Annunu Nunu

Annunu Nunu
The Cherry Blossom Socialite
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OOC Character Information
Main Job(s):	Ninja
Main Tradeskill:	• None •
Preferred Role:	DPS
Server:	Balmung
Status
Alignment:	Chaotic Neutral
Reputation:	Flies under the radar
Occupation:	Socialite/Assassin
Education:	Educated
Marital Status:	Formerly Engaged
Sexuality:	Heterosexual
Guardian:	Azeyma, the Warden
Free Company
NB-XI
Items Carried
• Hidden poisoned daggers • Assassin tools • Nymian ring
Characteristics
Race:	Lalafell
Clan:	Plainsfolk
Age:	35
Height:	3 fulm, 1 ilm
Weight:	42 ponze
Eyes:	Blue
Hair:	Deep pink
Complexion:	Pale
Physical Build:	Average
Notable Features:	White tattoo on cheek

Attributes
	Strength	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █		P.Defense	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
	Dexterity	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █		M.Defense	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
	Martial Prowess	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █		Intelligence	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
	Magic Affinity	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █		Luck	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █

Annunu Nunu, also known as "An" (pronounced "Ahn), is a mature Lalafell woman who lives a double, and sometimes triple, life. To almost all that meet her or know of her, she is the Cherry Blossom Socialite, a rich, as yet unwed heiress who circulates among Ul'dah's elite, a Monetarist with a ready smile and a light, tittering laugh. To the few who truly know her - an amount that can be tallied on one hand - she is a serious, reserved assassin in the service of the Syndicate, a position she inherited from her father.

Basic Info

Annunu Nunu is the adopted daughter of a well-to-do Hyur merchant prince, whose fortune only increased exponentially during the years of her childhood. Her father owned an estate overlooking Camp Drybone just south of the Golden Bazaar. An, as her father always called her, grew up with every social and material advantage, and from her teenage years, was a fixture at balls and parties thrown by the wealthy of Ul'dah, as was her gregarious father.

In secret, An's father was a notorious assassin who emigrated from Doma when he was just getting his feet under him, in response to some mysterious circumstances in his homeland. He found Ul'dahn society welcoming to anyone with money, and soon gained the trust of the wealthy and influential, both on a social level, and as a professional assassin for hire who specialized in discreet and natural-looking killings. For reasons unknown, An's father was contracted to kill her parents. He had not known at the time they had a toddler child, and he spared the baby, instead choosing to take the child under his wing. An was reared in her father's traditions, learning the art of dagger-fighting, how to conduct assassinations, poisons, and ambushes, stealth and infiltration, all at a young age.

An's father died during the chaos of the Calamity, and few in Ul'dahn society questioned the death, coming at such a tumultuous time. An became an extremely wealthy heiress, and as such as quite eligible among the opportunistic elite class of merchants and moneymakers, but she as yet remains unwed, usually deflecting politically-minded suitors with a laugh and a joke. Despite rejecting such offers, she remains well-regarded among Ul'dah's elite for her social charms and her ability to play politics, keeping herself deftly above the fray while in all factions' good graces, a skill learned from her father.

While An is skilled at presenting herself as social and blithe as the Cherry Blossom Socialite, her true motivations and behaviors are often shrouded in mystery. To her few confidants, she has occasionally spoken of a "curse" she has inherited from her father, who was also her Master. Her father was quite withdrawn and reserved in private, and An has said that she only saw one true smile from him in all of her years of knowing him - upon the day of his death.

Likes ■ Order and tranquility. ■ Financial security. ■ Fulfilling what is expected of her. ■ The safety to be herself and show her true face.

Dislikes ■ Chaos; uncertainty. ■ Not knowing anything about a situation. ■ Being manipulated. ■ Feeling unnecessary/unneeded. ■ Prejudice and pre-judging.

Other ■ Alignment: Chaotic Neutral ■ Favorite Food: Purple Drops; Doman cuisine ■ Favorite Drink: Juice; secretly likes the Quicksand's ale ■ Favorite Color: White

Appearance & Personality

Annunu is a relatively tall, pale-skilled Lalafell with a moderately athletic physique and long, vivid pink hair usually bound in two long twintails. This gives her a girlish appearance despite her age. She has large blue eyes and a very serious natural expression.

Quirks

Acts like a well-meaning but slightly airheaded socialite when in the presence of those she doesn't know. This is characterized by an open, caring smile and frequent soft giggles.

Her true personality is very serious and focused, reserved, and mission-focused. Smiles and laughs while in this role are far rarer - but are actually genuine.

Her voice is soft and her manner of speaking is very precise and educated. She is secretly fluent in Doman, taught by her father, but tends to conceal this fact as it underscores a Doman connection that she should not by rights have.

When startled, she is quick to violence and taking violent measures, almost as if scared for her life.

Strengths

Reserved, quiet, studious, prone to fully examining a situation and making accurate observations.

A skilled actress and social chameleon.

Intensely loyal to the few she considers friends.

Knowledgeable about stealth/infiltration tactics, poisons, traps, and assassination techniques. Has also picked up some spy tradecraft.

Weaknesses

Overprotective of those she cares for to a fault. Can be easily manipulated by those feelings.

Has a disregard for her own life and safety that borders on the suicidal.

Shuts down emotionally when things get difficult.

Not physically strong; her attack style is based on complete surprise, so she can be easily overwhelmed if forced into direct confrontation.

Biography

Childhood

Annunu, an only child adopted by her father after he assassinated her parents, was trained meticulously to be his successor in all things from a young age, learning the arts of the assassin as other children learn toys and games. Her father's most deadly technique - being the man that all would least suspect to be an assassin, and therefore achieving complete tactical surprise - was passed down in full to An, who adopted the guise and persona of the Cherry Blossom Socialite. Hiding behind a bubbly and lighthearted social guise, An had access to the highest echelons of Ul'dahn society, who provided both employers and victims.

Her father also taught and modeled for her a mantra of complete stillness, of emotional detachment and disengagement. His clan was cursed, he claimed; as the last of a clan of assassins, the curse fell upon them that they were to fall before the blade of the one they loved the most. An fulfilled the curse - and inherited it - when she killed her father in the aftermath of the Calamity. Although she claims to have accepted her eventual fate, she also lives in terror of it. Because of the curse, her father attempted to raise her as one who would never care for anyone.

However, when An was a child, a wandering storyteller and his musician wife stopped by a nearby village to her father's manor. She watched their performances and was deeply moved. With the certainty of a child, she announced that she loved the storyteller, and despite her father's punishments, she attached to the idea of the vagabond as an object for her affections. This preserved her capacity to care for others - though she has something of a skewed perspective of how to form relationships as a result, seeming to sometimes arbitrarily pick someone to care for as if at random.

Adulthood

As An grew into a young woman, she lived a dual life; she became a debutante on the Ul'dahn social scene even as her training continued under the watchful eye of her Master and father. She began to accompany, and then assist him in his own work, seeing firsthand how he could be friendly and gregarious with someone that he would later accept a contract to kill without blinking an eye. She absorbed her father's emotionless, unflinching acceptance of duty, his dedication to the mission, his complete denial of self.

After the Calamity, An decided the time was right to take on the mantle of assassin for herself. Her father was starting to grow slower, clumsier, and was courting more and more danger. With cold logic and rationality, An assessed that it was only a matter of time - and short time at that - before he was caught and exposed. Such exposure would not only destroy him, but would tarnish his legacy, making it impossible for An to take on the same dual role of social butterfly and secret assassin. As he had always told her he expected her to kill him someday, she did just that, ambushing him at their own manor and knifing him in the ribs. He died in her arms, smiling at her for the first time and telling her that he loved her.

After that point, An was truly on her own, and she moved to Ul'dah, letting the family manor fall into disrepair. She had inherited a surprisingly vast fortune from her father, but money did little for her, save as an assurance of stability and constancy, things that An valued. Having her father's connections already, she simply entered the same role that he had taken, and while some of her clients may have suspected the junior assassin of clearing the way to becoming the senior one, they accepted her once she proved herself as reliable, discreet, and effective as her father had been.

Present

To An's surprise, in the course of her work she again heard of the storyteller of her youth, Chuta Allfriend, and his upcoming performance at a pilgrimage to honor Nald'thal. An went to meet him, and soon had confessed her early-in-life attachment to the old storyteller and his work. Widowed now, Chuta seemed to appreciate her feelings, and he became her confidante and then her mate. An hid nothing from him, fully disclosing her work, her dual life, and her curse to the gray Miqo'te vagabond. She went so far as to openly declare their relationship in her life as the Cherry Blossom Socialite as well, which caused no amount of scandal in Ul'dahn society, and was perhaps a misstep as it was dangerously out of character for that persona.

An and Chuta's relationship continued apace, but An noticed that Chuta seemed discomfited with her work. He seemed to dislike the risks she took as an assassin, the potential for disaster should her extended social deception be discovered, and in general An's disregard for her own life and safety in the course of the mission. An had little need for additional money, so under Chuta's urging, An began to wonder if she should retire - which was compounded when Chuta proposed to her publicly at the Celebration of the Scholar.

However, the Thaliak pilgrimage was the site of a major turning point in Annunu's life, as she met a mysterious Lalafell at the pilgrimage that first she knew only under the obvious assumed name of "Oan". Surly, suspicious, and disparaging of all of the events around him, the green-haired, violet-eyed man sparked An's curiosity, and she spent half of the event contemplating whether or not to kill him with an advantageous strike to the back. But as the night continued, she realized she felt a pull toward him that had not been there before, and she decided to seek him out after the event. Meeting up with him in Fallgourd Float, she pledged him her aid in his endeavors, as "Master Oan" (as she referred to him) was clearly steeped in a purpose. Soon An had become his right hand and a Commander in the mercenary group Khamja, a group dedicated to the violent overthrow of the Garlean Empire in revenge for the fall of Doma. Her involvement with Khamja and dedication to Oan led to the dissolvement of her engagement to Chuta, and the relationship between them seemed to completely disappear.

Having no personal like or dislike of the Garleans, An's participation in Khamja was strictly personal. Master Oan was a man filled with hate and an obsession with vengeance, and time spent with him did little to convince him of her loyalty or dedication. Oan often treated her poorly, dismissively, and suspiciously. Still, she utilized her specialized skills to assist his mission, and gradually, the man began to open up to her, include her in his plans, and see her as more than a tool to direct at his whim. Privately, An was convinced Oan needed her. She thought perhaps she could draw him back from the very brink of his self-destructive need for vengeance. Khamja was being utilized by Oan not as a precise instrument but as a blunt object, and An feared for Oan's safety - fearing that he sought to do as much damage to the Garleans as possible before his own life was snuffed out. On the very eve of a planned assault on several Castrums simultaneously, An gave Oan a purple drop - saying that the candy reminded her of his eyes - and for the first time, he revealed his own name: Gogonji Gegenji.

The assault was a failure, and Gogonji's plans were stopped by his younger brother and a cadre of adventurers, fearful that Khamja's unsubtle activities would draw Eorzea into an all-out war. An tried to stop the reunification of the brothers - Gogonji's paranoia had led him to believe that his younger brother, whom he thought dead, was a Garlean plant - but when she was overcome, she fled to Gogonji's side, and to her shock, he protected her and healed her. But his hubris and overextension of his powers led inevitably to his downfall, leaving An to weep at his side as he was overwhelmed by the powers of the many soulstones he had attempted to utilize at once.

An helped nurse Gogonji back to health, but to spare him the trauma - and potential execution - that would result from a trial, she turned herself in to the Ul'dahn authorities, confessing to having financed and helped direct Khamja. She traded heavily upon her social and material capital to avoid most consequences, but a magistrate sentenced her to three million gil as a fine, and she had come to the attention of Ul'dah's internal security service, led by Captain Rosewater, an accomplished and capable spymaster who had been tracking An's activities as an assassin for cycles. Rosewater's influence meant that An had to undergo a "security review" by his service, which translated into An's forced servitude with the Sultansworn captain. He clasped an explosive choker around her neck to ensure her compliance and obedience, and used her as a personal tool, under threat of Gogonji being hunted and forced to justice. But An had not given up, and with Gogonji's help, began to devise a way to bring Rosewater down, discredit him and win her own freedom...

Miscellaneous

Rumors ◢ Common Rumors (Easily overheard) ■ "She's called the 'Cherry Blossom Socialite' by some - probably just because of the pink hair and no brains behind it." -- Snide Socialite ■ "Near rich enough to take on the Syndicate, but a Christmas cake at this point." -- Garrulous Gossipmonger ■ "I heard she was arrested for financing an illegal mercenary group - it was written up in the papers!" -- Intrigued Ingenue ◢ Moderate Rumors (Moderately difficult to overhear) ■ "She used to come around here sometimes with a gray-haired Miqo'te old enough to be her father. Awful!" -- Baffled Bartender ■ "Oh, Annunu? She's got her own way of doing things, that's for sure. Sometimes she has an empty look in her eye that seems like she doesn't feel anything at all." -- Particular Patron ◢ Rare Rumors (Very difficult or rarely overheard) ■ "When she shows up at the Gilded Knuckle, people die shortly thereafter. Always seems like an accident, but always happens." -- Knowledgeable Knifehand ◢ PC Rumors (Rumors from the character's of other players) Please feel free to add your own rumors! ■ "She's a nice lady, fer sure. Prolly one o' tha nicer people I've met. I jus' hope she's alrigh'..." - Kokoporo Apaporo ■ "An is... more than you know... more than you could ever know..." - Gogonji Gegenji ■

Relations   Color Key  ♥  Romantic: Romantic interest in this person.  ♥  Familial: Intimate friends/confidantes, platonic love.  ♥  Friendly: Friends that may or may not know her true self.  ●  Good: Friendly acquaintance.  ●  Neutral: Acquaintance, no true familiarity.  ●  Negative: Enemy.   Chuta Allfriend (  ♥  ) An's childhood crush, first love, and former fiance, the gray-haired Miqo'te storyteller holds a special place in her heart even though they have seemingly drifted apart.   Gogonji Gegenji (  ♥  ) An is selflessly devoted to Gogonji, whom she calls "Master Gogonji." She has served him faithfully at his side since the time of the Thaliak pilgrimage and through present day. Perhaps her attachment to him speaks of something stronger than even the strongest bond of friendship, but if such is the case, she has not spoken to anyone about it.   Koporo Aporo (  ♥  ) A Dunesfolk Lalafell of her own age, An has grown closer to him during the time of her trials under Captain Rosewater. Although she likes and admires the other Monetarist, she fears he would hate her if he knew her true self, so keeps him at a bit of a distance.   Chachanji Gegenji (  ♥  ) Although it is highly unlikely he considers her a friend, An has a soft spot in her heart for Master Gogonji's younger brother, and has kept something of a protective eye over him since their initial meeting many pilgrimages ago. Knowing he was Gogonji's blood has increased her resolve to watch over him and keep him safe. She would like to get to know him better.   Dren Gonne (  ♥  ) Met at the Menphina pilgrimage, An sensed the other Lalafell was similar to herself, in skills and temperament - but with less discipline. Still, she felt drawn to him, enough to want to get to know him better.   Warren Castille (  ●  ) A Free Paladin who assisted Chachanji and his friends to defeat An and Gogonji, An now discreetly rents a room from him as a safe haven. She is somewhat intimidated by the man and his houseguests, and makes herself scarce, hoping he doesn't think ill of her after the altercation at the Castrum.   Leanne Delphium (  ●  ) An and Leanne came into conflict when Leanne stumbled upon Gogonji at the Bobbing Cork prior to the confrontation at the Castrum. Leanne wanted to force a reunion between Gogonji and Chachanji, and was attempting to take his earring. In defense of Gogonji, An attacked her and covered his retreat. Although An attempted to explain to Leanne that Gogonji's paranoia and mental state were not ready for such a reunion, the hatted songstress did not listen and declared enmity and animosity for An. Since Gogonji's defeat at the Castrum, An has had few interactions with Leanne, but after Koporo and An had a brief conversation with Leanne at the Grindstone, An warily concedes that it seems she and Leanne have no more reason to quarrel.   Captain Rosewater (  ●  ) Rosewater - likely an alias - has been a thorn in An's side since he first apprehended Chuta in an attempt to find out more information on An. Her enslavement by the Sultansworn captain has resulted in a lot of mental and emotional anguish for the Lalafell, and she finds him depraved, immoral, predatory, and intimidating. She has resolved to eliminate him by one means or another.

Footnotes

TV Tropes: Hitman With A Heart Professional Killer Ninja Stepford Smiler Beneath the Mask Sugar and Ice Personality

Templates by Bancroft Gairn and L'aenoh Tia