Illira

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*pops in to high-five the Pumking, then fades back into the shadows* Seriously though. Pumking is delicious.

I figured I'd make an update here for officialities sake, though those who RPed/raided with me know that its been about a couple of months since I took an unofficial hiatus and a month since I unsubbed. I no longer play FF14 for personal reasons, which basically boil down to the game no longer being fun for me. I can still be spotted occasionally participating in RP for it and on the forums here, as I still have some characters involved in things. All of my RP for it is over Skype. So if, for some reason someone feels the burning desire to RP with me (or whatevs), throw me a PM on here. As a related note: I'm also over on WildStar now, so I'm not done with the MMO scene or anything

The doors of the records room broke open, throwing white light into the yellow room and making the stale air move with the outside breeze. A miqo'te man hopped into the room as though he expected to suddenly be center of attention, arms high in the air. "We're back! I hope you all behaved while we were..." D'edy Nunh dropped his arms and slapped his side, fuzzy ears standing straight up and thin tail fluffing up pathetically. "Hey! Hey, stop it! Everyone stop what you're doing!" The huntresses were not deaf, to D'edy's entrance, pausing in their assault. Lamandu was well in-hand, by then, so they turned their attention away from the Lalafel long enough to look at D'edy. Their ears fell flat at their head and they withdrew their lances when they saw the figure that loomed behind him, a hyur man in shining silver armor. They cowed away from the captain, then, and one of them actually muttered, "D'themia told us to..." "Stop it!" D'edy yelled into the room again, glaring at D'themia. Then he snapped forward, bare feet slapping the ground. He jumped up onto a desk, then leapt to the next one, and then to the next. "I said knock it off!" Finally, D'themia Nunh glanced up. "What!" D'edy jump one more time and slammed knees-first against D'themia's craggy face, knocking the man hard to the side, causing him pinwheel on his heel and then fall hard to the ground. Landing on his face next to him, D'edy Nunh spat, "Ass!" Bayard Learner stepped forward, casting a larger shadow into the room. "Someone explain this!" He delayed only an instant before his sights settled on Lamandu and he began to march in the direction. The huntresses took one look at D'edy, one look at learner, and retreated far from the Captain. Antimony's toes curled at the electric jolts of pain that shot up her spine when D'themia yanked on her tail. Then very suddenly the pain was gone, as was the pressure on the back of her head, and she dropped to the floor behind the desk, onto her knees. Her hands moved to her face, felt warm blood dribbling from her nose down to her lips, though her nose and cheeks remained numb. Twisting, she saw both nunhs sprawled on the floor behind her, then heard the authoritative bark of Bayard Learner on the other side of the desk. Reaching up with one hand, she pulled herself to her feet, her other hand still clutching her face as she spoke in a somewhat nasally voice, "Unprovoked assault, Mister... ah, Sultansworn." Her eyes widened when she spotted Captain Tyremandu and followed up with a startled, "He needs medical attention!" The sword fell to the ground with a dull thud as Lamandu had let it go to clutch at his sides that borne the worst of the stabbings. His breaths were labored as he heard the booming voice of the Sultansworn above him, "Assault and Obstruction... Learner." His whole body felt like it was a pincushion. Many of the wounds were shallow things, but all told his armor, more ornamental than anything wasn't meant absorb much. As the Sultansworn approached Lamandu, healing magic was already alive in his hands, throwing the pseudo-conjury of Paladin healing at the Lalafel. He turned and barked at the huntresses, "Get out of here! You will be called to answer later!" He dropped to a knee beside Lamandu to offer the man aid. "Let me close these holes and then we'll get you to a proper healer." The huntresses appeared unsure, looking over to the Nunh who were both standing up. D'themia opened his mouth and began to shot something, but D'edy popped suddenly off the ground and placed his knee right against D'themia's teeth, making the other man snap back and fall again, blood splattering on the floor. As D'themia clutched his face and shifted about in prone fury, D'edy Nunh brushed the blood from his knee. "Ow. Why are your teeth so sharp?" He looked to the huntresses, "Yeah, you guys might be under arrest later. Go take a shower and have a nap or something. Bye bye." One of the women lifted her ears. "But... D'themia said..." "I'm the big Nunh now!" D'edy pointed at himself with both thumbs, tail flicking back and forth behind him. "Or something. Just move your tails before Learner beats you. I bet he reeeeally wants to." The thin man's fuzzy ears popped up in surprise as he noticed he was standing on papers. He hopped back, but the sheet stuck to his feet, so he hopped on a foot trying to pluck it off. "Dammit, D'themia. Why do you always have to make such a mess?" From where he knelt beside Lamandu, the Sultansworn said, "He won't be making much of a mess in a cell." D'edy pulled the piece of paper from his foot, looked at it front and back in curiously. "Oh, this doesn't look very good!" He walked over and put it down in front of Antimony. "This is yours, I think? I don't think I should be looking at it." Antimony turned to blink at D'edy, watching him set the paper down on the desk - one of the many that still littered the floor about her feet. A ringing in her ears drowned out his words and she drooped, leaning against the desk. "Yes... Thank you," she mumbled out around her bloody hand and lowered her gaze to the other papers. Silently she dropped back to the floor and began to fumble with one hand to gather them all up again. Lamandu could feel his skin begin to knit itself back together, it hurt worse than the actual lances piercing his skin. He looked up at Learner crouched next to him, "You just had to come in and play the hero didn't you?" He asked, bitterly and out of breath. Looking away he pulled a hand from his side to put up on the Paladin's shoulder, leaving a bloody handprint. "Thanks for saving my sorry hide anyway," he groused, the adrenaline leaving its system, blood-flow stymying. At least he'd live to see another day, and it looked like it wouldn't be from a jail cell, after all. "It's just the shiny armor," Learner said. "Sparkly things scare cats. Brass, not so much." D'edy pulled his sash from his robe. It was still stained with and smelling of wine, but it had dried. He dropped it on Antimony's lap. "Here. push that against your nose and try to stop bleeding. Let me help you with those papers. I promise not to look at any of them!" Just as D'edy was crouching down to start collecting loose papers, D'themia Nunh surged to his feet, shouting around the blood in his mouth. "D'edy! You did this!" He extended one finger in accusation. "There should be nothing illegal in our ledgers unless you were doing it behind your back! And you brought the Sultansworn here knowing I would take the fall!" "Uhhhm." D'edy stood, bouncing his head at D'themia. "Nobody told you to stab the Lalafel, Themia. You did that aaaaall on your own." Bayard Learner's hand clamped over D'themia's extended wrist suddenly and firmly, yanking him hard to one side. "It appears I do get to arrest someone today!" He spun the Nunh around, ignoring his protests, taking both hands and shoving them high up his back. He looked around him to Lamandu. "Unless you felt up to doing the honors, Captain." Antimony accepted the cloth gratefully, though with a twinge of guilt for sullying something not her own as she wadded it up against her face. Pressing the cloth against her nose made the whole front of her face throb, leaving no question in her mind that it had been broken. With a wince, she continued to gather up the papers, ears sticking out low to either side of her head. She listened to Learner as he moved in on D'themia with some hidden satisfaction. Barely standing, Lamandu shook his head vehemently, "I still have a reputation to uphold, Learner. Plus... I do far too much paperwork already. Glory is all yours to take." He had already taken far too much of a necessary risk, getting involved already. While such a high profile case might earn him accolades with people like Learner, it would turn many more of the wrong eyes towards him. If word got out that he was the one who arrested D'themia, he'd be done for in a whole 'nother way. Out of the frying and and into the fire. It was a metaphor for this whole damned day. "Then I guess I'll take it." The Sultansworn slammed the struggling, cursing Nunh down face-first onto a table, binding his arms behind him. "Oh, Themia!" D'edy Nunh called out, lifting a hand briefly. "Since I'm the big Nunh in charge now, I'm going to schedule a fight between you and D'hein for the role of Nunh tomorrow. I sure hope you can make it. Remember, a no-show is a forfeit!" D'themia Nunh barked such a dense set of curses that it sounded like a bestial, maddened roar. D'edy pulled his thin wrist back to his body. "Oh, well, you know a Nunh in prison is useless to the tribe. Just do your best to be there, okay?" He then crouched down beside Antimony to help collect the errant pages. "I can offer the tribe's healers free of charge, if you want, but I'll forgive if you just want to scuttle on away from the Commune." Antimony swallowed, then regretted it when she tasted blood that had trickled down the back of her throat, and dragged the last of the papers into a sadly thoroughly disorganized pile. Green eyes glanced up towards D'edy, and she tried for a weak smile around the cloth against her face. "Thank you. I... Someone to set my nose would be appreciated. Ah, some things you just can't do for yourself..." Scooping up the papers in one hand, she dropped them into her satchel that still sat nearby and then stood carefully. Her brow furrowed as she half turned towards Lamandu. "Captain... I am so deeply sorry for... you are alright...?" The Captain's long hair stuck against the sides of his face from the sweat that he'd exuded, while blood was dotted and streaked around his light armor. But he was standing thanks to Learner's first healing pass. He pushed himself off from the cabinet that he'd become all to acquainted with. "Yes, yes." He started to walk slowly, limply towards the door, before he stopped and looked her straight in the eye. "Just remember what we talked of before all this," he said, voice steady and deadly serious. He then broke his gaze from hers and looked back at the Sultansworn. "I'm sure you'll want my statement, Learner. You know where to find me." "Expect me in the near future," Learner said, much of his energy being consumed by keeping D'themia restrained. He took a moment to whisper a threat into the man's ear, and it was likely a very terrible one, as the Nunh ceased his struggles a moment later. The Sultansworn then lifted his gaze to Lamandu once more. "Captain, while you are quite imposed upon already, I would ask that you escort Antimony out of here. Given recent events, I'd rather she not be alone in the commune." "Oh," D'edy looked up, ears standing high, "I can take good care of her." "I also rather do not trust this tribe's Nunhs." "Oh." D'edy's ears dropped. He seemed to consider making further reply befor turning to Antimony and grabbing her head with one hand, his other reaching for her face. "Let me. I can set it. Noses are super easy." Antimony had enough time to utter a confused, "What?" while her ears pressed back in surprise, and then she let out an involuntary yelp as D'edy's grip on her face tightened very suddenly, followed by a dull crack. Her hands moved up to her face, swatting D'edy's away, and touched her nose gingerly. The nunh she gave an annoyed, if grateful, sideways stare. Watching Antimony's nose get set against her will, Lamandu just let out a tired sigh. He gestured towards the woman to follow him, "Let's go then, Antimony. There's an appointment with a healer that I need to keep." "Pop!" D'edy proclaimed, as Antimony's nose snapped into place. "That was a really good crack! Thanks a lot." He then stepped back, smiling broadly and gestured towards the door. "You should get going. Oh! There'll be a big party tomorrow night because I say so. If you want to come by I'll make everyone give you things and say they're sorry! Then there's going to... not be a fight. But D'hein will get up in the middle but we'll all cheer and clap and pretend he did a good job. You can bring a guest!" The Sultansworn stood D'themia up. "I'm going to wait until you two are gone to haul this guy out so you don't have to look at his tail the whole way." Antimony wasn't quite sure how to take D'edy's words, recognizing the familiarity of the ritual he described but not quite sure how seriously he intended it - or the invitation. Still, she licked her lips and bowed her head, managing a faint, "Thank you. I appreciate the... offer." Then she gathered up her satchel and turned to walk over to Lamandu. Lama merely sniffed in derision, though he stowed the knowledge away for later as D'edy had shown an excellent penchant for the sort of recreation that he enjoyed when he was able to. Vaguely aware that Antimony followed him, he slowly led them out of the tower. They only got lost a few times before finally exiting the tower.

"I am voiding your warrant! It's time for you to go!" The crag-faced man didn't appear concerned about the Lalafel's sudden presence, continuing to march forward as if he could simply step on Lamandu or kick him aside. He was about to try and do so, in fact, when a crackling voice called from somewhere on his person, "Themiaaaa!" The Nunh stopped short as though he'd stepped on a nail, wincing likewise, and with his eyes pinched close and his tail shivering he twisted one of the ornate rings on his hand and held the affixed linkpearl up to his ear. Sounding somehow more vicious than when he'd struck Antimony earlier, the Nunh barked, "What!" D'edy's voice lamented from the pearl. "It's boring! The killer turned himself in. Just some psycho hobo killer or something. So Lamandu and Antimony aren't implicated anymore and Learner's... Oh! It looks like we're coming home now." D'themia's expression twisted. "What?" "Give yourself a kiss for me! See you soon!" "What?" No answer came from the linkpearl. "What! Gah!" D'themia slammed his fist into his open palm and shouted into, "I'll rip your tail and gift it to Lolorito you emaciated, obnoxious-" He fell suddenly silent and snapped his hands to either side, where the shook for a moment before his fingers unfurled. The Nunh turned his frustrated gaze to the ceiling, joined his hands behind his back, and exhaled a long, slow breath that might've been dragonfire if his anatomy suited his demeanor. The huntresses in the room shifted subtly and renewed their stoic composures. Finally, D'themia's gaze dropped. First he looked at Lamandu, his nostrils curling, and then to Antimony, "Has your investigations yielded their expected results?" Antimony forced herself to watch her work for several seconds longer, steeling her nerves against D'themia's tone, before very deliberately setting her pen down alongside the papers. Her tail twitched anxiously, but this was luckily out of view where she stood behind the desk. Pursing her lips, she lifted her head and met the nunh's gaze with her own, purpling bruise and all. To her credit, she maintained her composure. "I am just wrapping up," she acknowledged, paused, and then nodded. "I will need to take these records to the CRA for report. You will likely hear from them via other channels soon." Lamandu let out a breath. So Learner wasn't going to come after him on flimsy, trumped up charges. Not that they would have stuck, given that he legitimately had no involvement in the matter. But he and his office were coming under enough scrutiny of late. He didn't need anything else, no matter how petty and pesky the matter was, being raised against him. But good, it looked like Antimony was done. Good new all around, "Not that you could have stopped us, you cannot simply void a warrant by saying the words," he said, addressing D'themia. "I could not have stopped you?" D'themia muttered hoarsely before putting his heel to the Lalafel's chest and pushing the tiny armored man away from him with all his weight. "If I have you beaten beyond recognition and thrown to the refugees for meat, the supposed tenacity of your paperwork will not be much comfort to you!" In response to the Nunh's anger, the huntresses shifted, leaning slightly forward and easing their arms away from their sides. It was a pose of readiness, eyes wide, unsure when they would be expected to act on D'themia's threats. The man growled at Antimony, "You will show me your results. Do not make the mistake of pretending that you will not." The older woman's ears shivered close to her head at D'themia's threats. She cast a concerned look towards Lamandu, worried for the small captain's safety as the nunh shoved him forcefully across the floor. Surely he wouldn't act on such threats, though - it would only get him, and anyone else involved, into even greater trouble. She had dealt with belligerent clients in the past, and D'themia Nunh was just a particularly bad one. Resting her hands flat atop the papers, she pulled them into a single pile. "I can only tell you that we've enough that you will be contacted again soon, I'm sorry. A formal write up will reach you soon to allow time for legal defense on your end." She swallowed, looking to Lamandu, and then added tensely, "And I should remind you that physical assault of investigators will be included in the report." The breath was knocked out of Lamandu as he was brushed heavily into a filing cabinet, numbly recognizing the threats leveled at him and his blackmailer. He drew out his sword, long as it had been since he'd done that. It had been a long time since he had seen any real action. D'themia did not know that though. So as stood straight, Miqo'te towering over him, he cleared his throat. He hadn't even heard Antimony's protests; but his voice was firm, "That was an assault on a Brass Blades Officer," he said brandishing his sword, "If you do not let us leave quietly with our work, you will have to be placed under arrest for assault and obstruction of an investigation. D'themia Nunh was entertained by Lamandu's valiant stand. It was always valiant to him to watch a Lalafel try to defend himself with something other than laws or ethics. All that armor and his little sword made him about as threatening to D'themia as an oversized Scorpion. The tiny Brass Blade's growling tone had come with the satisfying click and shift of the huntresses around him taking their lances from their backs; the Nunh didn't have to look at them to know their ready stances, their wide eyes. Women were predictable like that. Strong Miqo'te women, once armed, needed only a word from their Nunh to assert the will of the tribe. "Who will arrest me, tiny soldier? You are well outside your jurisdiction here. The only law is... Well, my law." He gestured to the huntresses, their white armor and ornate lances. "So who will arrest me? Who will witness the crime, and who will report it? What judge will oversee the trial who will not understand and pity the plight of an affluent man such as myself? None of these things will happen, and even if they could, they would not happen in time to save you. So, tell me," he leaned forward, his smile fading, "Am I not being generous -- oh, very diplomatic -- when I request merely to see the results of your investigation into my own tribe's monetary affairs? For I am not obligated to request, or to restrain my women." Antimony tensed, her hands stilling over the stack of papers briefly before she took them up. Her eyes flicked briefly to the satchel sitting next to her feet, then back to D'themia. Captain Tyremandu's words and actions bolstered her somewhat, knowing that he was alright and that he was not presently backing down. "You know what we were looking for," she spoke carefully, her nerves showing themselves clearly in the way her ears twitched and her tail quivered, curling against the back of her legs. "I can say that your records reveal a, ah, suspicious parallel to what we found in the Brass Blades' archives. It is not my place to level official accusations, however, only to pass on my recommendations to the CRA." Blood pumped erratically through the small man's veins as the D'themia's guard began to surround him. He was screwed every which way. Screwed if he defended Antimony. Screwed if he didn't. For once in the past few hours, he actually wished that Learner was going to come to arrest him on bogus charges. "You aren't above the law in this, D'themia. Your tribe is allowed to exist in this compound because it benefits trade; but that doesn't mean that an attack on officials will be overlooked. Learner certainly won't." "If Learner were not a fool he would not have left you here alone." The Nunh chuckled. "He believes that I am the victim here, can't you tell? And it is true, for a woman of these tribe lies dead this morning and the Witch of the Sagolii comes here with lies." He pointed towards Antimony and barked, "She has found nothing! Divest her of her work and tell me what mistruths she has constructed!" The huntress that was immediately next to Antimony spun on the woman and approached her with fast, hard steps, leading with the shaft of her lance held before her. She was prepared for Antimony to resist or to flee, and the huntress's businesslike gaze did not give much hope that either would be permitted. Ears laying flat back against her head, Antimony squeaked in surprise as D'themia's words commanded a huntress to stomp towards her. The older woman's tail twisted, curled between her legs, and she frantically grabbed her bag from the floor before backing away from the oncoming huntress. "You--you will do no such thing! That would be tampering with evidence and interfering with an officially sanctioned investigation. More--more marks I would have to report! D'themia, this nonsense will do you no good." One of the huntresses stalked past him towards Antimony in an obviously threatening manner. Crazy it probably was, considering his company; but the desperate adrenaline was pumping throughout him. Lamandu struck out at the woman, sword slicing at the back of her knees. "You will do no such thing!" He announced. He was probably dead. But better that than rotting in a jail cell with no money or prospects. Yeah, Lamandu was probably dead. The woman he'd attacked cried out, knowing immediately what had happened to her and who was responsible. She managed to fall away from him and roll, trailing blood as she did so. The other huntresses, already in ready stances, had moved before their compatriot's knees had even hit the floor, lances and growls bared as they rushed at the Lalafel. D'themia, in surprise, dropped all guise of fury and backpedaled from the confrontation, staying well away from any weapons. One moment ago Lamandu had been an oversized scorpion, but now he was hostile, and it was up to the Huntresses to deal with him. The Nunh paused on his heels when he was far enough away, for only an instant, before he pivoted and broke into a run, vaulting a desk to skirt around the violence and get to Antimony. For a large man, he was fast, his tail extended high behind him as he dodged furniture like it wasn't even there, throwing himself onto the table Antimony's paperwork had been on a moment before, and crouching there in front of her. A Lalafel in armor was one thing, but D'themia Nunh knew how to deal with a disobedient woman. He growled, "Last warning, witch. I've already come this far, so I might as well go for broke." Antimony let out a yelp, of both surprise and fear, when Lamandu struck out at huntress - a fear that became wholly realized when the others around the walls of the room mobilized towards the lalafell. "Captain!" Her voice cracked in warning but cut itself off when the nunh landed with a heavy thud on the desk in front of her. Flinching away from the man, Antimony glared and snapped, "Cease this pointless violence!" Blood dripped from the sword as the struck huntress rolled away, at least one of her hamstring sliced judging from the way she moved. He turned to face her sisters, bearing down on him as they were. He brandished his sword in front of him, unsure of where to point it as shadows threatened to overwhelm him. Antimony's shrill voice carried over everything happening at once. As one of the huntress came too close, he stuck out, firmly in his intent, but rusty in practice. "Violence? Oh, this isn't even violent yet." D'themia smiled, looking Antimony over. He slipped off the desk and then lunched forward to take her by her one ear, pulling her up and forward. "This is what violence feels like!" He turned and slammed her face flat on the desk he'd just vacated, following this up with a hard elbow downward on her head. He left his arm there to hold her in place. "Shouldn't you know better than to talk down to the Nunh?" The huntresses had the advantage of range on Lamandu, two surrounding him and using the points of their long lances to threaten him while the third woman pulled the injured huntresses away. They seemed more interested in controlling him than killing him, though they also had a vested interested in hurting him, and they told him so as they took turns stabbing at the openings in his armor. Long lances wielded by experienced bodyguards against an out of shape lalafell Captain didn't yield much of a fight. He'd taken the one by surprise, but it wasn't long before his sides were bleeding and he was keeping himself upright by leaning against the cabinet D'themia had thrown him up against. His short sword only managing to knock aside the occasional stabbing. Antimony barely had time to react to the sharp twinge in her ear before her face hit the desk with a crack. Something snapped in her nose, sending a tingling numbness across her cheeks and up her forehead, and then stars lit up across her vision as D'themia's elbow slammed down on the back of her head. Her limbs went limp for several seconds in shock, sending the papers she'd held scattering to the floor below her and beneath the desk, and then began to struggle, pushing up from the desk. "You are not my nunh," she spat in a kind of horrified anger, her tail flicking behind her, whacking D'themia. "Get off of me!" "Oh, I'm not? When you came into my commune, I became your Nunh." He pressed down on Antimony's head and grabbed her tail, pulling it up towards himself as though he could fold her in half with it. "Now shut up!"

Lamandu's eyes narrowed at the Sultansworn, not paying much attention to anyone else in the room, "Learner. I cannot answer that, for I don't know why you are here. I was asked to assist the C.R.A. with a matter that they have. Nothing more."

Can't be overstated enough how important it is not to overthink a character in your head. If a character wants to happen, they will, forcing them out will just make you and them unhappy llamas. :lol: I've suffered from bigtime from that exact issue -alot- in ARR. Specifically with one problem character that I've rethought and rebrainstormed her details/motivations/history multiple times before I would allow her to be unleashed on the world, and even after that, it was like pulling teeth. It got a lot better once I made the conscious decision to her have the reign a bit and be okay with not "knowing her". One the opposite end, most of my fun, relaxing RP has been from a character that started out as a mook who I knew a total of 3 things about: His name, job, and how he got his job. Letting him form completely organically was a nice break, hadn't had a character like that happen in a long time. Moral of the story: Overthinking characters can be a bad, bad thing. D: Glad your guy is working out a lot better for you now!

I've also been waiting ages to have a long, loose hairstyle for Illira (at least one that didn't look terrible!) and finally have one! Yay! There is only one issue... CLIPPING! It clips terribly in 80% of the things ;-;

Cypress had a name. D’aijeen. Another piece along the broken trail that she followed. The duskwright may have been wrong about the conversation he’d inadvertently arranged. It wasn't easy, pulling teeth from the mother. Nor was it pleasant, but it seemed that nothing she ever did was. She was not a liar though. She had told the truth when she had said that she had no wish to bring harm upon the girl. But neither was it an option to simply let her continue with her necromantic dabbles, if indeed that was all they were. In this instance, it did not matter if she was responsible for the flood, or that she was a mother’s little girl. The voidsent scrambled to make their way back into this world, where they did not belong; madness and desperation apart of their very being. The man in the shroud, whatever voidsent that possessed him had not been long in the void before being dragged back across the gate. Or at least that was what she had to suppose. She would have liked to have spent longer in its company, but it had to have been recalled against its will, not even aware of its own nature. Close enough to a person that it wasn't a danger to those around it. The memory of her grandfather was etched in her mind, crawling his way from the depths of the cavern, dead but for the thing inside him; struggling to keep control of a body that was no good to any but perhaps the fauna. Grappling at her ankles for a better anchor to the world. ‘D’aijeen. D’aijeen.’ Cypress let the name roll over in her thoughts as she walked down the city streets. Her time sitting amongst the refugees had perhaps not been such a wasted gift. She knew far more now about the customs of others. Knew that Miqo’te were tight-knit, preferring to live in family communities. That they shared part of their name with the rest of their family. If her parents were in Ul’dah, it would stand to reason this girl would be as well. She only needed to find the community that shared her name.

Personally, I'm a big fan of Limsa OOCly and had planted most of my RP seeds there at the beginning. Then things kept moving to Ul'dah... and have stayed there for a while. Which is unfortunate, because there are a lot of other awesome places to explore in RP. Which is funny, because that is the exact place that my main ICly -doesn't want to be-. She would like nothing more than for a giant sandworm to come on by and just eat the whole city up. (Then again, she dislikes all the city states so... yeah.) As for Gridania? Meh. I really don't care too much for it one way or the other.

I feel this is a kind of comic-book-ish, stereotypical vision of evil that Final Fantasy uses often, but doesn't really lend itself to good roleplay. People who are 'evil' are often just so in the eyes of their society, and even when they are legitimately terrible people willing to do terrible things...I really doubt the people who succeed at it are going to do this kind of backstabbing if they actually want to make good on their aims. You only get to be a total dick when you're at the top of the power structure, and safe from most reprisal. Hence the 'evil'. I roleplay antagonist characters as characters, not a means to an end. Which is unfortunately what many of these amalgam 'evil' guilds are. They aren't self-sustaining because they don't have a real, motivating reason to work together. They try to hard to say, "ALL THE EVIL THINGS" and don't move outside of that box. Sure, there are arcs, but they often don't make much sense in the larger picture of things. The point of what I was trying to say is that, antagonistic, unlawful characters work with each other in a different manner by necessity, and yet still need a mutual goal to work towards like any other guild. Those are challenges that have to be addressed when creating an 'evil' aligned guild. -------- As an example, one of my characters is a corrupt Brass Blade captain. While I only have one friend whose RPed as a Blade in that office, there are interesting dynamics of my captain working hard to keep the machine oiled so that the bribes roll in un-noticed by the higher ups. He gets frustrated and has to discipline an unruly member of the 'family' who isn't careful enough to pay attention to who is around when she is talking about things that she shouldn't. Her doing that is not only a threat to her, but to him, and his whole office. That's not the sort of thing that a 'good' aligned group has to deal with. Its a completely different dynamic to explore.

I play a lot of characters, and at least a couple of them are amoral/corrupt and easily fall into the antagonist role. I always enjoy playing them, as they add a nice spice and sense of variance in the world. That aside, I've never had much interest in gathering a 'villain' guild for the sake of itself. I find that they tend to fall apart pretty fast because they often don't have a sustainable infrastructure/motivations. The reason being that they exist for the sole reason of gathering 'evil' characters under one roof so that 'good' guilds have somewhere to ask for antagonists to fight. Thats an entirely OOC reason for those characters to be connected. Not an IC one. And when the OOC needs dictate that the guild can fulfill most random 'evil' requests, its really hard create in-depth, meaningful roleplay for the antagonists; since essentially their being used for npc/bit roles. Its not really a sustainable model. Or at least, I've never seen it successfully pulled off. Its another thing entirely to create a guild are ICly connected through their own nefarious needs. If they so happen to run afoul of some of the 'good' guilds, then, yay! But it needs to have a solid foundation that is fun, meaningful RP within itself. A solid self-identity, not one thats defined by the OOC need to have villains out in the world. Part of the challenge is though, that 'evil' characters tend to be very self-serving, and don't often have a desire to work even amongst their own kind outside of what directly benefits them. They often don't trust each other as far they can throw each other, at least at first meeting. Its certainly not impossible to create villainous/antagonist guilds, but their inner-motivations/relationships are often different than their counterparts. I'm not counting Garleans in this particular discussion, as while they are antagonistic towards Eorzea, they are an entire foreign invasion force with somewhat murky lore motivations. As such, I don't really consider them villains, at least not in the classic sense of the word.

YUS. I grew up on Tamora Pierce, her books have always meant... alot to me. Her PotS series always struck a special cord with me. I also quite enjoyed Duane, though I really haven't read anything by her recently. Same for me! PotS just resonates with me really well. Very much so. Duane put out the latest Young Wizards book I'd say... 2-3 years ago? The last book by her that I have on my shelf is Wizards at War, that was... 2005. Apparently she's only released one since then. So I guess I'm not so far behind, haha

But the covers were exactly why I picked up the books! But I agree they are simply amazing. They really are amazing :3 I think why the covers turned me off, was because, not having read the books, they like... gave off a vibe of just being like... red light district short stories. Which is totally not the case! No problem with them after reading the books, but on a self-perusal, they hadn't ever jumped out in the right way. As context to those unfamiliar with Carey's books: and so on... I'm quite good these days at not judging books by their covers... Especially as I've been reading a decent amount of romance books these days. And... most of those covers are awful, lol. And while on the subject! Suggested romance authors: Laura Kinsale, Loretta Chase, and Mary Balogh are usually full of great stuff. A good romance novel lives and dies by its characters. And I love character studies... so yeah.

Ahhh! A BOOK THREAD. *tries not to explode* YUS. I grew up on Tamora Pierce, her books have always meant... alot to me. Her PotS series always struck a special cord with me. I also quite enjoyed Duane, though I really haven't read anything by her recently. Other books! Patricia Biggs! Her new Mercy Thompson book just came out so its on my mind. And while I'm on the subject of Urban Fantasy, Rachel Caine writes some pretty sweet stuff. Traditional Fantasy! : Jennifer Roberson. I LOVE her Karavans and Sword series. Jacqueline Carey: I feel like I judged her Kushiel books by their covers for a long time, and thats why I didn't read them. But SO GLAD I eventually picked Kushiel's Dart. Epic politics, action, and very character driven. Robin Hobb: Ship of Magic trilogy! Kate Elliott, Juliet Marillier, Lynn Flewelling, Dawn Cook/Kim Harrison, Diana Wynne Jones,... And the list goes on. Random other books... I'm a huge Dostoevsky fan (The Idiot is a particular favorite of mine...), Hemingway (A Farewell to Arms), Fitzgerald (His short story A Diamond as Big as the Ritz), Andrew Davidson's The Gargoyle, Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabbler ... And so many others. But these are what spring to mind.

Aer, you may want to dial it back a notch. A heated debate is one thing, but I don't think that directed profanities are called for here. Everyone is entitled to have their own opinion and Seriphyn has been pretty respectful.

This seems a little uncalled for... Pretty sure this is the first time on the RPC that I've ever expressed really critical opinions of an update/mechanic... This is just something that I do feel really strongly about. But I'm going to bow out of this thread. I've already said everything I wanted to on this subject.

Why is "not being able to bind a higher ilvl item to a lower ilvl" a very First World Problem to you? I'm not really sure how that makes any kind of sense, especially as you're not not taking into consideration how others might wish to use the vanity system. I'm probably of a minority here that actually loves to have alts, and really dislikes the overdependence of cross-class, everything on one character approach that SE's taken. Is it too much to ask that my alts, who I use mostly for RP can wear character appropriate gear without say, leveling them to 40 to grind a dungeon for the one robe that I want for them so that they're not stuck being RPed in a sack or subligar? Similarly, the only reason I've tried to level my main to 50 in weaver, is because I want the weaver AF for sheer vanity. I don't actually want to be a weaver. I just want their coat! (eventually I ran out of steam and gil...) So I don't think its quite fair to say that "You're only leveling secondary classes to hit 50 anyway, so it's a fleeting and relatively trivial problem at best." As for TERA, the modern outfits are cash-shop vanity items that really started to take over after they went f2p. What Naunet was talking was their "remodeling system", that ate the armor as a template when you applied it to another piece of armor. Edit: Apparently Nau is a faster responder than I...

How is that any different though than just carrying around old gear and swapping it in for looks though? As is, this is already true "the more you level up, the more variety you'll have". The only difference I can see is that maybe we won't have as many armoury/inventory slots used up. With a lot of items character locked as is, you can't just buy a lot of stuff of vendors/auction house. So minimally, in order to get things like allagan, you have to have looted them out of BC, therefore having a lvl 50 class. Why should alternative classes have to suffer when you've earned that gear, but can't wear (vanity it) it till you reach 50 on that class as well? It makes the implementation of the vanity system severely and unnecessarily limited. To me, the difference is that the variety we have now doesn't apply outside RP scenes. I can't do dungeons or quest in any gear I want, sadly. This system will allow you to play the game itself with the look you choose, instead of limiting you to only use that look when you afk in town or when you RP any scene. I'm still not entirely sure why you'd choose to be happy with the arbitrary restriction, but to each their own, I suppose.

How is that any different though than just carrying around old gear and swapping it in for looks though? As is, this is already true "the more you level up, the more variety you'll have". The only difference I can see is that maybe we won't have as many armoury/inventory slots used up. With a lot of items character locked as is, you can't just buy a lot of stuff of vendors/auction house or have someone else give them to you. So minimally, in order to get things like allagan, you have to have looted them out of BC, therefore having a lvl 50 class. Why should alternative classes have to suffer when you've earned that gear, but can't wear (vanity it) it till you reach 50 on that class as well? It makes the implementation of the vanity system severely and unnecessarily limited.

You shouldn't worry about upsetting anyone, all the FCs in this case would be very happy to have you, but we know that you need to make what you think is the best choice for you. Sounds like Synaesthetic's already talked with you about Unity (I know that she would love to have another BLM around!), but if you have any other questions about us, I'd be happy to talk with you as well. Or run things! Or RP! Or whatever! But seriously, just try think about what you're really wanting out of an FC and which one best fits those desires. There really shouldn't be any wrong decisions here.

Haha, yeah, I was just trying to think of something off the top of my head that wasn't bulky armor, or potato sacks (cause Illira would not have any wish to wear one of those...) Anyway! I stand corrected. But point still stands... iLevel and class restrictions make me sad

I have to say that I'm pretty sad that its iLevel and Class restricted. That kind of defeats like... 90% of the purpouse of a vanity system, for me at least. Since I like using vanity for mostly RP purpouses. I use a lot of alts, and most of them are fairly low level since I don't have that kind of time or patience to put that kind of investment in their level. So vanity is nice to get the desired appearance for them, no matter their OOC level. And class restrictions... Why can't my main get to wear say... infantry gear just because she's a paladin? Especially when you can level all the things on one character. Thats just silly. Unfortunately, that is fairly common in MMOs though. Honestly, I don't tend to care much about what I'm wearing in PvE. I mean, sure, its nice to dress you're character as you want then... but honestly, this is pretty much the only thing this vanity system sounds like it'll bring to the table. That and maybe clear up some inventory slots? I dunno. I'm disappointed.

Apparently I can only find music for one of my characters, and not even one I RP the most! Oh well... Its probably because she is a very conceptual character compared to my other ones. So here's my playlist for Burned Cypress thus far!: