Khutani Oronir

[edit] Appearance Personality Background Rumors/Hooks OOC Gallery  Khutani Oronir Haven't you heard of me? Gender Male Race Au Ra Clan Xaela Citizenship Unaffiliated Age 29 Deity Himself Occupation Minstrel Nameday 9th Sun of the 6th Astral Moon Height: Short (for a male Au Ra) at 6 fulms and 6 ilms (approx. 203cm). Weight: Skinny, with minimal muscle definition, and the beginnings of a paunch he's been gathering over the years. Complexion: Vibrant, deep purple. Notably, it's hard to see blushing or bruises through this skintone. Hair: Black a touch darker than his scales. Eyes: Also purple; though brighter than his skin, more of a 'plum' colour, with lavender limbal rings. Usually, he wears some make-up; often matching his eyeshadow and lipstick to the shade of his iris. Upon close inspection, it is easy to see how much attention he pays to making his face look immaculate (and by extension, how many hours he must spend staring lovingly at his own reflection). Even his horns and scales seem as if they have been oiled and polished. He generally speaks in a booming voice, all too eager to make himself heard. His voice has a warm and smooth tone, in a deep and fairly low (baritone) range, with only a slight hint of a Xaelan accent -- signs of which may include soft Rs in the middle of words (eg. "surrounded" might sound a little more like "suwwounded"), occasional difficulty with words starting with a "th" sound (replaced with the simpler sounds D/T, eg. this -> dis, think -> tink), harsh S sounds (particularly at the end of words; not hissed, precisely, but certainly not soft), and sometimes inappropriate shortening of vowels, particularly when multiple vowels are lined up in a row. (Elezen names are nightmarish.) ((Note, I choose not to write accents in standard RP because it makes messages hard to read and turns what's meant to be a subtle difference into something incredibly ham-fisted.)) Khutani is a rather striking Au Ra, if he does say so himself. That is to say, there's nothing actually striking about him at first glance, aside from perhaps his uncommonly purple complexion. Armed with a confident smile and booming voice, he does his utmost to make a positive and lasting impact on anyone who deigns to pay him attention, whether by impressing them with his musical talents, or advising them on their personal problems. He frequently visits cities and social hotspots, and though he likes to travel in the wilderness, he usually floats around settlements not only for the company, but because his meagre combat skills make any sort of high adventure difficult unaccompanied. He's not much of a fighter; the most fearsome opponents he's tackled are wild game, and perhaps the occasional fisticuffs with a disputing gentleman. Any more serious combat engagements, he has survived through luck. As interested as he is in performing, he feels woefully unprepared due to cultural differences. Thus, he puts a great amount of effort into trying to study Eorzean music, and how different it is from the style of songs he became accustomed to in his youth. --- Khutani is always eager to meet new people, especially if they like him and thus validate his ego. He's quick to flirt, personal space means very little to him, and he isn't shy of asking or receiving very personal questions. Though he is exceptionally full of himself, he doesn't express this at anyone else's expense; mostly because he seeks the approval of others. He's also quick to encourage others in whatever they do, and dispel any kind of shyness people have around him. He's easily embarrassed, and his confidence is rather easily shaken when he makes a mistake, or when someone doesn't take kindly to his antics. He can become quite withdrawn, and even start telling unnecessary lies when he's put in an unfortunate social situation. He often drinks alcohol to soothe his nerves and act properly outspoken, as he believes he should. In mannerisms and dress, he has put a lot of effort into blending in with Eorzeans, particularly ones of stature, and putting aside his own simple or "savage" upbringing. High society and nobility are interesting to him, and he views them with some respect, and a touch of envy. (jan 4, 2018: part 1 uploaded. expect more later™) Background (part 1) Keeping with a long-held tradition, the Oronir tribe, decades ago, honed their martial skills and competed for dominance throughout the steppe. However, despite the feisty nature of his peers and parents, Khutani had no aptitude for fighting. When the young trainees would gather to spar, he’d find another pressing errands to attend to, such as milking sheep or fetching water. As such, his meagre skill grew worse and worse through his disinclination to hone it. Years drifted by, and being far more interested in travelling -- especially to meet with peoples from distant lands -- and learning skills quite unrelated to combat, such as working animal hides or, of course, playing whatever musical instrument he could find. Of particular interest was anything that allowed him to be the centre of attention; spinning yarns to impress around a campfire, singing songs, or in some cases, being able to work materials into gifts beyond what most of the tribe would ever bother with. This last skill became particularly useful when he took up the habit of serial flirting. Many were those in the tribe who knew of his shortcomings, and he found it easiest to offset this bad reputation with flattery and gifts for those yet unsure; in the eyes of his detractors, however, he quickly gained an even worse reputation that now included womanising. Try as he might to tarry in distant locales, once he came of age, he was forced to compete in the tribe’s traditional bökh tournaments -- a duty that no member of the tribe was able to shirk. It became impossible, then, to lie about his prowess in battle; his lack of strength and skill was out there for all to see. What friends he had made gradually lost their respect for him as he continued to place at the bottom of the ladder, and one day, after yet another particularly one-sided loss, it seemed that the only person still willing to speak to him was his own mother... and only to chastise him for his shortcomings. Thriving on attention his whole life, to be cast out like this was more than he could bear. He resolved to depart and seek a better life, and so, one night, he packed as many things as he could carry on his person, and stole away in the dead of night on (also stolen) horseback; headed south towards the steppe’s only trading post. He’d never left the plains before, though he knew from the stories of travellers that that way lay the Ruby Sea, and across her breadth, the city of Kugane. He thought that he would quite like to see what a city was like. He knew that the gallop from his tribe’s home had left the horse exhausted, and that he wouldn’t be able to take the animal along anyway; he sold it for as good a deal as he could manage on such short notice, and continued to put distance between himself and the Oronir, should any better riders come to chase him down and reclaim the horse. Whether from luck, or a lack of interest, it so happened that nobody caught up him; soon, he was walking (exhausted, with his heavy pack of supplies and goods) from the steppe’s bordering caves onto the beaches on Othard’s shore. He stopped to rest by the water (which, he was surprised to find, was rather too salty to enjoy) until he saw a confederate vessel sailing the waters; tracking it back towards the shore, he found his way to the pirates’ camp. He was quite cheerful until the confederacy greeted him at knifepoint; it was clear their dealings with Xaela, so far, were not polite ones. He explained, in his faltering Hingan, that he wanted to cross the sea, and eventually they reached an understanding; they’d take almost everything, bar the clothes on his back, as their price for transport on one of their vessel’s usual patrols the following day, to be closely guarded the entire time. In addition, he was put to cleaning the deck of one of their ships and whatever other errands they could strong-arm him into before the departure; he struggled with these task, having not slept for more than a bell or two in the past two days. The time came for the voyage, and finally left to mind his business sitting in the small boat, he nodded off almost immediately. He was awoken rather suddenly when, having reached their docking point, the crew decided to rouse him from his slumber by pushing him overboard. His frenzied splashing was met with raucous laughter, as he scrambled ashore and coughed up several mouthfuls of seawater. It would seem the pirates left him to swim the final stretch to Kugane’s outpost on his own; a task rather difficult in his heavy woollen Oroniri robe. Beginning to feel vindictive, he began to ponder how to finish his journey, knowing that the outpost a short swim away would most likely ask him to pay another exorbitant fee for the rest of the voyage. Picking a sunny gap to dry his garb between unmaintained planks of the confederate outpost, he formulated a plan… before dozing off rather against his will for some much-needed sleep. He awoke in the evening, and resolutely came out of hiding, heading straight up the outpost’s winding stairs where he laid his eyes on precisely the sight he was hoping for -- something he’d caught sight of but briefly at the pirates’ larger encampment -- a game of dice, surrounded by emptied bottles of alcohol, evidently consumed by those who were gathered around it. Mustering all that was left of his natural Oroniri confidence, he strode right in and sat in the circle, to the confused glances of the gamblers. “Aren’t you that au ra,” one of the men who sailed with him, a roegadyn, began in a slow, condescending tone; “who we dropped on the shore when we came in? Aren’t you going to… you know,” he paused, nearly unable to contain his laughter, “swim the rest of your way to Hingashi?” A round of snickers passed through the group, but Khutani just looked at him with a warm smile, and carefully measured his response. “I can play game with you?” he suggested. Another member of the group, a rugged-looking Raen, scoffed. “You need to have something to bet,” she said. “And I’m pretty sure we took all of your…” She trailed off, frowning, as Khutani started to remove his robe, lifting the thick, fluffy collar to show off the fabric. “Good wool, lasts many winters. Worth lots.” He assured with a serious look and enthusiastic nods. The group exchanged a glance. A thick and warm garment was nigh useless in the temperate Ruby Sea. Short of trading this hideously yellow thing away, it was nearly worthless. “Well, it’d be funny to see him try to leave in only his smalls,” one person pointed out; and to another round of raucous laughter, the deal was made. Khutani grinned wider, bundling up the robe and dropping it on top of the betting pool. These pirates knew not his reputation… A few hours later, and after a number of increasingly ridiculous rounds of dice, Khutani walked away with far more coins than the others would ever care to admit, as well as their grudging respect for him; having hit rock bottom and gotten out of it… somehow. Clutching his tattered coin pouch in his teeth, he set about clumsily paddling across the strait towards the dock for Kugane’s ships. Once again accosted by wary guards, he had a bit of an easier time convincing them this time around; still divested of his heavy robe, and instead clad in only a plain set of pants and a light undershirt -- both of which were soaked -- it was quite obvious he wasn’t concealing any weaponry. He also punctuated the words he was less confident speaking by loudly jingling his newly-acquired coin collection. Confusion aside, why refuse someone’s coin? Soon enough, he found a ship willing to take him across the rest of the distance to Kugane (after he assured them he'd pay a decent price for his fare, as well as helping the shiphands on the voyage). Rumors and Hooks -- He may be heard or recognised from performances at various bars, venues, or parties. -- Speaking of bars, he also frequents them as a patron whenever he has the time and coin. It's common to find him quite heavily drunk at these places. -- He used to work on merchant vessels hailing from Othard (Hingashi), and anyone in that line of work at a similar time may plausibly have met him. -- He used to be an actor at the Mujikoza in Kugane several years ago. -- He also makes a habit of travelling frequently, spending long stretches of time on the road in all sorts of places just for the thrill of it. Any characters at home in the wilderness could potentially run into him. What I am looking for/interested in: My primary goal with this character is humorous, lighthearted fun. If you want more mature or serious themes, you may want to approach another character instead. However, it's not completely out of the question, so if it's borderline or you have something interesting in mind, please ask. Links: https://khutani.tumblr.com/ - Little IC stuff currently, just a player's blog. "#about-khutani" tag for (mostly) IC info. https://open.spotify.com/user/furiianda/playlist/12yk3JYNzVW8ZsaytIh59h - Just for fun Khutani-themed playlist on Spotify. Other Stuff Sorry I'm not great at biographies and long, winding backstories! I like to keep things short and succinct. (That said, I try to be flexible re: short-post or long-form RP.) I will happily RP on Tumblr or Discord. Feel free to send me a message in-game for whatever reason. (I'm very friendly, I promise) Template Credit: This template created by Rihxo Matoi with the help of Nanagi Nagi and has pieces from the templates of Unnamed Mercenary, Roen Deneith, Cyrus Wolfe, and Coatleque Crofte. 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