Aya

(( Amazing guys! :love: Spahro:love: - Link to the actual project post for anyone who might have missed it ))

Aya lifts a blonde eyebrow, looking curious. But she slowly turns her gaze back ahead, not wishing to make the Lalafel any more uncomfortable with her questions. "Well, its a good day to be home! What will you get up to now? Planning more adventures?"

I still say he stole my name!

She glances curiously at the mitten, before gently offering her own, much larger hand. "I'm Aya, and its a pleasure Dren! If you don't mind me asking, where were you that was so rough? Doesn't seem too many people happy to be home in Ul'dah in the middle of summer!"

She gives her head a little shake, "I'll make it somehow..." before offering another pursed-lip smile. "Welcome home. I hope it wasn't too rough of a trip, hmm?"

The blonde pulled her lips, a soft pink hue, to the left into an expression of bemusement. Casting a look from the corner of her eyes she watched the Lalafel's exposition, offering a softening of her lopsided smile. "Can't deny a Lalafel his love of food, hmmm? Preparing for a big day or something?"

Aya's soft smile toward the Lalafel turned into something of a wide-eyed look of shock as he devoured the breakfast special. She wiped her hand along her bare upper arm to clear way the debris of his morning meal, "Wha.. what was..? Someone's sure hungry!" she let out a light, amused laugh, "Its a shame Jericho missed out on that, he'd have enjoyed your enthusiasm for his eggs!"

It was a pretty typical morning in the Quick Sand, to those accustomed to it. The morning crowd was vastly different from that which would stop by later in the day. A handful of advenuterers were always present, but the tables filled with workmen and traders looking for a bright start to their morning routines. The heady fragrance of richly roasted coffee always hangs in the air, while the clatter of plates and silverware being collected from the morning breakfast mingled with the subtle, plaintive plucks of a sitar; a journeyman bard just warming up his instrument. At the bar sat one of the Quick Sand's most common, and memorable sights. Momodi's prize Ishgardian barmaid, the towering blonde with the bright smile, and the sweet, cheerful voice. Not exactly a morning person, the height of summer nonetheless drew her out early before the high morning sun could burn the sandstone brick of her south-facing room into a scorching oven. She stabbed distractedly at the plate before her, fork mixing the soft yolk of an egg that joined a piece of abandoned, half-eaten toast, while the apron-donning man across the bar from her kept her attention with chit-chat. Jericho the cook, one of Aya's co-workers stealing a momentary break from the bleak duties of the morning shift. "I'd bettah be gettin' back ta the back 'fore Momodi notices I've gone, huh?" he complained with the grudging brogue of a native Highlander. "I think its already too late..." came the half-startled reply of Aya's in her notably Ishgardian-accented voice, her wide-eyes suddenly fixed upon the image of a glaring Lalafellan proprietress. "Oh, aye Ma'am, I'm on mae way!" He turned, tossing the hand cloth over his shoulder as he trudged back into the kitchen. The proprietress' stern gaze moved to the off-shift barmaid, her slightly twisted-up lips expressing her displeasure; Aya always seemed to be causing trouble! Aya let out the softest sigh, accompanied with a slight shrug of her shoulders as she shook her head slowly. A motion interrupted as her eyes caught the Lalafel approaching the stool next to her.

Very well put Nat!

You didn't just clear the wiki so you could revert it? But the rumors!

Gridania can handle a little teasing now and then!

It reminds me of the Thief setting. All we need now are the Hammerites.

There's animosity aplenty between the city-states, and between their Grand Companies. They're not at outright war (though they had to reach an agreement of sorts to prevent outright warfare over Carteneau), but they're not exactly bosom buddies either. So, while someone shouldn't feel like they have to make it an issue, it seems plenty reasonable for someone to make it an issue if they're trying to cause trouble.

By the way, you don't have to wear barding. I know Aya's Chocobo is bardingless

A middle caste, perhaps? I think there is evidence for the middle class in the form of workshops, traders, and merchants who appear on the Pillars level without appearing to be nobles

I think its terrific A solid excuse for IC antagonism. Whether or not its ICly a good excuse or not isn't entirely relevant, I don't think! Maybe the Maelstrom had killed his brother.

Mhmmm! I made sure to say "in my opinion" since I fully understand this! And its not even for one person to another person, sometimes even the same person changes their feelings on this over time! I originally liked Gridania the most, and found it most interesting - I still love the aesthetic, but other than that its not really the most exciting to me any more :-] And that's really a terrific thing, they've provided a variety of settings in Eorzea that suit different moods and sorts of roleplay. (That was also a tongue-in-cheek comment! Just enough hint of truth for it to sting though, hmmm? )

Just my opinion: 1) Its a Pirate city (or supposed to be). And even as Zhavi and I are envisioning, Tortuga it isn't. 2) The Rogue Guild as Justice League just isn't plausible or interesting. (And they just cannot get away with using that name. Its like an exterminator service named "Roaches are Us"). 3) Its boring. Watching white paint on the towers dry boring. Gridania boring!

Couldn't disagree more, honestly. They're represented as far too potent, and far too righteous. The idea that there's an enforced code of honor amongst the Limsa gangs that precludes inter-gang conflict is just chilling to the very essence of what Limsa could, and should represent. There should be a palpable tension between the Admiral and her Maelstrom, and the people they're trying to rule. To throw in this idea that there's actually this very strict code of conduct they're forced, by threat of death, to follow, and that every pirate accedes to lest they get murdered by the Rogues Guild, dumps a bucket of ice water on that tension leaving the whole setting rather antiseptic.

and the people who associated Limsa with criminals ONLY didn't understand Limsa at all either unless you forego the entirety of the blacksmiths/armorers/culinarians/arcanists and farmers of Middle La Noscea. In a city of pirates, the pirates and their ilk are going to get the most attention I seem to recall mentioning that my in-character focus in Limsa lies in shopping and beaches! :-D

I'll just mention that Aya the character loves Limsa for its shopping (I always play it up as having the best market for shoes (especially) and many other fashions in Eorzea-I mean Ul'dah's fashion outside of dancers seems pretty staid doesn't it? Just look at those Maelstrom Uniforms!) Just stay out of Hawker's Alley at night :-D And Vylbrand for the beaches! There's always good stuff in Limsa, but I think you're absolutely right about the headcanon. It really is a city dominated by a loose coalition of small organizations (as pirate crews tend to be), rather than the large and clearly political operations that exist in Ul'dah. A terrific observation

I generally pretend the rogues are too small and insular a group to affect the majority of Limsan dealings. I just can't. They ruined most of what made Limsa fun for me, so I work around them and in spite of them. I've also toyed with the idea that they're really nothing more than a gang of their own, projecting a public image to protect their real dealings. That would give them some of the flavor that makes both Ul'dah and Limsa interesting But yeah, whoever decided that rogues should be paladins with knives really doesn't understand why Limsa was interesting.

I originally felt that Ul'dah was the least interesting city, as well. I RPed almost exclusively in Gridania and Limsa Lominsa originally, and it was like biting a bullet to finally give Ul'dah a try. A little while later I decided it was time for Aya to relocate there and find herself a new job (Thanks Madam Momodi!) Since then I've found out why people seem to enjoy Ul'dah so much. Its just a terrific place to RP, and the way the society and culture are set up allows for incredible freedom for interesting RP. These days Gridania feels stilted, and Limsa kind of flat (honestly the rogues really hurt Limsa for me, what's a pirate city without cutthroats?) I love Ul'dah! Though I happy accede to anyone's dislike of it, since I was once there myself, I fully understand it

Welcome to Balmung!

Do you think you'd be able to do so if there was no such language as Gaelic? To be clear, I of course was never suggesting that having a name granted knowledge of a language. Only that we know French names exist in a manner that is pronounced like French. That cannot follow from English/Common, realistically. Somehow French pronunciation exists such that it provides the means to create and pronounce Ishgardian/Elezen names. It seems reasonable to infer the existence of the language because of that. Gaelic names can only exist and be pronounced because Gaelic languages exist, and so on. Exactly! And I don't think its conclusive at all, just suggestive. Its only a game and sometimes games takes shortcuts with such things (just as they do with the language issue generally).