Avalt Laguz
 Avalt Laguz
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| Gender | Male |
| Race | Hyur |
| Clan | Midlander |
| Citizenship | Limsa Lominsa |
| Affinity | Lightning |
| Hair Colour | Dirty Blonde |
| Age | 23 |
| Aliases | "Learned One" |
| Height | 5 fulm 9ilm |
| Deity | Lymlaen, the Navigator |
Contents
Personality
Behaviours
While he remains quiet in social situations, when he does converse - his speech is somewhat broken in Sylphic form (often referring to himself as “This one”). His remarks and comments can be blunt, and misinterpreted as rude. In large gatherings (usually of more than three people) he will remain out of sight. Often he is ridiculed for his way of speaking and prefers not to voice opinions too often.
Combat
Avalt does not engage in direct combat - expressing an intense dislike of bladed weapons. Instead, he chooses to remain out of sight and assail foes with magic. His main area of expertise lies in the art of black magic, and using it to stun and disorient - rather than maim and eliminate. He has possesses a wide knowledge of texts and incantations used in restoration and protection.
After his recent stint of being forbidden to cast magic, a lot of his spells backfire and can often cause more harm than good. Several events have lead to him now preferring not to use magic unless truly necessary. He has been taking measures to focus his mind in order to overcome this through heavy meditation.
Affiliations
Relationships
Friends
Rinh Hallani[1] - A miqo’te arcanist whose fiery temper had terrified Avalt on many occasions (despite him not being on the receiving end) yet who has earned his respect as a fellow student of the aetheric.
Dweia Delacroix - A rather mild mannered conjurer hailing from Gridania. Avalt does still not know a great deal about this young lady yet he currently owes a debt to her (whether he likes it or not) for freeing him from the binds of his slave crown.
Aerostein Epitaph[2] - Met in Gridania while under the influence of the Slave Crown. This kind hyur offered his aid to Avalt however it was not accepted. Aerostein claimed that Avalt looked like somebody that he used to know.
U’tara Taki - One of Avalt’s students in magic. He accepted U’taras request to teach her about magic with a slight scepticism, however when she displayed magnificent progress within a short space of time he began to warm to the young miqo’te.
Magdalena Duskwarden - The once leader of the Travellers. She and two associates met Avalt after he was infuriated by a group of miners, and repaid them by singing their eyebrows. She welcomed the weary loner into the group with open arms.
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History
Sixth Umbral Era
(1500 years ago)
(SPOILERS)
The Tragedy of Nym
When the city state of Nym was a force to be reckoned with, there lived a sage who went solely by the name of Laguz. His life as a military tactician was well recognised and his role regularly sent him away from the city to engage in maritime combat, as well as defend the armies with his scholar peers.
At the age of 49, he returned from a scouting trip with a team of marauders to find that the city had begun to fall victim to a plague - named The Sickness from the Sea. The plague swept the city quickly, causing people’s limbs to atrophy, turn green and drop off. The scholars of Nym worked feverishly to establish a cause, and more importantly a cure to this affliction. Those that were infected were quarantined inside the Wanderer’s Palace. Laguz was among one of the many scholars researching a cure - however he too soon fell victim to the plague. Those that were in the advanced stage began to resent those who locked them in the Palace, and soon fell victim to their hatred and rage which caused them mutate into demons.
This was kept quiet among the city dwellers, however Laguz refused to accept his fate as a cure was still not found. He eventually ended his own life by drowning himself in the body of water near Bronze Lake, and the City of Nym soon fell into the pages of history.
1554, Tabula Rasa
Laguz’ spirit was accepted into the Lifestream after he died, and so began the endless wandering through the spiritual planes of Hydaelyn. His regret over such a cowardly demise was the one constant in the timeless floating.
In the year 1560, a six year old child that had been born to a simple Botanist and his Conjurer wife tragically perished in the blight of one of Gridania’s coldest winters. He was buried lovingly in the East Shroud within consecrated ground blessed by his mother and the conjurers of Stillglade Fane. The moon rose that night, devoid of all noise aside from several chirping fauna. Two small hands pressed against the inside lid of the makeshift casket, a heavy panting inside as the boy suddenly jolted awake.
He banged against the lid with a feral urgency, hoping to splinter the wooden box he was encased in, only seeing darkness and a heavy buzzing in his ears. There was a sudden burst of energy from the boy as he forced his palm up against the wood. With tears in his eyes, the casket lid suddenly scorched under his touch, burning a large hole that earth and mud began to fall through. The boy’s initiative bade him to sit up in the space and claw for the surface - no matter how far.
1560-1572, the Sylph-ful Life
The child sat gasping at the disturbed earth of his former resting place, gazing through tear welled eyes at his hands, his arms, all around him. The bright moonlight shining upon the peaceful clearing as he gingerly crawled his way to the nearest tree to stand up.
Who was he? Where was he? Why had he been in the ground? The questions raced around the blonde child’s head as he righted himself against the trunk. He began to cry, neither from sadness nor happiness, but from the simple fact he did not know anything. From the exhaustion of digging out of his own grave, the boy eventually did cry himself to sleep.
From behind the tree, three small impish creatures fluttered by. One of them giggling quietly until they happened upon the grave site. The Sylph poked carefully at the gravesite, the three of them muttering in concern to each other before they detected the child curled up on the forest floor. The enigmatic creatures examined the boy, glancing back and forth between the disturbed earth and the dirty hyuran. It did not take a genius for them to figure out what the boy had done. The sylph, taking pity on the filth covered child were able to transport him via one of the Goobbues into their sanctuary of Larkscall, where he was kept vigil over until he awoke.
Ramuh Cometh
In the following years, Avalt (as he was named by the Sylph meaning “Of the Earth”) was accepted into the fold of the Sylph. From them he was taught how to communicate with, and how to respect the forest and their home. The Sylph elders were able to sense an anomaly with the innocent child from the second he was brought into the fold. His aetheric energies were incredibly high for a six year old, yet his aura was distorted and did not appear to belong to the body it inhabited. The boy, however did not show any signs of hostility and the subject was never raised outside of the inner circle.
Among his winged brethren, Avalt came to be regarded as one of their offspring. He was exposed to magic from the age of nine, and by ten years of age he was able to call upon the aetheric energies of the forest to cast healing magicks. As he was unaffiliated with the Conjurer’s Guild of Gridania, Avalt’s affinity with magic was nurtured by the Sylphic Elders – however the discipline for misuse of his gift was met with harsh punishment in which he was expected to seek forgiveness and absolution from Lord Ramuh, the Primal of the Sylph.
By the year 1569, Avalt had still yet to meet another who was not of Sylphic heritage or a Goobbue. Despite the Sylph being on friendly terms with “Walking Ones”, the teenager was still kept hidden whenever any were present. This was not done out of malice, but of fear that their friend would be taken away. By puberty, Avalt had also delved into the arts of black magic after being supposedly blessed by Lord Ramuh. Avalt had never experienced any kind of blessing, however the Sylph Elders bestowed the honour upon him. This could not have happened at a better time, as Imperial Forces had set their sights upon the aetheric powers that Primals possessed, and had begun an attack on the peaceful Sylph settlement.
Along with other magic wielding Sylph, Avalt lent his power to the defences of the land however their efforts were futile against the projectile weaponry and Magitek utilized by the Garlean Forces. Retreating, but not beaten the small unit joined a huddled mass of Sylph back in Moonspore Grove to make a last stand. The Sylph gathered around a mass of crystals in the Grove, and began the summoning rite to call upon their Primal Ramuh.
The shroud darkened, a purple glow breaking through the leafy canopies to cast the forest in an eerie light. Thunder crashed high above as the crystals’ energies were fed to manifest Lord Ramuh. The Imperials continued to advance, even employing Magitek bombs and cannons against the Primal – however they were met with fulminating bolts of lightning, as Ramuh laid waste to their Reapers and walking forces with incredible ease. The Sylph remained in the Grove watching from their sanctuary as their benevolent god exacted thunderous judgement upon their invaders.
The order was given for the Garleans to retreat within minutes, dragging their wounded out of the Sylphlands and to the safety of Castrum Oriens. The battle was over as swiftly as it had begun, yet there was no chance for celebration. The Lord of Levin turned his attention to his subjects who bowed before him, Avalt included. There was silence, before a deafening crash of thunder. Avalt looked up into the eyes of the Sage Ramuh – but he was not met with any love, but only anger. The Sylph around him were no longer green, and had taken upon a purple hue – their dainty hands crackling with lightning. Avalt knew all about Ramuh from the teachings of his former Sylph friends, any outsider was not welcome in these lands and would suffer the same fate as the invading Garleans had. He, along with the few Sylph that had not become tempered fled the Sylphlands as Ramuh returned to the aether from which he was summoned. Avalt became separated from the remaining untempered Sylph, and made his way out to Thanalan, alone.
Seventh Umbral Era
1572 (Dalamud), The End of the world
By 1572, Avalt retained his solitude by keeping far from any city settlements, his fear of “Walking ones” instilled into him by the Garlean invasion. After wandering Thanalan for what felt like weeks, Avalt came upon Vesper Bay and sought passage to La Noscea by boat. The ship was attacked by wavekin. Avalt remained below deck as the deckhands defended their ship and fought back against the aquatic creatures. The vessel eventually docked in the Lominsan port. Carrying what few belongings he had acquired in Thanalan, (a few magicked tomes and his Sylphic conjuring wand) Avalt weaved reluctantly through the crowds until he found the wilderness once more. Upon finding shelter in some forgotten ruins in Outer La Noscea, Avalt returned to his studies.
The red moon appeared in the skies that year, but to Avalt it was just another sight of living outside of his familiar Shroud. Aside from feared whispers from travellers who gazed upon it from the mountains, Avalt knew little more than it’s name. Dalamud. Without venturing into civilisation, Avalt would learn nothing more of it’s origin or reason for appearing until many months after. As it broke through the clouds, casting shards of itself down upon the land, Avalt watched from his mountain sanctuary. Clutching the wand entrusted to him by the Sylph to his chest as he watched with tears in his eyes at the unfolding events, as Bahamut broke free, and chaos engulfed Eorzea. The teen prayed for salvation, not for his own life, but for Hydaelyn.
1577 (The Age of Adventurers), A Wanderer No More
The memory of the fall of the lesser moon five years ago always remained in Avalt’s mind during the calm that followed. He had taken the chance to enter civilisation, and gave his aid to the rebuilding of Limsa Lominsa after the damage it suffered in the Calamity. Avalt’s many questions about the event were not dismissed by his colleagues in the cleanup effort, and Avalt was educated about the Thalassocracy by the former pirate crews that had also joined the effort under the Treaty between them and Admiral Bloefhiswyn.
Despite his assistance to Lominsa during a difficult time, Avalt was occasionally shunned by many of the maritime city dwellers – usually due to his unusual way of speaking (referring to himself as This one) which was adopted from his many years living under Sylph care, and endured ridicule from many. No longer feeling welcome in the city after the cleanup effort was declared a success, Avalt purchased a one way ticket back to Thanalan, where he used the barren desert for uninterrupted study of magic.
One afternoon, after leaving a miner encampment in Central Thanalan he was approached by three “walking ones” that he had never encountered before. A highlander going by the name of Magdalena Duskwarden invited the lone mage to join her band of travellers; who offered their services to the people of Eorzea for duties such as patrol and rescue.
Back to the Beginning
Avalt struck up a close friendship with a miqo’te known as Rinh. The kinship was based upon a mutual respect for one another’s affinity with magic, and the two would often be found sharing discoveries and information. Another miqo’te by the name of U’tara also approached Avalt with interest of learning about how to harness the power of black magic and arcanima. Avalt accepted her as his student without hesitation, but with reservation as U’tara’s combat skill was heavily based upon pummelling her foes into submission with pure brute force, and her concept of magic was to hurl large rocks.
Avalt managed to tap into U’tara’s fierce sense of devotion to her friends in the Traveller’s Guild (and fear of Cactuars), and the miqo’te was able to manifest a powerful fire spell under his tutelage. He also gifted upon her a handmade Grimoire for her study of summoning, penned with aether infused ink.
For many months, Avalt felt settled in the Traveller’s guild, even becoming a trusted member under the new leadership of Rinh Hallani. Unfortunately, Avalt began to yearn for the real home that he had with the Sylph. He also began to suffer from aetheric nightmares, and resorted to the use of Milkroot to settle himself at night. The visions began to worsen, he would see the destruction of the Sylphlands, and another summoning of Ramuh at his own hand.
These visions left Avalt exhausted, and so he began to draw power from the lands once again to keep himself useful to his new friends. Curious, Avalt made his way to the new Sylph settlement in the East Shroud known as Little Solace. The land was gifted to the untempered Sylph by Kan-E-Senna of Gridania upon their self-imposed exile of the Sylphland and their tempered brethren. Avalt was welcomed by the Sylph, the creatures still recognising him after over five years of separation and welcomed him to reside among them once again while he still consulted with the Travellers.
Many nights, Tempered Sylph from Larkscall would cross the bridge into Little Solace in an attempt to abduct untempered Sylph to bring them back into the fold. They were privy to how to turn them into “Touched ones” after the summoning of Ramuh before Dalamud’s fall. Avalt took it upon himself to sit guard on the bridge to Larkscall each night to repel the Touched Ones efforts.
Early one morning, Avalt had dozed off on his watch. Two of the tempered Sylph took their chance to attempt to temper the Hyuran male, whether they recognised him from years past and their motives were unknown. Avalt awoke and was able to once again repel them. But it was too late.
Downward Helix
The visions of himself calling Ramuh intensified, to the point of where Avalt would occasionally awaken in Larkscall, by being splashed with cold spring water from untempered Sylph who followed him out of concern for the sleepwalking Hyur. At the urging of his friends, Avalt visited the Alchemists of Ul’dah in an attempt to find out what was afflicting him and causing him to sleepwalk at night. Upon examination, Avalt was found to be perfectly healthy aside from an abnormality with the capillaries in his eyes no longer red, but they were purple and would occasionally pulse with a dull glow. Without the aid of his magnifying monocle, the examining Alchemist would have overlooked the symptom.
Avalt was turned away, the guild unwilling to prescribe any medication or cure for such an odd occurrence, and the man prepared to journey back to the Black Shroud.
A dream the following night found Avalt standing before the Hanging Barbs in the Sylphlands. The tempered Sylph flitting throughout the area would mutter of a “Big day” and “having places to be” as they appeared to be guarding the outsider. Avalt began the summoning rites, not borrowing power from any crystals but in fact using the aetheric reserves inside himself.
"Is this one dreaming…?"
Avalt shook his head as the glowing orbs conjured by the rite sparked and fizzled into nothing. He repeated the rite, the three orbs rising from the ground and swirling around him as his arms raised to the canopy above.
"Hear these words, hear this one’s cry.
Spirit from the other side.
Come to this one, summon thee,
Cross now the great divide.
Beloved sage, Ramuh.
These ones seek your guidance…"
The “Slave Crown”
Breaking Free
Other Notes
Common Rumors
“Odd man, spends a lot of time in the Shroud simply sitting in waterfalls. Doesn‘t cause trouble I suppose…” - Wood Wailer Lance of Central Shroud
“Learned one Avalt? Of course! Walking one spends many hours helping these ones remain safe!” - Meloxio (Sylph of Little Solace)
“I heard he angered the elementals, and that crown he wears controls his warped mind…” - Meddling Midlander
“ ’E sits on a Goobbue? Does it not swallow him whole?” - Fraegeim, Chocobokeep of Limsa Lominsa
