« character profiles »
tahla amariyo
« basic details »
age: thirty-eight summers
gender: cis woman (she/her)
sexuality: lesbian
relationship status: married
occupation: bard, warrior of light
race: keeper of the moon miqo'te
epithet: the brightsong; the song of hope
« often found »
at home in the Lavender Beds or the Mists
wandering between Eorzea's city-states
among the trees of the Black Shroud
« quote »
"We'll manage, if only just. We always do, don't we?"
« personality »
enduring, empathetic, cheerful
anxious, self-doubting, tired
A weary but determined warrior, Tahla has a powerful desire to protect and to serve what is right. She has Seen Some Shite, but none of it has been enough to silence her. She'd rather be support than a leader, but she's doing her best with what fate has given her, using her songs to fortify her allies. Together, Tahla and her wife Glowing Ember are the two Warriors of Light. They make their home in Gridania.
« motifs »
music, the wind, deep forests, winding roads, harps, flutes, the wanderer
« scents »
woodsmoke, tonka bean, resin, rain, redwood bark, warm dust
« ooc »
ultros server; brd
« continuity »
In our shared canon, Tahla and her wife Glowing Ember (Em) are both Warriors of Light. They travel and fight together, and are both recognized as Warriors of Light by all and sundry.Their shared journey follows the same steps as XIV canon, except that there are two Warriors, not just one.During the events of Shadowbringers, Tahla and Em share the burden of Light taken from the Lightwardens. As a result, the effects on each of them are somewhat lessened, but they would still have succumbed to the Light in the end had things not turned out as they did.
« history »
Tahla was born and raised in a merchant caravan out of Ul'dah, the Farfeather Concern. Her mother, Rhela Amariyo, was a caravan guard and a skilled archer. Tahla never knew her father, who was a few-nights stand somewhere along the caravan’s trade route. (According to Rhela, he had beautiful eyes.)Since she and her mother always traveled with the caravan, she spent most of her childhood on the road, only staying in one place for a month or two at most. The traders and other guards were like a family to each other, and Tahla was no exception. Her mother taught her the basics of archery, and others in the caravan taught her bits and pieces of both tradecraft and fieldcraft. As Tahla grew, she became a jack-of-all-trades, knowing a great deal but with no mastery of any one thing. She stayed with the caravan when she came of age, seeing no reason to change her life when what she was doing worked so well. The caravan’s owners were only too happy to offer her a contract of her own.When the Garleans began to threaten Eorzea, it didn’t affect Tahla’s life very much at first; all that really happened was that the caravan route shifted a bit. It wasn’t until they failed to make the usual annual trip to Ala Mhigo that Tahla truly understood the magnitude of what was happening. Places they’d visited regularly for years fell off their itinerary, and the red moon grew larger and larger in the sky.At last, the owners of the Farfeather Concern decided that trade had become too risky and recalled the entire caravan to Ul'dah, with plans to remain until hostilities died down. Compared to the freedom of the open road, the city felt claustrophobic, especially without a specific departure date. The caravan guards were pressed into Ul'dah’s service as the Garleans redoubled their efforts and Dalamud came ever closer. Tahla was assigned to back up the Brass Blades in maintaining order within the city walls.Rhela and the other veteran guards went to Carteneau and did not return.After the Calamity, Tahla renounced her long-held honoring of Menphina. The goddess of the moon could no longer be trusted, not when Dalamud had come crashing down on them. Instead, Tahla pledged herself to Oschon and left Ul'dah, wandering Eorzea in the Calamity’s aftermath. The Farfeather Concern was in shambles, and with her mother and many others dead or missing, Tahla saw no reason to remain. For five years she followed Oschon’s calling, helping with rebuilding efforts where she could and trying to put together a life of her own now that she could no longer follow a familiar path. At last, Tahla decided to formally enter the Archer’s Guild and hone her abilities, honoring both her mother and her heritage as a Keeper of the Moon. She headed for Gridania on a chocobo-drawn wagon, never dreaming that she was about to begin the greatest adventure of her life.
« ancient history »
[shadowbringers spoilers]In the long-ago days of Amaurot, Tahla and Em knew each other well, and eventually became lovers. Em served on the Convocation of Fourteen as Azem, the Traveler, with her ancient name being Melete.Tahla did not hold such an illustrious role, but was one of Azem's stars, always at the Traveler's side.Tahla's ancient name was Thaleia, sometimes referred to as the Storyteller. Thaleia accompanied Azem on her journeys and went to great pains to chronicle what they encountered and observed together.While Thaleia was not a member of the Convocation, she nevertheless had a memory crystal made for her by Emet-Selch, etched with the constellation Lyra.
distant threnody
« basic details »
age: nineteen summers
gender: cis woman (she/her)
sexuality: bisexual
relationship status: single
occupation: revolutionary
race: ala mhigan hellsguard roegadyn
epithet: blade of rhalgr