Artani Dazkar

"Change waits for no one. Lift your head, and stain your blade." ― Khashi Dazkar, Huntress.

[edit] Details Personality Combat History Relationships Rumors Gallery RP Info OOC Notes Credits VITAL INFORMATION     ｻ PRONUNCIATION: Ar-TAH-nee.     ｻ NICKNAMES: Art, usually.     ｻ RACE & CLAN: Xaela Au Ra.     ｻ GENDER: Female.     ｻ AGE: Mid twenties.     ｻ NAMEDAY: Nameday here.     ｻ ORIENTATION: Heterosexual.     ｻ MARITAL STATUS: Single. OTHER STATISTICS     ｻ NATIONALITY: Dazkar clan. She won't accept anything else.     ｻ CITIZENSHIP: The Steppes, or Othard.     ｻ FAMILY: Mother, father, older brother, twin sister.     ｻ RESIDENCE: Lavender Beds     ｻ OCCUPATION: Intelligence     ｻ PATRON DEITY: None yet     ｻ HEIGHT & WEIGHT: Five foot six, around 120lbs.     ｻ ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good Freedom Is Goodness. General Information Blurb here What is Artani? Appearance Eyes Hair Skin Build Voice Left eye is pale white, right eye is a deep reptilian amber. Dark red, with lighter red highlights. Alabaster, covered with black scales. Lanky. Deep and accented. Bearing Laterality Scars Markings Style Tense. Ambidexterous. Various ones, on both legs and torso. No tattoos. Rugged - leather or cloth, usually formfitting. Hair & Eyes Artani's hair is a deep, dark red, with light natural highlights of a slightly brighter red. She isn't too particular when it comes to style; usually, it hangs down to the middle of her back, bangs cut above her eyes, letting two long chunks hang down on the sides of her head. If anything, Artani would prefer not having to cut it - if it's getting in the way, she simply ties or braids it up on top of her head. The half-Hime cut provides a frame for her eyes - one a ghostly white, the other a deep reptilian amber. Neither are rimmed by limbal rings, but the natural sharp, angled shape of her eyes tends to enhance the colors just enough to come off as intimidating. It's not rare for her to quell arguments simply by looking sternly at someone. Physique & Markings The woman stands just slightly taller than most females of her race, with the characteristic dark bluish-black scales covering her legs, arms and neck. In a way that would appear sickly to most, the dark scales stand out against alabaster skin, peppered with the lightest of freckles from the sunlight. A small, almost always scowling mouth appears as a greyish color against her skin, resting under a haughty nose that curves slighty upwards. She often appears to be all legs and arms attached to a skinny, almost androgynous-looking torso, though it's easy to tell she is nowhere near as weak as she looks. Her slightly pointed face is surrounded by a collection of scales as well, extending about halfway down her nose and across her forehead. Her horns curve gently inwards, often decorated with a colored ribbon, or perhaps a series of bands and tiny bangles. Hygiene & Attire Artani keeps herself as clean as she can in her profession. While she is by no means a neat freak, she's careful to keep her clothing and body as clean as possible since she's been in Eorzea. A light layer of dirt is something she's used to, having lived in the Steppes, but she's always been in relatively good control of her physical appearance. She swallows Eorzean sweets like there's no tomorrow, but spends every other day training to keep herself in shape. Eorzea, in her opinion, can be too soft. As for clothing, she follows a single principle - if it gets in the way, she doesn't want it. That said, Artani can be found wearing all manner of armor, usually anything that allows for ease of movement as well as style. She is capable of fighting in just about any kind of attire, but tends to go for plainer, more form-fitting outfits without too much dangling or hanging off to catch an arrow or knife, or weighing her down. She doesn't like anything too flashy or ostentatious, unless she specifically needs it to blend in. Personality "Quote” ― SOme Dude. Psychological Profile If first impressions are to be believed, Artani is easily seen as a stoic, cold woman with an almost militaristic air about her. It is not in her nature to show fear or worry - this was how she and others of her tribe grew up, taught to use an excess of emotion to one's benefit rather than recklessly unleashing it. Her personality is as honed to precision as her body, built for success, with little room for failure. She does not tolerate weakness in any form, but instead of dismissing it, she tries to improve it where she can. Accepting weakness, or refusing to strive for strength, confuses and concerns her. Inconsistency, codependency, and backing down from a problem are almost foreign concepts to her. Perhaps her mother trained her children a bit too hard on this front, but for Artani, the lessons were everything. They kept her grounded when her tribe fell to the iron men, and they keep her grounded even to this day. Her wits are sharp, and she is unafraid of pointing out flaws in plans or people that she sees could be improved upon in some way. She will take what she believes to be the most logical, pragmatic step to resolving a situation. That said, the Xaela is not devoid of compassion as some might believe. She does not like to see the strong prey upon the weak - attacking that which cannot protect itself is abominable, in her eyes. She has no patience for tyrants or weak leaders, and part of her reasons for becoming a spy assassin involve deposing those leaders and tyrants. Still, Artani is no strategist - she simply identifies her targets, gathers necessary information, and sets in motion the short string of events that lead to their downfall, or their death. In the vast majority of cases, Artani holds no remorse or regret for those who've fallen to her arrows or blades, as in her eyes, they deserved judgement. And if they deserve judgement, Artani is only too happy to oblige. She believes wanton killing causes too much chaos in the long run, but works off of the idea that the removal of a carefully chosen person here and there can have greater effects. Perhaps one of Artani's main faults is her almost maddening inability to allow others to take some of the burden. When pressed, she will grudgingly accept help, but otherwise, she holds tightly to her problems like a vise. She's spent far longer than anyone should attempting to shut herself off from her own emotions that it's difficult for her to express her own - or to let others help her with her own inner demons. It's part of the reason why she tends to balk at social interaction, because it becomes painfully clear that she's built herself up for battle. Weakness cannot be tolerated, even in her. Despite her bloodthirsty streak, Artani is fairly pleasant to be around, if gruff and not at all concerned with manners most of the time. Having been in Eorzea for just about a year, she is still a bit of a fish out of water and tends to flub social niceties, but is quick to apologize if she realizes she has unjustly offended someone. Among those she counts as friends and comrades, she can be somewhat boisterous and teasing, as she was with the other women in her tribe. She is honest to an almost jarring extent, and values honor and responsibility. If she has very obviously offended someone (on a personal level, not just by being frank) or broken a rule, promise, or bond, she is quick to express genuine remorse and apologize. She is loyal to her clan, her friends, and her beliefs - threaten those, and you have a very dangerous enemy. Voice Voice shit goes here. Preferences LIKES ⋫ Horses ⋫ When plans come together. ⋫ Hunts, no matter who it is she's set to find or spy on. ⋫ Children, though she'll rarely admit it. ⋫ A good fight. ⋫ Most Eorzean sweets. ⋫ Bacon. ⋫ Pragmatism. ⋫ Intelligence and level-headedness. ⋫ Combat. DISLIKES ⋫ Being percieved as weak/weakness in general ⋫ Having to be the center of attention. ⋫ Being touched. ⋫ Having to talk too much in one sitting. ⋫ The idea of taking the time to judge someone rather than just cutting them down. ⋫ Bananas. ⋫ Most people (supposedly). ⋫ Dishonesty. ⋫ Garleans. SKILLS ⋫ Hunting ⋫ Archery ⋫ Perception ⋫ Knifeplay ⋫ Hand to hand combat ⋫ Strategy Combat, Abilities & Weaponry BASIC STATISTICS     ｻ High: Dexterity, Strength, Speed     ｻ Above Average: Willpower, Intelligence, Constitution     ｻ Average: Wisdom     ｻ Low: Charisma AETHERIC ABILITIES     ｻ Mastery: N/A     ｻ Expert: Diseases, slow-burn spells.     ｻ Average: Barriers and healing     ｻ Nonexistent: Astromancy, summoning WEAPON TRAINING     ｻ Expert: Swords, knives, archery, poisons.     ｻ Average: Hand-to-hand, magic     ｻ Novice: Staves     ｻ Nonexistent: Lances, Axes, Guns, Astrometers. COMBAT RELEVANT SKILLS     ｻ High: Aim, Survival, Tracking, Close Combat, Ranged Combat.     ｻ Above Average: Strategy, Control, Acrobatics, Stealth.     ｻ Average: Strategy, Restraint.     ｻ Low: Sticking to directive. Non-Combat Abilities ⋫ Animal taming: Caring for the tribe's animals was usually left to the men, but Artani took it upon herself to help whenever she could. She was perfectly happy being the one to track down a lost sheep or settle down a spooked horse or chocobo, and was eventually allowed to help train the new mounts as they came into the tribe. Despite the cold front she puts up around most people, she visibly softens around animals, and takes it upon herself to work with them whether they are meant to be a pet or an asset to the group. You'll usually find something being nursed back to health in her room. ⋫ Sewing: While Dazkar women are not usually encouraged to take on more menial tasks, Artani found the art of sewing to be somewhat useful when her father wasn't around to mend her clothing after roughhousing with her siblings. As she grew older, she took it more seriously, finding it somewhat comforting. Lately, she's been able to adapt the skill to stitching wounds rather than clothing, and has proven to be fairly efficient at it. ⋫ Mapwork/Strategizing: Let me be the first to say that Artani is by no means a master strategist with years of experience commanding troops. She's good at mentally picking up the lay of the land and sketching out a rough map of it, but she isn't an explorer and prefer to use her skill for planning an attack or deciding the best place to spy. Her room is usually filled with discarded sketches and crumpled remains of inaccurate designs. If you have an idea of how the playing field is going to work, it's much easier to plan where to strike. She prefers to be the one on the field striking rather than the one who draws the plans, but if she's got to plan something alone, she'll do her best. Combat Abilities ⋫ Archery: The bow is the first weapon any Dazkar female child is handed once they come of age. Trained by her mother and many of the other tribe's huntresses, Artani quickly came to recognize the weapon as something that is as much as part of her as her own limbs. Her shots very rarely miss their mark, and she's skilled at shooting on horseback as well as on the ground. It is her favorite method of dispatching an enemy, and her highest skill. ⋫ Daggers: Blades are Artani's secondary mastery, as they prove useful in more close-combat situations where a bow might not be viable. Despite it being her secondary weapon of choice, she is no less deadly. Her reflexes are quick, reminiscent of a dancer rather than a blademaster. She prefers a fighting style that involves a significant amount of dodging and ducking, but makes sure to take a piece from the enemy with every dodged swing. ⋫ Summoner: While not in any way a master, Artani dabbled in the magic of diseases and poisons for awhile in her efforts to make herself more knowledgeable following the Garlean attack on her tribe. She finds magic to be somewhat slow for her tastes, but she does enjoy the feeling of infecting an enemy with aetheric disease from afar. A soldier, wounded by some other means, could have that wound fester and spread infection. Infection can spread. And infected, sick troops make poor footmen. History ANOTHER TIME PERIOD The Steppes ⋫ Birth/home life. Relationships with family. The Garlean raid. A TIME PERIOD GOES HERE I GUESS UHM ⋫ Training. Leaving the Steppes to become a spy/assassin. Eventually heading to Eorzea to continue her work. In Recent Times Moving Forward ⋫ Things to come. NEGAN THE CHOCOBO ONE ⋫ Few things gave Artani more comfort than an animal's presence. Thus, when she found his egg lying among the debris following the raid, she hastily gathered it up, making the journey to find the rest of her tribe with a bow on her back, a pair of knives at her sides, and a chocobo egg stuffed down her shirt. Even once she had found the others, she was unwilling to let go of the egg; it had been her only companion on her short journey, and she decided then and there that she would see that it lived. Others would conclude that she had not been in her right mind at the time, but once her thirst had been quenched and her wounds bandaged, she stood firm. ⋫ She named him "Negan", meaning "one" - honoring him for being the sole surviving egg among the chocobo. As a chick, others got used to seeing the faint yellow blob resting comfortably between Artani's upper horns, the feathers slowly darkening as he grew older. She'd made sure to feed him the richest fruits, neglecting him not even for a moment. Once he had reached adulthood, Negan stood out among the rest of the mounts - a large, blood-red bird with black-tipped feathers and a bit of an aggressive nature. He never hesitated to join his mistress on hunting trips, and was even present for horse and chocobo training when Artani did her own duty in that regard. She was reluctant to bring such a tall bird with an unusual temperament to Eorzea, but so far, Negan has (mostly) behaved himself.