Bennegar Moore (Altvim)
 Bennegar Moore
| |
 Bennegar with his late father's Book of Iron. | |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | Miqo'te |
| Clan | Seekers of the Sun |
| Citizenship | Limsa Lominsa |
| Age | 28 |
| Grand Company | Maelstrom |
| Rank | Second Storm Lieutenant |
| Free Company | Driftwood Coast |
| Main Class | Arcanist/Conjurer |
| Alignment | True Neutral |
Basic Info
A Second Storm Lieutenant of the Limsa Lominsa Maelstrom, Bennegar Moore is always ready for adventure and relishes a good fight. While he prefers to use his vast Aetheric talent in battle, he is ever wary that use of this power could very easily consume and destroy him. So, he regularly practices more martial arts, focusing primarily on the single-target, melee combat found in Pugilism and Lancework. He detests being the enemy's focus, and deigns instead to assault a target from the flank and rear while more hardy allies take the brunt of the attack.
History
Bennegar Moore was once a tame, shy miqo'te, son of one of the most accomplished Arcanists in Eorzea, Nixirmus Moore. His father was a First Storm Lieutenant of the Limsa Lominsa Maelstrom Grand Company, a title that he held with honor and loyalty. When Bennegar's adopted, hyur brother, Nero, went off adventuring, Nixirmus hassled Bennegar to follow in his brother's footsteps, to find glory and power in the greater Realm. However, Bennegar deigned to instead stay at home, practicing Alchemy to help his father in his work, a choice that Nixirmus very reluctantly supported his son in.
However, things changed when Bennegar and his father were on vacation in Costa del Sol. As Bennegar jogged along the beach early one morning, he came across the bloody, shredded remains of a hyur body. Being naive and optimistic, he rushed to the aid of this surely still-living young man, only to find that it was his brother, Nero. And he was very clearly dead and had been for quite some time. The event horrifyingly traumatized Bennegar, emotionally, and he became a recluse, staying exclusively in his father's quarters, simply sitting on the floor, facing the shrine that had been built in his brother's honor. He stayed like that for almost four years, only ever standing up to eat, sleep, and relieve himself. His body atrophied to the point of nearly wasting away, and a nurse was employed to make sure that he didn't chase Nero into the afterlife.
When the Garlean Empire stood ready to attack Eorzea at Carteneau, Bennegar had spent almost a year recovering, having finally been snapped out of his depression by his father's stern, sometimes even cruel words. He still loved his father dearly, but Nero's death had changed him. Nixirmus was cold, distant, and regularly disapproving of his son's lacking skill in anything useful. Bennegar protested strongly against his father going to Carteneau, stating that he didn't want to lose his father, too. The night before Nixirmus left for battle, he disowned his son, attacking him in his quarters and casting him out into the night.
As Bennegar walked, he heard a familiar voice in his head, that of a childhood nightmare -- Ruby. It spoke to him about another way to live, another path that he might take. As Dalamud's glow bathed the land in a crimson light, Ruby showed itself to be much, much more than a nightmare or hallucination. It attacked Bennegar's mind, shocking his spirit into submission. It led him through an otherworldly plane between worlds, an excursion he remembers nothing of.
He awoke from the feverish dreaming to find the beach around him wreathed in hellfire. Dalamud was gone from the sky, and there was nothing left of Limsa, from what he could see. As he cast around in the smoky gloom, trying to make sense of things, his right eye burst into pain so intense that his body shut down, leaving him curled up on the beach for nearly three days.
A group of refugees found him and took him to the very last ship in the Lominsan fleet, which was set to bear any and all who would go from Eorzea. A staggeringly small amount of people went on this voyage, leaving plenty of room for a young Conjurer by the name of Elizabeth Vita to heal Bennegar's wounds. She could do nothing for his eye, but she healed him to the best of her ability and gave him company as he recovered. There were three children on the ship who helped to recuperate the injured miqo'te through playing games of "Catch the Moogle" and "Pirates and Sahagin". Thanks to this care and healing, Bennegar made a full recovery within a moon.
After two moons on the ship, Bennegar and Lizzy, as she liked to be called, formed a special bond. He had not told his entire story to her, as he couldn't even wrap his head around it, himself, let alone explain it in any cohesive manner. But he finally told her his entire story, even leaving in the details about Ruby invading his mind. Lizzy found herself overcome with sadness at how such a kind soul could have endured so much, and she embraced him, telling him that he couldn't give up, and that he had to find a reason to live, no matter what. Realizing that his reason to live now held him in her arms, he confessed his love for her and they spent the night together in his quarters.
When they awoke the next morning, the ship had begun its final approach to the Near East. Without even thinking about it, Bennegar raised his left hand and snapped his fingers at the door, muffling the sound. Suddenly realizing that he had not only used magicks, but that he had done so without even a single bit of concentration, Bennegar sat up suddenly and tried to explain himself to Lizzy, who lay next to him. He found a scar in the shape of a complex magick circle on his left palm, and Lizzy discovered that she, too, had a similar scar on her right palm. All at once, they realized that they could feel each other's hearts, hear each other's minds, and were, in effect, the same soul in two different people. Somehow, during their nighttime union, they had become Aetherscarred, binding their auras together in a way that made their spirits indistinguishable from one another. It had even healed Bennegar's right eye, which now matched Lizzy's witht he same shade of green. Her left eye was also changed, having become the same bright, piercing green as Bennegar's. They reveled in this, as they were now so impossibly in love with each other that no force yet known could tear them apart.
They were wed immediately after disembarking, adopting the three orphans from the ship as their own. Bennegar discovered that he had an uncle who was filthy rich, and had an expansive estate in the Near East. His uncle, Lord van Liefson, agreed to let them stay in his mansion, since he was almost always traveling and exploring. They lived there for almost five years, learning, laughing, and loving with each other. Bennegar gained a deep understanding of his father's art, Arcanism, and Lizzy's teachings granted him powerful healing abilities, akin to the Scholars of Ancient Nihm. Lizzy also learned powerful Thaumaturgic spells, which she could use in defense of her family, should the need ever arise.
But after five years, both Lizzy and Bennegar knew that something was amiss back in Eorzea. Every so often, one would catch the other's gaze and know that he would have to go back. And so, Bennegar finally packed up all of his gear and departed for Eorzea, the land of his birth, leaving his wife and children on the docks, waving to him. He parted with a reminder to his lover: "Remember; we are ALWAYS together."
Upon arrival in Limsa Lominsa, Bennegar was greeted by a Maelstrom officer, who stated that his father had left detailed instructions for them should his son ever be found after the Calamity. Confused, and amazed that his father had thought of him at any point after disowning him, Bennegar followed the officer to Maelstrom Command. There, he was given a parcel, addressed to him, with a picture of him affixed to the side. Within was contained his father's Book of Iron, a tome that Bennegar had helped to craft, himself. Within the front cover was a list of locations that he was to visit. Knowing that this must have something to do with the itch at the back of his mind, he set out, visiting each location.
At each place on the list, he found a piece of a spell circle that only he could see. He copied each piece down, collecting all eight of them from the farthest reaches of Eorzea. The last of them was found etched into a huge piece of corrupted crystal at Carteneau, and Bennegar knew that, without a doubt, the final piece of the puzzle was left for him by his father during his last moments of life. Feeling a twinge of guilt at his father's thoughts of him before dying, Bennegar returned to the Seventh Heaven bar at Revenant's Toll, where he drew the completed circle in his father's tome. It was a summoning circle that incorporated parts of the summoning sigils for both Emerald and Topaz Carbuncle, the typical summons that every Arcanist learns. He immediately began scribing the Emerald summoning circle into his father's tome, calling forth the first form of an Arcanist's summon. But, before the circle could fade, he drew the sigil for summoning Topaz over it, creating the circle that his father had left behind. He slammed the tome into the ground, causing a blinding explosion of Aether to envelope the Emerald Carbuncle. The patrons of the bar all stood in wonder and shock at this sudden display of powerful magicks, as the Aetheric energies turned from emerald green, to topaz yellow, and finally to a deep, fiery, ruby red.
Bennegar fell backward as the bright red Aetherling stood before him, a gem of the purest white set in its forehead. His nightmare, the hallucination... Ruby. It had been his father's personal summon, all along. The creature's eyes flashed with murderous glee and it grinned wickedly as it severed the ties between Bennegar and Lizzy, causing such an explosion of pain that Bennegar's right eye returned to the empty white that it had the night of the Calamity, and his green hair turned nearly completely white. Pure Aetheric energy fountained out of his right eye, and the other inhabitants of the bar all ran, screaming for the door. The energy blasted a sizable hole in the roof of the bar, but Bennegar slowly turned toward Ruby, his howls and screeches of pain turning into bellows of hollow, blind rage. A gigantic claw the size of a man's arm burst out of Bennegar's chest, impaling the Ruby Carbuncle and drawing it into him. The God of Life within Bennegar's soul was not pleased. Altvim had awakened within him. Blood pouring from his nose, Bennegar snapped back to reality in time to call forth the Sigil of Retrieving, taking him back to the beach where this had all began, nigh on five years previous.
He lay there for what felt like days before standing up. He knew that Lizzy was either dead or insane thanks to the violent rending of their souls. He was surprised that he had survived the ordeal, himself. He could feel that his mind was shattered and his spirit broken, but Altvim refused to allow him the mercy of death. Ruby Carbuncle was now under Bennegar's command, but it had never, truly, been Ruby, to begin with. It had been Altvim's sister, the Goddess of Death, the Lady of Pain... Malvim. Bennegar could still feel that Malvim was out there somewhere, that Altvim's attack, which had nearly killed him, hadn't so much as touched the Lady of Pain. And while he was aware that he held the power of a god within him, he knew that using this power meant certain destruction. He staggered on toward Limsa Lominsa, a tired, battered piece of driftwood, finally come ashore...
Personality
Quiet, introverted, but impulsive and passionate. He will typically stick to himself, a lone wanderer amid the vastness of Eorzea. However, while garbed in Maelstrom red, he becomes much more charismatic, channeling his father's leadership and assertive stature to effectively lead his subordinates, and all of the Maelstrom, to the glory of victory. In his personal life, you would never be able to tell that he was completely goobue-shite crazy. He is quite good at hiding it, though is prone to fits of depression and has even contemplated suicide. However, he knows that Altvim would never allow him this mercy, so he usually snaps out of it very quickly.
Affiliations
The Maelstrom Grand Company
The Driftwood Coast Free Company
The Scions of the Seventh Dawn
The Limsa Lominsa Arcanist's Guild
The Gridania Conjurer's Guild
The Keepers of Vim, (Near East Chapter)
Gallery
Bennegar with his father's Ruby Carbuncle, now under his command and de-evil'd.
Bennegar in his typical casual garb, a lone piece of driftwood still seeking new shores.
