Zhavi

Zhi knew where he liked to go. She knew what he liked to do. She knew who he'd been hanging around with, the rumors that surrounded him, and who he'd taken to his bed. She knew he was dangerous. She waited for him. The name of the tavern didn't matter. Most of them were the same in Limsa Lominsa, their differences categorized by who frequented them, and who controlled them. This one still sheltered under the law, for the most part, and it was for that reason that Zhi tended to avoid it. But here she'd been for a couple bells, leaning against a wall with full view of those who came and went, drink in hand and casual conversation with anyone who stepped her way. There'd been one drunken proposition from a woman who was too cross-eyed to notice the smell, or the mangy fur on her tail, or the fact that Zhi did not qualify as attractive by most conventional standards (and as ugly by most of those same conventional standards) -- but most weren't drunk enough to take that sort of interest in her. That suited her just fine. She waited. Two bells came and went. She paced herself with her drink, squatted and played a game of dice with a lad who most responsible people would consider too young to be drinking. She cheated him out of his gil. She bought him a drink with his own money, and set him off on an errand with the promise of earning back that same gil. It was always easier to corral kids into doing dirty work for you once you'd rid them of their own sense of self-worth, assuming they didn't cuss you for your troubles. It wasn't a matter of manners. It was a matter of survival. Pyralis Targaryen's arrival was noticed. Handsome, flirtatious men always were, same with beautiful, flirtatious women. The beautiful were always admired. People were always drawn to them. It had its benefits, sure, but right then Zhi didn't want those benefits. Especially not there. There were already two women and one man who looked interested; whether or not they knew him on a personal level, well, that didn't matter. What mattered was that she would become notable if she approached him directly. So she didn't. One of the wenches came at her discreet signalling, and she tucked a few gil into the girl's cleavage (which that same girl did not appreciate; Zhi narrowly avoided getting slapped for her troubles) with a murmured request to pass along a message to the new arrival. She had a warning for him, and she'd be waiting for him outside whenever he was done: a miqo'te lass with a kinked tail in the shadow of an alley. She would wait to see that the wench delivered her message, then she would slip outside. She was sure he wouldn't be too leery to meet her. Pyralis Targaryen could handle himself. Zhi was counting on it.

Zhi took a bite. She chewed, and watched Flit, listened to him talk. She observed him for long enough after he'd stopped talking for the silence to stretch and start to become some form of awkward. She swallowed, took another bite, and talked through the mouthful. "Ye askin' t'hire me, or t'be hired?" And then, maybe because she was feeling nice, or maybe because she liked the sound of her own voice, she continued: "See, this? This ain't 'cuz I'm yer friend. Yer part o' me job wi' Thatcher. I'm gettin' paid fer this. But after this? Ye ain't me problem no more, not unless there's coin involved. And if yer lookin' t' make it down here, that's how it's gonna be. I ain't got no knowin' o' where ye come from, and I don't give a tub o' bilgewater about it -- but if yer gonna survive down here while I'm on Thatcher's gil -- and I aim fer ye to -- ye gotta know that first. "So ye tell me which way ye want it t'be. Otherwise ye can feck off back t'whatever realm under Azeyma's boilin' light spawned ye. Don't matter none t'me."

Waiiiit I have two cents toooooo! In my mind, Zhi is a villain, if we're defining villains in rp as people who are willing to do anything to get what they want. The idea here being that "villain" itself implies something others would consider morally reprehensible, as opposed to antagonists whose goals are simply different or opposite to any other character. That's how I reckon it. Zhi works as both, and indeed, has -- she tried to find someone to kill Osric, ffs. The only thing that stopped her was her lack of money. She killed someone that a normal person would have considered a friend for the sake of a job. She has no problem fooling Lolotaru into thinking she's a wide-eyed student who looks up to him as a teacher in order to steal his most precious possession. Her only qualms about that job is the niggling sense that the only reason she was hired is because she's expendable (ie, killable once it's done). She is not a nice person. She is not, by any means, a good person. But she thinks she's justified, and she thinks her way is the only viable, practical way. She doesn't think she's good, but she thinks she's right. So, to me, getting her involved was a matter of creating a space within the game world where she could thrive, and then giving her something to do. OOC communication is a must there. I don't think she has to lose. Ever. I don't think it has to be assumed that any villain does -- unless you're talking about something game-affecting, but that goes for "good" guys too (things like fixing Ul'dah and scouring it of all its corruption or annihilating most of the problems affecting npc refugees or knocking out game-established npc hot-shots who do bad things, getting rid of pirate crews in Limsa who have been noted as being bad, etc), so imo that's not really something worthy of note. Tailor your villain to the setting, aim for goals that you can realistically implement on the off chance that your character succeeds, and go wild. Zhi isn't high up on the ladder, but given the social and economic ideas we've implemented into our rp, someone who did play, say, a baron or gang leader could feasibly "win" in a rp arc, because all we'd be affecting is the status-quo in the underbelly; we wouldn't need to change Limsa's infrastructure or anything that is set up in game. That makes it more fun for me (though, of course, there are innumerable ways to rp and no one way is the right way), not knowing where my character will end up, not knowing what will happen. And, of course, if you want to set up some "villain" types in Limsa, hit me up. I created Zhi with the idea that she could be hired as an underling (without realizing that Limsa has a bit of a surfeit of mastermind types, at least that I've run across) so that I could help foster that sort of rp.

"We're talkin', ain't we?" Zhi leaned back against the wall. One eyebrow raised, she tilted her head as she looked back over at him.

"Sure as sure, sir." Zhi smiled, and it was a bright one. She nodded to him, and left.

"Heavy Handers ain't got knowin' it's yer goods they're filchin', right?"

With a nod to Snoe, Zhi walked up the plank to the ship. She glanced about as she made her way to the bowsprit, head high and gait leisurely. When she reached the bowsprit she stopped, feet shoulder-width apart and hands on her hips. "Ye ready, Cap'n sir?"

December huh? That's not too far away! I bet you're excited, eh? Welcome to the RPC -- I totally like to wiki-stalk people too. :3 Mebbe I'll run into you in game sometime!

The community here is very welcoming, so as long as you're willing to reach out to those you want to rp with, you shouldn't have any sort of problem getting started! From what I've heard Gilgamesh has a lot of sort of event-focused and group-focused rp, so if you don't see a ton of open-world rp don't feel discouraged. Check around the Gilgamesh FC/Linkshell forums here and check out the wiki for characters that interest you, and pm their players. I hope you're able to find lots of great rp. Take your time browsing through the lore in the wiki (or, as I've done, just google something and you should find lots of information). You can always ask your rp partners to speak up if you flub the lore, too -- people are understanding. Happy writing! Welcome to the RPC!

"Yeah, okay," Zhi said to the first: the uneager response of someone forced to do something they weren't fond of. But she was looking at him with attentiveness and determination. Even if reading was anathema to her, she would do her best. The second question brought out a whole other response. Her eyes dropped away, the smile faltered. "I'm doin' fine, Master Lolotaru. I'll see ye in a few suns, aye?" She stood to go.

At that, Zhi did look down at Flit. Her mouth was full, one cheek bulging out as she smirked. She looked away and swallowed. "'M I yer mam?" She carefully picked out a few bones, flicking them to the ground before taking another huge bite.

There were numerous food stalls in and around Limsa Lominsa. Most of them sold some form of fish, featuring local delicacies to common and greasy meals that used the cheapest ingredients. But all of them had some claim to using only the freshest of what was available. It was, of course, a common-and-greasy variant that Zhi took Flit to. It sold fish-on-sticks primarily, using the cheapest and most common fish sold in the harbor. They were fried skin on, a half-fillet each. Zhi bought a head to go with hers: lightly crisped, it was cheap, and the eyeballs made for a pleasant zing of flavor after the greasiness of the fillet. She settled them under an overhang from an awning of another business. At that time of morning, the few rickety tables and chairs set up were all taken. Limsa Lominsa was starting to come alive, the buzz of chatter and the sound of commerce filling up the city's unique structure. Zhi cradled her food protectively and dug into it without regard for neatness or manners. When she spoke, it was with mouth full: she was unabashed that the masticated lump she was currently chewing on would be fully visible to anyone who looked at her face. "Th' Heavy Handers, it's possible they might be tied up wi' the man what's tryin' t' take out Thatcher." She was casual, ears flicking back and forth as she listened to their surroundings. She had her back to a wall.

Zhi met Flit outside the building, disengaging from a conversation with another woman who glanced at Flit and melted away into the sparse crowd. "Still got another bell," she grunted, eyeballing the sun while rocking back and forth from the balls of her feet to the heels. "Ye hungry?"

Zhi laughed, delight lighting up her face. "Yer free t'spend yer gil wherever ye want. I ain't gonna stop ye." There was speculation in her as she leaned down and slapped his upper back. "Jes watch ye don't cross th'line t'stupidity, flitter-mouse." They crossed two bridges and climbed a set of stairs. Zhi stayed alert, spending more time looking away from Flit even as she talked and directed him. "Now, this patch o'businesses here belongs t'one o'the barons. He likes makin' money moren' anythin' else, so long as ye keep yer fingers clean ye shouldn't be bothered. Don't stare too long at nobody, an' walk like ye mean business. Keep yer business t'yerself. Don't interfere in nothin' ye see. Fancy? Don't forget yer name is Vivikuso now. When ye rent a room, use it. Here." She pointed towards a roughly-hewn stone building. There was a faded sign proclaiming it as Garters, with a crudely painted border made to look like fish guts. Charming, as was the rest of the area. "Ye'll be in view o'th' part o'the docks where Heaven's Gate docks. Don't bring nobody back here. Fancy? Now go rent yer room." Zhi jerked her chin towards the squat little building, and folded her arms.

"I'd prefer it," Yayabuko said, voice flat. He was looking past Flit and towards Zhi. She was approaching with an abashed sort of look. Yayabuko turned away. "Let's find ye a place t'stay, an' I'll round up th'gil fer our fine man here," Zhi said, holding out an arm to direct Flit away from the docks.

It wasn't Yayabuko's business to ask questions, but he gave Flit a long look when he specifically mentioned the Heavy Handers. "There's always work amidst them and their ilk for skilled swordsman. However, since Kink is your guarantor, I will be charging an extra thou for this introduction. Flat. No haggling. I'm not in the mood for it. You tell her that, and I want the money by tonight. "I'll arrange for a meeting tomorrow morning -- " "Today!" Zhi called. Miqo'te hearing was, as always, exceptional. "Two thou, by today," Yayabuko growled. "Two bells, at The Highness. Red armband. She'll know. Anything else?"

Perfect. "I'll wait," she said. "I'll practice hard, sir!" Her smile was hesitant, but she opened her eyes a little wider, leaned a little more forward, looked at him like he was her crowning savior. She wanted that imprint to last with him. She wanted him to remember her eagerness, the shy enthusiasm, the acceptance of him as her teacher. Joz was worth saving.

Yayabuko was not ordinarily cantankerous. He dealt with the worst the city had to offer on a regular basis, and had profited greatly from that interaction. He was the man everyone knew, someone to go to when you were in need of connections quickly. It was not his fault that his reaction to Zhi was so poor -- she'd started it, as they say. Melkire had finished it. With an extra dollop of 'hi, please hate me for the rest of my life.' Yayabuko mistakenly believed that the problems that had been generated from the thirty-thou job had originated as one of Zhi's bent schemes. Being that her credit with him had already been shaky at best, attempts to turn the relationship back onto firmer ground had been. . .mixed. Bruises and scrapes had eventually convinced Zhi that it was better to go with the metaphorical version of sleeping on the couch for the next month or two (or three) -- similar to how she was out with other gangs (and for the same reason) -- but Flit represented an unexpected predicament. One that, out of all her contacts, she only trusted Yayabuko to be able to resolve. Funny how that worked. So it was that the lalafell stared at Flit like the other man was something left by fishmongers cleaning up their wares. But, the clean accent and calm words were reasonable things that proved that Flit himself wasn't anything like Zhi. And, as Flit had said, business was business. "You, go cool your heels elsewhere. I'll talk to you." The hard stare he aimed at Zhi was matched by the slightly-less-cold version that Flit himself earned. Zhi leaned down a little to clap Flit on the shoulder. "Ask fer th'Heavy Handers," she said, offering a flippant smile to Yayabuko when his gaze turned frosty. She turned and walked away, keeping the two men in eyesight but not so close that Yayabuko could offer any more of his withering complaints. Yayabuko, for his part, turned his full attention onto Flit. He was still not happy, but at least he was more tractable than he had been. "Are you a warrior, then, looking to sell your skills?"

Re: the forum vs in game thing -- that's definitely YMMV. I use the forum and game fairly interchangeably. As a result I'm sorta hopping back and forth as to what happens when. The forum rp I have with Goodfellow, for example, has been going on since April, I think -- days have passed in that thread, and I have woven those days into what else Zhi has been up to. But, forum rp being forum rp, sometimes that thread is a bit ahead of all my other rp, and sometimes it's a bit behind. Forum rp is invaluable to me. Most of the people I rp with are central or eastern, and I'm an hour behind pacific. I have a couple of rp partners who I'm only able to reliably rp with in game once or twice a week -- forum rp picks up the slack for me. That and I'm a forum rp junkie, so it feels natural to me. I've rped with people on the forums who only came reluctantly, and I've rped with people on the forums who were eager to do so. And I've rped with game-only people. So, it's just a matter of finding rp partners who do treat the forums as an extension of the game.

Coloring his hair alone took up more time then Zhi had been ready to give him at the outset. Hair was a messy thing to deal with, but once they were done she was satisfied with the results. One less of Thatcher's who was like to be singled out and taken out before they were ready. Check. Zhi nodded to him, looking him up and down, and took back her bandana. Finding him an eyepatch that he was comfortable with would take more time then they actually had, but she found a temporary one that was different then the one he had used. True, one-eyed lalafells were not incredibly common, but so long as there was reasonable doubt at first glance. . . At least they'd made an effort. The next stop was Yayabuko. The first inkling that they'd found Yayabuko was the nearly-shrill word aimed in their general direction. "No." Yayabuko had such a nice tenor when he wasn't acting like a churl. He was haunting the docks, as he usually was. He had just stepped out of one of his regular early-morning stopping points: a small shop that sold fishing tack and a few worthwhile bites of information -- if you had the right rep and coin, of course. Zhi walked them right up to him. "This's Yayabuko, Flit. He's th'one what knows all manner o'people lookin' fer swords." "I said no." They were soon within throwing distance of the lalafell man, who was very clearly restraining himself, though he bristled like a porcupine in the process. "I was thinkin' he'd do well wi' the Heavy Handers," Zhi said, her tone overly bright and chipper. She was watching Yayabuko, ready to dodge or run if necessary. "He's got shorted afore, an' th'Handers always pay their debts, a--" "Get out! Get out. So help me if you do not vacate my presence immediately I will --" "This is Flit," Zhi gestured to him, taking exactly one large step back. Yayabuko had his knife in hand. It wasn't a weapon; it was a tool, primarily. A tool that just so happened to have a very sharp edge.

"We'll find out," she said, and turned them back off the docks and onto one of the many tiny stone-pillar islands that formed the city. Here, peddlers hawked their wares in an open group. Some had portable awnings and carts; it was not officially allowed that such commerce go on on the landing of any of the numerous docks, but it was tolerated. Many things were tolerated. "Here. Pick a color." One of those grouped was selling various sorts of stains. Were they specifically made for hair? Maybe not. Had Zhi done her own experimenting with them during a particularly dreadful phase? That was better left alone. "We'll color yer hair an' get it cut, then we'll be off t'see a man I know. He's important. Yer gonna wanna get on his good books, an' seein' as how he ain't real friendly wi'me, ye'll need t'be. . .charmin'."

Zhi resisted the urge to put a finger in her ear and jiggle it around. She hadn't a single reaming clue what he was talking about. Instead, she put on a face full of uncertainty (she got the last part, loud and clear), and nodded. She had an idea. "So. . ." she drew the word out, "should I keep practicin' me aether flingin', or are ye gonna teach me letters t'day?"

He's an arcanist. "'Cause ye can't answer questions?" She'd already lost interest in their conversation. She was imagining a pulse of power between her shoulder-blades, a last salute from a man whose motives were, frankly, baffling. Sleeping, she thought. Yeah.

Ahh, hmm you make a good point. I guess to me when I had first supported it it wasn't supposed to be that active of a forum. It's a place you direct new people or those who are having difficulty parsing their characters; they might post in there, but largely participation would probably be mostly passive -- ie, you make use of the prompts without necessarily posting in them. Or, if you do, it's a place where you can easily find the older prompts without needing to dig through a bunch of other threads that aren't related. Likely you'd have more thread necros happening, but on the whole it wouldn't be as active as, say, rp discussion itself. And that's great, imo. It's mostly just to be able to have an area set aside for, well, character development and the sorts of prompts and questions that make all rpers pause and think for a moment. I dunno, I mean, I guess my own sense of functionality breaks down to visibility and ease of redirection. Even if forums slow down, it's a matter of being able to have a solid place and a solid link where you can go and look without hassle. But eh, that's just what I've gotten used to over the years. What, you're having a hard time finding rp? Have you tried posting in the ___ ? Have you tried looking in the ____? What, you're having a hard time with your character? Check out the ____ . Those sorts of things. You could always nix the Balmung/Gilg event forums, roll that traffic into RP Discussion, have one Server Directory category with Balmung and Gilgamesh forums, and then add character dev and connections subforums to RP Discussion (because to me they are subforum type of categories, not worth forums of their own). edit - alternatively, ditch the directories and direct that traffic to the wiki. Put in a form there, add some server categories, and there you have it. 'Cause honestly, when I'm looking for Balmung characters I go to the wiki. I have never gone past the first page in the directory.

Oh, no I mean that Zhi the character does not leave the city (no different than poor people who never step foot outside of the city they were born in) of Limsa Lominsa or the immediate surrounding area. When playing in the game I go all over the place when I'm not in character. Send me a pm when you have some concrete information on your character! We can set something up.