Elphelt Lachance

Elphelt Lachance
"Life is a journey, and every journey eventually leads to home."
Ex-Dragoon. Once more, with feeling.
Gender	Nonbinary (He/It)
Race	Elezen
Clan	Duskwight
Citizenship	Ishgardian
Birthplace	Sharlayan, Dravanian Hinterlands
Occupation	Temple Knight & Writer
Guardian	Halone, the Fury
Voice Claim	Testament

At A Glance

Towering, yet with a gaze of chamomile tea and honey sweet, Elphelt Lachance is a gentle soul, one unbound by the expectations of Ishgardian society in favour of that which was cultivated within the time outside it. Despite this, he returned to Her walls after a silent exile once the governmental reform had begun in full swing, hoping to return to the peers that protected him only to have to work for his place once more. In the meantime, he works as a wildlife journalist and general writer.

The reason for his exile isn't hard to miss- elegant midnight blue horns curling forward around the crown of his head from the temples, the scattering of dewy silver scales across his skin like constellations, nails more akin to talons at his fingertips, teeth more like the fangs of drakes even in comparison to those of Ishgardian blood. Elphelt is, for all intents and purposes, the poster-child of draconic heresy... not that it would stop him from doing what he thinks is right.

Despite being the only martially inclined son of the small and artistic House Lachance, he's a learned soul, taking to books and learning like a bird to the sky. This, however, wouldn't surprise anyone who remembers the old Sharlayan settlement in the Dravanian Hinterlands being tormented by the tiny ice-haired child of a family of chocobo tamers.

Appearance

Height: 7'2" (ig: 6'10")

Build: Bottom-heavy, toned, comparable to a ballerina

Complexion: Blue-toned skin, flushed and pale.

Hair: Snow white.

Eyes: Woodsy brown, a golden in the right lighting.

Voice: Mourning and gentle, akin to cold autumn nights. Speaks three words where one would suffice, and tends to speak in questions.

Clothing Style: Expressing appreciation for Thavnairian and Ivalician styles, he dresses to allow himself the greatest of movement in work. High heels, thigh-highs, arm-length gloves, and long flowing skirts are go-to for casual wear. He can only wear certain softer fabrics due to a sensory disorder.

Laterality: Right-dominant.

Tastes

Favorites

• Color: Monochromatic naturals, baby blues, and rolanberry red.
• Food: Chicken noodle soup, expensive steaks.
• Drinks: Dark, yet sweet, coffee.
• Scent: Warm cashmere, hearthfire, autumn rain.
• Place: Camp Dragonhead, Bentbranch Stables, Snowsteep Springs.

Goals

• Finishing his paper on the forgotten history of Dravania and Ishgard.
• Gathering the free time to learn the art of Sharlayan astrology.
• Rejoining his peers in the Order of Knights Dragoon... whenever that may be.
• Repentance, perhaps, or to hear that he is not evil. Though, he'll never say such vulnerability out loud.

Religion

A man of Halonic faith, or... an extremely personally adapted version of it. If he were truthful, he would think himself unable to enter a church with the way he is all that conventional Halonic faith vilifies, but he holds to the core of the morals behind Halone's myth and conducts himself in what he believes would be her wish for his own sanity.

A collector of superstitions, Elphelt has quite a few rituals during his day and night, requiring them to calibrate himself into being able to cope with the rest of the world. His faith ties into these greatly, but nothing does more so than the habits he gained as a dragoon.

Alignment

Neutral Good

Personality

Strengths

• Curious
• Loyal
• Devoted
• Protective
• Empathetic
• Creative
• Truthful... mostly

Flaws

• Judgemental
• Vague
• Self-loathing
• Neurotic
• Self-sacrificial
• Stubborn
• Grudge-holding

Fears

• Mirrors
• Fire, to a small degree
• The Heaven's Ward & the Vault
• A lack of purpose
• Halonic Inquisitors
• Parental care & bonds
• Rejection

Talents

• Quite the chocobo whisperer... and dragonet whisperer, even if he doesn't like it.
• A wonderful dancer. Now, if only he had the heart to do it in public.
• Extremely perceptive when it comes to hunting and tracking.

Intelligence

Raised in Sharlayan with young peers sharing their knowledge with him, yet unable to participate in the teaching itself, he has no formal elementary teaching. Following his adoption into House Lachance, he had private tutoring until age 17, when he moved full-time into training into becoming a dragoon. Basic hunting and tracking training in very young years, stopping at age 8. Advanced teaching continued with dragoon training and experience otherwise taught him all he needed to know- in his opinion. He has quite a repertoire of practical knowledge, yet has a hard time navigating intensely social situations. He's street smart, but only in the streets of Ishgard.

TV Tropes

• Fill It with Flowers- If his world refuses to treat him kindly, he will try his damnedest to make it better for others.
• Afraid of Their Own Strength- It's hard to live with knowing the extent of your abilities.
• Shrinking Violet- He can be kind, so long as you manage to get him to realize you mean well.
• Cannot Spit It Out- He'll praise when he means it, but if he's uncomfortable or downright angry... it'll take a while.
• Big Brother Mentor- Try as he might, he can't deny wanting to protect those he can.
• Misery Builds Character- What being a dragoon does to a mf.

Abilities and Skills

And they shall know not where my strength comes, for they will try to take them all down with me.

Personal

• Survivalist; if he finds himself lost in the woods, a rare occurrence already, he'd be able to both sustain himself and find his way home within a moon- the time only so he can appreciate the solitude.
• Inner Dragon; despite it already overtaking him once, Elphelt still contends with that which he channels for his work as a dragoon.

Weapons

• A chain-wrapped golden lance bearing the name Icarus, reforged from his Gae Bolg into a weapon meant to be used alongside dragons.
• A basic astroglobe and deck of sixty, meant more for training than actual use.
• A thin and humble butterfly knife usually found in an easy-to-reach but hidden place on his person.
• A basic greatsword bearing the words, "If they catch you, they will kill you, but first they must catch you." engraved into the flat of its blade.

Magic

• Growing proficiency in white magic, mainly healing spells aimed toward the relief of chronic pains and ailments.
• Intent in the art of astrology, growing more intent on taking hold of his fate. It ends up with things sometimes going too well, only for the pendulum to swing back around.
• A basic yet volatile spark of aetheric energy thanks to draconic indulgences, trying to search for a means of outsourcing it.

Crafting

• Decent with cooking, able to create something simple yet infinitely comfortable- safe foods and the like.
• Beginner weaver, able to mend his own clothes and create simple loungewear, though nothing beyond.

Family and Relationships

Blood Relatives

• Elainette Grant (Mother) - A powerful woman made even more powerful by her penchant for the most temperamental of chocobos. Missing after a dragon attack in the Forelands.
• Reynaud Grant (Father) - A quiet and deathly protective father, known for his habit of secret-keeping. Died during a dragon attack in the Forelands.
• Valleraint Grant (Younger sister) - A broody yet generous soul in her youth, once thought missing. Lives now in Old Sharlayan studying the art of summoning under a different name.

House Relatives

• Beau Lachance (Mother) - A romantic at heart, though painfully stoic and strict in parenting. Works as a poetry book author.
• Alfred Lachance (Father) - Doting and flowery in voice, an astrologian who tends to be a bit distant beyond caring for his children.
• Don and Taillette Lachance (Older twin sisters) - A writer and an artist, they tend to collaborate on just about all their endeavours.

Allies

• Sindri de Durendaire: Sindri is a fragment of what Elphelt wishes to return to, to the footsteps that are leading dragoons into a new age of peace. Elphelt tends to act as an older brother figure to the Viera out of a habit he can't explain, and hopes that in his absence, Sindri is still doing well.

Acquaintances

• Qestra Rysto: Qestra is, in Elphelt's opinion, only able to be described as enlightening. She tends to catch him more off his guard than most, though he doesn't find that he minds it.

Antagonists

• ---

Affiliations

• Order of Knights Dragoon
• Temple Knights
• Moogle Gift Mounts

Set the Tone

• A Woman
• Heal- What Elphelt thinks peace sounds like.
• Better In The Morning- A letter to himself.
• The Current
• Boreas
• Drawn to the Blood- Lamentations of a weapon.

Rumors

Note: This section is editable by anyone. If you'd like to add a rumor, please stay in character.

• "something your character says" - character here

History

Knowledge will seek no man, yet don't all deserve the chance...?

Name and Lifestyle

Nicknames

• Gio - a name he only remembers coming out of his blood sister's mouth.

Current Residence

Currently living in an apartment in Empyreum, though seeking means of gaining Sharlayan citizenship.

Before Dalamud's Fall

Birth and childhood (0-8)

Born in the safety of Sharlayan's Dravanian settlement as the daughter of a family of well-renowned chocobo tamers, Elphelt was more told of the tales of his family's exploits than he was given the chance to experience them. Being raised within the settlement, yet allowed naught of its citizens' opportunities due to the fraught nature of their coming, he and his sister learned what was taught to the children through a small group of companions. During this, he had found an interest in nature and astrology, and his sister entranced by the art of arcanima. After their leave within the walls of Sharlayan passed, however, the family was back on the road with two children nearing double-digits and raring to experience the world.

The family was allowed 9 moons of normalcy until a tragedy Elphelt refuses to recount took place. Separated from his sister, all he remembers is the fire, smoke, and screams of man and bird alike. He knows he awoke in a caravan, and then in an Ishgardian infirmary, where he had no voice to ask where his family was, and he was placed in a new one, one he'd grow to love just the same.

Teen Years (10-17)

Living in seclusion within the humble home of House Lachance, Elphelt had regained his voice at age 10 and reintroduced himself to his new family as Elphelt, a boy who wanted to take up the arts of the dragoons. In a family of artists and writers, his passion was met with skeptic, yet hopeful interest, and his mother found him a means to cultivate the interest until he was allowed into the Temple Knights during his tutoring... And once he had joined the Temple Knights, he was near absent from home.

Adulthood (18-24)

Proving his mettle with considerable advances against the Horde, Elphelt had secured himself a place within the Order of Knights Dragoon, and with much fanfare from his family. While the life was nothing like the glory Elphelt had once believed it was, he knew what he was doing was better than what he had been made to do as a simple knight, and that was all he needed.

Despite being a painfully shy wallflower and much more book-savvy than a large portion of his peers, he had gathered a small clique of similarly bookish companions and made himself a friend out of... quite a few of the elderly members. He knew it was smarter to be on the better side of those who've the pleasure of growing old in their profession.

After Dalamud's Fall

The 5 Years Between - A Realm Reborn

Elphelt found himself on the cusp of making a name for himself within the ranks of the Order, finding himself in just the right places to protect those he wanted to. That is, until a fateful disastrous mission tested his will and found him wanting, leaving a mental break that, combined with his wounds meeting dragons' blood with intent, left him near-turning. It was all he could do to not give in then and there, and that in itself had solidified his survival.

With the kindness of his peers, and the miraculous will of the Holy See, he had only been sentenced to exile. It was a silent affair, his family mourning as if he had died, an experience he found strange to behold. With nowhere else to turn, he and his steed, an icy blue chocobo named Opal, left for Gridania.

Heavensward - onward (Present, 32)

Living within the tiny settlement in Bentbranch Meadows had softened the war-worn elezen, and Elphelt wasn't quite satisfied. After working as a hired lance, he tied up his loose ends in Nophica's lands and took to his homeland to make an attempt at a chance of return once its governmental reform took full swing. Hoping to regain his place among the Order, he found himself desperately working to regain a chance to be within their ranks. Between his training and rest, he worked- and still labours- to follow in his adoptive mother's footsteps.

He writes wildlife journalism under the penname "Mourning Dove" and currently has put all projects on pause to focus on one; a book on the unsung history of Dravania and Ishgard's most notable military rank, in hopes of helping the wounds his exile gave him heal. The project, dauntingly, still continues even now, as he works to prepare himself for the Order's newest entrance trial.