Kahti Wiht

Kahti Wiht
Gender	Female
Race	"Freak"
Clan	N/A
Citizenship	La Noscean
Birth Date	6th Sun 5th Umbral Moon (Oct 6)
Marital Status	Widow
Occupation	Courier / Explorer / Other
Height/Build	Tall / Athletic Build
Relatives	Sehlti Wiht(Daughter, Deceased) Mhrad'to Ahnd(Husband, Deceased)
Guardian	Menphina, the Lover

Seldi Witt (pronounced /ˈSel-dee Wit/) is a woman with a complicated past, and equally complicated physiology. She was born a Miqo'te by the name of "Kahti Wiht", and later went by her daughter's name, "Sehlti Wiht" after the younger girl died during the Calamity. During this time, she became widely known as "Seldi Witt" due to non-Miqo'te difficulties pronouncing the name. After a failed attempt to disable a cultist summoning circle, she was transformed into an Au Ra with complicated physiology, and then later transformed again into an Elezen. Despite insistences to the contrary by friends, she considers herself a monster or a freak, depending on her mood.

She has moderate skill with daggers and bows, but primarily studies Arcanist magic, and is associated with the Arcanist Guild in Limsa Lominsa. Although there is little to distinguish herself from adventurers, and despite being registered with the Adventurers' Guild, Seldi does not consider herself one. She is also not associated with the Post Moogles, despite being a Courier.

Appearance & Personality

Seldi is above average height for an Elezen female. She appears young - in her early twenties - but lacks the passionate demeanor normally associated with youth. She is athletic, and generally healthy. This is despite her lower than normal body temperature, which results in her being sensitive to heat.

Her skin is a dark shade of grey, and her hair is black with golden highlights. Her eyes are oddly colored, the right silver, and the left brown. As she tends to swim or bathe in the waters around La Noscea, her scent is often a faint combination of saltwater and the mild flower perfume she wears.

She tends to wear clothing colored in red, black, and white. Regardless of her outfit, she can often - if not always - be found wearing some kind of wide brim hat to keep the sun out of her eyes. Her clothing is well maintained, and she will often replace a garment if it becomes too worn. She's fond of simple jewelry, and wears earrings, rings, and chokers regularly.

Seldi doesn't seem to be familiar with social norms, and will often come off as disrespectful, aloof or overly familiar. Despite this, she's never been observed to be particularly maligned, and generally wants the best for people, even if she doesn't fully understand what the "best" for them is. She does tend to be practical, however, and has been known to upset (or even harm) people if it serves a purpose.

A quick learner, she enjoys new things, and has been known to readily set aside a task if curiosity calls to her. This leads her to exploring often, whether the object of her curiosity is some sort of ruins, new concepts, or books. She tends not to seek these things out, however, and will only be drawn to them if they catch her attention first. She does enjoy stability, however, and will always return to home and old friends. She possesses quiet pride, and claims her hubris has gotten people killed, something she regrets.

Biography

6th Astral Era

Youth and The First Failure

Seldi's original form

Kahti was born to a Keeper clan in the Black Shroud, the name of which she has not revealed. As a child, she showed a natural aptitude for magic. (She claims to have been a prodigy, but her abilities were quite normal). Prideful, she would boast about her abilities to kids without such abilities.

When she came of age, she tried to join the Conjurer's Guild in Gridania, only to be rejected. Undeterred, she headed for the Thaumaturge Guild in Ul'dah, where she was accepted. She learned from the guild quickly, and eventually returned to Gridania to assist in policing the forest, trying to earn the respect of the Elements which had previously rebuked her.

Unfortunately, eagerness and hubris are dangerous combinations, something Kahti proved by losing control of a spell, and torching a squad of Wood Wailers along with a group of poachers. Proving repeated predictions by friends and family regarding her hubris, Kahti went into self-imposed exile, rather than face her shame. To this day, she believes her clan would not welcome her back.

Exile and Family

Kahti had met another Keeper in Ul'dah by the name of "Mhrad'to Ahnd". Mhrad'to was practicing pugilism not far from where Kahti was training as a thaumaturge. The two quickly became friends, but while Kahti returned to Gridania, he used saved money from fights to head to Limsa Lominsa to pursue his true passion: Cooking. Though separated, the two had kept in contact via letters. When Kahti went into exile, she sought him out for comfort. The two quickly fell in love, and eventually became a couple. When Kahti found herself with child, they purchased a small house in southern La Noscea - really little more than an old storehouse for an equally old fisher - and decided to live out the rest of their lives there.

Having sworn off thaumaturgy, Kahti took to fishing, hunting, and gathering, favoring a bow as her weapon. Mhrad'to would cook what she provided, and their excess would be sold in nearby Limsa Lominsa. Young Sehlti would deliver the goods when she got old enough. The girl returned with supplies, gil, and the latest news, all the time never knowing about her mother's exile.

Not wanting her daughter to suffer a similar fate as her own, Kahti strove to teach the girl humility and compassion, trying to weave such thinking into lessons on reading, writing, arithmetic, reasoning, and so on. It seemed to work, and Sehlti was well liked by those she met. With the foundations to do anything she wanted, the wit to avoid being cheated, and a good heart to endear those she'd work with, Sehlti would easily make up for the mistakes Kahti felt she had made.

Shortly before the Calamity, Sehlti had - as before - returned with news of the world's events. Even if she hadn't, the falling moon was difficult to miss. Sehlti and Mhrad'to made a case to Kahti regarding the pilgrimage to pray to the Twelve for salvation. In the end, the decision - as head of the household - was Kahti's. In a combination of not wanting to risk her family on the increasingly dangerous roads, and the belief that the world would be fine without them, Kahti decided to keep her family home. On the final day, she took it upon herself to make the deliveries to Limsa Lominsa, feeling her daughter's safety was more important than her own regrets.

7th Umbral Era

The Second Failure

Kahti likely would have been in Limsa Lominsa already when Bahamut burst from Dalamud, if not for the strange machinations of fate. That one could be spared for an odd mix of familial duty and simple curiosity, while that same family perishes is a subject she has spent many nights dwelling on. Braving the monsters brought forth by the moon's fall, she had undertaken the journey to Limsa Lominsa usually taken by her daughter.

Hard to ignore, Dalamud captured her attention, and she paused to watch its final moments from what she reckoned was a very safe distance. A flash of light surprised her as something burst from Dalamud, and flew rapidly across the land. With plenty of time to realize it was headed towards Limsa Lominsa, she took what cover she could find. When the noise subsided, she abandoned her goods in her shelter, and ran home.

Her home was not so lucky, and she returned to find a crater slowly filling with seawater where it once stood. The woman searched in vain for something - anything - that remained her family. When the truth could be denied no longer, she was overcome with grief. Something within the woman broke. Ravaged with sleep deprivation, thirst and hunger - all borne of grief - her mind steadily moved from believing it should have been her instead of her daughter, to believing it was her instead of her daughter. "Kahti" had died in the wreckage, and "Sehlti" had survived.

"Sehlti" didn't allow herself to mourn for long before she resolved to tend to her survival. She tried fishing, and was surprised to find the fish refused to bite. Hunting animals of the land was more straight-forward, but she quickly found herself to be a poor cook. Her "cooked" food was often either so raw it made her ill, or so overdone as to be unappetizing. Shelter was an issue as well. She frequently sought shelter in a tree, and though typically safe from predators and bandits, she was not sheltered from the elements.

Despite finding herself to be a "natural" with a bow, she realized she was ill equipped to survive on her own. She headed for Limsa Lominsa after just a few weeks, burying her gil before she went. She lent what strength she had to the rebuilding efforts until she could find work not unlike that which she had done for her parents: courier work.

Courier Work

A few years after the Calamity, and now known only by her daughter's name, Seldi had fallen into the semi-regular nature of courier work. As the years passed, she gradually took to working during the daylight hours, despite her eyes' sensitivity to light. Her work began slowly, posting offers of service on Limsa Lominsa's market boards, and going from business to business, guild to guild, stall to stall.

Despite her distaste for adventuring, most of Seldi's early work did come through the Adventurer's guild. As she built up a small reputation as a trustworthy and reliable courier, jobs came easier. Eventually, she even started handling the odd package for the Maelstrom, as well as people in other city-states.

As time continued on, she once again drew the conclusion that she was better off as part of a group. Though she was doing perfectly fine as a courier, a desire to study the magic of the Arcanist Guild in Limsa Lominsa grew in her. Self-employed courier work left little time for her to pursue such studies. Thus, she sought out a Free Company who could employ her. Not terribly picky, she found one, settled in, and set about shifting her free time to her Arcanist studies just in time for the leaders of the Grand Companies to declare the beginning of the 7th Astral Era.

7th Astral Era

Healing

As one might guess, the analytical thinking required for studying Arcanist geometries - which Seldi has taken to calling "arrays" - is often turned on the world at large. So when the Grand Companies declared the 7th Astral Era, Seldi found herself skeptical. She commented on the matter that it was a political move, and Eorzea's troubles were far from over.

Finding herself with more and more free time as the days drove on, Seldi dove into the study of arcane, borrowing tomes from friendly scholars and the Arcanist Guild alike. She was initially blocked from all but theoretical progress by an issue with casting spells. Another mage assisted her by examining her attempts to cast a few spells. It was determined that she was channeling the Aether incorrectly; the erroneous style of channeling was not too dissimilar from Thaumaturges.

Problem solved, Seldi soon found herself learning and casting spells at a quickened pace. She credited this to the intense study of the subject before she could even cast her first spell. Focused on healing magic for reasons both practical and pessimistic, Seldi soon started requesting permission to practice her spells at Bronze Lake. Permission was granted so long as the patients were informed of her novice status, and given the right to decline.

Confidence growing from lack of error, and her courier duties all but abandoned, she moved on to more active roles. In particular, she made her skills known to the Adventurer's guild, and soon found herself with no shortage of willing people to practice not only her skills on, but adjustments to her geometries as well.

The Third Failure

During this time, a friend-turned-lover - Sherem Shaw - began noticing odd quirks in Seldi's behavior. During moments of distraction, Seldi would do or mention something off. That she might try to have children "again" instead of merely "someday". That learning to cast magic felt like relearning to do something one once excelled at, rather than learning something new. Accidentally referring to one she shared a bed with as "Mhrad'to". Other, similar things.

Before it could be fully investigated, however, Sherem invited her to assist him on a job: Clearing Tam Tara Deepcroft of cultist activity. With a combination of practiced stealth and magic, Sherem and Seldi made quick work of the cultists. At the end, they were faced with a massive summoning array, already charged with Aether.

Though having barely studied summoning magic, Seldi put forth the idea that the array should not simply be destroyed, as this could lead to an uncontrolled discharge of magic. Instead, she suggested they modify the array to adjust its intended effect into something manageable. Sherem - a fellow arcanist - was unable to calculate or make the changes himself, so it fell to Seldi.

Seldi's transformed into an Au Ra

After making the changes, Seldi proceeded to trigger the spell. At first, it seemed like nothing had happened. In that moment of relief, the light fled from the chamber, and they were confronted by a figure clad in hooded black robes and a porcelain mask that changed expression when it wasn't being observed. A powerful entity, it resisted their attacks as if they weren't happening. In return for freeing it, the entity gave Seldi a "gift": changing her into something resembling an Au Ra.

The entity did nothing to Sherem, claiming he'd already been "gifted" by another, and left. It was quickly revealed that Seldi's new form was designed to upset her, as she believe - even with her disabilities - that the Miqo'te form was superior to that of other races. Additionally, the transformation returned her memories to her, revealing the lie she had been telling herself for five years: Her daughter and husband were dead, and it was her fault. Finally, the knowledge of having released a powerful entity into the world as further failure to be humble would have to sit on her shoulders.

Small Comforts

Despite being changed into an Elezen once she had grown comfortable with her Au Ra form, Seldi is doing well, but keeps herself in isolation, preferring to avoid other people from coming in contact with the Voidsent that plagues her. The plan is not without reason: Those few people that tried to get involved have been "gifted" by the voidsent as well.

If not for her friends and Sherem, Seldi - keeping the nickname in honor of her lost daughter - would have fallen into despair. Though their kind words helped greatly, the mere existence of others who cared about her and whom she cared about formed an emotional safety net. She has a long way to go, however: despite knowing that action needs to be taken, she cowers behind words of prudence, and swiftly broken mirrors.

Miscellaneous

Likes ■ Rainstorms / Water ■ Night ■ Exploration ■ Creamy or Savory Foods ■ Small Groups

Dislikes ■ Dry Weather / Deserts ■ Day ■ Stagnation / Lack of Freedom ■ Sweet Foods ■ Large Groups ■ "Unsteady" Heights

Tidbits ■ Alignment: True Neutral ■ Strength(s): Mostly Self-Sufficient, But Can Still Work With Others; Physically Resilient; Literate and well-read ■ Weakness(s): Poor Social Skills; Below Average Hearing; ■ Favorite Food: Bacon Bread ■ Favorite Drink: Coffee With Cream ■ Favorite Color: Red

Rumors Some of these rumors are untrue or are greatly exaggerated. Add your own rumors under Player Characters! ■ Common Rumors (Easily overheard) ■ "Never heard of her." -- Most People ■ Moderate Rumors (Moderately difficult to overhear) ■ "Wasn't she a Miqo'te?" -- Random Citizens ■ Rare Rumors (Very difficult or rarely overheard) ■ "Yeah, that's the gal you talk to if you don't want someone asking too many questions about what ya want delivered, but you didn't hear it from me." -- A Desperately Anonymous Fellow ■ Player Character Rumors ■ "I heard she took out a cluster of Bombs at the Bismarck once, all by herself and armed with little more than a butter knife!" --An oddly effeminate kitchen hand ■ "Asked her to make coffee once, ended up setting fire to the pot, the water inside and the coffee beans. Lesson learned." --Sherem Shaw

Feelings Towards Others Seldi likely keeps this information to herself. Where groups are listed, this is her default or general stance. ♥ Fond Of ♥ Sherem Shaw - Lover - A mischievous "girly man" Hyur that never ceases to make her laugh (on the inside). ♥ Kirkirik Tirtirik - She finds this gentle (but resilient) Lalafell terribly pleasant company. ● Good Standing ● Neith Tumet - An Au Ra turned Miqo'te by the same entity that transformed Seldi. Former roommate. She generally enjoys Neith's presence. ● Totojin Kokojin - Another lalafell. A student of many forms of magic who allows her to borrow his tomes. She genuinely regrets not speaking with him more often. ● Arcadeus (Free Company) - Her current employer. ● Maelstrom (Grand Company) - 'Till the Sea swallows all! Seldi is not a member of the organization, but has a fondness for them. ● Poor Standing ● Nunhs (Seeker Breeding Males) - It's complicated.

Footnotes

Theme Song: Pending!

TV Tropes (Present): Pragmatic Hero, Grey and Gray Morality, Fatal Flaw (Pride)

TV Tropes (Past): Randomly Gifted, Heroic Wannabe, Necessary Fail, The Exile, IdentityAmnesia

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