#wolqotd: hyllizirn

[dualcastimpact]

WoL Question of the Day #189

how did you decide on the color of their hair? in a game with fantasy hair colors, i feel like this can be an interesting choice to make. Dec 3, 2022

Raginmar's gray streaks are actual graying hairs from age and all the stress and trauma he's gone through in his life, while Hyllizirn's are dyed in a attempt to resemble her brother more. Kirika's hair colour alludes to her name 『桐花』, which means paulownia flower.

These three are the only ones whose hair colour had any real thought put into it. For the others, it's a combination of "oooh this is a nice hair colour" and "wait do I already have a character with hair colour in this exact shade??"

[dualcastimpact]

WoL Question of the Day #188

if your WoL/OC has siblings or any sibling-like bonds, please tell me! xenoir is an only child and a bit of a loner so I like to hear of people who had more complex relationships Dec 1, 2022

Raginmar and Hyllizirn share one single braincell when it comes to shenanigans.

They're actually very responsible people — one is Maelstrom Captain, Warrior of Light and literal saviour of the universe, while the other is a renowned Immortal Flames field commander instrumental in keeping Ul'dah safe during the Final Days — but when they get together as brother and sister and fellow adventurers without any obligations or need for propriety and decorum, any and all semblance of that famous level-headedness and responsible behaviour just go out the window.

They tone it down when the situation deserves some seriousness, but for the most part when they're out of uniform Raginmar and Hyllizirn are really very silly together. You'd think Raginmar would be a better influence, seeing how he's 20 years older than Hyllizirn!

[dualcastimpact]

WoL Question of the Day #186

is your wol/oc a morning person or a night owl? how do they act if they're forced to stay up / get up early? Nov 28, 2022

The only time Raginmar isn't awake before dawn is when he's either unconscious or dying. He's used to functioning on a few hours' of sleep but now that he's getting older, he has to take short naps during the day if he's had to stay up way too late the night before.

Hyllizirn: wakes really easily, has no set sleeping schedule and can sleep or wake whenever.

Kirika: early to bed, early to rise (but takes hours to actually get out of bed).

L'vazha: night owl. Never in bed before 2am and gets very grumpy when he's waken before 8am.

Adricienne: perfectly normal sleeping schedule. Rises with the dawn. Truly a functional member of society.

Canso: champion cat-napper. Can fall asleep anywhere and anytime.

Sasariku: has trouble falling asleep. Doesn't sleep well.

Marzanna: they have never seen her sleep.

[dualcastimpact]

WoL Question of the Day #175

How involved is your wol with their grand company? Do they actively try to rise up the ranks and be a part of the unit, or is it more of an honorary title granted to them through their status as the savior of Eorzea? Nov 15, 2022

Raginmar is pretty involved with the Maelstrom, his status as the universe-trotting Warrior of Light notwithstanding! Raginmar put A LOT of effort in training the motley crew of adventurers who would eventually become some of the Foreign Levy's most reliable soldiers so despite their usually-absent captain, they're often at the forefront of Limsa Lominsa's military engagements. When Limsa Lominsa calls for aid, Raginmar occasionally has been known to don Maelstrom colours and take the field alongside his squadron in the city-state's defense. It's the reason why he doesn't really mind being addressed as "Captain Steelbiter", especially by Alliance soldiers. He takes a sort of pride in it, because he'd worked his way up the ranks; he'd EARNED that respect. It's a far better sobriquet than "Warrior of Light", really.

Amusingly, this is also why in the rare moments that he, Hyllizirn and Canso come across each other during Alliance engagements, they fall back to military decorum and refer to each other by rank and surname instead of their usual comfortable familiarity.

[dualcastimpact]

WoL Question of the Day #173

How often does your oc swear? Do they have any expletives that are unique to them or their culture? Are they teaching swear words to kids or stopping others from swearing around them? Nov 16, 2022

In line with his generally mild-mannered nature, Raginmar isn't one usually given to swearing. He'll occasionally use the Twelve's or Thaliak's name in vain or very mild ones like "Oh, hells", and always very quietly so as to be audible only to those nearest to him.

In contrast, Hyllizirn swears like a... well, like a sailor. She's trying to cut back on it now that she's dating Kirika — Kirika isn't so uncouth so as to throw expletives around every other word, but she's very biting and incisive in her disdain which Hyllizirn wants to emulate.

[dualcastimpact]

WoL Question of the Day #171

which job questlines do you consider 'canon' for your wol/oc? do they play out as they do ingame, or are some parts altered for your character's story? Nov 14, 2022

In Raginmar's case, ACN→SMN/SCH, RDM and MCH are canon. GNB and ROG differ a little in that he's already a trained gunbreaker and rogue; for GNB he rehoned his skills while travelling with Radovan and Sophie, while for ROG he just got caught up in the Rogues' Guild's shenanigans.

The latter situation is pretty much the case for most of them, tbh! Hyllizirn, Canso, L'vazha and Marzanna, as newcomers to Eorzea, already have varying degrees of combat knowledge so they're not absolute beginners like the job questlines typically paint the WoL as, so most of the job questlines, for them, are canonical in terms of PLOT only with a few alterations i.e. Hyllizirn making a name for herself as part of the Marauders' Guild, Canso bypassing the ARC questline and seeking out Jehantel on his own, L'vazha reuniting with Musosai etc.

That's only the case for the adventuring party, though. For the auxiliary party, only the doppelgänger has a true canonical job questline in RPR. Lunamara's not a combat-trained BRD, while she learned the Kriegstanz from Canso and studied red magery under Arya, not X'rhun Tia. Valeria, similarly, left Garlemald after the Final Days and studied at the Arcanists' Guild before becoming interested in the Nymian Scholars' ability to heal and protect, and learned SCH from Setoto Seto with the occasional consultation from Surito CaritoValeria, similarly, left Garlemald after the Final Days and studied at the Arcanists' Guild before becoming interested in the Nymian Scholars' ability to heal and protect, and learned SCH from Setoto Seto with the occasional consultation from Surito Carito.

I really like that question because the entire reason I made my OCs is to explore the different job questlines and see if I could tie them to the characters' story and lore, and it's been such a fun project so far. I'll dive into this more when I set up the lore page properly!

[dualcastimpact]

WoL Question of the Day #167

(question has been deleted and cannot be retrieved via the Wayback Machine, but based on the answer presumably it has something to do with what your WoL/OC has inherited from their parents) Nov 11, 2022

Raginmar inherited his father's height. They're both not very tall for Highlander men ._.

Hyllizirn inherited her rowdy, boisterous bloodthirstiness from her mom, and her delicate sensibilities about romance from her dad.

And despite not being blood siblings, Raginmar and Hyllizirn share a love for adventure, a hatred for incompetent commanders and a single brain cell when it comes to silly shenanigans.

[dualcastimpact]

WoL Question of the Day #163

How does your wol/oc react to catching feelings? Are they chill? Do they bury it? Too oblivious to even realize? Oct 27, 2022

Bringing in my favourite idiot lesbians for this question: Hyllizirn had absolutely ZERO chill upon realizing she had feelings for Kirika. They'd been adventuring for a while together and Hyllizirn took quite some time to notice that her thoughts about how pretty Kirika is, how much she'd like to hold her elegant hands, and how she so wants to weave flowers into Kirika's gorgeously luscious hair were decidedly not platonic in any shape or form. Her reaction when she realized it is still one of the funniest things to me:

Raginmar, tired and jaded from all the (mis)adventures he's going through with the Scions, winding down at the end of the day with a mug of coffee. Then Hyllizirn slams the door open and screeches for his help. He almost thinks the worst until he actually hears what Hyllizirn is saying: "Brother, help me, I think I'm in love with Kirika! What do I do????" Then he almost drops his mug as his tired brain catches up and he's just ??????? He puts down the mug on a nearby table. Goes to Hyllizirn. Grasps her by the shoulder. Looks her very seriously in the eyes and says, "Lizzi, I want you to think about this. "Have you ever seen me with a woman — or anyone, such that you think I would know what to do?" Hyllizirn is blank for a few seconds as she processes this. The look of dawning realisation morphing into despair on her face is really quite impressive. Raginmar is usually a very dependable older brother, but this is one area his aro/ace ass can't help his little sister with. In the end Raginmar tells her to go talk to their dads (a callback to the whole reason why he came to Eorzea in the first place) and it doesn't end with her confessing to Kirika or anything, but more of a soft understanding of her own feelings. On his end, Raginmar's just happy he's not being asked to solve some national-level or world-ending crisis (although it sure felt that way for Hyllizirn). He's a little sad he can't help much, but he's happy that she still came to him for something as mundane as love troubles.

Once she did realize it, however, Hyllizirn's decidedly more accepting of it than Kirika, who was hiding a pretty big secret from everyone (including Hyllizirn) at that point which caused her to be somewhat in denial of their (potential for a) relationship. That took place in SB, so despite being very much in love with each other since ARR, these two didn't actually officially get together until post-SB, the absolute idiots.

[dualcastimpact]

WoL Question of the Day #161

What’s something your WoL/XIV OC hates being called? Whether it’s an insult, a title, or even something meant to be praising that they just don’t see themselves as? How do they usually react? Also “Stealer of Pants” is not allowed. Too easy Oct 26, 2022

Raginmar EXTREMELY dislikes being revered and fawned over as the Warrior of Light or for any of his wartime deeds; while he's too mild-mannered to blow up over it, he becomes significantly more withdrawn and colder in his responses in face of said adulation. Another one is "Stormlord of Ilsabard". Unless you're: 1) one of his subordinates or compatriots from the Ilsabardian resistance; or 2) an Imperial soldier stationed in Ilsabard while he was active in the resistance, do NOT call him by that title. He's liable to kill you for it.

A sore point for Hyllizirn back in ARR was being recognized as "the Warrior of Light's sister" instead of as her own person, so while she's gotten much better about that now, she still has a kneejerk reaction whenever someone calls her that (especially if it's dismissive).

[dualcastimpact]

WoL Question of the Day #156

On a scale of 1 to 10 how hot does your wol think they are? Are they very much like, "Yeah I'm hot and I'm going to let everyone else know I am" or do they think very low of their appearance? Oct 19, 2022

Raginmar: knows he's attractive, just doesn't care enough to rate himself

Hyllizirn: oblivious herbo

Kirika: confident enough to rate herself an 8

L'vazha: rates himself a solid 7 and has taken advantage of his looks to charm people

Canso: thinks himself a 7, actually a 9 thanks to his striking yet delicate features

Adricienne: doesn't think she's anything special so rates herself a 5

Sasariku: what is hot

Branmirasch: surprisingly bashful for an "ara-ara" neesan, thinks herself a 3

Bonus:

Lunamara: the darling of Eorzea and the star's biggest idol has got to be a solid 10/10; she is VERY confident about being the most gorgeous in existence

Valeria: tentatively ranks herself a 6 because she likes how she looks, she just doesn't think she's special

[dualcastimpact]

WoL Question of the Day #144

how does your wol/oc celebrate their name day? i want to know!! Sep 20, 2022

Fun fact: Raginmar doesn't actually know when his nameday is. What he celebrates as his 'nameday' is actually the day he and his sister met — she asked when was his birthday and he said he didn't know... so Hyllizirn, with all the wisdom of her eleven years, proclaimed that the day of their first meeting should be his nameday since that's the day he became her brother, so it's kind of like his birthday too! It definitely made more sense to her eleven-year-old mind then (laughs) On that day, Raginmar usually spends it with Hyllizirn shooting the breeze, maybe getting something good to eat. No duties, no adventuring, no saving the world — just a pair of siblings enjoying their day together in peace.

[dualcastimpact]

WoL Question of the Day #123

Can your Wol dance? Aug 10, 2022

Surprisingly, yes! Raginmar's father taught him and Hyllizirn how to dance fancy aristocratic ball dances and Hyllizirn LOVED it as a child, and Raginmar indulged her to the point where he became her dancing partner for whatever dance routine she wanted to learn. So while he's very good at couple's dancing, he's relatively average in other (solo) forms. He likes the physical challenge especially with all the flipping and throwing and lifting kind of dancing that Hyllizirn loves, and has no other attachments to dance beyond that.

[dualcastimpact]

WoL Question of the Day #122

In case your WoL is in a relationship, does your WoL steal clothes/accesories from partner? Or is the WoL the one who gets robbed? Aug 8, 2022

Is a platonic answer acceptable for this? Raginmar's Roegadyn younger sister (who's of course MUCH bigger and buffer than he is) likes to borrow his shirts whenever she stays over, much to his distress — she stretches them out to high hell and then he can't wear them ever again.

[dualcastimpact]

WoL Question of the Day #107

Is your WoL canonically a part of any of the grand companies? If so, why did they choose the one they did? Did they ever switch companies? What are their opinions on their GC? Jul 24, 2022

Raginmar Steelbiter: The Maelstrom. Captain of the First Foreign Levy Hyllizirn Ahldachtwyn: The Immortal Flames. Field Commander of the Free Brigade Canso Lechanteur: The Order of the Twin Adders. A lieutenant in Captain Sanson Smyth's specialized bard unit

Raginmar joined the Maelstrom simply because he started his Eorzean journey in Limsa Lominsa, and he wanted to give back to the people who took care of him somehow. He rose up the ranks and made captain fairly quickly; his squadron are highly trained soldiers and can handle most missions without him. As captain, he drops by headquarters once every few weeks for reports and whenever there's a skirmish or crisis that needs him on the field, but otherwise he trusts his subordinates enough to do their job.

Hyllizirn came to Ul'dah to make money, and also to make a name for herself as an adventurer. While she's still an adventurer at heart, she ended up joining the Immortal Flames instead for the stability (and also because she was in awe of the Bull of Ala Mhigo). She took longer to rise up the ranks, only making corporal by HW, second lieutenant by the liberation of Ala Mhigo, and captain by post-ShB. Then in Endwalker, she was promoted to Field Commander and took charge of leading the Free Brigade to defend Ul'dah against the blasphemies. Comparatively, Raginmar made captain by the time he ended the Dragonsong War, but he never rose beyond that. He can't go beyond captain anyway, he's absent enough as he is with how he's always needed elsewhere! He's auxiliary, while Hyllizirn's a central part of Flames command.

Canso never intended to join the Twin Adders but ended up doing so to be a part of Sanson's bard unit. He'd have been content to remain a private but Sanson urged him to at least make second lieutenant so he'd have more leeway in his movements and actions. As a non-Gridanian adventurer, he has more freedom than Sanson and Guydelot and is usually their reconnoiterer, travelling all across the lands in search of bardic legends and knowledge to add to their unit's repertoire.

As for what they think about their respective grand companies... Raginmar is there for the city state. So long as Merlwyb's interests protect Limsa Lominsa, he'll remain as captain. Hyllizirn is ride-or-die for the Flames, especially for General Aldynn (and later General Tarupin). And Canso is neutral about the Twin Adders in general, but has a healthy respect for Commander Heuloix and is really only there for Sanson and Guydelot.

[dualcastimpact]

WoL Question of the Day #87

#wolquestion #wolqotd Excluding the Echo, does your WoL/OC speak or understand any languages or dialects other than modern Aldenardian Eorzean (i.e. the "cluster" of dialects spoken in Ul'Dah/Gridania/Limsa/Ishgard)? Can be ancient/tribal/otherworldly, feel free to make one up! Jul 5, 2022

I've answered a variant of this question before so I'll talk about a more obscure linguistic ability of his: he can read almost every documented dead language in Hydaelyn. Ancient Allagan, Mhachi, Nymian — if it's written down somewhere, he can read it. It's not an Echo ability — the Echo has been explicitly said to transmit meanings from one soul to another, so Raginmar can't actually understand them if he hears them from a terminal or something, but he can read and translate ancient languages to a certain extent.

Raginmar's father is an historian who specialised in ancient Allagan history, and so he taught his son how to read and translate ancient Allagan scripts. Raginmar latched on to those lessons since they were the rare times he could escape from the constant fear and terror from being hunted by the Empire. Then when he left Ilsabard to go lose his mind and start up a homestead at some remote island off the map, he went back to learning how to read and translate other dead languages from all the manuscripts his father collected over the years.

He found solace in it. Raginmar was going through incredibly severe PTSD at the time, and that along with the whole homesteading endeavour was what allowed him to recover from it. Hyllizirn says he used to translate things for fun like how people would do crossword puzzles.

[dualcastimpact]

WoL Question of the Day #86

okay okay i thought of a #wolqotd is your wol/oc literate? Who taught them how and what is their LEAST favorite thing to read? Jul 5, 2022

The adventuring party is literate to varying extents. Raginmar, Kirika, L'vazha are the most literate, while the others can read enough to get by in life. The only exception is Sasariku, who is barely literate and relies on Branmirasch to read roadsigns and guild notices for him.

Raginmar can read high-level academic texts and treatises with ease, Kirika was given an extensive education befitting the heir of a merchant dynasty, and L'vazha's work as both a merchant and a member of the Kyūryōshu requires him to be able to read and draft contracts etc.

Raginmar, Hyllizirn, Adricienne and Branmirasch learned how to read from their parent(s). Canso was taught by a fellow prisoner whilst in Garlean captivity, L'vazha by a high-ranking courtesan he befriended in his youth, and Kirika by her many expensive tutors.

As for their reading preferences, most of them have none! Kirika hate-reads the Hydaelyn version of penny dreadfuls and shares the terrible ones with Hyllizirn (and the awful Warrior of Light fanfics with a deeply amused Raginmar).