#Ishgardian Noble

[nini-dirthara-lothlenanas]

Happy nameday, Niqesse

[avampyone]

Lost noble Seraphine Desmarais-

[ahollowgrave]

-- I prefer girls. [featuring the ever elegant Lia of @the-white-snake!]

I am very late with this trend, but we are here! Recreation of this novel cover:

Recreation might be a bit of a stretch, no? Perhaps inspired by. Either way!! Thank you to Rasp for sharing her poses HERE -- I just had to tweak them for scaling! Also thank you to Iron for lending me Lia and rotating them together with me. It has been a joy building their relationship.

[elderling]

sketches of my new wol to figure out how i want to draw him ⚔️

[chioneeirwen]

Tell me the time when we last collided...

[escherstrange-ffxiv]

#18: Hackneyed

Good entertainment in Ishgard is so hard to find! Last week Lady Chassaigne hired a fortune teller to entertain her guests and I felt utterly sorry for that poor girl. Not only did she look like she learned to read her deck a week before the event, but she had no grace nor practice. Her delivery was stiff, and don't even get me started on her fortunes! "Today fortune smiles on you," as opposed to what? She could have thrown her cards up in the air and it would have been more interesting than her dull, hackneyed lines.

The problem is that everyone loves a good fortune teller - why else do we still tolerate that buffoon heading the Astrologicum - but finding one who balances accuracy and showmanship, ah, there lies the rub. The ones who are all spectacle embellish their lies with sparkles and ribbons; the ones who can see distress all with their plain speech. And don't get me started on the 'Echo-blessed' adventurers; not a single one possessing the slightest etiquette, like the one who called Baron Serrurier a Lord. Fury, everyone felt the mortification that night.

However! The servants have been whispering about the Losstarots, word has it the elder brother can bring the dead back to life! I knew you'd agree that would be quite a show. There were other rumours that he can scry into one's darkest secrets, but that would be too scandalous, of course. Naturally I was curious and as my luck turned out, I found the brothers walking along the Crozier. The elder lord really is as handsome as they say, even moreso in person with those piercing green eyes- anyway. I invited him to dinner and offered an introduction to some people who would be interested in his services, and you would not guess what happened. Why, his brother, that brat of a lordling, stood between us and said:

"If you seek entertainment for your guests milady, I'm certain any hunter can fetch you a cage of trained opo-opos for a very affordable sum. I assure you they will be classier than your crass as hells invitation. Good day."

And then he just pulled his brother away without letting him have a word! Who taught him to speak like that to his betters?! I certainly would not be surprised if that one was an impostor, what with that odd lilt in his accent, trying to pretend to have an Ishgardian accent, no doubt! Anyway, I found a lovely string quartet for the evening and nothing of value was lost.

Honestly, I don't know what the Aubemarles see in them.

[housedeaubemarle]

FFXIV Write 2024 #20 : Duel

A sequel/companion piece to @escherstrange-ffxiv's entry for #18 Hackneyed

~~

“…lordling …opo-opos... directly to Lady Hanrieaux…!”

“How… Dowager Aubemarle is losing her wits… mountebanks…”

Baroness Symonne de Vaillant fanned herself as she crossed the hall, weaving through the crowd. Along the way, she smiled and nodded at those who greeted her, but didn’t stop till she reached her destination: the side of a lady in a gown of dark purple and black, with matching amethysts round her neck and dangling from her ears. She was watching the room intently, but instantly smiled at the baroness’ approach.

When Symonne reached her, she leaned forward to kiss the air beside each of the baroness’ cheeks. “Sister. Delightful to see you tonight.”

“Likewise. You look very fetching, my dear. You ought to wear purple more often.”

"I most certainly will after such approval." The Dowager placed both hands over her walking stick’s handle. “What news?”

Baroness Symonne unfurled her fan again, fanning herself in slow, elegant movements. Her voice was modulated so only her companion would hear her. “Lady Hanrieaux is leaning heavily on you being hoaxed by your relatives. That could be the only reason for Lord Joshua’s rudeness."

Her sister-in-law snorted expressively. “Is that the best she can do? That excuse is moons old.”

The baroness smiled. “Originality has never been her strong point.”

“That much is being proven every summer.” The Dowager rolled her eyes. “Her aspirations to be an influence on the ton are overshadowed by her desolate taste in fashion.”

Symonne chuckled, still fanning herself as her eyes scanned the room, falling on the subject of their conversation at the far end of the room. Tall feathers in her unusually tall headdress pinned to her hair quivered as the lady laughed at something. “And yet there are willing ears to listen to her and ready mouths to repeat her words.”

The Dowager followed her gaze, and smiled serenely. “There will be others who do the same for us. Speaking of which, here comes one of the wider pairs of ears in Ishgard.” She called out towards a gentleman with salt and pepper hair who had just turned the corner nearby. “Lord Drividot! It has been an age!”

The man she’d hailed stepped forward quite willingly. “My lady Viscountess, Baroness Vaillant. Splendid to see you – what a crush this evening eh?”

“Good evening, Lord Drividot,” said Symonne with a pleasant smile. “We missed you at the Mayeulons’ gathering the other night.”

“An honour to be remembered, ma’am.” He said with a genuinely pleased grin and a bow. “Did I miss anything of import?”

The Dowager slid a look at her sister, who just continued to fan herself quietly, then back at Drividot with a sharp smile. “Oh the usual gossip and rumours, although…” She leaned in, and Drividot did the same to eagerly listen. “There was a particularly striking on dit. Apparently one of our most noble ladies has been hiring musicians.”

“And what might be so particular about that, if I may ask? Music is hardly anything unusual,” said the gentleman with a raised eyebrow.

“My dear sir, do attend: musicians. Not music.” She flicked her eyes towards Lady Hanrieaux’s direction. “An entire quartet, whilst the lord of the house is away these past few nights, for her singular amusement.” She smiled. “Speaking for myself, I would be simply exhausted after only one night. But then, I am old and haven’t such ardour.”

Lord Drividot’s face was the very picture of restrained glee as he followed her gaze. Then he turned back to her. “Well, well. A quartet you say. For multiple nights. What a lover of the arts this lady must be.”

Baroness Symonne raised her fan higher to obscure the struggle she was having not to laugh. With admirable self-control, her sister-in-law nodded gravely. “One might even say, an insatiably involved patron of such arts.”

“Quite,” said Lord Drividot with a grin. “Well, I shall not monopolise your attention, ladies. A good evening to you both.”

They nodded in farewell, watching the gentleman move away. He was soon at the elbow of another man, and in the midst of their conference, nodded in the direction of Lady Hanrieaux. Lord Drividot’s acquaintance laughed aloud once, then they parted ways.

Symonne slid a glance towards the Dowager and finally let herself chuckle. “Did you know he would be here?”

“A lucky meeting,” she said with a shrug, watching as the gentlemen disappeared into the crowd. “It is a fortune his mind has a tendency towards vulgar assumption. With any luck, the rumour mill will do its usual inflammatory work, and we'll have someone whispering to us of her unspeakable sordidness within a week. It might be too much to hope for her to winter in Ul'dah, but we shall see."

“Indeed,” replied her sister with a knowing smile. “Tis a fortune for the Losstarots as well.”

The Dowager’s face was perfectly blank. “Now what could that possibly mean, my sister?”

“Nothing, dear. Just thinking out loud.”

-

end.

[thefreelanceangel]

MiqoMarch #24 - Autumn

Feeling the slight nip in the air, he glanced at the leaves overhead. The coppery edges confirmed it and his hands tightened on the reins, causing the chocobo to toss his head irritably. 

Autumn. 

“...Autumn,” he sighed. 

He never knew for certain if life would allow them to meet, but every turn of the season took him from his carefully maintained life to that small clearing where they’d met. A lady couldn’t always extricate herself from her duties, she told him. And yet...

He didn’t think she’d let him down.

[unbloomingmoonflower]

“He’ll be returning. Very soon.”

Their Reunion:

[tovaicas]

squenix tell me abt the linguistic evolution in ishgard following the calamity once everyone who lived out in the coerthan countryside before the climate went fuck you actually and were like, minor satellite noble houses and levy soldiers and farmers who couldn't afford to live inside a warded holy city with houses made of stone, a non-flammable material, suddenly had to drop everything and run for their lives and squeeze into a vertically built city with extremely limited available space for housing considering coerthas is Large and ishgardian is definitely one of those language groups that changes accent and dialect every village

[nini-dirthara-lothlenanas]

𝔏𝔞𝔡𝔶 𝔡𝔢 𝔑𝔬𝔵

[radicrow]

say it with music bards love this

[ahollowgrave]

Do they have a system for remembering names, long lists of numbers, things that need to go in a certain order (like anagrams, putting things to melodies, etc)? 

Odette likes the idea of having these systems, but she finds it nearly impossible to implement them. She’s a low INT high WIS kind of girl, you know? She lives her life one ‘I’ll remember that’ at a time. And in her defense: sometimes! She! Does! She’s likely set things to a melody before and then immediately forgot what that melody was, or the lyrics she made up, or the order she had listed things.  She’s always got a journal on her or scraps of paper if she needs to make a list. This nun does love a list.

However, she’s never forgotten a name and she’s quite good at remembering personal details friends share with her. Thank you so much for the ask!!

>Uncommon Questions<

[maxikha-ffxiv]

You don't even need context to know what just went down

[arcademyth]

[aymeric voice] who is this man

[chioneeirwen]

† A Moments Reprieve... †