Alfeaux Jeulerand
| Alfeaux "Alfy" Jeulerand | |
 "S-Surely there must be some c-cure for this...affliction..." | |
| Gender | Male (he/his) |
| Race | Elezen |
| Clan | Duskwight |
| Citizenship | Unaffiliated |
Basic Info
With his oversized spectacles, stuttered speech and general fear of most things, Alfeaux seems like a harmless bookworm. And for the most part, he is just that. He is, however, cursed with an ungodly strength by merit of his Amdapori ancestors, who continue to watch over (read: haunt) him. In situations of extreme distress, this sometimes leads to them possessing Alfeaux completely, transforming him into a specter of horrible power. Alfeaux himself is completely ignorant of this, however, and calls these episodes 'memory lapses'. These spirits also cause the Elementals to fear and revile him, in turn causing the Conjurers to treat him like a demon.
He can often be found reading to local children in the library/archival he lives in with his adoptive mother, or sketching flora and fauna outside of Gridania.
History
Alfeaux (birth name unknown) was born to a pair of Redbelly Bandits in the southern reaches of the Shroud. Deciding that the path his life would take if he'd stay with them was a treacherous dead end, they made plans to sneak him into an orphanage in nearby Gridania. Before they could set out, however, their hideout was raided by the Wood Wailers, and they fled into the stormy night. Realizing they had no choice, they hid their infant son on the doorstep of Rurula Lula, a Lalafellin scholar/archivist recently moved from Limsa Lominsa to study the Elementals of the Twelveswood. With a great deal of hesitation, she decided to take the Duskwight in, if only to deliver him to an orphanage later. She became incredibly attached to the child incredibly quickly, however, and decided she couldn't leave him to the hopeless future of an orphaned Duskwight in Gridania. Not knowing any Elezen names to give him, Rurula named the boy after a character from an old storybook, Alfeaux Jeulerand.
As a child, Alfeaux was bright and cheerful, but worryingly quiet. In fact, Alfeaux didn't speak a word until he had seen his seventh summer, instead communicating by gesture and scrawling on a notebook. It was around this age the symptoms of his 'condition' started to emerge. He was an easy target for bullies, as he didn't want to risk seriously hurting or even killing them by fighting back. The bullying culminated in an incident wherein a group of older children took it upon themselves to perform some 'community service' by 'branding' Alfeaux a lowly Duskwight; they held him down and slowly carved a line down his face as his screams of agony went ignored by passerby. This incident seriously scarred Alfeaux, physically and mentally. Gone was the happy, outgoing child he once was. He became withdrawn, afraid, and he stopped venturing outside. Rurula felt she had failed as a parent, and became overly protective of him as a result.
Years later, after much slow readjustment, Alfeaux started to accept the world again. In an effort to both curb his stutter and irrational fear, he started teaching and reading to children. He began to make friends who encouraged him to travel outside of Gridania, which led to him studying under Hamon Holyfist in order to learn how to control his overwhelming strength, as well as other misadventures.
Personality
Alfeaux is a childlike, gentle soul; he detests violence and views his unnatural strength as an unfortunate affliction. He is wary of strangers, but very affectionate and loving. While he doesn't anger easily, he has the potential to become a terrible engine of vengeance. Due to past trauma, he is very jumpy and nervous nearly all the time. He loves animals of all sorts (except dogs, who tend to attack him on account of his being a hive of ghosts), but has a special place in his heart for birds.
Someday, he hopes to be a botanist.
