Erik Mynhier
 Eirikir "Erik" Mynhier
| |
 "A knight is made by that which he protects." | |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | Hyur |
| Clan | Highlander |
| Citizenship | Ul'dah |
| Title | Sultansworn |
| Grand Company | The Immortal Flames |
| Command Unit | The Red Wings |
| Military Rank | Second Flame Lieutenant |
| Guardian | Halone, the Fury |
| Nameday | 30th Sun of the 4th Umbral Moon |
Contents
General
Erik is a thirty-three year old Ala Mhigan refugee, now a citizen of Ul'dah, living there for seventeen years. Erik sought to repay his new home by becoming a soldier with the Immortal Flames. He served valiantly, precipitated in both the Battle of Silvertear and the battle at Castrum Novum. Earning the title of Sultansworn for his skills and service to Ul'dah, Erik serves his nation faithfully.
Appearance
Erik stands 6 fulms 6 ilms tall and is extremely muscular, weighing in at just under 260 ponves. This is do in part to the extensive military training he received early in his life. He has moderately short hair and a closely shaved beard and mustache. His hair is dirty blonde, and his eyes are green.
Behavior
Though carefree in his younger days, Erik's service in the military has caused him to become more stoic in nature. He is calm, patient, and eager to aid others in need. Though his commission still stands with the Immortal Flames, he suffers internally from Survivor's Syndrome. This syndrome causes him to feel guilt for managing to survive the cataclysm while so many perished, a common affliction of many survivors. It is this above all else that drives him, not wishing to dishonor the dead by squandering his life away.
Combat
Erik's father was a Ravager (what I am calling the Dark Knight class until it is officially revealed, then I will recon it) in Ala Mhigo before its conquest. He was trained by his father for the first few years of his life as is the custom for Highlanders. After being cast out and the subsequent death of his father, his training shifted to that of his mother who was a conjurer. Her training of him lasted until he was 16. He moved to Ul'dah and found gil to be hard to find, so he began working as a mercenary to survive. In that time he realized he was more comfortable with combat then he was with healing so he resumed his martial training. He chose gladiator because several of the forms, despite using a shield as well, were similar to the two-handed techniques used by the Ravagers. His training, including his conjuring, was long but fruitful. All was instrumental to his selection by the Sultansworn to become a Paladin.
Due to his professional and cultural background, Erik often forgets that people are not as honorable in combat as he is. There have been numerous instances where he has been tricked in battle or has refused to press what he would call an unfair advantage. This would count as his most glaring weakness.
Relationships
Gummie Chalahko - (POW)
Erik's wife, Gummie is a Miqo'te Keeper of the Moon. They met in Limsa Lominsa during his travels over Eorzea and instantly became connected. Gummie is a Marauder mercenary who was born and raised in Limsa Lominsa. Quick to frustrate, she hates nothing more then to be thought of as cute when trying to be intimidating. She was part of Maelstrom expedition to investigate the waters off of Vylbrand on the rumor of Leviathan sightings soon after the Cataclysm. The ship was thought lost for unknown reasons, but it has now come to light that the ship was sunk by the Empire. Erik now knows her to be alive, a captive of the Garleans.
Siha Xinkei
A wildly bright and energetic Keeper of the Moon, Siha is Erik's "adopted sister". They met in Limsa during his investigation into his wife's disappearance. He approached her due to files he had read indicating that she was a seer, one with the gift to see into a person's heart, as well as their past and future. When she used her gift on Erik she not only shed light on his search, but became privy to the events of his life and in the process formed a strong bond. He now sees her as his sister and wishes nothing more then to help her on her quest.
Montblanc
In his early days in the Immortal Flames, Erik was sent to Camp Drybone to search for a caravan of goldsmith who had been taken by bandits. The bandits had killed the goldsmiths and fled by the time the Flames had reached them. Though the caravan had been sacked burned, Erik found a badly damaged mamment in a pile of rubble. Erik painstakingly repaired the mamment over the course of a year. When he finished, the mamment became his loyalist friend. Given the name Montblanc, from a ancient tale of a boy who fell into a book, he seeks only to aid his friend and savior. Montblanc can always be found at Erik's side.
Goldfury
Erik's loyal chocobo, Goldfury has been with him for many years. When Erik decided to leave Gridania, his mother's good friend Cingur gifted him with a chocobo's egg and explained that though a trained chocobo would allow anyone to ride it, a chocobo raised from birth would be fiercely protective of the one who hatched it. Naming him Goldfury, Erik trained him in the healing arts, and true to Cigur's word, he would die to save his master. He shows the high intelligence and playfulness that is the hallmark of his species.
Ulrich Mynhier - (deceased)
Ulrich Mynhier was Erik's father,and one of the military elite of Ala Mhigo. Trained as a Ravager, a warrior that used a deadly combination of the user's lifeforce-aether and the bastard sword. Ravagers who were the elite guards of the tyrannical leader of Ala Mhigo were known as the Bloodsworn. Despite his master's short comings, Ulrich was an honorable man and fought bravely to his death at the fall of Ala Mhigo.
Heather Mynhier, of the House Fortemps - (deceased)
Erik's mother, Heather was a member of the House of Fortemps, one of the four great Houses of Ishgard. A gifted healer and devout worshiper of Halone. She was forced to flee Ishgard when she fell in love with the young soldier that guarded the Ala Mhigan Embassy, Ulrich. She became pregnant, which enraged her family. After several attempts to harm the baby or outright kill her for the sake of the family's honor, Ulrich took her and fled into the night, bringing her to Ala Mhigo.
History
Eirikir "Erik" Mynhier was born in the great city of Ala Mhigo in the year 1544 to Ulrich Mynhier, a Ravager and military commander of Ala Mhigo, and Heather Mynhier, a Conjurer, formerly of the House of Fortemps, originally from Ishgard. In 1557 Erik witnessed firsthand the invasion and downfall of Ala Mhigo at the hands of the Garlean Empire. It was during the city's counter offensive Ulrich was killed, leaving, Heather to save only one of her children and as many people as she could. Once they reached Gridania, Heather negotiated sanctuary for the survivors with the Stillglade Fane.
Three years later, after his mother was killed by Garland Scouts in the Black Shroud. Many of Heather's Survivors, as the Highlander refugees were called, mourned their leader's passing. With her gone however, and the fact that many of the hardy people were uncomfortable with quiet life in Gridania. Many decided to leave for Ul'dah, seeking work as merchants or mercenaries, and Erik was one of them.
Years passed in the deserts of Thanalan as Erik and his best friend Cian, a Midlander lancer from Gridania, trained in their professions and took on as much work as they could find. Together with some of the friends they made along the way formed a Free Company called the Crimson Watch in 1562. This was in response to the call to arms by the city-states of Eorzea. They would soon enter the battle of Castrum Novum. The battle, though a success, held a heavy price Though he had survived, his Company members were dead, except for Cian had, according to reports had simply walked away from the battlefield with a dead look in his eyes. News had come through that despite the victory at Castrum Novum, Dalamud still approached. There would be one more attempt to save Eorzea, it would be known as the Battle of Carteneau.
A voice called him from his dreams the night before the battle. As Erik awoke he saw Cain, soaked in the blood of the dead soldiers around them. Erik tried to calm his friend but Cian would not hear of it and attacked him. As the great battle raged far in the distance, Cian struck with poor aim, missing Erik and falling into the path of Erik's sword. Caught in a moment of his friend's death Erik moved to the edge of the cliff where his squad had camped and saw far beyond him the Dragon King burst forth from Dalamud. From his vantage point he watched as the dragon launched his mighty MegaFlare. He waited for death, yet it still never came. The dragon moved on and an eerie peace settled over the decimated land.
Recent Events
Since the events of the cataclysm Erik's life has gone through many changes. Upon returning to Ul'dah with the other survivors of Carteneau, Erik's service was recognized and he was awarded the title of Sultansworn and given a position in the palace guard of the Sultana. He also married his longtime love Gummie Chalahko in a lovely service in Limsa Lominsa. And overall, his fortunes were bright.
Three years on, things turned sour. While on a mission for the Maelstrom Gummie's ship was lost sea. Thinking her lost, Erik has become convinced that she lives when he learned that a crew member on her ship, a roegadyn named Wolfbiter, had been found alive. The crewman reported that their ship had sunk for unknown reasons, possibly sabotage, but that there had been many survivors. This report was strange as there were no other know survivors, and for the fact that Wolfbiter soon vanished after recovering from his injuries.
In order to search for Wolfbiter, and his wife herself, Erik resigned his title as a Sultansworn, and his commission with the Immortal Flames in order to carry out his search. His journey took him all over Eorzea, but to no good. At the end of his fruitless search Erik found himself two years older, depressed, and sitting at a dirty table in the Wolf's Den. It was at this point that he considered ending his life, tired of seeing everyone he loves passing before him. The only thing that stopped him was a stranger who approached his table. His name was Ambric, a Captain of the Immortal Flames, and he carried a message from the Flame General himself.
With the fall of the Praetorium, and the retreat of the Empire, Eorzea seemed set toward a path of peace, but Raubahn is not a trusting man. The Empire would return, Ishgard required attention, dragons, primals, and threats withing the alliance and Ul'dah itself called for something new. An intelligence agency that would be the eyes and ears of the Sultana. And with his unique background along with devoted service, the General had chosen Erik to be it's commander. The command also came with an offer, the weight of the Flames behind his search for his wife. With such an offer, he could not refuse. Erik became the commander of the Red Wings, the new military intelligence unit of the Immortal Flames, and regained his former title of Sultansworn.
Religion
Within Eorzea many have faith in the Twelve, the gods of the land. And though most believe in these gods, it is a common practice for individuals to take one as a personal patron,. In the case of most Ala Mhigans, the patron of choice not only of the individual, but of the city-state itself was and is Rhalgr, the Destroyer.
In his youth, before the fall of Ala Mhigo, Erik's household revered two gods, the god of his father Rhalgr, and the goddess of his mother Halone. In his adult life however he not only follows the teachings of Halone, he is actively oppose to veneration of Rhalgr, especially by Ala Mhigans. He once commented to another Ala Mhigan during a heated conversation, "Why should I bend a knee to Rhalgr? Have we Ala Mhigans not had enough of him yet?" This statement stems from Erik's belief that Rhalgr's nature as the Destroyer may have played a role in the destruction and conquest of his homeland at the hands of the Garlean Empire.
It should also be noted that he has nothing but respect for Menphina, the Lover, the patron of his wife, even though she does not actively practice.
Trivia
- Erik's favorite meal is Trapper's Quiche with Chamomile Tea.
- Every year Erik travels to Gridania to pay his respects to those who have fallen.
- Erik has recently become interested in the movement to free Ala Mhigo.
- Erik requires glasses to read.
