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Enzo · **01-20-2015, 06:41 PM**

My very first RP character I made on here was an Ishgardian. Granted I knew very little of the lore but I tried to make do with what I did know. I think my character was over dramatic and failed miserably XD I always had a bad habit of making overly dramatic characters. But jumping between a Gilgamesh for End Game and Balmung for RP was inconvenient and made me tend to not put as much effort in the ability for my characters to last for very long. I have come to enjoy more slice of life roleplay and I have found others around me have as well and would like to return to my roots for a second time and see if I can make a lasting Ishgardian character to be my new RP and Endgame main on Balmung.

I have looked around the forums a bit on old posts regarding Ishgard and answered the 100 questions to ask your RP character to help flesh out my character. But I am still wondering what else I can do to support him and what more information I can gather on Ishgard. So any advice for my character, knowledge regarding Ishgard, or possible distant connections you may want to make with my character are well appreciated. I would also like to know who plays Ishgardians still (I remember there was a small community a while back, but I don't know who still plays)

What I was thinking for my character is that I want his father to be a Hyur from Ishgard and his Mother to be a Sickly Miqo'te who the Hyur met on his travels around coerthas with the military and who died from childbirth. Leaving the Hyur alone with my character who I have decided to call Enzo, he could not bear to abandon him and so used his semi high rank in the Ishgardian military to allow Enzo to stay in Ishgard with him. But it took a toll on his rank and eventually put Enzo and his father in poverty. His father would have sheltered him under the excuse that he was sickly later on and would recently help him escape Ishgard to seek out a better life (As the events that may take place and are foreshadowing with the Ishgard expansion may force Enzo into the military which his father has been trying to avoid) That is the basics.

I can send the 100 questions and their answers over PM to anyone interested in learning more about his story in detail and possibly wanting to make some sort of connection with him (Although I would prefer nothing TOO close. You will understand why if you read the 100 questions)

Again, if this backstory seems unrealistic feel free to tell me and I will make an effort to fix it. I wanted him to be somewhat different. But have a relatively undramatic and believable situation. Any knowledge on Ishgard that may have not been in previous posts is appreciated if shared and I would like to get to know other players who play Ishgardians and how their roleplay has been. :3 Thank you

Aya · **01-20-2015, 06:54 PM**

There's actually quite a bit of lore supporting Ishgard now! Really all of the city-states have a great deal of gaps that just have to be filled with with fertile imagination :-]

I think your story is fine generally, and you don't have to listen to any of my advice that follows, but I'll post it since you asked!

I would generally suggest staying away from half-breeds.Â They are confirmed to exist, but are also very uncommon.Â I think you can easily build the same theme and concept with something that is more holistic and less likely to raise eye-brows and put radars on alert.Â Anything from being a suspected of being a heretic (while its unprovable), to competition in romance, or just getting on the wrong side of someone in a position of power would all work for your idea of basically being internally ostracized.Â Its hard enough to live in Ishgard as-is, following endless years of winter freeze, but certainly having someone with authority trying to make your life miserable would make the lot a whole lot worse!Â What of a step mother?Â Or at least a relative who helped raise him like a mother since a soldier on duty would literally not have the time to take care of an infant?

Given the importance of his father to the story, it wasn't clear to me if he was intended to still be alive.Â If he is, and trying to survive in Ishgard while his son is trying to achieve both of their dreams outside the walls, I think that would provide a hook of considerably more interest than being half-miqo'te Smile

Enzo · **01-20-2015, 07:01 PM**

I was thinking that the Father would have switched from outside forces to a guard status for Ishguard in order to spend more time with his son. He would probably need a nanny for the first few years, But it would not be someone Enzo really remembers. After that his father would leave him alone but return at least once every two days to take care of him for a bit. Keep him in line and such. I imagined his father as a caring figure and the reason he keeps losing standing is because he takes so time off for his son. He is high enough up there to get away with some things normal soldiers couldn't but is still slowly worn down for his taking care of his only half ishgardian son. But the older Enzo gets the less reliant he needs to be on his father. I left kind of the fact that his father could be alive out in the open. Infering that it could have happened as his health was getting poor. But not confirming it.

Ah, also in regards to half breeds. I do not think the character I made could really stand against the people in power in Ishgard and being raised in Ishgard does not really help. I also don't really want to put him in a emotionally binding past relationship or anything like that. Being suspected as a heretic would most like get him killed. I really just wanted to play a Miqo'te. But also really wanted to be a Ishgardian. I can't see a miqo'te family getting into high enough power to pull off this situation normally in Ishgard. While I do agree it is rare and it makes me a bit nervous. I heard there would actually be more mixed racial plots in the upcoming expansion which may infer they are not as rare as we might think. It is not directly half and half either. I would go far more miqo'te in gene's than Hyur.

To source my information; http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/122723-...Interviews under Heavensward and under side quests.

Aya · **01-20-2015, 07:11 PM**

(01-20-2015, 07:01 PM)Xefjord Wrote: Ah, also in regards to half breeds. I do not think the character I made could really stand against the people in power in Ishgard and being raised in Ishgard does not really help. I also don't really want to put him in a emotionally binding past relationship or anything like that. Being suspected as a heretic would most like get him killed. I really just wanted to play a Miqo'te.

I was referring to his father (in all of the suggestions for how he could have been ostracized) Smile

Â

Being suspected of being a heretic will get someone killed (hello Witchdrop!) if there is evidence to substantiate it.Â Suspicion by itself, even with Inquisitors about, is not likely to be enough (though a handy threat to hang over someone you dislike's head).

Quote:But also really wanted to be a Ishgardian. I can't see a miqo'te family getting into high enough power to pull off this situation normally in Ishgard.

That's because there aren't Miqo'te in Ishgard (at least of any significance) Smile

Good luck with your character!

Ashe · **01-21-2015, 04:44 AM**

Hmmmmm I RP a heretic with exile parents (read: crazy scientist)....If you don't want your character to live IN Ishgard you could potentially add a way for him to have left or have his family exiled. Â Currently, in my personal opinion and the general idea of Ishgardian RPers from what I've seen is that it's much easier to RP an exile than nobility with the information we have (though the 2.5 lore bomb yo. Â that lore bomb). Â

To stay as a miqo'te but Ishgardian he/she could be adopted and then family exiled? Â Your character would have ties to the place. Â Father may even have raised the character to revere halone, etc. Â Better to be exiled than be pinned a heretic though for sure. <---quick tl;dr two cents

Enzo · **01-21-2015, 08:22 AM**

(01-21-2015, 04:44 AM)Ashe Wrote: Hmmmmm I RP a heretic with exile parents (read: crazy scientist)....If you don't want your character to live IN Ishgard you could potentially add a way for him to have left or have his family exiled. Â Currently, in my personal opinion and the general idea of Ishgardian RPers from what I've seen is that it's much easier to RP an exile than nobility with the information we have (though the 2.5 lore bomb yo. Â that lore bomb). Â

To stay as a miqo'te but Ishgardian he/she could be adopted and then family exiled? Â Your character would have ties to the place. Â Father may even have raised the character to revere halone, etc. Â Better to be exiled than be pinned a heretic though for sure. <---quick tl;dr two cents

I do not have my character living in Ishgard currently. I was thinking his father would have helped him run away. My character would be in no means nobility and after he escapes Ishgard it is highly likely they would not want him back. But my character is a strong believer in Halone so I am unsure if herecy is a problem (Beyond abandoning Ishgard there at the end) For the most part I think he was a good ishgardian boy himself, but his father kept him out of drafts with the excuse that he was sickly but he still did other work to help serve Ishgard. Then with Ishgard's lifestyle seemingly getting worse he tried to get his son out of Ishgard so he can live a better life. Does that make sense? So I would imagine it to be fairly difficult to brand my character himself as a heretic while he was in Ishgard, but it may brand his father as a heretic after my character leaves and they won't let my character back in.

I read that really only important people live in Ishgard. But from the screenshots it looks like there is some really poor areas. So is it still possible to have lived in Ishgard if my character's father was higher ranked in the military. But he got degraded to the slums that all the unimportant people who serve the important people live?
http://imgur.com/a/beYpN/noscript <- here are pictures of Ishgard and it looks like it has a lot of poor/slumish areas.

Kamome · **01-21-2015, 02:58 PM**

All said (and I agree about half-breeds being dangerous to RP because they do set off snowflake alarms) you picked a comparatively good time to RP a half-breed with Koji-Fox's recent comments on the topic:Â

http://gamerescape.com/2014/10/22/fan-fe...-koji-fox/

That said, K-F makes it very clear how and why half-race children are so rare. I would still proceed very carefully before you incorporate it in to your concept.

You seem very set on the idea, however. My advice would be that you make a hyur character with the same back story--just remove the bit about his mother being a miqo'te and you create room for yourself to add in her race at a later time. Then, when 2.5 hits, we can see just how racially diverse Ishgard is. If there are a fair amount of miqo'te, use a Fantasia on him and let everyone know you are ret-conning his appearance. Honestly, with its proximity to the Black Shroud I can see there being perhaps a very small Keeper of the Moon population.

In all honesty, it sounds like your character would make a better hyur than miqo'teâ€”anyone who is raised in the lower classes in Ishgard has a hard enough time as it is, and I have a feeling that someone who wasn't hyuran or elezen would go through experiences that would make them... Less than patriotic. Probably not too keen on Halone.

If you go forward with your concept, I think you will find some who don't mind your backstory, but to many it will be far too sensationalistic and lore-wobbly for them to take you as a serious RPer.

We all want to play someone interesting--but creating a backstory that sets your character up as a uniquely interesting person from the get-go is, frankly, the easy way out. It doesn't show much creativity. The best characters I have ever RP'd with are those with simple, plausible backgrounds who make their characters interesting through what they do in the present momentâ€”not just on paper.

Welcome back to the community and good luck! You should post your wiki Library page here for feedback when you get a first draft together.

Kamome · **01-21-2015, 03:35 PM**

Another thought occurred to me:

Why not play a half-Ishgardian? If your character's father was a former Ishgardian, exiled or seeking refuge in Gridania/Ul'dah/Limsa, it would make complete sense that your character could have a Keeper/Seeker mother and be idealistic as all hell about Ishgard from hearing his father's stories. He could want to become a lancer and emulate Ishgard's legendary dragoons.

Maybe his father still loves his homeland even though he had to leave and only speaks of the romanticized, good things to his son? Maybe his father was just a farmer who couldn't stay in Ishgard because of the eternal frost that has descended on the region? His reasons for leaving don't need to be as dramatic as a heresy accusation.

There are quite a few ways to fit what you want in to the loreâ€”but it doesn't always fit so cleanly. Let the lore work for you! (=Â´âˆ€ï½€)äºº(Â´âˆ€ï½€=)

Advice for an Ishgardian Character?

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes