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+--- Thread: Ishgardian Mechanic (Garlean sympathizer?) (/showthread.php?tid=17102)
Ishgardian Mechanic (Garlean sympathizer?) - Welkin - 08-29-2016
Hey guys! I originally posted some stuff in Lore Discussion, and found out that was the wrong place to put specific character questions - so here I am! Thanks for informing about that.
I've been brainstorming a few ideas now, while waiting for Balmung to open up. Maint is right around the corner...! I gotta build up my late-night endurance...
So my character's name is Welkin Archambault, fourth son and seventh child of the minor noble house Archambault. The Archambaults are not particularly wealthy, but do operate alongside House Haillenarte in order to facilitate trade (i.e. Archambault helps maintain Skysteel Manufactory, etc. Basic trade agreements?)
The first child of Archambault, while originally next in line to inherit the household, escaped Ishgard years before the Calamity under the guise of a chocobo trainer. This caused a rather large scandal, but blew over after a time. No one can recall her name because of her involvement in Carteneau as a WoL. (She'll be referred to as Efraine, for now.)
Fifteen years older than Welkin, Efraine hadn't wanted the responsibility that came with the inheritance, preferring the company of chocobos over men. She was close with her younger brother, Welkin, and taught him about both chocobos and her dreams of one day traveling the world through the sky. Welkin, fascinated with her stories of traversing the land through air, inherited her dream.
His sister had no sense of safety, either. She once sparred with him when he was barely five (around a year before she would leave Ishgard), accidentally leaving a shallow cut on the right side of his face up his cheek. She got a ribbing from their parents, but Welkin thought he looked about fifty times cooler with it. As of now, he still does. It is about the only thing he recalls about his sister, after all.
Welkin, the youngest Archambault, grew up without much expectation. His family did not pay attention to him, so he often roamed the city, especially the Brume, and tinkered with metals. Dressed in dirty garb from his misadventures and soot-stained from his work, he felt right at home in the Brume. His father wanted him to join the cloister or the Temple Knights, but Welkin refused. He had long harbored a grudge towards Ishgard's theocracy, hearing many a tale of their "villainy" towards commonpeople while playing and helping out in the Brume. The Dragonsong War had taken the lives of two of his three older brothers, as well.
He kept any disagreeable thoughts out of his mouth, however, putting up a front for the Inquisitors to see. Though he did not like dragons for all the deaths they caused, he could not help but marvel at their power of flight.
Also, he admired Garlean technology, or what he saw of it. (? is that possible ?) Due to his grudges toward Ishgard's governmental system, he sympathizes with Garlemald, naively thinking their rule would benefit the city-state more than the current rulers.
In the end, Welkin was allowed to take private lessons with Ishgard's finest blacksmiths and traders. It was his calling, and he was going to show his long-lost sister his work once he was famous, he thought.
During his apprenticeship, the Calamity occurred. Whatever memory he had of his sister disappeared with it - he knows she left Ishgard, but he can't recall a face, a name, a reason for his adoration. The only thing left for him to remember her was the light scar on his face.
This only helped reinforce Welkin's dream of flying, taking it up for both his lost sister and himself. He set out to prove his worth to his family. He joined Skysteel Manufactory when the opportunity arose.
Eventually, I plan to have him help add to the original design of Manacutters - perhaps helping equip the Sky Pirates with their ships? I Somewhere along the way, I want him to join up with Limsa Lominsa's Maelstrom, either as apart of the GC or as a trade partner. After all, a good machinist like himself needed to understand both the ways of the wind and the sea to help improve his creations.
Thanks! I hope this is alright - I looked at a little more lore, and I wanted to keep Welkin's WoL sister but made her abscond from Ishgard before the Calamity. I know there are some Ishgardians in Gridania who are actually chocobo keepers, and came there to bring chocobo raising to Eorzea. I wanted the WoL sister to be one of those, but got caught up in the whole WoL business. [dunno when those Ishgardians actually left Ishgard, though, so that idea might not work.]
The only thing I super want to keep about him is his obsession for flying and talent at machinery, though. Whew! Thanks again.