Anais Fleurdevide

Anais Fleur deVide
The Void Blossom
Captain and Boss of the Black Lotus Cartel
Gender	Female
Race	Elezen
Clan	Wildwood
Citizenship	Limsa Lominsa
Age:	Adult
Occupation:	Adventurer; Privateer; Grey Marketeer
Guardian:	Nymeia, the Spinner
Birthdate:	5th Sun of the 3rd Umbral Moon
Sexuality:	???

==CHARACTER IS CURRENTLY RETIRED==

Physical & Social Information

Basic Information

Anais Fleur deVide (birthname unknown), is an Elezen privateer and adventurer currently working out of Limsa Lominsa. It's known that her ship, the Black Lotus, and the majority of her crew, were lost in the Calamity as she was running Garlean blockades around Ala Mhigo. She is well-read, well-spoken, and well-traveled. In recent months, Anais has formed and is currently running a company called the Black Lotus Cartel, nominally based out of Limsa Lominsa and under the Maelstrom's umbrella, the Cartel is known to take on jobs that many adventurers would turn down due to their questionable nature.

Appearance

Height: 6' 5”
Weight: 200lbs
Hair: Dark Green w/ White Streaks
Eyes: Honey-Yellow
Build: Curvy; Tall
Identifying Marks: Elaborate half-sleeve tattoo on her left arm and shoulder of interwoven arcanima symbols. Tattoo of a lotus on the inside of her right wrist about the size of a piece of gil. Silver earrings in both ears.

Anais stands tall, on the taller end of the spectrum even for an Elezen, with a straight posture that makes her seem a bit taller. She is clearly in her adulthood, though no where near approaching middle age despite the premature white streaks in her dark green hair. The Captain wears her hair in multiple braids, with the hair around her face caught in small silver baubles. Most often she captures the braids in a bun type arrangement at the crown of her head.
Her skin is a dark olive-brown, her features feminine, her eyes a dramatic honey-yellow that she plays up with dark eye makeup. Her ears are quite long and always adorned with some kind of silver earrings. On her left shoulder and running down to the inside of her elbow is an extremely intricate, elaborate tattoo of arcanima symbols done primarily in black with small touches of color to catch the eye. The tattoo was clearly done by a master hand- as was the small, gil-sized tattoo of a black lotus flower on the inside of her right wrist.
Anais speaks in a pleasant voice without any of the common Limsa accent- if anything, she sounds like a scholar from Gridania.

Personality/Demeanor

Anais is intelligent, snarky, and superior. She is the type to give a compliment with a sting, then wait and see how long it takes you to figure it out. Her demeanor is not entirely pleasant- she's too prickly, too arrogant, too sarcastic. However, her history speaks to a different side of her personality- the rumors about the original Black Lotus suggest it used to run the Garlean blockades in order to get the endangered families of resistance fighters out of occupied Ala Mhigo. She worked with the full knowledge and acceptance of the Admiral of Limsa Lominsa- though her name and the name of her craft were never discussed and would be disavowed had they been caught.

To her few friends and the members of her new 'crew', she is warm, humorous, sarcastic, and snarky. She is also generous and fiercely protective. It is a long, slow process to win her friendship but once won it is a bond she takes seriously.

Anais is very skilled in aetheric manipulation. When she arrived in Limsa Lominsa she wasted no time in seeking out a mentor to teach her the skills of the arcanist- the mathematical precision applied to combat and magic appealed to her desire for order and she picked up the art easily. It was once a familiar sight, to see the Black Lotus coming into port with the glow of an Emerald and Topaz Carbuncle blazing through the fog. Not one to be satisfied with her current knowledge, Anais continues to strive to learn new skills, new ways to manipulate her own innate connection to Hydaelyn- for both the good of her friends and the short-lasting regret of her enemies.

Anais has an extremely tactical mind and a skill for putting the right person in the right place at the right time.

Character Notes

Likes

• Good Wine
• Books
• Luxurious Baths

Dislikes

• Ignorance/Stupidity or the Appearance Thereof
• Slimy things (Like river toads)
• Dishonesty

Hobbies/Talents

• Reading
• Sewing- She enjoys the precision in the art.
• Music- Anais can play the flute and the guitar/lute fairly well. She also has a fair singing voice.

Fears/Special Notes

• Anais misses her crew desperately but will not speak any of their names- nor discuss whether they are alive or dead.
• She has a mild to moderate phobia of snake-like scalekin.
• She is terrified of falling into Garlean hands- this manifests as a murderous hatred for the Empire and it's lackeys.
• Anais does not go anywhere in the Black Shroud without having her face covered.
• Anais -cannot- dance. She is very embarrassed about this fact.
• She has a deep fear of drowning but loves the sea.

Relationships

Family

• Father: Rene Soleille- an elderly conjurer and elemental scholar serving the Seedseer in the Black Shroud. Anais has not spoken to her father in many, many years.
• Mother: Aline Soleille- a middle-aged merchant and alchemist in Gridania. Anais has sent the very occasional message to her mother, mostly just to let her know she's still alive. Aline was a traveling merchant in her youth. She was conscripted into the Garlean military during a black-market run into Garlemald and spent several years as a soldier there before defecting. Her nightmares of that time were an impetus that drove Anais into the work she did prior to the Calamity.

Friends

• Obsidian Hornet- The Roegadyn is someone Anais had a working relationship with in the past and has since taken up with again since turning her hand to adventuring.
• The Crew of the Black Lotus Cartel- Each member of the crew has become important to Anais in different ways. Some she trusts more deeply than others, however each of them has become more important to her than she would readily admit.

Enemies

• The Garlean Empire
• Sahagin- as with most sea-faring folk that make their living around Limsa Lominsa, Anais has a deep hatred for the fishbacks.
• Slavers- on principle.

History/Timeline

Show text

Anais was born in the Black Shroud some years ago- she either does not remember how many or simply prefers to keep that knowledge to herself. Her mother is an alchemist with a history of adventuring and a past with the Garlean Empire and her father is an elemental scholar that works closely with the Seedseers to communicate with the elementals of the Twelveswood. Her childhood was a positive time- she was talented in aetheric manipulation and had all the early hallmarks of becoming either a thaumaturge or a conjurer when she grew up. She was also, unfortunately, extremely strong-willed and driven by the search for knowledge and by a deep hatred for the Garlean Empire born of waking up in the night to her mother's night terrors.

When Anais was in her early adolescence she smuggled herself into the wagon of a chocobo caravan heading out of the Black Shroud, seeking adventure. The caravan was struck by pirates during the trip to Vylbrand and Anais was captured. Rather than allow herself to become victimized, she used the situation- she used whatever tricks she possibly could whether it was her sexuality, her magic, her intelligence, or coin- to get herself into a position of power. It took years and a multitude of adventures but eventually Anais became a Captain in her own right.

The ship was promptly named the Black Lotus and she and her crew immediately began building a reputation for thumbing their nose at the Empire. By this time, the Garleans were marching on Ala Mhigo and had set up their blockades, air, land, and sea. Anais had a special talent for slipping said blockades and getting things (or people) out. Her ship was captured a handful of times but always released as there was no evidence of wrongdoing- at least no evidence the Empire could ever find.

When the Calamity hit, Anais was aboard her ship, watching Dalamud come through the atmosphere in stricken terror. She had a hold full of Ala Mhigan refugees and was well on her way back to Limsa Lominsa with them when the moon fell and the seven hells broke loose. The seas were struck with Flares and she was faced with waves malms and malms high. A talented steerswoman, she did her best but the ship floundered. The refugees, the crew, Anais herself were cast into the sea as her Black Lotus was crushed by the waters. A fair number likely lived, as she did, by clinging to bits of wood and washing ashore or being picked up by other, luckier, ships. Most, however, met their end in Llymlaen's arms.

Since that time, Anais has spent her days working odd jobs here and there around Limsa Lominsa and living off her savings, somewhat adrift. When Obsidian Hornet came into town it was the first time she really considered jumping back into the current of life in years.

Most recently, Anais has been seen in the back-alleys and by-ways of the larger population centers of Eorzea, holding out small bronze coins with a lacquered black lotus on one side and an arcanist's symbol on the other. Rumor has it she is putting together a crew, calling it the Black Lotus Cartel.

Update: The Black Lotus Cartel has come to be, with Anais at it's head. While the crew is still small, it is beginning to create waves in certain parts of Eorzea for it's effective tackling of the jobs that come it's way and it's willingness to take in those with shadier pasts.

Character Addenda

OOC Notes

IC Connections

Character Soundtrack: - Eyes on Fire- Blue Foundation - Drunken Whaler- Dishonored OST - Freedom- Django Unchained OST - ((More to come!)) Character Inspirations: - ((None at this time))

Your character might know Anais from: - Limsa Lominsa- Anais has been a common fixture in the Drowning Wench in the past 5 years, taking a seat in the corner and drinking quietly away from everyone. She rarely spoke unless a fight broke out, then it was usually scathing commentary. - Pre-Calamity- Anais was a major figure in getting refugees out of Ala Mhigo. She was also effectively a 'privateer' working for the Admiral- she raided the raiders. The Black Lotus was a quick, fairly small ship that flew a flag with a lotus on it and was often seen coming into port on foggy days with carbuncles lighting the way. - Gridania- Anais grew up in and around Gridania. She looks a fair bit different from that child but people familiar with the merchants and the conjurer's guild may guess who she is based on her parentage.