Syrenead Dei-ijla

THIS IS A MASSIVE HOT MESS OF A WIP, PLS FORGIVE

Syrenead Dei-ijla

Rodeo Queen, Chocobo Whisperer

❝ We call them fools, Who have to dance within the flame, Who chance the sorrow and the shame, That always comes with getting burned. ❞

Garth Brooks, "Standing Outside the Fire"

[edit]

• Details
• Combat
• History
• Relationships
• Rumors
• Gallery
• RP Info
• OOC Notes
• Credits

Details Vital Information ■ PRONUNCIATION... SAI-reh-need day-EEJ-lah ■ NICKNAMES... Siren ■ RACE & CLAN... Rava Viera ■ GENDER... Cisgender woman ■ AGE... 25-ish equivalent ■ NAMEDAY... 17th Sun, 4th U Moon ■ ORIENTATION... Lesbian ■ MARITAL STATUS... Single Other Statistics ■ NATIONALITY... None ■ CITIZENSHIP... Gridania ■ FAMILY... Adopted parents and siblings ■ RESIDENCE... None (traveller) ■ OCCUPATION... Chocobo wrangler, Sellsword ■ PATRON DEITY... Althyk, the Keeper ■ HEIGHT & WEIGHT... 6 fulms, 5 ilms. 160-ish ponze. ■ ALIGNMENT... Chaotic Good General Information Syrenead Bjri Dei-ijla, she says to everyone. It's her full name, a Rava Viera name, and she'll be damned if anyone doesn't know it. She is, as far as she knows, the last survivor of her branch of the Ijla tribe that was otherwise wiped out in an unexpected forest fire when she was a child. Syrenead was found on a riverbank near Bentbranch Meadows, burnt and half-drowned, by a couple who made their living raising draft Chocobos. After she was nursed back to health, she was taught the proper way of Chocobo raising, handling, and riding, and Syrenead fell in love with the giants. Thus, she grew up on the fringes of Gridanian society. Syrenead learned the ways of the Hyur and Elezen that lived there, of how they thought of the Elementals and how they chose to live with nature. It never felt right. When she came of age, she decided to travel all over Eorzea, trading her skills at Chocobo handling in exchange for passage. If the usual cart handler got to sleep while this strange rabbit-woman manned the reins? Shoot, that'd be just grand. Sure, she picked fights with other Sellswords sometimes, but hey, she held her own. ❝ Without fire, forests cannot clean and grow. It is the same with all beings. ❞ Appearance Eyes Hair Skin Build Voice Brown Black/Red Ruddy brown Lean muscle Soprano II Bearing Laterality Scars Markings Style Confident Right Many Tattoos Form over function Hair & Eyes Syrenead’s full-bodied, wavy hair is naturally black, but she regularly refreshes her dyed red highlights. She says this is for intimidation purposes, but it’s hard to say if that works - although it has scared many a man away, much to her delight. Her eyes, too, can be intimidating. Somewhere between brown and red, they’re very expressive. It’s just that much of the time, others describe that expression as “annoyance.” She doesn’t do it on purpose and has considered introducing herself as “Syrenead, My-Face-Just-Looks-Like-This.” A bad encounter with a particularly pissy Chocobo has caused her to lose color vision in her left eye, as well as making it more sensitive to light. Some people mistake this as a different color, when it is, in fact, just an overly enlarged pupil. Physique & Markings You don’t get very far in Chocobo wrangling if you don’t possess some measure of strength, and that’s what Syrenead’s body betrays: a decade and a half of attempting to physically teach Chocobos to not be overly stubborn. Her lean-muscled frame is covered with scars from birds who took offense at something she did, from scrapes from being thrown from the saddle to one memorable experience of being kicked in the outer thigh. Bitten, struck with wings and tails - all have left their marks. Hygiene & Attire Syrenead got into the habit of bathing regularly upon arriving at her new home of Bentbranch Meadows, finding that no one - including her - enjoyed the smell of giant bird. She bathes daily if she could, often enough if she can’t. Her naturally wavy hair needs the frequent combing through anyway, and she will dunk her hair in fresh water before worrying about the rest of her. Syrenead dresses like any other frequent Chocobo rider: Plain hempen shirt, leather jacket, chaps over pants, thick leather gloves, and boots complete with spurs. She wears a belt buckle that she won from her current best rodeo, where she earned silver in regionals. As for anything else practical, she wears a cloth over her permanently-injured left eye during the day, due to its sensitivity to light and lack of color vision, both of which can be disorienting. At night, she can get around pretty ok without it. Personality Psychological Profile Syrenead is confident, sometimes to the point of being cocky. For some, it’s all a front to hide vulnerability, and while she has some of that, for the most part she believes herself incredibly competent. Chalk that up to being the only Viera in Bentbranch. Though her superiority complex has been tempered slightly by her Elezen adoptive parents, her bone-deep connection with nature rivals that of other races and she knows it. Because of her oneness with the forest, she was recruited at an early age to assist with controlled burns - something Viera do often in their own lands, to promote the growth of new plants and enrich the soil. At first, the sight of fire sent Syrenead back to her mother in tears, but as the years wore on, she turned her grief into purpose and determination, eventually leading and teaching others. Still, the sight of flames can make her flinch, and being the focus of a spellcaster’s Fire sends her into a panic. Syrenead is gregarious and generous with her help, preferring to barter in passage, goods, and favors rather than coin. To her, they are more valuable. Coin is no good in the wilderness, whereas a good dagger, a pack of food, and pointed directions will help her survive that much more. She also enjoys entertaining the caravas she sometimes travels with, enrapturing them with her dancing and storytelling. Voice Those who've met older Viera consider their voices light, aloof, and airy. While Syrenead has some of those traits, her Bentbranch accent is as heavy a drawl as any other rancher in the area. It surprises many when a "Howdy, y'all!" is a standard greeting from her. And, of course, she spits curses in all situations, whether or not it's generally appropriate. "Oh, Twelve bless you," to those outside, think it's a compliment, but in Syrenead's community of ranchers, it is a damning phrase full of scorn and sometimes mockery. Philosophy & Mannerisms Having grown up in a secluded tribe and then a small settlement, both of which survived off the Shroud’s bounty, Syrenead’s habits and thoughts are driven often by practicality, even when it causes trouble. That practicality, and her affable nature, was born of her need to survive as a curiosity to other Bentbranch residents. As she came of age (and as residents came to know her and regard her as a citizen rather than a menagerie exhibit), Syrenead became the one some would go to for a difficult problem - at least, of a crafting or Chocobo related sort. She held beams, sawed wood, hammered nails, gathered food, cut brush, whatever pressing problem was needed. It brought her joy, to help these people, and more besides on her travels later. Syrenead, having been around Chocobos more than half her life now, is meticulous about bathing, lest she smell like mud and the natural funk of the birds. If there’s a river, she has no compunction about stripping to her underclothes and using a cloth to scrub at the day’s dirt. Her hair, especially, she cares for, and she hates it getting dirty. Physical contact is something Syrenead has had to learn to control. In her tribe, touch was common - to show love, affection, agreement, comfort. Other folk, she noticed, have widely different preferences on touch, and especially menfolk. Menfolk who were not her adopted relatives either did not want her to touch them at all, or took it as a romantic sign, much to her confused exasperation. Syrenead’s driving philosophy, cultivated over years of travel, is thus: Everyone knows something she doesn’t, she knows things others don’t, and there’s great benefit in that exchange of ideas. Why keep knowledge a secret when everyone is collectively better off when it is freely given? Preferences Likes ● Starlight ● Long distance travel ● Chocobo rodeos ● Hiking ● Thunderstorms Dislikes ● Flying ● Politics ● Large cities ● Being cold ● Being sexualized Skills ● Chocobo riding, both proper and rodeo-style ● Dancing ● Scouting ● Botany ● Wilderness cooking

Combat, Abilities & Weaponry Basic Statistics High: Dexterity Above Average: Charisma, Intelligence Average: Wisdom, Strength Low: Constitution Aetheric Abilities Mastery: None Expert: None Average: None Novice: None Weapon Training Mastery: Chackrams, Glaives Expert: Hand-to-hand Average: Bows Novice: Lances Combat Relevant Skills High: Physical flexibility, Aim Above Average: Foresight Average: Spatial awareness Low: Large group tactics Non-Combat Abilities ● Storytelling: A good story after a long day’s travel has caused more than one caravan to give Syrenead trinkets in return for one more tale. ● Dancing: A skill leftover from her childhood, dancing keeps her spirit alive and is a connection to her culture. As she’s travelled, she’s learned new dances from every major city (and some rural places as well, the variations fascinate her). ● Botany: Syrenead’s never belonged to the Botanist’s Guild, but she knows basic things that every Viera and Gridanian knows: what is safe to eat, what is not; what is ripe and what is rotten; the tracks of animals, people, and creatures best left alone. Her speciality is in controlled burns. ● Cooking: It’s not great cooking, but it’s decent enough for nights both on and off the roads. She can roast meats and sear vegetables, at the very least. ● Chocobo Riding: Syrenead is a master birdwoman, having spent the better part of the last 15 years with Chocobos, 10 of those spent working directly on her parents' ranch. She can coax the birds through nearly every terrain, especially her personal mount. Combat Abilities ● Dancing: This is where Syrenead comes into her own. Her steps have their own sort of magic, and can inspire allies around her with her grace and calm demeanor. If she is confident enough to dance in the face of gunfire, surely others can withstand the same. ● Thrown Weapons: When she is not dancing, Syrenead circles the battlefield, throwing chakrams and glaives into the middle of enemy groups, spinning the weapons such that they always return to her. It is a skill she’s honed on many a poor practice dummy. ● Dodging: Syrenead is incredibly flexible and such nimbly dodges out of the way of a good amount of enemy attacks. Her great weakness against this are lancers, whose range and swiftness often give her trouble. ● Punching and Kicking: Push comes to shove, Viera have sharp nails and Syrenead will struggle and slash as much as she needs to in order to free herself from whatever pickle she got herself into in the first place. ● Mounted Combat: Syrenead can fight while riding her own Chocobo. By now, he's used to dangerous situations, and keeps steady while charging into groups of enemies while his rider throws and slashes with glaives. He is outfited with his own armor. OOC Note I prefer simple attack vs defense random roll systems, as they tend to be less complex and don’t leave much up for debate.

History Disclaimer: I am not a strict aherent to canon. As such, information might not line up with in-game lore. Early Age Childhood Syrenead, fourth daughter of the fourth daughter, was raised deep in the Shroud, in a small branch of the Ijla tribe. Numbering in only a few dozen, the tribe spent its days tending to the largest of their home trees, pulling up invading plants, keeping the waterways clear, and doing controlled burns when necessary. The last of which was the job of Syrenead’s immediate family: Her grandmothers, her three aunts, her mothers, and her six sisters. From an early age, she was taught the importance - and danger - of fire. Fire, her mother llavleshal explained when Syrenead was barely old enough to walk, was one of the givers of life. From the ashes created by the fire, the soil is strengthened, and new plants grow. New plants bring more animals, and thus life continues. But fire, uncontrolled, would doom entire forests to death. Syrenead, then, had to always be careful with fire. And she was, and still is. The source of the tragic fire was not known. But on a windy summer nightm, in her 10th year, a blaze from the north tore through the trees and the ground below. She still remembers the heat, the smoke, how very different it was from the clearings her family did. It smelled horrible, toxic. But she ran, as did everyone else. Trees containing homes lit up and the screams rang around her as she bolted to the river. Her skin burned, she burned, until she came to an overhang much too high above the swirling water. But with the fire fast approaching, she jumped. That was the last she remembered. Teenage Years Syrenead woke up in a house. At least, she thought it was a house. She was under soft blankets she did not know, in a bed she did not know. Panic seized her and she tried to move to the door, but pain lanced through her, from the tips of her ears to the backs of her legs. She cried, then. It hurt. “Hush, my child, you’re safe, you need to rest. You are in Bentbranch, in the Shroud. Your burns need healing. You’re damn lucky they weren’t that serious,” said a voice from across the room. An Elezen man sat in a chair near the door, tipped back so he could rest his head next to the window. She’d seen Elezen before, in the distance, but never met one, and neither had any of her tribe. He looked older, perhaps in the middle of his life. Despite his words, she grimaced and struggled to sit. She could see and feel many bandages. The dressing was clumsy, but good enough to cover what was needed. The man cocked his head, watching her inspect his treatment job. “My name is Liovent Deibaut. What might I call you? Do you remember anything?” “Syrenead,” she said after a long pause. “Syrenead, of the Ijla tribe. I… there was a fire, but not the ones we set. Toxic… horrible. I jumped in the river.” “The river is where we found you, Syrenead of the Ijla tribe. On the banks, not far from here. Now, I don’t know what sort of folk you are, but we welcome all sorts here. Rest, we’ll figure everything out later.” And so they did. Once her burns were healed enough and she could walk without falling, she was taught the ways of what the Dobitant family did: Chocobo raising. She’d never seen a Chocobo before, not even in the distance, and she fell in love with the giant birds. She wanted to know everything about them, from grooming to feeding to taiming to riding. And ride she did! First on older, tamer chocobos, and then, in her 15th year, Syrenead was given her own: a thrice-damned hellbeast of a male - one who took a year to tame. When not helping with the Chocobos, Liovent’s wife, Nevenne, taught Syrenead all she thought was essential for a citizen of Eorzea should know: Reading, writing, math, history. She never picked up on the history as much as Nevenne would have liked, but she studied hard enough to learn the basics of many subjects. While she enjoyed the quiet life with Liovent and Nevenne, she felt in her heart that she was meant to leave, to explore. And so, in her 20th year, she bid an emotional goodbye to the couple, packed her bags, and rode off. But not before telling them her new, adult name, as was Viera custom: Syrenead Dei-Ijla. She would love them always. Adulthood Leaving Home and Early Adventures Liovent and Nevenne, along with other residents of Bentbranch, had taught Syrenead the basics of survival that she did not already know. While she knew about tracking, plants, animals, she did not know about people. That is, other folk. She encountered many while growing up, all sorts of races that had congregated in Gridania and the surrounding area. Syrenead was taught the names of races, where they came from, what they were known for. From individuals, she learned customs and rituals. As she travelled, this knowledge grew and grew. In caravans, she learned stories, and told her own in kind. Merchants taught her the fine arts of bargaining and bartering. From Sellswords, she learned how to fight with more than a beat up bow and a slightly dull lance. Most regarded Syrenead as strange, having never met a Viera, but accepted her when it was clear she would pull her own weight, and more besides. Syrenead went everywhere she could pay passage to go, all around Eorzea, even to Ishgard - Chocobo included, she would never leave him behind. Life beyond the forest, though still a painful memory, was thrilling to her. She wanted to take it all in, experience everything she could. Though there were places she didn’t like (mostly Ul’dah), every place was a new opportunity. First Jobs This is typically pre-calamity information, or information from before the turn of the era (Domans & others not in Eorzea proper). In Recent Times The Life of an Adventurer .

Relationships Relationship Status Legend ღ Relationship ❣ Attraction ♡ Complicated ♦ Friend ✝ Deceased ✔ Positive ✖ Negative ● Neutral � Unsure Family Acquaintances Former Acquaintances Deceased

Rumors NPC Rumors Some of these rumors are untrue, speculation, or are greatly exaggerated. ◢ Common Rumors - Easily overheard. Use these freely! ■ "Rumor." — Rumor Monger. ■ "Rumor." — Rumor Monger. ◢ Uncommon Rumors - A little more difficult to hear. Use sparingly or ask first! ■ "Rumor" — Rumormonger. ■ "Rumor" — Rumormonger. ◢ Rare Rumors - Very rarely overheard. Please ask before using! ■ "Rumor" — Rumormonger. ■ "Rumor" — Rumormonger. PC Rumors Feel free to add your own rumors to this section. ◢ Player Character Rumors - Some of these are more rare than others! ■ "Rumor" — Rumormonger. ■ "Rumor" — Rumormonger.

Gallery Music Standing Outside the Fire (Lyrics) Artist: Garth Brooks Origin: Album "In Pieces" Context: Character theme Dance Eorzea Dance Artist: Artist Name Origin: Album/etc Title Context: Theme context. Dance Eorzea Dance Artist: Artist Name Origin: Album/etc Title Context: Theme context. Artwork Description, may leave blank. In-Game Screenshots Description, may leave blank.

RP Info Location & Probability Places where the character is very likely to be seen ■ Gridania & The Shroud wilds: High ■ Ul’dah & Thanalan wilds: Moderate ■ Limsa Lominsa & La Noscea wilds: Low Affiliations Most of these aren’t public, and would have to be asked after! ■ Bentbranch Meadows: Hometown. ■ Gridania: Recent citizen ■ Eorzean Rancher’s Guild (Gridanian Branch): Official network of ranchers across the Eorzean continent, with Syrenead belonging to the Gridanian Branch ■ Eorzean Chocobo Rodeo Association (ECRA): The ECRA manages competitions as well as monitor the health and safety of the birds. Syrenead has been competing since she was 16. IC Inventory The following items are things that this individual carries on their person at all times. These are noted for pickpockets, and those watching her closely. This information is meant to be a prompt for insight and is not to be meta-gamed, though feel free to use this information if it comes up logically in RP (pickpocketing, a search, etc) with use of a simple /tell. ■ Coinpurse: A simple coin purse made of soft leather, containing a few hundred gil. RP Limits I'm a pretty easy going player, all things considered. I'm willing to try a lot of things once, as long as personal boundaries are respected. I'm not a big strict canon person. I prefer RP to be fun rather than exact. The "I won't play" section is a hard no, don't even ask about them, nor should you ask why I don't play them. Just consider them off limits. ■ I will play Slice-of-life, travelling adventures, escort missions, minor conflict, temporary minor injury/illness. ■ Ask about Heavy combat, blood, gore, temporary major injury/illness. ■ I won't play ERP, rape, permanent character death, suicide, abuse. RP Hooks While the below is by no means comprehensive, it's a kind of spring board for walk-up RP. Longer plots that are meant to run for more than a few quick RP's, please feel free to send me a tell so we can work out a good reason for our characters to get to know one another. I'm always looking for RP, unless I'm actively spamming PvE content. ■ List item.

OOC Notes Player Information Player Note There is a lot of information on this character wiki, but it is by no means completely comprehensive. There are chunks of backstory that are left intentionally vague so that details can be later added as developed through creative writing or in role-play revelation. Feel free to use Common or Uncommon rumors freely, if you want to use a Rare Rumor as a plot hook or to spark RP, I would ask that you send me a tell first, to make certain it's alright. Character Lore Adherence Everything concerning this character that has not been confirmed by in-game lore should be taken with a grain of salt. Anything that has had to be changed because of lore shifting will be noted below. ■ No changes. Character Concept Information. Character Tidbits Links Out Links that lead off the wiki, but are technically relevant to the character. ■ Link Description: Link Title Tropes & Explanations A trope is a convention or device that is often found in creative works. In this case, the tropes below describe my character either in part, or as a whole. Their background, personality, appearance, etc, most of them can be described in the tropes below. ■ Trope Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations. On the whole, tropes are not clichés.

Credits Wiki Information This wiki is constantly changing as the character’s story changes. It was last modified on February 25th, 2020. A blank version of the wiki template can be found here Layout Information The following is not entirely comprehensive, but contains general credits. Please leave the link-backs if you use this template! ■ Original template by Bancroft Gairn. ■ Adapted by Xheja Rajhera. ■ Tabs by Unnamed Mercenary. ■ Expanded bits by Lucaell Tareth'eian. ■ Header image inspired by D'lyhhia Lhuil. ■ Music bits from J'karu Rhome. ■ Relationships & OOC notes by Glioca Sargonnai. ■ Various formatting inspired by Odette Saoirse & others.