Vairemont Malveaux

Vairemont's eyes widened in mild surprise, not expecting his inquiries to be pitched back at him. Stunned as he was by the questions, he couldn't help but admire the deadly precision of her questions. She knew just where to strike. It made her all the more compelling to him. "Can't say as I do, actually." It hurt a bit to admit that. Although a few other adventurers he'd fought shoulder-to-shoulder with filed through his mind, most of them had already left by now, or had lives too grand to accommodate the likes of some unknown archer from Gridania. "At least, none who cares about my welfare as much as I do." He smirked. While Avaeris set to the task of loosing her peculiar wolf steed from its pen, Vairemont similarly unlatched the gate to his chocobo, Rodger. It chirped elatedly as he reached up to pet its beak. Drawing the bird out, he began to check the straps on its saddle. He fully intended to ride with the viera, though there was no telling how far. "To answer your question, there is a reason I do what I do. Killing for coin, that is." The elezen reached in his pack and pulled out a treat to feed his bird. Rodger's great beak pecked it out of his hand with startling enthusiasm, causing Vairemont to flinch in surprise. He steadied the animal by grabbing the reins along the side of its head. "Easy, Rodger! You act as though I starve you." He cleared his throat and turned to the viera to finish his point. "I have always been moved to serve others. To aid their plights. It gives my existence some semblance of meaning." Vairemont smiled confidently to discourage any potential looks of pity. "You, Lady Ortana, look very determined about something." The elezen hoisted himself up on his chocobo with a graceful flourish. "You are all sorts of interesting, to start, but moreover I get the sense that you don't ask for help even when you need it. Now I'm not one to force an issue, so if I'm wrong, tell me so and I will happily go away."

No longer welcome? The elezen arced an eyebrow. “That so…” That story, with all its various implications, was specifically familiar to him. Vairemont felt a font of empathy well from within. He knew that he sensed a kindred soul. “Well, that’s a pity to hear.” Feeling the pressure of the nearby Woodwailer’s commanding gaze, who was wordlessly questioning the elezen’s motive for harassing the viera, Vairemont finally offered a nod of apology and stepped out of Avaeris’ path. All he had wanted was her attention. “Very well, Avaeris.” Should the viera resume her trek past the city gate, it was his intention to fall in step beside her. “I concede that I have no right to your business. I’m merely asking.” Vairemont tipped his hat to a female guard standing outside the wall as he passed. Already familiar with him, the armored elezen visibly rolled her eyes. “So, what is your hurry?” he asked the viera. “Gridania not to your liking? I’ve found it rather agreeable to my needs, personally.”

[An IC background story for Vairemont Malveaux and Avaeris Ortana] Some years ago... The viera had scarcely arrived, and now she was leaving? Something had to be done about that. Since Vairemont Malveaux had relocated to Gridania some years ago, he’d grown accustomed to the ebb and flow of adventurers filtering through the forest city. When he wasn’t somewhere in the Shroud earning his coin right alongside them, it had become his pastime to occupy one of the tables in the Carline Canopy and eavesdrop on their conversations. Join them too, sometimes, but it was usually more fun to listen when he wasn’t invited. The myriad travelers frequently brought tales from far away lands, all throughout Eorzea and beyond. Some were more interesting than others. The political turmoil in Ul’dah was always a turbulent choice of topic. Nearly everyone seemed to have rousing misadventures in Limsa Lominsa, though half of those sounded exaggerated or untrue. Refugees were common, especially from Ala Mhigo and Doma--all of them tragic nearly to the point of dullness. Although Vairemont maintained the air of a transient himself, he never seemed to go anywhere. Sure, he would venture to every corner of the Black Shroud questing for gil, but rarely any further, and never for long. He only needed a few more years to round off a decade of veritable loitering in the wooded city-state. One of Gridania’s new arrivals had lately caught his interest. She stood out immediately and for a number of reasons. The first being those ears. Viera, her people were called. Although Vairemont had heard vague references to the secretive race before, he’d never expected to see one in person. Indeed, he wasn’t even certain they were real until she walked through the door with a rapier on her hip. Her almost predatory swagger had caught his eye immediately. The second was her fighting style. Proving herself to be another sellsword traveling through the area, Vairemont quickly found himself working alongside her to cull Ixal incursions along the borders of the forest. She mixed melee with magic in a style he’d never seen used before. Although he considered himself a master with a number of weapons, her prowess made him feel like an amateur. Her name, Vairemont learned, was Avaeris Ortana. He introduced himself when they worked their first contract together. He offered a great deal of small talk and half-jokes all the way, and while she didn’t much reciprocate, she did politely tolerate his company. When she didn’t object to working with him a second time, he took it as a token of friendship. The last was her air of intrigue. Unlike many other travelers pausing in Gridania, Avaeris wasn’t given to socializing. Her race? Exceedingly rare in these parts. Her origins? Unknown. Her ambitions? Anyone’s guess. Vairemont could hardly resist a mystery. So when the time came for her to leave Gridania, he made it his business to know why. After she checked out of her room at the Canopy, Vairemont was already waiting for her at the Blue Badger Gate. His lean form was propped against the wall as she strode near. “Ah, there she is.” Vairemont thumbed up the brim of his hat to get a clear look at her. “Lady Ortana! Surely you’re not leaving already. You’ve barely even begun your career here! Now--now, wait--” The elezen stepped in her path, earning a suspicious glance from a vigilant Woodwailer as he prevented her from leaving. “Praytell, you must tell me where you’re going.” Vairemont crossed his arms. “Back to viera-land, I presume?”

Thanks for the support. I'm a little bewildered to hear that I'm always afk, as I was online for no more than two and a half hours over Saturday and Sunday, and I was present the entire time. I did idle a bit when I passed out on Wednesday though, so it might have been then. I edited the wrong message to respond to Katja, but I'll say again not to worry. I did warn ahead of time that I'd be strapped for, uh, time, but I intend to get the majority of this off the ground on Tues and Wed (my days off of work). Keep in mind there are other Vairemonts. I don't have a unique name, haha, but a mix-up is the only explanation I can think of.

I am very rarely afk while online in game, so it surprises me to hear that. D: I was only online once or twice this weekend, to do an instance. I sent out a few whispers but got no replies. Signed out afterward (logged outside a sanctuary so it might have taken a bit) to pay attention to real life stuff. I raid Monday nights, but starting Tuesday I will be available and kicking it into high gear. Edit: Don't worry Katja. I didn't interpret it that way.

Being relatively new to Paladin tanking (just got to level 32), I'm pretty glad that the rotation I figured out for myself pretty much matches that guide Ilwe posted and reaffirms that I seem to be doing it right. I just need a little more practice gauging threat before I start Rage-of-Halone comboing other targets while the first target is still alive and steadily losing threat on me. I didn't read any guides or anything on tanking before I made attempts at it, but I've done warrior/paladin/druid tanking in WoW, as well as lancer tanking in TERA, so I figured it would be self explanatory. Also went on advice from my FC-mates. And I have the advantage of being able to run every new place as a DPS to get a feel for it before I tank it. By the way, welcome to Balmung, Steel Wolf. I hope to run into you soon in the coming days.

Haha, I hope it lives up to your expectations. I am really struggling to have the time for this actually, but I am as resolute as I am resourceful. Very soon here I'll have to start selecting a couple other people to scheme with and help me with operating the story. It really doesn't work out with all the story hinging directly on me. If anyone's interested in helping me run this plot, feel free to contact me. You can PM me, or I'm also reachable in AIM at WitandCandor or Steam at Life in Stasis (Elezen icon). I do have Skype but I hate it so I'm rarely online, though I'll sign onto it if it's easier for someone. Sometimes live chat is easier than a back and forth of PMs, and if I'm not online in the game, I'm usually online via mobile app.

You're not the only antagonist. I think I can arrange something, and I think you'll like it. As a headsup I may be a little scarce this weekend. I've only got about 5 free hours and between myth capping and spending some with the boyfriend, it might be hard for me to get on to RP. However, I think I might be arranging something so that I can RP DURING boyfriend quality time... My priorities, they are the worst.

THAT is an interesting break in the rhythm. The daughter of a disgraced Inquisitor? Who was later mysteriously murdered? I'm about to involve a spy-like figure in the LS, who can play an interesting part in recruiting you. I think I'll have fun inviting you into the fold.

Ahhh, wonderful. Also, love the avatar. Reminds me a bit of DA2's Fenris, who I have a special weakness for. I'm still a bit puzzled on how to involve civilian and non-Ishdardian types in the LS and plot. I'll have to send PMs to you all and bat around some ideas. EDIT: So I've come up with some questions to help motivate the plot and get some characters to meet. I've already PMed some of you with these questions, but if you didn't get the PM (or even if you did) feel free to answer these below questions, either here or in a PM to me. These questions will give us a place to start on how your character becomes ICly involved in this plot. Ishgardians on the lam: What status did your character hold in Ishgard? (e.g. Ishgardian Knight, nobility, peasant, farmer, chocobo breeder, Dragoon, Inquisitor of the Church of Halone, etc). What drove your character to leave Ishgard? What consequences did they face if they stayed? How long ago did they leave? (While it may be easier for civilians to migrate south [with the exception of nobles], the strict nature of Ishgard society makes it morally reprehensible, if not self-endangering, to abandon the Holy See. Knights and Church members may be automatically assumed traitors should they travel Coerthas without leave to do so.) Where has your character been staying since they left? What have they been doing? Non-Ishgardian Allies: What would your character's motivation be for helping the expatriates? (Bear in mind that many of these are deserters of war, and even if they only want peace, they have abandoned their brothers on the front line. There are two sides to every story. Ishgardian civilians may be hunted down as well if they're suspected accomplices--their names could be on a list of missing Ishgardians [noble or otherwise] who may be suspected of aiding the deserters or even being heretics. The reasons Ishgardian civilians would have to leave Ishgard would likely differ from the Knights. How would you want to get involved in helping them? (There are a number of ways your character could become wise to what's going on. Perhaps your PC has become aware of the murders in her area, or someone from one of her guilds has lately gone missing. Maybe you even had a run-in with the Faces yourself and, maybe thinking them bandits, threw down with them [with ugly results perhaps]. This might have even occurred if you saw them attacking someone and dove in to defend them! Or, if you're not a fighting type, you might have just been conducting your own investigation, or one on behalf of the Wood Wailers, the Immortal Flames, or what have you. Just tossing out some ideas.) How and why would Vairemont (or one of the other LS members) find you? (Could well be answered by question 2, or this could follow up the events in question 2, or whatever. I'm not the boss of you.) Antagonists: What is your motivation for wanting to work against the expatriates? (You might be unhappy that refugees are taking shelter in your homeland, you could be working with the Faces of Mercy, or you could be an Ishgardian Knight [who are NOT directly affiliated with the Faces of Mercy, to keep in mind] who has heard something about a hunt for Ishgardian fugitives down south.) Would you want your character to change allegiance during the course of the plot? This could either be betraying the members of the LS, or betraying the Faces of Mercy. How do you want to become involved in the plot? (You could have ties to one of the LS members, for example.)

Just going to compile this list here. I've only been able to find a handful of you in-game! Some of these names haven't posted in this thread but are people I've contacted privately or knew in-game. Bold = Added to Linkshell Italic = Not yet added, special case Salvius Dunois (Rosekitten) Raelisanne Lastname (Brynn) Steel Wolf Byron Mercer (TheWizard) Kelzan Rhiad Crisiet Liautroix Yvelont Navarre (TheLastCandle) Erisande Marchand Kiht Jakkya (Knight Kat) (Have met in game, but not formally added yet!) Darwyn Ulondarr (Nomad Soul) Cerise Valois (Lament) Xydane Vale (Approached in-game, not formally added yet but plans have been made.) Oniyuri Tsukashima (Ami) Character Name? (Cedric) Alouette Somnus For the most part, Vairemont has sought out names he knew during his service in Ishgard (for example, Rhiad was a fellow veteran he knew from the front line, and Liautroix's name became prominent when he, a fellow Knight, was marked for treason and sentenced to execution). Exceptions include Alouette, a co-worker of Vairemont's in a trading company, formerly an Ishgardian peasant, and Erisande, an ally of Yvelont's. Since not all of these names are fellow knights, they leave Vairemont with very few means of having heard about them, let alone getting in contact with them. That doesn't mean you can't be added! It just means we'll have to do some pre-planning. Feel free to post here with how you'd like to imagine your character gets involved with the Ishgardian expatriates, or send me a PM. If your schedule is limited (I know mine is, I'm usually on between 4pm and 9pm CST [with the exception of an open schedule on Tues and Wed]), we can decide ahead of time how our characters came to meet and I can send you an Linkshell invite without having to set aside time for the intial RP dialogue. It could even (sort of) arrive in the mail with a letter if he has reason to trust the recipient, or if said recipient owes him some kind of life debt.

Totally missed this post. Vairemont will need all the help he can get. So far he's weeding out Ishgardians by doing investigations on familiar names and going on the word of others, so finding allies to the cause would need a different strategy.

I agree. And I did miss this thread. Do you already have other people involved? You might consider talking to the leading members of the Laughing Lady for membership as well.

Sure, TheCurls. You wouldn't be the only one.

I would have preferred to hand the LS invites out en masse at a meeting, but it will be difficult to organize anything without knowing who's online, and it would be clumsy to expect everyone to see a post in this thread asking for a time (if we can ever agree on one). So instead I will be handing out LS invites when I meet you personally, and we can meet at some point when a good majority of us are online. I'll have a speech prepared. Please bear with me though. My schedule is limited and this may not move as quickly as everyone is hoping. To counter this I intend to quickly figure out who among us has the initiative to occasionally take the lead and we can jointly figure out some events for the LS. Soon I will also be throwing the LS up onto the LS directory, as I've already made it. Great! I will contact you ASAP, but I have raid tonight. I'll try to find you afterward.

It sounds like Xydane would make a great antagonist. Though he is not Ishgardian, by the sound of it he would be more willing to side with the Faces of Mercy in bringing in the traitors. I smell a potential betrayal plot...

Actually, when I was writing this thread I put down "expatriates and allies" with you specifically in mind. There may be others like you who have become sympathizers for Ishgardians and can be trusted to help. While I would like to the majority of the LS members to be Ishgardian, I have no problem with having a stray cat around or two. For the record, you're right. Thanks to the Hedge, the Black Shroud would be not happy to suffer an influx of refugees. Although, it's difficult to compare the trickle if Ishgardian refugees to the flood of Ala Mhigan ones, especially when Ala Mhigo had been trying to invade the Twelveswood ever since the First Battle of Tinolqa during the Autumn War. I'll be contacting all of you in-game as soon as I can manage.

Inspired by the discussion in the Roleplaying an Isghardian thread, I have begun making plans for a series of events which will eventually lead to the founding of an IC Linkshell for Ishgardian expatriates and their allies. Here is the plan. In the recent years since the Calamity, Ishgard has been lately hemorrhaging deserters into the warmer, southern lands belonging to the Eorzean Alliance (Ul'dah, Limsa Lominsa, and Gridania). Many reasons could be cited for this, everything from newfound fear and awareness for the might of the Garlean Empire, to the murderous winter climate that taken Coerthas hostage—compounding with whatever personal reasons individuals might have for losing their sense of patriotism and zeal for Halone and Ishgard's long war against the Dravanian Horde. While this isn't exactly canon, it is in line with an influx of Ishgardian characters (who make up for a fraction of Ishgard's true population). The Faces of Mercy, a band of assassins who work outside the law as the invisible hand of the Archbishop, have been given the rare task of leaving Coerthas in order to begin hunting down these traitors, who will not be forgiven for abandoning their homeland. Some deserters, especially former knights, possess certain strategical knowledge of Ishgard's army and may well be working against the Holy See. Recently, the Faces of Mercy have begun taking live prisoners and escorting them back to Ishgard, where it is promised they will be pardoned and conscripted back into the army (or simply in the army, if they were not formerly Knights) if they return willingly. If they refuse, they will be killed on the spot. Meanwhile, an odd string of murders in Limsa Lominsa, Gridania, and Ul'dah has captured the attention of the local authorities. The victims appeared to have died from wound caused by several blades. However, due to the nature of Limsa Lominsa's motley population of thieves and former pirates, the high, lethal trade competition within the walls of Ul'dah, and the poachers that roam the forests around Gridania, the three nations' Grand Companies have yet to discover that these murders are related to those in other cities. Drawing such a correlation will be inevitable, but once it is known that the victims are former Ishgardians, it will only serve to draw further attention to expatriates and attract the Faces of Mercy. This is where Vairemont Malveaux comes in. Having become wise to the schemes of the Faces, Vairemont has been working in secret to gather former Ishgardians in a plot to counter the efforts of the assassins and save his former countrymen from the wrath of the archbishop. It is not something he can do alone, and nor can he alone gather all the former Ishgardians he will need. And that's where YOU come in! *fanfare* I would like to add every member of the LS through RP (but I can invite anyone who wants to stay in touch and RP themselves in later), and afterward start doing RP events that revolve around this storyline. I would also be thrilled to involve patriotic Ishgardians to act as antagonists, or even to defect DURING this course of events if he/she wants to. What do you guys think? Anyone interested? Vairemont will happily hunt anyone down if I'm given permission (I may ask to use parts of your history). I'd also be glad to hunt down someone's friends who don't frequent the RPC forum (what's more fun than a stranger turning up out of nowhere and somehow knowing some of your deepest secrets). All you have to do is sign them up! >_> By the way, if anyone would like to learn more about Ishgard, here is a little article I wrote, taken from a lore thread on my FC's forum. [align=center]Coerthas[/align] [align=center]Ishgard[/align]

You'd think Keeper males would be even more compelled to stay at home, since there isn't a male hierarchy dictating their role like there is in Seeker tribes. I would venture to guess that Keeper males would be just as rare as Seeker males, and the family Matriarchs would rather the males stay home and take care of the family. Do all the cooking and whatnot. At that point it's more speculation.

I can fill the role of a religious character. My alt, Larsonient, is a Duskwight with a strong faith in Thaliak, the Scholar, but he also reveres the other eleven. He would find anyone's lack of faith disheartening and would be glad to cure ignorance if given the chance. He's not the most pleasant person though... As for the dealer in somnus and milkroot, my characters can't personally help you, but we can talk about that, as I have an associate who can. I'll contact you further when I have the chance.

Like Ildur said, the player Miqo'te population is a fraction of Eorzea. If you put yourself in you're character's shoes, your daily interactions wouldn't just involve players. NPCs are as much living, breathing people to your PC as any other PC. When you run through Limsa, all the female Miqo'te NPCs there are ambient characters going about their daily lives. Most of them can be presumed to have stable jobs. And like he said, you can easily blame the Calamity for thrusting Eorzea off balance. Additionally, many roleplayers, especially Miqo'te, favor wanderer type characters. This works well with what I was saying earlier. Perhaps it's not as rare as it used to be to run into male Miqo'te, but look at how few of them have stable, rooted home lives in the city, as opposed to the female ones. The males you see are still by and large rovers, which fits the lore quite nicely. For bachelors, anyway. It would still be rare to come across a Miqo'te with children running about. Females of course are given to any lifestyle, not to discount them.

Haha no worries. You'll find a lot of ex-Ishgardians just because of the very nature of Ishgard. No patriot would be caught outside of Coerthas for extended periods, as their precious city-state is constantly under siege by dragons. It's very hard to justify an Ishgardian character who frequents places outside of Coerthas without making him a fugitive or deserter. I'd still be interested in getting myself entangled in some Ishgardian roleplay though. My character is now a merchant with a Lominsan trading company, and most of his day-to-day involves diplomacy and trade, when he's not drinking himself stupid at a tavern. Having a little something involving his past going on on the side would still be fun. And that offer's open to anyone.

I'd be so interested in helping you with that development, Kiht. It'd be a fun plotline, rife with conflict, considering that Vairemont wants nothing to do with Ishgard. He even gave up his lance. But if someone could bribe/trick/beg him to help with a girl's training, he might have to take it out of storage. Assuming she somehow found out he was ever an Ishgardian Knight to begin with. You don't have to agree to this, just an offer.

I was going to chime in here on behalf of Dawn Vigil, but I see Liadan already has, haha. We do have a lot of tanks and healers, though I believe our second raid group does need a healer. The only thing stopping them from raiding is getting the static group together. If anyone else is looking, we also need dps! For the record I think we qualify as patient, end game roleplayers! Our groups are usually very relaxed. Oh, and by the way, while Dawn Vigil does have an RP element, you can still join up without joining the RP if you worry it'll ruin your character's story. We also have non-roleplayers in the FC (they're respectful) as well as roleplayers who aren't ICly part of our trading company. Our first group has gotten as far as the snake phase in Turn 5 (which is what we're currently working on) and we've been taking the main tank from the second raid on our first raid occasionally to show her how the fights work. As far as the primals, we just got Garuda Extreme down earlier this evening! Our primal groups are normally whoever happens to be on at the time, although we don't do the extreme modes quite as often on casual raids.

Welcome to FFXIV! Seems a lot of players here are from SWTOR. Feel free to add me to your in-game friendlist (Vairemont Malveaux) and bother me if you have any questions! I've recently been doing a lore study on behalf of my FC so I know way more than I know what to do with, in terms of lore. In terms of gameplay I'm really more about bards than anything. Good luck learning the game! It's all a bit overwhelming at first (it was for me) but eventually you'll get it. And the story is pretty great! Be sure to read the quest dialogue.