Brainstorming an Au Ra Dark Knight origin. Need to be lore-checked.

[Koro Dotharl]

Greetings everyone. It's been a while since I opened a thread in these halls but now I am back in the community with a new character that needs a little help.

 

I am currently writing a backstory for my Au Ra Dark Knight, and all went well for a while (chose the Tumet clan; established what she was before becoming a DK, her personality etc) but I noticed that I have been changing the circumstances of her soulstone a lot, and that is because she is obviously not ishgardian hence it is very difficult to write something that is not forced or "convenient".

 

So that's where I need help. I have taken a look at the RPCwiki and I have seen some Auri roleplayers that pulled it off successfully and got accepted in the community and that's where I aspire to be. But none of them went into too much detail about their actual origin as a Dark Knight.

 

Thus I have to ask: What is/would be your approach in making a non-ishgardian Dark Knight? If you don't want to type your characters' spoilers out in the public you can PM it to me, I just need a little inspiration for my own character.

 

I have written a few versions of her ascension that needs to be lore-checked:

 

These are by no means set in stone or even among the ones I will use for my backstory. Just what I came up with. I am more than willing to accept more lore-friendly ideas or make modifications where criticism demands it. 'Tis why I made the thread in the first place!

 

I thank you all in advance and I am eager to hear your feedback.

 

The Tumet tribe traditionally tie their children to a sacred tree and abandon them. Forcing them to get free and find their way back on their own as to earn their name and position in the Tumet's society. My character failed this test and would have died if it wasn't for a Dark Knight that have taken a grudge on the tribe's tradition, saving the children that are exposed to such injustice for the sake of tradition. My character gets particularly attached to this Dark Knight and eventually becomes his/her apprentice.

 

Problem: No Dark Knights in Othard. Or am I wrong?

 

 

My character manages to get free from her bindings by herself, but fails to track down her own tribe, thus failing the test. She is deeply struck by her failure and eventually grows resentful on how she was left to her death like that. The sheer injustice she feels to be a victim of inspires her to make vengeance against the Tumet and the protection of the rest of Auri kind her way of life and leaves Othard.

 

This puts her in all kind of trouble, especially after she hears of Auri being harassed by ishgardians just for how they look. She take it personal and decides to go to these frozen lands and help out, only to get sorely beaten to an inch of her life by the natives of Coerthas. This is where a Dark Knight would notice her motives and how they align with the philosophies of the Dark Knights, thus she gets hand-picked as an apprentice.

 

Problem: The timeline. How old would she really be to have been through this?

 

 

 

 

She gets free from her bindings and finds her own tribe, thus successfully passing her ritual of adulthood. She lives a relatively happy childhood up until the empire forces them out of their lands. In the chaos, my character and her family ends up separated from the rest of the tribe and seeks refuge in Ishgard, only to be forced out by the locals. Unable to survive the long travel required to flee Coerthas, they momentarily settle in the proximity of the Ishgardian walls, living off what little is available. A Dark Knight takes pity of them and decides to escort them out these lands and back to their own people.

 

They are however found by Ishgardians and are accused of associating with heretic Dark Knights on top of being "Dravanian-spawn", which awards them a death sentence where they stand. The Dark Knight stands to defend them and succeeds, but succumbs to the wounds. In caring for him, my character accidentally touches his soul-stone and becomes it's new owner.

 

Problem: Cliche and overdone. Yet the most lore friendly? Also the timeline.

 

[Valence]

Draft 1 sounds reasonable and with potential to me. Problem solved by saying that the character got among refugees that fled Othard during her early chilhood before the test, and got abandonned after once in Eorzea as part of the traditions the family still clings to. It can even explain why the test was failed since it's a foreign land for everyone. Since some time must have past so that she is not a child anymore, it still fits considering that we have examples of xaelas that left/fled Othard way before the recent annihilation of Dhoma (and the Xaen lands).

 

Can also be mixed up with some stuff of draft 2/3, like the resentment against the test that the family insisted to do even in such extreme circumstances, for example.

 

The DRK mentor appearance can be inserted anywhere from there.

[Koro Dotharl]

Draft 1 sounds reasonable and with potential to me. Problem solved by saying that the character got among refugees that fled Othard during her early chilhood before the test, and got abandonned after once in Eorzea as part of the traditions the family still clings to. It can even explain why the test was failed since it's a foreign land for everyone. Since some time must have past so that she is not a child anymore, it still fits considering that we have examples of xaelas that left/fled Othard way before the recent annihilation of Dhoma (and the Xaen lands).

 

Can also be mixed up with some stuff of draft 2/3, like the resentment against the test that the family insisted to do even in such extreme circumstances, for example.

 

The DRK mentor appearance can be inserted anywhere from there.

 

I haven't thought about it that way, thank you! It does help me get some inspiration going and I think I got myself a fourth draft out of it.

 

I am more confident about this one and it will probably be the one I use, but I am still open to more feedback and criticism, as always!

 

My character and her family travels to Eorzea. There, they insist on performing the Tumet's ritual of adulthood where the child is tied to a sacred tree and abandoned so that she may find her way back, or die. But even after freeing herself from those bindings, the young child was not familiar with these foreign lands and was unable to track her tribe, failing the test. The wildlife and the elements would have killed the little thing if not for a Dark Knight that chose not to tolerate such a brutal and unjust tradition. Anger and resentment quickly began to grow in the girl's heart, for having been abandoned to her death by her own family in an unknown land.

 

Recognizing her wish of vengeance against the injustice she received and the will to save others from the same abuse, the Dark Knight eventually agrees to tutor and mentor her. Her first act of defiance against her own tribe was to choose her own name.

 

[Steel Wolf]

I agree, I like the first draft myself. It definitely would be the sort of unfair classical thinking the Dark Knights fight against.

 

Steel's induction in to the order was perhaps one of convenience, but hasn't exactly faced resistance; she first met a hedge knight while intervening in an unfair trial at Witchdrop who offered her the purpose she had sought as a warrior. Later, she would find her Darkside while fighting off some Ixal, where her axe was destroyed and she found a sword to defend herself, the threat of the moment engaging her latent aether abilities. Shortly after, she would return to the man who found her to begin her official training and grant her soulstone.

 

Considering that finding many with the conviction to fight the status quo of Ishgard within her community would likely be difficult, it would make sense (to me at least) that the Dark Knigbts would seek to bolster their ranks from outside. Especially if one shares their sense of justice or has faced the injustice of tired tradition.

 

Just my two gil, anyway.

[K'nahli]

Ahh, I'm different personally. I really dislike the first draft because it reeks of the convenience you were trying to avoid in my mind, but I have no justification for why anyone following the Dark Knight code could not have been in Othard - I just am under the impression that they would not be, that and that I can't imagine why they'd have much interest in dealing with what are essentially tribal savages.

 

Two is definitely my favourite. I like how she succeeds in one sense but then fails in another.... that and how over time, her feelings ferment into something more crude and self-absorbed, taking her own shortcomings out on the Tribe she proved too weak and incompetent to be a part of at the time by blaming them, her aspirations to perhaps become better than them, take her aged anger out on others who etc etc.

 

 

Edit:

I'm not sure how one goes about deciding a tree is "sacred" or not in the case of Draft 4, especially in some foreign land, otherwise it makes sense but 2 is still my clear favourite ^^

[Valence]

I like draft 4 since it condenses nicely draft1 storyline with draft2 motivations and character development that come out of it.

[Koro Dotharl]

I'm not sure how one goes about deciding a tree is "sacred" or not in the case of Draft 4

 

I do not have knowledge on the lore of which specific tree they consider sacred, so I avoided putting too much details and assumed the tree is common enough to grow in Eorzea aswell. Or perhaps it's not even about the species but a certain tree that the tribe choses. Either way I found safe not to mention what makes it important to them, just that it is.

 

 

Hopefully SE will release some lore that will help me clarify this plot-hole.

 

I also do notice now that perhaps it's too convenient for a Dark Knight to just be there and help, but I am afraid that the character in the second draft is indeed too self absorbed to resist her Darkside. My fourth draft does have elements of that personality but if trained earlier on in life she will survive it a bit longer.

 

As for why would a knight take interest in the affairs of savages, well. Perhaps he simply took pity of a young child tied to a tree. I am remaining vague about this knight motivations in case someone wishes to RP him or her or at least the future possibility is there.

[Virella]

Draft 3 is the only one who's lorefriendly. Maybe 2 would do, but I still don't really see why Ishgardians would give a fudge about Au ra in general. Yes there is the questline yadayada. However Ishgardians are racist/classist up to the skies. Draft 1 is just out of question if you want to be lore friendly.

 

If you really wanna be awesome... Roll a midlander hyur or elezen, and be Ishgardian. No need for wierd loopholes then. Really, we ain't that bad to play.

 

However, you can't be a 20 year old kawaii au ra lady. You gotta be a bit older, that is if you are really really set onto roleplaying an Au ra Dark Knight.

 

That said, you could just roll a Au Ra with a big bad ass sword as well.

 

Pssssst play older chars. They rock.

 

As for successfully accepted? Depending on what RP circle you are in. Most simply don't care about people telling their chars are wonky. I can safely say most Ishgardian RPers roll their eyes at Au ra Dark Knights. Others simply don't care. At the end of the day, it is up to you if you care about lore all that much. Else go for well, whatever option you find most fun!

[Valence]

Draft 3 is the only one who's lorefriendly. Maybe 2 would do, but I still don't really see why Ishgardians would give a fudge about Au ra in general. Yes there is the questline yadayada. However Ishgardians are racist/classist up to the skies. Draft 1 is just out of question if you want to be lore friendly.

 

If you really wanna be awesome... Roll a midlander hyur or elezen, and be Ishgardian. No need for wierd loopholes then. Really, we ain't that bad to play.

 

However, you can't be a 20 year old kawaii au ra lady. You gotta be a bit older, that is if you are really really set onto roleplaying an Au ra Dark Knight.

 

That said, you could just roll a Au Ra with a big bad ass sword as well.

 

Pssssst play older chars. They rock.

 

As for successfully accepted? Depending on what RP circle you are in. Most simply don't care about people telling their chars are wonky. I can safely say most Ishgardian RPers roll their eyes at Au ra Dark Knights. Others simply don't care. At the end of the day, it is up to you if you care about lore all that much. Else go for well, whatever option you find most fun!

 

I must probably have misunderstood something, but you say that ishgardians don't give a damn about foreigners (which is true), so how exactly would that make draft3 better? Why would that ishgardian DRK care? Because DRK? Then it works for draft 1 and 2 equally (as long as said DRK is in Eorzea and not Othard).

 

I really, really don't see the difference here?

[Virella]

Draft 3 is the only one who's lorefriendly. Maybe 2 would do, but I still don't really see why Ishgardians would give a fudge about Au ra in general. Yes there is the questline yadayada. However Ishgardians are racist/classist up to the skies. Draft 1 is just out of question if you want to be lore friendly.

 

If you really wanna be awesome... Roll a midlander hyur or elezen, and be Ishgardian. No need for wierd loopholes then. Really, we ain't that bad to play.

 

However, you can't be a 20 year old kawaii au ra lady. You gotta be a bit older, that is if you are really really set onto roleplaying an Au ra Dark Knight.

 

That said, you could just roll a Au Ra with a big bad ass sword as well.

 

Pssssst play older chars. They rock.

 

As for successfully accepted? Depending on what RP circle you are in. Most simply don't care about people telling their chars are wonky. I can safely say most Ishgardian RPers roll their eyes at Au ra Dark Knights. Others simply don't care. At the end of the day, it is up to you if you care about lore all that much. Else go for well, whatever option you find most fun!

 

I must probably have misunderstood something, but you say that ishgardians don't give a damn about foreigners (which is true), so how exactly would that make draft3 better? Why would that ishgardian DRK care? Because DRK? Then it works for draft 1 and 2 equally (as long as said DRK is in Eorzea and not Othard).

 

I really, really don't see the difference here?

Because it sorta happened in the questline? You get a hold of a Soulstone? Don't know how the DRK caring part would happen. But I guess it makes most sense? Think randomly finding a Soulstone and becoming a DRK while on Ishgard ground would make most sense, especially as a non Ishgardian. I would leave out the DRK being friendly to them, and instead being of some hidden Au ra tribe in Coerthas I suppose? I don't know either way what would make most sense, just that finding a soulstone would be the most fitting.

 

Personally I wouldn't RP any of the options and just go an Elezen or midlander Hyur. Or a Au ra swordsman. I don't anything of it is really lore friendly, but stumbling onto a soulstone makes most sense for me.

[Caspar]

I like 4 best as it seems to me to make use of the key elements you seem to be interested in: the Tumet ritual, which cannot be done with other races, tying that ritual to the injustice of Ishgard, and the power source of Dark Knights. I think it could be interesting to make a character who copes with the unfair nature of her upbringing by fiercely struggling against any injustice she sees a parallel with.

[Aaron]

I'd just go the cliche route.

 

Cliches generally are cliches because they're the easiest way to go a certain route.

 

That's just my opinion though, my character ain't even a Dark knight, well. . He technically is but not bothering with semantics.

[Valence]

Draft 3 is the only one who's lorefriendly. Maybe 2 would do, but I still don't really see why Ishgardians would give a fudge about Au ra in general. Yes there is the questline yadayada. However Ishgardians are racist/classist up to the skies. Draft 1 is just out of question if you want to be lore friendly.

 

If you really wanna be awesome... Roll a midlander hyur or elezen, and be Ishgardian. No need for wierd loopholes then. Really, we ain't that bad to play.

 

However, you can't be a 20 year old kawaii au ra lady. You gotta be a bit older, that is if you are really really set onto roleplaying an Au ra Dark Knight.

 

That said, you could just roll a Au Ra with a big bad ass sword as well.

 

Pssssst play older chars. They rock.

 

As for successfully accepted? Depending on what RP circle you are in. Most simply don't care about people telling their chars are wonky. I can safely say most Ishgardian RPers roll their eyes at Au ra Dark Knights. Others simply don't care. At the end of the day, it is up to you if you care about lore all that much. Else go for well, whatever option you find most fun!

 

I must probably have misunderstood something, but you say that ishgardians don't give a damn about foreigners (which is true), so how exactly would that make draft3 better? Why would that ishgardian DRK care? Because DRK? Then it works for draft 1 and 2 equally (as long as said DRK is in Eorzea and not Othard).

 

I really, really don't see the difference here?

Because it sorta happened in the questline? You get a hold of a Soulstone? Don't know how the DRK caring part would happen. But I guess it makes most sense? Think randomly finding a Soulstone and becoming a DRK while on Ishgard ground would make most sense, especially as a non Ishgardian. I would leave out the DRK being friendly to them, and instead being of some hidden Au ra tribe in Coerthas I suppose? I don't know either way what would make most sense, just that finding a soulstone would be the most fitting.

 

Personally I wouldn't RP any of the options and just go an Elezen or midlander Hyur. Or a Au ra swordsman. I don't anything of it is really lore friendly, but stumbling onto a soulstone makes most sense for me.

 

To be honest, I find the "I stumbled on a soulstone" excuse to be quite weak/easy/trite and cheesy, to speak frankly.

 

Not contesting the fact that seeing anything else than ishgardian Elezens and Hyurs with an ishgardian background is a bit weird of course.

 

Either way, I cant really tell because I have yet to do the DRK storyline and see for myself what is presented exactly with that Au'ra NPC. Is it implied that the NPC is an isolated anomaly? Or is it actually implied that DRKs are themselves the anomaly?

[Aaron]

Draft 3 is the only one who's lorefriendly. Maybe 2 would do, but I still don't really see why Ishgardians would give a fudge about Au ra in general. Yes there is the questline yadayada. However Ishgardians are racist/classist up to the skies. Draft 1 is just out of question if you want to be lore friendly.

 

If you really wanna be awesome... Roll a midlander hyur or elezen, and be Ishgardian. No need for wierd loopholes then. Really, we ain't that bad to play.

 

However, you can't be a 20 year old kawaii au ra lady. You gotta be a bit older, that is if you are really really set onto roleplaying an Au ra Dark Knight.

 

That said, you could just roll a Au Ra with a big bad ass sword as well.

 

Pssssst play older chars. They rock.

 

As for successfully accepted? Depending on what RP circle you are in. Most simply don't care about people telling their chars are wonky. I can safely say most Ishgardian RPers roll their eyes at Au ra Dark Knights. Others simply don't care. At the end of the day, it is up to you if you care about lore all that much. Else go for well, whatever option you find most fun!

 

I must probably have misunderstood something, but you say that ishgardians don't give a damn about foreigners (which is true), so how exactly would that make draft3 better? Why would that ishgardian DRK care? Because DRK? Then it works for draft 1 and 2 equally (as long as said DRK is in Eorzea and not Othard).

 

I really, really don't see the difference here?

Because it sorta happened in the questline? You get a hold of a Soulstone? Don't know how the DRK caring part would happen. But I guess it makes most sense? Think randomly finding a Soulstone and becoming a DRK while on Ishgard ground would make most sense, especially as a non Ishgardian. I would leave out the DRK being friendly to them, and instead being of some hidden Au ra tribe in Coerthas I suppose? I don't know either way what would make most sense, just that finding a soulstone would be the most fitting.

 

Personally I wouldn't RP any of the options and just go an Elezen or midlander Hyur. Or a Au ra swordsman. I don't anything of it is really lore friendly, but stumbling onto a soulstone makes most sense for me.

 

To be honest, I find the "I stumbled on a soulstone" excuse to be quite weak/easy/trite and cheesy, to speak frankly.

 

Not contesting the fact that seeing anything else than ishgardian Elezens and Hyurs with an ishgardian background is a bit weird of course.

 

Either way, I cant really tell because I have yet to do the DRK storyline and see for myself what is presented exactly with that Au'ra NPC. Is it implied that the NPC is an isolated anomaly? Or is it actually implied that DRKs are themselves the anomaly?

He's the anomaly, he talks about other Au Ra getting slaughtered and such.

[Warren Castille]

He talks about the Au Ra first getting attacked the first time they Ishgardians, but says something along the lines of "They found out we don't die so easily." It implies (to me anyway!) that after the initial bits of skirmish, those hostilities stopped. I mean, Sidurgu hangs out in a bar in plain sight, so...

 

To answer another question regarding timelines: Ishgard was only covered in snow and ice after the Calamity. Prior to that (so 7~ years ago) it was lush green hills and slopes. And then ten years prior to that Ishgard closed their walls to outsiders. If you're looking to play a 20~ year old Au Ra, being attached to Ishgard is a fairly tricky scenario.

 

Edit, after reading the OP more closely:

 

Playing a non-Ishgardian Dark Knight is a bit of an oxymoron: Dark Knights appear to be what they are because of what they do, not how they do it. I admit this is just my interpretation of it, but the questlines focus more on the moral conflict and doing the right thing as defining points than opening up your ebil darknezz powarz. Those get plenty of attention from 30-50, but once you get to the Ishgardian part the tone shifts a lot.

 

So are you after the role specifically? Combating corruption and protecting the people of Ishgard from those who would manipulate them? That's perfectly noble as a profession, albeit an illegal one, but again that makes getting you into the city kind of difficult.

 

If you're just after the discipline and power set, you don't need to be a Dark Knight in title and recognition: You could just fight with a greatsword and tap those sorts of powers, too. If you wanted to have a Dark Knight mentor show her the ropes, that's easy enough with just a little elbow grease and creativity.

[Aaron]

Sidurgu is like literally the only Au Ra you see in Ishgard though ain't he?

[Sounsyy]

Quickly hopping in here before I go out to clear up some timeline confusion I've seen in the thread so far.

 

Xaela Au Ra have been documented entering Eorzea three times in recent history. These instances are all extremely small groups or a single tribe who have come, and then subsequently been all but eradicated by circumstances within a few months of arriving. Hence why Au Ra are still a huge unknown to most Eorzeans. This is not to say Xaela could not have appeared at other points in Eorzea history, just that we have no other documented cases yet. Though, I imagine if future cases show up, they will follow a similar pattern - a small group shows up, does a thing, gets killed, one person lives on to become a questgiver.

 

Here's the three instances:

 

- c.100 Years Ago: A small group of Xaela scholars travel to Dravania seeking to activate the Enigma Codex.

- c.25-30 Years Ago: Sidurgu's small tribe of Xaela comes to Ishgard. Temple Knights attack them, but the Xaela successfully repel them, showing the Ishgardians mercy. The Ishgardians return in greater numbers and slaughter all of the Xaela except for Sidurgu.

- c.3 Years Ago: A descendant of that first Xaela tribe seeking the Enigma Codex summons Alexander.

 

 

Brief Ishgardian Timeline:

 

- c.20 Years Ago (1557): The 8th Awakening of Nidhogg. Estinien's home village of Ferndale is razed. Azure Dragoon Alberic Bale fails to defeat Nidhogg and retires.

- c.16-20 Years Ago: Ishgard withdraws from the Eorzean Alliance and closes off its gates.

- c. 5 Years Ago (1572): The Calamity sets off an eternal fallout winter over Ishgard. Where once there were hot summers, now there is only a savage winter without end.

 

 

He talks about the Au Ra first getting attacked the first time they Ishgardians, but says something along the lines of "They found out we don't die so easily." It implies (to me anyway!) that after the initial bits of skirmish, those hostilities stopped. I mean, Sidurgu hangs out in a bar in plain sight, so...

 

Here's what Sidurgu tells us happened to his tribe:

The first Ishgardians to encounter Au Ra saw Dravanians. We had fled Garlemald's armies only to come to a land where we were mistaken for another nation's mortal enemy. They bared steel and came to kill us...but we did not die so easily. We spared them and sent them on their way...and how do you think they repaid our kindness? With fire and blood! With death for every man, woman, and child!

 

...I was about Rielle's age when I came to Ishgard. My parents, they...they said we would find a better life here. When the Temple Knights we had shown mercy returned, they let us choose the order in which we would die. That would be their mercy to us, they declared.

 

So yeah, Sidurgu is the only one from the tribe that escaped. This was 20-30 years ago and while most Ishgardians still view Au Ra with suspicion and possibly even hatred, I think its established somewhere that they recognize the Au Ra as a Spoken race, and not Dravanian anymore. Of course, prejudice likely still reigns supreme.

[Valence]

With that now, the way I see it, is that Au'ri are probably regarded either through bigoted eyes (probably lots of them still, the fall of the Holy See is very recent as we can see in the folks not very happy about it in 3.2 and the ceremony for peace), or either as a race like any other. A case can be reasonably made for both until specified the contrary.

 

I for one do not especially see non hyur/elezen ishgardians (except for aristocracy that is purely elezen) not to be a thing. For citizens I would argue that it's just a matter of demographic representation: we see few of those, if none at all. It can reasonably be argued that ishgardian citizens are probably for most of them hyur and elezen, and the possible remaining percentage extremely low. However, especially since the opening of the gates, the amount of foreigners strolling all around had probably dramatically increased. It is actually a fact since we already see those (Cid's entourage, Ronsthal the roe in the MCH questline, etc). The same way that a case can be made very strongly for ishgardian xenophobia, the opposite case can also be made for liberal and/or progressive ishgardians that are extremely present in LOTS of quests (MCH questline, Haillenarte/Fortemps Houses, the MSQ, etc) and are actually a growing movement that currently HOLDS the advantage politically through Aymeric the Blue. 

 

In short, I do not, absolutely not, see an ishgardian DRK taking a non hyur/elezen as a disciple as weird, especially since DRKs are rebellious and all for the greater good and benevolence, yadayada. I do not see other races present as a minority in Ishgard as weird either, but I would see that as technically very bizarre to see them with actual citizenship or very ishgardian roles though (dragoon, halonic priests, scholars, knights, nobles, etc).

[Koro Dotharl]

I have silently observed the debate and I believe that some legitimate issues about this concept have been brought up, which I hope to solve with this new addition to the backstory:

 

That being, giving a backstory to the mentor too. Perhaps if I give him more reasons to do what he did than what I currently gave out (which is very little, admittedly) my character's job could have a more solid footing.

 

Dark Knights have to operate in Ishgard, and in secret. They root out the corrupt by breaking the law and often through murder, thus said secrecy is vital for the order to survive the Holy See's wrath.

 

But what if my character's mentor killed someone too important for him to get away with it (Mind that I am not talking about nobody that appeared or was even mentioned in the game or it's lore. Just an high-ranked knight or even a wealthy noble, perhaps)? Or perhaps a witness got away and talked. Now his cover is blown and the rest of his fellow knights will be discovered and killed too if he doesn't escape. Least the damage would have been severe on them all.

 

So this Dark Knight leads the chase as far away from his companions as he possibly could: Outside Coerthas. Technically he is not a Dark Knight anymore for he is basically exiled from Ishgard, but he still have his skills and motivations to go on with and fixes the wrongs he stumbles upon.

 

Now there's no reason for him not to take an apprentice of any race. He is stripped of his obligations to Ishgard (not by choice but because many years will have to pass before the ripples he caused calms down) and as a DRK, rebelling to most of Ishgardian customs is part of what he does, so I am of the opinion he wouldn't have any sort of race hate against others (everyone are equals in justice).

 

Enters my character. He trains her in the same philosophy and skill-set that a Dark Knight would have, but without the title. She can't be knighted proper because: Not only is she a non-ishgardian, but her mentor is also an exiled without access to other knights that may cast approval on a new face in the order, plus other reasons that many could come up with.

 

But she still would have all the motives, the mentality and the arts required to do what they do, and so they act on their own without following official rules which still fits with how the job works with or without title.

 

What do you guys think of this addition? If you heard this in roleplay, would you keep your suspension of belief and find it plausible, whether you like it or not on a narrative level? Does it give enough reason for my character to be what she is (or would be)?

 

Problems weren't addressed in the fourth draft that this one solves:

 

• It is not a Dark Knight in the formal sense. Thus it does not violate the character of the actual job while still accessing it's assets.
  
• The timeline is less of an issue because the mentor could have had his accident at any point during my character's life. The he would meet her after the ordeal.
  
• It removes Ishgardian ties from my character other than the origins of what my mentor teaches, to which he is free to share. Due to said mentor's exile, they still wouldn't have access to Ishgard itself and thus no reason to force her interact with the nation prior to the present times at all.
  
• I can have some backstory out and about the Calamity without needing to worry too much about where/when/how my character did things.
  
• Without the title, the character loses the more RP-limiting obligations that comes with it (such as being technically bound to Coerthas). Thus I would need less reasons to be around and more RP possibilities open up.
  

Still this is not "perfect" by any means, but I believe it is atleast a bit better and is respectful towards actual DRK RPers and the lore itself, I hope. Your thoughts are welcome and I'll ponder on whether or not go through with this based on the feedback I receive on this. I do not wish to make too much noise and I hope this solution is pleasant to atleast those that read it.

[Virella]

At the end of the day, you're the one who wants to RP one. The combo you want of race and job is simply neigh impossible.

 

DRKs most likely will still have a hate against Au ra. I'm pretty sure they are probably one of the most fanatic folk when it comes down to hunting down what is 'wrong'. Au ra are wrong in the eyes in the Ishgardian.

 

And... DRK aren't an official organisation. Whereas they can be exiled from Ishgard no doubt, their order isn't one who would do it. Nor do they knight folk. They are just the batmans of Ishgard. No one appoints them. It is a 'burden' they just pick up themselves.

 

Really, I'd say you either just have to bite the bullet and go "well my char's going to be lore wonky, and fuck it if people don't like it", or just drop it.

 

• It is not a Dark Knight in the formal sense. Thus it does not violate the character of the actual job while still accessing it's assets.
  

This is one of the things who personally make me eye roll the most. There's really nothing wrong with just... rolling the race, age, nationality, required background ect to play what is required for the job/class. But that is me.

 

In any case, I think I made it clear enough by now that Au ra and DRK ain't going to happen, unless you go for the "I stumble onto a soul stone route". And even then. Why the fuck would an Au ra care about Ishgard's wrongdoing? You're taking a very specific class/job who's made for purging corrupt folk from their society. Especially with Au ra being slaughtered by Ishgardians in the past... I got a hard time believing why they should or would care.

 

It is up to you whether you want to be lore compliant or not. Au ra DRK is simply ain't going to be unless you conjure up things out of thin air with "Othardian DRKs" or something what I've seen others do.

 

I personally don't get why you are so set up onto roleplaying one, whereas you could just go... a Warrior, Lancer or Maurader. I find it more likely an Au ra travelled up the Hellsguard villages after the Garleans wrecked their shit, and learned how to Warrior there. But once more, being a baby Au Ra doesn't probably work all that convincing. You still have something semi emotion based I supposed, get to be flashy rargh in combat, and you can always level DRK and go "well she's just a warrior with a sword deal with it". You don't need to be a DRK to wield a sword. There's tons of folk who just levelled the class OOC to hold a sword in RP, including myself.

 

Hell, I'd say most jobs just sound silly if you make your char super young... Anyhow. It is up to you what to do with it, I don't know how many times I can keep ripping and tearing at your char concept, but for saying once more. Au ra + DRK = ain't a lore friendly combo despite posterboy +50 quests.

[Warren Castille]

Sidurgu says hello...? He's a prominent quest NPC that hangs out in Ishgard and last time I checked, he's not having to worry about being lynched or anything despite having come from elsewhere, and he's a Dark Knight. It's plenty possible.

 

Edit: There's a lot we don't know about how Dark Knights operate, really. They don't seem to be an order, but they're known collectively as Dark Knights. We know Sid and Fray worked together to some extent. There being Dark Knight "cells" isn't really that far off. Sidurgu's folks first met Ishgard 20~ years ago, but that was before the doors closed. We don't know if other Au Ra showed up inside of the city, and we can't say definitely they don't exist. It's kind of the miqo'te argument all over again: The game doesn't show it, but it also doesn't say it can't happen.

 

At the end of the day, I think if you write anything well enough, people will buy it.

[Caspar]

I don't see it as self evident that Dark Knights equate the existence of foreign races such as the Xaela as "a wrong to right." This is a misleading twisting of the lore. The Dark Knight questline involves fighting against societal wrongs, of which those victimized by the dragonsong war could easily be included. (Such as those who were conceived by cultists, dravanians, the poor who get eaten whenever the brume is attacked, etc.) The Xaela who came to Ishgard and possibly any who still endure discrimination could indirectly be considered victims of the conflict, as they are not dragons yet were persecuted as such.

 

I cannot see it as impossible to reconcile age and race with the class in regards to au ra. If you don't like the combination that's fine, but clearly it is a key element of the character concept and the idea is to consider ways you could make it work narratively within the lore, rather than to say why it shouldn't be played.

[Valence]

At the end of the day, you're the one who wants to RP one. The combo you want of race and job is simply neigh impossible.

 

DRKs most likely will still have a hate against Au ra. I'm pretty sure they are probably one of the most fanatic folk when it comes down to hunting down what is 'wrong'. Au ra are wrong in the eyes in the Ishgardian.

 

I think that's jumping to conclusion and a lot of assumptions here. We only know that a good lot of ishgardians are conditioned by the last decade in isolationism to be extremely xenophobic, which is justified by religion (a powerful motivator if you will). We also know that a good lot of other ishgardians are also very, very liberal compared to their brethren as I said above.

 

You can perfectly find a DRK that is still a good bigoted ishgardian on race issues, or one that just doesn't give a shit. Actually, their views on race is probably totally unrelated to their own beliefs of social justice, but the reasonable assumption to my eyes would be that as long as you seek social justice like a batman, you usually don't get to be too bigoted in terms of xenophobia, or that stops being about justice. Of course, you can still find excuses for some DRK that only seeks justice for his kin only, or whatever, but that's starting to get very specific and I don't think that's actually what we are being sold by SE.

 

Really, I'd say you either just have to bite the bullet and go "well my char's going to be lore wonky, and fuck it if people don't like it", or just drop it.

 

I fail to see anything lore wonky myself. It makes sense, and I'm certainly not judging the quality of the story here or if it's good or bad. I'm just saying that everything is definitely totally lore friendly to me. What would not be would be an Au'ra character that is a Knight or a Dragoon for example.

 

 

This is one of the things who personally make me eye roll the most. There's really nothing wrong with just... rolling the race, age, nationality, required background ect to play what is required for the job/class. But that is me.

 

There is basically nothing required race wise to run a DRK to my knowledge. Anyone living in Ishgard could do that and be batman. It would not be possible BEFORE 3.0 timeline since Ishgard is closed, but after? Yeah. I don't see anything preventing it. Don't have especially to be elezen or hyur to play batman.

 

Of course then, if it's about being a Knight, who is actually a Dark Knight in the sense of a shady ishgardian knight playing batman at night, then yes, there is suddenly a racial requirement.

 

_________________________

 

 

Now then to the OP, it would seem though that you are going for the ideals and the skills of the DRK right? I mean, your exiled DRK mentor is just here as a plot device to teach your character about playing batman and fixing evil where evil lurks, by using dark stuff the DRK usually use, correct?

 

I mean, is your character actually going to do that in Ishgard especially? As Virella said above, why would she do that here? It's actually a good point, since we now know what forged her into that (felt betrayed by her tribe, felt betrayed by Ishgard?), but now, what is her motivator? Where does she want to fight evil? Why? What are her motivations here?

 

Also, last thing I think... To avoid any timeline wonky issues or special snowflake stuff since we know that basically most Au'ri have come to Eorzea very recently since the fall of Dhoma... Maybe it would be best if you keep all that DRK initiation... recent actually. I think it might be best if your character is actually just starting to train under the mentor, or looking for another one?

[Sounsyy]

The combo you want of race and job is simply neigh impossible. DRKs most likely will still have a hate against Au ra. I'm pretty sure they are probably one of the most fanatic folk when it comes down to hunting down what is 'wrong'. Au ra are wrong in the eyes in the Ishgardian.

 

Except that (at least one of) her backstories are quite similar to Sidurgu's own backstory of how he became a Dark Knight...?

 

...I was about Rielle's age when I came to Ishgard. My parents, they...they said we would find a better life here. When the Temple Knights we had shown mercy returned, they let us choose the order in which we would die. That would be their mercy to us, they declared.

 

I watched my parents kneel in the dirt. “Look away,” they said. But I could not. At last, when it was my turn, I knelt and prepared to follow them into death. I closed my eyes...but when I opened them, a man in black stood before me, hand outstretched. And so I took it. “Defend the meek.” “Punish the wicked.” ...Mayhap it was all but a convenient excuse to indulge in vengeance. She deserves better than me. But there is no one else...

 

So an Ishgardian Dark Knight, the one Sidurgu refers to as his and Fray's "Master," rescued an Au Ra after witnessing Temple Knights slaughter an entire tribe. If the Dark Knights considered being Au Ra to be wrong, he would've stood by and done nothing. The code of the Dark Knight is to "Defend the meek. Punish the wicked." Not to uphold Ishgardian bias. In the 50-60 quests, Sidurgu risks his life to defend a small girl who is imbibed with dragon blood by her heretic father who attacked a church official. Clearly, what the typical Ishgardian views as right or wrong means very little to the Dark Knights.

 

I...I swore an oath. To protect her. That's what we dark knights do... All that anger' date=' all that rage...born of a fervent desire to protect that which we hold most dear.[/b']

 

Say a man─a venerable, untouchable man─harms a child in unspeakable ways. He strides through the Hoplon, secure in the knowledge that he is beyond punishment. But for one who cuts down that vile beast as he flaunts his freedom, who knows how many others will suffer?

 

Such was the dilemma faced by a goodly knight long ago. He knew that he would be stripped of his titles and denounced for the deed. The threshold we refuse to cross is a line we draw for ourselves. We fear the consequences, and people suffer for our indecision. Everyone who held that crystal came to conquer that fear, and became who they wanted to be. That knight was the first. Will you be the next?

 

Given the circumstances under which you embarked upon this path' date=' I fear you do not yet understand what it means to be a dark knight. The first of us bared steel against one of the clergy─this is true. He sacrificed everything he once held dear in the name of justice. So must all who would walk in his footsteps. Mayhap you think this will earn you the love of the common man. You are wrong. To many, you will forever be a criminal─a fiend who sows chaos and discord. These people will listen to the lies of our enemies. They will do their utmost to cast you out─or worse.[/quote']

 

The pious Ishgardian clergy guide the flock, and the devout knights protect the weak. Yet even the holiest of men succumb to the darkest of temptations.

None dare to administer justice to those sacrosanct elite residing outside the reach of the law. Who, then, defends the feeble from the transgressions of those meant to guide and protect them?

 

A valiant few take up arms to defend the downtrodden, and not even the holy priests and knights can escape their judgment. Pariahs in their own land, they are known by many as "dark knights." These sentinels bear no shields declaring their allegience. Instead, their greatswords act as beacons to guide the meek through darkness.

[Virella]

She did say she didn't want to go for the cookie cutter backstory >_>? Or am I confused now?

 

Besides, I think we can safely say Sidurgu was the exception, not the standard for DRKs.

 

And Sidurgu arguable is still something doing with corrupt Ishgard nonsense.