Talyn Shadowmoon
| Talyn Shadowmoon | |
| |
| Gender | Female |
| Race | Hyur |
| Clan | Midlander |
| Citizenship | Ala Mhigan refugee |
| Place of Birth | Ala Mhigo |
| Nameday | 17th Sun of the 3rd Umbral Moon |
| Date | She does not know for certain. (Age: Mid to late 20's perhaps?) |
| Marital Status | Single |
| Occupation | Minor merchant on Pearl Lane in Ul'dah |
| Pronunciation | Talon |
"Stealing from our fellow Ala Mhigans feels less like survival and more like aiding the invaders. I won't do it." — Talyn's former guildmaster in Ala Mhigo
Contents
Basic Info
Usable by anyone who wants to find out information without talking to Talyn.
- When she first arrived in Ul'dah Talyn tried to avoid notice, staying back from others and simply watching unless approached or invited to participate in something. She slowly began to be more outgoing, but has recently had several encounters that have reminded her she is not as ready for conflict as she would like.
- Often wears a travel cloak with the hood pulled forward as she stands off to the back of an area and observes what is going on.
- Talyn never seems to use aetherytes or chocobos, walking anywhere she goes.
- Rarely carries a visible weapon, but has been known to carry cesti around at times, presumably given to her by someone at the pugilist's guild when she visits it.
- Does not like to drink things handed to her by others. When she does drink she prefers anything with hard liquor in it.
How She Makes a Living
She can sometimes be found selling inexpensive items on Pearl Lane.
- Cloth-crafts: Mostly hempen bandannas with bits of beads and things decorating many of them, some cotton. Also gloves and hempen yarns threaded with beads for weaving.
- Jewelery: Copper and leather necklaces, rings, earrings and bracelets.
- Alchemy: Minor healing potions good for little more than cough syrups or to aid against infections. Also scented perfumes and bath salts.
- Misc: A variety of leftover items from working on custom orders for items such as decorative scepters with glass gemstones to bits of wrought iron and even some eating utensils.
People Who She May Have Been Seen Talking To
NPC Rumors
Common
"If she is there, the girl sells the most charming hempen bandanas."
"I think I know the girl you mean, flighty little thing with purple eyes?"
"I tried to talk to her, but when I turned back around she was gone."
"She doesn't look that old."
Less Common
"I think I saw her in The Drowning Wench in Limsa, just standing in the corner watching everyone from under the close-pulled hood of a travel cloak."
"I bought her a drink at the Quicksand... she just held it for a while then sat it on the rail and never drank any."
"Who? Purple eyed short thing? No, I can't say.. OH, wait... I think she bumped into me once, knocked my coin all over the ground, but she picked it all up for me. Hmm? No, no, not a single gil was missing. Why?"
"What are you doing bothering me? Can't you see I am extremely busy? No, I have not seen- wait, problems with aetheryte you say... hmm... maybe... It seems there was someone here that I was helping with that. A roegadyn I think... no, no it was a lalafell... maybe. I was helping him with potions, Oh, it was the miqo'te lad with the purple hair and black eyes! Now, unless you want to volunteer to sample potions for first day students I suggest you leave, I am very busy!" - Severian, Guildmaster of the Alchemy Guild.
Rare and hard to overhear
"I think I saw her helping fight the White Joker in the Black Forest." "You're dense. I saw the fight, it was in Thanalan and against the sewer scum." "You're both cracked in the head. The girl's a minor merchant from Peal Lane, not a fighter." ~~Random trio at a table in some tavern
"I've chased her from the Goblet a few times. I think she sleeps in the tunnels... or waits to rob people perhaps." ~~A guard of the Goblet
"Talyn? She's lovely, I want her to be one of the ones with me when my time comes, but when I say that to her she gets the cutest little evasive smile and says she hopes that day never comes. I'm trying to get her to let me train her as a pugilist, I can see she has the skill, just look at the back of her gloves, but she is just a good friend who enjoys listening to an old man talk about the glory of years gone by." ~~ Hamon Holyfist, Master of the Pugilists Guild
"The girl from Pearl Lane? The girl with the limp? No? Hmm... I thought she limped."
PC Rumors
Add anything you would like to share! May or may not be true about Talyn. ;-) Please post IC and leave your Character's name, or at least something fun like "hooded figure" Note: This section is editable by anyone. Just keep in mind that the rumors here may be both true or false - or both!.
- "Although I first saw her in an alley near the Quicksand, I knew by first sight that she had a good heart, despite what others think." -Niklas Gran
- "You know, I keep hearing her name, but its almost always associated with some sort of trouble!" -Aya Foxheart
Current Residence
Talyn is most often to be found making crafts on Peal Lane. She has been seen sleeping just outside the back door of the quicksand, but only seems to actually be asleep when the dour elezen sellsword, Zeryr, is there.
End Of Discoverable Information
Anything below here should be considered OOC knowledge
Dislikes
- Having attention called to her.
- Being noticed, particularly by anyone who knows her name without her having given it to them.
- Being given food or drink by others and expected to actually consume them. She will drink at social gatherings when served by waitresses, but is still cautious about what she consumes.
- Aetheryte travel. Just being close to an aetheryte crystal can make her feel queasy, and the first and only time she traveled by one, unexpectedly, was left sick for several days.
- Royalty and well born people.
Religion
Talyn has never had much reason to be religious. As a street thief of Ala Mhigo she was, of course, familiar with Rhalgr the Destroyer, but never felt any reason to think her fate mattered to the Ala Mhigan deity or that Rhalgr would care if she paid him homage or not.
Talents
- If finding trouble counts as a talent, then Talyn is exceptionally talented.
- Talyn is slowly but quickly developing a talent for making potions thanks to her search for something to combat aertheryte sickness and her interest in making poisons.
Abilities and Skills
Weapons
- Talyn does not use weapons. Since her arrival in Ul'dah the guildmaster of the pugilist guild has been attempting to educate her in the use of knuckle guards, but she will more often than not fight in the unarmed street fighting manner she learned as a street thief. She does enjoy spending time with the old pugilist, however, and can be seen at times sitting and talking quietly with him about the Fist of Rhalgr.
Family and Relationships
DISCLAIMER
This stuff is all OCC notes about things that have happened with Talyn's IC meeting of other characters. If you use any information please keep it to IC knowledge, I will not be held accountable for any reaction Talyn may have to information I do not recall having provided IC.
Relatives
Unknown. To the best of her knowledge she was orphaned well before age 5 and all of the members of her guild in Ala Mhigo are dead, imprisoned by the Garleans or missing.
Note: While I welcome role play discovery of character information, please do not make a former guildmate or family member for Talyn unless you discuss it OOC with me beforehand. Thank you.
People Talyn Has Met
Note: While some may be able to go "Oh hey, that's my character" based on the vague identifiers, I try not to include by name anyone who has not already included me on their page or whose permission to mention here I have not already been given. If you desire to be added (or removed) please, make me aware of it. Thanks.
People Talyn Seeks Out
(AKA: Positive)
Talyn met Zeryr due to a mutual preference for quiet areas that few people frequent, such as the end of Peal Lane. She is always more relaxed if Zeryr is in the alleyway than when she is there alone. She can sometimes be seen seated across from him, sometimes close to where he sits, depending on how unsettled she is at the time (more unsettled she is, the closer to where he is she will be). Zeryr has helped Talyn on at least two occasions: aiding her on an excursion into Copperbell Mines and saving her from the Amalj'aa, as a result she feels safer when he is around and has come to consider him the closest thing she has to a friend. She only ever sleeps when he is present.
People Who She May Have Been Seen Talking To
(AKA: Neutral)
- Cyril Sorel
Talyn met Cyril after overhearing him talking to Castlebane near the Quicksand. They have spoken on several occasions since, including one instance where Talyn sought possible protection from a potential threat when Zeryr was not in the alleyway. Cyril is the only person other than Aya and Momodi from whom Talyn has not only accepted a glass, but also drank from it.
Talyn was introduced to Sasha by Zeryr and slowly has come to consider her almost a friend (which says a lot about how well Talyn likes Sasha, since Talyn has never had friends before, only acquaintances). Sasha is one of the few people Talyn truly relaxes around, despite the appearance Talyn has created that she is working against Sasha. Talyn has been involved in events surrounding Sasha on several occasions and knows Castlebane, the person who is after Sasha.
- Sebastian Castlebane
Talyn met Castlebane because of overhearing him and Cyril near the Quicksand. Her last interaction with Castlebane was in the Quicksand, when the man hired Talyn to assassinate someone.
- Shanra Fhey
Talyn met Shanra where she meets most of the people she comes to know, the small alcove just outside the Quicksand on Pearl Lane. They ran into one another several more times before sitting to talk in the quicksand when Talyn was trying to avoid someone else. Talyn has found Shanra to be easy to relax around, even when Talyn is on edge, and Talyn shared with Shanra that Talyn hopes to one day have a place she can have a garden and share the comforts of home with those without a home of their own.
- Niklas Gran Leader of The Gran Knights
Talyn was only in Ul'dah for less than a day when she was approached by the energetic leader of the Gran Knights, who expressed concern at her sitting alone in the alleyway behind the Quicksand. Uneasy about his intention she nevertheless accepted his invitation to join his free company, under the caution that she would not stay for long. Uneased by Niklas' apparent desire to seek out suspected Garleans in the area, Talyn chose to leave the company rather than have unwanted trouble find her and was named an Honorary Gran Knight by Niklas and agreed to let him know if she learned of anything suspicious in the Ul'dah area.
- Unnamed free company leader Unnamed free company
After she left the company of Gran Knights, Talyn found herself invited to join another free company by the company's leader. She provided what little she could to the efforts of the free company, but in the end left it to form her own small company.
People Talyn Avoids...
(AKA: Negative ... NOTE: If you are in this area please do not take offense, it only means that something IC spooked Talyn and she will likely end up really liking you if she has a chance to get to know you better. Remember she's a thief on the run, she is easily spooked and made avoid people.)
- Unknown Man in Ul'dah area Presumed to live in the Goblet
This is a gentleman who clearly knows her name, but she does not recall having told it to him. Talyn fled Ul'dah after speaking to the man and is waiting to let things calm down a bit and gather her thoughts before returning to the area.
- Scary Lady in Ul'dah
A person that Talyn has had a few encounters with and has taken to avoiding.
- Unknown Man in Ul'dah
An elezen gentleman that Talyn is avoiding encountering again.
Affiliations
- A Shipping Company Name withheld
Talyn made contact with a shipping company that has agreed to assist her in her venture.
- Unnamed Mining Company Name withheld
While she has not officially contacted them as of yet, Talyn has her eye on a mining company that may be able to provider her with a variety of goods she would prefer not to have to obtain herself.
- Gran Knights
Although no longer associated with the Gran Knights, Talyn is still considered by Niklas Gran to be an Honorary Gran Knight. She works for Niklas at times, providing information on any suspicious activities she may hear of in the Ul'dah area.
Name and Lifestyle
Name Etimology
Talyn got the name Talyn when, upon meeting the thieves that later saved her from the streets of Ala Mhigo, the small girl attacked them with a wyvern's talon wielded like a knife.
The name Shadowmoon was written onto papers forged for her before she stowed away onto a ship destined for Limsa Lominsa. Knowing her from her former guild, and thus knowing of her tendency to stay in the shadow even at night, the forger took creative license and made the papers out for Talyn Shadowmoon.
Nicknames
Talon
History
Talyn grew up in the company of thieves turned resistance fighters, so has a perspective of what a thieves guild should be based on that experience and the guidance of her former guildmaster. Failing to find what she sought in Ul'dah, and ignored by those she was able to make some connections with for her assumed lack of skill, Talyn made up her mind to start her own Thieves Guild based out of the city and working under the banner of the Maelstrom. She has since been making connections when she can with those who can mutually benefit from the small company of rogues she plans to build.
She is usually silent or evasive when spoken to, but can be pushed to say more than she knows she should under certain circumstances and regarding certain topics. Having lived through so much, and being confident in her skills, she sees no reason not to speak her mind or even give out information best kept close when it will get her what she needs or desires.
Before Dalamud's Fall
Birth and childhood (0-10)
Talyn's life in Ala Mhigo...
The earliest memories Talyn has are of living on the streets in Ala Mhigo.
She remembers men she knew as being of the Fist of Rhalgr when she was perhaps 5 or 7 summers and has snippets of memory of watching the monks train. Almost all of her memories of the monks, are buried beneath a memory of chaos and being told by an elderly monk to run. She would later come to learn this had been among the first stages of resistance to the Garlean invasion of Ala Mhigo by a surviving group of monks.
Back on the streets of Ala Mhigo once again, she was soon in trouble for stealing food and was chased down by two members of the local thieves guild intent on trying to help her before the guards caught her. Run to ground by the two thieves they dubbed her 'Talyn' when, in her effort to escape, she turned on them with a wyvern's talon used as a knife. Once settled in at the guild she began to learn the skills of a thief, starting with how to keep watch for her fellow guild mates as they stole then, later, trained to steal as well.
Teen Years
Invasion...
Talyn remembers listening from the shadows as a child when her 'guildmaster' said that stealing from their fellow Ala Mhigans seemed less like survival and more like aiding the Garlean invaders. He refocused the thieves that followed him and they all began aiding in resisting the Garleans in any way they could. Talyn's skills were guided toward watching for trouble and working as a spy and scout, but she continued to train in all other aspects of thievery, spying and survival of resistance fighters.
As she matured into an adult her training moved closer to the realm of spy and assassin and she joined the small group within the guild whose task it was to work as spies or to sneak into off-limits areas and gather intel or eliminate targets.
Adulthood
The fall of the guild...
Sometime after she reached adult-hood, and before Dalamud fell, a member of the guild betrayed them from within. Talyn was among those captured and taken to a Garlean prison. She has no concept of how much time passed while she was in the prison and, since she had little care for time in the first place, was made even more uncertain about her exact age.
After Dalamud's Fall
Already skilled in the art of sneaking and getting into and out of well guarded locations, Talyn eventually took advantage of an opportunity to escape. She fled to a port town where she faded into the crowds of travelers, sailors and pirates and eventually stowed away on a ship bound for Limsa Lominsa.
The vessel ran afoul of bad weather and was forced to put in at the Silver Bazaar in Western Thanalan for repair to its ropes and sails. Seeing a good number of Ala Mhigan refugees with which she could blend in, Talyn left her hiding place on the ship and, after lightning the purse of a sour looking man arguing with a distraught looking Lalafell lady, made her way north to the city of Ul'dah.
A Realm Reborn
After her arrival in Ul'dah, Talyn stayed as out of the way as she could, but came to the notice of Niklas Gran. She stayed with his group for just long enough to realize their intent was to seek out Garleans, then parted ways rather than risk the dangers that could bring to her.
Talyn made her way to Vesper Bay and stowed away on a ship bound for a small port in La Noscea, intent on continuing her original journey to Limsa Lominsa. She remained in La Noscea for only a short stay before she decided to return to the rich city of Ul'dah. The journey back was not as lucky and Talyn was discovered by the crew of the ship she had stowed away on and turned over to the authorities in Vesper Bay when the ship made port. From there she was given a choice to stay in their dungeon for a while, or to make a much quicker excursion into Copperbell Mine to investigate reports of trouble for them. Talyn chose the mine and was given permission to find adventurers to aid her in Ul'dah's adventuring guild, provided she did not give the guards cause to have to come looking for her.
Talyn met an archer who offered his aid without needing either a full explanation for the reason for the expedition or payment aside from what he found in the mines. Talyn also employed the services of the sellsword Zeryr Roemeaux, feeling that she stood a far better chance of getting out of the mines if there were trouble if she had a professional bodyguard along. Zeryr brought a healer he had worked with along and the expedition to gather information on the disturbances in the mine was soon completed and Talyn's commitment to the guards in Vesper Bay finished.
Talyn spent time in Ul'dah after that, working on her alchemical studies and given reluctant guidance by the alchemy guildmaster Severian. Two points about her caught his attention and caused him to take a bit more interest in her studies: her surprising aptitude with crafting alchemical mixtures, particularly a batch of antidotes he had requested, and the fact she did not react as others had to his comment that the test subjects for the antidote would, of course, be poisoned to test the mixtures.
Despite, or possibly because of, her efforts to remain unnoticed Talyn was stopped by guards in the Drybone area when they observed her trying to move around the encampment unseen. Detained for questioning she was being taken to Camp Drybone when the group was attacked by an Amalj'aa patrol. Those who survived he attack were taken to a cave and imprisoned there. Talyn was as surprised as she was happy to be rescued by Zeryr when he stumbled across the cave her and the other captives were being held in. This second instance of seeing the swordsman in action, and owing to his skills her life, gave her a strong respect for the elezen and a determination that should she have need of a bodyguard in the future, she would try her best to employ his services.
Talyn is currently attempting to build up the only business she truly knows and is quietly making connections with those who can mutually benefit from the presence of a new thieves guild in Ul'dah. She has so far built a guild of three: herself as the guild leader, a hyur male thief that acts as the guild's fence, selling the things the small group steals for what he can on the markets, and a miqot'e that runs the chaotic markets like a soldier on a battlefield, securing supplies for the guild and trading with others on the black market for things of interest to people that can not purchase such items in the open markets.
Most recently Talyn is on the move, attempting to evade possible trouble after she was recognized by someone she does not recall having given her name to. This unease was made more palpable by her seeing what she thinks to be an associate of the man in the Drowning Wench, only to have the hooded miqot'e teleport away moments after she looked at him.
