Dallion Venzale

Dallion Venzale
Gender	Male
Race	Elezen
Clan	Wildwood
Citizenship	Unaffiliated
Age	Approaching 70
Height	Six fulms, nine ilms
Weight	Around two-hundred ponze
Family	Two sisters and a brother, scattered
Status	Single

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Dallion is a traveling bard, an elezen man with a profound love for storytelling. Though cautious, he's quite outgoing and tends to make friends quickly, a talent that lends itself to his fondness for safety and security. Despite his talent with a bow, he's taken at least a tenuous vow of pacifism, preferring to avoid combat altogether. He has no official affiliation with any companies. Wherever excitement leads, he follows.

History

Early life

Dallion grew up in a small Elezen community on the fringes of the Black Shroud known as Foregrove, a haven for some of the last holdouts against the perceived encroachment of the other races. From birth, Dallion was taught to defend his home and his family from outsiders, and that life away from the Shroud would be miserable. His early education was limited, so he spent most of his days climbing through the canopy and hunting in order to put food on the village's table. His passion for music began there, with hymns and epics being shared and sung from neighbor to neighbor almost every night. The young elezen held a certain fondness for the unknown lands outside of the forest, but any attempt to explore those fantasies was quickly crushed by overprotective elders.

Eventually, not long into his teenage years, his people's quiet resistance grew louder as more and more traders and settlers began to filter into the relatively untouched land of the Shroud's edge. This time, stern words and warnings weren't enough to deter the emboldened hyur. With their xenophobia, the elders immediately warned the village of the perceived threat and spurred the young hunters and warriors into action. Dallion found himself thrust squarely into the madness. Where one day he was picking fruit and stalking deer, the next he was building snare traps and filling hidden pits with wooden spikes slathered in animal feces. Fear had turned his secluded village into a haven for warmongers.

Adulthood

Dallion became a man in the early years of the conflict. The traps and threats kept the outsiders away, but the village soon felt hemmed in and the leaders worried they may one day be pressured out by the slow, inexorable expansion of the more industrialized invaders. As one might expect, more fear produced more violence. They attacked directly now, ambushing trade routes from above and taking prisoners, shooting to wound and swinging to maim or dismember. The actions of Dallion and his friends turned the forest around their once-humble town into a storied place of nightmares for foreign travelers. Though, in their heads, they were only keeping their home safe.

Years of atrocities dragged on and village barely scraped by. Many of the original elders passed away, whether by old age or hired infiltrators from the nearby enemy settlements. With this shift, the village's sentiment began to change. Dallion had grown to be an esteemed warrior, earning his own dwelling and land at the edge of the village, and a position in the top echelon of the town's guerrilla defenders. As the decade anniversary of the conflict's beginning drew closer, however, he found himself increasingly sobered by the horrors that seemed to be occurring daily. One night, without a word to his comrades, the elezen crept out of Foregrove to one of the nearby settlements, arms raised in surrender. The leader of the post, a shrewd businessman, made a deal with a weary Dallion. Without a thought, he sold off his land and doomed his village to a slow, crushing descent into antiquity.

With almost nothing to his name but the crippling weight of his guilt, Dallion strode out into the world looking to start a new life. One where, hopefully, he wouldn't have to sentence another soul to a horrible, agonizing death. Luckily for him, the war songs and tales he'd learned as a child drew the interest of tavern-goers from around Eorzea, quickly earning him a reputation as a talented bard. With his first payment, he purchased an old lute and began teaching himself how to play. Smile upon his face, he finally seemed content with how far he'd come, the guilt and crimes of his past melting away under the soothing chords.

Recent History

(Work in progress.)

Personality, Appearance and Traits

■Body Type: Dallion is quite tall and long of limb, like many of his elezen brothers and sisters. This tends to lead to a lanky appearance, but beneath the armor or casual wrapping, he's actually quite sturdily built. Decades of climbing, hiking and hunting have kept his musculature quite healthy and flexible. With the introduction of a surplus of gil into his life as well, he can now afford to eat enough protein to keep his toned exterior.

■Facial Features: His face is cut sharp, with a jutting jaw and thin nose. Each eye bears a strong emerald glow, wide irises leading to an impression of profound depth in his gaze. A tall crest of earthen brown hair rises from his forehead, sweeping back into a tapered mane that brushes just over his neck. No significant scars or marks can be found, aside from a little cut taken out of the corner of his lower lip.

■Personality: Eerily subdued, nowadays. While he's not against a good joke, he tends to keep quiet when he's not on the job. His past has left him not only wary of some travelers, but also the more traditional elezen of the Black Shroud. To most of them, he's a disgrace, and he does nothing to hide the shame.

Likes and Dislikes

Loves ■ The Forest ■ Music ■ Having a plan

Likes ■ Climbing ■ Hunting ■ Rain ■ Witty banter ■ Fresh fruit

Dislikes ■ Loud noises ■ Aggression ■ Sad music ■ Secrets ■ People with no rhythm

Hates ■ Feeling lost ■ Critics ■ Stuck-up Elezen

Combat

Dallion often seeks favorable terrain and a good vantage point.

Movement

If at all possible, Dallion will attempt to either escape combat entirely or at least retreat to a more advantageous position. He's a quick running, familiar with navigating difficult terrain and obstacles and perhaps one of his most practiced and potent abilities is his ability to climb. He's able to scale trees, rocks, and even some buildings very quickly. This talent also lends itself to his positioning, allowing him to reach good vantage points for ranged combat without either being noticed or exposing himself to danger.

Archery

Dallion is an excellent archer, with skills honed from years of hunting and combat. Generally, he wields a shortbow with a rather heavy draw, often using its compact profile to his advantage. He's able to engage targets quickly and with some measure of precision, even when they're on the move. Without proper room to maneuver, however, he would rather run or draw a weapon to defend himself more easily.

Melee

When close-range fighting is inevitable, Dallion carries one of the few remaining heirlooms from his old life in the village. It's a long, cruel-looking machete. The tip is curled back with a tight fork carved in along the back side of the blade, which can be used for disarmament or to afford severe wounding potential. Overall, it looks like a nasty weapon to come into contact with.

Traps and Poisons

Again, from his years in the forest, Dallion has picked up much knowledge of preparing traps and identifying dangerous materials. Given enough time, he can prepare something to immobilize, cripple or wound nearly any foe. Depending on the poison, it can be applied to an arrow or his machete for a rude, direct delivery. Generally, however, those sorts of things are only saved for special circumstances.

Equipment

Heavy-draw shortbow, with a longbow in storage at home. Broadhead arrows with four hollow blades fanning out from the tip for maximum wounding and bleeding potential.

Machete with a sixteen-inch blade and notched tip, sheathed alongside his lute on the small of his back. One dagger sheathed on his right boot.

Notable Relations

K'yasha Tia: An old friend of Dallion. He seems to have gone missing recently under mysterious circumstances.

Seohyun Iyasu: A friend of Dallion and former lover of K'yasha. He's gotten over his skepticism and paranoia regarding her and has since treated her more kindly, as a real friend.

K'raena Tia: K'yasha's sister. Dallion views her favorably, though the two aren't especially close.

Qina'a Epocan: A passing acquaintance. Dallion helped the mage out briefly, but hasn't seen him in quite some time.

Rumors

Common

■"Guy puts on a good show. Rates are a little high, though. Guess that's what you'd expect from an elezen. Pricks." - Random Drunkard, Gridania

■"Who, the bard? Yeah, I've heard of him. Good at gettin' the word around. Really starts a party, too." - Merchant, Ul'dah

Moderate

■"He's polite, for one of those scoundrel types. I offered him a free ride for saving me from some scumbag and he turned me down. Can you believe that?" - Working Girl, Costa del Sol

■"For a guy who says he's a pacifist, he sure carries around a lotta sharp shit. My buddy says he hunts in his free time. I just think he's paranoid." - Guard, Bronze Lake Camp

Rare

■"Tall, brown hair? I heard someone saying he was a part of that Foregrove thing a long while back. I don't know if I believe it. You've heard the stories, right? Torture, executions. I don't know if I'm comfortable givin' him any more gil if he was part of that shit." - Anonymous, Limsa Lominsa

Player Character Rumors

(( Feel free to insert rumors here. I won't change them, but they are subject to deletion. ))

■"Him? He's alright by my book. He's funny, charming, and if you're in the mood for a good tune, then he's your man. It's just unfortunate that he asks so many damn questions..." - Seohyun Iyasu

Miscellaneous

Oh boy, here we go. Time for silly things.

Singing voice reference: Roses and Clover and Lady Loop by Animal Liberation Orchestra.

If you want to RP, I'm around quite a bit in-game. Just send me a tell! Other than the earlier history, most of the information from the wiki is plain to see. If you'd like to say our characters have already met, we can probably straighten that out pretty easily. Anywho, hope to see you in-game! Let's make things interesting.