Maya Kotetsu

Maya Kotetsu
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Character Information

Full Name	Maya Kotetsu
Nickname(s)	Nicknames
Race	Au Ra
Subrace	Raen Au Ra
Gender	Female
Sexual Orientation	Bisexual
Relationship Status	Single
Nameday	11th Sun of the 5th Umbral Moon
Age	24 Summers
Guardian	Byregot
Birthplace	Kugane, Hingashi
Occupation	Mercenary
Family	Eizan Kotetsu (Brother), Masao Kotetsu (Cousin), Hanami Kotetsu (Mother), Kazuo Kotetsu (Father, Missing)

OverviewDetailsHistoryRumorsRelationshipsGalleryRP InfoOOC NotesCredit

General Information

Maya is an exile of Doman parentage, and a mercenary in the foreign western continent of Eorzea. Her family is on good terms with several Xaela tribes, though this has earned her some derision from her fellow white-scaled sisters in the past. Raised in Hingashi, she learned the art of the spear like generations of her family before her, and can wield a lance of her own with competence. However, one person isn't an army - and so to achieve her dream and take back her familial estate in Northern Doma, she'll need a little bit of help.
Currently, the Au Ra lives in Ul'Dah, where her trade is in information and odd-jobs. She operates in the middle of society, with contacts both above and below her. Her goal is to earn a fortune in gil, recruit an army, and restore the Kotetsu lands to independence - with the help of some technological scraps from the long-dead Empire of Allag.

Appearance

An Au Ra female of twenty-four summers, Maya is frequently considered one of the most elegant and attractive of the gentry in Ul'dah. Further appearance details await the time I can actually create her in-game.

Personality

Personality Traits

• Cunning
• Duty-Driven
• Enthusiastic
• Reckless
• Headstrong
• Cheerful
• Tomboyish
• Self-Confident
• Sensual
• Improvisational
• Well-Meaning
• Friendly
• Undisciplined

Mannerisms

Maya's current role is that of an Ul'Dahn merchant and information broker, and it's one she plays with relish. The curvy Au Ra has a silver tongue to rival a dragon's, and it's through this skill of careful manipulation that she's been able to amass the money and assemble the network she now possesses. She can often be found in the fancier places of the city, mingling with those of high status and plying them for bits of knowledge to turn into gold.

However, those who knew her at Carteneau among the Immortal Flames, and those who saw her grow up in Kugane, know a different sort of Maya. One who enjoys rough-and-fast sparring, who can give even the first rank of lancers a run for their money, and who can slip from the fancy dress of high society in a second into old clothes and leather plate for kicking up dust with sparring practice. The girl uses both roles to her advantage, but most people find, once they know her well enough, that there's a more genuine air about her when she's away from the elite. At her root, she's just a cute girl with an old name and a big stick who wants to make her ancestors proud.

Philosophy & Ideals

Maya often finds herself among the company of those who want to stick it to Garlemald. However, this is only because their goals align somewhat - not because she truly believes in their mission to defeat the massive empire. Maya has three objectives, ranked as follows:

1). Free her ancestral estate from the hard yoke of the Garlean Empire.
This doesn't mean that she cares if the rest of Doma is still subject to Garlean rule. In fact, if the Garleans were only willing to lessen the burden on the poor farmers who work on the Kotetsu-owned land, she could even bring herself to accept and endorse their suzerainty. In other words, if they were more like Allag, and less like a poor, shadowy imitation of that ancient empire. Pretty much everything she's done since her fourteenth summer or so has been for this end - She's suffered through harsh combat in Carteneau, ended up on the wrong side of some ancient technology, and even locked away her ability to enjoy herself in favor of gathering wealth to raise an army. It's her number one driving goal.
2). Find her father, and discover what happened to him.
The fate of Kazuo Kotetsu has been unknown since he left, twenty-five years ago, to lead the estate's militia against the Garlean invasion. Since that time, the remaining members of the family have only received two letters, both brief and in his own handwriting, assuring them of his safety but refusing to reveal his whereabouts. However, the paper on which they were written has been conclusively traced to Eorzea. Maya has never known her father, but from all the stories she's heard of him, he was a fine and upstanding man. A little reluctant to go to war, perhaps, and maybe too fond of the provincial lifestyle, but he kept his wits about him and did the best he could for those he was lord over. She wants to find him, bring him back for her mother's sake, and most of all get affirmation that what she's doing herself would make him happy.
3). Get out of Ul'Dah as often as possible.
Trading in information means you get enemies. It's a simple fact of the job. The thing is, if you're good, you can play those enemies off each other while keeping yourself safe in the middle. Maya's definitely good at this, but still - the less often people she might've slighted can see her face, the better. Not to mention that the obligations of that city's high society are stifling in and of themselves. Any time she's away, she's able to relax.

Quirks

• Maya is kind of jealous of adventurers and the freedom they have to go anywhere and do anything. She got a taste of that fighting on the Carteneau Flats, and it never left her mouth.
• As a result of the façade she's been erecting around herself in Eorzea, Maya is currently only truly comfortable around fellow Domans. It's harder for a native Eorzean to break through and reach her "true self."
• Maya tries to keep her plan to liberate her homeland on the down-low, even in Eorzea where it's almost guaranteed that everyone is anti-Garlemald. You never know who may be listening. If she lets you in on that secret, she trusts you.

Likes		Dislikes
Fast attacks Money Getting out of the city		Nosy people Bad deals Most of the Ul'Dahn upper class

Skills		Education
Keeping secrets Spearcraft Choosing the right words for the situation		15 years trained, Kotetsu-style Sojutsu 3 years, Immortal Flame Mercenary 9 years trained, Maya-style social climbing

Strengths		Flaws
Hard to manipulate Knows her goals, and sticks to them Has the guts and the gil to get it done		Moral relativist Self-centered Has been relying on her gil more than guts recently

Fears		Favorites
That her father dies before she can find him. That her family in Kugane and Doma won't accept her back. That her next battle might always be her last.		Favorites Go here.

Family Origins

Though living in Kugane, the Kotetsu family’s roots lie across the Ruby Sea in the once-proud nation of Doma. In the country’s northern reaches, their estate’s roots reach back generations as an outpost established to keep watch over the Azim Steppe.
The name they were given, as a warrior family, reflects this origin: “ 甲鉄 Koutetsu; Eorzean Romanization Kotetsu” means “Iron-armored,” with the implication that their estate (among many others) would be part of an “iron wall” to protect the country against any incursion by the wild Xaela tribes. However, the location was undeniably a backwater - and, as decades passed with no major actions on either side, the Kotetsu clan and some tribes of their black-horned northern neighbors ended up in a much more symbiotic - even friendly - relationship instead.
Life in the north is hard, and so the farmers and tenants of the Kotetsu estate were always pleased when they were able to supplement their diet with animal meat bought from the Xaela nomads. On the other side of the equation, the tribes were able to get from the Kotetsu a number of Doman goods they would have had difficulty acquiring otherwise.
The ties between the Kotetsu and the Xaela thus run deep, with the Raen family having more knowledge than average about the other side of the Au Ra. This hasn’t come free, however - many of their Raen fellows from the more southern reaches of Yangxia have looked at them in derision because of their good standing with the “barbarian” north, even insinuating that their horns looked a little bit darker than they did a few generations ago.

Early Life

Childhood

Maya grew up among the Doman exile community in Kugane, alongside her brother and watched over by her mother and a sparse few servants. Her mother had fled the Garlean invasion with the help of some Xaela tribes while still carrying Maya in her belly. Her father had taken the estate’s militia and gone to join up with the Doman regular army, as was his duty as a nobleman. He, and every other man who had gone with him, never returned. Although Doma and Hingashi shared many aspects of their culture, the two nations nevertheless had their differences, and she found that she often couldn’t fit in with the Hingan youth as well as she’d hoped.
However, where heritage wouldn’t speak for her, accomplishments and enthusiasm carried the day. The Au Ra could always be found playing in the streets around Kugane, often getting into a bit more trouble than she should - laying a foundation for the adventuring she’d take to later in life. As she grew older, her mother found success in redirecting that energy towards a more formal pursuit: carrying forward the Kotetsu school of Sojutsu.
Her family’s martial trade was that of the spear, which according to tradition had been passed down from time immemorial. Maya herself learned from the best available - the master of the art who had even trained her father, and who had been deemed too old to go to the front and be slaughtered like the rest of the Doman army. Still, the wizened man retained a spring in his step and a lightning-fast thrust, and he was pleased to help rear the two youngest Kotetsu children in their family tradition. From an early age, Maya always found herself sparring with her brother, though the older - and, as their ages progressed, larger - Eizan was also clearly the better of the two. They do say, though, that the wise man learns more from defeat than from success - and Maya was no exception, her constant improvement and creative tactics forcing her brother to become even better to keep his place on top.

Adolescence

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Adulthood

Notes about the character's adult life go here.

Recent Times

Notes about where your character has been the last few months go here.

Common		Uncommon
These are rumors that are easily overheard or public knowledge. Use them freely!* "I hear she's got an in with ev'ry noble in th' city short of th' Sultana 'erself! An' that's jus' 'cause she ain't got 'er foreign paws on 'er yet, too!" - Angry Loafer "Best watch out, son. That woman'll have you squeezed of favors 'til you're drier than Central Thanalan." - Down-on-his-Luck Gatekeeper "What's a Doman like her doing in Ul'Dah? You'd think she'd be livin' large in Limsa or somethin'..." - Honest Merchant * Some rumors may be partially or entirely untrue.		These rumors may take a little digging to find. Use sparingly or ask permission before use.* "Her family calls themselves Raen, but her horns are clearly darker than mine. On my life, there's Xaela blood in those veins." - Doman Noble "That Kotetsu girl ain't all she's cracked up to be. I'm tellin' ya, she'll do anything if the gil's enough." - Seedy Marketseller "Have you seen inside her property? I have - she's got a veritable arsenal of weapons in there! It's like she's planning to equip an army or something..." - Recently-Rich Tradesman * Some rumors may be partially or entirely untrue.

Rare		Player Character
These rumors are very difficult to find. Ask permission before use.* "Ever heard of The Lady in Red? She's an adventurer 'round these parts. Nobody knows her much, but between you an' me... I seen her heading to Kotetsu's house one night. An' she never came out but three days later!" - Quicksand Patron "Oi, come 'ere a sec. I gots somethin' fer ya. (hic) Me partner went to burgle that (hic) woman's place last week. Ain't seen him since..." - Back-Alley Drunk "What, more marmots for Miss Kotetsu? Well, I'm never one to refuse gil... I do wonder what the lady does with 'em all, though." - Up-And-Coming Adventurer * Some rumors may be partially or entirely untrue.		These are rumors made by other characters. They are color coded for common, uncommon, or rare.* "Common Rumor" - Rumor Source "Uncommon Rumor" - Rumor Source "Rare Rumor" - Rumor Source * Some rumors may be partially or entirely untrue.

Relationship Status Key

• ☀ Loved One
• ❤ In Love
• ✿ Attraction
• § Complicated
• ♫ Friend


• ✔ Good Standing
• ✘ Poor Standing
• ● Neutral
• ✫ Uncertain
• ✞ Deceased

Close Friends		Family
Friend Name ☀❤✿§♫✔✘●✫✞ Description of relationship (optional). Friend Name ☀❤✿§♫✔✘●✫✞ Description of relationship (optional). Friend Name ☀❤✿§♫✔✘●✫✞ Description of relationship (optional).		Family Member Name ☀❤✿§♫✔✘●✫✞ Description of relationship (optional). Family Member Name ☀❤✿§♫✔✘●✫✞ Description of relationship (optional). Family Member Name ☀❤✿§♫✔✘●✫✞ Description of relationship (optional).

Friends		Acquaintances
Friend Name ☀❤✿§♫✔✘●✫✞ Description of relationship (optional). Friend Name ☀❤✿§♫✔✘●✫✞ Description of relationship (optional). Friend Name ☀❤✿§♫✔✘●✫✞ Description of relationship (optional).		Acquaintance Name ☀❤✿§♫✔✘●✫✞ Description of relationship (optional). Acquaintance Name ☀❤✿§♫✔✘●✫✞ Description of relationship (optional). Acquaintance Name ☀❤✿§♫✔✘●✫✞ Description of relationship (optional).

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Likely Locations		Affiliations
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Acceptable RP		Unacceptable RP
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Player Info

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My Policies

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OOC Character Info		Links
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Wiki Info		Credits
This wiki page is updated as the character's story changes. Last Updated: December 18, 2018		Please leave the credits section intact! Many people work very hard on their themes; please do not disrespect them! This theme was lovingly coded by Shieke. Feel free to use this theme for your character! I have taken inspiration from the following people: Bancroft Gairn: General theme ideas. Suen Shyu: Tab layout. Glioca Sargonnai: Layout, Barebones content template. Meallaire Sergenaux: Theme content. A big thank you to all these lovely people!