I'rila Xanh

I'rila Xanh
I'rila Xanh
Gender	Female
Race	Miqo'te
Clan	Seeker of the Sun
Citizenship	Gridania
Age	25
Occupation	Artisan, researcher, inventor
Server	Balmung

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General

Curiosity killed the Miqo'te. That's what they'll say at I'rila Xanh's funeral when she dies prematurely from her latest ill-advised experiment or misadventure. If it looks interesting and she doesn't know what it is, there's a good chance she'll touch it. Novelty for her is what a gysahl green dangling at the end of a fishing rod is for a fat chocobo. Whether it's new people, new knowledge, new ideas, new technology, or new food, I'rila wants to experience it all, and then use that knowledge to make contributions of her own. Her lifelong goal is to dedicate herself to alchemical, social and technological progress that improves the happiness and quality of life of all Eorzeans. At least, that's what she'll tell you - and it is not a lie per se. The complete truth, however, lies buried in her past, and despite her outgoing demeanor, I'rila keeps her demons closely guarded.

Appearance

While I'rila stands taller than the vast majority of Miqo'te women, she comes off as more lanky than fit with very little muscle definition and a bit of a slouch. Pit her against her tribe in an archery or combat tournament and she's liable to place dead last. When it comes to fighting, her only talents are destructive magic and running away - a fact that many trained in physical combat are able to notice. She has the shuffling gait of a perpetual daydreamer. I'rila generally prefers dark colors and bold make-up, though she's determined to try every new gadget she can get her hands on at least once, so her fashion can tend toward the bizarre. Whether she's sprinting at the head of a massive herd of (accidentally) provoked sheep or tap-dancing on the nose of a giant statue, this Miqo'te is probably a sight to hold.

Behavior

Effusive. Scatterbrained. Endlessly curious. I'rila may not necessarily talk your ear off, but she asks many questions, and is interested in getting to know any new acquaintances. However, her attention may just as easily be pulled away to something interesting happening nearby. If there's anything she enjoys more than experiencing new things, it is having that experience alongside others, even if a bit of friendly persuasion is involved in convincing them to participate. To those she considers friends, she is loyal and devoted, but getting to that point with her can be tricky. She is more likely to notice good qualities in people who express views similar to hers, even when she herself isn't forthcoming about her beliefs in the face of potential conflict. Someone for whom it is a priority to uphold tradition and preserve the status quo may never entirely earn her trust.

History

To understand I'rila is to know her regrets, and of those she has many. Born to the proudly traditionalist I tribe near the dunes of the Sagolii Desert, her childhood was marked by hardship: between draughts, extreme heat, and skirmishes with outsiders, only a minority of her peers made it to adulthood. Her mother, I'meleng Ahgo, was the shamaness of the tribe, and it was from her that she inherited both her thaumaturgy and her position. Her father was slain in combat by the next Nunh when she was too young to remember him. The victor of that battle, I'wenye, was a combat prodigy, and at the age of fourteen, became the youngest in the history of the clan to win the title of Nunh.

In the spring of Irila's twelfth year, I'meleng passed away from a coughing sickness, and I'rila, who had been studying under her as apprentice, became shamaness. Her brother, I'ahgo Tia, had just turned ten, and she raised him with the help of the healer, I'bhanya Aiwe.

I'rila was fourteen when she had her first child. I'ekeene was in ill health, afflicted with seizures and developmentally delayed: a condition both she and the healer were unable to treat with their limited alchemical knowledge. For a time, I'rila entertained the thought of turning to outsiders for help, but each time she made the suggestion, I'wenye Nunh rejected it outright. Not only did they lack the resources, he feared that the corruption of outside influence would demolish their culture.

At the age of two, I'ekeene's movements were as jerky as they'd always been, she was less responsive than average to outside stimuli, and she had neither spoken her first words nor taken her first steps. That same year, they suffered a draught. Each drop of water was meticulously accounted for and strategically distributed. It had ultimately been the Nunh's decision to leave I'ekeene out in the dunes, but he appealed to I'rila's sense of duty to the tribe and persuaded her to stand down without a fight. At that moment, no one, not even I'rila, seriously considered abandoning the land that their clan had owned for centuries.

From the ashes of that loss, a seed of rebellion began to germinate. At first, her brother, whom she trusted implicitly, was the only person with whom she shared her thoughts. But when their secret questioning of the customs of their people led her to become unwilling to bring another child into the tribe, she spoke with I'bhanya. What started as an inquiry into ways to prevent conception turned into a deeper sharing of philosophies. In the healer and I'rhaane, the healer's daughter and apprentice, she and I'ahgo found more likeminded confidants. One thing was clear: in order for progress to be possible, they must take leadership of the clan. I'ahgo Tia began secretly learning thaumaturgy even as he continued his combat training in earnest.

Their plan was for I'ahgo to become a good enough combatant to hold his own against I'Wenye and to use his magical attacks as an element of surprise to turn the fight in his favor. What they hadn't expected was the Calamity. As the dust settled after Dalamud, I'bhanya lay dying from a poison-tipped lance. The Nunh sang the same old tune: no resources to spare, must resist the poisonous influence of outsiders, the well-being of the clan outweighs the survival of a single individual. This time, I'rila was not so susceptible to his influence. Against his direct orders, the shamaness journeyed alone to Ul'dah while I'rhaane stayed to care for her mother. By the time I'rila returned with the antidote, the healer had been dead only a matter of hours, and I'rila was apprehended on sight. Her punishment: to be starved until the amount food she was denied equaled the rations she had taken. Even as she served out her sentence and endured the bitter taste of failure, the plan to overthrow the Nunh accelerated. While a formidable fighter in his own right, I'ahgo was still no match for I'wenye. But with their post-Calamity hardships and Amaljaa beginning to encroach on their territory, the time for new leadership was now.

In the end, they won at the cost of their honor. When the Nunh sought treatment for the last of his injuries from the Calamity, the bandages I'rhaane gave him were laced with poison, and when I'rila then examined him for his new headaches, she brewed his tonic with a few extra ingredients. In the meantime, I'ahgo received unsanctioned alchemical boosts to his magical ability and regenerative speed. At the age of nineteen, I'ahgo became Nunh by defeating I'wenye, a man the entire tribe had thought was indominable. The secret of how he did it is something the three of them will take to the grave.

In the year following I'ahgo's ascent to leadership, the clan relocated to a more hospitable location, trade agreements with Ul'dah were underway, and a handful of volunteers were sent off separately in search of new knowledge and technology. The first name on that list was, of course, I'rila Xanh.

Tendencies

General

Wonk.

Likes

• Things

Dislikes

• Stuff

Relationships

Family

People.

Friends

Friends: Isilrael Geissfyrwyn
Co-workers:

Enemies

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Rumors

Common Rumors

Moderate Rumors

Rare Rumors

PC Rumors