Masaki Moui

Masaki Moui
[[Image: Masaki Moui |250px]]
Gender	male
Race	Miqo'te
Clan	Keeper of the Moon
Citizenship	Gridania
Age	20
Marital Status	wed to duty
Occupation	Bard
Height/Weight	Medium build & stature
Orientation	It's a mystery
Relatives	(Foster sister) Iria Iyla

Appearance & Personality

A Keeper of the Moon and born to the Black Shroud, this Miqo'te is shrouded in as much mystery as the forest that reared him. In formal matters, Masaki Moui often wears his hair in cascading braids with three forming a triad at the crown of his head. Otherwise it is swept back in a simple queue held by a leather band. Among the Miqo'te, heterochromia is considered somewhat lucky and like the tales of old where bards used to close one eye, and hold one hand and foot behind their backs, this provides a glimpse into 'other realms.' Perhaps this trait is what encouraged the Mori to train Masaki as a bard.

Bard in this sense is not a troubador or minstrel though it can share commonalities with them; but for Masaki and his clan to be a bard means to go back to the ancient Celtic origin of the term. A bard is someone who's been trained in esoteric knowledge and thus who's voice is bewitching, and who's satire is politically damaging beyond repair. At twenty, Masaki is a young bard but fully trained.

He sometimes comes across as a lazy and unambitious person. He has many faults, youthful faults in fact, but most of those require no warning. He can come across as indolent and lazy to anyone who is unfamiliar with trickster energy. On the hunt however there is a different, lethal quality that emerges. He loves wine and drinks frequently though he's quite lucid when he's in his cups with a Dionysian penchant for divination.

As a Keeper of the Moon, Masaki also keeps a wide variety of birds of prey on call for hunting. His peregrine falcon, Sofia, is often seen accompanying him. Even an owl has found a home on his shoulder as a particularly useful creature, since owl hearing is extraordinary, Masaki utilizes this to his advantage against stealthy foes such as Imperial Shadows. Much like bats and their sense of true hearing, the owlet has saved Masaki a few times from shadows with ill intentions.

Masaki's favorite scent is clove oil. When he can't find wine, he drinks Fullflower mead and has been known to ask Buscarron for his special Qiqirn Firewater. Soji's favorite snack is the Coerthas faerie apple which grows wild around the Shroud and so Masaki will often be found picking these or (their cousins) Sprite apples to share with him. Personally, Masaki is partial to grapes and often can be found snacking on them.

His lifelong companion is Soji Mori who is a young King of the Mori clan. Masaki always seems to know just what Soji needs to hear in a given situation. His insights and observations have proven very useful over the years as his sole dedication is to Soji and he occupies a unique position not unlike Lucia to Aymeric in Ishgard. Politically and personally, Masaki needs Soji and this is both a curse and a boon for the young bard. Soji can be bewitched by Masaki's humor and charm. There is a dynamic, energetic and charismatic empathy between the two. Sometimes they go days without having to say anything to one another. Sometimes they grouse. But always there is a palpable bond between them, a bond that has developed ever since they once met. It's meant to be ambiguous and it's left shadowed and unexplained.

Being well-versed in the ways of tribal magic, Moui carries around a crane bag filled with twigs; they bear deep scorch marks upon their surfaces. They have been whittled into natural but smooth shapes and the marks seem to mean something to him as some manner of divination. He also speaks in a secretive 'dark tongue' with Soji when they need to communicate between each other privately. One way in which they speak is using their fingers to resemble the marks cut on those twigs.

When he was young, Masaki made friends with the Sylphs. They gave him instruction in how to weave magical cloth, and so he also creates woven talismans to help ward off evil. Being a 'walking one', Masaki was incapable of learning the secret Sylphic art of weaving, but that did not stop him from learning a great deal of what he could create from other secrets he was shown.

Biography

Childhood

Uncle Saizo, the Drake lord who fostered both Soji and Masaki, once asked Masaki how he lived as a child. All Masaki could explain was that the 'green ones' of the East Shroud had spirited him away from his clan as a young kit one night with promises of fun. Masaki never learned exactly why he was taken and under their charms he had no desire to return. The sylphic enchantment didn't last very long however and a few weeks later, Masaki did return home only to find that his entire family had disappeared. The small hamlet stood empty. There was no explanation for it but local conjecture claimed it had been Ixal, or that they'd angered the elementals, or even worse. Search parties found nothing. When Masaki fled back to the Sylphs in horror, they seemed to understand that something dire had happened but could not help with any news either. For a while, people in the East Shroud tried to determine what to do with Masaki now that his family had disappeared.

It was at this time that Masaki met Soji in the Twelveswood and it was not long before Soji became a lifeline for Masaki as much as the sylphs, who, understandably were becoming less and less useful or helpful given their very childlike nature. Now that Masaki had no home to return to he knew he could not survive on sunlight and milkroot as his companions could. He could hunt for mushrooms but he did not know how to sustain himself in a wider world beyond his family home. After all, he was just a child. He refused several attempts by the Wood Wailers to detain him and take him to the local orphanage. The Miqo'te kit had a singular way of slipping out of sight or charming people into letting him go.

When Soji learned that Masaki had no home, the Seeker kit 'adopted' him, carting him home to his mother the Yew Queen and asking her to make Masaki one of Soji's personal entourage. With great persuasion the queen allowed this even though it was not their way. It is said that children see with pure hearts and so Masaki was allowed to live with the Mori for a trial period of a year and a day. That trial was successful and Masaki Moui became part of their world from that day on. And to this day, Masaki has never forgotten the Yew Queen's exception of mercy nor her kindness.

Of course the 'green ones' were the Sylphs so well-known in Gridania. As a result, Masaki will sometimes fall into Sylph-speak if he's very tired, or when he gets drunk, sometimes it slips out. If he's been dealing with Sylphs, he'll also begin to speak like them after a few hours in their company. Masaki knows many things about the Sylphs which he keeps a secret and he continued to visit with them long after he was grown. This knowledge is dangerous, often lethal and forms part of the basis of his sometimes subversive power and authority as the bard of the clan.

Teenage

At nine years of age, Masaki accompanied Soji to his Uncle Saizo's court in order that Soji could foster there as was befitting those of Clan Mori. Once the two Miqo'te warriors graduated from Saizo's instruction they returned home to the Twelveswood to take up new responsibilities including the establishment of the Bramble Lodge, a hunting lodge on the edge of Quarrymill territory. Some would feel that they are very young, at only twenty years old, to be running a hunting lodge, but this is training for the position Soji will soon inherit as the King of Bands under the High King of all of clan Mori. These young Miqo'te are full of faults, mistakes, misconceptions and provide a frequent comedy of errors during this stage of their life.

For the first two years of game play, we explored Masaki's teens. The characters entered the game at the age of eighteen. The two Miqo'te youths were fostered by Lord Saizo from the age of nine until they were nineteen. Masaki was given formal instruction in reading and writing, and he learned the recitation and memorization of Mori clan histories, genealogies and tales. Even as a Keeper of the Moon, he was asked and expected to become the court bard for Soji and learn the Mori traditions. Masaki was also given instruction on the Mori Wheel of the Year, clan festivals held eight times a year. He also learned the first rudimentary skills in herbalism and was given formal training in rhyme. Today Masaki plays any stringed or reed instrument exceptionally well from much training. This is the life he was just graduating from when the game began.

Present

Masaki is twenty years of age and resides at Bramble Lodge with Soji and their closest allies. Bramble Lodge is a hunting lodge situated on the edge of the South Shroud territory where hunting in the Twelveswood is sanctioned. Running the lodge is an important part of Soji's training as a Mori King of Bands under the High King. 'King' here refers to a Mori clan position of leadership much like a chief and is only recognized between clansmen. Such stature doesn't even reach Gridania.

Currently, Masaki has been dispatched on an unusual mission to Ishgard with Soji Mori. The Twin Adders asked if the pair of Miqo'te would scout around and report back.

As an archer, he'd been able to shoot since he could walk and upon his return to the Shroud his skill has won the appreciation of the Gods' Quiver of the Twelveswood. His Miqo'te heritage provided a natural stealth which very recently granted him the passing comment of 'Watcher of the Shroud.' The denizens of the Twelveswood hold him in respect as he's no trespasser and forestborn but he doesn't work directly for Adders or the Gods' Quiver. As a Watcher, he may be lurking unseen and gathering information, or drawing his bow to extinguish threats to the sanctity of the wood. In some ways, he shares much in common with the Rogues of Limsa Lominsa and the Doman Watch but he's no superhero: Masaki still 'fails his rolls' frequently just like any other talented twenty year-old might.

The goal has been to age the character alongside the game.

Miscellaneous

RUMORS Some of these rumors are untrue or are greatly exaggerated. Please feel free to add your own rumors under PC! ◢ Common Rumors (Easily overheard) ■ "Something happened to his clan and the Mori Seekers took him in." -in the vicinity of Hawthorne Hut ■ "He watches the Shroud but he doesn't work for anyone but himself." -in the vicinity of Buscarron's Druthers ■ "I don't think he'll ever be serious about a thing. He's just a flirt with life." -around the Carline Canopy ◢ Moderate Rumors (Moderately difficult to overhear) ■ "He's one of those sorts. Them that'll talk to Sylphs. A mite creepy." -from a botanist at the Greatloam Growery ■ "Never been able to really trust a Wailer. I remember when he slipped away from my watch as a kit." -an aging Wood Wailer on the steps of the Lancers Guild ■ "You don't slight that Soji around him if you know what's good for you." -word around the Lancers Guild ◢ Rare Rumors (Very difficult or rarely overheard) ■ "He knows ... things. I don't know, don't ask, I sure as hell didn't pry further!" -distraught alchemist from Ul'dah ■ "At first I thought he was kind of a loser but he's smarter than he looks. If you can sneak it out of him, he'll tell you some amazing things—stuff about the cosmology of the world or some really old tales." -friends of Millith Ironheart ■ "That bastard! He wanted us to underestimate him!" -a hunter-warrior of a rival clan after their defeat ◢ PC Rumors (Rumors from the character's of other players) ■ ■ ■ ■

RELATIONS ♥ Romantic Interest ♥ Platonic Love ● Good Standing ● Poor Standing ♥ Name : Description

Footnotes

Template by Bancroft Gairn

Theme Song: (One day I'll find a good one)

Quotations and OOC inspirations:

"His voice was exceptionally beautiful, and his song had a strange and wondrous stamp. It dealt with the origin of the earth and stars, the rise of plants, animals, and man; with the all-powerful sympathy of nature; with the primeval golden age and its sovereigns - love and poetry; with the emergence of hate and barbarism and their battles with those benevolent goddesses; and finally with the coming triumph of those divinities, the end of calamities, the rejuvenation of nature, and the return of an everlasting golden age." - Novalis, Heinrich von Ofterdingen

"I can frame what no tongue utters." -- Cad Goddeu

We are the music makers,/ And we are the dreamers of dreams,/ Wandering by lone sea-breakers,/ And sitting by desolate streams;—/ World-losers and world-forsakers,/ On whom the pale moon gleams:/ Yet we are the movers and shakers/ Of the world for ever, it seems. -- O'Shaughnessy