Katja Hoax

Katja Hoax
Gender	Female
Race	Hyur
Clan	Midlander
Citizenship	Ishgard
Age	Exact Unknown
Marital Status	Unknown
Occupation	Blowin' Shit Up
Height/Weight	Average/Average
Orientation	Unknown

Basic Info

LIKES ■ Mechanics ■ Physical Labor ■ Noise ■ Her cat

DISLIKES ■ Dishonesty ■ Most Elezen Women ■ Her neighbors

OTHER ■ Alignment: Neutral Good ■ Favorite Food: Food! ■ Favorite Drink: Honeyed Milk ■ Favorite Color: Purple

Appearance & Personality

Katja's appearance suits her general lifestyle; while the chill of Ishgard tends to call for warmer clothes, anyone who sees her in her shop knows that the girl is plenty strong, capable of hauling whole sheets of metal on her own - assuming her cat isn't trying to trip her. Her hair is cut short, a few straggled ends bearing the telltale sign of fire damage from some experiment or another gone awry. It's not uncommon to find her and her clothes covered in dirt, soot, and likely a whole bunch of other things that would make neater folk squirm. Her clothes are cut to be used for work, rarely flattering the feminine form that lies beneath, but generally... usually... at least matching.

The woman appears more than comfortable with her body, judging by the clothes she chooses to wear in warmer climates. Where a thick jacket and warm pants might suit for the bone-chilling winters of Ishgard, the scraps of cloth she wears can only just be considered clothing elsewhere. Favoring red and black, Katja's work-hardened body is more often seen with the subtle burn and tan of someone unused to the sun's damage along her shoulders and arms as she continues her work in the southern lands.

While fiercely independent and usually prone to causing trouble for the other vendors around her home and shop, Katja comes off as fairly warm and open to those in need of a hand or two. She's often considered to be a tad eccentric and there are those who question her sanity even on the best of days, but she's fairly harmless. Surprisingly outspoken, she lacks the mental filter that makes most think about their words, but her merchant heritage gives her a fairly gifted silver tongue when she's in the mood for it. Well-spoken and intelligent, she's quick to pick up on her surroundings and mold to them as needed. Confident enough to stand on her own and admit her own mistakes, she takes no complaints from those who are lackadaisical, but once in a while there's a hint of something there that speaks more to the tune of a woman dissatisfied with the way her life is at the moment.

Biography

Childhood

Katja's family was large enough to place her somewhere in the middle of a whole host of boys. Her parents were hard-working people, though what little she recalls of them has them pegged as the type that might have cared more about work than their children. She was a good child, and happy enough, always more content with scrapping around the floor with her brothers than playing at dresses and dolls with the other merchant girls. She learned the basics of sale fast, and with a cheery smile, could sell small sweets to even the grouchiest of Pearl Lane residents with little more than a cheeky grin and a candy offered.

When she was around seven years old, she was abandoned at a popular merchant's crossing after playing a game of hide and seek with her younger brothers to keep them occupied while her parents bartered. It was the last Katja saw of any of her blood; as the sun set and the stalls closed, she watched the merchants leave with no sign from her own family. Dusk turned nearly to midnight before she was approached by an Elezen pair bound, she would later learn, for Ishgard. In hopes of reconnecting with her family, Katja left the crossing with the Elezen.

Teenage

She did not adjust to the cold Ishgard winters easily at all. Those who remember the child that Katja was are torn between fond memories of a happy girl waiting on the steps of the home and shop her keepers, and annoyance as they recall how she would scream and cry to be let to go home. As the years passed and age, as well as illness, took the youthful step from her keeper's bones, she began to settle into the uneasy life as a Hyur among Elezen. As her childhood became a thing of the past and her teenage years came on in full, Katja was taught not only in Elezen history and economics, but Ishgardian theology and lore.

She was not quite fifteen full years when Amalthea, who she had never come to call a mother despite how warm the barren woman had been to her, fell sick with an illness that slowly drained the life from her. Though Katja picked up the woman's duties and attempted to assist all she could, the household were hardly medically trained. It took no more than six months, in the deep of winter, for Amalthea to succumb to her illness and pass away - but not before granting Katja documentation that claimed the child-now-woman as her own daughter, for better or for worse.

Determined to pass on his knowledge before his own passing, Eregrim worked Katja nearly to the bone in learning of metals, armors, smithing, and all other merchant-related tasks. The young woman was an eager student, perhaps a bit too invested in using the work to prove herself a better person than many who were friends of the family believed her to be. A few months after turning eighteen, Eregrim passed as well, leaving shop and home to the child he acknowledged as his daughter - blood be damned.

Though she continued to excel in working with armor and weapons, a curious fascination with the Skysteel Manufactory and a challenge from the boys who she'd grown up with lead her down a far more explosive path. It was one of these boys that she eventually entered into a relationship with, though their interactions were volatile and prone to bouts of screaming and hate - it seemed that no matter how well the two worked together or how deeply they cared for one another, they could not seem to enjoy the company of the other as a couple might - at least, in anything but the carnal.

Present

More famous for almost routinely blowing the door off her modified shop with some explosive or another, Katja has continued her craft and has made a small name for herself. With the new rise of adventurers, she finds plenty are more than happy to help move her wares, but one visitor in particular has stoked a flame for adventure that the woman didn't even realize she'd harbored.

Having long since been distanced from her blood relations, and fairly distanced from all others aside the grouchy three-legged stray she adopted when he was but a lost kitten in the Brume, Katja never dreamed of finding her family, let alone watching one appear magically on her doorstep. Kian Daas probably didn't expect to find family the frosty day he helped hold a blown door up, but find one another they did.

When he decided to return to Ul'dah to check up on family, she followed - if only to make sure that he would be alright. Leaving her shop in the capable hands of an apprentice, she spends her time outside of Ishgard split between haggling with Ul'dahn traders, and testing southern steel.

Miscellaneous Quirks and Information

Katja suffers severe anxiety at the idea of being abandoned; this presents more commonly in how she refuses to let people near, or her violent and sometimes confusing cutting of ties with people she feels have made it too far past her mask. Generally, this is seen in personal relationships, where she will attempt to leave the person before they can do the same to her. For her, it's never a matter of watching a person run away, it's the torture of watching them walk away, leaving her forgotten.

Her tomboyish behavior is directly related to the abandonment; Katja firmly believes that the reason she was forgotten was because she was merely a girl, rather than a boy. Growing up in the city of Ishgard, where the societal roles for gender are far more pronounced, only exacerbated this idea. For this reason, Katja is rarely ever seen in skirts or dresses, and is well known for being able to hold her own against most male opponents.

Katja never lies, nor does she back down from who she is. She is unforgiving to herself, and almost equally so to those that she allows close. Liars and cheats are treated unforgivingly.

Katja has nearly died twice, but remembers neither encounter. The first happened when she was quite young, the second after a severe altercation with her lover at the time.

RUMORS Some of these rumors are untrue or are greatly exaggerated. Please feel free to add your own rumors under PC! ◢ Common Rumors (Easily overheard) ■ "We'd be better off without her blowing her shop to bits every week, but she's a good girl." ■ "That cat is just about the only one who puts up with her." ■ "It's been so much quieter since that pretty boy moved in. Perhaps she's going to settle down, now." ◢ Moderate Rumors (Moderately difficult to overhear) ■ "She was a spoiled child. Screamed night and day, I remember." ■ "Never much liked playing with other girls. Never had any issue beating up the snotty noble boys, though." ■ "She never let it all get to 'er head. Even now, she still has time to bring us a warm meal here in the Brume." ◢ Rare Rumors (Very difficult or rarely overheard) ■ "Last time they fought, she shot her lover. The noises after, I ain't too sure they weren't just keepin' on with their play." ■ "She has 'em hid, but if you ask nice, she'll let you play with her metal figures. Dragons and knights, so beautiful!" ■ "Never heard her call the Elezen that took her in her parents. Shame, that. They gave up so much for her." ◢ PC Rumors (Rumors from the character's of other players) ■ ■ ■ ■

RELATIONS ♥ Romantic Interest ♥ Platonic Love ● Good Standing ● Poor Standing ● Kian Daas : Fairly different from one another, Katja didn't realize just how alone and odd she was until she met the quiet man. While her sense of humor and sometimes flirty ways seem to make him uncomfortable, Katja really does care for him despite not knowing him all that well. It's a careful balance for her, learning how to be a family member without tromping into his comfort zone, but so far the two do well together and she's more than happy to have him around. Even if her cat does love him more. ● Emmette Stringers : Though they've only met recently, Katja respects the woman as one merchant would another. She finds her to be pleasant company, but anything more is impossible to discern. ● Anton Borneheld : While Katja has no feelings for the man at all, an uncomfortable look at herself made her question whether or not the friends-with-benefits deal she had with the axe-man was in his best interest. Though they do not see eye to eye on the topic in the least, she still works with him and generally makes his life a living hell during jobs. ● Gen Quickpaw : This kitty is made for stroking. She's not even sure they know one another's names, but that doesn't matter. She's happy enough making him purr at silly moments. It's all fun and games. ● A'rklonn Sargonnai : A victim of Katja's intense appreciation for Elezen, he seems to keep up and surpass her in such a way that she feels a sense of challenge whenever she thinks of him for even a moment. There's no doubt in her mind exactly what she wants to do to the man, but she keeps such desire reined in for some reason. ● Glioca Sargonnai : The intelligent and well-spoken wife of A'rklonn, the woman has imprinted herself upon Katja in a way that even the Hyur does not yet understand. While she respects the woman in a manner that she rarely shares about most Elezen women, she is no less careful around her, unsure of how to act around someone who sees so clearly. Gallery Footnotes Theme Songs: Halestorm - I Miss The Misery , Shinedown - If You Only Knew , Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way Template by Bancroft Gairn