Wild Keepers of the Moon, Menphina the Lover, and the Primal Phenomenon

[Zhuto Zhanarah]

Hello and good evening to you, Hydaelyn Roleplayer Forums!  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.  As it stands, I have a single character on Blamung; a female Keeper of the Moon miqo'te.  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.  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.  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.  I always enjoy playing the more tribal and spiritual races, such as tauren in WoW, norn in Guild Wars 2, and mirialan in SWTOR.  The keepers of the moon seemed to fit this theme the closest with their traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle and their reverence of Menphina.  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.  It is there that they have lived for as long as their tales date, hunting, fishing, and living as they so choose.  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.  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.  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.  This, obviously, is where I begin to worry about my character's backstory.  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.  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.  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.  It is the latter type of summoning that I am using in this character story.  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.  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.  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.  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.  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.  We all know that game mechanics and role play don't often mix, but I love it when I can try to make them.  In this case, I am referring to the game's class and job system.  While I hope to level every class to 60 eventually, most of them will be OOC conveniences than anything else.  My four chosen "main" classes, however, will all me IC so that I can do any content IC if I so choose.  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.  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.  Menphina's Wrath granted her children unimaginable vigor, clad them in heavy armor, and bestowed upon them an enchanted greatsword when called upon.  Menphina's Fury imbued her children with powers long forbidden to Eorzea - the ability to utilize Black Magic.  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...  Or at least those are the aspects of the character that I have concerns about.  I'd love to hear some feedback.

[Zhuto Zhanarah]

Was the idea really that bad?    It all made sense to me, but I am no Eorzean lore hound.

[Virella]

My two quick gil before going to bed.

 

 

Summoning anything primal like, let alone one of the Twelve, would fuck Hydaelyn massively over, not to mention you are basically making a huge impact on the storyline/lore set, and other roleplayers may or may not agree with your Twelve/Primal summoning. So I would scrap that.

 

Being a Dark Knight, or having powers alike to it, is rooted into Ishgardian society. They are the batmans of Ishgard. We haven't seen anything alike outside people involved with Ishgard so far.

 

White Mage powers is another can of worms, but basically you can't be a White Mage either if you wanna hang onto lore. Anyhow, Conjury does the same trick, without making your character a special case. Sounsyy made a lovely post about Conjury and White Mage to be found here.

 

Black mage magic isn't possible (for long) without soulstones. You literally burn into pieces if you cast Black Magic without a soulstone.

 

As well being blessed by one of the Twelve would make you... very special as well. It sounds as if you wish to roleplay something alike to a very odd Archon type of character. You can find more info onto those here.

Fighting in a name of a God seems totally okay though. Hells, if you want it to be their 'inner strength' type of deal, that's cool as well. It isn't unheard of people fighting in the name of a God. Just not with their powers... Your character can think such though! Just... not actual powers.

 

Just don't except people to play along with your char being granted so many 'awesome' powers by a God.

 

While you tried your best to make an interesting background, if you want to be lore abiding, you gotta drop things, or adjust them at the very least. Dark Knight? Be heavily involved with Ishgard/Ishgardian. White Mage? That's just a no go. Black Magic? Only if you got a soulstone, and they are rare. And the magic is forbidden as well.

 

Honestly, just being a poacher from a regular, normal, poaching miqo'te tribe from the Shroud is already interesting enough. We hardly see those

[Zhuto Zhanarah]

I appreciate the feedback, though I feel that I should restate some things that I may have not quite explained in as good of a sense as I could have.

 

First, I would like to re-stress that it was not the deity Menphina that was summoned, provided there is a way to make this work.  Much like the summoning of Shiva, the tribe did not summon the actual Menphina into Eorzea, but rather a spirit that merely took on the form and the aspects that the tribe believed Menphina to represent.

 

Another point to be made thereof, the spirit is not a 'primal' on the same scale of Ifrit, Leviathan, or Garuda.  It was summoned not for destruction, but for protection, and acts more in a similar fashion to Ramuh; shielding its reclusive worshipers from outward assaults when, and only when, their homes are directly encroached upon in what they view as an aggressive manner.

 

In regards to the classes, I definitely did not explain that well enough.  The idea of borrowing powers from the primal spirit isn't meant to be a way of granting the character legitimate 'Jobs'.  The idea is not for her to become a Dark Knight or a White Mage; merely to grant temporary access to similar abilities or magics to justify having an in-character means of taking up the mantle of tanking or healing for in-character PvE.  It's not really something that would just come up when role playing in a bar, nor would it be something that she would use in RP-PvP unless it boiled down to life or death.  I won't god-mode to kill or hurt someone, but I'll absolutely god-mode to protect my own character.

 

As far as Black Magic goes, that is a bit of information that I was not aware of, as I have not yet dabbled in Thaumaturge.  So that would not work, as using similar magic, regardless of official training and titles, would yield similar results if that is the case.  That does throw Menphina's Fury out the window, but that is also the one that I was not concerned with using, as Archer/Bard will be my IC ranged class.

 

So as you've explained, Conjury/White Magic should still be a valid option in the way that I understand things.  That just leaves the Dark Knight, which again, she would not be an Ishgardian Dark Knight.

 

I know I might be grasping for straws here, but gladiator is absolutely not going to work for my taking class because I just don't see Zhuto touching a shield in a million years and Warrior...  Not into axes.  Orcs should have axes.  Dwarves can use them if, and only if, a warhammer is not available.  No one else should touch an axe.  Ever.    The marauders make a compelling argument for them, but there's no ocean in the middle of the Shroud.

 

Her magic doesn't have to be Dark Knight in nature.  The class is nothing more than a way for me to have a tanking class, and enjoy it while having it fit the character.

 

I also envision Zhuto having some kind of false superstitious belief that her Mercy blessing is stronger the nearer it is to a full moon, as the moon shines brightest that night, while her Wrath blessing is stronger the nearer it is to a new moon, as the moon is absent from the sky entirely (at least visibly).

 

The bit about Archons was an interesting read, but again, we're not talking about THE Menphina here.  It's just a spirit that the tribe refers to and believes to be Menphina.  I don't know if that makes any distinctive difference, but it's important to note.

 

Honestly, I'm not too fond of the idea of all of this, myself.  It sounds a little too mary-sue for my linking, but it sounded a hell of a lot less mary-sue than having Zhuto be the vessel of the spirit like a certain elezen is to a certain icy maiden.  Love the character, but I feel that copy-pasting the same concept would be about as mary-sue as I could get.

 

If push comes to shove, I'll drop things if need be, pick up a shitty little axe for tanking, and just not bother with a healing class at all.  Would really like to avoid it, however.  I'd like to have IC access to all four roles in a party if need be.

[Jana]

My biggest nitpick is that even if the primal summoned is benevolent and fed some crystals daily, any primal summoning puts too great a strain on the land to be tolerated by the city-states/Grand Companies. Establishing trade with Gridania while supporting an aetheric drain isn't something that could feasibly happen.

 

Putting that aside, you shouldn't feel like you need to ICly have the same classes/jobs leveled that you're playing OOCly (most people don't play a capital-J Job either). I had to level every job to 50 and complete their Relic quests to get the title I wanted for my character, but she certainly isn't most of those jobs or their prerequisite classes, nor is she walking around with 9+ legendary weapons.

[Zhuto Zhanarah]

I was unaware that a primal-like spirit would put a constant strain on the aetherial flow of the immediate area around it.  That does put a bit of a chink in my backstory.

 

I do quite enjoy the idea of the ebb and flow of the powers that Zhuto would have had the abiliy to call upon; that is to say with the Dark Knight being believed to be stronger with the new moon and the White Mage being stronger with the full moon.

 

I know that most people wouldn't play their "Job" proper, and I have no intention of doing it either.  My main class is Dragoon, but Zhuto's certainly no proper dragoon.  She's a wild huntress who prizes the spear as her primary weapon do to its reach, strength, and its ability to be used as an effective method of catching fish just as well as it can kill a boar.  Also do to the length of the weapon, the non-pointy end can be used for non-combat purposes, such as checking the depth of water before jumping on in.  For someone living in the wilds, there is no more versatile or valuable weapon from those that we have to choose from.  On top of that, the jumps can easily be used IC even if she is not a dragoon because of how powerful miqo'te's legs are supposed to be.  Her jumps can easily be aggressive pounces.

 

As for Bards...  Well, music is universal.  Even the most uncivilized and truly 'wild' human tribes have an affinity for their own brand of music, be it for entertainment, for war, for peace, or for celebration.  I'd say that can easily translate to any sentient being in any fantasy universe.

 

As I said in my original post, I love to marry mechanics and role play when it is possible.  In the case of the dragoon and that bard, that is very easy and translates cleanly and plainly.

 

So if we cast aside the very notion of a primal, is there any way to incorporate a Dark Kight and White Mage into a Shroud-Dwelling Keeper of the Moon?

 

Again, bear in mind that I am NOT asking about how to make her an Ishgardian Dark Knight or a Trained White Mage - only looking for a way to tap into similar powers with which to allow me to justify having the classes available for when I need to tank or heal IC.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Jana]

Virella briefly mentioned it but White Mage is specifically the role of the Padjals who tend to the forest around Gridania (until the Warrior of Light barges in). Padjals are the Hyur/Elezen children selected by the forest's Elementals to receive the power of Succor, then they grow horns and stop aging. The devs have said there are less savory ways to gain Succor, but we don't know what that entails yet.

 

Dark Knight is specifically the role of Ishgardian vigilantes, those who fight corrupt officials of the Church. Their "Dark" powers aren't the same as casting class's magic as it runs off of emotions. I haven't played their story to completion but as I understand it, using those emotions carries a risk of you being consumed by them, basically losing yourself to the darkness.

 

As you can see, neither Job is related to the other, nor to Keepers. There's no reason your character couldn't be a person who knows how to use a greatsword and a Conjury cane if you can explain how they trained in both a martial ability and a magical one. (Conjury is said to be easy to pick up, though.)

[Charity322]

I wouldn't worry about trying to fill every role IC. If you can't, say, tank then find someone IC who can to dungeon with you.

[PhantasticPanda]

I just want to make a note when you're trying to fit a character into a certain job archetype doesn't mean you necessarily need to use that weapon. Zanzan for example has access to Thaumturge magic, some Arcana, as well as developing the use of the Dark Arts from the dark knight job. When utilizing dark arts, he still uses his staff because there's nothing linking that sort of magic to the use of a greatsword. Bards do not have to be stuck with a bow either as their magic is in their song, not the bow, just convenient as a support weapon.

 

Personally I think you're trying to fit in too many concepts into a single character because of all the classes you OOCLY play. As someone said before, a traditional keeper huntress that's skilled with spear and bow still has plenty to work with. Don't feel like you have to add every OOC element icly into your character.

 

As for accessing powers similar to white magic of that of a white mage. It's hard, very hard because it's insanely powerfull to the point that the elementals themselves forbade the use of that power level of white magic. It was capable of bringing in a calamity like event and is capable of giving users immortality and all that crazy stuff. What would be more realistic would be accessing the same level of white magic as conjurers do, by attuning themselves to the energies and aether in the nature around them.

 

As for dark knight magic, they call it the Dark Arts. I'm not sure how one would develop magic similar to that since the nature of it is still mysterious. We only know that it powered by our darkest emotions and is past down from master to student according to the storyline. But that isn't to say that your characters magic cannot be affected by their emotions. But I can't give you answer how you'd be able to fit in the dark arts without training as a dark knight.

[Momo]

Ultimately what isn't being said here is: The level of power your character would wield, is beyond the level norm of the RP community on RPC at the very least. This is going to be one of those situations where while the story is interesting, and I totally understand a want to not have to scrap it, you will need to find a good group to fit in with to make it work. A group that doesn't necessarily stick to the lore norms generally accepted.

 

This is not a chastisement sort of deal, more of a way to inform you that you will probably need to dial it back somewhat to get a good fit if you want regular "meet on the street or at events RP". Unfortunately, compared to other MMOs with similar RP capability to FFXIV, those worlds were set up to a level of power where you could easily be a master of something and still be relevant to everyone else, whereas in FFXIV the lore and devs have set things up in a way that only certain people and groups have the sort of power you have included into your story. That mindset often deters people from staying here as they want to explore higher ability for their character, but I encourage you to stay!

 

My best help besides the info above? Some of it has been said.

 

~Choose one or two jobs to have ability in.

 

 -Probably not WHM as that is hard to get into, maybe if you want to keep healing  magic, do CNJ as stated above.

 

 -To be an IC bard, one doesn't have to be an archer, though having ability in  archery would be something a Dragoon or a Dark Knight could very well have. I  would say choose one of these you like and stick with that, if you want to tell  stories or sing songs as a bard IC, then do that.

 

 -You do not have to switch jobs in content at all, I would let that sink into to  help you choose what you think would be best for your character ICly to have.

 

Best bet? Try something a little more minimal for your back story. I am not saying take all the juicy bits, but look at your character from the perspective of emotional development in our shared world, rather than the gaining of power. There are lots of stories still to be told in our world, research a little more, get a feel for how things are, then proceed with that. There are people here who can help you should you have more questions!

 

~Don't leave! Stay, we want more RPers! Good Luck!

[Zhuto Zhanarah]

As much as I had liked the concept, if it's not going to work then that's that.

 

*Throws her notebook into a nearby fire.*

 

A mundane huntress she shall be, then.  I sincerely appreciate everyone's input on this matter.  I would have been making myself look like a complete idiot playing the character as I had originally imagined her.

 

 

@ Momo - I'm enjoying the game too much to leave.  This character concept was born not from a desire to play a powerhouse, but from my need to be versatile (shaman, druid, and paladin main from WoW).  I always play the hybrid classes in MMOs, but FF14 has extremely rigid class designs that do not allow for versatility.  It is my only complaint with the game and I simply sought a way to fix this grievous issue.

 

Such is fate, however, that it's just not going to work.  Oh well.

[Charity322]

 

 

A mundane huntress she shall be, then.

 

Hey, not mundane. Never mundane.

[Momo]

Like was said above, never mundane! Just...yeah, not to the power level of other MMOs, which I played and RPed in as well. I think I had a good setup in starting at the beginning of the game, and therefor having a chance to get used to it rather than being thrown into the middle of it cold turkey.

 

Some hope may be on the way, as some RPers have been speculating the new lorebook due out this year at some point, could contain information on how rare/average more powerful jobs and items are. If that is the case, who knows? It could change all of how we think about things in this community. Unfortunately, that is most certainly months away, until then join some of the hunt events, look for some RP partners who enjoy hunting monsters, and get something together!

 

Good luck my dear!

[Mia Moui]

Smaller, less relevant characters can be great fun.  I've no idea in my real life what being popular or super confident or super powered is like.  I can only borrow tropes from other genres when I attempt to write such a thing.  But what I do know is being largely irrelevant and tethered to a world where MY goals and MY destiny is important to ME - not necessarily the wider world. I tend to write character who are on a similar journey.  I love high adventure stories but I'm no good at writing them.

 

My bare bones backstory:

 

"Betrayed by the Matriarch of her outlaw family and handed over to the Coeurlclaw to settle a debt, Mia Moui searches to find the sisters that joined her in servitude."

 

There's nothing supernatural here but I find the story very compelling.  

 

What was the debt? Why did the Matriarch betray her youngest daughters?  Why was the Coeurclaw involved?  What's the story of these sisters? Where are they?  Where has Mia been?  Where will she go?  Will she re-engage with the Coeurclaw?  Will she try to punish her outlaw family?  How did they even escape from the Coeurclaw?  Does Mia still believe some of the teachings of the Coeurclaw?  Do her sisters still believe?  Was Mia ever a poacher?  Is she in trouble with the Wood Wailers?  What made her family outlaws?  Who will help Mia find her sisters? Who will stand in her way?  And on and on.

 

It's great to RP (when I have time - which is never apparently) because Mia can go up and ask if they've seen her sisters. That invites an explanation and that invites dialogue and that invites RP. And it doesn't matter if they say they've seen them or not.  That person could be mistaken, her sisters could have moved on, and what ever else.

 

Anyway - I just don't want anyone to feel like playing less-than-ultimate is such a let down. People are fascinating and it doesn't matter what rung they are on in the adventure, everyone has a story to tell.