Garleans in our midst

[Naunet]

So, I've seen over the past several weeks a number of folk poking at the idea of playing Garlean deserters, which I find a pretty cool concept. The Empire is a lore entity I'm fairly fascinated by - probably because I simply can't resist a bit of science fiction peppered into my fantasy lore, and magitek fits the bill there.

 

Anyway, what I'm really curious about, however, is if anyone out there is planning on roleplaying a Garlean loyalist. Obviously a hidden one. Possibly a spy, or simply a survivor of the Calamity who got separated from the Empire and has been forced to live amongst Eorzeans while hiding their identity and beliefs.

 

Or even better, what about an Eorzean who would welcome Empire rule? Maybe they really do agree with the Empire's moral crusade against beastmen and the primals (and folk with the Echo). Or maybe they're just fed up with all the war and death and have decided that letting the Empire win would be the best solution for everyone because at least then there wouldn't be this constant threat of war.

 

They would be fun challenges for RP, though as long as you're not the over-dramatic type, it's fairly easy to keep secrets like this. I'm really curious, however, if there are any people - aside from the couple I already know of - who are planning on going down this route RP-wise. Why, you may ask? Oh, no reason... *shifty eyes*

[FreelanceWizard]

Well, the thought had occurred to me that, based on the main scenario quest lore so far, it wouldn't be tremendously hard for someone interested in doing so to corrupt L'yhta into working for the Empire. She's got a Manichaen worldview that, combined with what's disclosed about primals, could get her into trouble with regards to being willing and able to do increasingly evil things "for the greater good of Eorzea." That could include acting as an agent for the Empire if she were convinced that they had the best solution to the primal problem.

 

I'm not saying she's there yet, but that the hook exists in the character should RP end up going that way.

[ArmachiA]

My fiance's alt is a Garlean loyalist and I'm playing his sister, who is also one. We've been roleplaying them a little, but not much yet as we aren't comfortable enough with the Garlemald lore. Once we get more information we plan on making mischief.

[Myxie Tryxle]

Yes, could all the Garlean spies please hold up their hands? We promise not to look.

 

I did come up with this concept in another thread while considering just what type of Miqo'te tribe might practice infanticide:

 

As an example, several people were very uncomfortable with my suggestion that some tribes may practice infanticide the way lions do. I agree that it challenges a lot, but what if that character came from a tribe that revered scorpions and had been living under the boot heel of the Empire for many years. Perhaps the only way to become a Nunh in that scorpion tribe is to join the Empire's Special Forces and prove yourself as a ruthless assassin in service of the Empire, willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Now imagine the culture shock and potential for a character from that tribe who finds themselves stranded in Eorzea and forced to interact with free tribes and races they've been told are their enemies since they were born. Whether this character is an NPC soldier in a guild's plot line or someone's actual player character, due to the culture shock there's a lot of potential for some fantastic story there!

 

If anyone wishes to use that idea for their own character or an NPC, feel free. I have no plans for it, just something I brainstormed up.

[Ildur]

I don't even know why you would bring infanticide into the equation, unless all you wanted was to justify your direct comparison between Miqo'te and lions, which was in the first place made based on a derelict dialogue choice that could be picked by all player characters, no matter what race or class. I find it kind of creepy, actually.

But this is not that thread.

 

So, anyway! Yes, all garleans should raise their hands so we can round them up and give them our pamphlets. We have a dental plan!

[ArmachiA]

pfft I'm not giving you any names! NEVA

[Rhio]

Rhio has, in the past, worked with the Garleans. Not for, exactly, but it certainly wouldn't matter to anyone not interested in the fine details, since it still involved her working alongside the Empire and passing back vital intelligence regarding the Eorzean war preparations.

 

Will she try to do so again? Probably not, but Rhio's a pragmatist and a survivor, and if she feels it's a necessity it's within the realm of plausibility. Not to mention that she tends to be focused on specific goals as she finds them necessary, which sometimes entails working with groups she would otherwise despise.

[Valtiere]

I am still toying with my character idea but I think she might fit in this category, kind of. I don't have a lot of knowledge when it comes to FFXIV lore and I don't want to step on any toes or break any major lore rules or anything so I'm being a little slow in coming up with my character. That said mine is leaning pretty close to having worked for the Garlean Empire at some point in her past history, only she doesn't really know that at this point in time.

 

I'm thinking that she was working as an assassin, a spy or something just as shady for the Garlean Empire prior to the Calamity, but she doesn't know that right now. Currently she is living and working in Gridania, since that's where she was when memory loss event happened, and she has only hazy recollections of the time before the Calamity. When she found her way to Gridania after the event the belongings she had on her suggested that she was an alchemist or a botanist or something along those lines, so that's what she's been doing in the years since then. Only around the beginning of ARR will she be discovering that there are elements to her past that aren't quite so innocent.

 

I usually try and steer clear of the amnesia background when it comes to my characters (mostly because it seems a bit cliché and an excuse not to come up with anything more in depth) but it seems interesting to me to have a character with a shadier history, who is only just relearning her past. The idea that she's not who she thinks she it, the possibility that someone from her past might pop up and 'out' her, and that the people she currently is living in the midst of would consider her an enemy if they ever found out is really interesting to me so I think I might run with it.

 

Whether she would be a Loyalist or a deserter if/when she got her memory back I don't know. I guess it depends on why she was working for them in the first place.

[Naunet]

So, anyway! Yes, all garleans should raise their hands so we can round them up and give them our pamphlets. We have a dental plan!

 

And unparalleled job security!

 

But seriously, I ask because finding people with these kinds of IC backgrounds and/or connections would really help the CRA's roleplay. :3 So ArmachiA (and others), we may want to talk...!

[synaesthetic]

I, for one, welcome our new magitek overlords.

 

Because it'll provide lots of chances to see my chara go berserk and burn people to ashes.