Difference between revisions of "Seiren Amamiya"

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<li style="background-color: #e5e5e5; padding: .5em; border-radius: 5px; border-left: 10px solid #595959; margin: 5px;">Seiren almost never removes her mask on purpose around her associates, be they friend or foe.</li>
 
<li style="background-color: #e5e5e5; padding: .5em; border-radius: 5px; border-left: 10px solid #595959; margin: 5px;">Seiren almost never removes her mask on purpose around her associates, be they friend or foe.</li>
<li style="background-color: #e5e5e5; padding: .5em; border-radius: 5px; border-left: 10px solid #595959; margin: 5px;">Goes exclusively by the moniker of "the Ashen Queen" and goes out of her way to keep her name and origins concealed.</li>
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<li style="background-color: #e5e5e5; padding: .5em; border-radius: 5px; border-left: 10px solid #595959; margin: 5px;">Goes exclusively by the moniker of "the Ashen Queen" and goes out of her way to keep her name and origins concealed. The same goes for when she sings, though she adopts the name "Sazanka" instead.</li>
 
<li style="background-color: #e5e5e5; padding: .5em; border-radius: 5px; border-left: 10px solid #595959; margin: 5px;">When performing as a songstress, she hides in plain sight, her face on full display and her hair usually kept long and loose. Her personality also shifts in a somewhat bizarre manner, canting towards being bubbly and almost airheaded. She keeps this persona very far removed from her information broker identity.</li>
 
<li style="background-color: #e5e5e5; padding: .5em; border-radius: 5px; border-left: 10px solid #595959; margin: 5px;">When performing as a songstress, she hides in plain sight, her face on full display and her hair usually kept long and loose. Her personality also shifts in a somewhat bizarre manner, canting towards being bubbly and almost airheaded. She keeps this persona very far removed from her information broker identity.</li>
 
<li style="background-color: #e5e5e5; padding: .5em; border-radius: 5px; border-left: 10px solid #595959; margin: 5px;">Has an innate soft spot for children and those younger than herself, taking on the role of caring elder sister often without realizing it.</li>
 
<li style="background-color: #e5e5e5; padding: .5em; border-radius: 5px; border-left: 10px solid #595959; margin: 5px;">Has an innate soft spot for children and those younger than herself, taking on the role of caring elder sister often without realizing it.</li>

Revision as of 01:12, 29 November 2019

Seiren Amamiya
[[Image:Seiren.png|300px]]

"I'm firmly of the opinion that you haven't truly come into your own until you're suffering attempts on your life."

Character Information
Race Au Ra (Raen)
Gender Female
Relationship Status Irrelevant
Nameday 5th Sun of the First Umbral Moon
Age Late 20s
Birthplace Doma
Occupation Information Broker, Songstress


Appearance

Standing at five fulms and one ilm, Seiren has a soft, slender physique toned more by necessity than anything else. Her features (or what she shows of them, anyway) are sensual and soft, her lips ever-tilted in a scimitar of a smile. Her skin is unmarred and well-kept, its pallor implying a distinct lack of exposure to sunlight.

Her hair is silvery white and well cared for, and often seen worn any number of ways. While she favors intricate ties and low twintails, it's not uncommon to see it flowing freely down towards her lower back. Her scales are the color of milk, often seen with a thin, opalescent sheen from numerous perfumed oils and powders routinely applied to her person. The surfaces of her horns and scales are near-immaculate, and she often wears fine chains woven around her horns and through her hair. Seiren favors diaphanous fabrics layered over form-fitting and/or revealing underthings, with many draping or dangling chain and bead details.

She is rarely seen without some sort of mask obscuring her eyes when engaging in business as an information broker, and even some of the closest among her associates have never seen her face uncovered.

Personality

Personality Traits

  • Charming
  • Erudite
  • Flirtatious
  • Shifty
  • Overly-analytical
  • Secretive
  • Glib
  • Dispassionate

Mannerisms

Erudite and charming at a first glance, Seiren projects the very image of a learned noblewoman in pursuit of all the world's pleasures, one liaison or tryst at a time. Silver-tongued and masterful at honeying her words, she's a practiced hand at ingratiating herself with just about anyone she so chooses, be it through flattery or pure flirtation. While she rarely unintentionally lets on that this is largely an act, those perceptive enough may catch her carefully crafted facade slipping from time to time in nigh-imperceptible ways to reveal a sullen, calculating woman with hitherto unspoken goals.

Those engaged in business dealings with her will find that she has a knack for charming negotiations squarely in her favor, the smile spread across her lips never faltering. In spite of her rather dark and dangerous line of business, she has a soft spot for children and those younger than herself, taking on a gentler tack when dealing with them, much like a caring elder sister.

While she will go out of her way to avoid conflict most times, Seiren is no stranger to combat, favoring rapiers and chakrams as her weapons of choice. Her true strength lies in her way with words and people, however, and she's never been one to play games where her victory isn't assured.

Philosophy & Ideals

Seiren is a firm proponent of "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." She believes in having an intimate knowledge of nearly everyone she associates with, be they friend or foe, though she makes certain to keep everyone at least a malm's length away from truly knowing her. She ensures that she's always at least three steps ahead of both her enemies as well as her associates, and always has contingencies in place for her contingencies.

Quirks

  • Seiren almost never removes her mask on purpose around her associates, be they friend or foe.
  • Goes exclusively by the moniker of "the Ashen Queen" and goes out of her way to keep her name and origins concealed. The same goes for when she sings, though she adopts the name "Sazanka" instead.
  • When performing as a songstress, she hides in plain sight, her face on full display and her hair usually kept long and loose. Her personality also shifts in a somewhat bizarre manner, canting towards being bubbly and almost airheaded. She keeps this persona very far removed from her information broker identity.
  • Has an innate soft spot for children and those younger than herself, taking on the role of caring elder sister often without realizing it.
Likes Dislikes
  • The clink of gil
  • Pickled plums
  • Gossamer fabrics
  • Singing and other types of performance
  • Gruff men
  • Women in general
  • Confined spaces
  • Vilekin
  • Mud between her toes
  • Clingy types
Skills Education
  • Lying
  • Negotiating
  • Swordplay
  • Red Magic
  • Noble tutoring
  • Sword training from her father
  • Negotiation skills from courtesans/pillowhouse workers
Strengths Weaknesses
  • Dueling/Swordsmanship
  • Negotiation
  • Charming people
  • Information gathering
  • Straightforward types
  • Being bound
  • Fighting large groups
Fears Favorites
  • Emotional intimacy and attachment
  • Gelato and bavarois
  • Having others die for her sake
  • Konpeito
  • Ala Mhigan accents
  • Rainstorms
  • Doman sticky rice

Early Life

Childhood

Born the eldest daughter of an elite warrior clan hailing from Doma, Seiren was raised beneath Imperial occupation. When the Garlean army invaded Doma nearly three turns before her birth, it swept through the land like a plague, trampling every settlement in its path towards domination. Seiren's village was no exception to this, and it was only through sheer happenstance that she and her father, Ujikata, had been hunting for tiger pelts when a battalion came upon their hamlet one fateful day, immediately suppressing those who rose against them and razing the tiny hamlet where her family resided in the process. Seiren's mother and siblings were killed in the chaos, prompting her father to take her and flee through the Doman countryside, keeping to thick bamboo copses whilst avoiding Imperial patrols.

Both Seiren and her father walked endlessly through fields and wetlands towards the Ruby Sea, dodging Imperial vanguards and living off of the land as they went. It was only after a long and arduous journey that they found themselves upon the shoreline bordering Rasen Kaikyo, meeting with a contact her father had had within the Confederacy. While Seiren had no idea how her father had managed to arrange such a rendezvous at the time, her father had somehow been able to secure passage to the Ruby Price and beyond, towards the vaunted city of Kugane.

Adolescence

Raw with grief, the details of this period tend to fall away like sand between her fingers whenever Seiren struggles to recall them, and, if prompted, she will likely say that things were peaceful for a short time. Her father had managed to procure a small apartment for the two of them near the seedier end of the port city, and it was there that Seiren grew wise to the things that could be used in place of money as currency. Spending a great deal of time in the company of those in the employ of pillowhouses and their patrons, she became adept at reading people's body language and peering past the words they uttered, picking apart their actions and seeing the way that they ticked. While her father eked out a living for the both of them as a means to rebuild their lives from the one left in tatters by Garlean occupation, Seiren learned quickly that secrets, when handled correctly, could buy more than gil ever could.

It would be several turns before the uneasy peace that Ujikata and Seiren had made for themselves would be shattered, but she would say that it came too quickly nonetheless. One balmy summer night, Seiren awoke to the sound of a scuffle coming from her father's bedroom, the cacophony of overturning furniture and shattering glass rising over the din of the bustling street below her window. Keeping to the shadows, Seiren peered into her father's room only to find it in complete disarray, his window flung wide open as moonlight illuminated the telltale signs of a struggle befitting the noises she'd heard.

Running to the window, she caught sight of a hooded figure carrying her unconscious father-- no mean feat, considering his size and build as a Raen man-- over its shoulder, vaulting across the rooftops of the buildings bordering the apartment, headed towards the docks. Wasting no time, Seiren gave chase upon the streets below, dodging through side streets and whipping past stragglers headed home from late-night izakaya while keeping off the routes patrolled by the Sekiseigumi. She'd arrived to the docks just in time to see the hooded figure hauling her father onto a schooner docked at the pier's far end, its anchor rising just as she raced towards it.

Try as she might to procure a means to pursue the boat, it moved swiftly, disappearing past the horizon as Seiren attempted to negotiate the use of a rowboat with one of the dockmasters. It wasn't until the sky shot through with the pink of dawn that a kindly fisherman, hearing the plight of the distressed girl, offered to take her along as far as the Ruby Price, though he could offer to go no further on pain of punishment by either the Confederacy or the Kojin residing within Rasen Kaikyo.

Eagerly accepting his offer, Seiren boarded his tiny boat and scanned the horizon for any sign of the ship that bore her father, catching sight of it cutting through the waters just offshore of Isari, a small fishing village near the border of Othard. Thankfully, her father's contact within the Confederacy had been overseeing the maintenance of the Ruby Price's cannons and had recognized her instantly once she'd arrived, and upon hearing her story, he arranged for a one-way trip for her to the far shore.

By this point, the ship had long since departed, but Seiren could see a gathering of people milling about on the shoreline from her perch upon the boat that bore her to her destination, a feeling of dread welling up within her. The closer she got, the more the reality of her situation dawned upon her, particularly when she caught sight of a prone, familiarly-shaped figure lying in the sand, obscured by a bloodstained cloth draped over its form. The people gathered upon the shoreline were talking worriedly among themselves when Seiren's boat made landfall, and she knew what she would find the instant she looked underneath the sheet covering the body. Even so, that resignation did nothing to stop her as she pushed through the crowd in order to peel back the fabric covering the figure's face in spite of the protests of a nearby fisherwoman, whose efforts to stay Seiren's hand were shrugged off with desperation.

Resigned as she was to find her father's body, nothing could prepare Seiren for the sight of her father's lifeless eyes, the lower half of his jaw mangled as if it had been blown away by some great force. His chest and gut had been stabbed multiple times by what must have been a rather sizeable blade, and Seiren's first instinct was to gag and dry heave, her hand flying to her mouth in horror.

The rest of the details of this point in time fall away whenever Seiren struggles to recall them, but, if pressed, she will likely say that she remembers being ushered into the home of the kindly fisherwoman who had tried to stop her from revealing her father's face. She will say that the woman and her husband would care for her alongside her other children for the better part of a sennight until Seiren was able to drum up the will to speak, and that the first words out of her mouth had been used to ask after who had killed her father.

All the fisherwoman had been able to offer was the fleeting sight of a Garlean infantryman wielding a distinct gunblade, the face of its blade engraved with a heron. The woman, whose name had been Iwa, would then tell her that he hadn't been working alone, and that Seiren's father had exchanged words with the man wielding the unique gunblade, though no one had wanted to get close enough to hear the contents of their conversation. Iwa would go on to say that Seiren's father's execution had been quick and merciless, and that the Imperial soldiers had left as quickly as they came, leaving Ujikata's corpse behind as if they intended for it to serve as some sort of warning to the denizens of the small fishing village.

It was from there that Seiren began to leash the grief running rampant through her heart, hiding it in some deep, dark place in the furthest reaches of her soul, never to see the light of day again. As her tears dried, she began to sharpen herself, little by little, honing her soft edges until nothing remained but pointed ends and flat planes, covered in a veneer of charisma and allure co-opted from her time spent among the women of Kugane's pillowhouses.

Adulthood

Her glib charm eventually finds her upon the gilded streets of Ul'dah, engaging with nobles and thieves alike and trading their secrets to further her own goals, all in pursuit of a Garlean soldier with a gunblade emblazoned with a heron. Her efforts eventually yield a name: Ardea quo Flavius, recently-appointed Centurio of a sizeable Garlean infantry. It's with this knowledge that she searches tirelessly amongst her growing network of contacts, plucking strings and making their secrets dance to the furthering of her own ambitions.

Recent Times

At present, Seiren runs a rather profitable business in the form of trading in secrets, becoming somewhat of a vaunted name amongst the Ul'dahn underground. She has her fingers in many pots, from locating treasure maps to dirt on upstanding individuals of Ul'dah's mercantile class, though she's been seen alongside a small company of Ala Mhigan resistance fighters engaging Imperial convoys as of late.

Common Uncommon
These are rumors that are easily overheard or public knowledge. Use them freely!*
  • "Common Rumor" - Rumor Source
  • "Common Rumor" - Rumor Source
  • "Common Rumor" - Rumor Source

* Some rumors may be partially or entirely untrue.

These rumors may take a little digging to find. Use sparingly or ask permission before use.*
  • "Uncommon Rumor" - Rumor Source
  • "Uncommon Rumor" - Rumor Source
  • "Uncommon Rumor" - Rumor Source

* Some rumors may be partially or entirely untrue.

Rare Player Character
These rumors are very difficult to find. Ask permission before use.*
  • "Rare Rumor" - Rumor Source
  • "Rare Rumor" - Rumor Source
  • "Rare Rumor" - Rumor Source

* Some rumors may be partially or entirely untrue.

These are rumors made by other characters. They are color coded for common, uncommon, or rare.*

* 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
Friends Family
  • Khemi Epocan

    A girl of no more than fifteen summers in the employ of an Ul'dahn noble involved in unsavory business (a redundant title, all things considered) who approached Seiren with her concerns when she had no one else to turn to. A Moon Keeper orphaned at a very young age, Khemi had the remarkable knack of keeping her chin up even in the most dire of circumstances, her sunny disposition immediately drawing Seiren's admiration.

    Seiren gave her lessons in dueling and swordsmanship in exchange for information about her employer's household for several moons before Khemi disappeared under mysterious circumstances, proof that she ever existed vanishing along with her. Upon investigating the girl's disappearance, Seiren discovered the grisly truth, and carries the burden of both Khemi's death and what caused it with her to the present day.

  • E'phraim Daccaia
    §

    Originally nothing more than a person of interest due to his dealings with Imperial forces, Seiren tailed E'phraim for the better part of two moons before initially approaching him with a simple proposal: in exchange for any information that he may have on a certain Garlean Centurio, she would share intel on Imperial movements in numerous regions. This proposal quickly morphed into a tenuous working relationship-turned-near-exclusive partnership, with enough mutual saves and near-death experiences to form an implicit, unshakable trust between the two of them. He is her knight and she is his queen, though the both of them likely have too much blood on their hands to be deserving of a spot in any faerie tales.

    While Seiren is more than happy to sell out most of her contacts for a song and a secret, E'phraim is someone she'd lay her life down to protect... though she isn't quite sure how to feel about that just yet, despite their incessant banter and brushes with physical intimacy. Seiren's faith and belief in E'phraim are absolute, and she's secure in the knowledge that the feeling is mutual.

  • Shara Huin

    A rather punchy Viera with whom Seiren has a symbiotic business relationship, Shara runs a notorious fight club and holds rumoured ties to Ul'dah's pugilist guild as a sort of shadow leader, though the latter is just hearsay. Doubling as both Seiren's drinking partner as well as an informant, Shara is a fierce warrior with a no-nonsense, straightforward attitude.

    Though she appears intimidating at first, Shara has a playful side to her, and she's likely the only one of the storied Ashen Queen's contacts willing to give her ridiculous monikers in response to Seiren's dogged concealment of her real name.

  • Ujikata Amamiya

    The patriarch of the Amamiya clan and Seiren's father. A somewhat timid, peace-loving man in spite of his prowess with a blade. Smuggled Seiren out of Doma with him when the rest of their family was murdered by Imperials, only to be executed just outside of Isari several turns later.

  • Kagenao Amamiya

    Matriarch of the Amamiya clan and Seiren's mother. A very traditional, stately Raen beauty with a stern countenance and a soft heart. Killed during an Imperial suppression of an uprising in the small village that the Amamiya clan called home.

  • Mitsukane, Kiyome, Tsunetomo & Kichi Amamiya

    Seiren's four younger siblings, killed alongside their mother.

Associates Enemies
  • C'shtah Nhebati

    Adventurer and tinkerer with Magitek. A valuable contact, though their business relationship is still burgeoning.

  • Inana Nana

    Quick as a whip with a barbed tongue, Inana met Seiren while running a rather reputable pillowhouse masquerading as an inn near the Sapphire Avenue exchange. The brothel madam ruled with an iron fist behind silken gloves, putting her girls and their best interests before anything else, though she retired two cycles after meeting Seiren in pursuit of more lucrative (and shadier) opportunities in the form of running a back-alley medical clinic.

    While it's clear that Seiren trusts Inana to a degree, it would be inaccurate to say that the two of them are close. Inana aggressively mothers Seiren in her own way without expecting anything in return, content to tease her and provide an unjudging ear to the Ashen Queen's woes.

  • Ardea quo Flavius

    Seiren's sworn enemy who, by all counts, likely doesn't even know who she is.

  • Leowald Lorimer

    A mousy, greasy worm of a man who's dedicated his life to felling the vaunted Ashen Queen... whom Seiren barely spares a thought to.

  • The Garlean Empire

    There is an Imperial bounty upon her head for her involvement in interfering with Garlean operations in both Gyr Abania and Eorzea, and it isn't unheard of for mercenaries in search of the sizeable reward being offered for her capture to come for her.

  • Numerous Monetarists/Nobles/Spurned lovers

    Seiren has sold out many a person during her time as the Ashen Queen, and attempts on her life are far from uncommon. These attempts range from hits arranged by merchants ruined by her exposure of their secrets, nobles who suffered the same fate, and even the occasional tryst whom Seiren left lonely and wanting in the wee hours of the morning.


RP Hooks

  • Information Broker

    If your character is involved in underworld (or maybe just shady) dealings, perhaps they've heard tell of a masked woman who deals in secrets. Going by the title of "Ashen Queen," Seiren both buys and sells information, though gil isn't the only currency she accepts. Trading secrets for secrets or even secrets for items of interest are fair game.

    Seiren also has a vast network of merchants, nobles, mercenaries and thieves with whom she does business (or at least know of her). If your character has connections with any of those parties, it's feasible that the both of them have crossed paths at one point or another.

  • Songstress

    Those who frequent the Gold Saucer may have taken in a performance by a rising star known only as Sazanka, with a voice sweet enough to wring tears from anyone's eye or gil from within even the tightest purse strings. Getting her start in the famed Manderville facility, she has been known to hold impromptu concerts in Ul'dah's Gold Court, though some have claimed to have seen her in Limsa Lominsa's Drowning Wench from time to time.

  • People Watcher

    Seiren is known to frequent places where many people gather, simply watching them go about their business from behind her mask with a slight smile on her face. It's not unheard of for her to strike up a conversation with those she deems interesting, and when approached, she is warm and amicable, if not a bit flirtatious.

  • Elder Sister

    If one is quick on the draw (or perhaps just in the right place at the right time), they might find Seiren entertaining refugee children in Ul'dah's Pearl Lane or Sapphire Avenue, be it through storytelling or sleight of hand. While such occurrences are rare, they aren't entirely unheard of, and she's known to hide in plain sight on such occasions.

  • Vengeful Daughter

    If your character has ties to the Garlean Empire, Seiren will likely want to take note of them and may or may not attempt to get into their good graces. All of this is in service to her own ends, however, and she isn't likely to be forthcoming about her motivations in this regard.

Player Info

Hi! You can call me Veil, and I'm really grateful you read this far! I'm a pretty easygoing person in terms of RP, but here are a few things you should know before we get down to brass tacks:

My Policies

  • I'm open to all types of RP,

    with a love for long-term plotlines and lots of character development! I'm not relegated to RPing in-game, either; frankly, I'm fond of using Google Docs, Discord, or even Tumblr as a means to write with people.

  • I'm down for the mature stuff;

    Seiren and myself are both 25+, and I've got a special place in my heart for darker, bloodier plotlines. I only ask that you talk these things out with me before we get down to the nitty gritty.

  • I write... a lot.
    My posts are multi-paragraph monstrosities, and I understand that this isn't for everyone. I'm more than willing to tone it down if it's not your style, provided you let me know! I don't expect you to match my novellas, either, so just do what's most comfortable for you.
    
  • Please communicate with me.

    If you have any questions or comments about my RPing, be it from needing me to clarify something I've written or just to talk shop about plotlines, please feel free to approach me! I love talking about this sort of thing, and I want to make any rp experience I'm involved in enjoyable for all parties. I'm not infallible, and if I do or say something to offend you, please let me know so I can make it right. I like to keep all lines of communication open, and I really can't stress enough that I want to play with you, not against you.

  • IC =/= OOC.

    THIS IS A VERY BIG ONE FOR ME. I love writing conflict and I love writing romance, but I cannot stress enough that my character and I are not one in the same. If our characters don't get along, it doesn't mean I dislike you, and if our characters interact romantically, it definitely doesn't mean that I'm looking to do the same outside of RP.

Links
  • [Carrd]: Basically this page, but with more pictures.
  • [Tumblr]: Seiren's Tumblr page.
  • [Twitter]: My FFXIV twitter.
Wiki Info Credits
This wiki page is updated as the character's story changes.

Last Updated: November 2019

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: