Niamh Chalahko
 Niamh Chalahko
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| QUICK FACTS | |
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| Nickname(s)/Alias | Niamhzo (Masked Carnivale)
Copperfish (notoriety) |
| Age | 18 (ARR/time bubble) |
| Nameday | 9th Sun 1st Astral Moon |
| Birthplace | South Black Shroud |
| Race | Miqo'te |
| Clan | Keeper of the Moon |
| Alignment | Chaotic Neutral |
| Citizenship | Limsa Lominsa |
| Guardian |  Althyk the Keeper
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| APPEARANCE | |
| Height | 5 ft 1 |
| Weight | 95 lbs |
| Physique | Slender; lean |
| Hair | Flaxen blond, sooty dip-dye |
| Eyes | Cyan |
| Skin | Pale, opalescent |
| Facial Features | Eye black makeup, beauty mark below eye |
| Tattoos | Cheek lunar markings |
| Scars | Forehead; left side of ribs & under bicep; right side of thigh |
| PERSONALITY | |
| IC SKILLS | |
| IC Profession | Peddler, Proprietress of novelty shop 1000 Needle-Stack |
| IC Soulstone | Blue Mage |
| Combat Style | Projectiles; debuff |
| EQUIPMENT | |
| Primary Weapon | Cane |
| Secondary Weapon | Bow |
| ABOUT THE PLAYER | |
| Username | Kitty-candlestick |
| Time Zone | Pacific |
| Server | Balmung |
| Tumblr | houndlight |
| Free Companies | Weather Eye Inn |
| FOOTNOTES | |
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**Side bar template adapted from: Infobox-roe by [MoenMoen] **"The TMI Character Template for the Hopelessly Detail Oriented" created by [MoenMoen] | |
Niamh Chalahko [ˈniːəv ˈkaləˌkō] is an enterprising junkmonger tentatively affiliated with operations such as Rowena's House of Splendors and the Skysteel Manufactory. She is found in edifices abandoned and dilapidated, ransacking memories of technological eld for profit. Among her sundry wares, she is known to purvey anything an Imperial war machine may have within its chassis.
Backstory
Early Life
Niamh was born a decade or so before the Calamity and grew up the middle child of six in an itinerant community of extended blood relations (cousins, half-first cousins, third cousins once removed, etc). While Keepers are said to typically abide in family units of two or three, this band of Chalahkos (aka the Copperfish–an unflattering moniker inspired by their greed and social floundering) was significantly larger in number. It’s hard to give exactly what that number was, seeing as most came and went as they pleased; but when the caravan stood still long enough to get a head count (usually for supper), its company seemed to stretch about three generations, with the average individual damming between six and nine children (a quarter of which were male, and they were still expected to leave, it just... wasn’t enforced).
Their operation could be best pictured as 'organized chaos', but with even less of a principled infrastructure. Freedom was a value of chief concern to the travellers, who had long ago agreed that life was much more enjoyable if you simply did as you desired. This meant that resources and reserves held among their 'household' were never in consistent access or supply–varied counts on heads meant that demand on materials was unpredictable, and preordained responsibilities had no clear reason for being–and the collective's approach to life felt much like a pendulum in perpetual swing: get what you need, as you need it. Yet members were rarely listless or lacking direction; they did things because they wanted, and not because they had to; the system worked not because of a proclivity toward order, but to play. None among them had nothing, and all among them dreamed. Each member was self-sufficient, and self-reliant if need be. Sharing was an active choice in the group, not an expectation–envy and rivalry was no stranger of the family, but generosity–or at the least compromise–was more often the winner.
They travelled from place to place, with an itinerary that kept them mostly below the boughs of the Shroud. While they had a reputation of being opportunistic, swindling debt-evaders, the charismatic (or menacing) among them managed to keep reprisals from other communities to a minimum; and if neither charm nor intimidation found a resolution, the caravan simply skipped town till the heat subsided. That was the worst case scenario of course; a lot of leniency was granted to them, on the condition their wares remained accessible (and dynamic). Among their sundry trinkets, trifles and tinctures were composts, fertilizers; potent potions of undesirable taste; woodsin nullifiers, soulkin dissuaders; and here and there the fenced good–though these were marketed from a stance emboldened by plausible deniability. As well, a few of their band fancied themselves "treasure hunters," and sold goods they thought substantiated this claim: antiques and artifacts; supposed relics, the form of which were weapons and tomes; and, while they were often just disjointed scraps of machina, they did occasionally have for sale contraptions yet of living function.
Calamity
Niamh witnessed the Battle of Carteneau and the Fall of Dalamud, albeit from very far away. She was not a combatant on the field, but a curious kid accompanying her troublesome brothers on an expedition to see what the wartime hubbub was about. Discerning the path to the event wasn’t difficult, as every person not clad in armour had a common direction their backs were turned to. The difficult part was finding a clandestine route to viewing, which they managed by scrambling up the cliffside and establishing a vantage point in a relatively comfortable crevice.
She can’t say she remembers much of the battle–clashing waves of soldiers, too small to make out as distinct figures of nationhood; magitek armours that appeared to the youngsters as creatures of Goliath proportions; pops of light from magicks performed, beyond the wildest imaginations–but as the distance closed between Dalamud and the land, a feeling of existential dread awashed her that is still palpable to her this day. Beyond that, the memory is eclipsed in light.
Seventh Umbral Era
It took some time before the adolescents were reunited with their family. Discovered upon fleeing the battlefield and realized to be minors, they spent about a year as wards of Gridania's state–that was about the time it took for the novelty of free food and board to wear off, with some motivation found towards the end when potential parents began poking around for their preferred form and feature of waif. It took as nearly as long as they were away to rediscover their relatives, and this was just a fragment–many still are missing to this day.
Seventh Astral Era
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Appearance & Personality
Niamh is on the skinnier side of average for her race. She has a leanness about her that reads of a strenuous, dogged way of life; where meals are missed if you lack the wherewithal to capture it. Her eyes seem starved of something too – of the quench of some answer that alludes her, or the satiation security brings. She doesn't smile much, and if she does it's your canary in a coal mine; her natural countenance moves like clockwork between unabashed curiousity and disconcerting vacancy.
Her ears look average; her tail is long, but not the longest. Her lunar markings hug below her cheekbones, and extend longer than the Keeper norm. To ask of their permanency seems impolite, but they are in fact not permanent – only an inky salve applied primarily to negate the sun's glare. She has the proportions and carriage of someone who ought to be very graceful, but due to her perceived sense of infallibility, she tends to bet poorly on matters that affect maneuverability, such as wearing showy, vision-obscuring hats. On the up-side, she's the top contender for most crashing-intos of Eorzeans. Bring her to Hingashi, and she's likely to be the front runner there, too. WIP
Niamh grew up in a family where you did as you wanted, when you wanted, and where falling for a lie was worse than telling it.
| PRIMARY MOTIVATOR | Acquisition | Sense of Humor | Dry |
| Emotional Disposition | Curious | SEXUALITY | |
| Moodiness | Labile | Sexual Orientation | Asexual |
| CORE TRAITS | Libido | Low | |
| Outlook | Upbeat | Sexual Expressiveness | Low |
| Integrity | Unscrupulous | Sexual Expressive Style | Physical |
| Impulsiveness | Spontaneous | Openness to sexual experience | Low |
| Boldness | Intrepid | Promiscuousness | Low |
| Flexibility | Adaptable | RELIGION & SPIRITUALITY | |
| Affinity | Indifferent | Affiliation/Adherence | Agnostic |
| Comportment | Brazen | Tolerance | Tolerant |
| Interactivity | Talkative | Expression of beliefs | Occasional |
| Disclosure | Deceitful | Converting others | Never |
| Conformity | Freethinking | Attitude | Irreverent |
| Topics of Conversation | Blue magic; fables; hunt marks; machina; monsters; treasure | ||
| Quirks, Habits, & Oddities | Hums; doesn't like to be touched; eavesdrops; looks with her hands; poor etiquette; sings; stares; is superstitious | ||
| Hobbies & Enjoyments | Collecting; crystal-reading; dancing; exploring; gambling; games; having her fortune divined; hunting; problem-solving; visiting the aesthetician | ||
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Combat
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P.Defense |
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M.Defense |
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| Martial Prowess |
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Intelligence |
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Luck |
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Overview
Raised by blighters and brigands and brothers that fight dirty, Niamh is not above a fistful of sand to the eyes to dispatch her opponent; but brawls – beyond holdups – are not really where she shines as a knockout (they’re where she’s likely to actually be knocked out though, if the pocket sand doesn’t work). On her toes, she’s an evasive, aerial combatant, moving with the slippery elegance of someone averse to fighting, but no stranger to it (example). If backed into a corner, she'll throw everything and the kitchen sink at her enemy, although her fighting style in close quarters will always be defensive and reluctant with the intention only to incapacitate or escape. If there’s nothing around her to improvise as projectile weapons or shields, and no traps laid to lead her opponents into, the fight is as good as over and she’ll high-tail it out of there. In battle she is an unreliable ally and will flee at the first sign of serious heat. Not only that, but if the battle is over something, such as some prized, coveted object, you can bet your booty she’ll be trying to take it with her – and not because she doesn’t want it to fall "into the wrong hands." Hers are definitely the wrong hands. She is first and foremost an opportunist, and a very indebted opportunist at that. Even the most pleasant of company is unlikely to overcome this fatal flaw.
Archery
Those that rival her with the shortbow are few and far, as she's had one practically glued to her most of her waking life. She’s proficient with a longbow, but the denseness of trees where she grew up meant the farthest you could be from your target while still maintaining line of sight would be under 50 yards, so it didn’t make sense to lug around the unnecessary poundage. Niamh only got practice with longbows post-Calamity, when her family had to move westward into new hunting grounds.
If convinced to join the party, she’s a cool, collected, confident sniper that will give you the willies just by looking at her. She owns the moments with a predatory glean to her eyes, and knows her shots will hit their marks – otherwise she doesn't take them. If you tried to get her attention or talk to her while she’s shooting, she’d seem to be in a completely other world. She makes little in the way of sound, past some self-compliments, and will operate mostly on her own while managing to appear where needed; she’s a natural at anticipating the flow in a group environment and countering her opponent’s next moves – not unlike the adaptive, analytical nature of a pack-hunter who doggedly pursues their prey into their final moments. She is unlikely to purposely kill another of the race of Man, even if commanded, and shoots as such. Unpurposeful killing is another story, be it by way of bombs, booby traps, or succumbing to the wounds or blown open holes created there by. By her conscience, those are just poor luck encounters.
Magicks
She was gifted at healing pre-Calamity before she became prone to aether sickness, but successfully administrating magical medicine is less of a certainty now, as drawing upon the ambient aether to perform a curative spell will at the least cause her vertigo, if not completely debilitate her. She knows how to splint, suture, and disinfect wounds, but will also insist on the consumption of naturopathic sludge to make her patients hale and hearty again.
Affiliations
- Rowena's House of Splendors - Niamh occasionally works a stall, or a corner under some stairs like Cristiana, but more likely she'll be out in the field, snooping around for new trifles to sell. Plus the gloom in Mor Dhona makes her aether-sick and it's stifling to always wear a mask. To keep up with her contractual agreement with Rowena, Niamh splits her spoils among a few of the merchants to ensure she makes profits, even with the loss of working through an intermediary.
- Skysteel Manufactory - She hasn't been caught at it yet, but she poaches commissions she overhears through the House or around town and tries to be the first to supply the Manufactory with mechanical odds and ends. She's hoping to at least get an experimental aetherotransformer through this extracurricular.
Relationships
Family
NPCs
- The Women of Rowena's House Show text
Rumours
Other Notes
Gallery
Screenshots
Art
Trivia
Inspiration
- Lars Andersen, Archer Extraordinaire — Niamh's skill level with, and handling of, a bow
Credit
Sources In Order of Use, & Not Already Hyperlinked Above
- Infobox from Template:Infobox-TMI
- Tables from Brynhilde Wulf
- Ash's Guide to RPG Personality, found through Brynhilde Wulf
- Attributes box from Fancy Character Template
