Garalona Swarbrydawyn

Garalona Swarbrydawyn
"I'm gettin' too old for this shite."
Gender	Female
Race	Roegadyn
Clan	Sea Wolves
Citizenship	Unaffiliated
Age	41
Orientation	Lesbian
Marital Status	Single
Occupation	Physician
Guardian	Althyk the Keeper

LIFE & TIMES

Origination

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Garalona's name, "skin gatherer," was given to her in the hope she would grow to become a fearsome warrior, perhaps with a penchant for collecting ears of fallen foes. She disappointed her mother by instead growing into an imposing yet bookish woman, one with a bitter distaste for any sort of violence, if that.

The name is still fitting in a way, given Garalona's chosen path as a healer. She always did have a knack for making quick, neat stitches, after all. Growing up among cutthroats made it necessary to learn such things early. The sight of blood never bothered her, but her mother's misdeeds would ultimately scar Garalona in other ways.

Given the identity of her father remains a mystery to this day, Garalona instead bears the name of her mother, Swarbryda—also known as Black Bride the Pirate. Black Bride was but one of many captains terrorizing the high seas in the glory days of piracy, and in her desperation to distinguish herself above all others, she sought out knowledge of forbidden arcane secrets. Her gambit worked, for a time, but it would ultimately be her undoing.

Uncomfortable with what was happening and unable to stop her mother, Garalona demanded to leave shortly after turning twenty-five. Black Bride, in turn, demanded she duel for the privilege. The sword fight was brief and vicious. Garalona lost an eye, and in her wild retaliation she savaged her mother's face. Black Bride laughed at her spirit, even as she bled, and let her go ashore. That would be that last time Garalona saw her alive.

Incarceration

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Feeling she had learned more than enough through experience, Garalona leapt immediately into practicing medicine without a license. She could have gotten away with such a thing indefinitely in a backwoods land such as Eorzea, but she had chosen to go ashore on the island nation of Sharlayan, a placed filled with scholars who were very keen on things like proper education and credentials.

She was clever enough to make it a good eight years before being found out and imprisoned for her crimes, at which point the eight years added to her sentence for the sheer insult of it all. Sharlayan prisons, as it turned out, where a fair sight better than the rank gaols she knew of back home. As a nation of scholars, it was only fitting that their prisoners have access to an expansive library as well, thus much of Garalona's time incarcerated was alternately spent reading and lifting weights.

After a few years of excellent behavior, a young barrister investigating Garalona's case opted to subject her to the same test given to graduating medical students. Her exemplary marks not only granted Garalona an early release, they earned her a proper license as well. Even so, she was told in no uncertain terms she had exhausted the limits of Sharlayan's hospitality and forgiveness.

Trepidation

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And so it was onward to Eorza, where Garalona opted to supplement her knowledge of medicine by joining the Conjurer's Guild of Gridania. Not even she really knows what she was thinking when she signed on, as her mother's dabbling with forbidden arts left her averse to mysticism of any kind. Even so, knowing another way to help others couldn't hurt, could it?

In all this time, going to Limsa Lominsa had never crossed her mind, at least until word of her mother's death reached Garalona. Her forty-first name-day had just passed, and if she had her way she would have gone the rest of her life without ever hearing of Swarbryda again.

But someone had to identify and claim the body waiting at the docks. She did so grudgingly, and then surprised herself by seeking out Tausenadel Geispyrsyn, the sole remaining tie to her old life. Finding him led her to the Coral Sea, and the Free Company has given her some moorings as she figures out what to do with the remaining years of her life.

APPEARANCE & PERSONALITY

Garalona is tall, much like an oak tree, and has skin the color of that same tree—provided it was chopped down and burnt to ashes. She has the lean, muscular physique of someone who is frequently bored and passes the time with exercise as much as any sedentary activity.

Her most striking facial feature would be the beauty mark on her chin, had her mother not slashed her left eye all those years ago. She doesn't bother hiding it with a patch, so the scar that bisects the milky, useless globule is always there for all to see. Her right eye, the good one, is black—just like a shark. In spite of that similarity, her teeth aren't sharper than any other Roegadyn's. Her tongue, on the other hand...

That's a figure of speech, no part of her person is any sharper than normal, it's just that her world weariness seeps into her words like poison in a freshwater stream. For someone who's devoted her life to healing others, her bedside manner is terrible, but that may be why she prefers dealing with screaming emergencies over quiet checkups.

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LIKES ■ Coeurls ■ Reading ■ Weightlifting

DISLIKES ■ Nobles ■ Abusers ■ Braggarts

STRENGTHS ■ Assertive ■ Dedicated ■ Perceptive

WEAKNESSES ■ Cynical ■ Brusque ■ Impatient

FAVORITES ■ Color: Gray ■ Food: Pearl Chocolate ■ Drink: Whiskey

ONE CAT SHY OF CRAZY

Meow.

INTERACTIONS

RUMORS Some of these rumours are untrue, speculation, or are greatly exaggerated. Please feel free to add your own rumours under the Player Character category! ◢ COMMON RUMORS - Easily overheard. Use these freely! ■ “She's a witch! A witch, I tell you! That coeurl is her demon familiar! Ah, so what if she has more than one? Maybe she needs more because of all the excess evil! Didn't think of that, did you?! Ha! And the fat one is so fat because it's glutted upon SOULS! Look at it! The damned thing's fit to burst! What are you doing? What do you mean 'disturbing the peace'? Unhand me!” -Distraught Dancer (Ul'dah) ■ “Aye, she's daughter of the Black Bride, that one. Never 'eard of 'er? The hells ye say! Oh, the tales I could tell... Some say she was more beautiful than a siren, others swear she was the ugliest hag that e'er drew breath. No one knows the truth of it, seein' as she always wore that black veil. 'Twas 'er signature, like Mist Beard's mask. Ah, but unlike Mist Beard, no man sailed with Black Bride of their own free will, and there ain't enough liquor in Limsa to make me speak of what I saw aboard 'er ship. What if 'er daughter there knows the same tricks, eh?! I'd like to die of natural causes, thank ye very much!” -Shaken Sailor (Limsa Lominsa) ■ “I'll admit, she's a perfectly capable, perhaps even talented Conjurer, and yet she seems loath to actually—well, you know—conjure anything. If there's no imminent danger of anyone dying, for some reason she insists upon using salves and stitches instead. What a waste.” -Haughty Hearer (Old Gridania) ◢ UNCOMMON RUMORS - A little more difficult to hear. Use sparingly or ask first! ■ “I heard Black Bride tattooed sigils on her body (yes, her own daughter!) instead of using a spell book for her profane rituals! What? Have I seen them? Er, well, no, but one could cover such things with make-up!” -Sanctimonious Scholar (Idyllshire) ◢ RARE RUMORS - Very rarely overheard. Please ask before using! ■ “I'd bet good money she never actually buried her dear ol' mum's corpse, probably still has it festerin' away somewhere secret for Twelve knows what purpose.” -Morbid Merchant (Drybone) ◢ PLAYER CHARACTER RUMORS - Feel free to add rumors of your own! ■ “Use this as a template for your own rumor!” -Your Name Here

RELATIONS ♥ Unlikely | ✔ Positive | ✖ Negative | ● Neutral note: Characters who have made an impression on Garalona, for better or worse. Last Updated: 11/10/15 Tausenadel Geispyrsyn ( ✔ ) It's true that these two know each other from the bad old pirating days, the thing is Garalona forsook that life and went ashore to Sharlayan when she was 25. Tau was devastated, he was also 10. Their parents, both pirate captains, were old comrades in arms who frequently docked together, and Garalona—or "Gaga" as young Tau called her—was always the one stuck babysitting. She can say with complete honesty that she's seen Tau's penis, because she was changing his diapers when she was 15 and he was a babe in arms. That's why the two are horrified when anyone assumes they're a couple. MISCELLANY Potential Hooks ■ Healing: It's her job, just send word and she'll make a house call. ■ Midwifery: Garalona knows quite a bit about birthing babies, actually. ■ Infamy: Black Bride may be dead, but her legend lives on. Reporters and other seekers of sensational stories are surely dying to know more about the woman behind the veil, and who better to ask than her only surviving relative? Outside Links: ■ Character Tumblr - A mix of IC and OOC foolishness. Misc Info: ■ Template adapted from Bancroft Gairn, with edits by Xheja Rajhera / N'hadiya Khei.