Teardrop

(Quite a lot of work you've put in here...please write more !)

YES! I have a Japanese Rosetta Stone..but I barely ever use it. I have all four levels too. I should really use it more often. It is hard to do when I have no one who knows Japanese to talk to. And I understand Japanese wayyyy better than I can speak it. Well, if anyone ever wants to if someone said "The policeman is eating" in Japanese...I'm the one to ask Although I have to say, I do find my ears perking up more and more often as I'm watching anime, as words are used that I actually recognize...must be doing something right :thumbsup:

Ok, how's this...why "Chickpea" ? What special meaning does that name hold for you? Welcome aboard, hope to see you contribute further as you move about the boards :thumbsup: !

You're about to meet a whole bunch of people who feel exactly that way Welcome aboard!

All of us are guilty of this at some point or another

What a coincidence, because I'm sure there are many here who like to eat cakes I often watch those various cake and cupcake creation contests and shows on the various food channels...looks like a lot of work sometimes, and your work sure shows in your fine products. Good job :thumbsup: !

You know, when I first envisioned Isobeau, the one thing I thought that would be a driving factor in her character is she wanted to observe instances where Nymeia's wheel of fate would spin one way or another for the participants. Like the proverbial crossroads, where events could go either way, and fates were decided at that particular pivotal point in time. Her background story was entirely like that; at the instant of her Clan's greatest moment, the Calamity struck and took everything away. There is a purpose within herself for wanting to collect those experiences. These experiences, of course, would be stories, and stories are meant to be told. To what purpose? Perhaps to ponder the road not taken . Establishing forums for the continuation of verbal storytelling and the passing on of oral tradition is a good thing, I think, and I might desire to partake in such activities as a part of my character's growth.

Welcome! If you're looking for rp in your MMO, watch the "I remember" series of Youtube videos on one of the threads here...rp was the only thing going for the 1.0 version of the game, and many of the folks who contribute here and make these forums come alive are the ones responsible for that. They managed to maintain a sense of community and participate in role play during one of the biggest fiascoes in MMO history. ARR can only get better :thumbsup:

(I love reading about a fellow Duskwight's journey...can't wait to see how Nymeia spins this thread :thumbsup: )

Welcome! You'll find passionate role players no matter which server you choose, have no fear about that . There's always interesting conversations going on in the forums...of course, you know that, 'cause you say you lurked for a while (my modus operandi as well 8-) ), and perhaps something will bring the spark to life for a character you can work through the next beta phase. Good luck, though. Thanks for sharing a bit about yourself :thumbsup:

Welcome Wobble! That's such an appropriate name for a Taru...when I was Paladining-up, I used to call them "Back-row Bobbleheads" when they were resting :lol: Thanks for sharing a bit about yourself :thumbsup:

Introducing yourself is always a great first step, and I think you'll see we're about as comforting as a big fluffy ball of kittens around here...so no worries, jump right in (unless you are a mouse . Even then, might be ok too). There are forums to suit your writing interests, to be sure. Take a look and see what others are doing, and I can't wait to see what you contribute. Good luck :thumbsup: !

Thanks for sharing a bit about yourself . You seem very open, and the kind of person who has something to contribute... look forward to seeing your great things here in the community :thumbsup:

That's actually kind of an interesting concept...hmmmm 8-)

Updated...and thanks :thumbsup:!

Rosetta Stone Japanese, and recovering from surgery :dodgy:

Now with new and improved "Server" category :thumbsup:!

For those fellow cave-creepers who may have not been following the "A Duskwight Discussion" thread, some of those of us who will wear the dusky mantle in-game have come to discover with great interest the amazing variety of background details that have gone into bringing the Duskwight culture and traditions alive in many player-character's backstory. In order to enhance and strengthen the racial bonds between our people, as well as to share basic information regarding clan locations, familial themes, and current status of the various tribes, it was suggested that a wiki page be established to gather said information. "Duskwight Clans" is found in either the Lore/Literature or Races/Elezen/Duskwight Elezen listings on the wiki. There is a simple template to fill out the basic information regarding your Duskwight's Clan information, and can easily be expanded as needed to accommodate additional listings. Please contact me if there are any questions on how or what to do in filling out an entry...I'll be more than glad to help. Or, if you do not feel comfortable with the workings of the wiki quite yet, if you fill out the template info and PM it to me, I'll be more than happy to add it for you . == Clan _______ == *Name: **Server: *Location: *Status: *Theme: *Member(s): *More Info: Check out the actual wiki page if you want to have some ideas on what others are doing. We envision this to be a tool to enhance our ability to create connections between character clans that might have resided or otherwise have potentially come into contact with each other, as well as facilitating a general sense of unity and understanding within our small, yet passionate, player base Even if you haven't participated in the conversation till now, we would love to have those of you who are planning to play this race contribute their clan's information on the wiki...its just a few questions, but it helps fabricate the greater tapestry into which our fates have been woven, when Nymeia's wheel turned with the providence that created us as Duskwight (<---- that's Isobeau speaking there )

Wow, thats great :surprise:!

Welcome ! Many of the questions you have can be readily answered by perusing the various forums and wiki at this site, as there are many conversations taking place covering your curiosities...and more :thumbsup: Quick one, though. A "Linkshell" is sort of like a chatroom, a thing to communicate between its members, but not much structure beyond that. A "Free Company" is what you might consider a guild, with some organizational advantages bestowed upon its membership. You can check out the Linkshell Hall portion of the forums to check out whats available. Good luck, hope you enjoy yourself as much as we all did when the next beta session rolls around !

Ok, so I've started an extremely simple wiki page, based on the few category items Eva and Twinflame listed. All one needs to do is jump in and start editing one of the empty areas to record their info. If there are no empty ones, I'll see if I can make a template that will stay blank, for copy/past purposes . (*edit: Which I have done so. So if you know how to copy and paste the wiki coding, you can choose to "edit" the blank entry found right below the bold introduction, find the empty area below everyone else's listings, paste, and fill in the blanks. :thumbsup: ) Here is the link to "Duskwight Clans". It is found within the "Lore/Literature" section of the wiki. I figure we can add a flashy intro portion and whatnot later (if someone has the wiki skills to do so...please feel free ) See what y'all think

What a creative soul you are .

"Here" A small velvet sack landed on Jojorigi's lap, his hand raising quickly to shade his vision against the small sliver of sun that managed to navigate past the tall stone structures that flanked the Avenue of Sapphires, through the multitude of colorful canopies, and right into his eyes as he peered up at his Highlander muscle. "The cave-creeper over there asked me to give you this." said the Hyur, thumbing over his broad shoulder toward the nearest passageway. The Dunefolk goldsmith looked towards the deep shadows that lurked between the break in the walls, spotting the dusky Elezen, who stood motionless only through the briefest of eye contact before spinning on her heal and quickly disappearing from view. Jojorigi quickly untied the simple hemp drawstring and emptied the contents of the bag into his hand; a small rose gold brooch of some fine quality, fashioned in the shape of a crying masque, with a tiny diamond embedded near the left eye...exactly as he had expected. "What's that for, anyways? Consignment sale?" The Lalafell began deftly rolling the piece of jewelry back and forth across the knuckles of his hand, as a slight-of-hand artist might do with a coin. With a distant look in his opaque turquoise eyes, Jojorigi smiled ever so slightly. "Lets just call it a payment on a small debt of honor." Fifteen years ago, he had been a mere apprentice in a large guild-front stall, toiling and training under a rather stern (who among them weren't?) Wildwood Master Goldsmith named Flaumbeaux. The old codger seemed to have a rod stuck up his arse taller and straighter than any of the great boles populating the Black Shroud, but by the Twelve, he could craft an exquisite piece of wearable art when the mood took him. Jojorigi had seen Duskwights come into the stall a few times in the past, attempting to peddle raw ore to his Elezen master. The Lala could never really sense any change in the demeanor of the Wildwood when those of the darker clan were about, but then again, Flaumbeaux was a famous grump to everyone, and treated all with an equally poor disposition. Still, he had to shrug and look the other way as the haggle always heavily favored the house when the Master dealt with his far-removed subterranean kin. Typically, the negotiations were conducted through a graying Duskwight (Jojorigi chuckles to himself at this thought..."greying" Duskwight, heh) of at least as many years as ol' "Flamebutt" himself, accompanied by a couple of his kind acting as porters. Usually, they left with empty packs, and gil-sacks more than likely quite a bit lighter than they thought they'd come away with. It must have been somewhat of an acceptable business arrangement, however, for the same clan did indeed return to bargain fairly often during his tenure there. It was during one of those bargaining trips that Jojorigi first met her. He was in the back of the stall, sweltering in the shade, swatting ineffectually at the cloud of tiny gnats who thought to share the cover beneath the canopy with him. Ahead, near the front of the stand, Flamebutt and the elderly Duskwight were in heated discussion over the contents of a couple of burlap sacks full of ore....well, as impassioned as a couple of coots could wheeze at each other, Jojorigi thought irreverently. Suddenly, the Dunefolk became aware of a shadowy form lurking to the side of him. With an air of practiced nonchalance, honed through months of being the only form of security maintaining order over the various display shelves of the stall, Jojorigi drew out a silk kerchief and began wiping the sweat from his brow, taking the opportunity the motion afforded to steal a glance and clarify what that darkness was. The danger of theft was always present for a merchant, even within the higher-echelon districts of the marketplace (of which this particular stall did not inhabit, in fact). Very few became trade apprentices without at least a modicum of martial skills, and much of the first few years might be spent by the typical young craftsman as merely a glorified guardsman, protecting the Master's products from potential poachers. Before the displays to the left of him stood a small dark Elezen girl, maybe six at the time as he could recall. Small sharp eyes, a head that hadn't come close to growing into her ears, black hair pulled back into a rough high-tail, wearing a simple homespun shift, coarse and frayed and unremarkable in the least (this described both the garb, and the child wearing it). If there was anything of note about the girl, it was the intensity of her amber stare, currently locked upon a shiny necklace of minuscule worth...hence its location in a side display well to the rear of the stall. It were a small trifle, adorned with an ornament those in the actor's guilds sometimes took to wearing, or those aspiring to be; masks of comedy or tragedy that signified the range one must posses to portray the various roles required of a thespian...this particular one being the sad face. As Jojorigi quietly watched, the little Elezen's hand crept up into the display case and fingered the chain of the pendant. She made a cursory glance about, but so intent was her concentration upon the piece of jewelry that she wasn't about to notice the sly observation placed upon her by the nearby Lala. And as she began to withdraw her hand, dragging the trinket with it, the Dunefolk did the only thing expected of him in dealing with thieving dregs; a dagger appeared in his left hand as if by magic as it lashed out from beneath his robes, thrusting out and then down as the blade passed through the sleeve of the Duskwight child to embed deep into the display. Neither the noise nor the action gained any notice or distracted from the business taking place at the front of the stall, and Jojorigi quickly rolled his small body between where his dagger now protruded through the arm of the Elezen girl's shift, and the front of the stand. She stood motionless, mouth agape and eyes wide, arm pinned outstretched before her by the skewered sleeve. "Like it, do you?", the Lala questioned quietly. All she could manage in response was a grunted "Unh-unh." Her eyes began to dart quickly from Jojorigi's to the front of the stall and back, and her gaping maw further extended into a horrified grimace. It dawned on him that she was more worried about the elder Duskwight finding out than actually being caught in the act of theft. She was obviously with those of her kind doing business with the Master at the storefront, and not a typical street urchin. "You can't always get everything you want just by stealing it, you know." The lala took his hand off the hilt in order to waggle a finger in time with his words. "Sometimes, its a better thing to ask. Most of the time, its the best thing to work for what you want. Remember that." By then, the girl was in such a fright, her eyes were lolling around like a hamstrung chocobo, and all she could do was grunt and nod feverishly in response. "Think of what your Pap would say" he admonished, though obviously, with her fear so clearly visible, the little one was already doing just that. He could have probably taken a finger off the young thief, and no one would have thought or said nothing of it, so unvalued was her kind at any venue by anyone save their own. The way most told it about the Duskwight Elezen, anything that might discourage them from coming into the bazaar would earn him a draft or two at The Quicksand from the greater body of Ul'dah's merchants for certain. It wasn't in this particular Lalafell to carry this any further, however. There was no money to be made in chasing off potential business, and if he wanted to be judge, jury, and executioner, he'd have joined the ranks of the Syndicate's toughs. Duskwights were supposed to be a conniving and deceitful people, but this was just a scared little girl; there would be no profound point made by any continued cruelty here. "You dark and lanky lot already have a no-good name 'round these stalls...at least keep off the thievering until you're good at it." Jojorigi winked, withdrawing the dagger from the Elezen's sleeve, quickly looping the necklace around the blade and flicking it forward to the now-flailing fille. "You pay me back when you can, understand? And against my better interest...I won't even charge you any. Interest, that is" the Lala grinned. "Away you go, and tuck that thing away before someone asks questions neither you nor I care to answer." She was off like a bolt, shoving the necklace into some hidden pocket as she ran towards the Duskwight porters at the front of the stall. Jojorigi watched her progress for a moment, then reached in to his pocket, withdrew the thirty gil the necklace was worth, and tossed it into the till. 'The gnats are still here', he sighed. Jojorigi had seen the Duskwight girl a couple more times during his apprenticeship under Master Flaumbeaux...always briefly, and always at a distance. The Dunefolk eventually moved on to greater things, ultimately opening his own market stall on Sapphire Avenue. Then the Calamity came, with all the traumatic events pre and post. Rebuilding what was destroyed and restoring what was lost was all that anyone could do in the aftermath, and many things from a simpler time were merely forgotten....things like small memories. A few seasons ago, Jojorigi was bent over his little worktable at the back of his stall, when a small sack landed unceremoniously before him. He looked up, and fell right off his stool in shock (granted, it wasn't that far of a fall...). Before him stood a female Duskwight, staring down at him with arms crossed. The fact that an Elezen of that clan would actually be IN his stall was somewhat of an unexpected surprise, but what really put the ticker thumping in his wee chest was the visage he gazed up at from the rug he had spread over the bazaar's hard cobbles; a stark-white masque covering the left side of her face, contrasting dark grey skin held in an equally solemn regard. "Do you remember me?" she asked evenly, in a slightly amused tone. The Lala raced through his memory, trying to think of who among his rivals he knew employed Duskwights as assassins or muscle...none he could think of. He was about to reply in the negative, yet there was something about the intensity of her amber gaze (at least, from the single eye that was visible) that suddenly rang familiar. "You!" he sputtered and pointed. "Me" she said, a small grin slipping past the mask to appear on her exposed lips. "Well, well...my, you're a tall one!" was all he could think to say...a common greeting for wee folk in many a place, on many a world. "Tall is relative" she smiled, motioning with an extended finger at the small bag. "Consider that partial payment for what I've owed you all these years." "I, no, its really, I..." being a Lalafell, Jojorigi was usually not at a loss for words, but the whole situation seemed somewhat surreal...Duskwight, creepy mask, paying, not stealing, it was almost too much to take in at one sitting. "Oh, it is necessary", she said, filling in the blanks left by his sputtering response. "And though you weren't counting the interest, I was." The Duskwight began to turn and head out of the stall, then stopped suddenly and looked over her shoulder at the still sprawling Dunefolk. "My life's thread would have taken a different turn round Nymeia's wheel, were you to have made the choice many others would have when we first met. Our fates have been woven within the same tapestry by that decision." "I'm Isobeau" she said, then left. Since the first, he'd received a few sacks from her, always the same beautifully-crafted work, crafted with equally fine materials. He didn't know how much longer she'd feel the need to pay him back, but he wasn't about to look a gift-choco in the beak. "Gonna try and sell it?" asked the Hyur, seemingly more interested in breaking the monotony of his watch than what the answer might be. "This is a fairly niche design, and not much a call for it here. No, I usually just pop the gem and melt them down. But its the thought that counts, right?" replied Jojorigi, flipping the brooch into a nearby materials box on his workbench with his right hand, while unconsciously reaching for its twin, the first payment he had received from her, found deep within his robe pockets with the left.

Clan Mauvaix would be the name I would use, a Clan based mostly on an extended family unit (with smaller families who were tied to the business through emloyment, and aligned under the dominant family's name). My concept is that this was a family centered around a job (mining), versus a location, and as such, were not tied to a specific area (thus maintained the last name as the Clan moniker), and may have operated in an area that may be atypical for Duskwights, being the mineral-rich subterranean tunnels and caverns around and about Ul'dah. This was probably not their point of origin, but this is where they were located when Isobeau came into being, at least through her early years and up to the Calamity. The ore is there, the markets for the ore are there...that location makes the most sense from my perspective. Isobeau's Pere followed the song of the ore, wherever it may lead :thumbsup: You might say Clan Mauvaix was effectively a family-owned mining company, comprising solely of Duskwights (gotta admit...they'd probably be pretty good miners, all things considered ). Traditions would have been born of operational efficiency, and I envision their contact with Ul'dah as being not so infrequent...Isobeau's early exposure to outside races and cultures would have occurred within the walls of that desert city-state. The culture of Clan Mauvaix would have been less tribal, and more...industrial :?? As far as Clan Mauvaix's relationship with other Duskwight clans, well, perhaps the fact that they did not exactly shun or avoid contact with the outside world, indeed, having participated in active commerce with the guilds and merchants of Ul'dah, may be a point of interest (although, as my background story sort of points to, the Calamity was sort of catastrophic to Isobeau's clan ). Whether they currently operate with the same purpose and structure, or even exist as a greater entitiy at all...will be learn through role play exposition, most likely 8-) And, as always, all of the above is subject to modification or change, if I find it bumps against the lore in a manner too grievous to ignore. Its too bad no one could predict how awesome this thread would become, and put a "placeholder" post as the first entry, where we could have listed some of the things we've come to develop through the course of this discussion, such as the information about the Duskwight linkshell, a list of the known Duskwight clans, etc...that would have been great. Can do it now, but its like a major news story tucked way back on page 15 of the newspaper

Somewhat 8-)