#about ( leonnaux altoix )

[hellsbovnd-archive]

#25: TRUST

focus: Leonnaux Altoix wc: 125

[ PDF MIRROR ]

@ebonguardls

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Leonnaux turned over his mask in his hands. It was comprised of two interlocking black metal plates that together formed a visage somewhat resembling a crow--appropriate, given his chosen namesake. But how long could he continue to wear the mask? Edda often made the point that for all intents and purposes, Leonnaux had become everything that Crow was created to personify: wealth, success, and a certain either endearing or grating brand of theatrics.

In this line of work, it was rare to trust others with a true name, let alone a true face; as the messenger ‘Leonnaux,’ he’d already given the Ebonguard both. Crow was somewhat of a mystery by comparison--a convenient mystery that Leonnaux had no intention of dispelling on his own.

[ebonguard]

THE CLOAK & DAGGER IS HIRING!

Established in 2018, The Cloak & Dagger is an immersive RP venue. It is a high-class speakeasy located in the Goblet with ties to the criminal underworld. 

[ For more information about The Cloak & Dagger, please visit our Carrd! ]

We’re seeking the following STAFF POSITIONS:

Waitstaff & Bartenders: to serve the speakeasy's guests! Both in regards to drinks and food but also offering criminal RP (information brokering, assassination services, illicit substances, etc) to patrons who are looking for that.

Security: to protect the speakeasy's interests and IC enforce the sanctuary/neutral ground policy. (Interacting with patrons though, is also 100% encouraged!)

Greeter (Host/Bouncer): to welcome guests and get them settled in, see if they're here for the underground aspect of The Cloak & Dagger or if they just wanna vibe, and who can maybe mush patrons together if there's a lot of folks sitting in booths alone.

Other: We’d love to see The Cloak & Dagger continually improve as an immersive and interactive venue, so if there's anything folks would like to have their characters do on staff then they're more than welcome to pitch an idea!

Additionally, we're looking for the following NON-STAFF CONTACTS:

Suppliers:  Distillers, vintners, brewers, and other such suppliers of the stuff that The Cloak & Dagger stocks, be it fine wine or bathtub moonshine guaranteed to knock your socks off since 1535. The Cloak & Dagger is also open to offering things other than drinks, such as cigars, alchemical drugs, etc. (Limit 2 items per supplier, with IC contact info listed with the item on the menu.)

Contacts: Folks whose business cards are kept behind the counter for distribution who might be able to help patrons in ways that The Cloak & Dagger alone can't, such as folks who do supply hard drugs like somnus, hitmen looking for work, and independent investigators (info brokers/spies). Think of The Cloak & Dagger like the fake fantasy Dark Web!

Entertainers: The Cloak & Dagger has a stage that is open for use during all our event nights, and we’d love to see it put to use from time to time, especially for less common types of performances such as magic shows, comedy sets, etc.

INTERESTED?

Glad to hear it! 

The only requirement to staff The Cloak & Dagger is to join Ebonguard, as staff coordination generally makes use of the CWLS (and it is, after all, a venue tied to the network). 

Ebonguard is a CWLS/Discord community rather than an FC, so a) if you’re happy in your FC, you can keep it! b) if you’re cross-world, that’s no problem! and c) we are understanding that players, including venue staff, are likely to have obligations to other groups, and so strive to be as flexible as possible.

EBONGUARD INFORMATION: http://ebonguardls.carrd.co/ PLAYER CONTACT: Leonnaux Altoix @ Balmung / professional jelly slapper#5086 on Discord

... And if you have any questions about The Cloak & Dagger or the Ebonguard community, feel free to send us a message!

tagging for visibility: @crystalxivrp @balmungrp 

[hellsbovnd]

what it’s like to pretend.

wc: 3483 focus: leonnaux altoix cw: alcohol / smoking, missing persons a/n: i may have fallen off the ffxivwrite train, but i managed this rewrite that i started in august for a prompt challenge of my own creation that i also didn’t manage to keep up with :D

the original version is over here, but i never finished the series it was supposed to kick off despite having an outline. this time around i will though, albeit slowly.

this takes place broadly in the recent past, so prior to any current rp i’m doing on leon. he may reference this stuff from time to time, but it’s not important to understanding him as a character.

tumblr ate my formatting and i’m not gonna fuck with it, so if you wanna see where i’d put italics then check out the mirror.

[ GDOCS MIRROR ]

“Divinity is the color of gold” always did seem a rather appropriate motto for a city practically bathed in it:

Perhaps in some respects it was more apparent at night than during the day; the golden street-lamps illuminating the streets, individual grains of sand embedded in the stone glittering softly in the low light. Silver stars glittered above, pock-marking the black tapestry of the sky that dearly cradled the lonely moon, a sad crescent hanging above the city as Menphina’s eyes closed over Eorzea for a time. Even the Goddess of Love needed her rest; in her absence, the patrons of the city would keep their watch.

It was at night that the mark of the intertwined nature of the Traders always did become more apparent—blood for coin and coin for blood. You can’t buy your way into the Heavens, but if you’re the sort of person who works in the shadows, then maybe someone’d be willing to pay good money to send you to Hell. Likewise, violence and work in the shadows was not an uncommon thing for the have-nots of the city to resort to.

It was those such souls that were attracted to this kind of place, if the word on the street was right. A guttering street-lamp illuminated a sign made of sun-washed wood, but the lettering had been painted in white and now was almost completely illegible against the light backdrop after what were likely years of wear and tear.

It hardly mattered, at any rate. Leonnaux didn’t need to know the name of the place to know that this was where he needed to be. It wasn’t often that he got tips (anonymous or otherwise) ever since leaving the Mythril Eye—what would he even do with them?—and with it, his journalism career. But in exchange he’d taken up the kind of business where favors are an appropriate form of payment, and a raggedy Seeker who he’d directed to a reliable fence pointed him in the direction.

“You can’t miss it,” he had said as he passed Leonnaux the address: scribbled chicken-scratch on a torn-off corner of sun-yellowed parchment.

And well, Leonnaux wasn’t sure about that part; the place was a regular old (literal) hole in the wall, but maybe it stood out more to the kinds of people who frequented Ul’dah’s red-light district. The door to the establishment itself was set into an alcove just below street-level; a set of sandstone steps led down to it, illuminated by sets of beeswax candles protected by sand-blasted stained glass set into the walls.

Supposedly, work waited for him on the other side: the kind of work that a man had apparently been willing to put moons' worth of gil forward for in order to see done.

There were only ever two kinds of men who would put that kind of money forward for a job: desperate ones, and ones who needed a problem to disappear.

That dichotomy was dangerous; it didn't take a seasoned professional to point it out, and it didn't take a genius to know that you ought to tread carefully in Ul'dah's underground no matter who you were. Doubly so if you were coming to a place like this as a man with “something to lose,” be it gil, a good name, or your life.

Of course, Leonnaux classified himself as a man with “something to lose,” so he had to make “Leonnaux” disappear.

To that end, he donned layer after near-invisible layer until a new character appeared. With the help of some temporary extensions, his glossy, black hair had been pulled on one side into a pair of messy braids and bound with ties that were decorated with a pair of a iridescent magpie feathers.  Contouring makeup did wonders to smooth down the sharper angles and stronger lines of his face that he normally attempted to accentuate. Plum-colored lipstick was paired with intense, dark lines of kohl to frame his eyes. His preferred fineries were shed in favor of a black sleeveless coat and some metal-plated leather armguards...

And suddenly, his face was not his own anymore, but the face of someone completely different. He dubbed this character “Renee,” a brume-born Ishgardian who headed to the southern reaches of Eorzea to carve a new path for herself as a bounty hunter.

It was “Renee,” then, who stepped into the bar instead of “Leonnaux.”

The air in the bar hung heavy with the smell of lit cigarettes, and unlike The Cloak & Dagger, they didn't even try to cover it up or make it more tolerable by lighting incense or opening a damn window. Tendrils of smoke rose and twisted in the air, forming abstract patterns as Leonnaux slipped past the tables that were lined to the brim with faces both friendly and unfriendly. Crooked Blades still donned their uniforms as they laughed alongside the kinds of men and women who looked like they would put your eye out. A small gang of tribeless Seeker ladies well-known among the streetwalkers at racketeers who would just as quickly jump to your defense as they would break your fingers for paying a bell late. Out of the corner of his eye, Leonnaux even thought he spied—could it be?—the woman who'd sat at the helm of a notorious smuggling operation. Emphasis, of course, on the past-tense: after she'd been busted by the Blades, supposedly she'd been scared straight and had taken up work as a mole for the Blades... The ones who were actually interested in their jobs, at any rate.

‘That mangy old Miqo'te was right; this place certainly does attract all sorts,’ Leonnaux thought, chewing lightly on the inside of his cheek. He took a breath as he continued his confident stride up to the bar.

The bartender on staff was an Elezen a few ilms taller than Leonnaux himself, and although he was dressed in a waistcoat with rolled up sleeves, it was apparent that he was not the kind of man that one might usually classify as fancy. The first hint was, well, working in a place like this. The cracked-leather cushions lining the wooden booths spoke of years-gone glory-days, but it in an industry where location was everything, you couldn't rightfully run a halfway respectable establishment out of Ul'dah's red light district. The bartender was even aware of that, and made no effort to keep up pretenses of this being anything other than a dive:

He was more than rough around the edges, he was sharp: the smile he flashed Leonnaux as he hauled himself up onto one of the barstools was performative at best and poisonous at worst. Rather than standing straight, the man stood crooked and slouched even while he was supporting his own weight. The clothes he wore weren’t a dead giveaway in and of themselves (they were worn, but they weren’t ragged), but the way that he wore them certainly was: hastily-rolled sleeves to reveal his forearms, which were scarred not through battle but through extensive tattoo work. The designs revealed themselves as raised scars on his skin accentuated with white ink against his ochre skin: a painful process to be sure, though the irregular scars that marred the intricate designs bespoke of the art being applied not out of a desire to decorate the temple of his body but out of a desire to hide old wounds.

This man was definitely the sort of man who was a square peg that the boss of the establishment was trying at some point to force into a round hole, and he was not only Leonnaux's bartender for the evening—

He was Leonnaux’s would-be client, if his intel was correct.

As the bartender's gaze fell upon him, he was suddenly quite grateful to have thought ahead.

“Evening,” he said, tossing the stained rag that he was using to clean glasses over his shoulder. “What can I get for you?”

‘A warmer welcome,’ Leonnaux thought.

“Sazerac,” he answered instead, tapping one manicured nail on the surface of the counter. The voice that he answered with was not his own, but the voice of a woman: about half an octave higher than his normal speaking voice, smoothed-over with a spoonful of honey and sugared words despite the sultry timbre. “On the rocks.”

Wordlessly, the bartender set about making the cocktail. There was hardly any showmanship involved in it at all—a far style from Leonnaux's own style behind the bar, which called just as much for keeping the patrons entertained as it did getting drinks made in a timely manner. One glance at the labels on the bottles behind the counter told him that the ingredients here were subpar—catered towards people who were more concerned about getting nice and drunk than people who wanted a high-class experience. He tried not to watch the bartender too closely as he muddled the sugar, the water, the bitters. The cognac, then whiskey—stirred, not shaken... The bartender slid the cocktail over to Leonnaux after a lemon peel was lazily tossed into the glass.

Leonnaux caught the man's wrist as he made to pull his hand away. While the bartender’s attention had visibly started to wander off—specifically, to the Miqo’te at the end of the bar who was already six shots in an probably didn’t need another, given that he was already practically face-down on the lacquered wood—the touch pulled him back, his pale gaze sharp as it fell back upon Leonnaux.

“I didn’t say I was done, did I?” he asked, resting his head in his free hand. The bartender tried to pull his wrist away, but Leonnaux’s grip only tightened as he leaned in—“I heard you had a job for me.”

That caught the bartender’s attention. He visibly froze, eyes going wide. “You actually saw the listing?”

“No, but a friend of mine did.” Leonnaux let the poor man’s wrist go now that he was on the hook. “Forwarded it to me, thought it was more in my wheelhouse. The money you put down ain’t the sort of money that most people just have laying around—or the kind of money that folks would put down on just anyone.”

In the statement, an unspoken question: so who is she?

The bartender hesitated, and Leonnaux took the moment to look him over. There were the scarified tattoos on his arms that stood out, of course—they were unique enough around here that if this man were some kind of big wig in the underworld, Leonnaux would have definitely heard about it from those alone. He hadn’t, though, so that was a good sign. The bright-red hair atop his head was shaved short on the sides but he was obviously overdue for a trip to the barber; the fuzz that normally would have sat over his ears had grown out into tight coils again already. The top portion was styled into box braids and left to hang off over to one side, held together with small golden clips.

They were, much like the man’s dry-cleaning, obviously self-done; most men who had the kind of money that had been put down on the listing in question wouldn’t be doing their own dry cleaning or hair styling unless they had something to hide or the job in question was really and truly important (that was his personal belief, at any rate).

“… I don’t know who you are,” the bartender started, leaning in until Leonnaux could smell the cheap tobacco-scented cologne that clung to his neck and lowering his voice until it was little more than a deadly whisper. “But if you’re really interested in the job, it’s gonna have to wait until after my shift, alright, can you do that? I’m only on the hook for another half-bell if the graveyard shift isn’t late again, and then we can talk out back.”

“Call me Renee,” he replied, a smile pulling at the corner of his painted lips. He brought his cocktail glass up to his lips to pause, glittering green eyes crinkled at the corners as he continued, “And I can wait as long as you like if you can keep the cocktails coming. It’s been a while since I’ve had a halfway decent sazerac.”

A lie,

But a necessary one.

---------

The graveyard shift was indeed late, and Leonnaux ended up waiting for half a bell longer than intended, but he wasn’t pressed for time. He’d dedicated his evening to pulling at this thread, and while he hated to have his time wasted, this was a circumstance far outside of the poor bartender’s control. When the man tasked with working the last shift of the bar—a sour-looking Hyur with unreadable, dark eyes and even more ragged clothes than Leonnaux’s dear client—finally showed his face, he reeked of stale fogweed and alcohol. It said all that really needed to be said about the circumstances behind his late arrival, so in the end Leonnaux couldn’t begrudge anyone for the stuation.

No later than they’d stepped out through the back door of the bar into a dark alley did the bartender light a cigarette. “Finally.”

“They don’t let you smoke on shift?”

“Oh, they do. But I’ve been putting almost everything on that listing.” The bartender gestured loosely, uselessly with the cigarette. “And if I’m gonna have a smoke, I’m gonna enjoy it instead of having to deal with customers every fifteen seconds who go through whiskey like it’s swivin’ water.”

Leonnaux raised a brow. “If they drink that much that often it’s a wonder they’re still alive.”

“I’m convinced the only reason they haven’t kicked it is because raw tenacity is keeping their organs from shutting down.”

Ah, so it was that kind of bar. Leonnaux nodded slowly, then punctuated his understanding with an indifferent shrug. “It is what it is. Anyroad, Mr. Alasdair if I’m not mistaken…”

“Laraunt,” the bartender corrected, exhaling a plume of thick gray smoke into the night. “No one calls me ‘mister’ anything.”

“Laraunt,” Leonnaux corrected in turn, before continuing, pulling out a folded piece of parchment and gesturing toward him with it. “Your little listing sounded a little more like a bounty, so before I sign on officially, I’m going to need to know who she is.”

He unfolded the parchment slowly before holding it out to Laraunt, though they both knew it was unnecessary.

Laraunt looked over the parchment for a moment before letting out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Bounty’s the only way they’d let me post it, is all,” he replied, his voice little more than a rumble in the back of his throat. “She’s no one. No one dangerous, at any rate. Just a lost soul who needs… A little help to find her way home.”

A missing person case.

Leonnaux schooled his features into a mask of neutrality, reminding himself: “You are Renee.” Cold, professional, perhaps a bit cutting at times; certainly not the sort of woman who would arch a brow at finding someone who needed to be found, least of all someone matching the description on the parchment—

An Elezen of Duskwight descent, standing six fulms and four ilms tall. Dark skin with warm gray undertones. Ruddy-brown hair styled in box braids that reach midway down her back. Last seen wearing a dirty, orange silk tunic and white sarouel. Distinguishing marks include scarified and white-ink tattoos on her back and right leg, forming ivy-like designs. Known to associate with streetwalkers who frequented the area near the Platinum Mirage and persons suspected of association with the Nald’s Scorn street gang. Noted to be a heavy smoker.

After all, the woman described was the perfect target if you wanted to make someone disappear for the hell of it; the sort of woman who didn’t seem like she’d have anyone who would miss her, and if she did, she wasn’t well-known enough for anyone who might have known what happened to her to care. The fact that the listing existed in the first place was evidence enough that the Brass Blades either didn’t care or had already given up, but one further question couldn’t help but gnaw at the back of Leonnaux’s mind…

A question that maybe his character at the moment wouldn’t care about, but he could not in good conscience let go unanswered.

“And why do you want to bring her home?”

“What kind of question is that?!” Laraunt bit back, his lips pulling back in a sneer. “Do you think this is a game, missy? Do you want the job—”

“Call me missy again and I’ll break your fingers.” Leonnaux cut him off with a venomous smile. “Job that pays as good as this one; hells yeah, I’d take it in a heartbeat. But I’m not stupid enough to think that these sorts of listings are never used to find someone who might not want to be found, and if she disappeared of her own free will then it’s not my place to go looking for her. And it’s not yours, either.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, pausing just long enough to take a deep breath of the smoke-choked night air. It was enough to regain his composure, though Laraunt regarded him with a stunned silence, cigarette hanging from his parted lips.

Shite. Leonnaux’s shoulders fell as he finally, finally exhaled. “Look. How long have you been living here? You ought to know that sometimes, people gotta disappear to get out of bad situations. And when they do, well, it wouldn’t be the first listing I’ve ever seen putting up ridiculous coin to find a ‘nobody’ just to drag them right back into what they were trying to escape. So you’re going to answer all of my questions. Completely.”

Laraunt remained in his stunned silence for a moment more before letting out a sigh of his own. “Yeah, yeah, I guess I can’t argue with that. Fine. So. Ceilenne —the woman the listing’s for is my sister, first of all. I’d hope from that it’d be evident why I want her found.”

“Good. Keep going. Gimmie your whole sob story, and then I’ll decide.”

“We came to this city together as kids, trying to find our way. It… Didn’t exactly work out like we hoped, hence why I’m still fucking here, but that’s beside the point. At any rate, she… Fell in with the wrong crowd. It’s my fault, really, but while I managed to quit while I was ahead, she didn’t get so lucky. She’s got a soft heart, so the friends she made weren’t easy for her to abandon.”

“Any chances she’s staying with a friend?”

“I checked with them first, as it so happens. Checked the brothels and dens they work at too; nothing. All they could give me was this.” With some reluctance, he fished a small phial out of his waistcoat’s pocket and offered it to Leonnaux.

It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was faceted rather than round, resulting in a hexagonal shape. A shimmering translucent liquid that matched the desert sunset filled it about halfway. Leonnaux took it and turned it over in his hand. If he had to guess without opening it based on the way it left a film on the inside of the glass, he would say it was about the consistency of olive oil.

“And what is ‘this,’ exactly?”

“A drug. They called it Vesper, said that Ceilenne had started using it, but—something’s just not right. She used moko, sure, and sometimes spores when she could get her hands on ‘em but nothing harder, nothing like this.” Laraunt looked away then, pressing his lips into a thin line. “Look, I understand if you think this is all a crock of steaming-hot shite, but how about this: I can put a deposit up front, okay? And if you find her, and it turns out she doesn’t want to be found, then you can just tell me that. I just need to know she’s okay out there.”

Insurance. Well…

“… Alright, I’ll take the job. How much can you offer for the deposit?”

“Five percent.”

“Five percent?!”

“L-look, the firm I went through holds the funds for the reward in escrow until the job’s done or the listing’s pulled. It’s not liquid money I keep on me, and I need something for rent. Come on, mi—Renee, cut me some slack here.”

“… Fine. I’ll take five percent, and your insurance. And if she doesn’t want to be found, I still expect that reward for the work.”

The bartender’s eyes lit up at that, and he nodded. “Althyk—I mean, yeah, that’s perfect, that sounds good.”

They sealed the deal with a handshake, and then Leonnaux was off into the night.

[corvvii]

LFRP: LEONNAUX ALTOIX

For all practical purposes a ghost, this Elezen only appears on public records as far back as three summers ago. It’s likely, then, that he’s chosen to live under an assumed name. He tends to use his appearance to his advantage, passing himself off as a Wildwood whenever it suits his interests—which, given the discrimination that Duskwights face, is more often than not.

He first stepped into the public’s eye as an academic—and, unbeknownst to all but those closest to him, the proprietor of The Cloak & Dagger (under the alias “Crow”). He is passionate about magicks, especially arcanima, and has a demonstrated talent for alchemy, both beyond what one may expect of a man who’s only twenty and one summers old.

In Character———

Profession(s): Academic — Director of Alizarine Research & Reclamation ( @alizarinefc ). Information Broker — Proprietor of The Cloak & Dagger, and current self-proclaimed leader of the Ebonguard ( @ebonguardls ).

Alignment: Generally neutral. Loyal to the Eorzean alliance, but not the msot law-abiding citizen. Has a misdemeanor charge on record (disturbing the peace) in Ul’dah.

Professional Talents: Magic — Arcanima. Alchemy. Warding and minor enchantment. Bartending/mixology.

Current Residence: The Goblet, Sultana’s Breath.

Likely Haunts: Ul’dah and Thanalan, primarily. Bookstores. Antique Shops. Magic Shops. Bars and Taverns. Gambling Establishments.

Hobbies: Gambling, primarily poker and other card games. Magic tricks, primarily sleight of hand. Reading, especially academic texts but also including poetry. He will die before he admits he’s tried writing some of his own. He has a general interest in music and fashion as well.

Abbreviated Bio: Leonnaux is a Shroud-born Duskwight. He is obsessively studious and somewhat selfish in nature, though simultaneously surprisingly laid-back. Those who can make it past his strictly-business demeanor might note a heart of gold, despite the kind of work he’s often involved in via The Cloak & Dagger.

Having run away from home and come to Ul’dah, he quickly had to find a way to make money, which led him to dip his toes into the criminal underworld... and after he took the plunge, he never looked back. He took advantage of his new-found freedom (both in person and, to an extent, in finances) to continue his studies into the flow of aether and alchemy.

Full Profile Here.

Out of Character———

I’m Mid and I use they/them pronouns! My personal blog is @penvmbral. I’m a college student who bounces between Central Time and Eastern Time. I’m generally most active during NA Evenings and Late Nights.

I play on Balmung, but I’m also experienced in Tumblr RP and am more than willing to do threads here! Discord RP probably won’t happen though because my DMs get buried super easily and I’m very easily-distracted with things like Discord. I’m 100% open to connections on other Crystal worlds as well!

Leonnaux is my main character, but I’ve generally been too busy to do much RP outside of my immediate circles unfortunately. I do want to change that, but I will admit to being a little picky!

First: I am a lore-strict RPer. I don’t mind bending the lore a bit if it means telling a better story or if the effect is mostly for flavor, but I take the integrity of the setting very seriously. I also tend play on the lower end of the power spectrum, so I’m not really interested in characters who spend their weekends hunting Ifrit in the Bowl of Embers.

Second: I value OOC communication above all else. If you are unable or unwilling to use OOC channels to the necessary extent to avoid potential issues regarding touchy material in RP and the like then I’m not interested.

I’m also not looking for shipping/relationship RP (Leon is taken and very monogamous) or ERP, but those are kind of givens.

Beyond that, I’m open to anything, but in particular I am looking for:

Casual acquaintances and friends!

Business contacts!

Long-term plot-focused RP connections!

Discord and Linkshell communities! (Note: I’m also willing to come hang out with FCs if they have an open Discord, but I lead my own and am not interested in joining another, sorry!)

Detailed RP Hooks Under the Cut.

Thanks for reading! I will likely be watching the notes of this post and reaching out to people myself from time to time, but by all means feel free to send me a message here on Tumblr. I generally respond within the day. My Discord is available upon request!

Tagging for Visibility: @balmungrp, @ffxiv-balmung-rp, @ffxiv-crystal-rp, @crystalxivrp, @mooglemeet

Hooks———

1. The Academic/Scholarly Community.

While the majority of Leonnaux’s career has been spent in seclusion, teaching himself the skills he’s learned, he eventually came out of his shell. Having gained some experience in a position of leadership, he is now more confident in his abilities as a scholar and as a mage. He’s always looking to expand his horizons, and has an extensive personal collection (although it’s doubtful that he’s read every book cover-to-cover). 

He also has a passing interest in alchemy, although he’s less skilled with it than he is with magic. He understands and can clearly explain most of the basic principles of Eorzean alchemy (at least the sort they teach in Ul'dah), but the most complex principles or foreign variants of the art are utterly lost on him… Not that he wouldn’t love to learn. Despite his talent for alchemy, he also doesn’t have the time or knowledge to go out and collect his own reagents and materials, so he relies heavily on outside help, be they merchants in Ul’dah or independent suppliers.

He is also the director of Alizarine Research & Reclamation, a company focused on such academic pursuits as well as the study and acquisition of artifacts, regardless of whether their significance lays in their history or their properties.

2. The Criminal Element

For a long time, Leonnaux’s primary source of income was selling information and watching the rumor mill turn. He’s always had somewhat of a disdain for law and authority, viewing such things necessary only insofar as they serve his ends. He sold secrets and whispers under the guise of a somewhat ostentatious man known as “Crow,” using his “messenger” (really a cover to ensure that he was taken seriously in his work, and to protect his identity/safety if things went awry) as an intermediary between himself and business contacts as a means of protecting his identity due to the nature of his work. More recently, he has taken to thievery if the price is right. 

“Crow” is also known to be the leader of a loose criminal network that he calls “the Ebonguard” and is the proprietor of an establishment known as The Cloak & Dagger, a restaurant meant to be a sort of ‘neutral ground’ for criminals and n’er-do-wells to do business and have a good bite to eat. 

Leonnaux is known to gamble his money in seedy places. More than happy to sit for a game of cards or a cigarette, one might notice that he can get an uncanny winning streak going under the right conditions. The keenest might be able to connect the dots to the pronounced talent for sleight of hand and other magic tricks that he seems to possess.

3. Contract Work.

Leonnaux is more than willing to take contract work, although he has his boundaries. This is in its own heading because he’s willing to take work to research things or track down artifacts as he is to sell information or organize heists to steal valuables. His only hard line is that he won’t kill on contract and he will not aid in any plot involving human trafficking.

Note though that Leonnaux is comfortable enough financially that he may not take every job that’s pitched to him. High risk jobs that offer little reward are likely to be declined, but if the pot is sweet enough then he can be convinced to do anything that doesn’t cross one of his hard lines.

(Note that RPing contracts in the east will be difficult, as I don’t generally play with IC teleportation due to playing on the lower end of the power spectrum.)

[hellsbovnd-archive]

#2: BARGAIN

focus: Leonnaux Altoix wc: 452

An offer you can’t refuse.

[ PDF MIRROR ]

@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast @ebonguardls 

“Your own fault. You'll get worse than this and you deserve it.” 

Leonnaux’s fingertips came down in a steady rhythm on the surface of his desk, his chin propped up in one hand. Smoke rose from the cigarette burning in his ashtray like incense, twisting itself into unnatural formations in time with the rhythm—and stopping, abruptly when his index finger snapped down on the surface of the desk and the tapping ceased.

He blew a sharp sigh out of his nose, furrowing his brow. That Elezen’s words echoed in his head, a reminder of his mistake and this newly-unfolding mess. A game gone wrong, a bet lost by default—and now he was the one with a debt to pay. Which, in a place like The Cloak & Dagger didn’t always mean money. As was the case here. They’d played for secrets and for favors, and well—Leonnaux wasn’t keen on pissing off a man with a gun twice…

One week. That was how long he had to get his shit sorted out, meet again with that man—see what he wanted in exchange for his victory. Hopefully it was something other than a bullet in Leonnaux’s head. But—he hadn’t said to come alone, maybe he could—

No, those sorts of games—what they said or did not say prior to the game—were what got Leonnaux into this mess to begin with. And given the circumstances, coming alone was almost certainly meant to be implied. He couldn’t in good faith hide this ordeal from Edda. So then the question became what to do if she insisted anyway, which Leonnaux supposed was a possibility… A possibility, granted, that he was not entirely closed to. She was as well-versed in these sorts of transactions as he was if not moreso, and her expertise—and self-defense skills—would certainly be welcome. Leonnaux couldn’t help but curse his specialization in illusions—if the Elezen had been able to see through his trick with the magic ink used in the creation of his cards, then there was little doubt that he would be able to see right through the illusions he could weave.

“Shite.” The word came out as a hiss and he reclined in his seat, pinching the bridge of his nose. “What have I done…”

‘Something stupid.’ He knew well enough that that was the answer.

But at least he wasn’t completely boxed in… … …

Leonnaux pushed himself to his feet and traced a slow, short path to the guard rails that marked the edge of the platform his—Crow’s—office was set up in. And he brought up a hand to turn on his linkpearl.

“Ebonguard, I need a favor.”

[hellsbovnd-archive]

#28 ATTUNE

focus: Leonnaux Altoix wc: 386

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Leonnaux hated teleportation. Always had, and swore to the Twelve above that he always would. It made him feel ill, like he was coming apart at the seams, and even when he was travelling over only short distances he was struck by a wave of nausea and usually had to take it easy for a day or so afterwards. Everyone he confided in about it thought it odd, and maybe it was—Leonnaux was a mage of some skill, after all, and he’d been manipulating aether and weaving magic since he was barely a teenager. They said it was all in his head, and maybe it was, so wherever he went he made sure to attune to the aetherytes anyway just in case he had some grand epiphany that made the prospect of teleportation more palatable.

An epiphany that, of course, never came, but regardless of his own apprehensions or perhaps just plain lack of skill with regards to the magicks, it crossed his mind a few times to use it to take trips back home. Mostly in the first weeks and moons after leaving in the first place when he still wanted to understand the why of his mother’s behavior and his brother’s betrayal. Now, he didn’t care much. He had a few things on his mind that he expressed to himself in writing that he’d like to say to them, or maybe ask them now that he was an adult and had forged his own path far from the Twelveswood’s boughs.

Laying in bed sometimes, it was difficult not to think—a few minutes of concentration and an incantation later, and he could be standing in Gridania’s aetheryte plaza. He could be back in the Shroud in a blink of an eye, he could confront his family having forged his own path and with his accomplishments in the years since he left home speaking for themselves. He kept some vague tabs on how they were using his connections as Crow; his brother found his way by enlisting with the Adders and his mother was still making soap and potpourri.

It would be so easy.

But despite the faintest pull of Gridania’s aetheryte every time he had to teleport, he couldn’t bring himself to go.

He figured that he would know when it was time.

[hellsbovnd-archive]

#24: UNCTUOUS

focus: Leonnaux Altoix wc: 100

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@ebonguardls

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He seemed rather helpful... But that man—more a boy—looked like he was probably covered in a layer of grease so thick that all water would bounce off of him. When was the last time he bathed? And more importantly, why did he think it was acceptable to walk into The Cloak & Dagger without doing so much as showering? I’ll gladly accept any aid he sees fit to render given my current predicament, but Twelve above… I could smell the mold.

——From the journal of Leonnaux Altoix, the night after he met Abeodan at The Cloak & Dagger.

[hellsbovnd-archive]

#21: CRUNCH

focus: Leonnaux Altoix wc: 119

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During his vacation, Leonnaux had the opportunity to try a lot of things--things that he had to admit he’d never thought he’d like. He quickly found, much to his delight, that he had an appetite for seafood: fish, crab, lobster, shrimp... All freshly-caught off the coast of La Noscea.

One thing he hadn’t anticipated, though, is the idea of eating a crab with the shell intact. Soft-shell crab, it was called, and while he did like crab meat, he figured that he would stick to the hard-shelled varieties going forward. The crunch of the fried shell in his mouth was jarring, and while it tasted good, he found that the texture left a little something to be desired.

[hellsbovnd-archive]

#20: BISECT

focus: Leonnaux Altoix wc: 169

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Before him was a polished gemstone: bisected, with one half a stunning clear color with the other being off-yellow, even to the naked eye. The Duskwight frowned, narrowing his eyes and setting the stone aside. ‘Typical,’ he thought, ‘When something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.’

While diamonds were much more accessible on the black market for his means, it also so happened that there were a number of fakes running around. If one was buying for purely aesthetic reasons, maybe they wouldn’t even notice, but when used for magic, counterfeit stones had some… Stunningly obvious flaws when used as a focus. For one, aether didn’t pass through them evenly, which in this case left one half of the gemstone singed yellow. For another, they were altogether weaker than diamonds, which meant that while they were usable, he’d need far more of them than he’d gotten in the small, velvet ring bag…

He let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. Just his luck…

[hellsbovnd-archive]

LF RP — LEONNAUX ALTOIX

For all practical purposes a ghost, this Elezen only appears on public records as far back as three summers ago. It’s likely, then, that he’s chosen to live under an assumed name. He tends to use his appearance to his advantage, passing himself off as a Wildwood whenever it suits his interests—which, given the discrimination that Duskwights face, is more often than not.

He first stepped into the public��s eye as a small-time journalist—and, unbeknownst to all but those closest to him, the proprietor of The Cloak & Dagger (under the alias “Crow”). He is passionate about magicks and has a demonstrated talent for alchemy beyond what one may expect of a man who’s only twenty and one summers old. Shortly after founding The Cloak & Dagger, he retired from journalism to pursue academia full-time.

In Character

Profession(s): Academic — Director of Alizarine Research & Reclamation ( @alizarinefc ). Information Broker — Proprietor of The Cloak & Dagger, and current self-proclaimed leader of the Ebonguard ( @ebonguardls ). Formerly — Mythril Eye beat journalist.

Alignment: Generally neutral. Loyal to the Eorzean Alliance, but not particularly interested in being a law-abiding citizen.

Professional Talents: Magic — Arcanima and other rune-based arcane arts. Alchemy. Warding and minor enchantment. Illusions. Bartending/mixology.

Current Residence: The Goblet, Sultana’s Breath.

Likely Haunts: Ul’dah and Thanalan, primarily. Bookstores. Antique Shops. Magic Shops. Bars and Taverns. Gambling Establishments.

Hobbies: Gambling, primarily poker and other card games. Magic tricks, primarily sleight of hand. Reading, anything he cant get his hands on. Occasionally writes poetry. Music. Fashion.

Abbreviated Bio: Leonnaux is a Shroud-born Duskwight. He is obsessively studious and somewhat selfish in nature, though simultaneously surprisingly laid-back. Those who can make it past his strictly-business demeanor might note a heart of gold, despite the kind of work he’s often involved in via The Cloak & Dagger.

Having run away from home and come to Ul’dah, he quickly had to find a way to make money, which led him to dip his toes into the criminal underworld... and after he took the plunge, he never looked back, using his position as a journalist as leverage over his contacts. He took advantage of his new-found freedom (both in person and, to an extent, in finances) to continue his studies into the flow of aether and alchemy.

MORE INFORMATION: Full Bio | Tag

Out of Character

Hi there! I’m Mid and I use they/them pronouns! I’m generally most active during NA Evenings and Late Nights. I play on Balmung, but I'm open to RP connections from across the Crystal datacenter.

You can find detailed information about my hopes and expectations for RP on my dossier, here. The quick and dirty version:

OOC Communication > All

I am a med/heavy lore-strict RPer. I prefer medium-to-low power levels in RP and character- and plot-driven scenes. I won’t RP with any player under the age of 18 but as long as you’re not making it weird/creepy, I don’t have a problem with underage characters.

I run an FC and an LS, so I can be pretty busy OOC because I have to run a lot of stuff related to that.

I do not RP on Discord, but I have always been smitten with Tumblr RP as a longform format, so if in-game RP is impossible for some reason, I’m happy to write starters.

In terms of things I’m looking for:

Casual acquaintances and friends!

Business contacts!

Long-term plot-focused RP connections!

Recommendations for events to attend? (And company to drag me along since I hate flying solo.)

Discord and Linkshell communities! Leonnaux is a Shroud-born Duskwight, a criminal, and a mage, so any Discords and Linkshells catering to that would be great for forging connections, though I'm fairly shy. u.u

In relation to some character development, I would love to find a mentor for Leonnaux!

Detailed RP Hooks Under the Cut!

Thanks for reading! If you're interested in playing with me then please feel free to send me a message or make a note of it in the tags or comments on this post. My Discord is available for OOC arrangements and chatter upon request! If I’m slow please bear with me; I have a habit of getting absolutely swamped with stuff at more or less complete random, and my energy levels vary wildly from day to day and week to week.

RP Hooks

1. The Academic/Scholarly Community.

While the majority of Leonnaux’s academic career has been spent in seclusion, teaching himself the skills he’s learned, he eventually came out of his shell. He’s always looking to expand his horizons, and has an extensive personal collection (although it’s doubtful that he’s read every book cover-to-cover).

Leonnaux is very interested in alchemy and, as he practices a mixture of arcanima-rooted rune-based magic and component-based magic resembling alchemy, he’s always itching to learn more about other schools of thought regarding the art. He’s taken a shine to Ul’dahn alchemy since moving to Ul’dah, but he himself heavily utilizes traditionally Duskwight methods. 

Despite his talent for alchemy, he also doesn’t always have the time or knowledge to go out and collect his own reagents and materials, so he relies heavily on outside help, be they merchants in Ul’dah or independent suppliers.

He is also the director of Alizarine Research & Reclamation, a company focused on such academic pursuits as well as the study and acquisition of artifacts, regardless of whether their significance lays in their history or their properties.

2. The Criminal Element

For a long time, Leonnaux’s primary source of income was selling information. He’s always had somewhat of a disdain for law and authority, viewing such things necessary only insofar as they serve his ends. 

He sells secrets and whispers under the guise of a somewhat ostentatious man known as “Crow,” using his “messenger” (really a cover to ensure that he was taken seriously in his work, and to protect his identity/safety if things went awry) as an intermediary between himself and business contacts as a means of protecting his identity due to the nature of his work. He is also not above thievery and is knowledgeable about underground trade networks.

“Crow” is also known to be the leader of a loose criminal network that he calls “the Ebonguard” and is the proprietor of an establishment known as The Cloak & Dagger, a restaurant meant to be a sort of ‘neutral ground’ for criminals and n’er-do-wells to do business and have a good bite to eat.

Leonnaux is known to gamble his money in seedy places. More than happy to sit for a game of cards or a cigarette, one might notice that he can get an uncanny winning streak going under the right conditions. The keenest might be able to connect the dots to the pronounced talent for sleight of hand and other magic tricks that he seems to possess.

In the criminal underground as Crow, he’s earned a reputation for declining the use of force except where absolutely necessary, instead preferring to use blackmail and public humiliation as his primary source of leverage over his contacts and clients. However as he’s given up his job as a journalist, he lacks that leverage and his position is far more precarious. Past clients or contacts with an axe to grind are 100% welcome as pre-established contacts, as long as we talk about it first! 

3. Contract Work.

Leonnaux is more than willing to take contract work, although he has his boundaries. This is in its own heading because he’s willing to take work to research things or track down artifacts as he is to sell information or organize heists to steal valuables. His only hard line is that he won’t kill on contract and he will not aid in any plot involving human trafficking.

Note though that Leonnaux is comfortable enough financially that he may not take every job that’s pitched to him. High risk jobs that offer little reward are likely to be declined, but if the pot is sweet enough then he can be convinced to do anything that doesn’t cross one of his hard lines.

(Note that RPing contracts in the east will be difficult, as I don’t generally play with IC teleportation due to playing on the lower end of the power spectrum.)

4. Mentor + Apprentice

Leonnaux is primarily a self-taught mage, though recently he’s been shown that while it’s an impressive accomplishment, he’s nowhere near as skilled as his peers. His casting is sloppy and reliant upon prerequisite components, which means that he’s not great in situations where he has to improvise. In general he lacks discipline, and he can’t take a hit to save his life. He would love to get stronger, but is unsure of how to go about it.

(Note: This is an extremely long-term plot hook, so I won’t pursue it with anyone I’m not comfortable with. If you’re interested in exploring a mentor/apprentice dynamic with Leonnaux as the apprentice, then feel free to reach out to me and we’ll get talking; I’d like to get to know you via unrelated interactions and general shitposting/chatter first! Forgive me for being awkward, though, I’m very bad at keeping up with people. orz)

Leonnaux is also open to passing on his knowledge of alchemy to others, given that he practices an unusual form of it and would like to see the Duskwight practices preserved outside of Duskwight communities.

[hellsbovnd-archive]

#6: FIRST STEPS

focus: Leonnaux Altoix wc: 957

The black linkpearls are easy enough to find...

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@ebonguardls

Leonnaux threw himself back onto the bed, arms outstretched. His breath left him in a sigh, and for a moment, the young Elezen just laid there, gaze fixed on the ceiling.

He’d never get used to the heat of Thanalan, he thought; a long day out and about meant that he had to answer way too many questions about where his parents were and was only thanked for it with a film of sweat covering every part of his body. And a sunburn that he needed to make a note to find some lotion for later—or else the peeling would proverbially kill him.

He’d never get used to the heat of Thanalan, but he wasn’t keen on the idea of returning to the shade provided by the Twelveswood’s boughs. He left for a reason, he reminded himself, and if nothing else… If nothing else…

He had to stick to his principles! Yeah, that was it…

The night he left home, he’d climbed out the window of the bedroom with little bit the clothes on his back, a precious book that he couldn’t bear to replace, and a journal that for the moment doubled as a grimoire. Or as good of a grimoire as he could manage without being able to make or buy enchanted ink, anyway.

Only a sennight away, though, and he found himself struggling to realize the dream that he had left for: peace and quiet and a place to study. As it turned out, his non-Elezen peers were awful at telling how old Elezen were. In terms of years, he was just on the cusp of adulthood—only had a moon to go before he was eighteen, godsdammit! But he hadn’t yet grown into his years yet (or his ears, for that matter), and every other merchant on the Sapphire Avenue Exchange seemed to want to know where his parents were, pinning him down at maybe twelve or thirteen.

“They died in the Calamity,” he had lied, and that shut them up pretty quickly.

The story of an orphan who had to fend for himself in the years since Dalamud fell also served to explain how he had enough money to buy their wares—from enchanted ink to help him start to practice the magicks he’d been studying so diligently (the reality of his situation since the Calamity; his mother was alive but mayhap not well in the head) to bread and fruit to keep his stomach happy.

(He’d never had figs while living in the Twelveswood, but within half a day of arriving in Ul’dah, Leonnaux decided that he liked figs quite a lot.)

The reality of his finances, however, was that most of the gil was purloined or found on the ground. He got good at pickpocketing once his family moved into Gridania, where they had to rely on merchants to put food on the table rather than their own small garden. He had to; if he didn’t pull his weight in the household then all three of them went hungry. As much as he loathed his mother for setting his brother against him, he loathed the Wildwoods of Gridania more—for declining to do business with a Duskwight, even though by Leonnaux’s reckoning the soaps that his mother made were the best soaps on that side of the Hathoeva.

He hadn’t gone hungry yet, and more importantly, he hadn’t gotten caught yet. Just before he headed back to the Hourglass for the evening, he’d managed to make off with an entire coinpurse. It wasn’t particularly heavy, but if he managed it carefully then the funds could probably last him through the end of the next week. He had the ink he needed to make his journal into a proper grimoire, make the geometries he’d noted down useful for something. Then once he got the other materials he needed –herbs and stones and bones—he could delve into the secrets of the book his father had left them.

The only one of their worldly possessions that survived the Calamity—except, of course, for the clothes on their back.

Leonnaux lifted the coinpurse to the light before pushing himself up, sitting on the edge of the bed. The drawstrings were about to come out of it, but that was fine—he had his own. So he pulled the strings out and let the fabric fall open in the palm of his hands, revealing a handful of gil in a few different denominations—probably about… two hundred gil and all? Two hundred fifty? And…

A black linkpearl?

Leonnaux set the gil aside, rolling the linkpearl between his index finger and his thumb. He supposed it wasn’t the oddest thing one could keep in a coinpurse. Generally speaking, it would certainly be safe there. It just so happened that this time the whole coinpurse had been plucked off some poor sap’s belt-loop by a little Duskwight, and the linkpearl along with it.

He spent the better part of five minutes looking it over, holding it up to his ear—was it just a black linkpearl? Did it work? Was it black because it had been deactivated? He’d never seen a black linkpearl before. Actually, he’d never seen a linkpearl before; they weren’t something his family had ever had a use for, even after moving into Gridania. He knew, at least, that it was probably unwise to stick it in his mouth, but it didn’t seem—

It sparked to life, and he jumped when low voices started mumbling on the line—though they didn’t seem to be addressing him. Or the previous owner of the linkpearl, whoever that was. Or anyone in particular, really…

Leonnaux would have been a sucker if he didn’t listen in.

[hellsbovnd-archive]

#27: PALAVER

focus: Leonnaux Altoix wc: 129

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@ebonguardls

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“That’s the magic of it--the ability to slip in and out unseen... I do have to admire thieves sometimes. Just these days when you hear about robberies in the paper, they aren’t nearly ambitious enough, wouldn’t you agree? I mean. Why make off with some Monetarist’s prized cheese knife collection when you could steal a pearl necklace right off of a lovely lady’s neck in the middle of a gala? Something like that... Aye, something like that is what I would love to see the Ebonguard achieve one day, though of course we’d need somewhere to sell off these--wait, is anyone even taking notes?

“Is anybody even listening? Fuck it, I’m going to bed.”

One of Crow’s late-night and likely-drunken rants on the lines of the Ebonguard.

[hellsbovnd-archive]

dossier.

individual lf rp posts will be made for each character. this is simply an alternate dossier created for ease of access. i guess you can reblog this if you want, but more useful info is on the individual lf rp posts. last updated: 09/14/2019

check out my plot wishlist too!

Leonnaux Altoix  — The Hidden Ace

status: active (main); open for rp, in-game preferred server: balmung (crystal dc) connections: alizarine  «INK» (@alizarinefc), ebonguard - no legacy (@ebonguardls)

For all practical purposes a ghost, this Elezen only appears on public records as far back as three summers ago. It’s likely, then, that he’s chosen to live under an assumed name. He tends to use his appearance to his advantage, passing himself off as a Wildwood whenever it suits his interests—which, given the discrimination that Duskwights face, is more often than not.

He first stepped into the public’s eye as a small-time journalist—and, unbeknownst to all but those closest to him, the proprietor of The Cloak & Dagger (under the alias “Crow”). He is passionate about magicks and has a demonstrated talent for alchemy beyond what one may expect of a man who’s only twenty and one summers old. Shortly after founding The Cloak & Dagger, he retired from journalism to pursue academia full-time.

looking for: business contacts (academic/criminal), a mentor (tradecraft, magic), fellow shroud-born Duskwights links: full bio | tag | lf rp

Percival Rigel  — The Chief Mourner

status: semi-active; open for rp, tumblr preferred server: balmung (crystal dc)

Born to Ala Mhigans fleeing to Thanalan during the Mad King’s reign, Percival’s parents did everything in their power to ensure that her lifetime was one of opportunity rather than one of endless strife. Although her parents died in her teenage years at the hands of Amalj’aa bandits, their work for a trading company taught Percival all she needed to know about running a business—and brought her closer to the woman she would eventually marry, Ilyia Rigel.

However, their happiness was not to last; Iliya died during the Calamity. She was left in full their trading company, and while it is certainly in capable hands, Percival no longer finds any joy in running it and outsources this responsibility wherever possible. Now, at thirty and two summers, Percival finds herself called to horizons beyond the walls of Ul'dah.

looking for: business contacts (mercantile), rogues, fellow ala mhigans? links: full bio | tag | lf rp

Wren Leyland  — The Roundtable Rival

status: semi-active; open for rp, no preference server: balmung (crystal dc)

Where many would benefit from being tight-lipped about their pasts, Wren allows herself to be an open book—that is, if you don’t mind the fact that the story will change just about every time you ask. As a travelling bard, music follows Wren wherever she goes. All that’s really certain about her is that she’s not from around here, and that she’s rarely seen without her violin.

Bursting full of energy, Wren might strike others as a little strange. Those that do, however, would be well-advised to keep their opinions to herself; she has been barred entry from several taverns for inciting one too many brawls, and she has a mean streak when drunk. That said, keeping quiet might not do much good, since it’s just as likely that she’ll pick a fight for the thrill of it.

looking for: rivals, travelling companions, music enthusiasts links: full bio | tag | lf rp

Rosemund Blackthorne — The Final Heir

status: active; open for rp, no preference server: balmung (crystal dc)

Rosemund Blackthorne, born Rosemund de Valieroix, is an Ishgardian Elezen of 34 summers. The head of a house regarded as low nobility, Rosemund quickly plunged his house into debt. Rumors circulated about the family after Rosemund's father was tried for heresy by being thrown from Witchdrop, and in an effort to maintain the House Valieroix's outward social status, he tried to appeal to his peers with lavish gifts, which of course they accepted without giving him what he sought in return.

While the House's good name was cleared along with his father's post-mortem, Rosemund's faith in the church never recovered. Resolving that he could not stand by and watch a broken system prosper, Rosemund took up the sword of the Dark Knight in secret. Since then, he's wielded it to defend those who have no means to defend themselves—namely once-accused heretics and those of low social status, who despite Ishgard's various reforms, still face no shortage of discrimination from above.

looking for: fellow ishgardians, temple knights, noblemen, dark knights, heretics, fine wine and good spirits links: full bio | tag | lf rp

Janos jen Renata — The Imperial Nuisance

status: active; open for rp, in-game preferred server: balmung (crystal dc) 

The third of four sons, Janos has high expectations pushed onto him from a young age. His family name often preceding him (his two older brothers being officers in the military and his father being a high-ranking engineer), it might take a moment to realize that Janos himself is the family's black sheep. Having failed to even get into the Magitek Academy despite having a passion for working with machines and magitek, Janos instead became an Architectus in the military in order to serve his country and make his family proud.

Unfortunately, bad luck and poor judgement led to trouble following in his wake. Where his siblings are marked as loyal and accomplished, Janos himself is marked as negligent at best, and in six years of service, he failed to earn a single promotion or any recognition for his work whatsoever. He was continually reassigned, never working for too long on any one project and occasionally being moved to different posts altogether, and eventually was relegated to simple maintenance work. Now, as a result of circumstances unknown even to him, he's found himself in Eorzea: lost, homeless, and scared—but thankfully not alone.

looking for: fellow Garleans (loyalty optional), fellow engineers, business contacts (magitek component salvagers/etc) links: full bio | tag | lf rp

OOC Information

tracking: #hellsbovnd discord: emet-selch wears prada#5086 main blog: @penvmbral free company: @alizarinefc linkshell: @ebonguardls discord servers: FOR THE SKY (Ishgardian RP Community); COR AUT MORS (Garlean RP Community) pronouns: they/them timezone: NA, active during EST evenings/late nights preferences: med/heavy mature rp, generally lore-strict. 18+ players only. character and plot-driven. looking for: general plot-focused connections/friends! linkshell + discord communities!! i’m not really interested in being recruited to fcs because i happily lead my own but i’ll come hang out if you want company owo

please note that as an extremely goal-oriented rper, i do not enjoy jumping into interactions blind. please make sure that you have a character profile (carrd or tumblr posts only please; do not link me rpc wikis) and some plot hooks ready, and please come with an idea of which of my characters you’d like to interact with as well as which hooks, if any, you are interested in.

please also be aware that as i don’t like to jump into interactions blind, this does mean that i will expect to be able to actually plot out an interaction between our characters, such as the circumstances of meeting and the end-goal for the interaction (which should be more than “intro rp/makes a friend”).

if you are unwilling or unable to do this then i am going to have to pass. sorry!

In-game RP [ ✔ ] Discord RP [ DEPENDS... USUALLY NO ] Tumblr RP [ ✔ ]

unabridged ooc info here.

[hellsbovnd-archive]

#9: HESITATE

focus: Leonnaux Altoix, ft. goth gf cameo wc: 216

Five more minutes.

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The sunlight filtered in through the window as day broke, the sky outside shifting from darkness to a soft violet and then into a vibrant pink as the sun peeked over the horizon. Leonnaux’s breath left him in a sigh, the light hitting him in the face and rousing him from his slumber—just as it always did. Ever since he’d come back from vacation, he’d settled back into a routine that had him waking with the sun for a few hours, and then resting during the heat of the day to recharge before the sun went down and the fun part of his job begun.

He rolled over, away from the window—the light could warm his bare back, but it couldn’t drag him out of bed. Not yet, at least. He pulled the Hyuran woman at his side into a loose embrace, and she responded in kind by leaning into his touch, resting her head on his arm before settling back into stillness while several of the small trinkets scattered around the room drifted by, suspended by unbound magicks above them. His glasses were among them, though they’d been through worse. He’d just have to track them down when he was ready to face the day.

But that wouldn’t be for a while yet.

[hellsbovnd-archive]

Trust — Leonnaux Altoix

Note: I filled this out based on the direction I want to take Leonnaux as a character, not necessarily where he is right now, because he is going to be job changing very soon from an arcanist to a “spellblade” (basically just arcanist merged with RDM) as a part of his character arc. 

Selection: “The die has already been cast.”

Job: Spellblade (DPS)

Weapons: Primarily uses a rapier with gemstones and magicked runes embedded in it as a magical focus and melee weapon. Also uses alchemical concoctions and component-based magic on the side, to buff the party and debuff enemies. 

Behavior: Low DPS, high utility; Leonnaux will always use AoE effects if more than three mobs have been pulled, even if it’s technically a DPS loss, and will always buff his allies before he buffs himself. If his buffs come off cooldown, he’ll prioritize putting them on a party member (DPS > Healer > Tank priority) or himself before resuming doing damage. If the limit break fills and there are more than three enemies alive then he will use the caster limit break, but if there is only one he will defer to a melee DPS if one is in the party. He will use the caster limit break during a boss fight only if there is no melee DPS in the party, but he will use it as soon as it fills in that case.

Dialogue:

“Let’s go!” - Starting Combat

“Now it’s personal.” - Buffing Self

“No mourners, no funerals.” - Buffing Party

“Don’t worry about me! I can handle this.” - Healing Self

Limit Break:

“Leave this to me!” - LB1

“Say your prayers.” - LB2

“Greed bows to me!” - LB3

Defeated:

“Not—not here...”

“You can manage without me, can’t you...?”

Revived:

“Thanks, I needed that.”

“Eheh, looks like I was the one who held you back after all.”

Tagged by: @notoriousmonsterhunter!! Thank you!!

Tagging: @eorzeuh @theaugustrebel @final-aria-fantasy @lesalia @huntspeak @thorstyr @larhaya @celesiel @lazarusffxiv @fashion-noodle and YOU

Template Here / Alt

[hellsbovnd-archive]

Some handwriting headcanons because there have been a few journal ‘snippets’ I’ve done for FFXIVWrite—

Leon’s handwriting is basically chicken scratch cursive. He’s pretty lazy when he’s writing notes for himself but he’s actually decent at making his handwriting legible and given an adequate reference can forge handwritten notes (but not signatures). His personal signature is pretty much illegible except for his initials, a very sharp kind of squiggly. Sharp angles. He uses a lot of doctor-esque shorthand in his note-taking and with people he knows can understand that shit.

Rosemund’s handwriting is much nore refuned and elegant compared to Leon’s but he still uses cursive almost exclusively. His handwriting is clear (if you know how to read cursive) and most of the angles are softened so there are just a lot of loops... his signature is similarly clear and elegant.

Janos writes in print exclusively, and he’s one of those people whose handwriting is comprised entirely of capital letters. Just for lowercase letters, they’re a little smaller! His handwriting uses a lot of straight lines and sharp angles. He doesn’t really use his signature for anything because he just goes by “Jan” in Eorzea (so he’ll just scribble that down surrounded by doodles or something) but back in Garlemald where he did have to use his signature for some things it was basically just lines and angles, even though he does sign his name in cursive.