Andras Astora

Andras Astora
[[Image:|250px]] Hey, we just go wherever there's a mixture of money and trouble, and everyone in the world is a potential customer.
Gender	Male
Race	Au'Ra
Clan	Xaela
Citizenship	Garlemald
Age	27
Height	6 Fulms, 7Ilms
Weight	200 Ponze
Profession	Mercenary
Patron Deity	None
Server	Balmung

Appearance

Andras is about the average size for most male Au'Ra. He also has the recognizable horns and scales but has no uniqueness to them. His hair is gruff and black but the most notable thing to him would be his pale white skin, it certainly would distinguish him from a crowd if one decided to look carefully enough. His skin color is also combo'd with his white iris's that sometimes have a gleam to them if viewed at the right angle.

History

His story is rather quite simple and direct. He was orphaned at age 7 and simply shifted from orphanage to orphanage in empire territory because of his appearance until he was old enough to be able to fend for himself. At age 13 he was no longer given asylum and since no family took him he was tossed out of the orphanage system he was in, but he held no grudges or disdain, he respected the fact that he was able to live so far due to those orphanages and simply moved on with his life. He soon came across a band of mercenaries who decided to take him in to do some labor and train him to eventually join the ranks, the skills he learned with those mercenaries were invaluable; Reading, writing, cooking, basic concepts of trading and bartering as well as maintaining ones gil so that you never run low. Among the teachings he was obviously taught the art of combat and tactics and was highly proficient in mastering combat techniques and remembering multiple tactics, he was trained on the use of the lance, CQC, and a gunblade but also used knives and kept some on his person always for less than desirable situations. He traveled and fought with these mercenaries for 7 years before he parted ways with them seeking to live out his own life and undertake jobs of his own desire. He also tends to be rather tricky and discreet with his words never giving anyone the full picture, this vague air around him helps when he gathers information and makes him a hard read. After building a name for himself he soon caught the eye of the Garlemald empire and was contracted by them to join in the suppression of the 1st doman rebellion. He carried out his contract perfectly and is said to have impressed some officers of the empire during his time fighting with them which subsequently involved him in other major conflicts. Once his contract was complete he was paid appropriately and left the empire territories with many connections making his way towards Eorzea seeking out more work knowing that a land as volatile as Eorzea would provide him with no end of work.

Doman Rebellion

[This section will go over in detail my characters participation in both the first and 2nd rebellion for potential hooks for any amount of characters but mainly doman]

When the Emperor had passed a succession war had strangled the garleans effectiveness to maintain their authority. In this moment some territories tried to break free from their control but none was more pressing than the people of doma and their uprising. With what means they had left to them Garlemald recruited a large number of mercenaries to garrison the troops and disrupt the doman forces as much as possible until proper order was established again within the empire. This was seen as the most effective, they cared little if swathes of mercenaries were slain so long as the kept the domans from rooting out empire facilities and strongholds.

Many mercenaries answered the empires call, with the prospect of sizable pay upon completion as well as bonuses based on contribution it was a hard contract to pass up. Those who participated knew they were no more than disposable assets to the empire however they also knew that above anything else results was all that mattered in the end and so long as the produced the money would come. Once enough of the the mercenaries had been gathered they were transported and dispersed in and around doman territories, They were to then coordinate with the garlean forces already present to stop the momentum of the rebellion.

Andras was transported to the east othard coastline off the ruby sea, this area was facing fierce combat as it was serving as a bridgehead for many garlean forces to coordinate from and a means for them to get to Castrum Fulminis. Upon arrival he was given the task of getting past the doman forces and start sabotaging supply lines so that there can be a push into Yanxia to create a forward base at Castrum Fluminis. Due to constant doman surveillance it was difficult for him to get by the defensive perimeter so he decided to acquire some clothing that would at a glance identify him as a rebel and then insert himself into the next skirmish and feign injury to retreat into Yanxia. The plan worked, during the chaos of the fight and few exaggerated shouts he was taken away from the skirmish and placed with other injured fighters, before anyone would notice he slipped out and away from the main force and quickly hid himself within some rocky territory on the outskirts of the village of Namai. It was from this village he was able to observe the various comings and goings of rebel fighters as well as some upper echelon forces such as ninja and samurai. Eventually a supply convoy arrived, upon seeing this he quickly kept track of those who arrived with the convoy and as they left carefully began to shadow them. After quite a distance of travel the group arrived at a large facility with a decent but rather unnoticeable port in which multiple convoy's can be seen coming and going. He had found a supply depot but was know way stupid enough to try and take it on himself; instead he began to deduce timetables of certain convoy's and try figure out the rough routes they were traveling. Once he had gathered enough information he made his way to Castrum Fluminis that was under heavy guard to try and get some more proper gear before he began to raid supply convoy's. Getting into the Castrum was quite nerve wracking, all his observation made him keenly aware of the ninja that lurk within the lands and their knack for subtlety, he only managed mere glimpses of them at the supply base but it was enough to give him cause for more caution at least until he had some more equipment. After getting past the perimeter guards and deftly dodging the sentinels he made his way into what seemed to be an arms depot and eventually found equipment that was serviceable for the job at hand until he got his own gear back. Leaving the Castrum as carefully as he came in he began camp out routes where potential supplies would go through and prepare ambushes should the odds look in his favor.

Luckily for andras while there was urgency many of the supply convoys were easy pickings due to how lightly they were guarded. This may have been a result of forces being to spread thin or a lack of foresight to enemy attack so close within their own territory, either way he managed to destroyed a number of supply shipments mainly those that were heading towards the cost. These successful strike eventually had effect and garlean forces eventually forced a slow retreat of doman forces allowing them to gain a foothold into yanxia, upon learning about the successful push andras decided to regroup with the garlean forces to relay the information he had gathered as well as acquire his own armaments to be more effective. Unfortunately for him his success did not go unnoticed and a lord with an adequate guard that would defeat him in no time if cornered were beginning to get on his trail and pursue him. Andras decided to lay a trap at a bridge towards the direction of the east othard coast, he had to leave just enough of a trail to convince them of someone trying to get back to allies; the lord and his guards arrived at the bridge and began to cross, unknown to them andras had managed to place himself under the middle of the bridge with raging river waters below them. Once the lord and his guards reached the middle he dexterously maneuvered his way to the top of the bridge placing him in the middle of the guards and in front of the lord; a tense momentary silence was had before the lord was tackled and carried up and over the bridge, there a brief scream and shout was heard before the two were taken by the rivers waters. With a tight grip both of them were tossed about mercilessly in the river hitting various rock formations before slowing and washing up on a river bank. The lord although battered quickly got up and drew his blade, locating a motionless andras a bit away he readied himself and closed in on him to deal an assured deathblow, right before the strike could be made andras swept his right arm out with a dagger in hand catching the lords leg with the subsequent force causing him to topple over and lose momentary grasp of his blade. In sheer moments andras got up, grabbed the blade and drove it into the lords heart; a pained groan and a spurt of blood came out, the lord locked eyes with andras with a cold gaze and coarsley said with his last breath "Doma will be free."

Leaving the area quickly and dicreetly before the guards could catch up andras managed to regroup with the garlean forces, after relaying the information to the commander he was given the new assignment to aid in the assault of the supply depot he located. After reacquiring his equipment and arensal and a few days rest due to strategic planning of the assault he was ready to head back into the field.

News of the lords death and the subsequent garlean presence making its way into yanxia quickly traveled, soon other lords were eager to find and kill andras to avenge their fallen comrade as well as force back out the garlean forces. Some ninja clans were to also keep an eye out for him and eliminate him should the opportunity arise, they had a somewhat adequate description from the lords guard that they can go on which was more than enough for them to pick him out.

Once the necessary preparations were made A sizable garlean force was marched to the supply depot under the cover of night, Andras was wearing the equipment he used when taking on the most important of his contracts. It was a wyvern made black coat that was attached in tandem to a custom built magitek armor andras had requested for gathering many of the materials off the black market, his pants were made of an extremely tough leather hide with some light metal plating interwoven for ease of movement and some aptly designed combat boots. His helmet was one of his favorite pieces though, it was designed with magitek in mind as well to help get aetheric readings to prepare for any unexpected magics, also due to the magitek his field of vison was not obscured despite it being a helmet that encompasses his whole head. Due to the technology the eye slits of his helmet give off an off putting glow that certainly throws off an opponent every now and then.

During the march at various intervals the troops were assaulted by the ninja of doma who thrived in a night assualt. The attacks were pinpoint as well often only aiming to take out a single officer or breakdown the nerves of the soldiers. Upon arrival at the depot while battered and bruised the garlean force was ever commited to taking out the depot however due to the ninja assaults the defenses were significantly bolstered and may very well be able to fend off the assault, there were also some banners of noble houses taking part in the defense. Clearly they were ready for the night assault so the garlean forces were left with little choice other than to smash into the defenses and break the opponent before they could recover; The battle began when a line of garlean troops with ranged weaponry began to bombard both the troops and the depot with a sustained fire as the main force charged in and once the two forces clashed nothing but chaos would take hold until a victor was determined. As the battle was progressing the garlean side began to wane slightly, strategic strikes were still being placed upon officers and the such that were well camouflaged within the battle. There was a seperate entity lurking within the doman forces that was operating on the field in a more covert matter, realizing this andras who not wanting to lose out on a chance to earn more pay decided to try and bait them. He found a banner with an interesting design and started to charge towards it with the intent of killing the lord of that banner, at this point he became a sturdy wall of death; his armor protected him from many blows and he utilized some explosive rounds that his gunblade had to create the occasional space. Seeing this some garlean commanders directed some troops into the path he was carving to reinforce him and split the enemy defenses. Soon he broke into the area where the lord and his main guard were, this time there was no pause, immediately a male and female samurai sprung forth and clashed with him. Knowing his time was extremely limited he primed his gunblade causing a strange hum, trying to stop him both samurai swung for a lethal strike but was too late as he pierced the ground with his gunblade causing a large explosion kicking up dirt and gravel obscuring vison. Both samurai had been blown back as well as other guards who closed in, in the midst of the cloud of dirt and debris the helmet andras wore was able to pick out the lords location; although damaged himself due to detonating his explosives point blank his armor was designed to compensate somewhat for such forces. Quickly piercing rounds were loaded into his gunblade and before anyone could act he fired his weapon which hit the lord straight in the heart and fell instantly. As angry shouts could be heard as a rebel soldier tried to strike andras from behind but was pierced by the gunblade in an instant, andras wanted to melt back into the chaotic battle before visibility returned but was being held in place by the soldier who forcefully held the gunblade in him. As visibility returned the male samurai was already closing in on andras to deal a lethal blow, acting quickly and with a feat of strength put the soldier between him and the samurai; a slight faltering moment was had with the samurai and that was all andras needed. He discharged the remaining piercing rounds in his gunblade going right through the soldier and hitting the shocked samurai who took one step forward and raised his blade before falling backwards dead. The soldier now dead was also removed from the gunblade with a kick, remaining alert andras saw the female samurai charging towards him with bloodshot eyes and a blood curdling scream but before she could get closer the garlean troops that were trailing behind him arrived and began to strike down other assailants who had closed in. Seeing this the female samurai angrily retreated with an injured ally further into the depot, some eager garleans tried to pursue but were cut down by other samurai who were covering the retreat. Catching a momentary breath in the chaos the covert force had still not taken the bait however a shift in the battlefield was occurring due to garlean forces breaking so deep into the enemy lines the doman forces formation was breaking and reforming to compensate. Seeing the fallen lords banner andras smirked a bit and told one of the garlean troops to set it ablaze, carrying the banner with one hand and his gunblade in the other he picked out another banner and began marching towards it; upon seeing this sight many domans who tried to stop him were shouting the word "Onryo" at him, he didn't know what it meant but he imagined it wasn't something flattering.

With the aid of some garlean troops he made his way more easily to the next lord and this time without the theatrics of an explosion was able to elminiate both the lord and most of his personal guard. This time there was visible stir among the domans, formations started to break more easily and some were beginning to outright retreat; the covert units also changed priority as there was less disuprtion in the chain of command now. A few moments later a full on retreat was ordered, various smoke bombs begin to explode all over the battlefield, the garleans were unaccustomed to this tactic so many of the domans were able to make their way to the port where a number of transports were at the ready. The transports were equipped with an array of cannons making an approach with a large force difficult, andras decided to sift through the smoke to try and catch an officer or some person of relevance before they managed to retreat but he was cutoff by some doman ninja. Upon examination he saw that there were various insignia's adorned on them, he laughed a bit and taunted them saying he may as well start collecting the banners and insignias of those he killed to get a decent collection going. Suddenly one of the ninja broke away and engaged him, this however was not intended by the others and they shouted for the lone ninja to return but it as too late. Even though andras had not much experience facing the ninja, based on their tactics leading up to here he had a grasp on some generalities and most importantly noted they not the most armored unit on the field making them a bit more vunerable than the average unit but made up for it an excessive lethality. Knowing this he shouted to any garlean troops amidst the smoke nearby to fire upon his location, immediately various shots rang out and although the shots were wildly off it was enough of a threat for the lone ninja to slow his approach which allowed andras to fire a round at the ninjas feet kicking up more dirt obscuring his already limited vision. More depserate shouts could be heard from the other ninja who started to run towards him but as was the case he was faster, the gunblade ran through the ninja's armor and body quite easily. Andras grabbed the insignia off the ninja as he pushed him off the blade and stared at the other ninja mockingly noting "Thats one to the collection"; the smoke was beginning to clear and the garlean troops were regrouping for another push to secure the rest of the facility. Seeing this the ninja in charged shouted what was probably orders of retreat to the others who seemed ready to attack andras, they begrudgingly disappeared into the smoke while the leader stared a cold gaze at him and said "Grudges will not be forgotten Onryo" to which he replied "Everyone has a grudge in war, get in line" with that the other ninja vanished as the smoke cleared.

(Still being worked on)

Personality

In order to find work he is no stranger to social banter and the such and is quite considerate with his words but at the same time never truly reveals his full hand nor complete intent. He often talks a bit of a causal tone while also being able to speak respectably or tactfully should it be required. People who often talk of pride or honor or tradition tempt him to sometimes ridicule the person or persons in question, he often finds people like those are more prone to betray an ally more than a street rat. At last with the street rat you never lose the mind to keep an eye on them.

Affiliations and Known Associates

As mercenary he is associated with a wide assortment of people and organizations, he has strong ties to the Empire due to his service in doman but it does not make him abide to them unconditionally.

Characteristics

• Nicknames: N/A
• Age: 27
  • Nameday: 13th Sun of the 6th Umbral Moon
• Gender: Male
  • Sexuality: Heterosexual
  • Marital Status: Single
• Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
• Height: 6'1
• Weight: 200 Ponze
• Body: Athletic
• Hair: Black
• Eyes: White
• Skin:Pale white
• Clothing: Wears various attire when not on the jobs but always makes sure its attire that will not interfere to heavily with his movements should he need to fight in them.

Likes

• Optimism
• Intrigue
• Resolve
• Word Play
• Reading

Dislikes

• Hubris
• Ignorance
• Arrogance
• Honor
• Pride

Areas of Expertise

• Martial: Well versed in combat, Has a tendency towards Lance, CQC and Gunblade
• Crafting: Only proficient enough to maintain his own gear
• Other:

Strengths

• Combat
• Strategy
• Negotiation
• Determined
• Unyielding

Weaknesses

• Grey moral compass
• Self preservation
• Committed to jobs once contracted
• No loyalty
• Adverse to politicians/nobility (But will take and complete a job if given by such types)

Other Notes

Religion

None-He believes in a higher force but will simply wait and see for himself where death takes him rather than revere deities and follow fractured followings.

Quirks

Tends to make light of numerous situations despite what the overall atmosphere may be like.

Equipment

His battle and or field gear is a wide assortment of equipment for various situations, some for surveillance and to blend in while others are used for general combat and or tasks. However when conducting his most prioritized contract he tends to equip some variations of magitek weaponry and armor due to his connections he is able to provision some for himself.

Rumours

They are not in any centralized location and can be caught wind of in many areas since he travels often as a mercenary.

Common rumours

• "Believe me as long as you don't cross him that is a man who can get the job done."
• "I heard there is a mercenary hailing from the empire that worth his weight in gil ."
• "Rather than taking money from a noble who tried cheating him he simply allied himself with the nobles enemy so he could be contracted to deal with him"

Uncommon rumours

• Sometimes the alliance and companies mention a rogue wanderer in magitek gear who engages them.
• Someone managed to acquire himself some magitek arsenals off the black market... the things bought are rumored to have been in use during the doman rebellion.
• I think I saw that mercenary at a tournament or two, and seem more interested in those fighting than fighting himself

Rare rumours

• "The domans are still looking for some of the more serious offenders during the rebellion, One of the mercenaries they are looking for was quite thorough making him still wanted to this day."

Known Haunts

You might have run into or otherwise know NAME from: