M'yrissa Tahl
| M’yrissa Tahl | |
| |
| Gender | Female |
| Race | Miqo’te |
| Clan | Keeper of the Moon |
| Citizenship | Gridania (tentatively) |
| Age | 17 |
| Birthplace | Unknown |
| Pronunciation | Muh-EE-ris-ah Tahl |
| Server | Gilgamesh |
Contents
Basic Information
M’yrissa Tahl is a young Miqo’te of mixed blood, orphaned at a young age and adopted by a Hyur merchant, who raised her with two other adopted children under the shaded branches of the Twelveswood. While she presents herself as a serious young student of Arcanistry, M’yr is still a naive youngster with a big heart -- and two protective older sisters.
Appearance
M’yrissa is slightly below average height, and appears to be a typical young Keeper Miqo’te, with short, bluish hair and expressive, golden eyes. Even when not studying, she can often be found with a book in hand -- if not reading, or writing, then sketching.
Behavior
M’yrissa tends to be somewhat quiet in nature, often preferring to observe rather than participate in the goings on around her. But her shy, bookish exterior belies the mischievous imp that hides within, which emerges only with her most trusted friends and family. (In fact, M’yr is the reason why Talathar’s Carbuncle likes to glomp the small Lalafell at every opportunity…)
Like all Tahls, M’yrissa is extremely loyal to those who win her trust, and when those she cares for are threatened, the fierce devotion that burns shows clearly, often startling anyone who knows her only casually.
Combat
M’yrissa is an Arcanist, and uses battles with Arcane spells and her trusty Carbuncle companion. However, she prefers to avoid combat whenever necessary.
Relationships
Family
Khalynn “Kallie” Tahl - Adoptive mother. The eldest Tahl is an herbalist and merchant, a business she originally started with her husband and stepson. While they would raise the crops back home in Gridania, she would oversee the sale, shipment, and delivery of their goods across Eorzea. But when the stirring troubles and war robbed her of both, she continued on alone, determined not to let the business her husband so loved to fail. Kallie is a compassionate soul, and took in several children during her travels, usually helping to find them new homes and families, if not taking the children home herself. All her children, including the stepson whom she lost to the war, were foundlings.
Kallie is now semi-retired, and stays in Gridania overseeing the business from the safety of home, while leaving the traveling to Kori and her assistants.
Talathar Khalynn - Middle child of the Tahl family, a Dunesfolk Lalafell. A healer and conjurer, Tala is somewhat childlike in her innocence, but dedicated to the healing arts. She suffers from memory loss - a result of an accident, which M’yr blames herself for. Tala is believed to be around 20, but no one is sure because of the amnesia.
Korynna Tahl - Eldest of the Tahl children, Kori is a Hellsguard Roegadyn woman in her mid twenties (26). Strong, compassionate, and fiercely protective, Kori is a rather guarded woman who watches the world around her with a distrustful eye. She refuses to talk of her past, or the reason why she does not have a traditional Roegadyn name.
Friends
Arcos Kojin - Hyur swordsman, in charge of the Random Collective Free Company. A friend of her sister Talathar.
Zane Purestrike - Miqo’te swordsman, a member of the Random Collective and friend of M’yr’s sisters, Talathar and Korynna. M’yr knows him mostly as a family friend, and views him something like a distant older cousin -- someone reliable who can be trusted.
Conconkaki Papakaki - Lalafell arcanist, hailing from Thanalan. The Tahl family met him around 4 years ago, during one of the extended journeys their mother Kallie occasionally underwent to obtain rare plant cuttings. M’yr remembers the Lalafell fondly, as a fellow michief-maker.
History
M’yrissa Tahl was born of a mixed blood. Her father was a wandering Keeper from the forests of the Twelveswood, her mother a wayward child of the desert sun. They met during young Xeryk’li’s journeys as a traveling minstrel, when he had stopped to sing for his supper, and captured the attentions M’rhyna, the daughter of the settlement’s Nuhn. Unpleasantness ensued, resulting in the pair leaving the desert town behind rather abruptly. They joined with a group of traveling entertainers, and soon M’rhyna was heavy with child. After some discussion, the child was named M’yrissa.
The family continued to travel with the troupe, when word came that Xeryk’li’s grandmother had fallen ill, and wished to see her wayward grandson. They returned to the Twelveswood, traveling with a pair of Hyur merchants, a father and son who hailed from Bentbranch. But the small group was attacked, ambushed by Ixali raiders.
M’yrissa survived.
It was Korinth Tahl who saved her. The young Hyur merchant had stayed to protect her from the attackers, rather than fleeing to save himself. Sadly, he died of his wounds, not long after Xeryk’li’s kinfolk arrived to rescue the few survivors.
There had been some debate as to the infant’s fate -- by Keeper tradition, a child’s place was with her mother’s family, but Seeker tradition dictated the opposite, and while M’rhyna had not actually been exiled from the tribe, things between her mate and her father’s tribe had been left unresolved.
Kallie Tahl and her daughter came upon them during these discussions, and proposed a third option. She adopted the child, taking M’yrissa in as her own, and promising that the child would grow up with as much knowledge of both sides of her heritage as possible.
M’yr grew up traveling with her mother and sister, mostly from the Twelveswood to Thanalan and back again, with frequent long stays in Bentbranch, and occasional visits with her Miqo’te grand-dam. As she grew older, her appearance took on strong Keeper traits, and these days most people simply assume she is of full Keeper blood.
When M’yr was seven, the family came upon a badly beaten Lalafell along the road. They took the child in, but the Lalafell seemed frightened of everything and everyone. With much effort M’yr managed to win the child’s trust, and soon she had a second sister - Tatala, whom M’yr called Tala for short. Still, Tala suffered from nightmares every night, but M’yrissa did not mind cuddling with her little older sister to soothe the dark dreams away.
When M’yrissa was twelve, the two girls wanted to learn to swim. Korynna was supposed to teach them one afternoon, but their oldest sister was busy with other tasks, so M’yr decided that they could just learn without her. Tala was reluctant, but was coaxed by the exuberance of the young Miqo’te.
It was a disaster. They both nearly drowned. Tala knocked her head on the stones of the riverbed, and was unconscious for days. When she woke, Tala’s memories were scrambled and lost. Tatala now called herself Talathar, she didn’t clearly remember her recent past, and her distant memories were completely gone.
M’yrissa blamed herself.
Since then, M’yrissa has tried to be more serious-minded, haunted by her feelings of guilt. Although she still has a touch of mischief in her soul, it is tempered by the weight of self-imposed responsibility.
Annotations
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