I like character creation, so I seldom recycle character concepts at all.
I started out playing FF on Siren with a few friends who didn't RP, and C'kayah (then C'kayah Tia) was just this storyless avatar. I liked the looks of Miqo'te, so I made him a Seeker.
When my friends stopped playing a month or so later, I thought I'd check out the RP community here, so I re-made C'kayah on Balmung. Exact same thing as C'kayah on Siren, so I had a few things already set up: He was a Seeker, he was tribal (hence Tia), and he was no longer with his tribe. I started out an archer because I played a hunter (archer) in LOTRO and liked that mechanic, so he started in Gridania where there normally aren't a lot of Seekers.
I liked the idea of playing a criminal, so I figured I'd make him a smuggler. It gives him a reason for moving around, and I thought it would be interesting playing a grey area criminal (as opposed to a "Doctor Evil" type). I'm a huge fan of Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories, and brought his tendency to drink like a fish from those stories.
I happened to be reading Casanova's autobiography at the time (it's long, but it's really entertaining). Casanova had a very interesting approach to social interaction, and he wrote down entire conversations in his autobiography - embellished, of course, but you still see Casanova shining through in them. I thought it would be interesting to bring that into C'kayah. His womanizing tendencies, his attitudes towards life (easy come, easy go) and people (enjoy them while they're here, appreciate them for who they are, don't fuck them over; love is love, business is business, and the rest is bullshit) all come from Casanova, as well as his style of speaking. In a game world filled with straight talking upright good guys and dark villains, this all makes him a very slippery fellow.
From this point he started to evolve. I'd been toying with the idea of him having a Keeper ancestor in his past, so when I met Miah Polaali, we decided to codify that: They're cousins. His maternal grandmother was from Miah's clan, and some sort of great aunt to Miah. When name changes came in, I changed his name to C'kayah Polaali (ICly this was because he decided that Tia didn't fit, him not being part of a tribe anymore). Of all the things I've done with him, I've gotten the most mileage out of this one decision. He has family ties now with other players, and that translates into limitless hooks for RP opportunity.
I started out playing FF on Siren with a few friends who didn't RP, and C'kayah (then C'kayah Tia) was just this storyless avatar. I liked the looks of Miqo'te, so I made him a Seeker.
When my friends stopped playing a month or so later, I thought I'd check out the RP community here, so I re-made C'kayah on Balmung. Exact same thing as C'kayah on Siren, so I had a few things already set up: He was a Seeker, he was tribal (hence Tia), and he was no longer with his tribe. I started out an archer because I played a hunter (archer) in LOTRO and liked that mechanic, so he started in Gridania where there normally aren't a lot of Seekers.
I liked the idea of playing a criminal, so I figured I'd make him a smuggler. It gives him a reason for moving around, and I thought it would be interesting playing a grey area criminal (as opposed to a "Doctor Evil" type). I'm a huge fan of Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories, and brought his tendency to drink like a fish from those stories.
I happened to be reading Casanova's autobiography at the time (it's long, but it's really entertaining). Casanova had a very interesting approach to social interaction, and he wrote down entire conversations in his autobiography - embellished, of course, but you still see Casanova shining through in them. I thought it would be interesting to bring that into C'kayah. His womanizing tendencies, his attitudes towards life (easy come, easy go) and people (enjoy them while they're here, appreciate them for who they are, don't fuck them over; love is love, business is business, and the rest is bullshit) all come from Casanova, as well as his style of speaking. In a game world filled with straight talking upright good guys and dark villains, this all makes him a very slippery fellow.
From this point he started to evolve. I'd been toying with the idea of him having a Keeper ancestor in his past, so when I met Miah Polaali, we decided to codify that: They're cousins. His maternal grandmother was from Miah's clan, and some sort of great aunt to Miah. When name changes came in, I changed his name to C'kayah Polaali (ICly this was because he decided that Tia didn't fit, him not being part of a tribe anymore). Of all the things I've done with him, I've gotten the most mileage out of this one decision. He has family ties now with other players, and that translates into limitless hooks for RP opportunity.
