#Nerine Lyrant

[laonii]

Prompt #16: Jitter

She’d woken up in a cold sweat, still fully clothed, with the moonlight filtering in between the leaves of her plants. Her sleep had been fitful, but she only remembered the final dream. Running through Garamsythe on Revti, feeling the tunnels shake and explosions above as mortars fell, in some endless maze. Calling for Hatia, for Faol, for her companions of the Suncrest, hearing no reply. Seeing the waterways beginning to run red with blood, getting thick and viscous and sticky as if it were the substance itself.

Running, ever runninig.Never time to pause and rest, or think.

The explosions got louder.

A final roar, and the ceiling cracked above, and not only did the rocks fall, but blod with it, sliding down her throat and clogging her nose as she could feel herself crushed under the stone.

Next she knew, she was gasping in her bed, nails digging into the covers and shivering all over. She lifted one arm above her, watching it shake, before groaning and rolling onto her side, curling into the fetal position

[laonii]

Prompt #6: First Steps

“You still invest time to this? It has been far too long Alja. I do not think it will hatch”

Hatia’s brow furrowed from the doorway, leaning against the jam and looking down upon her sister, who was kneeling in a bed of hay. Their Rabanastran apartment had a tiny chocobo stall attached, which, had been left unused and abandoned for long before they had moved in, but now, occupied a mottled, tan egg.

Nerine had been outside the city when she found one of the native red chocobos crumpled and abandoned, bleeding from the gunshot wounds the Garlean patrol had left, and surrounded by cracked and crumbling rocks. She raised her head at Nerine’s approach, a long, weak warble coming from her throat, and scraped her feet against the earth, trying and failing to garner the strength to stand and fight. Pulling a ration from her bag, the last for this trip, Nerine had crept closer to the chocobo, and set it in the bird’s reach, cooing to the bird the whole while. Minutes passed while the chocobo sized Nerine up, who crouched before it, before it seemed to deem her no threat, slowly and painfully eating the rations left before it. Nerine took the opportunity to shuffle closer, examining the wounds left, though, it was a futile move. She already knew the answer of if the chocobo could be saved.

I cannot do much for her...these wounds are far greater than anything I can patch. All I can do is be merciful

“Why did you fight, girl? A fearsome enough assault to drive them away, but why?” She expected no answer in return, but as she scanned the area...she discovered why. Nestled between some rocks, a well camoflagued nest, with an egg. She gently rested a hand on the mother’s haunch, who looked back at her with her inky, black eyes, warbled once more...and let her head rest down against the sands, no longer having the strength to hold it aloft. She reached forward to run her fingers through the feathers on the bird’s head.

“They are safe, warrioress of the sands. And I will continue your legacy, I assure you. You can rest easy in that knowledge.”

She took the hunting knife from her belt, and once more the mother looked up to Nerine, but, there seemed to be quiet understanding in her eyes, and she did not struggle as Nerine put her out of her pain. Nerine then secreted the egg, and as much of the nest as she could manage, into her bag, before heading back to the city.

Hatia opened her mouth, eager to say something else, before she was cut off by a loud crack that surprised her and Nerine both, as something impacted the egg from inside. It was not long before a beak punched through the shell, and cracks spread across the shell from that point. From there, the chick made short work of its shell, violently pecking and pushing and struggling until it had all fallen away. It met Nerine’s gaze with beady, black eyes, ruffling its still sticky crimson feathers, before kweh’ing as loud as its lungs would let it, both insistent and defiant.

“I think it heard your doubts.”

[laonii]

Prompt #2: Bargain

@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast

“You! There! Viera!” Nerine’s breath hitched, her eyes searching desperately for her sister Hatia, lost to her in the crowd at the bazaar. No help would be incoming. And Nerine knew that sort of tone anywhere, the barking self-assuredness of Rabanastre’s occupiers. Her eyes squeezed closed, and she whispered a silent prayer, before forcing a pleasant smile to her face and she dutifully turned to the man demanding her attention. It masked her confusion

Not a guard...? Then what does he...?

“Ugh...we would have to clean you up...” She suppressed a flinch as this Garlean man, well-dressed in civilian clothes, reached forward and flipped an oily, sand-caked lock of hair between his fingers disdainfully. He snapped his fingers, and an attendant came to his elbow, a Dalmascan by birth as far as Nerine could tell, who held out a bag to her with a faintly trembling hand. She waited but a moment, before taking it cautiously, her eyes widening at the familiar weight and sound of gil.

“You will entertain my guests tonight. They’ll hardly believe one of your kind will be joining our party. Your payment. Come, girl.”

It was not a request, but a demand, as two more attendants came from the crowd around them, flanking her and leading her after the Garlean man. He was true to his word; Nerine was cleaned within an inch of her life, and sprayed with exotic scents and perfumed, dressed in fine, foreign silks...and sat on a lounge at a cocktail party, expected to do nothing but look mysterious and haughty, and entertain any conversations that came her way.

At evening’s end, she was bundled back into her street clothes, and dumped back in the bazaar by the attendants who took her, her gil pouch much heavier than when she had woken.

This is not a terrible deal...

[laonii]

Prompt #1: Voracious

Time for me to catch up for this year... @sea-wolf-coast-to-coast

The Verdant Feast was a yearly summer tradition in Revti, a celebration of the fruits and gifts of the Wood, culminating in the whole village joining together in dance, to show their appreciation of the woods that sustained them. Each Viera did her part, and the preparation was almost complete for this year. Almost.

Alja eyed down the shaft of her arrow, tip slowly tracking a hefty stag with ebony horns and azure pelt.As a hunter, she was expected to provide the game, and as the matriach’s daughter? It had best be impressive. Alja did not intend to disappoint.The stag raised its head in a sharp motion, and Alja held her breath, not daring to move an inch as it surveryed the surroundings, perhaps having caught scent of danger in the wind.

10 seconds...

20...

30...

The stag lowered his head once more, starting to graze upon the foliage, seemingy confident in his safety. Breath still held, Alja recited a quiet prayer in her head, before lining up her shot, and letting loose her arrow.

May your lifeblood return to feed the earth, and nourish all who dwell upon it...

Alja’s feast contribution did not disappoint.

[laonii]

Prompt #4: Shifting Blame

@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast

Aether pooled around Alja, Faol and Hatia as they spun, rising in pale green wisps from the earth and coiling around the trees of their clearing. The grass here had been worn away, likely by the trio of Viera currently dancing upon it, their bare feet striking the earth to a tune only the three seemed to hear.

Their silent beat seemed to reach a climax, and the girls twisted in close, entwinning their arms together as they did and pulled one another close. They ended with ragged breaths, foreheads pressed together, and there was one final pulse of aether, and wind blew through the boughs...before all returned to silence. It was Hatia who first broke the silence, brown eyes flicking open, then furrowing into a scowl. “Faol, you said this would work.”

The eldest sister turned her own eyes skyward, with a pensive hum. This response didn’t satisfy Hatia, who pulled away from the huddle, glaring up at the boughs accusingly. Faol was the next to step back, no longer listening to her sisters but to a voice only she could hear, carefully stepping around the perimeter of the clearing. Alja too, strained her ears, but it was Faol who was most closely tied to the words of the Wood, and all she could hear was the rustling of the wind through the leaves. Faol paused in her walk, before bursting into giggles, as a gust blasted through the boughs, and it seemed the branches of the closest trees almost reached down to her. She reached up to run her fingers over the bark of the closest, her tone full of mirth. “Hatia, sister, they tell me your heart wasn’t in it~”

Hatia bristled, and affixed her glare to the tree Faol had her hand to.

“When the trees have eyes, then they can pass judgement on my heart.”

Faol burst into laughter, and it seemed the Wood laughed with her, before the clearing glowed once more with pale-green aether, and the trees of the clearing shimmered, revealing soft, succulent fruits among their branches.

[laonii]

Prompt #15: Liberty

After Talan had paid them for the work they did, Nerine had retreated quickly to her room, clicking the lock shut behind her. The whole mission, it had left her shaken. Lazily, she dumped her payment on her coffee table, a few gil coins falling into a forgotten cup of tea, before she retreated further, into the small section she had used as a bed room. Absently, she wondered if the company would have minded her turning a whole wall into a flourishing garden as she clambered into the bed, pressing her whole body close to the greenery.

We succeeded...

Her mind’s eye flashed back to Tovu, beaten and being supported on his feet by his companions, calling his fellow miners to arms. To Sela, taking the belt of bombs from her with determination in her eyes. To the fray they had thrown themselves in after the flaming man...nay, demon, had left.

And finally to the faces of those miners who survived, hugging them, hugging their compatriots. Thanking their group for giving them the opportunity. For stepping in to ensure their victory. Their joy, their gratitude. Their freedom.

Nerine choked back a quiet sob, a mixture of pain, relief and joy.

Tachi’s words leapt to her mind, about their homelands, their individual paths of liberation. Or...failure to, in Nerine’s case. That failure, again and again.

I talk a big game... No doubt he’d think as Hatia does, knowing everything.

Still. For now, she had succeeded in helping bring people liberty. And for now, that was enough.

[laonii]

Prompt #14: Scour

Nerine did not know the Garamsythe Waterways as well as Hatia did. But still, she had to try. Hatia hadn’t come back last night. And with the Witch of Dalmasca lurking in the city...

Nerine didn’t want to think of it.

She took the way she knew; the twisting, turning path to the headquarters of Suncrest, the rebllion group they both worked for. Or had worked for, in Nerine’s case. She could still hear Hatia’s voice in her ears, dripping with venom, calling her a coward, before she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

It was the last she would see her sister.

Skidding at a full run into where the base of operations had been...Nerine’s heart sunk. Alcoves once filled with materiel and people were empty. The main room was abandoned, larger pieces ofd furniture left behind, but obviously, there had been no struggle. A methodical packing of the required materials, and then the base abandoned.

And Hatia with it, no doubt...

She stared down the labyrinthine paths deeper into the sewers, swallowing down her doubts and fears. She needed to find her. To apologise.

[laonii]

Prompt #13: Wax

Nerine felt the wax seal on her permit to live in Kugane had barely set before she had resolved to leave it.

The city itself...was fine. The culture was strange to her, yes, and not everyone spoke her language. But like Rabanastre, it was a melting pot, people from all walks could be found here, and if she felt homesick, she could find a vendor selling Dalmascan food, or find other refugees like herself. If it weren’t for that one thing, she could easily see herself settling here.

But that one thing was an insurmountable boundary, in her eyes.

Despite the goingson in Othard, despite the things she had begun to learn about the Empire’s doings further afield into Aldenard, despite hearing stories from those who had fled like her...Kugane maintained neutrality with Garlemald. They had an embassy. They were treated just the same as anyone else. And it grated on her, wore against her already frayed heart.

She couldn’t stay here, not where no one said anything about what the Empire had done, still continued to do.

[laonii]

Prompt #9: Hesitate

Alja had quietly slipped away from her sisters as night fell. She knew Hatia would have harsh words if she saw her cry, and though there would be no malice behind them, Alja’s heart was still raw.

They’d returned to the village, to find it aflame. Whether the Garlean bombardment that had fallen upon hit by design or chance, she would never know, but now, the only home she had known was burning. Faol was the first to spring into action, calmly listening to the voice of the Wood to guide her, to find the wounded, to help others escape. While Hatia and Alja had panicked, Faol remained unflappable. After saving as many as she could, she lead her sisters out into the depths of the forest, saving them too.

Her face buried in her arms, curled up sitting on the ground, she felt someone sit next to her. She needed no words to know it was Faol, as an arm wrapped around, she was pulled against Faol’s chest. They sat in relative silence for a while, until Alja’s tears were spent, before she lifted her head, red eyes meeting Faol’s pale pink.

“You’re torn, little one.”

Alja did not deny it, instead looking away in guilt. Faol hummed ever so slightly, before gently tilting Alja’s head back up with a finger.

“You know Hatia intends to leave. She hears only the roar of the flames of rage, it drowns out the Wood. And you know I must stay. Revti is not gone. It remains, here.”

She pressed that finger to Alja’s chest, over her heart.

“Our paths are set. But you, little one. You stand at our crossroads. You do not have long to decide, and I am sorry for that. But know. We are always together, no matter the distance.”

“...Will she hate me?”

The wind rustled through the boughs, and Faol gave Nerine a gentle smile, before leaning in to kiss her forehead.

“The Wood could never hate her daughters. Her heart breaks, she desperately longs for those who leave, but hate? Never.”

“Will you?”

“Our hearts are as one, little one. That’s a silly question.”

They stayed like that for a moment before, before Faol pressed a kiss to the top of Alja’s head, releasing her and standing. 

“...Hatia intends to leave at dawn. You will need to decide before then. Know no matter what, you will be loved.”

[laonii]

Prompt #3: Lost

@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast

“Hatia... I do not wish to question you, however...”

Nerine shrunk ever so slightly as her sister Hatia, wheeled around to fix Nerine with a withering glare. The effect was amplified by the desert winds whipping her crimson mane of hair into a frenzy, and her eyes still blazed with fury.

“If you have no wish of it, sister, then do not speak it!”

Hatia hissed her reply, loud enough to be heard over the winds, and for a moment, Nerine swallowed the words in her throat, cowed by her sister momentarily, but, her mouth being bone dry brought back her courage. Her voice was far softer, easy to lose in the wind’s whistle, but Hatia heard it all the same.

“Hatia...We cannot cross this desert without guidance. Without food. Without water. We...You do not know the way to Rabanastre and--”

Hatia stomped over to Nerine, and slapped her across the face before Nerine could finish. Nerine’s fists clenched, and for a moment, she tensed up to return the strike, before she looked in Hatia’s eyes, and seeing fear just as clearly as the fury. Instead, she pulled her sister in for a tight, desperate hug, and despite Hatia weakly pounding a fist on her back twice, the sisters clung to each other for dear life.

“...An oasis. We will find an oasis. And there we will find the path. I swear it.”

Hatia’s nails dug almost painfully into Nerine’s back as she murmured those words, before as abruptly as the whole exchange had occured, Hatia released her sister and strode away, obscurring her face with her fringe.

Nerine pressed her hand into the damp left by Hatia’s tears on her shoulder, before following without a word.

[laonii]

Nerine Lyrant - Profile

[ APPEARANCE ]

Gender: Female.

Race: Veena Viera

Height: 6′3.

Build: Hourglass and well-toned, very leggy

Eyes: Crimson

Hair: Short, but well-maintained, salmon pink with pale pink highlights. Has a braid to the right side of her face, and beads woven into her hair framing the left side.

[ THE FACTS ]

Aliases:  Nerine was born Alja Revti, and took the name Nerine Lyrant upon leaving the Wood.

Age:  Seventy-four (74) years old. Nameday is the 14th Sun of the 4th Astral Moon (7/14)

Occupation:  Hired as a member of The Ebonheart Company, previously freelance adventurer, Dalmascan Resistance member, and village hunter

Sexual Orientation:  Bisexual, no preference.

Romantic Orientation:  Biromantic

Alignment:  Chaotic Good

Criminal History:  Was an active member of the Dalmascan Resistance from her arrival in Rabanastre just after its conquering, to the Barheim Incident. Has kept her nose clean since coming to Eorzea

Relationship Status:  Single. While she seems to have no qualms with making sexual connections, she remains closed off to a deeper romantic tie

[ FAVORITES ]

Favorite food:  Seems to love almost anything, but still has a special taste for game meat

Favorite drink:  Wines, though she finds many lacking after having lived so long in Rabanastre

Favorite scent: The smell of the earth after a rainshower

Favorite person: Her chocobo, Revti, named for her forest home

[ HISTORY ]

⚫  THE SISTERS THREE : Nerine, or Alja in those days, was born the youngest of three girls, to the matriarch of Revti Village, deep in the Skatay Ranges. Faol, the eldest, had the deepest ties to the Wood and her Word, and grew into the foremost priestess of the tribe. Hatia, the middle child, took to the spear, becoming one of the village's formidable warriors. And Alja took to the hunt, using arrows and thrown weapons to down game to provide food. Together, the three were taught the sacred dances of their tribe, meant to honor and renew their connection with the wood, as was their responsibility as the matriarch's children. The three were nigh-on inseperable, despite their often clashing personalities

⚫  PARTING OF WAYS : Following the Empire's occupation of Dalmasca, units were sent into the Skatay Ranges to round up and subjugate the many Viera villages. Revti was no different, and despite their heavy losses, Garlemald managed to wipe the village from the proverbial map. The three sisters managed to escape, guided by the wood’s whispers to Faol, but with no home left to return to, they wandered lost, for a time, until each chose their steps forward, though in different directions. Faol wished to stay in the woods, as close to them as she was, and find more survivors, and perhaps rebuild their home. Hatia was burning with vengeance, and wished to join the Resistance she had heard whispers of starting in Rabanastre. Alja too, followed her sister to Rabanastre and the two set off across the desert.

⚫ THE DESERT SAPPHIRE :   Hatia chose to keep her name after leaving the wood, fiercely proud of who she was and where she was from, while Alja replaced her name as was traditional, choosing the name Nerine Lyrant. Their initial life in Rabanastre was not easy; the immediate effects of the occupation made life hard, and the two had to scavenge and struggle to make ends meet. Hatia soon got tied in with the Resistance, and put the lance skills she had learned to work on the front lines, while Nerine fell into more into an information gathering position. When the higher class Garlean nobles and generals would pay money to just be in company of a Viera, it was both lucrative and informative. All she had to do was to put on a mysterious air, and listen.

⚫  AND THEN THERE WAS ONE...  :   The Barheim Incident was when things began to go awry for Hatia and Nerine. Garlemald took to killing suspected rebels on the spot, with no trial and afraid for her life, Nerine chose to step back from her work with the Resistance. Hatia decried her sister's cowardice, and went underground into the labyrinthine passages below the city, cutting Nerine off. She escaped Garlean attention, and started making a living as a hunter-for-hire, and as much as she desperately would check for any sign of Hatia, dead or alive, she never did find anything. After Doma's liberation, once more the people of Rabanastre rose up, and this time, the rebellion was subdued with the destruction of the city. Nerine was lucky, once again, to escape with her life, but this time, alone.

⚫  A BRAVE NEW WORLD  :   Nerine fled from Dalmasca across to the nation of Hingashi, settling in Kugane, though it wasn't to be a longlived stay. The fact that Garlemald had an embassy, and was treated as an equal nation, rather than the subjugators she knew, made her uncomfortable. She wasn't able to abide it, in the end, and wary of yet again fleeing to a country that had been subjugated by Garlemald, Nerine purchased passage to Eorzea over Doma, leaving her home of Othard behind. 

[ FIVE THINGS ]

Things they like: 👍 -   Leatherworking 👍 -   Wooded areas & plants 👍 -   Desert sands 👍 -   Chocobos especially, but animals of all kinds 👍 -   Good food, especially something she hasn’t had before

Things they dislike: 👎 -   Garlemald. Twice now, they have taken near all she holds dear. 👎 -   Being alone. 👎 -   Heights 👎 -   Machinery in general 👎 -   Unchecked greed

Good Traits: ✔ -   Always cheerful and welcoming, no matter race or creed (Well...except loyal Garleans...) ✔ -   Eager to listen to peoples’ stories. She is an ever-willing ear for people’s stories, problems, successes and fears. ✔ -   Has many years of experience owing to her long life, and happy to share that knowledge ✔ -   Intolerant of injustices, and will work actively to right wrongs. ✔ -   Always willing to do the dirty work with a smile. Mucking out the chocobo stables? Cleaning up trash? Dealing with corpses and gruesome injuries? Nothing seems to squick her out.

Bad Traits: ✘ -   Risk-averse, to the point of cowardice. ✘ -   Both craves and is afraid of building bonds again, which cane make her insincere, wishy-washy, or self-sabotaging of bonds being formed ✘ -   Her flippant nature can be off-putting, and to her detriment on occasion. She’s likely to back down before it comes to confrontation, but people could easily write her off as uncaring or lazy, and she won’t correct them. ✘ -   When it comes to Garlemald and Garleans, her position is entirely inflexible. For Garleans who have renounced their home and have fled, she begrudgingly accepts. For those still loyal? There is nothing but the deepest, inplacable hatred. ✘ -   Secretive, in a sense. While open in terms of hthe modern day, she hides her true personality behind the social butterfly mask, she doesn’t speak of her life pre-Rabanastre, the sisters she loves so dearly don’t get mentioned. Digging just nets lies or some excuse not to talk.

Fears: ❗ -   Losing yet another home ❗ -   Heights ❗ -   Explosions ❗ -   Garlemald ❗ -   Finding out for sure that her sisters Hatia and Faol have died

[ OOC INFO ] 

Discord: laoni#7352

IGN: Nerine Lyrant, Balmung

Carrd: https://affablewanderer.carrd.co/