Solenne Lagarde

Solenne Lagarde
Gender	Female
Race	Elezen
Clan	Wildwood
Citizenship	Gridania
Server	Balmung
Marital Status	Single
Occupation	Conjurer, businesswoman, adventurer
Orientation	Heteroromantic Demisexual

"To live is to feel death's shadow."

Solenne Lagarde. Conjurer. Conspirator. Cutthroat. A creature of storms and snowfall and green, growing things. A chaotic soul wrapped in the trappings of order.

Basic Info

LIKES ■ Conjury ■ Danger and intrigue ■ Storms ■ Being cleverer than her adversaries ■ Flirting ■ Music and dancing ■ Beautiful people, places and things

DISLIKES ■ Feeling trapped ■ Tedious social events ■ Fractious patients ■ Chigoes ■ Seafood ■ The smell of fish in general

OTHER ■ Alignment: Chaotic Good ■ Vices: Danger, alcohol (but rarely in excess) ■ Favorite Food: Creme Brulee ■ Favorite Drink: White Wine ■ Favorite Color: Ceruleum Blue

Appearance

Solenne's natural lankiness is softened by gentle curves and the lithe grace of a dancer. She is of medium stature, neither standing out from a crowd nor becoming lost in it. There are few visible scars or blemishes on her creamy-fair skin, but her body is not her canvas, and it hides her secrets well. Her hair is, to some extent, a different story. Since her adolescent years, she has been dying her pale blond locks a distinctive shade of silvery blue with frosted highlights. Her eyes are also blue and usually accentuated with smudged black eyeliner and lavender-blue shadow. Her pigmented lips are typically glossed in a neutral shade of pinky-mauve so as not to compete with her favored color palette. Her face is heart-shaped, her mouth generous, her eyes keen and tilted up at the outer corners. She often appears to be smiling ever-so-slightly over some private joke, and who's to say she isn't? Like her skin, her face divulges little about her rich inner life.

Personality

Solenne's manners and bearing have all the elegance and refinement that one would expect from the scion of one of Gridania's wealthiest and most respected families. She is poised, charismatic, and when the situation allows for it, vivacious. She sparkles at large social gatherings, yet seems equally content to enjoy a polite tête-à-tête with an acquaintance. But under all that good breeding is a wild, desperate yearning for freedom, adventure, and outrageous behavior. When she can escape from her duties at home and at the Conjurer's guild, she has a tendency to disappear into the wilds on mysterious exploits, emerging sometime later with a new vibrancy in her eyes, a new life in her step, and new secrets stored safely away in her pretty head.

One of her greatest secrets is that, although she is an accomplished healer, she loves the feel of a blade in her hand. At night when Gridania sleeps, she steals out into the courtyard of her family estate to practice her knifeplay under the stars. She can move in the shadows, pick locks and pockets alike, and she knows which poisons will kill a man silently and which will make him suffer for days. She revels in her own dual nature -- a cutthroat conjurer who carries death in one hand and life in the other.

What Solenne values most is liberty. Under the dutiful and law-abiding persona that she wears to honor her family name beats the heart of a rebel. If her own freedom or that of another is threatened, she will scheme and conspire and fight to preserve it, working tirelessly against governments, militaries, and law enforcement if necessary to achieve her ends. Moreover, she will relish every perilous moment of every daring plot she involves herself in. Although her outward appearance is that of a pretty, frivolous, wellborn lady, her core is fashioned from aether-infused steel. She is a force to be reckoned with, but she makes certain that very few ever realize it.

Biography

Born into a highly esteemed family among Gridania's gentry, Solenne's life was one of privilege and duty from the very beginning. She grew up knowing that, as a Lagarde, she was in the public eye. She was expected to conform to all the mores of Gridanian polite society, and so she did, at least to all outward appearances. But even as she learned to play the part of a fine lady, she was covertly honing other, less conventional skills. Her natural hunger for intrigue, coupled with a determined desire to test the limits of her own cleverness, drove her to study the arts of lockpicking and pickpocketing. She used these abilities, not to commit thefts, but to acquire information. It was a private game that she played with herself; she would decide on a tidbit of hidden knowledge that she wished to gain on a specific subject or person, and then she would employ all her secret talents and wiles to obtain it. And on those rare occasions when she was caught, her adroit tongue and graceful charm always came to her rescue.

While her parents didn't suspect that their well-mannered daughter had embarked on a career of espionage, they did realize that a precocious young mind like hers needed employment. Since she showed an early aptitude for conjury, they arranged for her to join the Conjurers Guild. which proved temporarily successful in diverting Solenne's attention from her less-than-legal pursuits. She loved conjury. In it, she found an endless source of knowledge that she did not have to plot and scheme to obtain. She might have been content to devote all her energies to conjury from that point on, if not for a fateful meeting with a certain Richaud Debonet.

Solenne first encountered Richaud on a stormy night when she caught him climbing over the wall that surrounded her family's estate. The boy seemed intent on robbing her home, so she informed him that she would not allow it. For his part, he seemed quite perplexed by this girl who had chosen such a strange time for a garden stroll. The two young Elezen struck up an unlikely friendship, and it was not long before Solenne was confessing her own interest in breaking and entering, and Richaud was promising to teach her a bit of knife play to complement her other unusual talents.

Solenne's lessons commenced almost immediately, and over time she and Richaud grew close enough that the boy was willing to trust her with his most dangerous secrets. She learned that his real name was Richaud Monsoulois, and that he and his mother had recently settled in Gridania after fleeing from Ishgard. His father, a falsely accused heretic, had not been so fortunate. Richaud's dream was to return to Coerthas one day and rescue as many innocents as he could from the clutches of the Inquisition. As time went on, that became Solenne's dream, too.

Their dream became a reality when they reached adulthood. Together they formed a secret society of spies, mercenaries, adventurers, and financial backers, all of whom were dedicated to the cause of liberating Ishgardian prisoners and assisting Ishgardian refugees. They operated in Coerthas for a number of years, hatching one daring scheme after another and saving as many lives as they could. Their exploits are, naturally, shrouded in mystery. None but those involved ever knew the names of the conspirators or the different roles they played in each dangerous rescue attempt.

There are whispers that a certain Elezen woman -- known only by the alias "Lady Winter," and by the myriad masks she donned like the consummate actress she was -- participated in several plots that breached the gates of Ishgard itself. Her impersonations of various Ishgardian noblewomen gained her entrance to that impregnable city not once, but on multiple occasions, and she never left empty handed. But that woman's identity remains unknown but to a few. Solenne keeps her own counsel on that subject, as on so many others.

Two years ago, Solenne's mother died suddenly. Her father was nearly incapacitated by grief, and Solenne felt it necessary to turn her attention homeward. She retired from her life of danger and intrigue, meaning to return to it as soon as her father had recovered. But in her absence, disaster struck the little society of liberators. Richaud was captured during a mission and summarily executed. Without his leadership, the group disbanded. It was the end of an era, and Solenne grieved as much for the loss of Richaud's dream as for Richaud himself.

After these tragedies, Solenne had no close affiliations with any organization other than the Conjurers Guild for a time. That is not to suggest that she allowed her unorthodox skill set to go to waste, however. Behind those vivid blue eyes, her agile mind has never been still, nor has she gotten over her habit of finding adventure wherever she goes. But recently, she has begun to reconnect with old allies, while also making a few new ones in unexpected places. She has offered her services to the Mithril Wings as a healer and spy, and she looks forward to whatever excitement may come from that quarter.

Miscellaneous

RUMORS Please feel free to add your own rumors under PC! ◢ Common Rumors ■ "Solenne? Ah yes, that's Gautier Lagarde's daughter, and a very fine young lady. I heard she's been taking care of her father's business affairs ever since he lost his wife. I suppose that's why she spends so much time abroad." ■ "She's pretty, but too frivolous for my taste. She smiles and dances and flirts too freely. They say she's been seen around a lot with a tall Duskwight recently, but she's probably not very serious about him. I'm not sure she has a heart to lose." ■ "Solenne is well respected at the Conjurer's Guild. She's still young yet, but she shows a lot of promise as a healer." ◢ Uncommon Rumors ■ "Solenne used to be best friends with a poor boy -- Debonet was his name, I think. They made for an odd couple, with her finery and his rags. Haven't seen Debonet around for a while, though. Maybe they had a falling out." ■ "She might seem a trifle shallow at times, but make no mistake, Solenne Lagarde has hidden depths. When the Calamity struck, she volunteered to go into the worst-affected areas of the Twelveswood to aid survivors. If nothing else, that girl is brave." ■ "Bit of a thrill-seeker, that one. You wouldn't think it to look at her, but when you tell her a thing is dangerous, her eyes shine like she's just made up her mind to do it. You'd think a conjurer's life would be exciting enough, but I don't think it is -- not for her." ◢ Rare Rumors ■ "Some people say that Lady Winter is just a myth, but I've seen her with my own eyes. True, she looked the spitting image of Lady Honorienne Justinaux at the time, but it was really Winter in disguise. I don't know who she is or where she came from, but I know I'd have gone off Witchdrop for sure if she hadn't smuggled me out of Ishgard. There's at least a dozen of us who owe our lives to her." ◢ PC Rumors ■ "Lady Solenne de Lagarde? A pleasant Gridanian noblewoman, by all means, yet it seems I unintentionally drew her ire. How so, you might ask? I am left only to wonder; I spoke no ill of Gridania, and I've no reason nor desire to make an advance on a woman." - Aronaux Farendaire ■ "Who? Oh, Solenne? That's a pretty name! Oh, do I know her? No, can't say I do. Nope." - Judiel Farendaire ■ "Oh, she's a bit intimidating. She snapped at me once for complimenting someone's scars. I don't know an awful lot about her, but I think she's got a good head on her shoulders." - Ari'ya Mhoki ■ "I never thought a sun would come when I could say that a Gridanian noblewoman has won my respect, but Solenne has managed it. Despite her background, she's clever and she knows how to get a job done quietly, and those are things I can always admire." - Adeya Evenar

RELATIONS ♥ Romantic Interest    ♥ Platonic Love     ● Good Standing     ● Poor Standing     ● Uncertain Standing ♥ Gautier Lagarde: Solenne's father. She still resides with him when she is in Gridania, and she has assumed most of the responsibility for his business affairs. ♥ Antoinette Lagarde: Solenne's mother, now deceased. ♥ Richaud Debonet née Monsoulois: Solenne's best friend and co-conspirator, now decreased. ♥ Isarmont Sorel: The man who won Solenne's heart, only to fall into a pattern of disappearing from her life for weeks at a stretch. She has come to accept that his most recent absence is intended as an unspoken farewell, and she is moving on with her life. ● Judiel Farendaire: An Ishgardian noblewoman who secretly collaborated with Solenne's group of heretic-smugglers. Solenne holds her in high regard, finds her endlessly endearing, and often worries for her safety. However, their friendship has recently become somewhat strained by the existence of various secrets that they are keeping from one another. ● Aronaux Farendaire: Lady Judiel Farendaire's brother. A true son of Ishgard and devotee of the Ishgardian Orthodox Church. It took Solenne a while to trust him, but now she counts him as a friend. ● Rivienne Marcellus: A fellow Wildwood of the Shroud whom Solenne assisted to gain entry into Ishgard. The two women are not necessarily friends, but they are allies, and Solenne feels a keen interest in Rivienne's welfare. ● Michaux Vidal: A quiet, brooding Duskwight of the Shroud notable for his musical talent, his beautiful tenor voice, and his scholarly interest in Gelmorra. He and Solenne have been exchanging favors for some time, and they have grown to be friends. ● Adeya Evenar: The Mythril Wings leader who recruited Solenne and Isarmont to the company. At first, Solenne had trouble respecting the leadership of a Miqo'te, particularly a Keeper of the Moon. However, the two women have since bonded over a shared interest in magic and murder, and Solenne now counts Adeya among her friends. ● Asheloux Thalantos: Another leader of the Mythril Wings. From their first meeting, Solenne found his snark and ill humor amusing. She liked him for his entertainment value, but she didn't trust him. As she comes to know him better, however, his health and safety grow increasingly important to her. ● Soren Shieldbreaker: A fellow member of the Mythril Wings. Out of everyone in the free company, Soren was the first she developed a fondness for. She feels protective of him, and is likely to adopt him as an honorary younger brother if he lets her.

Gallery

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Links & Footnotes

Solenne Lagarde on Tumblr
With One Dream (Solenne Playlist I)
The Danger and the Power (Solenne Playlist II)
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