W'khael Tia
| | |
 Look at this nerd | |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | Miqo'te |
| Clan | Seeker of the Sun |
| Citizenship | The Goblet |
| Age | 20 |
| Profession | Nerd |
| Server | Mateus |
Contents
Appearance
W'Khael sports somewhat-tanned skin, bright silver eyes, and fiery hair that's been streaked with a burnt orange. He's of taller height for a Miqo'te, and tends to wear any clothing that's non-restrictive. He rarely carries any visible weapons, but always seems to be able to pull a knife from sheer air. Probably has pockets.
History
W'Khael had a rather happy childhood, despite displaying signs of an anxious, introverted, and callous nature from early on. For whatever reason, though he was able to somewhat sense aetherial traces, and took in aether at a far higher rate than normal mages - however, he spent much of his early years learning to ignore this. It got stronger as the years went on, but really wasn't much of a problem besides the occasional unexplainable flip-flops of emotion. He and his sister were raised by their parents and their separate tribes, and he made trips between the Silver Spire Coven house and the Wolf Tribe's lands in northeastern Thavnair seasonally. Though unbeknownst to his family, he would also sneak away from the W Tribe at night, finding his way to local towns and cities and learning tricks from the magicians and dancers of the streets. For a while, he was happy.
Aaaaaand then, the murders began.
S'ami had already returned to the S Tribe for the season when it happened, but Khael made the unfortunate choice of staying behind a bit longer at the Silver Spire's house. Unfortunately, due to this, Khael woke up one night in some sort of unexplainable panic, and wandered in on a horror that he'll never be able to unsee or unfeel. The 12-year-old slipped out of the house in the middle of the night, and accidentally found his parents, having just been fatally struck by some sort of shadowy figure. He tried desperately to revive his parents, but was unlucky, and the Coven was unable to help. Terrified and devastated, he and the Coven called S'ami back for the burials, but didn't apprise her of the details - those, he kept to himself. Then, when all was done, despite their refusal, he and S'ami were split up to their parents' separate tribes. He was then raised by his tribe for the next year, his power steadily developing - or, rather, becoming more understandable. He discovered that his 'power' was simply the uncontrollable ability of taking in aether from all sources around him; it allowed him to read peoples' emotions, and, more extremely, to take on parts of their aether and personality and feelings of it was in very near proximity to them. It was the worst when he touched someone. When comforting a friend, once, he also discovered that 'taking in' aether meant from all sources; when he wanted so desperately to heal her emotional pain, he accidentally started pulling the aether from her, leading to him doing his best to avoid touching anyone without some form of barrier so that he didn't hurt them. Not long after displaying these tendencies, a small group of well-trusted members of the Wolf Tribe began enlisting the 13-year-old's aid in small tasks, and he felt like he had some stability. This continued until Dalamud reddened the sky.
The night of Dalamud's fall, W'khael was almost instantly beset by an overwhelming flux of aether. It was so painful and all-encompassing that he was unable to sense the danger that befell him, and he was knocked out and kidnapped by a small group of members of the W and S tribes who he had long considered his and S'ami's friends. He woke up to find himself and S'ami captive, and everything just hurt. As it turned out, the group believed S'ami and W'khael's existences to be unnatural, and blamed them for Dalamud's fall - which was honesty probably just an excuse, because they already didn't like the two for being the result of members of different tribes leaving and starting their own family. Still, something was wrong with the group - they were far stronger and more callous than W'khael had ever seen them, and he didn't recognise all of them. While their backs were turned, for the first Time, W'khael managed to coalesce some of the aether he was taking in, turning it into a knife and cutting him and S'ami free. He pushed her to sneak out - she, however, thought that that wasn't good enough, and that they'd get caught. Terrified of what could happen, without telling W'khael in Time, S'ami unleashed an explosion of aether above their heads - a bright one, that permanently damaged their eyesight but blinded the cultists enough for the two to escape and run.|
But it wasn't so easy. Because of course it wasn't. Because I'm writing this part.
What happened next is uncertain, because S'ami is skittish about it and W'khael has no memory about it. Supposedly, S'ami made it outside of the cavern, but a conflux of aether from her spell collapsed a large part of it, trapping W'khael inside with several injured cultists. All that was found when the debris was lifted was several long-dead, shrivelled corpses, and no W'khael. Who knows what happened in there while Answers played?
W'khael has said very little about what happened in the following years, and his story has changed several Times - I'm sure it's nothing to be worried about. Supposedly, when the Calamity actually hit, W'khael was knocked unconscious. When he woke up, everything was calm and still, and any last vestiges of personality he'd been clinging to were gone. For the next few weeks, he spent his days like a literal ghost, wandering until he found himself in the Black Shroud and barely even being conscious enough to pick a berry every now and then. The aether of the Calamity flooded his system with constant pain and voices, only finally starting to dull after maybe a few months of him walking around the forest in a near-catatonic (CAT-atonic) fugue state.
Supposedly, it was during these years that he picked up his penchant for humming when he's scared or in pain - something about focusing. That's not important either.
That being said, even when the pain started to fade, W'khael was still little more than a ghost. He became a part of the forest for the next three years, basically a forest spirit of the Shroud who was rarely seen by anything besides the Shroud's animals. With the way that his aether became intertwined into Hydaelyn's, he became near-invisible to anything or anyone besides those looking directly at him - an ability that he can still call on to this day, albeit consciously. He had a few encounters over the years, but rarely spoke or interacted with anything besides critters.
Luckily for W'Khael, his sister never gave up hope that he was still alive somewhere - she felt it in her twin bones. At the age of 16, she convinced her new master, Aya Numi, to try tracking him down. A wild chase of very little information led the two to The Black Shroud, and, after maybe a month of careful and precise searching, they ended up running into him. It took another month to gain his trust - Aya's aether was chaotic and unsafe to him, but S'ami's was calm and familiar, and he eventually began interacting with them. When he got close enough, one day, Aya grabbed him, like the feral cat he was. He fought her, but her aetherial protections were stronger than he anticipated. At first, Aya assumed that there was nothing left of him to save, but the thought of telling S'ami that was too devastating a thought. So, she fought him, and spoke to him, and, after a mental battle between the two, he broke down in her arms. He was still far from back, but the moment of humanity and vulnerability was all that Aya needed to be convinced that there was something in him that could be saved.
Aya and S'ami brought W'khael back to one of Aya's hotels, closing off an entire wing and securing it so that he was basically a very lavish prisoner for a few weeks. All the while, Aya and S'ami gained more of his trust, and he began having more and more moments of very-near-clarity. With perseverance and care, S'ami and Aya eventually broke through to him. They still didn't allow him near other people quiiiite yet, but he really did become a person again. Over the next few months, they worked with him to form some semblance of his personality again - especially Aya, who understood more than S'ami that he wasn't quite the same boy he'd been, and that he'd probably never be fully, 100% himself again. But he did his best, and came close to something like his old self eventually - a happy-go-lucky boy who just wanted to make people smile. That being said, when his memories came back and he had a presence of self again, he became somewhat terrified of how unwittingly strong his abilities had become. Aya calmed him down, and promised that she would teach him to control these abilities, just as she'd taught S'ami to control her own. He agreed, and so, after giving him a crystal-lined choker to help him control his aetherial intake, she tentatively started letting him be around other people again.
Not long after W'khael became a literal person again, he and S'ami brought Aya to the old Silver Spire house to see if it was still working - and it very much was, albeit barely. Under the direction of a dejected Clover Daley, it seemed that much of the old coven had fled after Dalamud's wake, trying to put the murders behind them. Soon, the three began working with Clover to get the coven up-and-running again. It worked, and it was fantastic!
Aaaaaaaaaaand then the murders began again.
It was slow, really, but it was obvious that the murders of the coven members had never really stopped. The group became scared, and W'khael was terrified of losing all of the people that he'd only just come back to. So, they started working together to solve these murders once and for all.
Enter Yu'nan.
Clover took the group to Gridania one night, hoping to introduce them to Yu'nan, the owner of a reagents shop that she had been going to since before the first bout of murders. However, before they could get there, a woman - who is, evidently, still at large - burst into the middle of the group, illusioning herself to look like Clover and running off to confuse the guards that were after her. After a permissive nod from Aya, W'khael hippity-hopped into the shadows of Gridania, chasing the woman down. Unfortunately, one of the largest side-effects of W'khael's properties of aetherial intake include a massive susceptibility to spells and curses - something that the woman accidentally took advantage of, in ensorcelling him {Nat 1 + -3 ayyye} and leaving him basically half-drunk on romantic aether in a back-alley of Gridania where he drawled on about his whole story to a moogle for hours. When he finally had the ability to stand back, he wandered to where he remembered the group having gone - Clover had given them all the address, just in case something catastrophic happened. Unfortunately, he got there just after everyone had gone for the night - evidently, he heard some rumours on the way there about some run-in they'd had with an immortal squirrel in the mud just barely outside of Gridania's gates, or some such. Luckily, Yu'nan, despite having closed his shop for the night, opened it at W'khael's knocking. The miqo'te shopkeep clearly understood that W'khael had been magically drugged, because he took the boy in, shutting the door and giving him a drought to help with the aether sickness that had come with the spell. Yu'nan Linkshelled Aya to tell her not to worry anymore, that he would keep W'khael there for the night to watch over him and make sure that the aether faded without any negative side-effects. This, of course, was news to W'khael, but he was in too much of a state to properly argue.
Luckily, Yu'nan was clearly the kindest and most innocent person on Hydaelyn, because he did exactly what he said he would - woop. Despite mentioning that he'd been about to leave for the night, he instead opted to stay with W'khael, giving him a spare bedroom and plenty of water. W'khael fell in and out of a fitful sleep, and Yu'nan was always in the room with him, watching cautiously. Maybe a lil bit creepily, but there's nothing creepy about that guy whatsoever. Anyways, W'khael finally seemed to duck the spell way too late in the evening, maybe 3 am-ish - and Yu'nan was still with him, albeit probably half-asleep. W'khael finally had a clear head, and thanked Yu'nan for everything, saying that he felt well enough to leave if he was taking up too much space; Yu'nan probably laughed about it, and said that it was really no bother, and that W'khael was far safer with him than trying to get home alone ((Insert 'So anyways, that was a lie' meme here)). Yu'nan probably murmured something like 'rest well' and rubbed W'khael behind the ears before starting to head off for the night, and it was at that moment that W'khael realised two things for the first Time: A, that he probably wasn't exactly straight, but B, that he didn't feel anything from Yu'nan. No aether, no emotion, no personality. Nothing. When Yu'nan touched him, there was nothing. No rush. No fear of accidentally harming the man. At the Time, W'khael was too stunned and confused to say anything, so he let Yu'nan leave for the night. In the morning, he thanked him again, and tried to pay - but Yu'nan assured him that there was no worry there, and that he just wanted W'khael to be safe. Probably said something along the lines of 'who knows what's lurking outside, probably serial killers or something'. Anyways, W'khael left, deciding to figure out on his own what was up with the man and not return until he'd thought it through.
Anyways, that probably lasted until about that night. After apologising profusely to Aya for being gone so long, W'khael said that was again going to be gone for long, because he had to figure out what was going on. Begrudgingly, Aya agreed, but told him that he absolutely had to check in with her every now and then if he did so. He agreed, and went back to Yu'nan's shop that night under the pretense of forgetting to buy something, not long after closing. Yu'nan probably kicked a limb under the table and then told him that he was welcome whenever. W'khael rented a room from him, and, not long after he checked in with Aya, Yu'nan probably showed up. He, undoubtedly, figured that something was up; W'khael is probably the worst liar in all of Hydaelyn. W'khael explained what was going on, and basically accidentally smacked Yu'nan several Times while trying to explain nigh-incoherently what he was - or, rather, wasn't - feeling. However, Yu'nan caught his wrist one of these Times, and basically told him to sit down and watch himself. Probably said something like 'if you're going to touch me, you'd better try something better' or something like that. Who knows? Not me, because we didn't RP this part, and have only kinda talked about the generals a bit.
Anyways, they proceeded to... For lack of an RPC-appropriate term, let's say that they proceeded to have approximately 327 amorous encounters over the next four-ish months of the arc. We don't know what the count references. We don't know what counts as '1', we just know that there was a count of 327. We don't ask questions, especially since they're both... NPCs? Playable-NPCs? Regardless, to be serious for once: W'khael and Yu'nan struck up something that was somewhere between an affair and a not-quite-relationship. Though Yu'nan didn't seem to have much emotion in the affair - or, at least, appeared not to - W'khael had to fight hard to stay the same way, since it was the first Time in his life he'd ever been able to give himself to someone without fear of hurting them or losing himself in the process.
Which makes the fact that Yu'nan was a deranged serial killer all the worse, honestly.
Yes, after four-ish months of investigation, it turned out that Yu'nan - whose real name was Yu'zars - had actually been killing mages the realm over and stealing some of their body parts to rebuild the body of his near-dead sister, who was being held in a lab in the basement under the shop. Which is probably the exact opposite of what W'khael had been expecting from the affair. Regardless, W'khael was thrown for an emotional loop, and shut down from the realisation that he'd been being used this whole Time. He turned to sarcasm and joking to hide the pain, playing it off to anyone who'd suspected the affair like it had been basically just an emotionless fling. Though he tried to work through the emotions on his own, constant embattlement from Yu'zars against the coven and uprootments from all ends - including the coven's house burning to the ground - led to him having no real Time for it, so he ended up surrounding himself with other people so that he didn't have to worry about his own emotions. He helped the Paladin James to help heal their friend, Lucky Penny, the night of the house's fire, throwing himself into work. It was the first Time in a long Time that he helped anyone to kill anything, let alone anyone, and some part of him became terrified of how easy it all returned to him. In this case, he explained it away, arguing with himself that it was to help someone - but, he was sorely reminded that that was always what he thought. It was that night of drinking and half-merriment between the three friends that W'khael realised with horror that, maybe, the reason he'd fallen so quickly for Yu'nan may have been the very fact that the two were more similar than he wanted to ever admit - this, he didn't admit to them.
Fighting Yu'zars was easy enough - W'khael latched onto the emotions and the anger of everyone around him, and threw himself into the battle. Luckily, nobody had to kill the man, as his very abomination of a 'sister' did it for them - though, this was the first Time in a long Time that W'khael wasn't actually able to feel the death, so he still isn't sure about if he's come to terms with it. The same went for the coven's leader, Clover; she had been taken by Yu'zars, but was left unfound and likely dead. Luckily, there was some form of merriment after all; the group managed to recover a woman named Aera, and released all of the spirits and souls that Yu'zars had captured over the years, finally allowing them - and the coven - some rest.
Did W'khael disappear at some point during this final battle? Uh... maybe! I'm sure it's fine.
Currently, W'khael is still with The Silver Spire, who is currently pushing forward with new trials and tribulations. He still doesn't know how to come to terms with his feelings; he hangs out around people far more often than he used to, latching on to the merriment and whirlwinds of emotions that he feels from others to keep him afloat. When alone, he finds himself almost apathetic about the betrayal - not callous, but still numb. Still, he tries to be the same as always - more than anything, and more than ever before, he just wants people to be happy. He enjoys it when he gets to partake in that happiness; the smile of a friend is the greatest gift to him.
Honestly, with everything going on right now, and another cult on the coven's trail... he's doing surprisingly well. Old God portals, cult attacks, and the undead, and this nerd is just over here baking bread and painting houses for people. He's doing great!
Personality
When first meeting W'khael, you'll very quickly find him to be a kind, nerdy, friendly, and sorta clumsy individual. Parts of his personality still aren't filled in from his Time in the forest - and might never be - so he can space on things, and, whenever he lapses on a sort of judgement in his own head, he grasps onto complimenting someone or finding some sort of kind remark to add to the conversation. He's often regarded as spacey and naïve at Times, but he's upbeat and energetic, loves his friends, and always wants people to be able to smile. If he detects that someone's emotionally hiding something, he'll press a bit - until he realises that, no, bad W'khael, some people have secrets, and he'll pull back. However, if you have a character who you want to spill something but wouldn't do it without some prodding, he's your guy. As long as one of his friends is trying, at literally anything, he's always going to be proud of them.
Though it may not be obvious when first meeting him, W'khael's personality will change depending on his location, his surroundings, and who else is in the room, as threads of all personalities and histories will begin unintentionally bleeding into his own.
If you get to know W'khael, and he is more comfortable around you, or you catch him unaware of your presence somehow, you'll find that he's actually a very calm, kind, and introverted individual. He adores the night, and will just lay on The Silver Spire's house's roof looking at the stars, or closing his eyes and letting the breeze ruffle his hair.
Affiliations and Known Associates
- ● (PC) Aya Numi: W'khael first met Aya Numi at the age of 16, after she basically brought him back from the brink of permanent insanity. He's been travelling with her basically ever since, and she's a mentor and master to him. Despite being somewhat afraid of her, he also greatly respects her. At this point, she's the only other person - besides maybe Yu'nan - who knows that he's killed people before.
- ●♥(PC) S'ami Malkoh: S'ami means quite a lot to Khael. These nerds are the quintessential 'twins' - absolute chaos, but would probably die for each other. That being said, he firmly believes that her cooking skills are a disgrace. Like... mayonnaise? In a shot glass? What?
- ●♥ (NPC) Yu'zars ('Yu'nan'): A Miqo'te shopkeep in Gridania who gave him a place to stay and a watchful eye when he was magickally drugged. The two soon started up a rather nightly barrage of amorous encounters, due to Yu'nan's uncanny ability for blocking W'khael's aether-sapping abilities. Unfortunately, Yu'nan turned out to be a serial killer who was responsible for the deaths of several of W'khael's friends (including his parents), so... that sucks.
Characteristics
- Nicknames: Khael, The Sluagh
- Age: 19
- Nameday: 21st day of the 6th Umbral Moon
- Gender: Male
- Sexuality: Yes
- Alignment: Neutral Good (normal); True Neutral (Sluagh)
- Hair: Russet
- Eyes: Bright silver
- Skin: Pale tan
- Clothing: Anything that he can move in. Typically something green. Wears a dried flower from The Black Shroud that S'ami gave him as a present. Lately, he's been branching out a bit more, and wearing cozier things that make him happy and comfortable. He needs glasses, but normally opts for contacts - lately, though, he's been wearing his glasses more often, since he's getting comfortable around the coven.
Likes
- Quiet
- Nature
- Happy people
- Knowledge
- The Silver Spire
- S'ami and Aya
Dislikes
- Dishonesty
- Pain, emotional and physical
- People who talk down to him
- People who are overly strict in otherwise friendly environments
- Being fooled
- Crowded rooms
- Crowded anything, really
- Lain, please take him to the gaol
- Yarzons, oh gods why do those exist
- Probably lumberjacks
Strengths
- Aetherial sapping
- Cleverness
- Knifework
- Speed
- His abilities to blend into almost any surrounding
- Able to read any room. Figuring out what those vibes are, though...
Weaknesses
- He can't tell his emotions from others
- He's borderline schizophrenic at Times
- He can't be in crowded rooms; too many personalities will overwhelm him, leaving him practically useless in wars/crowds
- High quantities of aether are his kryptonite
Other Notes
Religion
Khael isn't very religious himself. He believes in other planets outside of their own, however, and will never chastise anyone for their beliefs.
Quirks
- Seeing the history/emotions tied to many objects often leaves him unable to, not only differentiate between their emotions and his own, but also to occasionally be unable to tell the difference between living things and inanimate objects.
- He'll often get into fights with inanimate objects.
- He'll often get into conversations with inanimate objects.
- He talks to the walls, guys.
Known Haunts
- Panda-Chan's Palace (Goblet, Ward 1 Plot 1)
- The Drunken Pumpkin 2 (Goblet, Ward 7 Plot 52)
Gallery
Khael meditating in Aya's altar room.
OOC Notes
Need a therapist who will push you if you really want your character to spill the beans about something but know that they probably wouldn't? W'khael's your guy! He's also always just there to be a pal. If you also really want someone to pester your character about them and their past, he's there for that, too; he's not a big fan of talking about his own, for obvious reasons, so tends to ask a lot of questions about whoever he's with (unless they're clearly uncomfortable, of course).
I'm always up for In-Character greetings, whether in a dungeon or just walking around!
