Difference between revisions of "Cyrilaux Ardouin"
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"It's quite all right. We're talking about ghosts of the past. While we may carry their memories, we are not them."
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<div style="padding:10px 25px; background: #848482; color:#ded5cf;font-family:Georgia;font-size:12px;text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px black"><b>◢ Uncommon Rumors -</b> ''A little more difficult to hear.''</div><br> | <div style="padding:10px 25px; background: #848482; color:#ded5cf;font-family:Georgia;font-size:12px;text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px black"><b>◢ Uncommon Rumors -</b> ''A little more difficult to hear.''</div><br> | ||
: <div style="font-family:Georgia;"><font style="color:#727472;" size="2">■</font> "A troubled young man, indeed, that one. I’ve advised him on numerous occasions to take a sabbatical to the Sanctum of the Twelve to seek solace with Nophica and offer his burdens to the Matron. Never seemed to be the pious sort, though." - '''O-App-Pesi'''</div><br> | : <div style="font-family:Georgia;"><font style="color:#727472;" size="2">■</font> "A troubled young man, indeed, that one. I’ve advised him on numerous occasions to take a sabbatical to the Sanctum of the Twelve to seek solace with Nophica and offer his burdens to the Matron. Never seemed to be the pious sort, though." - '''O-App-Pesi'''</div><br> | ||
− | : <div style="font-family:Georgia;"><font style="color: #848482;" size="2">■</font> "This isn’t well known to folks unfamiliar with Ishgardian history, but House | + | : <div style="font-family:Georgia;"><font style="color: #848482;" size="2">■</font> "This isn’t well known to folks unfamiliar with Ishgardian history, but House Ardouin was once a vassal of House Dzemael, decades ago. I wonder if Cyrilaux’s a long-forgotten descendant?" - '''Luquelot'''</div><br> |
<div style="padding:10px 25px; background: #727472; color:#ded5cf;font-family:Georgia;font-size:12px;text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px black"><b>◢ Rare Rumors -</b> ''Very rarely overheard.''</div><br> | <div style="padding:10px 25px; background: #727472; color:#ded5cf;font-family:Georgia;font-size:12px;text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px black"><b>◢ Rare Rumors -</b> ''Very rarely overheard.''</div><br> | ||
: <div style="font-family:Georgia;"><font style="color:#727472;" size="2">■</font>"He never speaks of his family, if he ever had ‘em. Every once in a while, though, he’ll let slip a single word under his breath – ‘Valmont.” Maybe he thinks we can’t hear him, but not much gets past these Elezen ears. - '''Silvairre'''</div><br> | : <div style="font-family:Georgia;"><font style="color:#727472;" size="2">■</font>"He never speaks of his family, if he ever had ‘em. Every once in a while, though, he’ll let slip a single word under his breath – ‘Valmont.” Maybe he thinks we can’t hear him, but not much gets past these Elezen ears. - '''Silvairre'''</div><br> | ||
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<spoiler> | <spoiler> | ||
− | Cyrilaux was born in the waning days of the Sixth Astral Era in Ishgard to House | + | Cyrilaux was born in the waning days of the Sixth Astral Era in Ishgard to House Ardouin, a family of minor nobility. A branch family and bannermen of House Durendaire, and symbolized by the lark, the Ardouins can often be read about in the archives of Ishgardian history as court officials and other public servants. The house has never been perceived as holding any real political power in the Holy See. However, they were perhaps best known for producing generations of Azure Dragoons, up to and immediately preceding Ser Alberic. One of Cyrilaux’s ancestors was even said to have served Thordan VI as a member of the Heaven’s Ward, though names and deeds have a way of being distorted through the ages. |
Cyrilaux was the middle child of his parents, having a sister, Rinelle, seven years his senior, as well as a younger brother, Valmont, three years his junior. Their father was a church administrator, and his mother a lady-in-waiting to Lady Durendaire. Cyrilaux’s early childhood was an enjoyable upper-class yet modest life in the Pillars of Ishgard. | Cyrilaux was the middle child of his parents, having a sister, Rinelle, seven years his senior, as well as a younger brother, Valmont, three years his junior. Their father was a church administrator, and his mother a lady-in-waiting to Lady Durendaire. Cyrilaux’s early childhood was an enjoyable upper-class yet modest life in the Pillars of Ishgard. | ||
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Yet not one of the astrologians could have divined an incident from within the city walls. One cold autumn night, a young Cyrilaux had been woken up in his home to the screams of his sister being devoured by two Dravanian aevis, with both of their parents strangely missing without a trace. He and Valmont only barely survived before an order of Temple Knights burst in his home and killed the two dragons. Worse still, the investigation led by Holy See inquisitors had concluded that Cyrilaux’s parents themselves were the dragons, impersonating Ishgardian citizens in order to stage a surprise attack against the Archbishop and highborn persons of influence. How else could the church explain the presence of dragons in the inner sanctums of the city, well behind the magical paling which had protected Ishgard from the Dravanian Horde for centuries? Any other theory would have been a massive embarrassment for both the Holy See and the Archbishop’s divine rule. | Yet not one of the astrologians could have divined an incident from within the city walls. One cold autumn night, a young Cyrilaux had been woken up in his home to the screams of his sister being devoured by two Dravanian aevis, with both of their parents strangely missing without a trace. He and Valmont only barely survived before an order of Temple Knights burst in his home and killed the two dragons. Worse still, the investigation led by Holy See inquisitors had concluded that Cyrilaux’s parents themselves were the dragons, impersonating Ishgardian citizens in order to stage a surprise attack against the Archbishop and highborn persons of influence. How else could the church explain the presence of dragons in the inner sanctums of the city, well behind the magical paling which had protected Ishgard from the Dravanian Horde for centuries? Any other theory would have been a massive embarrassment for both the Holy See and the Archbishop’s divine rule. | ||
− | As accounts of the impersonation talents of Dravanians was well documented, such an accusation was as good as a death sentence, and in just one night, the reputation of House | + | As accounts of the impersonation talents of Dravanians was well documented, such an accusation was as good as a death sentence, and in just one night, the reputation of House Ardouin was completely destroyed. Convinced that the entire family were nothing more than imposters, the Holy See put dozens of Cyrilaux’s relatives to the sword in a series of mock tribunals and public executions. Others still were lynched in the streets. Even today, he cannot recall many of their names… |
</spoiler> | </spoiler> | ||
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<spoiler> | <spoiler> | ||
− | By all accounts, Cyrilaux and his brother should have been doomed to the rest of their days as street urchins in some forgotten corner of the Brume, or executed in one way or another like the rest of his kinsmen. Yet it was by the divine grace and enormous political influence of Lord Edmont de Fortemps that the two managed to survive. The nobleman and head of House Fortemps somehow miraculously convinced the other high lords and Archbishop himself not only to spare the boys from certain death, but put them under his official protection. Lord Fortemps argued that two children so young could not possibly have been involved in the Dravanian plot, and that showing mercy on them would prove a popular gesture among the plebian masses. As the bodies of House | + | By all accounts, Cyrilaux and his brother should have been doomed to the rest of their days as street urchins in some forgotten corner of the Brume, or executed in one way or another like the rest of his kinsmen. Yet it was by the divine grace and enormous political influence of Lord Edmont de Fortemps that the two managed to survive. The nobleman and head of House Fortemps somehow miraculously convinced the other high lords and Archbishop himself not only to spare the boys from certain death, but put them under his official protection. Lord Fortemps argued that two children so young could not possibly have been involved in the Dravanian plot, and that showing mercy on them would prove a popular gesture among the plebian masses. As the bodies of House Ardouin burned or hanged in the streets of Foundation, Archbishop Thordan VII surprisingly acquiesced to the request – though rumors that this was done to cast doubt over the reputation of the otherwise pristine House Fortemps certainly circulated. |
And so both Cyrilaux and Valmont were adopted as wards of House Fortemps, with the caveat that any further Dravanian attacks within the city would fall directly to Lord Edmont himself to claim responsibility. Cyrilaux was assigned as the personal retainer of Artoriel, Edmont’s middle son and heir. The two boys were very close in age and became fast friends. Even though Cyrilaux had become a mere servant, over the years the bonds between him and the young Fortemps children grew to become as a second family to him – the older brothers he never had, and siblings to fill the gap left by Rinelle’s untimely death. He especially looked up to Haurchefont Greystone, Edmont’s bastard oldest son, as the two were in multiple ways outcasts from proper Ishgardian society that they lived in and served. Cyrilaux especially wanted to become a knight in his footsteps, and convinced Haurchefant to teach him all he knew in the ways of sword and spear. | And so both Cyrilaux and Valmont were adopted as wards of House Fortemps, with the caveat that any further Dravanian attacks within the city would fall directly to Lord Edmont himself to claim responsibility. Cyrilaux was assigned as the personal retainer of Artoriel, Edmont’s middle son and heir. The two boys were very close in age and became fast friends. Even though Cyrilaux had become a mere servant, over the years the bonds between him and the young Fortemps children grew to become as a second family to him – the older brothers he never had, and siblings to fill the gap left by Rinelle’s untimely death. He especially looked up to Haurchefont Greystone, Edmont’s bastard oldest son, as the two were in multiple ways outcasts from proper Ishgardian society that they lived in and served. Cyrilaux especially wanted to become a knight in his footsteps, and convinced Haurchefant to teach him all he knew in the ways of sword and spear. | ||
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Cyrilaux struggled in vain against his restraints. “YOU LOT ARE MAD! DO OUR LIVES MEAN NOTHING TO YOU? WHY ME? WHY MY BROTHER?” | Cyrilaux struggled in vain against his restraints. “YOU LOT ARE MAD! DO OUR LIVES MEAN NOTHING TO YOU? WHY ME? WHY MY BROTHER?” | ||
− | One of the inquisitors turned around to address him. “On the contrary…Cyrilaux.” The way he said that name, as if Cyrilaux’s entire life had been orchestrated at his whim, was beyond unnerving. “You and your brother have always been the perfect vessels for this very night. We have known this since you were children – since your parents transmuted into their true forms and devoured your sister. That it occurred years earlier than we had anticipated was beyond surprising, but it proved to us beyond a shadow of a doubt that House | + | One of the inquisitors turned around to address him. “On the contrary…Cyrilaux.” The way he said that name, as if Cyrilaux’s entire life had been orchestrated at his whim, was beyond unnerving. “You and your brother have always been the perfect vessels for this very night. We have known this since you were children – since your parents transmuted into their true forms and devoured your sister. That it occurred years earlier than we had anticipated was beyond surprising, but it proved to us beyond a shadow of a doubt that House Ardouin carried a substantial essence of Dalamud in the bloodline. After all, we require the blood of a dragon to awaken a dragon.” |
Yuhelmeric cackled. “Did you really think you were spared at the notion of some lord? What folly. But there is no need for you to understand further, broodling. You have played your part up to this point. And now, it is time for your kin to do the same. Shepherd, return to your flock!” | Yuhelmeric cackled. “Did you really think you were spared at the notion of some lord? What folly. But there is no need for you to understand further, broodling. You have played your part up to this point. And now, it is time for your kin to do the same. Shepherd, return to your flock!” | ||
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{| | {| | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | | '''Name''' – Cyrilaux | + | | '''Name''' – Cyrilaux Ardouin [Sih-ril-loh Ar-doh-in] |
|- | |- | ||
| '''Race''' – Wildwood Elezen ♂ | | '''Race''' – Wildwood Elezen ♂ |
Revision as of 17:38, 29 June 2017
[edit]
A newer member of the Wood Wailers of Gridania. According to some of the older villagers, Cyrilaux, or simply "Cyril" to his friends, appeared in the Twelveswood shortly after the Calamity of the Seventh Umbral Era with nary a gil or tale to his name. At first glance, he gives the impression of a man of little ambition, seemingly content with keeping out of the spotlight while serving as a mid-level member of the Lancer’s Guild. Despite clearly not being a Gridanian native, his uncanny skill with a spear has helped him earn the trust of the local populations as a reliable, if not unadorned, soldier. His somewhat stiff and noble mannerisms divulge his true background .
Cyril has been known to carry a spear since taking his first steps in Gridania about five years ago. When on duty as a member of the Lancer’s Guild, Cyril wears the standard Wood Wailer uniform complete with mask. Otherwise, he typically sticks to unassuming clothing so as not to stand out, seemingly by deliberate choice. While he has been a part of the Gridanian military for at least a few years now, he has never been said to have been seriously injured. Thus, it is unknown what caused the prominent scar on the left side of his face.
Aspects That Stand Out:
Almost as if by deliberate choice, Cyrilaux is content with his role as a steadfast, reliable, yet unambitious member of the Wood Wailers, and very rarely speaks of his own hopes and dreams beyond his standard duties. As a traveling companion, he is happy to let others take the reins, merely providing the support – both in battle prowess and as a motivator – to see others reach their goals. Despite this, he is no stranger to taking command, and would never allow the lack of clear direction or leadership steer a group towards failure, at least towards responsibilities of friend and realm. Yet these same qualities would serve to betray his own deep desires and disparage his hidden potential. Something is keeping him shackled – fears, doubts or something more sinister? Without a push in the right direction, he seems intent to live and die without ever truly experiencing Eorzea beyond the Twelveswood.
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