Pflaume Wein

Pflaume Wein
Ala Mhigan runaway
Gender	Female
Race	Hyur
Clan	Highlander
Citizenship	Gridania
Nameday	32st Sun of the 3rd Umbral Moon
Age	15
Height	5 fulms 6 ilms
Birthplace	Ala Mhigo

Character

Pflaume Wein, pronounced Flaum Vine, is a young runaway from a small hamlet deep within Ala Mhigo. Under the cloak of a heavy sandstorm, Pflaume fled from her hometown, traversing the weather, and eventually collapsing in the Black Shroud. A traveling caravan found her and saved her life, eventually taking her to New Gridania, which she now calls home.

Her name means Plum Wine.

Appearance

Pflaume is rather short for a Highlander. Her hair is black streaked with purple highlights. She always keeps it pulled back into a ponytail and braid or pulled under a bandanna. Her most distinctive marking is the purple marking across the bridge of her nose.

She tends to wear leather clothing, though she's rather taken to outfits which look like dresses. She has a particular fondness for boots and goggles.

Personality

At first glance, Pflaume appears to be a happy teenager with a positive outlook on life. Her motto is "no matter what happened in the past, the future will always be better." She strives to make strong friendships and values them above all else. She is thankful to find good people, though at times, she feels she is undeserving of such friendships. She uses stupid humor to lighten situations, sometimes inappropriately. She is genuinely sweet and generous, willing to help people out in their time of need.

As Pflaume has received close to little education, she doesn't know anything about books and can't read very well. As a lancer, that hardly matters as she does more stabbing than reading. She comes across as somewhat dumb though she has enough knowledge on how to survive and count her money. She is not very clever or witty, often saying stupid things which come across as just plain dumb or humorous.

Underneath all the layers of humor and happiness lies a rather sad girl. She'd lived a life of forced labor and loyalty, enduring the abrasive words of Imperial soldiers and her own father. She spent most of her time dreaming of exploring Aldenard and doodling pictures of chocobos and cactuars on her bedroom walls. She does everything to put that past behind her and pretend it never existed, but sometimes it just eats at her. She rarely lets anyone see the pain she carries in her heart, preferring her happier persona. If she acts happy, then those around her will be happy too. And if they're happy, she's happy.

Being from Ala Mhigo, some of her tendencies come off as a bit violent and even aggressive in battle. She has no hesitation to run straight into battle and has recently taken up the axe along side her lance work. Pflaume has no talent in magical arts.

Family

Pflaume comes from a long line of wine makers. Her family had become rather well known in the area, though outside Ala Mhigo, most have probably never heard of Vine Wine. The name is a play on the pronunciation of Wein, as Wein Wine looked silly and was hard to remember.

The winery specialized in making wine out of local fruits, including apples and plums. To use such unusual sources, the family invented and maintained its own specialized technology to create and refine the wine. The winery itself is built into a hillside. The family also created specialized storing tanks within the hillside to properly age the wine to perfection.

As tradition within the family, many of the members are named after fruits or types of wine.

Parents

• Father: Apfel (Apple)
• Mother: Berengaria

Siblings

• Eldest brother: Birne (Pear)
• Eldest sister: Himbeere (Raspberry)
• Herself: Pflaume (Plum)

Trivial information

• While Pflaume is from Ala Mhigo, she will never admit to it. She holds no ties with her homeland, and she fears that if people found out, she'd be labeled as an Imperial spy. She will generally claim to be originally from Thanalan, though she'll never specify where. She considers herself a Gridanian, however.
• Coming from Ala Mhigo, meeting other races (even Midlanders) was a bit of a culture shock, though their customs, appearances, and ways fascinate her.
• Despite her happier persona, Pflaume has a tendency to look worried when the situation turns worse and people need her help. She genuinely cares about the well-being of other people, even if she doesn't come from the places she helps.

History

Pflaume was born into Garlean-occupied Ala Mhigo two years after the Garlean take-over into a family well known for their wine-making. She was born the same year as the battle with the dragons in Mor Dhona, leaving the Empire mostly preoccupied with battle then recovery.

Her hometown hamlet seemed relatively peaceful, given Ala Mhigo's rather recent bloody history. When Plfaume was 7, the Empire began forcibly recruiting anyone capable of fighting to their ranks. The battle with the dragons had effectively thinned out the Empire's numbers. The Amalj'aa's summoning of Ifrit had struck a bit of a nerve, and the Empire began amassing forces by the dozens. Many of the families had members drafted, including her own. Her mother was drafted as part a lancer, and her older brother as an archer. Her father was passed over, given that he supplied the armies with wine. He quickly complied, showing favor for the Empire.

Working to help her father in the winery, Pflaume quickly grew to despise the Empire. The soldiers made excessive demands and her father always quickly complied. She held no ill will towards her father but instead against the Empire. She hid the hatred deep within her heart, masking her actions and emotions with a peppy, cheerful persona. She had to be polite and mind her manners around them, after all, lest she lose her head.

Seventh Umbral Era

When Pflaume was 10, the soldiers began to move en masse towards the fateful Battle of Carteneau. The fall of Dalamud struck fear in most of the hamlet's population, and many of the older members volunteered to help out the Empire in some way. Her father suddenly turned angry, perhaps out of fear, lashing out at Pflaume verbally to work harder and do her part. For Ala Mhigan pride, he said. For the Empire.

After 5 years, Pflaume had enough, and she fled. Earlier that evening, she had a strange vision of a soldier who had "cleansed" some local Hyur, calling them Beastkin for worshiping Rhalgr in secret. It was a horribly disturbing vision, one she couldn't explain, but it was enough to coerce her to leave. One night, under the cloak of a heavy sandstorm, she wrapped herself in a thick cloak and stole a lance from the local armory. Using the sandstorm as a cover, she traversed the edges of a canyon, avoiding the nearby outposts and Amalj'aa encampments. She traveled most of the night and the next day until collapsing on a trade route deep within the Black Shroud.

A caravan came across her and the traveling conjurer healed her back to health. When asked, she claimed to be from Thanalan, weary from the sandstorm she'd fought. It was believable enough to be true, as many Ala Mhigans had fled to Thanalan and Ul'dah after the forceful takeover. She also claimed to be an adventurer, staring out on a new journey, and the caravan took her along with them. She whatever she had with her as payment for their troubles.

She soon arrived at Gridania in hopes of starting a new life.