Zhavi Streetrunner

Zhavi Streetrunner
Gender	Female
Race	Miqo'te
Clan	Keeper of the Moon
Citizenship	Limsa Lominsa

Under heavy construction. IDFK what I'm doing, tralala!

General

Well call me an honest scrumbagger and pinch me cheeks, lookit what the dockrats dragged in.

Name & Aliases	Basic
Zhavi Streetrunner (formerly Gutterborn) Commonly Goes by: Zhi or (the more familiar/affectionate) Zhio Known as: Pinch (rare), Resin (common), Nim (common), Slant (uncommon), Dax (rare), Sparrow (uncommon), Kink (most used), Skimmer (unused) Specific RP nicknames: Joz (w/Lolotaru)	Height: 5'2" Age: 19 Race: Keeper Miqo'te Profession: Runner/Courier/Information Fence/Sometimes Seller of Illicit Goods (aka scrumbagger) Residence: Streets of Limsa Lominsa

Notable Features

Name. In lieu of being able to pronounce the hissing sound denoted by the 'h' in 'Zhavi,' a sort of 'szh' sound -- similar to juh -- as might be used in Mandarin is acceptable. Kinked tail. There's a distinct bend in the last fourth or so of her tail, which has earned her the name "Kink" -- those looking to hire her use it as a way of describing her to their own underlings. "Ya know, the Miqo'te lass wi' that kinked tail." Scabs. Zhi is often frequently covered in them. Unguents. Due to the above, she is usually slathered in some cheap remedy or another -- giving her the name "Resin." Smell. Typically Zhi smells like the city: awful. The sea, a smell of offal, rotting fish, bilgewater and a faint whiff of meat are the individual components. Unless she's taken a dip lately, and then she'll mostly smell like fish and saltwater.

Godsspit, if ye wanted a touch o' pretty y'can shove off t'the doxies' corner, y'blimmin' scrag.

Description
Ragged is one word that could be slapped onto Zhi. Life has spat in her face numerous times, the bint, and it shows. Her fur is often matted, dull, and infected with fleas or lice. She's constantly covered in scabs. Nicks and scrapes have, over the years, resulted in small scars that alone aren't worth comment, but together give her something of a mottled, bedraggled appearance. Her clothing is secondhand, and invariably worn, stained, and mended several times over. She doesn't own a whole lot, what with her lot in life being a mean one, but she has her dastardly looks and enough sheer grit to fill a merchant's hold. As for her build, it's spare and rangy. Zhi doesn't have much in the way of excess fat, rendering her able to pass for a boy when she so chooses. Her hair is an unremarkable brown dark enough to pass for black(often made moot by dirt), with her fur/skin a dusky, greyish taupe. Her eyes are so dark they might as well be black.
With her greasy hair cropped short and a face that could easily qualify for shifty, Zhi obviously belongs to the lowest social rung Limsa Lominsa boasts. Even so, she holds herself with enough arrogance to make any cat proud, and can offer up several choice words to fit any occasion, and then some. She has the tongue a fishwife can appreciate, and enough attitude to make a pirate proud. But sassy or not, she's not stupid. Zhi can switch from braggart to simpering dog in an instant -- she values what's left of her hide first and foremost. She's not big enough or tough enough to handle the main gangs who have the run of the lowtown, and as an independent runner she has exactly no reliable allies to back her up. As a result, she's gotten used to groveling when necessary, and is like to be waspish to any gutterborn who tries to rise above the status quo. Zhi is a product of her birth, make no mistake.
Still, she's fit enough to be a courier of sorts in the lower streets, and that's better than any number of gutterborn can claim.

'Snot likes we wasn't chumsy, but yer gil's not quite got the right shine to't, fancy?

Personality
Zhi is social. Zhi is so social she could make your teeth hurt from the meaningless patter that leaves her mouth. She's all about making contacts and collecting information and potential employers. As such, she only makes for a good listener when there's something in it for her, and is not above leaving mid-conversation should she determine nothing worth her time is forthcoming. Still, she knows her own version of polite (though her manners never quite rise above street), and is capable of being some sort of sweet when she works at it.
Most of the time, Zhi comes across as brassy and smug. And while she is a bold person at heart, the majority of her behavior has been learned as a matter of defense, a way to protect herself against the numerous backstabbers in the world who lie in wait. The environment she grew up in has lead to her being selfish, ultimately willing to betray just about anyone in order to come out ahead. She doesn't really make friends in the traditional sense, considering that she believes all relationships eventually ends in betrayal. Might makes right in Zhi's world, though she'll still caterwaul if things don't go her way. Make no mistake, however: she doesn't dislike the way she believes the world to work, and she doesn't think unkindly on others (though she does frequently look down on them). It is how it is, and if there's one thing Zhi excels at, it's accepting all the crap that gets thrown her way (not necessarily before she gets a good sulk in).
In particular, this can be seen in how she treats religion. Zhi's not the type to go to temples or the like, but even so there is a wellspring of belief buried deep down within her. She might insult the gods on a regular basis (she loves being blasphemous towards Azeyma, in particular), or even verbally dismiss them, but when the chips are down she'll be among those praying the hardest. It isn't a matter of belief with her: in her mind they simply exist. As for who she's picked as her personal lodestone, that would be Nald'thal. Interactions with people are inevitably transactions to her. Nald'thal's scales are part of the concept of luck or fortune in an abstract sense. When it comes to what passes between people, part of the weight of whether the scales tip to the favor of one or the other is, in her mind, Nald'thal's doing. And his favor? It's the most fickle, and the most likely to betray, of any person or god in existence.
She's not the sort of person to hide her expressions, choosing to keep what she's really thinking and feeling hidden behind a veil of over-exaggerated emotion.
Zhi's ambitions have been kept to the underbelly of Limsa Lominsa, without wider dreams of leaving the city or her position as a sometimes-criminal. While she doesn't want to stay smallfry forever, as far as she's concerned there's nothing more she can get out of life. Stories of adventures and riches are beyond her, dreams that don't belong in her reality. She's a hardboiled realist, forged in the fires of poverty and necessity.

Characteristics

Ain't no use in nothin' 'less ye keep breathin'.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Agility Having survived by keeping a whisker ahead of those who wish her harm (for the most part, barring some unfortunate circumstances), Zhi has adapted to her surroundings by focusing on nimbleness rather than strength. She's good at hiding, spying, climbing and sprinting as a result of this.	Paranoia Zhi is convinced that everyone is out to get everyone. Therefore, anyone who tries to get close to her or interact with her do so because they want something, which may involve taking her out. As a result, trust goes for a premium. Healthy relationships aren't exactly her thing.
Playing Parts Living on the streets is hard if you don't have some ability to fool the unsuspecting into believing one thing or another about you. While it varies from person to person just how much she's able to get away with, she's definitely above average when it comes to portraying herself as more or less than she really is.	Combat In the wider world of Eorzea, Zhavi is weak. However, on the streets of Limsa Lominsa she's about average for a gutterborn, capable of defending herself against a petty thief or thug. Still, any serious fighters would be able to wipe the floor with her, and that's why she's gotten real good with sneaking and running, not necessarily in that order. Whatever dirty tricks are necessary to stay alive, Zhi will use them. She isn't against learning how to fight properly, but in the grander scheme of keeping herself in business, she just doesn't have the time. Or the capital, really. No-one teaches such things for free, not that she's found.
Connections Zhi isn't especially well-connected by any means, but she has had many dealings with the city's less-than-finest. A wide range of sorts are aware of her existence, even if peripherally, and she works hard to know as much as she can about interesting goings-on in the city. There are still many holes in her information network, but as it stands Zhi can collect gossip and semi-reliable information from many corners of Limsa Lominsa so long as she's willing to put time and effort into it.	Strength While Zhi isn't entirely without muscles, she does not always get what she needs to eat. She's light, and easily out-muscled by any who have put even a token amount of effort into training to be stronger.
Attitude Where Zhi is from, sob stories are the norm. As a result, she thinks nothing of her less-than-happy childhood. It isn't a blight on her past, and though she might be crooked by the standards of the "well-adjusted," she's content enough with her station in life. She's a practical person who doesn't dwell on the past, choosing instead to look ahead and focus on her own survival. While not exactly cheerful, she has spunk and no qualms about doing morally reprehensible things.	Anxiety Zhi is a lover of options and choices. While she does have a level head and tends to rely on practical thinking, she has an involuntary reaction to feeling trapped or helpless that often interferes with her decision making process, or causes her to freeze up. This reaction does not make her immobile or incapable on its own, but in situations where seconds matter it can result in negative consequences for her.

Relationships

PC

Friends're nothin' more'n scrags with coins held in front, an' daggers in back. Common int'rests, that's th'only baited line ye'll find here.

Positive	Neutral	Negative
Dogberry: ??|Male|Roegadyn An on and off again employer Zhi has been on good terms with for the last few years. Though they've kept their interactions relatively short thus far, Zhi is confident enough in what they've built up to occasionally make small requests of him.	Andralyn Thatcher: ??|Female|Hyur An employer. More than that, Clove's master. Zhi's on her toes around the woman, and for good reason. (Zhi only knows Andralyn as "Thatcher" and "Grace")	Osric Melkire: ??|Male|Hyur If you can't say something nice. . .. Zhi doesn't like him. In fact, she'd be happy if he never set foot in her city again. Or ceased to exist, for that matter. He's a loose cannon, and those are very bad for business.
Verad Bellveil: ??|Male|Elezen When it's good, it's really very good. When it's bad, Zhi wouldn't mind seeing the heaviest of his so-called "wares" strapped to his feet so he can be pushed off a ship into the deepest part of the bay.	Cenric Amaril: 19...ish|Male|Hyur They hate each other. They help each other. They get along. They're competitive as all get out. Rival runners for a year or two, he left and she thought she'd seen the last of him. . .until now. She thinks she can use him, but he isn't exactly going to take it laying down. He knows her all too well, and that? That might be a problem.	Pyralis Targaryen: ??|Male|Hyur A handsome playboy. A dangerous man. A reminder of things best left forgotten, and an irritation who may prove more of a headache than he's worth. He's not that bad -- but he isn't all that good, either.
	D'lyhhia Lhuil: ??|Female|Miqo'te An unsuspecting nice young lady Zhi totally isn't using to her advantage. Totally. D'ly has shown more spine than Zhi initially suspected she had. Zhi may or may not have designs on the future of D'ly's employment. In the meantime, Zhi intends to find out just how far D'lyhhia is willing to go to rise in the world.	Xydane Vale: ??|Male|Hyur Once upon a time, Zhi used Xydane. Xydane found out. Xydane wasn't happy about it. Zhi knew he was a dangerous man. She thought she could control him; her sloppiness proved her undoing. Now he has attempted to collar her as if she was a junkyard dog, to order her around. That simply won't do. She has to bring him down -- no matter the cost.
	Lolotaru Lalataru: ??|Male|Lalafell A mark, not a potential teacher or ally at all. Honest. With every passing day, Zhi's feelings about the man get more and more complicated. She doesn't want to trust him. She might not have much of a choice.
	Jager Si'kaye: ??|Male|Miqo'te She hates him. She needs him. He has connections she can't get, and resources she wouldn't have access to, otherwise. They teamed up. Maybe it was a mistake -- she can't tell. They're playing with fire, the both of them, because only one of them is gonna come out on top. And it ain't gonna be Jager.
	I'mimiza Fhey: 19...ish|Female|Miqo'te Oh, what's a lass to do? She used to be close enough for Zhi to consider her a sister, but they grew apart. Things changed. They didn't see each other for years. Zhi doesn't know how the feck they're supposed to act around each other, and what's more. . .she's forgotten how to trust Miza.
	Rurutani "Flit" Sasatani: ??|Male|Lalafell He started as a job, but there's roots of potential in there. Zhi renamed him, hid him, and is starting to teach him how to handle the underbelly of Limsa Lominsa. She might consider him for longterm employment -- if he can stay alive.

NPC

Positive	Neutral	Negative
Brindle: 14/Male/Hyur A young lad Zhi keeps in coin to watch the docks for her. She doesn't trust him, though they've kept to their verbal contract for the past two years. Zhi is annoyed that he has outgrown her as of last summer, and now towers over her by a whopping two inches. His name originated from his sun-streaked blonde hair. He is one of very few who calls her Zhio. In her own way, she looks after him like she might a younger brother, though she believes it's only a matter of time before he betrays her for his own gain -- she considers it a rite of growing up.	Galine: ??/female/Lalafel Formerly Galili Gali. Zhi's former master and patron. The two don't exactly get along, but Zhi isn't so dumb as to act in a way that will piss Galine off. Galine will occasionally contact Zhi to do various tasks for her; due to the debt and the psychological hold Galine yet has over Zhi, these things usually get done free of charge.	Agha: 29/female/Miqo'te The leader of the gang Zhi was formerly in. Though she has ceased hunting Zhi, she has made it known that Zhi is not to step foot in their territory.
Skarp: 32/female/Roegadyn A frequent employer of Zhi's. Their relationship is amicable enough -- formed out of a love of cheap insults -- but strictly business. Skarp is an employee of a specialized acquirer of certain goods that typically aren't available from larger "trade" operations. Zhi is often used to move sometimes bulky goods from Skarp's warehouse (how Skarp's employer gets these items into the city Zhi isn't sure, though she's been trying to figure it out for years) to specified locations. Zhi also runs coded messages for Skarp as part of a loose prearranged agreement.	Clove: 23/male/Hyur A beautiful marked whore from one of the better Houses (where House refers to quality whorehouses), Clove and Zhi first met a few years back when she pulled him out of a quickly deteriorating situation, saving him from a nasty fate. It can't be said that the two really get along, but Clove is an honorable sort and carries a debt to her. Though for a long time she never asked him for anything, she made it known to him that her mother was a streetwalker and could likely do with company. Clove didn't question, and without being asked started having dinner with Zhi's mother once a week. On the occasion that Zhi and Clove cross paths, she will typically ask after her mother, and Clove will offer snippets of his time spent with the older miqo'te. Neither is willing to admit to the other that they know Zhi's mother died from complications from a sexually transmitted disease several months ago.	Solitaire: 22/male/Hyur An egotistical buffoon whose success in being a courier/smuggler is something Zhi refuses to understand. She hates him on principal for his airs, and often underestimates his legitimate skill. Though he isn't the only runner Zhi has competed against for work, he is one of the few who has actively tried to kill her over lucrative work. To be fair, however, she sabotaged him first. Since then, the two have entered a no-holds-barred rivalry that has no friendliness about it. While Solitaire isn't the only competitor Zhi has entered into this sort of rivalry with, it is the most ruthless by far.
	Chirp: 22/female/Hyur A merchant who deals in all sorts of fun things. On the lower end of the criminal ladder, she nonetheless seems to turn up the most interesting information, and can move messages nearly as well as Zhi (perhaps even better).	Yayabuko: ??/male/Lalafel A man who makes it a point to know people. While he and Zhi infrequently conduct business, a certain. . .situation that might have just sorta screwed Yayabuko over (not in any major way, mind you) has lead him to treat her with suspicion and distrust. As Zhi values his various abilities in the underground, she is steadily trying to worm her way back into his good graces. He makes use of the situation by extorting her.

History

What's it to ya? I ain't no storyteller. Scram.

Zhi was born to a doxy, which is a common enough story among the poor. She was left to her own devices most of the time, and grew up with the other brats who litter the streets like festival garbage. She learned to steal early on, had no particular attachment (or, at least, she likes to tell herself that) to her typically exhausted and grim mother, and eventually stopped relying on her mother early on in her teenage years.

Zhi joined a street gang in order to survive.

stuff happens! 4 years pass

After leaving the gang at age 16, Zhi took to avoiding their territory. Still, there's plenty of city to roam and she gathered up what resources and connections she'd made with her former gang. She was determined to live independently, without the need to rely so heavily on others. It was a naive thought in a city like Limsa Lominsa, but she was on the edge of desperate. Not as desperate as she could be, as it turned out. Not even six months after she'd run from her gang, after being blacklisted and hunted (leaving a gang generally considered to be a no-no), she indentured herself to a certain shady individual in order to clear her debts.

stuff happens! 1 year passes

Embittered, hardened, and cleared of (most) of her debts (not to mention any lingering illusions about the world), Zhio had awakened to the harshness of life. Through the connections of her former owner, she began to work as a runner. She was fast, and she knew the city as only someone born to it could. Slowly but surely, she began to build a reputation for herself as being discrete and reliable. Eventually she learned how to chat others up, and realized how invaluable information was. She started to take on more dangerous (and illegal) jobs when she was 18, eventually expanding to buying and selling information with what little excess gil she had.

Since then she's found herself in a comfortable position, with her prospects looking up. Her next step will be to start trying to expand into brokering information (more than the little tidbits she uses for the extra gil here or there or leverage). Seeing as how there are already individuals who do that in the city, there's a possibility she'll be stepping on toes. Not that she cares. So long as she can keep her head above water, Limsa Lominsa's underbelly is her oyster.

OOC Notes

Zhi's situation is able to work purely out of plausible deniability. Those who hire her usually don't do it themselves, they're apt to use a no-name underling -- therefore if she gets caught she will be unable to pin it on anyone. The only exceptions are those like Skarp, who are good enough at what they do to ensure that it will never come to a point of squealing.

Zhi's Flavors of the Week/Month/Year

Soundgarden - "Black Hole Sun"

Caravan Palace - "The Dirty Side of the Street"

April Smith - "Terrible Things"