Sisito Sito's Nameday Challenge: Cultural Appreciation Edition
So hey @sisitosito I'm cataloging props for Purposes, right? and you know what I've always wondered?
What's this super generic looking block of wood and what's it used for? and by which NPC? For the longest time I couldn't figure it out..
Until I spotted this nice fellow at the Doman Enclave one day...
and I thought huh that's interesting, why's he clapping the blocks around the enclave like that?
So I joogled and yoodled and goobled some more...
Screen from this dapper hyur's cute educational video.
Turns out it's an old traditional fire safety sort of PSA all the way from the Edo period. The neighborhood watch would walk around with these wooden clappers and yell "hinoyoujin!" as a reminder to watch for fires, especially during the dry winter season and around busier neighborhoods where there'd be higher risk of fires spreading.
And I just think it's the neatest thing that 1) people in Japan still keep this tradition alive and 2) the devs thought to add this little detail to the Doman Enclave, among so many other fun details. I feel culturally enriched, do you feel culturally enriched? Isn't Stormblood great?
But then! It occured to me and @pocketyoukai that's the perfect job for the little moogle troupe, we should put these little buggers to wor— I mean honor the call of their hearts and harness your friends' talents for the good of the Enclave.
So we had our own little fire safety walk. It was a success! Very proud of them.
And only one single fire started!
Anyway they're no longer allowed on Enclave grounds, so they're mogmailing themselves back home to you a little more cultured (and definitely not singed) thanks.
✨Sisito's Nameday Challenge ✨
I don't know how to do proper introductions, so here are my usual two pointy eared guys plus an extra pointy eared gal who may or may not make an appearance. Random lore be upon ye.
:+:
Gabriel (42): sage(ish), bard, mentor, therapist, concerned about you
Used to be self-conscious about his relatively short ears. (I hc the ideal beauty standard in Ishgard was long ears.) Earned him the nickname Professor Stubbsy as a kid at the scholasticate (yes it was Nellie.)
His favorite smell is You Applying Yourself.
The House, Gertrude, keeps kicking him out. It was built by a witch using golemancy and functions as its own living soulkin with its own life force and what is essentially an immune system that tends to purge foreign objects it finds intrusive. It does not recognize Gabriel as his own living being, so Gabriel often finds himself opening, say, the door to his own bathroom and stepping outside the front door. It’s rather irritating.
Straight as uncooked pasta until Theneras happened. While Nellianne was his first love, he never really confessed to her until too late and now he has only one shark-bitten ass on his mind 24/7.
His milpreves are built more for healing than offensive spells because he hasn't had formal sage training, but Fourchenault did custom-build him lil milpreves for his own medical needs. What he did learn to do with them instead is induce a frequency-based echo-like trance state where he goes into your mind and relives your memories..
And also because they're frequency-based, he uses them to augment the effects of his bard songs! super bard buffs.
:+:
Theneras (42): Gabriel’s shard in the First, druid, ex-Dreamer, probably seen how you’ll die but won't spoil it for you
May look like he’s plotting to murder you in your sleep but he’s actually intensely affectionate. It may have been his influence that turned Gabriel into a warmer, more affectionate mentor/father figure for Yuuko than his own (terrifying military dad) was to him.
His favorite smell is one of his wolves Dirthamen’s fur when he’s been rolling around in the levin mint that grows all around Lakeland. Theneras can always tell he’s been there by the bit of static in his fur.
It helps if you’ve seen Sense8 because I stole a ton of tropes from that show, but after a few years of sharing aether with Gabriel, he comes to a point where he can reliably “visit” with him. They’re able to feel what the other’s feeling, taste what they’re having and hang out together across worlds. (time fluctuation shmime shmuctuation)
Speaking of stolen things, he has DA ancient elven nicknames for several other OCs and NPCs; Durgen'len (child of stone, dwarf) for the lalafell who kins rocks (@pocketyoukai), asha'bellanar for the aforementioned witch, Fen'mamae (motherwolf) for Shadowkeeper, etc.
:+:
Nellianne (42): Gabriel's former Scholasticate classmate, fencer, rumpy pumpy enthusiast, acquitted of all charges
Fought and won her own trial by combat at the Tribunal, even though half a dozen perfectly chivalrous knights had volunteered to be her champion. Was she safeguarding her clientele? Were the battles staged? Did gil exchange hands? Nothing was proven and it's all good entertainment either way.
Got suspended from the scholasticate partly because of little Gabriel but also avoided getting permanently expelled thanks to him so they're even.
More coming cause I'm having lots of fun writing and dressing her up. Also school days flashbacks!
“w-wait! uhm... Wi—? Ma—? Az—? I— seem to have started to forget already... what was your name?”
“uh... It’s okay. As I mentioned before, you don’t have to worry about our well-being anymore. Let me tell you a story of the future, alright?”
“In several parts of our lives, we will struggle to find our place. The winds are rough, waters are stagnant, the cold is all-consuming and the earth is foreign. We will be separated for a long while. But thanks to Inari’s relentlessness, we will be safe.”
“Tamamo has finally joined us, with her far-reaching kindness our hearts are finally aligned. The winds are soft, the waters are flowing, the cold feels like a warm blanket, and the earth is one with us again.”
“Where did you find this book, starlight? I haven’t seen it before. And it looks too clean to have been brought by Matoya.”
“You told me to look for a white book that has a different energy from the rest. And I am good at seeking, ehe.”
“Good job, darling. Now let’s see...” Yasumi opened up the book and started skimming through it.
“Ah look, my love. This passage has a different colouring from the rest. It says.. Soon enough we will meet someday.”
“...This is it. This is the book I’ve been looking for. Let us return home, darling.”
“This time I’ll play as the seeker! So the three of you run and hide, m’kay? But first... who’s the most responsible between the three of you? I’ll need you to hold onto this.”
Tamamo was staring at the lady and muttered to herself, “so beautiful...”
Inari hugged Yuusei from behind and with a loud voice said “This one! if you hand me that thing it’ll get lost in seconds! HAHA!”
Yuusei extended her hand and nodded, “I’ll hold onto it. After all, it’s a piece of our paradise, right? And, uhm... don’t worry, I’ll keep us all safe. You do what you have to do.”
“What sort of lunacy compels you to stand against me, child?”
“...”
“...Hm, then announce your reason for challenging me, child.”
“You will come with me, Ivon Coeurlfist.”
“You’ve got a resolve of steel. Now show me your fists.”
Yuusei put her right hand behind her back, assuming her fighting stance.
“...You cannot possibly be so arrogant as to fight me one-handed?”
“The other hand is not for you. Now, come. I am losing my patience.”
“Yuu, Popo, Ses— ah he’s long gone. Listen, I’ve got us a commission, so you better prepare yourselves since our patron is coming.”
“Eh but we just got back from another commission Berta-san...”
“Yea boss, cut us some slack... unless it got a big bounty?”
“The biggest! remember those ruins they discovered a short while ago? a wealthy dunesfolk is commissioning us to unearth rare jewels from said ruins. I’ll treat ya all to the best grub after this commission, alright?”
“O ancient earth, fearless even of repeated destruction,
O pristine skies, which even birds cannot reach,
O immortal winds, who whisper of the future,
O mother sea, who knows no end, let me flow through you like a newborn river blessed by your benevolence.” ˖ ݁♬⋆.˚𝄞
“W..we have to save them, Tamamo. Those two are being overwhelmed!”
“Shirayuri, I have tried so many times. I have memorised the movement of the wind, each grain of sand, every fallen leaf and how it rotates. Nothing could’ve changed the outcome, those two are doomed to fall.”
“...Even so! We have to keep trying, you’ve shared this vision with me for a reason, there has got to be another option.”
“Shirayuri, this isn’t a vision. This is a reality that has been happening over and over. I am not trying to oppress your resolve, I’m just showing you that our river has stagnated a long time ago.”
Yuusei shook her head in defiance, “No, there is always another possibility!”
She placed her hand firmly on the ground and whispered, “I know you can hear me, this land has been stripped of its colour. Please, help me connect with this foreign earth, I— We need to change this outcome.”
“Lil Yuu! You’re here! Considering returning to the guild?”
“Berta! ehe I came to make talking with Lord Fyrgeiss. But uhm before I do the talk, I was wanting to come tell you about my plan. I want to be the guild’s sponsor, I want to maintain and make fixes to any tools used by fellow members.”
“You jest! Really?! Does that mean your smithing business is a success?”
“un! I have ownership of two shops, one back home and another in the Lavender Beds. So uhm that the why I am making this deal with Lord Fyrgeiss, it my way of making response to all the blessings and care you have given me. “
“Awwh come here you,” Adalberta embraced Yuusei tightly. “Even if you haven’t returned to the guild, it is always such a delight to see you, Lil’ Yuu.”
“I was supposed to receive this on my birthday... I miss her terribly, Ina-chan.”
“...Let’s honor her memory by bringing it with us. It was her favorite tool, wasn’t it?”
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