ramblingdrunkenknight - Tumblr blog

[ramblingdrunkenknight]

Mephiston was approaching the Saint Reymanaud Cathedral as he had so many times before, barely paying attention to his surroundings as he was dead set on the Scholasticate Library when he was stopped by Veldreth. It was unusual seeing the scholar outside of the Library; Mephiston had grown used to seeing him there and only there, however before the old man could think any more about the strangeness of the situation, Veldreth demanded blatantly, "Follow me."

Not having much of a choice, as he was there for Veldreth anyway, he followed. Before he had the chance to question where they were going, they arrived at the Aetheryte plaza of Ishgard, when Veldreth started to explain, "You fulfilled your part of the deal, so I will now start fulfilling mine. For this, however, we will need to pay a visit to my tower. Due to the distance to my tower's Aetheryte and your stunted Aether, this will be quite a rough teleport, so prepare yourself."

Not quite sure what would await him, Mephiston said, "I suppose it's too late to turn back now! I will manage; we can go ahead whenever you're ready," to which Veldreth answered with a simple "Hm," as he took the old man's arm and started attuning to the Aetheryte.

What exactly followed right after is unknown to Mephiston, for he did not, in fact, 'manage'. All he remembers is the sight of a blue sky and the feeling of dirt in his face.

Waking up with a splitting headache, Mephiston scanned his surroundings and felt lost. What he saw was unlike anything he'd ever seen before; it was as if he was inside of a giant mushroom with corridors left, right, and even above. The walls were weird and twisted, and the air was strange. As he stood up from the bed he found himself in, it felt like the ground was moving beneath his feet, however before Mephiston had any more time to take it all in, Veldreth approached from one of the many corridors.

"It seems you were not quite prepared after all. You were gone for a day, but aside from the headache you're most likely experiencing currently, there shouldn't be any other side effects," he said mockingly, noticing the obvious confusion in the old man's face and continuing before Mephiston got a chance to talk. "This is Tel Dun, my tower off the northern coast of Ilsabard. All the equipment I require for the removal of the device on your neck is already ready in an adjacent chamber. I'd appreciate it if we could get it over with; I don't quite enjoy visitors."

Still a bit overwhelmed, the old man noted, "I'm guessing any questions as to the nature of this place wouldn't end up with me getting an answer, so aye, I suppose the faster we get it over with, the better," and followed the scholar, who had already gone ahead, through the maze-like corridors, ending up in what looked like a laboratory of some kind.

"Would you like to be conscious during the operation, or do you want me to put you to sleep?" Veldreth asked, to which Mephiston answered, "I've been out for a day already. I suppose another one won't be too bad on my track record," chuckling slightly and laying down on the table in the middle of the chamber. Veldreth just nodded and approached the table, saying, "You know where to find me. I'll await you there once you're ready for the continuation of our deal," and putting Mephiston to sleep with a spell.

Once again waking up, the old man recognized his surroundings immediately. He was in his room in Ishgard, though he had been away for around two days. To him, it felt like it was just a few hours since he was last here, for he was unconscious for most of that time.

Standing up, Mephiston approached a mirror to see if the device was gone, and to his relief, it was. Though he already felt much more energized than he had the past few weeks, actually seeing that it was gone gave him another boost.

Preparing to head out already, he found a note reading "Send my regards to Haustefort" in his pockets, so he decided that he might as well do that, surely he'd be able to find Antares somewhere. Before he would go on that journey though, he really needed to find something to eat, for he was incredibly hungry.

[ramblingdrunkenknight]

I gotta throw a few asks at Ryker bc I enjoy the angry little man more than he rightfully deserves: LEAVE, LOSS, PAYCHECK, ENEMY.

Wahoo!!! I will gladly answer a few asks about the most pathetic of my little men (that says a lot), so here I go! LEAVE: What was the first time your OC left home? Why? If they’ve never left home, do they want to? Where would they go?

Ryker left Gridania when he was 17 years old, he knew he wanted to serve in a military of some kind but the Serpents of Gridania weren't to his taste and the thought of becoming a righteous Knight of Ishgard was too tempting not to pursue.

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LOSS: What was the first significant loss that affected your OC? What made it significant? How did they deal with it? Have they gotten over it since it happened?

Though nowadays Ryker doesn't get too close to his fellow Knights, he did befriend a few during the start of his career, however as you might guess from where I'm going with this, the Dragons did not care if someone was a friend of his or not. Even though the War is over, Ryker is far too deep in the hole he's found himself in to go back up again.

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PAYCHECK: What did your OC spend their first paycheck on? If they’ve never had a paycheck, what would they buy if they were to get a sudden windfall today?

Though it is a bit unspectacular, he started serving Ishgard while the Dragonsong War was still very much going so Knights of Ishgard didn't get the best provisions and lived mostly on scraps, therefore his first paycheck was spent on getting some proper food and drink at whatever establishment he found first. What would he do if he were to get a sudden windfall? I have no clue, he has no clue either, Ryker barely uses his current paychecks for anything, if he were to suddenly get a lot more he'd just.... put it away.

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ENEMY: Who was your OC’s first enemy? What was that relationship like? Do they still consider that person an enemy, or have they moved past that?

Though the easiest answer would be "The Dravanian Horde" or "That one bully from his Childhood" I wouldn't say he actually has or had an "Enemy", sure, there was Rivals and such, but the word Enemy is quite extreme for such relationships. I am, however, very sure that he's made a lot of people consider him an "Enemy" of theirs.

[ramblingdrunkenknight]

Decided to do a little close-up photoshoot of Mephiston after I realized I barely had any screenshots of him without his glasses, his eyes and makeup are barely ever visible on the pictures I have of him.

So uhh, this is entirely self indulgent but here you go, have them too:

[ramblingdrunkenknight]

Mephiston woke up early that day, the earlier he'd showed up in the Scholasticate, the higher the chance that he'd see Veldreth throughout the day, however, be it to his dismay or not, the mysterious scholar was already there when the old man arrived at the Library.

Approaching the familiar corner, Veldreth didn't seem to pay him any mind, be that because he was absorbed in his book, didn't care enough or chose to actively ignore Mephiston, whichever it was, it wasn't gonna stop the old man from making his point.

"I apologize profusely for not having shown up yesterday, I was quite unfortunately otherwise preoccupied, I do come with good news though." he lowered his voice and continued "I can get the corpse for you, albeit I had to request help for it, and that help is asking for payment in beforehand.".

Still not sure if Veldreth was listening, Mephiston chose to go on, simply hoping he wasn't being ignored "The...acquintance, that oh so graciously agreed to helping me, wants to meet you." finally showing a sign of life, Veldreth commented "Hm, and why would I fulfill a request of yours after you have continuously proven to be unreliable to work with?" to which the old man responded "Ah! Well, firstly I doubt you'll have opportunity to learn this much about Nightkin again anytime soon, and secondly, I am of sure mind that my acquintance and you will have plenty to learn from each other.".

Looking up from the pages of his book, Veldreth gave Mephiston a grim gaze and noted "Don't play yourself up, you are just that, an opportunity, if I had chosen to pursue knowledge of your kind before just recently I can assure you I would not have need of you right now.

Give me a location for the meeting with your acquintance, it seems the acquisiton of the corpse relies on this now, but do not think I will not just simply leave you to your troubles if you continue to bring nothing other than more requests to this table." to which Mephiston replied with a very slight smirk "The old Stone Vigil, it's abandoned, I've been there a few times when I needed some solitude, there's a room with an old map table, I'll tell my acquintance to meet you there, do you have any preference as to the timeframe?".

Closing his book and heading for the exit of the library, Veldreth said

"I'll be there. Just don't make me wait for a week."

[ramblingdrunkenknight]

Mephiston - 🎮, 💯, 🔱, ❤️, 💔, 🍛, 🤔

Ryker - 🎮, 💍, 💯, 🚫, 🐈, ❤️, 🤩

Veldreth - 🖊️, 📚, 💯, 🔺, 🐉, 🍎, 🤍, 🤔, 😓

Have fun :3c

I apologize for delaying this for so long, but here it finally is!!!!

It's quite a lot so read at your own discretion....there might be a lot of nonesense in here but that's my OCs (and my writing in general) in a nutshell, really.

Anon, thank you for this, though I had my troubles with some of it and had to think quite a long time about things I never considered for some of these OCs, it was incredibly fun and I do love finding out new stuff about my OCs!!!!!!!!! <3<3<3<3

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Mephiston:

🎮 - what are three of your oc's favorite hobbies?

Once upon a time it would have been training his swordsmanship or just training in general, working, even.

Currently he's enjoying the luxury of being retired, he loves to read, goes on walks (like the old man he is), mingles with other people all around the place and if his magical capabilities hadn't been suppressed recently, he'd be training his arcane skills currently! But alas.

💯 - share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.

Alright so I'm very bad at giving out random facts so I asked a friend of mine to supply me with three things to share:

A food they hate - Fish, he just doesn't like food containing any kind of fish. A very random skill - During the boring parts of his career as a knight Captain, Mephiston sat in his office for weeks at a time to take care of paperwork his predecessor had left behind for him, any source of entertainment is a blessing at that point so he is quite good at stuff like....spinning a pen around in your fingers or hitting the trashcan with paperwork that doesn't matter anymore. preferred sock color – Red, it's actually not too hard to guess, though he mostly wears black.

🔱 - can your oc swim? do they enjoy swimming?

During his youth Coerthas wasn't frozen yet so swimming in the wild during training expeditions with the Temple Knights was still very much an option that didn't result in freezing to death, and Mephiston very much took advantage of that!

Unfortunately nowadays he'd either have to leave Ishgard or go swimming in one of those heated pools in the Empyreum, neither of those options quite appeal to him.

❤️ - what are three of your oc's positive traits?

He's incredibly generous and loves to give away gil, items or anything really, though he often doesn't have much himself, he tries to be generous in other ways.

Mephiston is always ready to offer a helping hand, if people come to him and ask for help of any kind he'll hardly decline, they've put their faith in him and he's not ready to disappoint them.

Though Mephiston values many things, compassion towards others is the thing he puts front and center for himself, and I'd say he succeeds at it quite well.

💔 - what are three of your oc's negative traits?

Mephiston can be incredibly melancholic, letting most things that bother him eat him up from the inside, this can lead to Mephiston doing things like locking himself in his office for weeks at a time and focusing on his work, or a more recent example, disappearing in self-anguish both literally and figuratively for half a year.

He's disorganized to a comical extent, though he's able to get it together for work related things, everything else in his life tends to be quite wild, now that he doesn't have any work anymore, well......

Lastly, Mephiston will lie without second thought if he thinks it'll make the person he's talking with feel better and or stop a conflict from starting.

🍛 - what does your oc's typical dinner look like? do they usually eat dinner?

Though Mephiston can very much cook, he doesn't ever cook for himself (or anyone else for that matter, people never visit him to eat dinner), therefore he almost always eats dinner at restaurants or similar establishments.

As to what he usually chooses to eat; he loves a hearty stew with a good variety of vegetables, if he gets to choose the meat he'd pick lamb.

🤔 - what are some of your oc's quirks/mannerisms?

Mephi has an obnoxiously loud laugh, though most often he tries to hold himself back by just chuckling a bit, he's a bit annoyed by his own laugh.

Whenever Mephiston visits a venue for the first time he chooses one or two items on their menu and sticks with those until the end of all life.

No one has seen Mephiston without his signature lipstick and eye shade in the past century, no one ever sees him put it on either, and honestly, it's probably better that way.

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Ryker:

🎮 - what are three of your oc's favorite hobbies?

Ryker is quite the athletic guy, he's in a fencing club, trains martial arts of many different kinds and loves to go running, unfortunately for his hobbies that's all he's really got going for him.

💍 - does your oc have any piercings? do they want any (more) piercings?

Currently Ryker only has earrings, I would say that other kinds of piercings would probably fit him, though he doesn't really concern himself with his looks so unless someone convinces him to go get more piercings, he won't think of it.

💯 - share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.

Ryker loves to make up stories as to how he lost his left eye, the truth however is much less heroic, he provoked a bar fight with some rowdies once, and one of them broke a bottle and slashed at Rykers face with it.

Though he is a Knight of Ishgard, Ryker was born in Gridania, his family still lives there but Ryker doesn't feel any connection to his birthplace.

He used to have quite long hair but he realized it got in the way during training quite often so he cut it off, nowadays he just keeps his very short hair.

🚫 - does your oc drink/smoke? do they do it regularly, or is it more on occasion or for special events?

Though Ryker often goes to bars he doesn't actually drink all that much, he loves the atmosphere and the social aspect of it, even if his personality and remarks often sour that atmosphere or even make him end up in fights, which is, of course, another reason why he loves to go to bars.

I'm not sure if Ryker would actually be aware of the existence of cigarettes, though if he was, he'd treat them much like alcohol, not smoking all that often but doing it whenever he feels like it, and who knows, maybe smoking would calm him down a bit.

🐈 - does your oc prefer a wide circle of friends or a few close friends?

Ryker likes to keep a large circle of friends, though it's hard to call most of them that, his friend group is primarily limited to his fellow Knights, he isn't too close with any of them and all they really do is go to places together in bigger groups, but it's all Ryker knew for most of his life.

When Ryker was assigned under Knight Captain Godefroy he was invited to dinner by Mephiston several times, apparently the Knight Captain wanted to get to know the Knights assigned under him a bit better and perhaps even reach a level of friendship with them, Ryker however always declined.

❤️ - what are three of your oc's positive traits?

Ryker is incredibly brave, often to his own disadvantage but brave nonetheless, he doesn't scare away from a challenge.

He's very loyal, the thought of betraying the people he serves, his few friends or anyone he's decided to be loyal to, would never cross his mind, in fact, maybe he doesn't even know that betraying is an option in such a situation.

Lastly, he's very simple with his needs, a few sets of clothes, some food, a bed and a task he's assigned to are all Ryker needs to live a happy life, everything else is a luxury to him.

🤩 - is your oc a planner, or are they more spontaneous in their actions?

Though many might think Ryker is unfamiliar with the concept of planning, he has proven to be able to plan quite a bit ahead to reach his goals, however most often he gets impatient and acts spontaneous towards the end of such a plan.

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Veldreth:

Quick exclaimer for Veldreth, he's originally an OC within the The Elder Scrolls universe, whoever submitted this ask will only know of him through his FFXIV au though, so I'll go on a bit about both of these versions in many of these answers!

🖊️ - does your oc have any tattoos? do they want any (more) tattoos?

He does have tattoos! Well, they're all kind of connected so I suppose he just has one giant tattoo?

Being experimental as he is, Veldreth thought "what if instead of having to enchant my clothes or accessories, I just enchant my own body?", and after reading through the dangers of it, hearing of failed experiments in the past and of horrible side effects for successful ones, he obviously had to try it himself.

Part of the process is covering one's own body in arcane runes, and since Veldreth wanted it to be permanent, well, he tattooed them on.

As fate would have it, his experiment was successful!....kind of, if he doesn't have a filled soul gem, or whatever the equivalent of such a thing is in other universes is, close to him at all times, the enchantment drains his soul.

Aside from that though, he now has a permanent bound/magical armor around his body.

But that's not related to the question so forgive me for going off topic!

📚 - what level of education has your oc most recently completed/is currently in (GED, undergraduate, grad school, phd, etc)?

So, neither TES nor FFXIV have any public schools or anything of the kind, however if we go by hypotheticals, I'd say Veldreth would have a PHD in....hmmm, Conjuration!

It is a bit silly saying that, if we go by his accomplishments, he was a valued member of the Vvardenfell mages guild until being banished from it and after a long and arduous journey through the ranks of House Telvanni, he became a Master of the House, I'd say he's far beyond any level of education!

I don't want to put him too high up in his FFXIV au version though, since I want to avoid making him seem too powerful, important or anything of the kind, I fucked up back when I made Mephiston the knight captain of House Fortemps within the city of Ishgard so I won't be repeating the same mistake by saying Veldreth is a "Master of a Great House somewhere in Ilsabard" or a "Grandmaster in Summoning magicks", he's just....quite skilled and knowledgeable on the arcane and all sorts of other things!

💯 - share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.

As you might have noticed, since I will barely ever get to talk about Veldreth this much again and most certainly not his original version, I tend to go off topic a bit and talk about other details about him at every occasion I can, so this won't be three random facts about him that are easily forgettable but more like....three bigger facts that I would probably not have gotten the chance to mention ever!

The people who met him in FFXIV might have noticed his first name, Voryn, and they might also have noticed how I only use the name Veldreth!

Well, Voryn *was* his first name, once he became a Telvanni Master (Or whatever he is in the FFXIV au) he forsake that name though, he deems himself the only noteworthy member of his family and therefore took the name for himself, using the name that was given to him by his parents, the weaker links of the family, would be a dishonor to himself.

Though House Telvanni is known for it's practice of slavery, Veldreth doesn't much care for it, he uses summons to take care of the tasks that slaves usually take care of in Telvanni society.

He has a wizards Tower, his former Telvanni Masters tower was on Vvardenfell but after said Master had....an accident with a pointy object in his back, well, Veldreth inherited that tower by pure coincidence! He didn't like it though so he grew his own on the Mainland of Morrowind, he called it "Tel Dun" which means something like Cursed Tower or Dark Tower in Dunmeri, I like to think he lives in a Tower in his FF14 au too.

🔺- does your oc know how to use any weapons?

Nowadays Veldreth mostly uses conjuration to take care of his problems, summoning things keeps his hands clean, he has been known to handle a dagger quite well in the past though, a good stab in the back can come in very useful at times.

🐉 - what is your oc's favorite mythical creature?

So neither TES nor FF14 really seem to have "mythical creatures" in the sense that they don't actually exist in some way, however I will just go by creatures that the general population might not see in their everyday lives.

For TES Veldreth is a big fan of various types of lesser daedra, due to him specializing in conjuration he has lots of experience in summoning them and even conversing with them, his favorite of the bunch would probably be Daedroth, Crocodile like bipedal Daedra, while Veldreth isn't all too brawny summoning a Daedroth usually makes up for that lack of brawn.

I suppose the closest for FF14 Veldreth would be voidsent, unfortunately I have no idea what kind of voidsent in particular for I don't know all too much about them myself, I'll have to look into it though.

🍎 - where was your oc born? do they still live in/around their place of birth or do they live somewhere else? how do they feel about their birthplace?

So in his original universe, he was born in Morrowind, specifically on Vvardenfell, for his FFXIV au I went with "somewhere in Ilsabard" for now, where exactly, well..... that's a problem for future me.

Both versions still live close to their place of birth, TES Veldreth moved from the Island of Vvardenfell to the mainland of Morrowind at one point while the FFXIV au version most likely did something similar, though he is currently exploring Eorzea.

He doesn't care all too much for his birthplace, he doesn't feel any strong connection with it and is sure he could have accomplished all that he has accomplished no matter where he was born.

🤍 - what are three of your oc's neutral/questionable traits?

Alright so, the difference between neutral/questionable traits and negative traits depends mostly on who you're talking to, so I'll just like three that I would think to be quite neutral, but I wouldn't blame you if you felt they were negative or positive instead of neutral.

While his lust for knowledge is never-ending, he's very content in general, he doesn't care to acquire "more power" or to reach higher ranks in House Telvanni or society as a whole, his current state of life is quite sufficient and the effort that would have to be put into changing it isn't worth it to him.

Veldreth is very absentminded, no matter if in private or in public places, once he starts thinking about something interesting to him he tends to disappear into his own mind, this even happens mid conversation from time to time, it could very well be that his tendency to not care all too much about others as long as he gets to do his own thing and follow his pursuit of knowledge is connected to the latter part in a way, offending people because he just starts ignoring them isn't a concern of his.

Though House Telvanni is inherently quite competitive, once Veldreth became a Master that sense of competition disappeared for him, ever since he's content with his state of life he's become incredibly uncompetitive and doesn't care to prove himself anymore, he knows what he can and can't do and what others might think of him, once again, doesn't matter to him.

🤔 - what are some of your oc's quirks/mannerisms?

Veldreth talks to himself quite a lot, it's a bit connected to him being incredibly absentminded for he often doesn't even realize there's other people listening and he's really just in his own little bubble of thought.

He has a habit of documenting every magical experiment, summoning, or significant event in his life. He keeps detailed journals, grimoires and even scrolls that serve as both a personal history and a reference guide for his endeavours.

😓 - is your oc open-minded or stubborn? are they inquisitive or do they prefer to keep to their bubble of knowledge?

Stubborn all the way, in all honesty, I don't think I need to go further into why and how.

He's very inquisitive, as you might have guessed from some other things I talked about along the way to this question, however he's dead set on learning and acquiring knowledge without direct help from others, if anyone dares try to teach  him something his mood will become very sour very quickly.

[ramblingdrunkenknight]

The doors opened to a familiar sight for Mephiston, he had become a frequent visitor of the Scholasticate library ever since his return to Ishgard and following retirement.

Though he would have loved to mingle with some of the students and perhaps talk about the book he most recently read, the reason for his visit started giving him an awaiting glance from the dark corner of the room he positioned himself in, the moment Mephiston had entered.

Barely having sat down, the robed figure started talking to Mephiston.

"You're late." he remarked, taking his eyes off the old man and back into the book in his hands. "Ah, a side effect of retirement, I barely keep track of the time anymore! I apologize." replied Mephiston, putting his hat down on the table next to them and taking off his glasses "Judging from your reaction to me being late though, I suppose you want to get right to business! Everyone does, nowadays." he stated. The robed figure finished the page he was reading, closing the book and putting it aside before commenting "Mhm. Removing the device on your neck is barely a noteworthy feat, what is however much more worthy of my time is a way to surpress your conditions negative effects while keeping the positive ones, now obviously you're not making any progress with either of these yourself, so I'm asking for something in return for my, hm, help.".

Before Mephiston had the chance to get a word out, he demanded "You said there was a victim to your urges, I want the corpse of said victim.".

Shocked but not surprised, Mephiston took a minute to think before replying "I will have to sleep about this a few nights before giving you a definite answer, I don't even know if the body is still around somewhere." he let out a long sigh before following up, saying "Before I take my leave though, I believe we did not yet exchange names, therefore I will take the initiative, the name is Mephiston Godefroy.". "Veldreth." the robed figure replied coldly, stating "I expect you here by the same time next week." before opening up the book in his hands again and turning his eyes towards the pages.

Not trying to get his attention anymore, for he felt that would be a hopeless effort, Mephiston turned towards the door and said "Aye, next week it shall be!" before leaving the library he had entered just a few minutes ago.

[ramblingdrunkenknight]

// I need to make a Mephiston playlist.

[ramblingdrunkenknight]

"Oh how I've missed that sight."

"Can't believe I talked myself out of this mess...."

[ramblingdrunkenknight]

[ A continuation/answer to this post by dear @emmondsokolov ] // In an undisclosed part of the Black Shroud //

It had been a few days since old Godefroy sent Ryker out to find his pen pal, he was slowly but surely growing impatient, even suspecting that Ryker had simply ignored the task he was given and went back to his regular duty, suffice to say, Mephiston was relieved to find a letter smelling of lavender at the drop off point when he visited it during his early morning walk.

"Hah, I still can not believe I didn't figure it out until I was already gone." he chuckled to himself, no one but a small Antelope around to hear it. Any other day he would continue his walk after having checked the drop off point, but this was not any other day, the thought of finally returning made him rush back to the hideout so he could set his plans into motion.

It had only been a week since he decided it was time for him to stop running and make up with all the people he left behind so recklessly, for Mephiston though, it felt like an eternity.

Arriving back at the hideout, the old geezer threw off his coat, one of the few things he took with him as he left home, and sat down on the pieces of cloth he called a bed, lighting up a candle to brighten up the area as he was settling down, having lost his glasses at some point within the last few months, he needed all the light he could get to read and write comfortably.

"Now then, dear Marloix, let's see if you're the kind of man I hope you to be." he said while opening up the letter, almost expecting someone to answer. Having gone ahead to read the letter with a kind of excitement he hadn't felt for a long time, Mephiston had fully expected his pen pal to ask for some kind of proof that he was really the old geezer, and Marloix did not disappoint, after all Ryker never tended to give off a feeling of trustworthiness.

Godefroy didn't plan on delaying it any further though, so he took out his notebook, feather and ink pot, adjusted the light, and got to writing.

'My dearest Patron,

indeed it has been what feels like ages, I couldn't blame you if you forgot your dear old barkeep altogether. Now, I cannot overstate enough how much I would love to have the good old pen pal exchanges we used to have once again, but I am afraid business will have to come first, before we can once again indulge in such pleasantries.

I remember the line all to clearly, though I must confess that before I concluded you to be my partner in crime, the crime being exchanging letters, I had set my eyes on Harlowe Hornbeam and may have let that oh so poetic line come his way, I apologize if that caused any trouble for you.

"Deep waters invite a thousand deaths."

I hope that is enough proof for you my friend, I'm putting a lot of faith in you here. Though the Shroud is a lovely place, I do miss Coerthas, I will move my camp into the Central Highlands, when you are ready to meet up with me, find me on the cliff overlooking the city to the west of Steel Vigil, I will draw a crude representation on how you would find it on a map on the back of this letter.

If you decide not to help me, I wish you the best of luck with whatever troubles you have found yourself in, dear friend. However if you do decide to help me, well, see you in Coerthas.

Signed, Mephiston Godefroy'

/ Upon turning the letter around, a drawing can be found /

As he put the feather down, he sighed, Mephiston barely knew Marloix and was unsure if this entire ordeal was a good idea, but something told him that choosing Sir Beraskia to help with this was the right choice, and afterall, he had nothing to lose. After the ink had dried, he started gathering everything he needed for his journey, he could send off the letter somewhere along the way to waste as little time as possible, and perhaps dear old Mephiston was also in a hurry because he was excited to finally go back to Coerthas, to finally go back home.

[ramblingdrunkenknight]

Letters from a friend [ Part X ]

"Young Ryker,

I was beginning to think I should look for your head on a pike beyond the walls of Ishgard.

Dear boy you may as well have considered yourself a criminal from the moment you penned your first response instead of turning over the letter to the authorities. No use having second thoughts about it now. Same goes for Ser Godefroy, although I suspect he knew far more about what he was getting into. Not to mention you bemoaning the Temple Knights. It's a wonder you can even bear to call yourself a knight.

And what with your brother living in Gridania, do pardon me for prying, but you are not Ishgardian born are you?

Regardless, your efforts to secure such documents are appreciated, believe me. But I am also inclined to agree with you on that point, the past feels largely unimportant but may hold some clues. My own sources lead me to believe our Dearest Barkeep had made a discovery of sorts. A big discovery. Something he could not tell anyone about, and something he knew he would likely not return from. But what? I need more information. I'll keep digging on my end.

And sincerely, do enjoy your vacation time while it lasts Young Ryker, I expect it will only get harder from here."

------------

Greetings,

although I doubt you worried about me, I apologize for not contacting you about further progress for some time now, though I finished reading the documents about Ser Godefroys past quite early into my vacation, digging deeper into it took more effort than I wish to admit and with a nosy brother around it is hard to stay concentrated for very long.

Before I report to you what I found out, yes, I am not Ishgardian born, I am very much from Gridania, but that did not stop me from aspiring to become and succesfully becoming a Knight of Ishgard, so I would very much appreciate if you did not put my Knighthood into question, I can tell you that as cruel as we Gridanians can be to outsiders, the people of Ishgard would much rather have had another one of their own than me, I worked hard to gain this title.

Now back to the matter at hand, the documents which I claimed to be about Ser Mephistons career turned out to be a bit more than that, which makes me even more glad that I am not the one that will be in trouble should anyone notice their temporary disappearance. What I find in my possession is the report of a very thorough investigation of Ser Mephiston and his life that seems to have been set into motion a few months back and while it most definitely contains a very detailed description of his career, it also contains a whole lot more.

Among mountains upon mountains of small details about Ser Mephiston that make me question how many graves the assigned Investigator had to dig up, there was a few bigger points that were brought up, though I already feel guilty enough for having read these things without Ser Mephistons permission and sharing them with another person seems respectless to an extent I dare not think about, I shall tell you about them.

Despite the often very noble mask Mephiston put up, it seems he was born in the Brumes of Ishgard, among beggars and thieves, there doesn't seem to be a lot of information on his Mother other than that she was supposedly a Duskwight, his father however is a whole nother deal. Ser Calistarius his name, he seems to have been every bit as dedicated to Knighthood as his son grew up to be, he served for a good bit of his life until he could not fight anymore following a grave injury he had endured in battle, after which he had lost his rank and then subsequently lost his last few gil in a bet, ending up in the Brumes, however from what I read it also seems that Mephiston had only been able to join the Temple Knights in the first place because his Father still had a favor with a former friend within the organization. Nowadays Calistarius Godefroy is said to live somewhere in the Empyreum within Ishgard, it seems the Investigator didn't count Mephistons father as all to important to the case, since this is where the notes on him end.

Another interesting bit about our dear Ser is that he seems to have had a big run in with the Temple Knights a only few years into his career, though all reports say he excelled as a Knight for all of his early career already, he overestimated his abilites during an attack on Whitebrim and put his own life and the life of a few other Knights stationed at the front in great danger. After said confrontation, Mephiston had a run in with his fellow Knights and commanding Officer that resulted in him deserting and leaving Ishgard for a few years, details on these years are close to nonexistent, though supposedly he traveled throughout Aldenard and Vylbrand during these times, following his return to Ishgard he had to pull quite a few strings to be allowed back into the City and even had to renew his Knightly oath.

Following that incident, the next 40 years up to now seem quite boring, Mephiston served with full commitment and was invited to become a Knight of House Fortemps about ten years after his return, it seems he did not do a lot outside of his Knightly duties, though within this past year that seems to have changed.

Though it is unsurprising that there are more notes on the past year compared to any other, since it is obviously easier to acquire information on recent events, I am still quite blown away by just how much is noted down, it seems that both Ser Mephistons social contacts and overall interaction with the world outside of his job have skyrocketed, though once again it is scary just how much the Investigator seems to have been able to find out. Aside from a bunch of details on a supposed side job as a Butler, the opening of a Tavern and his promotion to Knight Captain, the main reason behind this entire investigation is mentioned, that being his connection with House Marteau and specifically the Murder of a certain "Mrs. Bunty", the former Housekeeper of the Marteau family. Plenty of listed evidence suggests he is connected to her death, among this evidence are official documents signed by Mephiston which were supposed to conclude the investigation on her death, which Ser Mephiston led, that were later proven to contain false information. All this ended in Ser Mephiston answering before the Ishgardian Tribunal and Halone, he requested a trial of combat that would prove him worthy and innocent in the eyes of Halone and he won, though these documents seem to suggest that he was still being investigated afterwards.

The notes on the weeks following his trial tell of him continuing as usual, until the week of his disappearance, which is quite interesting, Mephiston seems to have taken care of absolutely everything that needs to be taken care of for him to be able to disappear without a trace in one single week, he seems to have suddenly been in quite a hurry, he told me that he was gonna leave on the same day he left, so I did not quite pay attention to the way he acted the days before that.

I could go on longer and longer but this is already a lot to take in, I hope that at least some part of this helps with your investigation, I will leave for Ishgard again and see these documents returned to where I obtained them from.

Wish me luck and in turn I will wish it for you

Ryker Grimm

[ramblingdrunkenknight]

Letters from a friend [ Part IX ]

"Young Ryker,

Of course its Gridania. Of all the places. That's just peachy. Next you are going to tell me your brother is one of the wood wailers or with the snakes, or worse. I pray he is as trustworthy as you say he is.

If you are reading this Adrian, I know where you live now and would strongly advise you keep one eye over your shoulder at all times, may you never know peace again.

You may disregard the brewery letter sent to the previous address. It's a decoy to throw those Temple Dogs off our scent, at least for now. Leave it around somewhere for them to find should they decide to follow through with searching your apartment. Say you were handling his accounts and records with his suppliers and at worst maybe you'll get a slap on the wrist and stern talking to. I'd like to see the disappointment on their faces. But alas.

Do not make me regret helping you."

------------

Greetings,

I am writing this letter from the safety of my brothers home, he was of course nowhere nearby when I read your letter and is out visiting some friends of his while I am writing this.

Your decoy letter worked wonders, though at first I was confused by it, I quickly connected the dots, the Temple Knights left my apartment with nothing but a faked document and an annoyed expression, while I received no punishment other than a small gil fee for suspicious behaviour, Ishgardian Authorities sure are strict.

I couldn't risk heading out for Gridania too soon so I waited a few days before making any moves, as far as Ishgard is concerned I am currently simply taking a few days of long overdue vacation, though I am sure someone is still keeping an eye on me, nothing I can't handle though.

Together with the normal range of things one would take on a vacation to a family member, I managed to acquire some documents on Ser Mephiston Godefroys past and overall career within the Temple Knights and later within House Fortemps, how I acquired them is currently unimportant, all I will say is that if anyone notices that they are gone I for sure will not be the one that loses their rank.

Though, as far as I know, there is no evidence that explicitly suggests Ser Godefroys disappearance has anything to do with his past, I believe learning a little bit more about the man could still help with this.

If I find anything interesting you will read about it in my next letter, I cannot expect you to do the same for you still do not have a good reason to trust me, but if you find anything that you feel ready to share, I would appreciate reading about it.

Though I am still not quite sure how to feel about having ended up in this mess, I suppose I'm in too deep to give it up now.

Greeting from a small hut somewhere in the Lavender Beds

Ryker Grimm

[ramblingdrunkenknight]

Letters from a friend [ Part VIII ]

"Greetings Ser Grimm, how do you do.

Now the pleasantries are out of the way do excuse my language but what the bloody hell are you talking about?! Missing? Declared dead?? I know the man was old but I'm hard pressed to believe he had gone loopy and wandered off somewhere to die.

These letters were for the Knight Captain Godefroy's eyes only, just how much do you know about me and the letters we exchanged? Begging your pardon but I have no reason to believe you until I've done my own sleuthing on the matter, unless you can provide a good enough reason as to why I should trust you, young Ryker.

Regards."

------------

Pleasantries seem out of place here.

I cannot give you a reason to trust me, Ser Godefroy told me that there was someone anonymous sending him letters every now and then, but he did not tell me about the content of those letters, all I know about you is what was written in your previous letter.

If you plan on setting out to confirm everything I have told you, I can only encourage you, if I had been told these things out of the blue, I would not have believed them either, Ser Godefroy never struck me as the kind of person to suddenly disappear, especially without the proper ceremonies to step down from his position, but here we are.

The Isghardian authorities declaring him dead is less a matter of his death having been confirmed and more a matter of protocol, I've known the man for a few years now and have served under him for the better part of the past year and if I have learned anything about him, it is that he doesn't die that easily.

Good luck,

Ryker Grimm

[ramblingdrunkenknight]

Letters from a friend [ Part VII ]

"Dearest Barkeep,

A certain dog of the Immortal Flames has been sniffing about my tail lately and muttering about death and deep water. I've had to set up an entirely new drop off point just to send this letter in order to shake him. You wouldn't happen to know what that was all about, would you?

Apologies for the delay, it took a while for word to reach mine ears, and I couldn't be certain you weren't dead in that castle of yours. I'm still uncertain to tell the truth. But I hope this letter reaches you all the same.

Regards, Your very concerned patron."

------------

Greetings,

my name is Ryker Grimm, I am a Knight of Ishgard that served under former Knight Captain Godefroy, he has left Ishgard without warning and has been gone for a while, therefore he has been stripped of his title and declared dead by Ishgardian authority.

I was one of the few people he told about his departure and he entrusted me to intercept the delivery of letters to his old place of residence, since the Temple Knights have been keeping an eye on it, and answer them, so here I am.

Ser Godefroy had told me that there was someone contacting him and calling him their "Dearest Barkeep" and despite all the mystery surrounding you, he also told me that you could be trusted, that's the only reason why I gave you all that information.

Though I cannot speak for him, Ser Godefroy spoke of you in highest regards, so I'm sure whoever set that "Dog" on your trail does not start with the letter "M" and ends his name with "ephiston".

I apologize that I cannot help you any further with that problem, should you however have any more questions concerning the disappearance of Ser Godefroy, I would do my best to answer them.

With respect for a friend of Ser Godefroy,

Ryker Grimm.

[ramblingdrunkenknight]

Letters from a friend [ Part VI ]

"Mephiston, Mephiston, my dearest friend as of today,

I could not possibly express to you the monumental delight and gratitude to find such a thoughtful gift at my usual drop-off point. I assure you I am sipping it gingerly as I write.

And I appreciate the forewarning that your office will be occupied today, I had planned for a peaceful number of hours to sit and write you and so I have adjusted my schedule accordingly. Though I have my suspicions you had hoped for some company, no? Perhaps another time. It would not do to end these games prematurely.

I can't say I can relate to your entire story, but as you said, it wasn't all harsh. You had a father who clearly held you to some level of higher regard, and you are proven to be the sort to have a lot of friends flock around you. I for one am finding myself lured in by your charm as well. If I don't keep my wits about me, I fear I may fall for an old knight, But I'm getting off topic and the cider is distra Water "Spring water." You know what I mean.

I would know a thing or two about offers that cannot be refused. So I suppose I can sympathise with you on some level. Only you make it sound like you clearly wanted to be a knight from the beginning. At the very least, heres to no longer being homeless.

But how about we flex that detective spark of yours. You've gathered a handful of evidence, false or otherwise to raise your suspicions on who your mysterious visitor may be, and no doubt you'll gather more over the coming days. Here's what I propose. Find me at my usual haunts, approach whenever you feel the time appropriate, and utter the phrase: "Deep waters invite a thousand deaths."

I'll leave how you handle this up to your own discretion, and look forward to reading what you've discovered later in our exchanges. Or perhaps next time we speak will be in person.

Anyway, I must be off now.

Goodnight, dear barkeep, and thanks again for the cider."

------------

I am glad to read that you consider me a friend,

and I am just as glad that you enjoy the spiced cider, somehow I had a feeling in the back of my head that you'd like it.

Though I might have made it seem like I hoped for you to come visit me at my office, I needed some solitude yesterday, a dear friend of mine has given me something to ponder about and even now I have not yet found a solution to the problem presented to me.

It is highly appreciated that you think of me of being, and always having been, quite charismatic, but I tend to believe that is it less a thing of charisma, and more a thing of having learned how to treat people in my many years, a trait I cannot say I had when I was still young.

You make it sound like it is surprising that I seem to have wanted to be a knight long before I became one, yet it is very common among us Ishgardians, especially the common flock that do not have the option to instead live out their life in huge manors with butlers spoonfeeding them from their youngest years to their last moments, to dream and in a way even romanticize knighthood, every child in the brumes fought each other with sticks and wooden planks, yelling about how they will save the Holy See of Ishgard from the vile Dravanians, and I cannot deny that I was one of them.

I will certainly continue to look into your clues, and most definitely follow up on your proposal, yet I shall see when I find the time for it, for as you know, I am quite a busy man.

Love,

Mephiston Godefroy

[ramblingdrunkenknight]

Letters from a friend [ Part V ]

/A small brown and speckled feather falls out of the letter once unfolded./

"Dearest Barkeep,

I fear I must apologise for my tardiness today. I had hoped to get this letter in your office before you left for the Drunken Knight this evening. Alas, I was delayed.

I don't know how you sleep with all these knights stomping about all hours of the night. I must admit I considered stealing a peek inside your bedchambers at this late hour. You can imagine how quickly I had to shelve that curiosity for another night.

But there's no need to be dramatic, sir knight, I've no desire to bring about your end before your time. At least not of my own desire. Keep pouring the drinks and you'll be safe within my company. You wrote of your fondness for roses and so I tucked one away for you to find, consider it a gesture of goodwill.

You'll be disappointed to discover I'm not really one for books. I perused over your collection during my time gallivanting about in your office as you've noticed. It's all a little too dreary for my tastes. I'm much more fond of absorbing stories the traditional way, through oral means or directly written, such as the charming little letters a certain delivery moogle drops off for me to find. You could consider myself a people person, of sorts, but even that I hesitate to say with any surety.

If I really must engage in some form of open combat I would prefer to poke my enemies full of holes from a particularly healthy distance. And if that fails to stop them in their tracks you might have already discovered my ulterior means of doing so, albeit much more unsavoury. An honourable knight would hardly approve of such methods, so I'll spare you the details and let you keep your honour intact for fraternizing with a disgrace such as mineself. But really, I prefer to avoid open conflicts. It leaves a poor taste in my mouth that even the strongest ale spring water cannot wash out.

And for your last question. I am a simple creature, my friend, and I grow bored swiftly in idleness. Break-ins are but one method for myself to alleviate the tension of boredom. Don't think I haven't noticed you are enjoying the mystery surrounding our exchange too. Else you would simply put aside this chocobo scratching and be about your business. I, for one, am appreciative that you haven't.

My turn. Where did you spend your youth? You must have at least one fond memory from a time long passed.

Goodnight, sweet knight."

------------

/The letter is dropped off together with a small package, the package contains a small bottle labeled "Spring water", it is filled with what seems to be Spiced Cider/

Once again I greet you, my peculiar acquaintance,

you are so very adamant about your appreciation of "Spring water" that it seems you rarely drink anything else, therefore I dared to send along a niche beverage that I thought you should try.

Your answers sound so very truthful, yet in the last letter I was advised to take them all with a grain of salt, nevertheless I would not be surprised if you simply said that to throw me off.

I do not make it a secret that I enjoy this shrouded exchange, in fact I can tell you without issue that I get a little excited whenever I discover a letter of yours, it is like discovering a clue that leads me closer and closer to solving a long unsolved mystery, perhaps I should have entertained the thought of becoming a detective, but the time for that is long over.

Now to answer your question, I spent my youth in the Brumes of Ishgard, back then fortunately not as cold as they are nowadays, my father had been stripped of his position as a Temple Knight after he had lost the ability to fight due to a grieve injury, and my mother left not long after my birth, most people would say it was a harsh childhood, but it had its moments.

As I was getting closer and closer to adulthood, my father managed to turn in a favor with a former colleague of his and got me the opportunity to enlist in the ranks of the Temple knights, an offer I could obviously not refuse, especially considering my life up to that point.

If I was to choose one particular fond memory to tell you of, it'd be of the day I completed my training and was officially knighted at the young age of 19, not belonging to a noble house of Ishgard and having been homeless until not long before that day, it was the moment I knew that my life had reached a turning point, and well, look at where I am now.

I apologize if this letter seems a bit like the ramblings of a tired old man, but today has been quite exhausting and I still feel yesterdays shift weigh in on my body, therefore I will probably not work at Starfall today, a dear friend of mine returns to the Café again today and will have his first shift after what feels like a century, so I will let him have the limelight and simply relax in my office during that time.

With utmost respect and admiration for your abilities,

Mephiston Godefroy

[ramblingdrunkenknight]

Letters from a friend [ Part IV ]

"Dearest Barkeep,

You're a fun one, I'll give you that. You wish to discourage my intrusions, and yet also wish me luck in not being caught. What's the matter, old man? Are you so bored buried under all this paperwork that the only thing that entertains you is a break-in? I'd hate to disappoint you, so I'll look forward to receiving word from you once you've discovered where I've hidden this note. Can't make it too easy on you, but I doubt it will prove much of a challenge for a knight such as yourself to find.

And the questions? My dear barkeep, it would be too dead a giveaway if I were to answer honestly. But I'll ponder the idea of leaving you a clue. As for dishonest answers, I'll listen to whatever you listen to, perhaps I'll even sit outside the door and lend an ear to the next bard you fancy to spend your gil on. I just love white. Pristine pure white. All this snow everywhere as far as the godsdamned eye can see. I don't know how you can stand this view. There's nothing to see. No wonder you're bored. Coeurls are lithe and sneaky. And cute. Like me, no? Hmm. No, on second thought they'd be terrible at stalking your halls unnoticed. A lovely little cherry tree could liven the space up in here, alas it would probably die by how dark you keep the space. Pity. I only drink pure spring water. Hydration… love it.

Feel free to ask more if you feel so curiously inclined, although I cannot guarantee you'll receive the truth in turn. Unfortunately I must be off now, I believe I just heard your front door. Returning from the Humming Grove cafe I expect.

Adieu."

------------

A good day to you, my ever so secretive patron.

I will say, when I didn't find a letter of yours in my paperwork today I was a little disappointed, yet when I was getting ready to leave my office to attend a meeting with my Count I got stung by a thorn of the rose you placed in my Uniforms pockets, for a second I thought it was poisoned and I was victim to an assassination attempt, but when I found your letter in the selfsame pocket my suspicions were proven false, or were they?

Your confusion on the topic of your intrusions is justified, but the explanation for it is quite simple, I do not mind your trespassing in the slightest, I quite appreciate this exchange of letters, but what kind of Knight-Captain would I be if I didn't take precautions after there has been a break-in to my office? Many knights of similar positions in other houses of Ishgard keep their office under constant watch, I am already a lot more forgiving than them by only having my knights check my office if they pass by it during their patrols, though that is quite frequent.

Your answers are intriguing for sure, though I shall not tell you which parts exactly, I shall keep my suspicions about your identity to myself until I have actual proof, therefore I cannot let the opportunity to ask more questions pass, even if they may be answered with little truth.

So tell me, do you fancy any particular book, or perhaps even a series of books, I noticed that someone browsed through my collection recently, it must have been you. Are you perhaps a combatant of any kind, and if you are, please do tell me what your preferred weapon is. And lastly, I do not expect a clear answer to this, since it would be boring, why are you so inclined to stay anonymous, you put quite a lot of effort into not revealing your identity, even when you have supposedly visited my tavern already, or have you?

Perhaps we shall see each other in my tavern tonight, but I wouldn't know, would I?

Signed, Mephiston Godefroy

[ramblingdrunkenknight]

Letters from a friend [ Part III ]

"Delightful barkeep.

You need not be concerned, your knights are not involved in my deliveries. In fact, they have been increasingly more difficult to slip by. No doubt this is your doing. But I'll simply have to be more creative in my endeavours. I must commend you on the tight ship you run, and how organised your office. But could use a little more light. I'll leave this candle lit to let you know when I pass through.

The address is a simple drop off point. You won't find any home or business at that address. How efficient the moogle delivery system is, hm?

But enough about me. Tell me about yourself? What kind of music you listen to? I thought I heard some through the walls but it was too far to make out. You have a favourite colour? Beast? Plant? A preferred drink perhaps? Your friends must mean a lot to you. Very noble of a knight to put his friends before himself. What about enemies? You must have some.

All the best wishes,

Your humble patron."

------------

Greetings to my peculiar pen pal,

sneaking past my guards and into my office without permission is not something many people would admit to, yet I have a feeling you bare no ill intent, so I shall allow it, but not encourage it, therefore my knights shall continue their frequent patrols, though I cannot keep this up for long, they have other duties to attend to. You must joke with your mention of an organized office, I know my strenghts and keeping my office clean and organized is certainly not one of them, keeping it dim lit is both a personal preference and a way of hiding how truly horrendously organized it is.

I entertained the idea of it being a drop off point, for I myself have used such methods in the past, though it makes me wonder if your usual line of work requires such methods too, I somehow doubt you went through the effort to get a drop off point simply to write and receive letters from me.

Your quick-fire of questions shall be answered, but with a request, I would appreciate if you were to answer them too.

The music I listen to is quite varied, though I have a fond love for pieces played on the Violin, you might have heard some of it through the wall, whatever that might mean, for I pay a personal bard to come by while I work on paperwork every now and then. My favourite color is most definitely wine red, or bordeaux if you feel especially cultured, my favorite beast would most definitely be the Griffin, I would love to be able to tame and ride one someday, my favorite plant, or specifically flower in this case, would be the simple but efficient rose, thought the hyacinth is a close second since I wear one in my hair quite often, for the drink I will have to choose Hot Chocolate, I drink it quite often, though if we go for alcoholic beverages it has to be red wine.

For the question of my enemies, well, I wouldn't say I have any enemies per se, though perhaps there is people walking this world that think otherwise, but I do have rivals of sorts, in my many years of knighthood there has been quite a few fellow knights who claimed I did not deserve the praise I received, many of those knights have continued these claims up to today.

With wishes of best luck that you do not get caught by my knights,

Mephiston Godefroy