#kanaria melkire

[cfs-melkire]

FFXIVWrite 2022 Day 1: Cross

When we fight, we do so in silence.

Aye, we go about our business. See to the girls, the meals, the chores. You bury y'self in those ledgers, in your enterprise, in your office. I take to the road, the windin' paths, the streets, the cobbles. There are words: exchanged, spent, received, mulled over, discarded, or otherwise stored up. They pass through the air or else by pearl or even mere thought.

But the battles are always soundless, the strikes are petty, the wounds shallow but plentiful, the war waged o'er no coins of worth but rather o'er the right to bear stones 'n' snip the other's pride. We simmer afore we boil, love, 'n' that's no easy thing. The steamin', that's visible to be sure, but we're contained in the end, and that bodes ill.

Others name it a wedge, the thing what's born o' fightin' twixt friends or lovers, but that ain't so. The wedge is the tool o' reckoning, a lever by which we afford ourselves Althyk's gift and Oschon's pleasure. What's born is the plain between, not a rift but an expanse. It can be walked; we've walked it many times, so we have. Fulms upon fulms 'til they turn to yalms and malms. But it's still a distance, whether uphill or down, in sleet or storm, 'midst the rocks what are the traps of fresh grievances we scattered behind ourselves in desperation.

There are two reasons as t'why we fight in such manner. The first is this: every hammer blow and every blade's laceration that buys time 'n' space serves dual purpose, to wound and t'heal. That distance is weapon and shield both, grief given form such that when that chapter closes, a new one begins.

The second is thus: perverse though it is – and never would we admit this – it feels divine to be cross. Righteous fury is when we feel most alive, but indignant anger is sustenance for the wickedness in our souls.

[jancisstuff]

Letters - April 2020

Sewn into a book, to preserve for all mine suns. For the Turns to come.

[vanitysruin]

The guests arrive...

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

(( ft. @afreesworn, @cfs-melkire, @kanaria-galanodel, @everyoneneedsmorefranz, @exkage, @whispersofawindwitch, @knight-kat, @banquoviaquo, @arcarith ))

[sergei-harlenk]

Floor 140 down!

@grab-life-by-the-horne @cfs-melkire @kanaria-galanodel

[berrodarmstrong]

Our Talk.

Discussion and reflection on Llymlaen’s moon; how the Navigator has played a hand in leading the people of Gyr Abania to the Destroyer, and a brief look at the importance of the other eleven Gods even to those who seek Rhalgr’s sublimity.

((Featuring @sarijrahzersyn​ , @dynamitecowboy​ , A’ken , Gregos, @kanaria-galanodel​ , @cfs-melkire​ , @florihilda​ , @s-udarshana​ and @friendly-fire-engaged​ !

@true-strike​  and @tiergan-vashir​ joined in as well, though they’re not pictured here.))

Thanks @jancisstuff​ for hosting!))

[afreesworn]

Trust NPC | Roen Deneith

Selection: “You have my sword and shield.”

Job: Paladin (Tank)

Weapons: A longsword crafted by her brother and a polished shield gifted to her by an old friend

AI Behavior: Roen is defense minded tank whose first priority would be to keep all attention off of the rest of her teammates. She would be very liberal in using AOE attacks and spells on a pack of mobs. She is thoughtful about her use of cooldowns to ease the stress of the healer and will not overpull unless the rest of the team is confident about it. She is more methodical in exploring the dungeon rather than being reckless.

She will not use limit break, unless it seems as if everyone is near dying and she can see a devastating attack coming. Then LB 3 is used as a last resort to save them from death.

In between pulls, she will check on her equipment. If someone is ailing, she will not hesitate in casting clemency in or out of battle. She has very little random dialogue, mostly favoring listening to the chatter of her teammates. 

Battle Lines:

“Everyone on guard!” - Starting Attack Line

“Take cover behind me!” - Using Passage of Arms

“I have you.” - Using Cover

“You will not prevail!” - Using Hallowed Ground

Limit Break:

“It is now or never!” - Using Limit Break 3

KO’d:

"I have failed them...” - Variation 1

"My apologies... I could not...” - Variation 2

Revived:

“I am glad you were not hurt.” - Variation 1

“Is everyone else alright?” - Variation 2

Dungeon Complete:

“Have we accomplished our objectives?” - Variation 1

“Do not hesitate to call on me again.” - Variation 2

“You all did well. My gratitude.” - Variation 3

Bonus:

For a paladin, she has a fairly large mana pool and her innate aether affinity allows her to cast Requiescat on a shorter cooldown, so she can cast her spells at higher potency more liberally. To a keen eye, Roen would likely have excelled as a caster/conjurer. But she stubbornly takes up the shield and sword. She also has a slightly lower hit point than some others, but makes it up for it by careful cycling of cooldowns. 

Tagged by: @vanitysruin @jaliqai-and-company @mischiefandmystics Again thank you!!

Tagging: I am sorry if you have already been tagged! I am late in doing this! @r2ruen @theduplicitousdame @cfs-melkire @kanaria-galanodel @final-aria-fantasy @gegenji @shadottie @andarion @breaking-from-grace @ladyrivienne @sophiagrave-ffxiv @whitemaegee @tiergan-vashir @exkage @aethersent @jancisstuff @shitteadrinkersays

AGAIN because he helped me out TWICE, thank you to @finishing-touch for the banners!! 

Also wanted to mention the banner/fonts I saw courtesy of @locke-rinannis, and can be found here! 

[liadanswhisper]

Roleplay Preferences

BOLD what you do/would do, italic what you will consider, strike what you typically do not;

Originally posted by itadakimasu-letmeeat. Tweaked slightly.

I have preference for RP with the following themes / genre / styles:

Combat | Injury | Violence | Military | Mature | Casual Social | Dark-themed | Casual Erotic | Adventure | Slice of Life | Political | Heavy Narcotic Themes | Romance | Conflict | Western Themes | Poetic | Villainous* | Plotting | Humor | Excessive Vulgar Language | Mild Substance Abuse | Racism | Action | Mystery | Tasteful, maturely-written 18+ | Erotic | Descriptive | Event | Time Skip | Horror | Drama | Pre-Established | Far Eastern Themes | Murder | Specific Scene | One-time | Angst | Short-term | Long-term | Tragedy| Past Scene | Dismemberment | Torture | Perma-Death | Temp Death | Sexually suggestive themes | Training / Skill | Story Telling | Macabre | Paragraph | Multi-para | Mirror | ALL RP | One-line | Monogamy | Polygamy** | Polyamorous | Script Speak | Older Characters | Crime | Business | Lore breaking | Lore bending *I suck at playing Villains. I have trouble connecting to truly evil characters, and I simply don’t enjoy RPing them. However, I love RPing with well-played villainous characters. **Regarding Polygamy - this really, really depends on the character in question.  I have, in the past, played characters who were in what was essentially a polygamous relationship. This is really difficult to do well, though, and way too often one or more people involved either hide resentment, or outright refuse to RP with one or more of the other people involved in said relationship.  So, this is a real “maybe” most of the time. I stole this from: @diskwrite-ffxiv Tagging: @knight-kat @aigaiap @andarion @panda-ffxiv @khunbish-avagnar @laurenlovecraft-ffxiv @felthier @afreesworn @tiergan-vashir @cfs-melkire @kanaria-galanodel @everyoneneedsmorefranz @its-the-val-pal and anyone else I somehow didn’t include.  :)

[cuideag]

Getting to Know You

Rules: Tag Nine People You want to get to know better

I was tagged by: @afreesworn!

Relationship status: Engaged with many no and four legged kids.

Favorite color: Grey and black. Lately I've been really feeling pink and blue but my go-to color is grey.

Lipstick or chapstick: Lip balm!

Last song I listened to: Mass Destruction from Persona 3. Doing that thing where I'm pulling together a playlist for an RP character and I think my boy Dustin would legit love it.

Last movie I watched: The Shape of Water!

Top 3 TV shows: I haven't watched much TV lately so I guess Stranger Things? Steven Universe? Anything on Food Network ??

Top 3 characters: Greg Universe, I have so many feelings about Greg. Since I was a kid I really loved Boba Fett as he existed in the pre-prequel EU because honestly two short stories did him SO RIGHT when the heckin canon could not. I still think a lot about the little monologue in the beginning of Last One Standing. I'm drawing a mega blank for number three so can I just put all of my buddies' OCs here????

Top 3 bands/artists: IMOGEN HEAP is so talented yall I have so much love for her. Also Janelle Monae. Sevdaliza is a new favorite and BOY HOWDY is she incredible!

Books I’m currently reading: The Croning by Laird Barron is what I'm in the middle of right now. North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud and Entropy in Bloom by Jeremy Robert Johnson are recent reads that were pretty dang cool! Been on a horror story kick. Tagging: @exkage, @lodsamone, @cfs-melkire, @kanaria-galanodel, @saga-ongoing, @toastheaven, @admrlsnackbar, @necrologos, and uhhhhhh @jaliqai-and-company! Sorry if yall have already done this! And also anyone who wants to!!!

[berryarmstrong]

All the RP! Featuring @cfs-melkire , Kanaria , @redsunscrawls , @i-zex ,@thelonelycanadian and @the-original-rper !

[socrofty]

Kanaria Melkire, 4th attempt

Pose and hair looks good, but now the face is off.  I will get this right one day.

[cfs-melkire]

Debonair

I scowled and tugged at my cravat. Brutes, assassins, authorities, soldiers, beastmen, imperials, voidsent… manhunts, insurgencies, treason, politics, time travel... I'd survived them all and here I was, defeated by an article of clothing.

In my defense: it was my wedding day, anxiety was swinging for the fences, and I could not get the thrice-accursed thing to compromise between being tight but uncomfortable and comfortable but too loose. 

I stepped back and looked myself over again in the cheval glass. Hair cropped, and badly: I'd spent the past moon impersonating another man. Face scarred, and badly: there was never going to be an escape from the man I'd been. Suit tailored, immaculately: if I had ever looked this good or this well-dressed before, then I must've been unconscious at the time.

The bells were ringing. Scowling, I set about tying the cravat for a third time. Fashion be damned, I had to make it work and I had to make it work quick.

Kanaria Melkire née Galanodel would not be left waiting at the altar for even a minute.

[cfs-melkire]

Fluster

"Want to hear a story?" 

"Sure."

"Once upon a time... there was this little bird. A raven chick. Poor little fella... fell out of his nest while his mother was out 'n' about. So he went walkin', 'cause walkin' was all he knew. And one sun… one sun, he came to a cliff. And there on the cliff, perched on the highest branch of a single tree… was a dove."

We were interrupted. The presence of a predator was difficult to miss.

"Hello, hawk."

He came on business. We were on leave. They spoke for a little while. I don't know what was discussed. He wouldn't let her be. I wouldn't let him near her again. Things very nearly came to blows. He ended up in the water. I didn't. I guided her elsewhere, afterward, to Anchor Yard. Because she needed time, and because I needed to know.

"Quiet, here."

"Very."

"Want t'sit down?"

No response.

"...it's alright. No one else ever comes up 'ere."

She nodded, slipped herself down into my lap. I'd be lying if I said that my heart wasn't beating a malm a minute. Her hands pressed down into her lap as she leaned against my chest, her form curling up against and into mine. I tucked my chin over the top of her head, wrapped my arms around her. 

"It's okay. You're safe now."

Her tears were silent, but they streamed down her cheeks anyroad. It was a hard thing, to have her there in my arms while she shook and trembled. She did not sob. I would not have blamed her if she did.

A part of me wanted to get back on my feet, track him down, and give him the thrashing of his life.

"It's not that...I'm… I'm just so tired of talking about it, I just… I just want one day of peace away from it all and I can't even get that…."

I ran a hand up and down her arm. The warmth of skin against skin… to me, that had always amounted to reassurance. I wanted her to know that she was going to be okay. "You'll have it. We've five suns t'spend on Vylbrand; I'll make sure you'll have it. I promise."

She calmed a little at that, and I heard the smile in her whispered words. "Thank you."

"Course," I whispered back. "So. Back to the lame story. Where were we….? Little dove atop the highest branch of the tree, little raven at the bottom, atop the cliff. So the white bird glides down, all 'round the tree, and the little raven chick is heartbroken. It's beautiful... but he never learned how. So the dove. The dove lands behind him… and nudges him forward. 'Don't be afraid. Don't be scared. Jump. Have faith.'

'Be sure.'

"So the raven jumped.... and the little raven flew."

Her smile grew, and she wiped at her eyes.

"And the little dove jumped out, too. One white, one black against the blue sky… beautiful."

She sniffled and looked up at me, her eyes still a little watery. "I bet they didn't spend very much time apart after that…."

I couldn't meet her gaze, turned my head down instead. "...the raven was forever grateful. And when the hawks came for the little dove... he drew them off."

A hand was placed and pressed against my bare chest, where the shirt was parted to let my skin breathe, not more than a few ilms from her face as she rested against me. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Always."

"Osric...?" she asked, in as soft a tone as ever, as she turned her head up again to look at me.

She wanted my full attention, and I'd have been a fool to not give it to her. "Yes...?"

"You're… you're not going to test me, are you?" 

Test had been his word. His word, for the things he would do to her. His word, for taking advantage of her ignorance, for the experimenting, for the many things they had tried that had left her uncomfortable, confused, and excited, because no one had ever explained any of that to her. She was only nineteen turns of age to my five and twenty. She had been on her own for a long time.

She was innocent. He and I were the furthest things from.

I couldn't let my anger show. I didn't. She might've mistaken me for being upset with her. So instead I smiled for her and asked, "Do you want a test?"

"Then I won't give you one." I couldn't help but chuckle a little. I thought about a cold dunk in the sea in a desperate attempt to keep from rising in a certain place. "Though this squirmin' o' yours makes it very, very tempting."

She shifted somewhat in my lap: first her hips, then her shoulders. My pulse quickened; I was suddenly very conscious of her body against mine, of her warmth, of the smell of her lavender perfume, of the way she could no longer meet my eyes, of the way she stammered, "N-no…."

"Nmph!" She stopped at once and ducked her head back down, placing her cheek against my chest. "S-sorry, it's just... um…."

Heard her swallow, I did. Gods be damned, she was nervous. Then again, so was I. She could probably hear the pounding in my chest  "...take your time."

"It… I don't know..." She shivered. "It's weird...."

Not what I was expecting, though I had a feelin' that things were headed in a good direction, rather than a bad one. I shifted a little, the better to look at her, to watch her. "...Kanaria? You alright?"

Those lavender eyes of hers rose. There was this expression on her face that I'd rarely seen before, and never before from her: a pleading look, as she licked her lips. 

"Yeah… I'm… I'm fine." The rise and fall of her chest as she breathed, the stammering, the flush on her cheeks… I knew the signs. "Can… canwetalkaboutsomethingelse?"

Were I truly the scoundrel that many believe me to be, I would not have waited. I would have pressed the matter. I would have teased, I would have pressed my luck, I would have denied her the opportunity to step back and decide whether she was comfortable with me, whether she wanted me.

I am not that man. I have never been that man.

She deserved better, and I wanted to be that better man for her.

So I raised a hand and carefully wiped away what moisture was left from her cascade of tears.

"...aye."

We spoke late into the night. I went to check on a friend; she waited for me to return. We spoke some more.

She told me that she had a problem.

The problem turned out to be me.

"Let me help."

"I don't know if you can…."

"Let me try."

"How…?"

I lifted her face by the chin. 

"Osric…"

"Kanaria… ask me, and I will."

She gripped my other hand tight, and her eyes pleaded with me as she shifted against me again.

"Please… please."

The rest of that night… the memory and the tale… that belongs to me, that belongs to her, to us and to no one else. You'll not intrude further upon our intimacy, but know this:

She chose, and so did I. We both found what we were after. We both got what we wanted.

Praise Menphina.

[cfs-melkire]

Osric and Kanaria. Tengri and Sarangerel.

[jancisstuff]

"Ahhh... beggin' your pardon, but any sailor worth his salt'd tell you that Llymlaen's capricious, 'n' jealous t'boot. If it's towards Rhalgr's mercy that She drives us, it ain't necessarily out o' compassion."

[jancisstuff]

Fist Forum - Listening

“Listen t’yourself and your surroundings...”

[jancisstuff]

Learning Treatments from N’hara

  "Fingers crossed this lesson isn't /that/ boring." "Matron Forbid. This is the start of great power." "The one who finds first aid boring is the one who thinks they're strong enough to walk around with an unset break. Or they're just a fool. You'll do great brother." "I'm sure it won't be! Besides its very important so I certainly don't plan to miss it." "It is. A complete and utter necessity, yes."

N’hara shared with all some of the basic healing aids anyone can use out in the wild, or anywhere. Gold needles, antlion disinfectant, willow bark, aloe, and landtrap leaves.

Always good to hear new means to treat wounds, how my kin and allies will tend to items, and what wounds they expect. Ever learning is the healer. Ever learning is us all.

May 2020