Jaliqai Qulaan
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JALIQAI QULAAN (Pronunciation: jah-lee-kai khoo-lahn), more commonly known amongst those familiar with her reputation in the bounty hunting circle by the epithet Red, is a Xaelan huntress hailing from the continent of Othard. A former member of a small, thought-to-be-destroyed tribe known for its exceptional prowess in hunting, called the Qulaan Tribe, she has since turned her skill in tracking down and pursuing her quarry into a marketable skill. Her thirst for increasingly thrilling, challenging hunts first saw her wandering freely across Othard chasing man and beast alike for many years. However, with the increasing Garlean presence in her homeland making the hunt nigh impossible, she has since been forced to retreat to Eorzea like many of her ilk. Adjusting to the hunter's life in Eorzea has been a challenge, but one that she feels that she's navigated successfully -- especially with the more recent establishment of her own company, Gold & Glory Hunter's Guild. Finding herself at the helm of a newly and quickly developing group of hunters, as well as thrust into the position of de facto leader of the slowly regrouping Qulaan tribe, life has been especially hectic for the woman in recent months. Yet despite the stress and the doubts that accompany her adjustment from foreign refugee to established leader of men, she seems to be taking things in stride. Most days.
Jaliqai is tall for a female Au Ra with a sturdy physique (Reference NSFW) that belies much training and conditioning of her body, as is common of Qulaan stock bred, raised, and trained for a life of endless hunting and sport. Her skin is dark and dusky in color, though her lustrous black scales and the numerous, varied scars accrued over her hunting career still stand out in stark contrast. She has the look of someone who takes great pride in their looks, with her neat and well-kept appearance when out and about. Her face is almost always made up, with her lips painted and the bright red at the corners of her eyes permanently inked into her skin. Likewise, she seems to spare little expense when it comes to her clothing, and even less where her armor and weaponry are concerned. To mention some specific and/or notable aspects of her appearance..
1.) Scars. Jaliqai has quite a few of them. In fact, the only part of her body that seems to have made it out relatively unscathed is her face. The rest that litter her limbs and torso mostly seem to be the sorts of scars that you would expect to see on someone who's spent over twenty years of their life hunting man and beast alike. I mostly just handwave the scars' placements, but a few of them that have specific placements / stories are: (1) three round bullet wounds on her left, one at the shoulder just below her collarbone, another at her side, and another just above the curve of her hip. (2) A small, rounded scar on the right side of her ass that appears to be a bite mark from some fairly large beast. 2.) Tattoos. Jaliqai actually has two tattoos, both of which have meaning. The first would be the one found between her shoulder blades. The Doman saying ‘kishi kaisei’ ( 起死回生 ) is inked permanently into the skin there in a thick, dark calligraphic style (loose reference). Translating to ‘Wake from death and return to life’, she took on this tattoo when she finally stopped running from her past and straight into the whiskey bottle. The second tattoo is the red coloration around the outer corners of her eyes. Long story short, she adopted it as a symbol of mourning for the tribe mates she lost to the Garlean massacre. 3.) Jewelry. In general, Jali doesn't tend to wear a ton of jewelry. But she does wear a fang necklace suspended on worn leather cord at all times. It's extremely important to her, and she's very protective of it.
Determined. Capricious. Predatory. Jaliqai's personality is one that some may very well find to be off-putting, with her often sharp tongue and her penchant for saying exactly what is on her mind with little for the feelings of others. In more recent times, with her new position as a leader and public figure, she's slowly learning how to better control her tongue. However, she's still possessed of a terribly mercurial temperament inherited from her mother, her mood changing at the drop of a hat. One moment she could be all grins and laughter, and the next could see her turn surly and aggressive. However, her predatory nature tends to stick out most of all. She tends to watch people and judge them as a beast would its prey, calculating motives, sizing them up, gathering information. Still, despite her other short-comings, her upbringing has left her with a deep sense of loyalty and a natural orientation towards functioning in a group setting. Once one does manage the task of earning her respect, she's a fierce ally to have at one's back and would hunt any that do them harm to the ends of the world and back. The same extends to those who the Xaelan woman comes to consider to be 'one of her own', whether that's a close ally, a member of the Guild, or a tribe mate.
This is a list of the items that Jaliqai currently is keeping on her person. Feel free to use this information if it comes up logically in the course of RP, such as pickpocketing, a search, etc. Last Updated: January 31st, 2016.
Face Claim: Zuleyka Silver. Body Claim: Natalia Karandashova (NSFWish). Voice Claim: Alix Wilton Regan.
THE QULAAN were one of the lesser Xaela tribes that roamed far and wide across the continent of Othard, often referred to as the Wolves of the Steppe by other Xaela tribes and Othardian peoples alike. Known for their exceptional prowess in tracking and bringing down prey, much like the wolves that they claim as brethren, the Qulaan revered the Hunt above all else. Never lingering in one place for too long, this tightly knit group of Auri trackers and warriors followed wherever the promise of worthy quarry led them. Yet the constant danger of their pursuits as well as the occasional brushes with larger, hostile Xaela tribes tended to keep their numbers small with little growth. Despite this, the cunning tribe compensated for their lacking numbers with traditions meant to breed and raise even stronger stock, keeping their bloodlines going for generation upon generation. Paired with their willingness to interact with, learn from, and trade with outsiders, the pack remained strong. As the Garleans began to appear with frequency in Othard with the continent's subjugation in the year 1521, the Qulaan found their hunts and way of life stifled by these foreign invaders, as many other Xaela tribes did. Their movements and resources restricted, it took a good deal of time to adjust. Yet eventually, the ever-adapting tribe managed to learn how to carry on, finding ways to continue living and hunting without drawing the Garleans' ire. Still discontent remained, only the barest of begrudging tolerance for the inconvenient presence given. Roughly eight years ago, the other tribes, villages, and cities that the Qulaan regularly interacted and traded with began to notice the tribe's marked absence. After a few moons, rumors began to spread that the tribe was no longer. No one quite knew for certain what had happened to the Wolves of the Steppe, yet myriad theories were put forth. Some believed that the tribe had turned in on itself, erupting in battle that left them fragmented and easy pickings. Others suspected that another larger tribe, most likely Kharlu or Jhungid, subjugated and assimilated them into their ranks. Or maybe an attack by a hostile Dotharl tribe, who destroyed them as they did the Hotgo? A hunt went terribly wrong? Whatever the case, even if the circumstances were unknown, one thing was: the proud hunters were no more.
The Qulaan tribe now has its own wiki with all the information on them you could ever want.. and probably a lot more that you didn't.
Jaliqai, as was the way of her tribe, has been taught how to fight and how to hunt from a very young age. Though ultimately her skills skewed more towards the hunt and pursuit of prey itself rather than battle, she is still a very much capable fighter. Her small frame and lightness on her feet make her naturally more agile, quick, and balanced. However, muscle wrought from years of training, fighting, and careful maintenance ensure that when she needs to don heavier armor and weaponry, she has the necessary strength to wield them by sacrificing some of that natural speed. The Xaela does best when she is in a fight with at least one partner at her back. While she can hold her own when by herself, it's far from comfortable or natural for her, and can sometimes lead to thoughtless mistakes on her behalf.
Here is a list of recent and/or notable fights, roleplay scenes, etc. that Jaliqai has been a part of. This list is by no means all inclusive, and serves more as a general reference as to what she has been up to.
Jaliqai was borne of the union of the Qulaani hunting partners, Sechen and Yesugei. While the two were never romantic lovers, they were extremely close to one another as hunting companions and parents. Jaliqai was never quite as close with her mother as she was with her father, yet both still had a hand in raising her -- alongside the rest of the tribe, as was their custom -- and shaping her into the young woman that she became. Jaliqai's youngest years were mostly affected by two things: First, the emotional distance that Sechen seemed to maintain between not only herself and Yesugei, but also between herself and her young daughter. As such, they never developed a particularly close emotional bond to one another, which really confused and worried the young Jaliqai quite a lot in those formative years and turned into easy kindling for bitterness and spite in her adult life. Not only that, but it led to her being raised in an environment that fairly well stunted her emotional development. Only much later in her life did Jaliqai really come to understand why her mother was so distant towards everyone, but by then, the damage had already been done. When she grew a bit older, enough to join the rest of the children in their own little microcosm of a hierarchy within the tribe itself, Jaliqai found herself picked on fairly regularly because of her small size. A very late bloomer, she didn't come into her own until she was almost of an age to take on her Coming of Age trial. As such, the other children wielded that smallness and weakness against her, not least of which was her younger cousin Saraghul.
At the age of fifteen, Jaliqai was deemed ready to take on her Coming of Age trial to become a full-fledged Qulaani adult. During this time, there had been an upset within the tribe's harmony, with a man attempting to strongarm the tribe away from the current leader. Not only well outside of the time frame and custom surrounding the challenging of the current leader, he had made an earnest but unsuccessful attempt on the man's life itself. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity for the young Qulaani girl to prove her tracking skills, the tribe's leader decided to give his attacker a Trial by Hunting instead of having him put to death immediately for his transgressions. At nightfall, the man was given a hunting knife, a day's worth of food and water, and a head start while the rest of the hunting party, Jaliqai included, rested up. At the first light of dawn, they set out, with the young woman seeking to prove herself at the lead. Using not only her skills in following tracks and other physical signs, Jaliqai showed much aptitude for getting into the head of her prey, using what she knew about the man they were hunting to figure out the most likely places that he would've ran to. On the second day of the three day hunt, she was successful, having tracked the cowardly man back to a Doman village where he had been waiting for a wagon to take him far from the tribe as fast as possible. Catching him before he could leave, the man was finally put to death, and Jaliqai's Coming of Age trial was a success. With that, it was time for the young Qulaani woman to be paired with a hunting partner and mate. Yet none of those eligible seemed to complement her in just the right way. As such, the tribe's leader waited until someone came along who he thought could balance out her temper. Only a few years later, that person was found: Nasyamar, the half-brother to Jaliqai's cousin, Saraghul. Their pairing together was one that was initially marked with much friction and tension, until they became more accustomed to one another. Even then, their relationship never quite progressed past the affectionate and into the romantic, even once they began to try for children together. Yet it was at this point in their relationship that things began to change, with Jaliqai becoming ever more bitter and withdrawn with their inability to conceive and the eventual birth of her much younger sister. Slowly but surely, Jaliqai had almost single-handedly allowed her doubts and frustrations to set the both of them down a self-destructive path.
When Jaliqai was almost in her twenty-fifth cycle, her previously normal life was ended with the apparently decimation of her tribe. What started as a freak accident when the beloved daughter of the current tribe chieftain was slain by a trigger-happy Garlean patrol drove the grief-stricken Qulaani into a reckless push for revenge. They tracked the Garleans back to their encampment and fell upon them with all their fury. However, despite the tribe's fighting prowess, their relatively low numbers and their inability to properly defend against the mightier magitek and firepower of the Garleans ultimately spelled their defeat in the chaotic, bloody skirmish that followed. Many died that day. Those who did not, Jaliqai included, were rounded up to be transported back to only the gods know where. Heavily injured and barely clinging to life, Jaliqai finally escaped capture when she pretended to be dead, and was subsequently tossed out unceremoniously onto the roadside with the other Auri that had passed from the extent of their wounds. There, weak and buried in the pile of bodies, she very well might have succumb. However, following a respectable distance behind the Garlean transport was a group of Doman villagers whose lands the soldiers were passing through. Having noticed the trail of Xaela bodies left in their wake and bearing no love for the invaders, these farmers and villagers gathered the fallen hunters and huntresses to properly bury them. It was then that they found Jaliqai, barely alive, and brought her back to their home to nurse her back to health. Days passed before the woman had recovered enough to be coherent and discover what had happened. She begged the Doman villagers to help her in properly burying her tribemates in their custom, to which they agreed. With the villagers' help, Jaliqai brought the shrouded bodies to the funeral pyre and sung for them, alone, until dusk broke to dawn. It was then that she begged them never to speak of what had happened to the Qulaan, to not bring shame and tarnish to their reputation. Once Jaliqai had fully recovered, she knew that she could not continue to live among the kind Domans that had taken her in. They were just far too different from her, and the village would never be her home. She was given enough supplies to travel and decided to set out to wander, to pursue a new life by herself. It was lonely and difficult for someone who had spent their entire life surrounded by their family. Yet with little other alternative, she persisted.
Setting out on her own, Jaliqai did the only thing that she knew how to do: hunt. Whether it was hunting for food to survive, or taking on jobs for the people she encountered in her traveling, it was the hunt that kept her alive. It was the hunt that also afforded her the money to make what would end up being a terrible discovery: liquor, whiskey in particular, and the mind-numbing effect that drinking enough of it had on her. She quickly fell into alcoholism at that point, haunted by the demons of her tribe's massacre between the lingering sense of partial-responsibility and a healthy dose of survivor's guilt. The whiskey made it easier to clear her mind of everything, and to fall into a black, dreamless sleep when she lost consciousness. It grew to a point where she cared little for saving the drinking until after the hunt's completion, taking on jobs half-sober and caring little if she met her end during the course of it. Perhaps wanting to meet her end, even. Yet despite the number of foolish injuries and failed jobs that it brought, somehow she managed to survive the self-destructive downward spiral she had set herself upon. That spiral came to a stop -- mostly -- when she eventually came to Doma in search of work, deciding to settle there for a time. She found it in the petitioning of a Raen lord in need of men and women capable with weaponry, who were especially good at finding people who didn't want to be found. Managing to pull herself together long enough to impress the man, she was hired and found herself not only a source of steady, well-paying employment, but also a place to stay for some time. It was during this time in his employment that Jaliqai met her employer's daughter, Chise. At first only a casual acquaintanceship, the two eventually began to spend more and more time with one another between the jobs that Jaliqai was taking. As time ticked on, the two became increasingly close, until what started as a mere acquaintanceship turned somewhat emotional and romantic, despite Chise's own impending arranged marriage. They saw kindred spirits in one another, two women bound to honor the duties and expectations pushed upon them by tradition, who held affection for one another that they knew could only ever be temporary. Still, for a time, this did not stop them. The Raen noblewoman's caring managed to pull Jaliqai back from the edge of the self-destructive cliff she was poised to hurl herself off of, convincing her to turn away from the bottle and bravely face her problems head-on. She taught her many things during their time together -- language, writing, poetry, culture, and so on. Perhaps most importantly, for the time they were together and for the first time since her tribe's downfall, Jaliqai didn't feel so utterly and completely alone. Just as anticipated, however, things eventually had to come to an end. While part of Jaliqai, deep down, had hoped that Chise would defy her family's expectations and refuse her arranged marriage, the Raen did not. Leaving her with only a poem in parting when Jaliqai woke from their last night spent together, the two never spoke again. For a long time, the sudden absence wounded the Xaela deeply, but she never quite held it against Chise. After all, she understood all too well.
Doma remained Jaliqai's home for some years after, coming and going as work directed her. As such, when the Garleans fell upon the city and razed it to the ground, Jaliqai was fortunate enough to be long gone in the middle of an assignment. She returned to find yet another home destroyed by the Garleans, once again stoking the hatred in her heart for them. Far too late returned to change anything, the one thing she could do was to join the other refugees that were scrambling to get to a new land -- Eorzea. Jaliqai had known truly little about Eorzea when she had first arrived in the land. What bit she had heard came from the mouths of sailors and traders that she had met, or occasional rumors. When she finally set foot in the land, these bits of information had scarcely prepared her for the culture shock. She had it better than most tribal Xaela, she figured, having gained a somewhat more cultured sense in her previous eight cycles spent experiencing other cultures and her life in Doma. Yet still, this was a new land, new people, and a new way of life. Not to mention, most of the men and women had never even heard of her kind before, much less laid eyes upon them. Like many Au Ra that arrived in the initial influx of refugees, Jaliqai took great pains to conceal her more Auri features and to keep her new peers at arm's length. Still, she knew that she had to adjust and adapt to this new land, and hesitated little in trying to work her way back into the bounty hunter's world. It was then that she accepted an open contract and joined onto a job alongside Bayard Bronzeblade, an established and charismatic Highlander man who was already fairly established in the Eorzean bounty hunting world. He took leadership of the group and, in particular, took a great interest in the mysterious foreign woman who had come to them alone and looking to prove herself. Over the following six moons' time, Jaliqai and Bayard became increasingly close, despite herself. He managed to get her to open up more than she did with others, and in exchange, he taught her all that she needed to know about Eorzea, its history, its places, and its people. He introduced her to the contacts that she would need in their line of work, from her fellow hunters to the secret sellers and everything in between. Yet in the end, realizing how much she had come to care for the man and how such a feeling stirred up a deep sense of guilt inside of her, not to mention a reluctance to let herself be hurt again, Jaliqai ultimately decided to leave Bayard's company and strike out into Eorzea on her own.
As far as coin goes, all roads seem to lead directly to Ul'dah. With that in mind, Jaliqai made the decision to come to the Jewel of the Desert to try her hand at finding work there. It did not take long for the Xaela to learn that the thing people seemed to want tracked down most in the desert was information, not beasts. Realizing that, Jaliqai took up the challenge of a new kind of hunt, and found herself extended acceptance into the Blind Viper soon after. Jaliqai sought to continue to expand her list of contacts and her reserve of knowledge, and actively claimed Ul'dah as her hunting grounds. During her time in Ul'dah, Jaliqai received a message from an old ally -- Bayard -- asking for assistance tracking down someone for a job. Despite some reluctance, Jaliqai was never one to turn down an ally in need, and so she set off for Ishgard. Though the job ended successfully, it wasn't before a deep and unexpected betrayal of her trust by Bayard. As a means of bargaining his way back into her good graces, he offered up rumors he had heard of other Qulaani Xaela in Eorzea. Yet the news that he had been selfishly holding and attempting to now use as leverage only angered her further. She cut all ties with the man then, and resolved to look into the rumors of her missing tribemates herself. Still unable to track down hide nor hair of her brethren, Jaliqai began to consider other methods for reunited the Qulaani rumored to have made it to Eorzea: chiefly, by setting a 'trap' that would lure them in. A haven for hunters. A home. Fresh off a win of the Grindstone when she heard news that the Blind Viper was being placed up for sale, she took it as a sign to put her plan into motion. Despite the doubts and the fact that she had little idea of what she was getting herself into, Jaliqai threw herself full-force into the realization of her plan: the establishment of Gold & Glory Hunter's Guild and the Bountiful Chest tavern. And thus far, the gamble has paid off. The Guild and Tavern are both seeing great amounts of success and growth. Even besides, the plan she'd put into place to draw in the Qulaani seems to be working. Thus far, she has managed to pull a small handful of her tribe mates together again. After almost nine years of thinking each other dead, Jaliqai and Nasyamar have been reunited. Jaliqai was overwhelmed and overjoyed by the realization that her mate was alive, and the second chance to fix things that it seemed to afford her. Yet while she has a deep desire to do things right this time, she's already finding familiar demons from her past returning to haunt her. Chiefly, her concern with being unable to bear him children, and the struggle to figure out how she really feels about him -- whether it's just the same deep affection and caring as her parents had for one another, or perhaps something more. Compounding this inner conflict is an attachment quickly developing towards one Altai Iriq, a man who joined the Guild whose advice and support she has come to rely heavily upon, despite a rather rough start to their interactions. Not only has the stern warrior become her close confidant, but she cannot deny that there's something else there between them -- feelings that part of her wishes to compartmentalize as mere physical attraction, though she fears that's not quite the extent of it. Especially after the extreme distress she felt when he was forced to leave to confront his own past, and was not able to promise her that he would return. Now, Jaliqai finds herself torn between the two of them: a man whom she is bound to for the rest of her life and someone who she would gladly kill and even die for, and a man who inadvertently found a way to stir emotions within her that have been lying most dormant within her for the entirety of her adult life. A man who represents her duty and her people's tradition, and a man who represents the breaking of that mold to freely pursue her own wants and desires. It's a blurry, messy line she's walking, and one she has absolutely no idea how to navigate.
These are mostly backstory-related relationships. However, should anyone express interest in creating a Qulaan member or family member, I will add them here as necessary.
Listed here are the non-tribe and non-family characters, both PC and NPC, that Jaliqai has interacted with enough or in such a way for her to form a real opinion about them. Please don't take personal offense if your character isn't listed here, or how the interaction or relationship is described. It isn't that I dislike your character or our RP. I just tend to only add these as necessary for those who make a real impact on Jaliqai, and descriptions are purely based upon in character experiences and opinions! Last Update... September 29th, 2015. * An asterisks denotes that Jaliqai doesn't know the individual's true name.
◢ Common Rumors - Easily overheard. Use these freely!
◢ Uncommon Rumors - A little more difficult to hear. Use sparingly or ask first!
◢ Rare Rumors - Very rarely overheard. Please ask before using!
◢ Player Character Rumors - Feel free to add rumors of your own!
You are not permitted to re-use this artwork for your own characters or purposes, whether on Final Fantasy XIV or on other games, forums, etc.
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Jaliqai is played by a twenty-something year old woman straight out of the heart of the good ol' American countryside, where most people own more tractors than they have teeth. Despite this, she actually kind of likes it there most of the time, even if it's left her with an insufferable drawl and more than a handful of colorful Southernisms that cause people to scratch their heads when she speaks. She works a nine-to-five job (actually more like eight-to-four-thirty) and so she's not always around or energetic enough for RP, but she still very much enjoys hanging out with other RPers, chatting, and running content in the game even when she isn't feeling the flow of creative juices -- which she also thinks is a very gross-sounding phrase, for the record. If you like adorable cats, Game of Thrones, and groan-worthy puns, then chances are, you will get along with her just fine. She also curses like a Finally, he's a grab bag of little side notes that may be of interest to you if you RP with me!
Overall, I'm pretty chill as far as guidelines go. I don't have an extensive list of 'Do's or 'Don't's or things that I personally find triggering. So chances are, you won't offend me or make me uncomfortable unless you're trying to or just being really skeevy in general. Still, for the sake of making sure everyone's on the same page here, let me make a few mentions in particular:
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