(03-24-2017, 11:51 AM)Tomasu Wrote: Background: Tomasu is a war orphan from the Doman exodus to Eorzea. Raised by adoptive parents who took him in, he treated them as his real parents throughout his young life. Over the course of his formative years, he was taught to fight by his adoptive father and mother both.
One point I want to bring up here is a slight timeline incongruity, though it has a fairly easy fix. The noted Doman exodus following the razing of their city only occurred roughly one year ago. So using that specific event as the catalyst for your character coming to Eorzea would result in a much more recent arrival. The easy fix is that Garlemald conquered Doma initially in the Year 1552, which was twenty-five years ago. Your character's parents could've smuggled him off the continent around that time, either surviving and coming with him to Gridania or dying on the two month journey it takes by boat, leaving him an orphan to be adopted by Gridanian parents.
Something to be aware of though, is that the Au Ra are very rarely found in Eorzea prior to the razing of Doma a year ago. A handful of small Xaela tribes have made the journey before in years past, but were all wiped out shortly after arriving. Raen have no record of arriving prior to this past event. That said, there has been steady trade between Eorzea and the Far East, mainly in Limsa Lominsa, but Keeper of the Moon trappers and freebooters have also been known to trade illegally obtained pelts to Far Easterners.
Open Season Wrote:Though poaching is one of the most severe crimes in the Twelveswood, often punishable by death, there is no end to the constant flow of those who come to the sacred forest in search of exotic pelts and horns to sell to dubious traders from the Far East. The sheer number of the criminals is forcing the Gods' Quiver to allocate far more men and women than they can spare, and so to lighten their load, they seek able-bodied adventurers to assist in patrolling at least six areas near Treespeak and dealing "swift justice" to any of these forsaken hunters that can be found.
I bring up this point because in your second post you say that his adoptive parents in Gridania would also be Au Ra, and this is something that would be highly irregular for Gridania during this time period. Gridania was a highly xenophobic and isolationist state until the Year 1572, before the Calamity five years ago where the Umbral Era and the Garlean threat forced them to seek allies with the other city-states. I'll talk more about this particular point in the elemental section below.
Anyways, here's a few blurbs and links to additional lore information you might find helpful! ^^
-Doma Lore Compilation
-Race Lore Compilation (Au Ra)
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(03-24-2017, 11:51 AM)Tomasu Wrote: However, a few summers before his adulthood and joining in the mercenary work, tragedy struck as bandits raided his home. No longer having a home to go back to, he found out later that the bandits were associated with the Garleans as some sort of scouting force. Hearing from others like him how the Garleans were responsible for their ancestral home land being razed only inspired Tomasu more to hate them.
(03-24-2017, 12:27 PM)Aya Wrote: I'm not aware of the Garleans hiring bandits to scout for them (though I am far from an expert!).
This is actually something that the Garleans did do! While Nael van Darnus's VIIth Legion was quite adamant on pushing hard against Eorzean territories and sending raiding parties deep into enemy lines, where they could not push, they hired bandits and Eorzean mercenaries to do the work for them. One particular case was with Ul'dah and the sultanate trade lines along the Allagan Sunway towards Gridania. The Garleans couldn't hold a blockade between Ul'dah and Gridania on their own, so they hired a faction of sellswords called the Hellhounds to do it for them.
Aubrey Wrote:A unit carrying arms and munitions from near Ala Mhigo has come under attack. It would appear that the Garleans have blockaded the trade route. That route is Ul'dah's lifeline to the East, and carries the bulk of our trade. If we lose it, it will cost the nation billions, and effectively neuter our military. Should it come to that, we would lack the strength to withstand a direct attack. We must break the Garlean blockade. We must! We have learned what we can of the imperials holding the road. They are known as the Hellhounds. According to our intelligence, they have taken up a position close to the Golden Bazaar.
These Hellhounds may march under the Empire's banner, but they are in truth no more than honorless sellswords, hired to harry our borders. The lawless fiends ran rampant under the protection of the imperial banner, pillaging and plundering. It was only when Lord Lolorito bribed the scoundrels that the safety of the road was restored. Unfortunately, that provided the Empire with an excuse to march on eastern Thanalan, ostensibly to put down their rogue Hellhounds.
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(03-24-2017, 08:31 PM)Tomasu Wrote: Could you specify more on the Elementals accepting him? I've not delved deeply into the Conjurer's back story, nor those of the Archer if the Elementals have meaning there.
Okay, this goes back (in part) to my earlier mention of Gridania's xenophobia and isolationism.
The Black Shroud, as it's known to outsiders, is home to a particular set of ancient elementals - spirits who inhabit every tree, rock, river, scrap of metal, etc. While elementals exist all over the world, from Meracydia to the Far East, it is only those within the Twelveswood that make themselves known to mankind. The elementals watch over the wood and maintain a strict rule over who is allowed to remain within and who poses a threat to the wood's wellbeing, the latter being forcibly removed by Gridania's bowmen if they are fortunate. The Gridanians believe that these elementals are pieces of Nophica's spirit and that their voices are the wishes of Nophica, the Matron. It took several hundred years for mankind to earn admittance into the Wood, so the Gridanians who live there now fiercely defend their borders to ensure no harm comes to the Wood under their watch and care, lest the elementals cast them out or swallow their city in their rage.
This pact (the Pact of Gelmorra) that the Gridanians and the elementals have is their root cause for loathing outsiders, who most often: 1) don't believe in the elementals and 2) because of this do not respect the Wood, which is dangerous not just to the unbelievers but to all who live within the Wood, as elementals do not readily distinguish between friend and foe. What Gridanians do know is that the elementals can sense feelings and emotions, which plays a part in their choosing of who will benefit the wood versus harm it. This is why many Ala Mhigan refugees, in particular, are unable to remain in the Wood, because their hearts are filled with vengeance and malice.
Kan-E-Senna Wrote:In perceiving the world around him, man relies upon senses such as sight and sound. For the sake of convenience, he gives names to such things as are near or dear to him. Being formed of pure aether, however, such concepts are foreign to the elementals. Instead, they perceive by observing the ebb and flow of the energies of life. So profound a division cannot be bridged with simple discourse. The elementals' voices stir not the air, and thus reach not our ears, while our words are but wind to them. Though we seers can commune with them through feelings, naught that we can impart will serve to aid them in identifying her. Nay, they must needs be presented with aether which is akin to hers. If you could but find a family member...
Nonolato Wrote:Very good. but be forewarned - the Twelveswood can be a fickle mistress. She demands respect. You must never cross her borders with malice or deception in your heart.
This is the belief of the outsider - that the forest exists to provide for him. That to take and not to give is the way of things. They break branch and bush for shelter, and forage carelessly to fill their bellies.
Oha-Sok Wrote:Sounsyy Mirke. Long have I watched thee. Through thine eyes have I gazed upon the children of the sixth sun. I am wrath incarnate. By my kindred's rage I am given life, by their keening roused to wakefulness. Even as I mourn the departure of light, I grieve the arrival of shadow. Gentle child of man. Thy heart knoweth no vice, thine intentions righteous. Yet thy strength knoweth no purpose but conflict. In conflict, there is naught but suffering.
Hark! The keening of my kind riseth to a crescendo! The new moon loometh nigh, and when it cometh, woods shall wither and seas shall roil. Pray forgive me, child of gentle heart, and fare thee well. When the end of days is come, I pray that thy soul shall know true peace.
This leads neatly into what Aya mentioned with the elementals accepting your character. Though I see no reason why you couldn't say that he is accepted, every person seeking to remain in the Twelveswood must be allowed to do so by the elementals and then cleansed of their woodsin. This is where having adoptive parents from Gridania would help, but also would likely limit them to being not Au Ra. Alternatively, your character and parents (if they survived) could all be transplants who've been accepted into Shroud life.
Coming to live in Gridania might actually be a good choice of relocation spots, as the Doman religion could be compared to elemental worship on its own. It might be strangely familiar to them.
Balan Wrote:Refugees must first spend a night here in Quarrymill that the elementals might judge them worthy of living in the Twelveswood. Their decision cannot be appealed. Every one of us, Gridanians included, dwell here only by the elementals' leave.
Charline Wrote:Quarrymill was named for the waterwheels that served to process raw stone into building material. Over the years, it has come to be a gathering place for hunters and trappers, owing to its location amidst elemental-sanctioned hunting grounds. Quarrymill is also a place of judgement. All outsiders who wish to dwell in the Twelveswood must present themselves here to have their worthiness weighed by the elementals. Those whose petition is denied cannot remain in the wood, nor can they receive of its bounty. Harsh though it may seem, this has been the way of it since time immemorial.
-Elemental Lore
-Woodsin Lore
Hope this helps! ^^
