one when Ysolie was the one who didn’t want to talk in the first place? A sharp hiss of disgust left Ysolie as, around the corner of the building and to the back, the two walked. Forgotten for decades but somewhat restored by Ysolie, there stood the back deck of the Inn, constructed from sturdy stone and metal, coated in layers of ice and snow.

At their gesture, the man moved toward one of two benches positioned around a fire pit, which was covered with a sturdy metal cover to keep the snow out. A dejected sigh escaped him as he settled down loudly enough for Ysolie to hear.

“Y’ain’t gotta be ‘ere. Matterfact y’can leave-”

“Little bean, please,” sighed Derrisenois, “No need t’be so…”

When his voice trailed off, Ysolie shot him a look that threatened a bloodletting, before turning away from him. Whipping a tarp up and over a protected stash of firewood, Ysolie decided to redirect their irritated energy toward tossing said wood toward the fire pit.

“Cranky,” finished their father finally, as he watched the first quarter log split from the force of its landing. “Sleep well? Ya always get like this without sleep, eh?”

An inability to speak was inherent in just how hard Ysolie was grinding their teeth at that moment. While they wanted to get right down to business— to demand an explanation for why Derrisenois was here, now, of all times— certain practices needed to be observed.

Tradition and duty kept Ysolie from screaming as they chucked more wood and a mild bit of tension was resolved as they heard the scrape of metal across stone— the sure sign that Derrisenois had removed the cover from the fire pit. At least he was helping prior to irrevocably harming— as Ysolie assumed he was here to do.

Together in silence they built the fire, with Derrisenois having come prepared with dried aromatic mushrooms for it. As was customary he added them to the tinder— the blaze burned blue and became sweetly scented as a result of their burning. Ysolie sat next to their father with as much space as they could make between them on the bench.

In their shared native tongue, carried over glaciers tall and tunnels deep, the likes of which where once lively, dark and warm, with a people now displaced, Derrisenois spoke the words carried by the hands of generations of tradition, “Let shine thy eyes ‘afore the Exile’s blaze— we meet as those blessed by the Dark God, united in her Clan.”

“Fight/Survive, Battle/Be Tested,” Ysolie spoke in return.

Returning to the common tongue, Derrisenois spoke before Ysolie could take a breath, “Y’never returned m’letters— I ain’t here t’chastise. But if y’read’em it’s clear—”

“—Etienne’s dyin’. But ‘s false I say,” Ysolie growled, “She wants me f’somethin’ sles. I read that one at th' least.”

“False? Y’ain’t seen’er,” Derrisenois replied with a weight to his tone Ysolie was unfamiliar with, “Her eyes’ve gone black now. Skin’s cold past few months. She picks’er sword up one day past week n’demands t’see ya— tryna speak it, even. Scream it.”

Ysolie kept silent. Etienne was well into her late eighties and she had managed to heft a sword up— which in her prime was heavy still— and demand to see them? While trying to speak? Ysolie’s grandmother had been mute since her late teens, due to an illness common in the Homeland, so if it were true she was trying to speak then—

“Simple— ‘er mind’s gone. Ain’t unusual f’cursed eighties,” Ysolie grumbled.

“No. Ogrette’s say she’s been this way f’some time past a dream— one ‘bout Blessed Eight Gaze turned ‘pon ya,” Derrisenois informed them, looking around the fire pit briefly.

Without a word, Ysolie tilted their head at an ancient crooked rusted dulled sword, and Derrisenois took it up to prod at the burning logs. One split, sending a moment of blazing blue and competing red sparks into the silence between them.

With a certain quivering hesitancy, Derrisenois asked, “Were it true, that dream?”

Ysolie turned their eyes away from the flame then held his gaze. Mortality stared back at Ysolie, or so they saw. It was in the new wrinkles in his brow— the aged bite at his temples, that had turned even more of his hair pale since last they’d saw him. More than age, Ysolie saw worry, and a somberness that had eased its way into his typically jovial features, before those wrinkles twisted with confusion.

He leaned closer, inquiring softly, “Did ya do somethin’ t’ya eyes?”

Breaking his gaze at this point would be disrespectful, so Ysolie avoided the question, by posing another, “What more’s Ogrette say f’Etienne?”

“Methinks ya want ask f’Lafayiera's condition instead,” Derrisenois struck back in their subtle but definitely brewing argument.

Baring their teeth, Ysolie swallowed then spat back, “M’concern’s not f’her— th’Elders must’ve convened ‘bout Etienne, no?”

“Y’broke ‘er right femur, lil bean,” Derrisenois replied, “Fractured, eh? Not full break, mind. Lafayiera couldn't walk f'near two moons n' drags still."

Ysolie held their chin up a fraction and responded, as lowly and controlled as they could, “N’who’s voice were absent in th’argument leadin’ to that? Ya saw’er— she tried for m’godsdamned sword arm— ya saw’s it n’said nothin’— I meant what I said ‘bout ya then, damn it— repeat it y’self.”

Derrisenois visibly recoiled and let his eyes fall. A heavy moment of fire crackling silence was broken as he replied in a small voice, “How’s it feel t’be so right?”

Not expecting such a response, Ysolie stared at him wide eyed, as Derrisenois continued, “Ya branded me right. M’cowardice, eh? It were th’whole reason— well— why I’m ‘ere t’meet with ya and able, huh? Whole reason I were exiled t’below in m’youth but, aye, pay’s off now. Shame f'me, I hold th' bottom alone. No one else could be’ere t’talk otherwise— I’m th’weakest n’meekest o’all the clan now, seems.”

Those words hovered briefly in the cold air before he continued, voice breaking ever so slightly, “Always's have been, eh? N'ya were right. We should all be grateful t'have Blademaster like ya t'keep us well.”

He smiled despairingly as he gazed toward the fire, which was spitting red, as the last of the blue began to burn out, “Too weak t’speak when counts, I am— easy t’brush aside— ignore n’such— it’s why she wanted me, see? They says marks o’Redeemed make ya good candidate f’Bond but. No. I never believed that. Folk back then seek ya not f’any sort o’equal— no. Woman like Lafayiera had plenty equals— bonded with two before me, aye.”

Ysolie maintained their silence. Partially stunned to hear her father talk about her mother in such a manner— an honest and raw manner. He was usually honest, but never quite so deeply as he was now. The question of why didn’t quite come to Ysolie’s mind because that answer was easy— guilt.

It was written upon his face during Lafayiera’s accusations of Ysolie’s defiance of her will— and it was the same expression he was wearing now. What did come to mind was an answer to what Ysolie kept asking over and over within as she and her mother crossed blades before the elders— had Derrisenois tried to stop her?

A better and more correct turn of phrase, Ysolie realized, was could he have stopped her.

His eyes gleamed in the firelight with the welling of tears as he continued, “She needed someone that would— someone like me—well… Well… I ain’t ‘ere t’air all that out f’ya, little bean. I’m t’bring y’back t’Clan. Doin’ m’role as th’last Exile Redeemed.”

Derrisenois finally returned his gaze to Ysolie as he concluded, “Funny we’re related. Eh, kid? Me n’ you?” His eyes fell to the fire as he wiped his nose, “And m’glad ya take more after her than y’do me.”

[Next -> The Exile's Blaze pt. 2]

[senetaf]

indie viera oc ( FFXIV ) roleplay blog as chained by aries . follows back from @charmingbrute

#OH, I HATE THEE — that would fain annihilate; yet sometimes against my will, my dear brother, i love thee still. it were treason to our love, and a sin to WOOD MOTHER above, one iota to abate of a pure impartial hate. // temp cred.