#rija muscadet

[fromtheladiesoflight]

[fromtheladiesoflight]

(The short answer: all of the Ladies are, with varying degrees of relationship anarchy in their personal lives depending on who.) (The longer answer:

Mirita and Khorijin are primarily involved with each other, and while they aren't opposed to adding more partners to their relationship, neither is looking especially hard and it'll take some doing to get in there since they've got their hands full with Sadu, or will, eventually.

Rija has several people that she's actually slept with and maintains a close connection with. She wouldn't protest a serious partner or partners if one or more came about.

Khoride has multiple partners and several supplicants to her as Devil Goddess, as well as whoever she casually chooses to sleep with. While she generally limits the circle of the former, the latter swells rather large by comparison.

Ystride is polyam, but is still working through her own anxiety around relationships and of late has managed to work up her nerve to confess to at least two people that she's fallen hard for, both of whom have accepted her feelings and have progressed accordingly. [A recent, and very positive development.]

At the moment Euphemia has only one committed partner, but will occasionally have casual encounters with other people, and would not reject other committed partners.

Helena is dating someone but isn't actively looking for a second--she wouldn't say no to casual encounters either or something else coming along.)

Is your WoL polyamorous or strictly monogamous? Or are they simply uninterested in the whole thing?

[fromtheladiesoflight]

Bonus Bits: What Do The Ladies Sound Like?

Mirita: Has a bit of a drawl an' tends to drop syllables when she can m'nya. Very loud an' boisterous and energetic; she talks real quick an' has a somewhat higher but not squeaky-pitched voice. Somethin' akin' t' a Southern American accent in th' overall, is what'cha might say. She also tends t' make cat sounds when talkin', m'yeah?

Khorijin: Speaks very precisely and with what would be a very slight Mongolian accent. As she learned her common from people who speak it quite formally, her turns of phrase are ofttimes appropriately archaic. She does not use more modern contractions either, and will favor the likes of ne'er, e'er, and so forth, and often invokes Nhaama in some of her minced oaths or similar. Her tone is a little nasal and lower in pitch, and she does not speak very loudly unless she is deeply emotional. (In terms of delivery, but maybe not directly sound, think of Ryan Bartley's Rei Ayanami.)

Rija: Her tone Rolls and Lilts when she speaks most of the time~, and in a general sense, her accent sounds less nasal and a bit closer to Italian than Icelandic like many other Viera are known to, mostly due to her time in Dalmasca, yes? She is also prone to using "yes?" and "no?" at the end of statements, and is especially fond of tree and forestry metaphors; Muscadet is a village grown strong by careful tending of its roots, including verbal traditions. (Rija is one of the few Ladies *with* a direct voice claim: Rose as portrayed by Gina Grad in Street Fighter V.)

Khoride: Being Khorijin's twin, Khorijin and Khoride do sound *almost* alike, favoring the same word choices and sharing the same with one major difference: Khoride's voice is deeper by maybe about a half step and tends to be more openly emotional and sultry, occasionally raspy and throaty or even growly depending on the situation.

Ystride: They sound, generally speaking, as formal and straightlaced as you would expect an Elezen that looks like them to sound--a very soft tone, with just a little bit of raspiness and gravel to it, as much like Khorijin they do not like speaking much more loudly than they need to. Unlike her sisters she is willing to use more common contractions on occasion, but not very often. (For accent, they're a dead ringer for Caitlin Glass's Cammy White from Street Fighter IV, V, and 6.)

Euphemia: Most of the time, she speaks in a warm and lightly Scottish accent. There are, if you listen closely, what would be vague touches of Jamaican English (not Jamaican Patwa, that's separate) in her speech as well; in terms of pitch, her voice trends low, warm, and comforting, very much motherly. When she is more relaxed, both of these things loosen, and she tends to lean more into a more easygoing tone in the overall (at which point she does slip a little bit more into what sounds like Jamaican Patwa, not Jamaican English). She usually does not use contractions.

Helena: A low, rumbling Slavic accent and a marked tendency towards casual speech, though she will occasionally use much more formal diction to make or emphasize a point. Much like Rija, she tends to use "yes" and "no" at the end of statements, but generally speaks in a slow, unhurried way--this is your tired Russian wine auntie who has seen it all, basically. (Cindy Robinson's Kolin from SFV but several pitches lower is fairly accurate.)

(If the descriptions for anyone without voice claims rings a bell, feel free to send ones that you think might be interesting, either through reposts, asks, or if you know me personally, DMs. If you want to get a look at the Ladies proper to make a judgment, check their profiles out. )

[fromtheladiesoflight]

Ladies' Profiles: Rija Muscadet

Name: Rija of Muscadet (Rija Muscadet in the Eorzean fashion; her wood-name is not known to anyone but a select few. She is just "Ri" to her close friends; her name can be pronounced as either Ri-yah or Ri-hah, though the first is closest to how it is traditionally pronounced.)

Pronouns: she/her (cis woman)

Age: 36 (as of Patch 6.55, The Coming Dawn, born December 26/26th Sun of the 6th Astral Moon)

Origin: Rava Viera

Family members: Alys, Veis, Ruuj, Shara (younger sisters, in birth order from oldest to youngest), Rena (mother), Ysera (grandmother), Petra (great-grandmother)

Height: 222.7 cm/7’3”

Preferred professions: NIN, VPR, DNC, GNB

Aetheric alignment: Astral wind

Rija is the oldest of five daughters born in the village of Muscadet in the Golmore Jungle, and a fleet-footed hunter skilled with knives and hiding. Muscadet is far more open to outsiders than some Viera settlements, as are many of the Golmorri Viera (in the Ladies' worldine, at least), and so one day Rija met a Dalamscan traveler. Curious about the origins of Dalmascans and their interest in Golmore, and concerned if slightly about the "Garleans" he described to them, she eventually chose to leave Golmore to learn more about the world beyond. Whilst in Dalmasca, she joined with a Resistance group based out of both Dalmasca and Bozja, but was eventually forced to flee to Limsa Lominsa once the leader of her cell was struck down by Garleans and the survivors pushed her to leave. From there, she fell in with a certain sect of Dutiful Sisters, and eventually fought alongside a Miqo'te traveler to Limsa in the Sastasha Seagrot, traveling with her until they both meet a certain Au Ra in the Tam-Tara Deepcroft. While the three split apart for a time afterward, they are all ultimately reunited to defeat Titan, and from there the legend of the Ladies of Light truly begins.

Rija is defined by calm, smooth, mature confidence, fitting since she’s the oldest of the three original Ladies of Light. In comparison to Mirita’s energetic, puppyish excitement and Khorijin’s blunt tactlessness, Rija is a smooth-talking, easygoing woman with a playful personality, though in pinch situations she shares Khorijin’s cool head. She likes to flirt and tease a bit and is openly confident in her body in a way Mirita and Khorijin aren’t, which endears her to not only a particular roguish Scion but also a number of people across Eorzea and beyond.

As a well-trained and adept shinobi, Rija is prone to summoning body clones to fight alongside her, having them switch to other professions she's mastered for powerful strikes. Even without them, misdirection, speed, and clever workarounds characterize her style, alongside consistently dancing into and out of the opponent's reach to shave away at them bit by bit.

[fromtheladiesoflight]

[fromtheladiesoflight]

(In a general sense, all of the Ladies that are not Helena are known as the Ladies of Light--this is largely because rather than being a sole Warrior of Light, they are collectively known as a group of Warriors of Light, for reasons that will be touched on in Euphemia's solo profile.) (Expect Heavensward and forward spoilers after the line break.)

(As far as individual titles go:

Mirita is, if informally, called the "Godhand", a title awarded in part by her students O'tchakha and D'zentsa due to how thunderously her blows land when she fights. In terms of how she likes to be addressed, though, she has a strong dislike for titles in general, save for Master/Teacher in situations where that's appropriate.

Khorijin is formally recognized as the Azure Dragoon of Ishgard, but also the Azure Khagan of the Azim Steppe, having claimed the title during Stormblood by defying Hien and choosing to fight in the Naadam along her home clan rather than assist the Mol in winning. Even without her force of arms, the Borlaaq have continued to win the Naadams in the years after Stormblood, thus allowing her to retain the title by proxy as her mother Gorbeljin explicitly states that she only recognizes Khorijin as khagan. She also, if somewhat unintentionally, shares a title with Khoride, discussed below. She will only insist on being addressed by title when acting in official capacities thereof, and forgoes them otherwise.

Rija has a few self-styled titles that she doesn't share with anyone unless she's being cheeky--among them are "Gale-Force Shinobi", "Hurricane Bayonet", "Gusty Snakebite", and "Breezy Step". She doesn't particularly care about how she's addressed otherwise but generally prefers to forego formalities.

Khoride is the Void-Blue Dark Knight of Ishgard, as discussed in her own introductory post. She shares this title with Khorijin, if indirectly, because she was controlling Khorijin's body whenever Khorijin was asleep. Only a select few Brumelings have seen their shared face, and even back then Khoride's lipstick, slightly sharpened features, and slightly different [read: Ancient-patterned] eyes did not make them so identical as to make it easy to pick them apart. As also described in Khoride's introductory post, she has self-claimed the title of Devil Goddess, primarily because she declared herself as such to spite Vauthry before brutally destroying him atop Mount Gulg once she and the other Ladies defeated him. She does not insist upon being called Devil Goddess or Goddess in casual conversation, but those who happen to willingly submit to her, or simply ask for permission to address her as such if they are not interested in becoming one of her supplicants, are more than welcome to use it freely.

Ystride has been called the Icewolf of Ishgard by several close friends, particularly after they tried on a certain set of Warg-ish equipment as a Machinist. They don't mind being called by it but she does occasionally express a little bit of shy awkwardness about it, less so from trusted friends. Otherwise, they don't mind a "miss", "ma'am" or "madam" from time to time, even at their most generally apathetic to gendered titles.

Euphemia, once upon a time, was Azem. She isn't now, and rejects being called as such, but does not mind being called miss, ma'am, etc. That pretty much says it all. [How this works will be explained further in her own introductory post.]

Helena, by technicality, is the queen of her lineage, and thus will answer to "Her Majesty" or "Her Grace", but does not insist on it, as technically she does not have any stewards. [Hrothgar culture in the Ladies' worldline has a few foibles of its own which will also be explained in its own post.] More commonly, she has been called "Captain", which was her rank in the Bozjan resistance for the last part of her service with them, and will accept that, "Miss", or "ma'am".)

OC/WoL Question.

Does your OC have any specific titles or honorifics? How do they feel about these? If they don't have any specific titles, how do they respond to being called Lord or Lady (or things such as Sir, Madam or Mistress)?

[fromtheladiesoflight]

The Ladies At Saints' Wake

The family that scares together, stays together.

[fromtheladiesoflight]

Ladies' Profile: Euphemia Ebenae

(Euphemia's very nature is very much Shadowbringers and Endwalker spoiler territory, so I'm doing the spoiler cut early.)

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Name: Euphemia Ebenae (Euphie to her close friends; the surname is not her original one.)

Pronouns: she/her (cis woman)

Age: 37 (by physical appearance), approximately 37,214 (on strict chronology) (as of Patch 6.55, The Coming Dawn, born December 13/13th Sun of the 6th Umbral Moon)

Origin: Ancient (appears as an Ala Mhigan Highlander)

Family members: Andronikos (father, deceased), Sophia (mother, deceased), Venat (adoptive mother), Mirita, Khorijin, Rija, Khoride, Ystride (adopted daughters)

Height: 193.2cm/6’4”

Preferred professions: Yes. (Functionally, whatever professions any of the Ladies learns, she knows as well.)

Aetheric alignment: Astral earth

In a time long ago--something akin to a thousand thousand lifetimes, if not longer--a young Ancient whose parents did research on Elpis were returned to the star by pure happenstance, an accident. But 'twas this happenstance that led a woman by the name of Venat to take the child under her wing some years later, whilst said child was in the middle of what you might call a youthful rebellion. With this direction, Euphemia grew into strength and skill both, falling in with two other young Ancients who would rise to the Convocational seats of Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus and eventually proving herself worthy as Venat's successor as Azem.

After the recruitment of the new Fandaniel following an incident at Elpis, however, things... changed. The Final Days howled and raged across Etheirys, and with it, the ruin of the star followed, along with the desperate summoning of Zodiark. And--even more tellingly--Venat's final gambit to stop the star from being completely destroyed. A gambit that Euphemia could not abide by, no matter how deeply she loved her second mother. So, she walked away, searching for her own answer, but did not find it before Venat assumed the mantle of Hydaelyn and split the star into fourteen.

Through a fluke--or mayhap, simply, the imperfect nature of all things--Euphemia herself was not sundered evenly across all reflections. The Source in particular had three of her, and though they never rejoined in one body, they eventually did as a family of choice--that of Mirita Ebenae, Khorijin Borlaaq, and Rija Muscadet.

Eventually, these three, alongside Khoride and Ystride, stumbled across a memory crystal made by Emet-Selch in memory of Euphemia. Its magic served them well from there on, but it was Hydaelyn's final blessing upon it at the Mothercrystal that awoke Euphemia's shade--their stray thoughts of just *who* they were in the time before gave form to her formlessness, drawing what remained of her from the memory crystal, the lingering memories in their souls, and the aetherial sea around them. Revived in an initially immaterial state, she remained a passive watcher, hidden from sight, until the Ladies arrived at the very edge of the universe, at which point she finally manifested herself in full, gave a final farewell to her dear friends Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch, and served as final witness to the end of the Endsinger and Zenos before choosing a new journey alongside her "shards"--or, as she would soon come to regard them, her precious and beloved daughters.

Aspects of who Euphemia is, not just in appearance but also in personality, can be seen in Mirita, Khorijin, and Rija in different ways; she appears as an Ala Mhigan Highlander because of Mirita, but has Khorijin's eyes and has Rija's highlights, all physical features she had before reviving. However, other aspects of the traits she shares with all of her daughters becomes apparent the longer one comes to know her--she has Mirita and Rija's respectively cheerful and alluring playfulness, as demonstrated by her tendency to pretend to know less than she does in service of a jest, and shares both Khorijin and Ystride's quiet reserve as well as their cool heads, and while she rarely makes use of it, Khoride's imposing sense of authority and power easily shrouds her even when it seems it shouldn't. She is, however, Ancient, and while she does not share Hades's fixation on the past--she has long accepted that their own pride and hubris is what ended their time as the star's stewards, especially given the role society played in Hermes' isolation--she tends to reminisce from time to time about what she has lost in less cheerful moments, though her daughters always draw her from her funk.

By nature of her existence, Euphemia is connected to the Ladies in the same way that Khoride and Ystride are to Khorijin--as a result, between her own experience as a combatant and her ability to draw upon their experiences in turn, Euphemia is a master of might and magic alike. A Samurai's blade, a Monk's fists, a Warrior's axe, and even the likes of Black, White, and Red Magic or any combat arts beyond her time--none are beyond her reach, if she so chooses. On the battlefield itself, she moves and strikes decisively, maneuvering with Mirita's casual power and speed, Khorijin's unerring precision, and Rija's agility, but to a degree that none of them can match individually, and while she cannot wield creation magic as casually as the likes of an Unsundered Ancient, her well of aether is equally a match to her daughters' collective own, and a little bit more.