Hello and good evening to you, Hydaelyn Roleplayer Forums! Â I am Zhuto, and I have just recently broken into the wondrous world of Eorzea in hopes of finding other like-minded individuals who enjoy role playing, story telling, and character development. Â As it stands, I have a single character on Blamung; a female Keeper of the Moon miqo'te. Â Before I dive into the world of RP within Eorzea, I want to make sure that she conforms with the setting of the world around her, which is why I am here. Â I'm a lore-centric role player and I always strive to make my characters fit the established setting of any given world that I will be role playing them in, but Eorzea seems like a very flexible place. Â I'm not yet a lore junkie for this new and strange setting, so I have come to you in need of aid in making sure that everything is in order.
I chose the miqo'te race because it seemed like the most relavent one to my interests. Â I always enjoy playing the more tribal and spiritual races, such as tauren in WoW, norn in Guild Wars 2, and mirialan in SWTOR. Â The keepers of the moon seemed to fit this theme the closest with their traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle and their reverence of Menphina. Â Though I know that many keepers of the moon have integrated with 'mainstream society', so to speak, I know that there are others still that live as they always have, even in the Black Shroud where they are often viewed as poachers.
It is in the Black Shroud that the tribe of my character lives, far off in the deepest reaches of the untamed forest. Â It is there that they have lived for as long as their tales date, hunting, fishing, and living as they so choose. Â It was a prosperous life until the events of the Calamity, at which point the Shroud became a far more dangerous place to live outside of Gridania's protective gates. Â As ixal activity increased, the Gridanians became even more ferverous in their attempts to protect the balance of things in the shroud, and the beasts and elementals alike became more ferocious, survival of the fittest became the law of the land.
I an attempt to hedge their bets, my tribe turned to Menphina in a most unusual way. Â Just as the ixal summoned their guardian spirit, Garuda, so too did my tribe seek to summon Menphina, who they viewed as their own guardian spirit. Â This, obviously, is where I begin to worry about my character's backstory. Â I don't want to sound like a mary-sue or anything, and I don't want to outright break any standing lore, so let me walk you though my thought process here.
The summoning of primals seems like an easy enough process to understand when dealing with beings such as Ifrit or Garuda. Â These spirits exist out there in the aether, and the beast tribes offer aether crystals as a sacrifice to empower said existing spirit so that it can create a physical form. Â There are other primals, however, that we learn are formed from nothing more than the summoners' own beliefs, such as King Moogle Mog and Shiva. Â It is the latter type of summoning that I am using in this character story. Â My tribe did not summon THE Menphina, provided that the Gods are confirmed to be existing entities, but rather their own depiction of Menphina - a spirit born of their own beliefs and desires. Â Also note that from here on out in this post, when I refer to Menphina, I am refering to this spirit, not the deity.
The tribe was successful in their summoning, and Menphina was called to Eorzea deep within the Black Shroud. Â As a benevolent, but protective spirit, Menphina came to act not as a bloodthirsty harbinger of destruction, such as Ifrit or Garuda, but as a protector and watcher of her chosen children, more akin to Ramuh.
The formerly nomadic tribe established a small, permanent settlement in the trees and caves surrounding Menphina's Glade, the location of the summoning, which they now revered as a sacred place. Â A shrine was established for the spirit, and obtaining a small offering of aether crystals became a daily duty of the tribe so that their guardian could maintain physical form. Â To this end, the tribe saught to establish trade agreements with the nearest Gridanian settlements, allowing the Gridanians to stop viewing them so harshly as poachers and more favorably as fellow citizens of the Twelveswood.
Here comes another part that has me worried, but again, let me walk you through my thought process so you can see where I am going with this. Â We all know that game mechanics and role play don't often mix, but I love it when I can try to make them. Â In this case, I am referring to the game's class and job system. Â While I hope to level every class to 60 eventually, most of them will be OOC conveniences than anything else. Â My four chosen "main" classes, however, will all me IC so that I can do any content IC if I so choose. Â These jobs are Dragoon for melee DPS (though IC, my miqo'te is not a dragoon - she is a huntress for her tribe and the class is being chosen for the weapon), Bard for ranged DPS (again, she won't be a bard, but the weapon falls in line with her duty as a huntress, although she may eventually learn the art of the Bard as part of her character development), White Mage for healing, and Dark Knight for tanking.
Lancer (Dragoon), and Archer (Bard) are easy enough to marry into one character without much trouble, but throwing White Mage and Dark Knight into the mix will be a bit more difficult. Â That is where Menphina's Blessings come in.
Menphina (again, the spirit, not the deity) bestowed upon her children three blessings that would allow them to borrow her strength, at the price of aether, of course. Â Menphina's Wrath granted her children unimaginable vigor, clad them in heavy armor, and bestowed upon them an enchanted greatsword when called upon. Â Menphina's Fury imbued her children with powers long forbidden to Eorzea - the ability to utilize Black Magic. Â Lastly, Menphina's Mercy gifted her children with the ability to cast powerful white magic.
Not all of her children were so gifted that they could call upon these blessings, and fewer still could call upon all three.  My character, in particular, is gifted with the ability to call upon  Menphina's Wrath (making her a Dark Knight) and Menphina's Mercy (making her a White Mage).  Since these blessings are temporary "power ups", so to speak, it will also lend itself to explaining why she cannot cast Dark Knight magic or White Magic while she is being played as a simple huntress (a lancer or archer).  These powers are simply not her own to use freely and must be called upon.
So that's really it... Â Or at least those are the aspects of the character that I have concerns about. Â I'd love to hear some feedback.
I chose the miqo'te race because it seemed like the most relavent one to my interests. Â I always enjoy playing the more tribal and spiritual races, such as tauren in WoW, norn in Guild Wars 2, and mirialan in SWTOR. Â The keepers of the moon seemed to fit this theme the closest with their traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle and their reverence of Menphina. Â Though I know that many keepers of the moon have integrated with 'mainstream society', so to speak, I know that there are others still that live as they always have, even in the Black Shroud where they are often viewed as poachers.
It is in the Black Shroud that the tribe of my character lives, far off in the deepest reaches of the untamed forest. Â It is there that they have lived for as long as their tales date, hunting, fishing, and living as they so choose. Â It was a prosperous life until the events of the Calamity, at which point the Shroud became a far more dangerous place to live outside of Gridania's protective gates. Â As ixal activity increased, the Gridanians became even more ferverous in their attempts to protect the balance of things in the shroud, and the beasts and elementals alike became more ferocious, survival of the fittest became the law of the land.
I an attempt to hedge their bets, my tribe turned to Menphina in a most unusual way. Â Just as the ixal summoned their guardian spirit, Garuda, so too did my tribe seek to summon Menphina, who they viewed as their own guardian spirit. Â This, obviously, is where I begin to worry about my character's backstory. Â I don't want to sound like a mary-sue or anything, and I don't want to outright break any standing lore, so let me walk you though my thought process here.
The summoning of primals seems like an easy enough process to understand when dealing with beings such as Ifrit or Garuda. Â These spirits exist out there in the aether, and the beast tribes offer aether crystals as a sacrifice to empower said existing spirit so that it can create a physical form. Â There are other primals, however, that we learn are formed from nothing more than the summoners' own beliefs, such as King Moogle Mog and Shiva. Â It is the latter type of summoning that I am using in this character story. Â My tribe did not summon THE Menphina, provided that the Gods are confirmed to be existing entities, but rather their own depiction of Menphina - a spirit born of their own beliefs and desires. Â Also note that from here on out in this post, when I refer to Menphina, I am refering to this spirit, not the deity.
The tribe was successful in their summoning, and Menphina was called to Eorzea deep within the Black Shroud. Â As a benevolent, but protective spirit, Menphina came to act not as a bloodthirsty harbinger of destruction, such as Ifrit or Garuda, but as a protector and watcher of her chosen children, more akin to Ramuh.
The formerly nomadic tribe established a small, permanent settlement in the trees and caves surrounding Menphina's Glade, the location of the summoning, which they now revered as a sacred place. Â A shrine was established for the spirit, and obtaining a small offering of aether crystals became a daily duty of the tribe so that their guardian could maintain physical form. Â To this end, the tribe saught to establish trade agreements with the nearest Gridanian settlements, allowing the Gridanians to stop viewing them so harshly as poachers and more favorably as fellow citizens of the Twelveswood.
Here comes another part that has me worried, but again, let me walk you through my thought process so you can see where I am going with this. Â We all know that game mechanics and role play don't often mix, but I love it when I can try to make them. Â In this case, I am referring to the game's class and job system. Â While I hope to level every class to 60 eventually, most of them will be OOC conveniences than anything else. Â My four chosen "main" classes, however, will all me IC so that I can do any content IC if I so choose. Â These jobs are Dragoon for melee DPS (though IC, my miqo'te is not a dragoon - she is a huntress for her tribe and the class is being chosen for the weapon), Bard for ranged DPS (again, she won't be a bard, but the weapon falls in line with her duty as a huntress, although she may eventually learn the art of the Bard as part of her character development), White Mage for healing, and Dark Knight for tanking.
Lancer (Dragoon), and Archer (Bard) are easy enough to marry into one character without much trouble, but throwing White Mage and Dark Knight into the mix will be a bit more difficult. Â That is where Menphina's Blessings come in.
Menphina (again, the spirit, not the deity) bestowed upon her children three blessings that would allow them to borrow her strength, at the price of aether, of course. Â Menphina's Wrath granted her children unimaginable vigor, clad them in heavy armor, and bestowed upon them an enchanted greatsword when called upon. Â Menphina's Fury imbued her children with powers long forbidden to Eorzea - the ability to utilize Black Magic. Â Lastly, Menphina's Mercy gifted her children with the ability to cast powerful white magic.
Not all of her children were so gifted that they could call upon these blessings, and fewer still could call upon all three.  My character, in particular, is gifted with the ability to call upon  Menphina's Wrath (making her a Dark Knight) and Menphina's Mercy (making her a White Mage).  Since these blessings are temporary "power ups", so to speak, it will also lend itself to explaining why she cannot cast Dark Knight magic or White Magic while she is being played as a simple huntress (a lancer or archer).  These powers are simply not her own to use freely and must be called upon.
So that's really it... Â Or at least those are the aspects of the character that I have concerns about. Â I'd love to hear some feedback.
~~~ Zhuto Zhanarah Wiki Page ~~~
![[Image: c07cd72326.png]](http://puu.sh/moLcc/c07cd72326.png)
