Iris Blanchimont

Iris Blanchimont
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Lily of Limsa Lominsa
Gender	Female
Race	Miqo'te
Clan	Keeper of the Moon
Citizenship	Ishgard
Place of Birth	Raised in Limsa Lominsa
Guardian	Llymlaen
Age	27
Marital Status	Unbound
Occupation	Aetheric Researcher
Orientation	Homosexual

Appearance

Height: 5 fulms 1 ilms.

Weight: 112 ponze

Complexion:  Pale.

Hair:  Ice blue with hints of lilac.

Eyes:  Amethyst.

Tastes

Hobbies

• Investigation of ancient ruins, especially Nymian.
• Aetheric research.
• Airship design and development

Likes

• Alchemy was going to be Iris' career before the Calamity, and still is what she practices in her spare time to unwind.
• Airships are a fascination of Iris', and she has dedicated some time to studying the airship designs in Arche Koeln.
• Science is, to Iris, the study of how aether works. She is absolutely in love with that approach to understanding the rational, fundamental nature of magic.

Dislikes

• The Gridanian faith in 'the Elementals' is superstitious drivel she has no patience for. It is why she didn't want to become a White Mage, despite her aptitude for healing.
• Flirtatious men are annoyances, partially because she has no interest in them but primarily because they tend to be more successful than Iris.
• Alcohol usually ends badly for Iris.

Favorites

• Color:  Purple
• Food:  Rolanberry Cheesecake
• Drinks:  All kinds of lassi
• Scent: Old books
• Place: Nym
• Festival: Starlight Celebration

Personality

Flaws

• People-Pleaser - Iris has trouble saying no to others, even if she is suspicious of their motives.
• Misunderstanding - If the opportunity arises for Iris to take something in a way other than intended, she likely does.
• Calculating - Iris plans things in such detail that it seems annoying to others, and it often causes problem as things rarely go to plan. She does not rush in.
• Easily Wounded - Iris is likely to take failure too seriously and insult too personally. She often blames herself, especially when the loss of other's lives is concerned.

Fears

• Loss of Control - Iris deeply fears not being in full control of her faculties, so rarely drinks and is deeply bothered by mind-affecting magic.
• Marbols - Her disgust with Marbols had evolved into a fear of encountering them in the wild. She hates them and will either avoid them or melt their faces off in an attempt to be rid of them.
• Loneliness - The most intangible fear Iris has is of being alone. She has a lot of experience feeling isolate and ears never finding someone to walk the path with.
• Death - The abyss has claimed loved ones and friends in the past that the thought of death coming for her or others drives her into a panic, which is why her attention to the healing arts has intensified since the Calamity.

Talents

• Alchemy - Iris was adopted by a family with a long history of alchemical talent, so she has worked with an alembic since she can remember. She is not the best in the world or anything, but is confident in her abilities.
• Aetheric Manipulation - Iris has a great aptitude for summoning creatures from the aether, be it carbuncles, egi or fairies. She has developed a deep bond with these aetheric entities and has used the knowledge she's gained from mastering them to become a master of disease as well, curing or inflicting plagues with the same science that summons her allies.
• Research - Outside of her customs work, most of Iris' time consists of expeditions to ruins or reading books in libraries, and as such she is a blossoming expert in a variety of subjects. She has been working lately on researching the Gran Grimoire possessed by her company, Arche Koeln.

Abilities and Skills

Weapons

Wisdom - While Iris has passing familiarity with a number of weapons and combat styles, she prefers to outwit opponents and, if possible, avoid combat altogether.

Magic

Aetheric Manipulation - While the work of conjurers and thaumaturges seems too superstitious for her, the science of aetheric manipulation appeals to her.

Crafting

Alchemy - Iris' stock and trade is alchemy. It is the Blanchimont's family tradition as well as something she has studied in detail in Eorzea.

Cooking - "Cooking is a degenerate form of alchemy."

Goldsmithing - It started as a way to make gifts for her first girlfriend Eliza Scarlet. Though she stopped practicing it after Eliza's disappearance in the Calamity, she has recently renewed her efforts and mastered the trade.

Weaving - She has found sewing relaxing for some time and recently became one of the more skilled clothiers in Limsa.

Family and Relationships

♥ Love/ Mate ♥ Sexual Desire ♥ Platonic Love

● Family ● Friend ● Neutral ● Enemy

Relatives

♥ Eliza Scarlet (Partner, Midlander, deceased)

● Felt Blanchimont (Adoptive father, Wildwood)

● Visse Blanchimont (Adoptive mother, Wildwood, deceased)

● Beatrix du Blanchimont (Adoptive aunt, Wildwood)

Known Associates

♥ Shou Han (Crush, Midlander)

● Ariyon Durandel (FC Leader, Midlander)

● Taji Tribal (Research Associate, Moonkeeper)

● Prim Rose (Raen, Missing in Action)

Positive

• Shou Han was the first person Iris had deep affection for in almost a year when they met and is the reason she joined Arche Koeln. She and Iris have been on a date but are not in any way a couple as of now. Their relationship has been significantly strained by recent events.
• Taji Tribal and Iris don't know one another well but are both interested in the Codex Grimoire. They work together on the research project to restore and direct the development of the book.
• J'yhun Arun isn't someone Iris knows well, but she thinks he is a fellow intellectual. That erns him respect in her opinion, despite his first impression not being something stellar.

Neutral

• Menoly Fiore isn't someone Iris actually dislikes but someone she enjoys playing word games with and mocking. She actually, secretly, enjoys the verbal sparring with Menoly and looks forward to it.

Negative

• Beatrix du Blanchimont is Iris' aunt and rival for control of House Blanchimont. Beatrix considers a non-blood relative and unbeliever being Matriarch to be inappropriate.

Affiliations

• House Blanhimont: Iris is Matriarch of a house of lesser nobility in Ishgard.
• Arche Koeln: Iris is an Acolyte in the company charged with studying the Codex, the Gran Grimoire the company protects.
• Mealvaan's Gate: Iris has spent years working as an Assessor.

Rumors

Note: This section is editable by anyone. Just keep in mind that the rumors here may be both true or false.

General Rumors

• "Iris Blanchimont... is that the girl who keeps hittin' on the female employees?" - Gold Saucer Patron
• "Do not, under any circumstances, let her drink alcohol." - Quicksand Waitress
• "Why does that name sound familiar? Did she cure the Choco Plague a few years back?" Tailfeather Hunter
• "Some minor noble house won't shut up about Iris du Blanchimont, like she's some salacious scandal. If she was, I'm sure I'd have heard of it." Forgotten Knight Rumormonger
• "I hear tell that sshe's the gal went and got herself locked up in the Great Lib'ary for a spell a few moons back." - Idyllshire Adventurer

First-Hand Accounts

• "I remember her when she was blue! Ahahahaha! Crazy cat took a Fantasia when her pallies in the Risin' Stones was chased out from Ul'dah. Liked her cute li'l tail better then but the paleness is kin'a cute too." - Maelstrom Lieutenant
• "Blanchimont? I remember she was a passable Alchemist before learning all those Radz-at-Han tricks. Now her approach to the craft is utter nonsense." - Ul'dahn Alchemist
• "HeR WoRk Is BaReLy BeTtEr ThAn SpIt-ShInInG a BiG rOcK." - Goldsmith Guild Mammet
• "She got lost in a Castrum during Operation Archon and accidentally stole a Reaper. I've never seen someone be less help during an operation of greater magnitude." - Scion of the Seventh Dawn
• "Ah, the young mistress? She is an exceptional scholar and leader of our little family. She will be reading this, yes?" - House Blanchimont Attendant.

PC Rumors

• "An excellent example of a Scholar. Intelligent and willing to consider solutions beyond 'swing a sword at it until it goes away'. I can respect that." -J'yhun Arun
• "Oh, she's easily one of the smartest people I know! If you're writing a thesis, definitely get her to check your work. She'll keep you honest. ...Not much use as a wingman or a sidekick, though, she tends to strike out spectacularly in subjects not involving books..." -Taji Tribal

History

Name and Lifestyle

Iris Blanchimont, originally named Ahnci Strahl (though is unaware of this name). Iris is a scholar in everything she does and can often be found in the Gubal Library in the Sharlayan ruins or the Arche Koeln library in Mist.

Nicknames

"Lily of Limsa Lominsa" and "Alchemist of Arche Koeln", though those are titles. She briefly went by the pseudonym "Flameu Vhisnato" when concealing her true identity and thpugh she does not know it, her birth name is "Ahnci Strahl".

Current Residence

Atelier Iris, her office and residence in the Arche Koeln estate in Mist.

Pets

Ivy is a Peridot Carbuncle given a measure of self awareness using a particularly well-crafted mammet core as the ruby set in her forehead. Iris is unsure if Ivy is aware she is not a real Carbuncle and is studying her. Ivy is loyal and curious.

Tio is a Gaelikitten Iris rescued from Dravania. Tio spends most of his time fluttering around Mist looking for all the world like a stray and only bothers coming home when Iris offers food to him.

Madeen is the name Iris gave her artifical moogle, who sometimes dresses up as a delivery moogle. Being a construct, Madeen is never too far from Iris or her Atelier.

Elusmus and Palaxius are her Maelstrom and Ishgardian chocobos, respectively. Both are named for legendary alchemists of bygone eras. While she has had Elsumus for some time, Palaxius was her father's Black Chocobo she was given as a gift when she became Matriarch. As such, Elusmus is rather friendly while Palaxius has an aloof and disinterested personality.

Birth and Childhood

Iris was born as Ahnci Strahl to parents in Garlean-occupied lands. She was being smuggled to Sharlayan when her ship was blown off-course and crashed into an island off the coast of Cedarwood. She was found among barrels adrift in the sea by the Elezen trader Felt Blanchimont, owner and captain of the Lominsian trade ship Yuveria. Felt worked at length with Mealvaan's Gate assessors and the Baracudas to find the parents of the abandoned kitten, but no indication of the ship's name or manifest was ever found and its arrival at Limsa was not expected.

After several moons with no word o the kitten's parents, Felt and his sister Visse elected to adopt the kitten, naming her Iris Blanchimont (dropping the Ishgardian 'du' particle as they had done in their own names) and electing to raise her as if she was their blood. Visse taught Iris the basics of alchemy and medicine as well as the importance of taking care of others. Felt, when he wasn't making trade runs, taught Iris about commerce and the great big world off the shores of La Noscea and inspiring in her a love of travel.

As she grew up, she heard little from the rest of her adoptive family. She came to realize that it was because Felt and Visse were estranged from their estate in Ishgard. Simultaneously, the young Iris was enamored and afraid of the Holy See after learning this, and she began to read about her family's homeland. When she learned the history of the Starlight Festival - a festival for Ishgardian orphans - it immediately became her favorite time of year. She would decorate the Blanchimont home in Limsa, or her father's ship, and run around in red giving gifts to other children, simple alchemical creations she made with her mother.

She was a curious, but happy, child.

Teen Years

Iris thinks of 6AE 1564 as the year her childhood ended. When the Amalj'aa summoned Ifrit in the Mythril Pit, Visse was contacted by the Alchemist's Guild in Ul'dah. She took a teleport to the nearest aetheryte and began to treat wounded survivors of the incident. When she joined a team of Brass Blades to look for more survivors. They never returned from the Pit. Along with the Blades, Visse Blanchimont was declared missing, presumed dead.

Iris met many of the other Blanchimonts for the first time when they traveled to Ul'dah for funerary rites. Her 'grandfather', Lord Arstide du Blanchimont, was exceptionally kind (especially compared to most other Blanchimonts) and bonded with her over the loss of Visse. His wife, Lady Jeanne, was emotionally cold from losing her oldest daughter.

It took some time for Iris to find a suitable way to honor her mother. Eventually, a correspondence from Jeanne du Blanchimont suggested Iris travel with Felt to Ul'dah to learn alchemy from the masters at Frondale's Phrontistery. She studied alchemy in the city and traveled on the Yuveria with Felt, reading books in her father's library. Studying went from a way to sate her curiosity to her all-consuming devotion for Iris. She learned more about alchemy, Ishgard, her family and everything else she could get a book on.

In Thanalan, Iris met a young hyur named Nox Lemouri. Nox was a scrappy swordfighter and slightly skillful conjurer that was a year or so Iris' elder. The two wanted to grow up to be famous; The Alchemist of Eorzea and the Sand Rat. They bonded over everything from those grand dreams, to losing their mothers, to the what girls caught their eyes on any given day.

Her practice with arcanima began in her teens as well, as it was the preferred approach to magic that Visse had used. While Visse did little more than summon a simple carbuncle, Iris still thought it was worth learning.

Before the Calamity

In the years leading up to the Seventh Umbral Era, Iris took up odd jobs with Azeyma's Shields and, eventually, the Maelstrom. This lead her to team up with members of a few different companies. Misfits, a group based out of the Black Shroud, were the team of her friend Nox and a few dedicated friends of hers. The other 'shell she had a pearl for was a band called Restoring Honour. Both groups helped her in different ways, expanding knowledge and allowing her to travel through the eerie ruins of Mor Dhona to her father's homeland, Coerthas.

Iris was recruited as a promising alchemist by Restoring Honour by a man named Dracorian Silverblade. He was something of a mentor in the ways of combat, a field that she did not successfully study in her youth. He also introduced her to another member of the company, Eliza Scarlet. Iris and Eliza became fast friends, and soon something far greater. If the Calamity had never happened, Iris would likely have gotten Eternally Bonded with Eliza and moved to a small house in central Coerthas.

As the conflict with the Garlean Empire heated up, the Maelstrom asked Iris and Felt to travel to Radz-at-Han in an attempt to preserve supply lines should all-out war become inevitable. Iris left Eliza and her companies to deal with what would become the Battle of Carteneau and went overseas with her father and the crew of the Yuveria.

While Iris was overseas, the godsdamn moon fell down.

Seventh Umbral Era

The first full year after Carteneau, Iris was stuck in Radz-at-Han with the Yuveria. She heard nothing from the friends she left behind in Eorzea, and instead turned her attention to the locals. While on the island, she studied the foreign alchemy practiced there as her father worked with the local shipping fleets. It was during this time that Iris developed a love for lassi.

After some time, an order to return home finally came from Limsa Lominsa. When Iris arrived she was greeted with a litany of bad news. Eliza was missing. Iris always hoped that her love had been one of the Warriors of Light. Her homeland was blanketed in snow and her grandmother, Jeanne, died shortly after the chill swept the land. Worse still, the Gates of the Fury were closed so she could not return the kindness her grandfather had shown after Visse's death. Both her bands of friends and companions had disbanded, having lost leaders in the Battle of Carteneau. Even the Shirlds weren't an active force in Eorzea anymore.

Nox, by the grace of the Navigator, had survived. She was helping build up a trade port at Vesper Bay so supplies for the reconstruction could easily travel. It was her suggestion that convinced Iris to take a position at Mealvaan's Gate as an Assessor. The two coordinated many shipments of raw supplies for the reconstruction of Eorzea, with the assistance of Felt and the Yuveria.

As 7UE 5 began, Nox extended another interesting proposal. The Path of the Twelve - a group Iris thought of as 'that cult Nox is in' - had rebranded itself as the Scions of the Seventh Dawn and were in need of someone with Iris' keen understanding of aetheric studies. Iris consulted with some of the Sharlayan experts in the organization and helped develop some of the more bold strategies they embarked upon. When Nox was crippled in her service as one of the adventurers in the orginzation, Iris offered to take her place in the field.

And that's how Iris, who was not an experienced fighter, wound up invading Castrum Centri with the Scions during Operation Archon. Iris had not the first clue what in Llymlaen's name she was doing, which lead to her getting horribly lost and barely escaping the Castrum alive. She managed her escape by stealing a Magitek Reaper and literally rocketing to safety, leaving the team snt to stop the Ultima Wepon to whatever fate awaited them. Thankfully, they didn't really need her.

Seventh Astral Era

Iris found herself drifting from Company to Company. A small but loyal band called Warpath lost their way and disbanded shortly after the success of Operation Archon, from there she tried to help manage a small Coerthas-based company called the White North to no avail, and eventually she sided with a group called the Knights of the Rose. She did not feel at home with them, but liked them and they did seem more stable than the other companies she had found since the end of the Umbral Era.

Everything was going pretty well: she was helping train the new Crystal Braves, she was operation her own Atelier at her Company's estate and she was working with several High Houses in Ishgard. And then, once again, things came crashing down. She was cooking a meal for the Sultana when the Crystal Braves knocked down her door and she, like every other Scion, was forced to flee Ul'dah.

At least she had somewhere to go. Days after her exile, her grandfather died. She and Felt traveled to Ishgard to attend the memorial for Arstide du Blanchimont, who died defending the city from an attack by dragons. While in Ishgard, Iris had one of her old Scion contacts bring her a Fantasia. She also had her friends in the Dutiful Sisters of the Edelweiss furnish her with a false identity so she could return to Eorzea as Flameu Vhisnato.

This false identity didn't last overly long, but her new appearance stuck.

Arche Koeln

Iris joined the Company Arche Koeln after the Scions were granted amnesty. She moved her Atelier to their estate and met several members of the company. She had dinner with Shou Han and developed a really poorly executed crush on her and she shared some of her central interests with the Company's master Ariyon. She spent a lot of her time studying in the Arche Koeln library in her early moons with the Company.

She took a sabbatical from her work with Mealvaan's Gate to help track down a missing member of the company. The sabbatical was significantly extended when the keeper of a sacred book in the company died and left the book behaving strangely. Iris vowed to work with Taji Tribal to research the book and try to restore it to functional order. She suspected the book left behind by Crysola Tsara was a neophyte Gran Grimoire which would develop one day into one of the most powerful books in Eorzean history.