Karen Brightflower

Karen Brightflower
Ala Mhigan Bodyguard for Hire
Gender	Female
Race	Hyur
Clan	Highlander
Citizenship	Ala Mhigan Refugee
Age	26
Relationship	Dating (Open Relationship)

Character

General

Birthplace: Ala Mhigo

Current Residence: Goblet Ward 9 Plot 18

Current Workplace: The Silver Nexus. (Lavender Beds Free Company Mansion.)

Eye Color- Right violet, left green.

Hair color- Blue

Body Type- Muscular

Age: 26

Appearance

Karen is of average height for a Highlander woman, with bronzed skin and a muscular build. She has deep blue hair, usually with light blue highlights, most often kept in a ponytail but at times cut short. Her eyes are hetero chromatic, with her right eye being violet and the left green. Karen tends to favor clothing that is dark blue or violet in color, whether it be heavy armor, a lighter tunic for hand to hand combat, or casual clothes for socializing. Karen carries a mark on her right wrist, usually covered by clothing or a bandage.

Personality

Despite being a hothead in her youth, Karen is a reserved and usually stoic woman. She values strength and courage, and detests bullies and schemers. Initially she can seem distant and aloof, but can be quite warm and caring once she gets to know someone, and is very protective of the few she calls her friends. She respects strength in whatever form it comes it, but detests those who abuse their power to bully or torment those beneath them. She tends to keep her feelings and emotions to herself, guarding what she allows others to see whether friend or foe. However, those that she comes to call true friends will be able to see another side of her.

Combat

General

Karen's preferred style of combat is with a sword and shield, usually wearing medium to heavy armor. Using blade and shield in tandem, her use of extensive shield work often catches some foes off guard who expect her to mostly block with it, rather than use both her sword and shield for both offensive and defensive purposes. She tends to fight defensively, looking to outlast her enemy and slowly wear them down, aiming to tire out her foe until they make a mistake and create an opening for her to exploit. Though lacking enough aether for prolonged use of magic, Karen can use her aether to empower sword strikes or reinforce her defenses in limited amounts.

In addition to her blade work, Karen has also begun training in the Pugilist's Guild in hand to hand combat. Both in order to defend herself when without her arms and armor, but also for instances where she may need to incapacitate an aggressor without maiming or killing them. When fighting in a tunic or other light clothing besides her armor, she can be deceptively quick for her size, using a combination of strength and speed to bring down her foes. When fighting in this way, Karen is much more offensive and aggressive than with her sword and shield, looking to end fights more quickly. However, she is not as skilled with her fists as much as she is with her sword and shield.

Tendencies

Likes/Hobbies

• Sparring, hand to hand or with practice weapons
• Triple Triad (Casually)
• Honesty and straightforwardness
• Weapons and armor

Dislikes

• Bullies
• Corrupt merchants/officials/officers
• Boisterous loudmouths
• Sickly Sweet things
• Armchair psychologists

Strengths

• High physical strength and stamina
• Highly proficient with one handed blades, shields and heavy armor
• Moderately proficient in pugilist martial arts
• Though lacking education, she can be clever at putting pieces of information together

Weaknesses

• Though not completely illiterate, Karen can only read and write on a very basic level
• Limited mobility when in armor
• No formal education
• Limited aether, preventing her from fighting primarily with magic and forcing her to be strategic with overt uses of aether in battle.

Relationships

Family

Katherine Brightflower (Mother): Deceased. Perished shortly after the Calamity.

Kallen: Younger sister. Former member of the Ala Mhigan Resistance, currently an apprentice armorer in Limsa Lominsa.

Friends

Her fellows in the Silver Nexus, and former employment in the Safe House.

Romantic Partner

C'thra Dawnbringer Sybella Deltro

Enemies

None, yet.

Rumors

Common Rumors

• Said to be a former gladiator in the Blood Sands of some success, until her career came to a sudden and quiet end.
• A refugee from Ala Mhigo who has managed to integrate better into Ul'dah society than many.
• Those familiar with her time in the blood sands would know that Karen used the name Bright Flower as a pseudonym in the ring. Though she introduces herself as Karen Bright Flower now, it may not be her true surname.

Uncommon Rumors

• There may have been more to her retirement from the Blood Sands than she lets on.
• Seems to be rarely seen with others when outside of the workplace.
• Karen seems to have some sort of mark on her right wrist, usually covered up by clothing or a bandage.

Rare Rumors

• Said to have vanished for a couple of weeks shortly before the liberation of of the city of Ala Mhigo and appearing again a couple weeks after.

OOC Info

Bodyguard for Hire

Karen works as a bodyguard for hire, either in heavy armor with a sword and shield, or in a lighter tunic using her fists depending on the circumstances. Karen's main employment is via her Free Company, the Silver Nexus, working security detail at the company house. However, Karen is also available to be hired for security or bodyguard purposes for RP events or to protect individual characters. If interested send me a tell. IC wise Karen would be getting paid for these services, but I don't require to actually be given in game gil for her services. Karen has a strict confidentiality policy with her clients, and will not discuss anything that goes on in private while on the job, and will see the job through to its conclusion once a deal is struck. Her services are defensive in nature. To provide security or serve as a bodyguard. While this may involve Karen fighting against someone causing trouble or trying to harm her client, it's an inherently defensive role, focusing on protecting. Karen's not looking to go rough up people that owe you money.

Combat RP

This can be fun when everyone involved is on the same page, and I find it's generally best to make sure of that before starting this up. If one person is trying to free form and the other insisting on rolls, that can get messy. I'm fairly flexible myself, and combat RP can be fun as long as nobody's trying to godmod and everyone's willing to take a hit here and there. If I'm at an event that involves combat, such as the Grindstone, I'll abide by their rules. If it's just an off the cuff thing, I'll generally freeform unless rolls or some sort of combat system are requested, in which case I'm generally fine with that too.

Romance/Relationship/ERP

Karen is currently dating in an open relationship. This does not mean she's going to start sleeping with people she's just met, as the 'relationship' part is still important to her. But she is potentially open to other relationships. She's not going to rush into a sexual relationship, there will need to be some build up and actual character interaction and chemistry. She's in an open relationship, not sleeping around in one night stands. I don't shy away from ERP when it makes sense for my character to do it, and I'm also fine with leaving ERP out if you're comfortable with it. But I don't seek out ERP for its own sake, and Karen isn't going to have sex with someone she just met. The erotic aspects, if we play them out, will be secondary to the relationship and romantic elements. Not the main focus. So if you're just looking for a quick lay don't both, but if you're interested in developing a deeper relationship through RP, we can see how things go. I don't do designated romances however. Meaning I won't OOCLY decide that Karen will fall in love with a character, our characters will need to have some actual chemistry.

Dark/Mature Themes

I'm fine with including these in plot lines, so long as they're given the proper weight. Have fucked up things happened to your character? That's fine, as long as it's not edge for its own sake just to be 'cool.' Do yo play an outlaw and you want to try and rob or attack Karen? That's fine but don't expect her to be merciful or forget it happened. Eorzea can be a very dangerous and even messed up place at times, and bad things happen. So long as they're handled with a bit of OOC maturity I'm fine with working them into RP.

Annotations

A commission of Karen done in the Paladin Job Armor.

A commission of Karen during her first gladiator match.

A commission of Karen in her current armor.

A commission of Karen (left) and her sister Kallen (right)

This Template was created by Karen Brightflower