Renee Becquerel

GENERAL INFO

STATS

gender

race

clan

citizenship

age

nameday

guardian

affiliation

female

Elezen

Wildwood passing

Limsa Lominsa

34

13th sun, 6th UM

Llymlaen

The Coral Sea

At least superficially, Renee Georgette Becquerel is an outgoing, outspoken individual defined by her passions and a nature that fits the mould of a bard and a patriotic Limsan to a near-ridiculous degree. With a carefully-crafted appearance and tendency for passionate displays that betray a deeply idealistic and romantic worldview, it can be easy enough to write her off as not just boisterous, but as a loud and even obnoxious extrovert with a quick wit and occasional sharp tongue.

While hardly an act, her superficial appearance is just that. In private settings, something she values deeply, Renee is nearly introverted and far more deliberate than first impressions might let on. Prone to introspective dwelling, Renee gives deep meaning to intimate relationships and, above all else, open honesty.

Many might know her as Renaud Georges Becquerel, Captain of The Coral Sea and dedicated officer of the Maelstrom. Shortly after the death of his friend and First Mate, Dhemgeim Shyrdoenwyn, Renaud acquired a rare alchemical elixir and, quite simply, became a woman. Though at first it seemed to be something of a joke, for reasons Renee cagily refuses to divulge the details of, the change became more apparently permanent until he took on a new name, even if she did otherwise remain more or less exactly the same person but whatever changes brought on by Dhemgeim’s death.

Renee makes no bones about the fact just how much she enjoys the varying reactions to her new appearance. While she considers herself a woman just as she previously considered herself a man, Renee believes herself to be the exact same person she's ever been and, if that's not true, that any difference in her personality has nothing to do with her gender. As she and plenty of others have noticed, Renee is at least more or less the same person she ever has been, but the response to her as a woman both from those who knew her as Renaud and those who didn’t gives her ample opportunity to read the attitudes and intentions of other people.

LIKES ■ Honesty Above all else, Renee values honesty and lives a philosophy centred around the idea and ideal of its pursuit, dedicated to it to the point that she avoids actively deceiving others at all costs. ■ Music Not just a bard, but a Limsan and the child of a sailor, Renee generally prefers singing and harps as both make for easy travel. Rarely, she can be found wielding a fiddle. ■ Writing Believing herself partially responsible for the future of the bardic arts, Renee is a hoarder of fantastic-yet-true stories. ■ Woodworking An artefact of her time in the Shroud, Renee is a carpenter of considerable artistic talent and, upon returning to Limsa Lominsa, learned the skills of a shipwright. ■ Limsa Lominsa Patriotic nearly to a fault, Renee believes deeply in both the might and right of her homeland. She is deeply loyal to the thalassocracy, its Admiral, and the rule of law they represent.

DISLIKES ■ Dishonesty Be it people causing harm by lying to others or causing harm by lying to themselves, Renee openly dislikes people who live their lives without at least passing regard to the value of honesty. ■ Cowardice Renee will readily encourage people who can't fight for themselves to think of their own safety, but one of the easiest ways to lose her respect is to have the power to act and choose not to out of fear. ■ Selfishness Renee has no problem with self-interest and a desire for personal gain, but she draws a stark line with people who live their lives at the detriment of others. ■ Pirates Renee appreciates the history of piracy Limsa had to claw out of and is openly hostile to people who romanticise it and worse to those who would try to bring it back. ■ Racism Between being an adventurer and having grown up in a city with few Elezen, Renee has little tolerance for those with little tolerance.

MOTIVATION ■ Security The Becquerels are a family of the dead and dying and Renee's own life has been defined by a great deal of aimlessness. She eagerly seeks to have a place of her own, both literal and figurative, where she can settle down to a peaceful, prosperous life. ■ Redemption Renee walks around with her fair share of regrets for decisions made in the past. While she's emotionally balanced enough they don't bog her down, she has an inherent desire to prove to herself that she is, in fact, a truly worthwhile person. ■ Love A passionate idealist, Renee's a true romantic and values love as not just the gratification of another, but an ideal truly worthy of earnest pursuit. She cares about loving and earning the love of those she cares about. ■ Self-Control As something she once had a desperate lack of, Renee puts a great deal of weight on self-control and maintaining it within reason, but that doesn't mean she doesn't enjoy life. Renee eagerly seeks a life of... ■ Hedonism A trait she's always had and, for a time, suffered for. Whether she's an earnest and passionate bon vivant or a demented and mentally-unwell lecher might be up for debate, but Renee values the chance to live her life well and share the pleasures of that life with others.

STRENGTHS ■ Tenacious A quality that's defined much of her later life and earned her standing in the Maelstrom. Renee is deliberate about when she engages in conflict, but when she does, she draws stark lines and is willing, if not always eager, to make decisions, come what consequences may. ■ Loyal Though she tries to be at least genial with most everyone she meets, Renee rarely gives others the benefit of her intensely trusting loyalty. To those she does, it is an earnest bond and one that is desperately hard to break and rarely broken without dire cost. ■ Passionate When anyone or anything manages to gain her true affections, Renee's overwhelming earnestness is either an incredible boon or a terribly obnoxious problem. This is especially the case with people she believes need her protection, guidance, or otherwise meddling. ■ Intelligent Being quick-witted and well-educated makes Renee a strong thinker with a tendency to delve into the philosophical. On the battlefield, Renee is a deliberate tactician who rarely leaps into a fray without a well-formed and flexible plan. ■ Socially Deft If nothing else and when it doesn't violate her devotion to an honest life, Renee is capable of practised social grace and considerable charisma or, failing that, considerable superficial charm.

WEAKNESSES ■ Prideful For better or worse and often worse, Renee believes herself inherently better than most people. While she has her talents and usually keeps this fault in check, it is entirely possible for her self-righteous habits to come through and rarely do they do so in a way that inspires more confidence than aggravation in others. ■ Meddling While it might be born out of caring for people, Renee has a terrible and terribly obnoxious habit of meddling in the lives of those she feels a combination of worthy, interesting, and needy. ■ Jealous Renee's jealousy goes hand-in-hand with her deep trust. She's protective of what and who she considers hers and, for how much she cares about loving and being loved, fears the loss of those very loved ones. ■ Occasionally Tactless Appreciating open honesty has its downsides. While rarely oafish, Renee tires quickly of showing "unnecessary" grace to people she considers fools and will gladly deliver hard, honest truths just to be done with a frustrating issue. This rarely actually makes anything better. ■ Introspective Being aware of this fault, she seeks the company of those she has some intimate connection with, but her pride often gets the best of her and causes her to fail to fully divulge in just what way she's suffering. When this happens, she tends to pull away from people, dwell on her discomfort, and succumb to a grim moodiness.

QUIRKS ■ "Flowery" From ornate speaking habits, to wild gestures of her hands, and to how she dresses, Renee is especially showy. Whether or not this it's ridiculous and pretentious ostentation or simply a genuine love of theatrics is impossible to tell for sure, but it's a presentation she lowers only when matters require she dial herself down from a solid 11. ■ Intensely Spiritual Much of Renee's adult life has been defined by the spiritual and it shows. She measures problems in equal parts between mortal concerns and those of a "higher" nature. An experience with either death or near-death only intensified this. ■ Handsy There's a point between "fond acquaintance" and "dear friend" where Renee becomes really quite uncomfortable and cares little for personal space.

APPEARANCE

By common standards, Renee makes for a lovely woman. At six fulms, one ilm, she isn't terribly tall for an Elezen woman and sports a healthy, full figure with a thin layer of softness that only slightly masks the layer of muscle one would expect from a practised archer and well-travelled adventurer. For a Wildwood, her skin has a conspicuous natural darkness with just enough of a muted duskiness beneath it to suggest her mixed heritage. Adding to the case is her dark hair, almost entirely devoid of colour but for the faintest hint of a deep brown in just the right light.

Her features run a little long with angular cheekbones framing a chiselled nose. Her sharp, cunning eyes are mismatched; one a dark green, the other a bronze brown and sit beneath a sharp brow, often in the earliest stages of a wolfish grin, crooked to match her lips with dark lipstick usually making them look fuller than their actually-average lushness. Conspicuously new and a style adopted from a friend, a beauty mark draws attention to the right corner of her mouth.

Renee's sense in fashion occasionally nears the elegant but often dives deep into the showy. Sweeping coats, contrasting colours, deep necks, and ample jewellery make picking her out of a crowd an easy task. The same care for her physical presentation carries over to her grooming as she obviously pays meticulous attention to her hair, skin, and nails, keeping them all in the best condition one could reasonable expect for an adventurer.

Some might rightly accuse her of vanity, but Renee is always eager to point out just how few complaints about her vanity were levelled when she was not Renee but Renaud.

COMBAT

Like many adventurers and, ideally, all officers of the Maelstrom, Renee is a deadly combatant. Skilled with a bow, Renee is remarkably talented without mention of her abilities as a bard. While she has cursory training in other weapons, particularly the axe, Renee's true mastery is the bow and it is one she will eagerly rely on given the choice to do so. What sets her apart as a combatant is a well-trained focused calm. In a fight, Renee eschews anger, instead focusing with lethal intent on the task of overwhelming her opponent and ideally ending any fight she's been forced into as quickly as possible. In terms of both her abilities in combat and her general personality, Renee does not take well to light scraps or, in fact, "honourable" combat. Renee relies on stealth, the element of surprise, and brutal efficiency to assure victory which goes a long way to explaining just why she so eagerly avoids physical violence until absolutely necessary.

HISTORY

MORE TO COME IN THE FUTURE, WHICH IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF HISTORY.

NOTE: Information presented here may be used as RP hooks within reasonable means. Ask me!

PRE-CALAMITY Youth in Limsa Lominsa ■ 1542: Born on the 10th Sun, 5th Umbral Moon to Georgette Friloux and Beauvissoix Becquerel in Limsa Lominsa, something Renee knows nothing about. Later named Renaud Georges Becquerel, he is raised by Beauvissoix Becquerel and his wife, Vivienne. Georgette remains a family friend to Beauvissoix and Vivienne, the latter having been unable to conceive a child of her own. ■ 1542-1559: Renaud lives with his parents, getting a solid education in maritime skills from reading and writing to the advanced mathematics necessary for cartography and navigation and even military and naval strategy. He shows a knack for sailing and even occasionally serves as a deck boy aboard a ship of which his mother is the cartographer, The Coral Sea. ■ 1559-1563: Gawky Elezen or not, Renaud starts really coming into his own as a young man. As he gets older, Renaud develops an issue with sex addiction and, between his good reputation and relative charm, gets himself into no end of trouble. Among his saving graces, aside from dumb luck, is the Muse, a brothel operated by a family friend (and still unknown to him, his biological mother), Georgette Friloux. At the Muse, Renaud works through some of his pent-up needs and stays out of at least the worst kind of trouble, but it doesn't last. ■ 1563: Renaud makes his way into a relationship with a young Roegadyn woman and the two have a passionate, if secretive affair. At the height of this relationship, the pair actually consider running away together but are caught in the act by the young woman's father. At this point, Renaud, now a known womaniser and deviant, is summarily beaten and more or less told to leave Limsa under considerable threat to his safety. Renaud relents and, at the behest of his concerned parents, leaves for Gridania to live with his only other living relative, his grandmother. Gridania and Oliviette Becquerel ■ 1563: Gridania does not agree with Renaud in the least and the feeling is very much mutual. As a boisterous, outspoken Limsan with skin a little too dark to be a pure Wildwood, Renaud's experience of Gridanian culture is even more defined by xenophobia, coldness, and an open loathing of outsiders than usual. Still, Oliviette, his grandmother, demands he make something of himself more worthy than a disgraced pervert. Renaud takes up work as an apprentice carpenter and begins honing his skills with a bow. ■ 1565-1668: Renaud comes into his own as a carpenter and a bowman. The former is much more his official line of work while his work as a bowman mostly comes in the form of provided an extra hand with the Gods' Bow when foreign adventurers prove a little too unreliable. While never really enjoying the full respect of a non-outsider, Renaud learns to grudgingly tolerate what he sees as deep flaws in Gridanian culture. During this time, Renaud develops a sense of self-control and restraint over his issues involving sex. While the addiction is never really "cured", Renaud at least learns how to manage it. ■ 1568: Now a talented carpenter and archer, Gridania finally begins to grate on Renaud more than he's willing to tolerate. Renaud decides to follow in his father's path and take to the road, but it's a road that inevitably leads him back to his native Vylbrand.

POST-CALAMITY The Maelstrom ■ 00: PLACEHOLDER

INTERACTIONS

RUMOURS Some of these rumours are untrue, speculation, or are greatly exaggerated. Please feel free to add your own rumours under the Player Character category! ◢ COMMON RUMOURS - Easily overheard. Use these freely! ■ “Aye, Becquerel? I knew that gawky shite a good epoch back. More charm than wits with that one, got run out of Limsa after years of chasing women and laying with the wrong fathers' daughters. Got that 'appetite' under control well enough now, though.” - a longshoreman in Limsa Lominsa ■ “Captain Becquerel's a fine officer, certainly, but uh... Well I did hear she almost throw a private off a bridge for questioning orders direct from the Admiral. Only almost! She's wonderfully loyal to the thalassocracy, maybe a little rabid, but... Well, yes, very loyal!” - a junior officer stationed at the Aftcastle ■ “She's a fine enough woman, isn't she? But she's not, though. I knew that Becquerel back when he was still Renaud, oh was he a charmer and he had hands like you wouldn't believe... Not right though, is it? Nobody who loves themselves that much changes like that for nothing. Damned suspicious, if you ask me.” - a waitress at the Drowning Wench ■ “Don't rightly know why she's in the Maelstrom. See this bow? It's a genuine Becquerel! Sold it to me herself, 'patriot's discount' she said! Hells, I beat a half-dead fishback the rest of the way with the damned thing and it still works a treat! Can't tell you what she learned in Gridania, but be damned if Limsa don't need more woodworkers of her grade.” - an overly enthusiastic Yellowjacket ◢ UNCOMMON RUMORS - A little more difficult to hear. Use sparingly or ask first! ■ “Becquerel? I worked with him or, rather, her isn't it now? Certainly fine work from an outsider and a good deal more trustworthy than a lot of adventurers before the Calamity, if not quite as skilled. Really thought they were going to settle down and stay, join up with the Gods' Quiver. Good sort, they are, if a bit brutal. 'Tis rare to see an outsider hunt the Coerlclaw so viciously. Suppose fear's a good a tactic as any.” - a member of the Gods' Quiver in the Carline Canopy ■ “What, the dark-skinned, loud, 'Wildwood' with too much jewellery? Surely you mean that Friloux woman, don't you? Oh, I suppose that could be Becquerel, too, but really, it's half-dozen of one, six of the other, isn't it? Even look alike... huh.” - a merchant in Ul'dah selling imported bows ■ “Madame Becquerel? I repaired her roof, you know. The woman's an absolute terror, even if she is every bit of a hundred years old. Suppose that's Ishgardians for you, isn't it? Even when they leave the place for good, they take a little bit of it with them, don't they? Related to those weird Valentione folk as I hear it told! Wait, you mean her grandchild? Hells, don't much know them.” - a carpenter in Gridania ■ “Oh, aye, I know the Apkallu. Good sort, good sort, true and true, real bleedin' heart and all that, but hells. Y'ever seen the inside o' a pirate, like after gettin' flayed and left t' rot in th' sun? I have... After Becquerel got their mitts on 'em.” - a drunken Lalafell drinking with a group of Maelstrom veterans in Limsa Lominsa ◢ RARE RUMOURS - Very rarely overheard. Please ask before using! ■ “I knew Vivienne and Beauvissoix, Thal keep them, lovely folk they were, died fighting at Carteneau. But their child? Could've come from Vivienne's stock, sure enough, she was a bit of a mix herself, but I knew her damned well and she was barren, couldn't conceive. Now I don't know many dark-skinned Elezen Beauvissoix was close to, but I do know a certain brothel owner who was friend to both of them.” - an older Roegadyn woman claiming to be a deckhand of The Coral Sea, the original one ■ “Captain Becquerel's a good officer, certainly, and a fine example of why we let our officers have such free reign, but she's not nearly as smooth as that grin of hers would have you think. After what happened with Shyrdoenwyn, Becquerel nearly getting done in by his own first mate... The man was dead, let me tell you. You don't bleed that much and live. He got back on his feet, sure enough, but you spend that many moons having to work just to breathe while putting that much into trying to fix your First Mate? Little wonder he took it so hard when she died. I'm damned surprised he didn't break down more than he did. I probably wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror either, but then... She doesn't have to see that old face anymore, does she?” - a senior Maelstrom officer stationed at the Moraby Drydocks

RELATIONS ♥ Romantic Attraction | ♥ Platonic Love | ✔ Positive | ✖ Negative | ● Neutral note: Characters with whom Renee's had considerable dealings! Updated when the player manages to remember! PLACEHOLER ( ♥ ) - Lover intense farting noises

GALLERY

MISCELLANY

Potential Hooks

■ TEST OBJECT EXPLAIN THE THING

Outside Links:

■ [1] - Accused of drinkos peepee

Misc Info:

■ Template adapted from Bancroft Gairn, with edits by Xheja Rajhera / N'hadiya Khei.