« character profiles »
tahla amariyo
« basic details »
age: forty-one 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
« often found »
Ala Mhigo
Rhalgr's Reach
visiting Little Ala Mhigo
« quote »
"I'll make 'em all pay for what they've done to me and mine!"
« personality »
determined, wily, loyal
short-tempered, brash, distrusting
A displaced daughter of Ala Mhigo, Distant Threnody (Thren) was brought up a refugee on the edge of poverty. Thren doesn't trust easily; she is always looking for the 'catch' whenever anything good happens or is offered to her. Her reaction to most threats is to fight, physically if possible, but with words if no other avenue is available. Thren has a great deal of pride in her people, and a keen sense of the injustice dealt to them. The chip on her shoulder is more like a mountain.
« motifs »
lightning, scarlet, clashing arms, the greatsword
« scents »
ozone, smoke, jasmine, musk
« ooc »
ultros server; drk
« history »
Thren's mother (Blazing Dawn) and father (Steadfast Peak) were Ala Mhigan. After the city-state fell, both of them discarded their former lives and devoted themselves to the Resistance, where they met each other. Over the course of several years, they fell in love. After a failed mission that put Steadfast Peak in the infirmary for two months, Blazing Dawn realized she was pregnant.This revelation changed everything. The life of the Resistance was no place for an infant, and the pair decided to withdraw from active duty for the time being. With the help of the Resistance, they made their way through the construction that would later be Baelsar's Wall and into first Gridania, then Ul'dah and Little Ala Mhigo.Their daughter was born in Little Ala Mhigo, and named Distant Threnody - a song of mourning for their far-off home. When Thren was two, Steadfast Peak rejoined the Resistance, though he returned to visit twice each year (at great personal risk). Blazing Dawn stayed with Thren.The Hellsguard grew up with the other younglings of Little Ala Mhigo, a rough-and-tumble group that learned early what outsiders thought of them - ruffians, lazy, good-for-nothing. Thren became suspicious, guarded, and increasingly bitter about her lot in life, though she never blamed her parents or the other Ala Mhigans. The blame instead landed squarely on the Ul'dahns and others who found the refugees easy targets for their cruelty.When Thren was six, her mother became pregnant again after one of Steadfast Peak's visits. Thren looked forward to the birth of her new sibling, but the gods were once again cruel - the child was positioned badly in the womb, and the ensuing labor was excruciating. When the baby was at last born, her skin was blue from oxygen deprivation, but she was alive - barely.Blazing Dawn died shortly after, but not before telling Thren that she was dearly loved, and to take care of her sister.Thus, Thren grew up tending to her sister, Gentle Sunrise - not alone, of course. The community rallied around the girls. Thren was fiercely protective of Gentle Sunrise, especially once it became apparent that the deprivation suffered during her birth had permanently left Gentle Sunrise with the mental ability of a young child. Still, Gentle Sunrise was happy, and Thren was her constant companion.Steadfast Peak visited as often as he could, despite the risk. He stopped visiting when Thren was 16, and Thren is unsure as to what became of him.Thren left Little Ala Mhigo at the age of 17, taking with her a simple blade, determined to wrest a better life for her and Gentle Sunrise out of Ul'dah's hands by any means necessary.
orbei dalamiq
« basic details »
age: twenty-four summers
gender: cis woman (she/her)
sexuality: lesbian
relationship status: taken
occupation: researcher
race: steppe-born xaela
epithet: seeker of the lost
« often found »
the Burn
Azys Lla
Limsa Lominsa
« quote »
"Your presence disturbs my work. Shoo, pigeon."
« personality »
focused, intelligent, ambitious
calculating, aloof, dismissive
Orbei's singular purpose in life is to seek out as much knowledge as possible about the Allagan civilization. Her tribe had venerated the lesser moon, Dalamud, for generations, and the discovery that the subject of their worship had been artificial didn't destroy Orbei's worldview - it expanded it. If mere mortals could create something worthy of such adulation, what else might be possible?
« motifs »
allagan nodes, crumbling ruins, brown birds, red moons
« scents »
dried grasses, stale air, salt breezes, steppe spices
« ooc »
zalera server; whm › ast
aulie evergleam
« basic details »
age: twenty-six summers
gender: cis woman (she/her)
sexuality: lesbian
relationship status: taken
occupation: arcanist of mealvaan's gate
race: gelmorran duskwight elezen
epithet: evergleam
