Tumblr Community RP Event - The Trial of Baatu Ura
(( wanted poster done by @great-grey-raven! Go commission the bird, they’re amazing! ))
Baatu Ura– once affiliated with the Scions, hunter, adventurer, echo-blessed, and traitor to Eorzea– has finally been seized and detained by the Ala Mhigan Resistance. We of the Resistance humbly beseech all those willing to step forth, to offer testimonials, anecdotes, and incidents with the Au Ra, in order to better craft our decision, and punishment for his misdeeds and crimes against Eorzea and her peoples.
We encourage all to step forward, either for or against his benefit, so that we may have a better, more comprehensive understanding of his dealings within these lands.
(( piece done by @defendork! Go commission them too. :D ))
By Rhalgr’s will, shall his sentence be decided, and executed.
The following is a list of crimes the accused stands on trial for.
Abandoning the Resistance at Baelsar’s Wall, and joining the ranks of Garlemald soon thereafter.
Several counts of kidnapping, specifically those blessed by the Mothercrystal Herself
Aiding and abetting Garlemald with their experiments on said captured individuals
Aiding in the attack on Rhalgr’s Reach, killing a handful soldiers and injuring many more.
Attacking several Resistance groups, and groups of adventurers for the sake of hunting down these targets.
Hello, FFXIV community! I’m here with an idea for a community writing event wherein you get to help me decide what happens to my character, Baatu! The premise of the event is this:
You can submit a post to me about how Baatu may have affected your character’s life in the past. Consider this a writing prompt of sorts– you can talk about anything you want in the submission– it doesn’t have to be Stormblood relevant by any means. You can write as little or as much as you’d like!
But we haven’t interacted before!
That’s alright! I have a timeline-at-a-glance here, with relevant Stormblood information. Consider this as a way to prompt our characters to have a pre-established relationship, as small, tenuous, or antagonistic as that may be. Do you need a villain? Hit me up. Baatu constantly harassed, attacked, and kidnapped adventurers with the Echo during this time. Maybe he took someone you knew? Maybe you, or one of your friends were hurt, or lost? Baatu can be that antagonist.
What if I want to estalish something before Stormblood’s events?
Hit me up! I’m more than willing to discuss stuff pre-Stormblood. I’m more than willing to discuss anything. Let’s chat. Let’s make connections. Baatu was a rather established adventurer and Scion before all of this happened. He travelled and fought. He’s helped just as much as he’s hurt. He’s not famous, but there’s also many chances for him to have also been notable to people now and then. He’s been around Eorzea a while. Let’s talk about it.
I don’t know how to write about Baatu!
You don’t need to! Make an appeal elsewhere. Talk about your own character, your own experiences. Talk about a person you knew, events that happened, talk about events in your character’s life that mattered. Then, talk to me. We can see if we can work Baatu in somewhere. Maybe, before all this, he was an adventurer out, and saved your character? Maybe, during all this, he was the one to take that happiness away, to upheave what good you had. I’m literally open to stuff.
You can literally write me 10 paragraphs about a relationship with a character you had, then write two sentences about Baatu destroying that. He’s the crux of all this, not the focus. Imagine you’re appealing to the jury who’s going to sentence him. You can take a factual route. You can appeal to their senses.
This seems pretty self-servient. Everyone writing about you? That’s gross.
You can view it that way, if you want. I won’t lie that there’s a bit of selfishness to it all– I’ve been pretty dormant and distant from the community and I want to make connections again. I want to meet more RPers who are willing to interact, and I figure why not try and make a hook that more people can get in on?
But I want to see more creativity come out form this. Maybe you and a group of friends can collaborate on something big to try and pin down Baatu as a villain. Maybe your character is the type to have lost something, and though Baatu isn’t the actual culprit, he’s an easy target to place blame on. Maybe your character wants to save him, and thus they speak out against those who wish to condemn him to try and convince them otherwise. You can interact with each other during this whole thing and use it as a way to create more connections with each other too. You don’t have to include Baatu as the main stay in the piece. He can simply be the reason.
I don’t know what to write. Give me some ideas!
Sure! Drawing from what I’ve already said, and thinking about more, here’s some stuff you can write about:
Back in Eorzea, Baatu was an adventurer and a Scion. Maybe he’s saved your character’s life– or the life of someone they know? Maybe he’s fought beside them?
Baatu has fought primals, though a little dismayed at doing so. Still, when the Scions or his allies have called upon him, he’s always been there.
He was in a pirate crew in Limsa Lominsa for a while. Maybe he’s a familiar face, as a “horned, outlander pirate” surely is something to speak of.
He was a hunter for a long time. Perhaps you hunted together. Competed against one another on a bill. Perhaps he offered you sage words in the forest, or shared the spoils with you. Perhaps he was a client for a posting.
Come Heavensward, Baatu didn’t partake much in story events there. He moved northwards to hunt other prey but otherwise didn’t do much in and around Ishgard. He brawled in the Brume, stuck his nose up at the nobles, and otherwise moved on.
He was, in his very early years, imprisoned in Ishgard and tortured as a heretic, and mistaken for dragonkin. He escaped, but has never since harbored ill will towards Ishgard or her people. Maybe your character remembered him from the past and was surprised to see him look at them no different now? Or perhaps they still harbour that same resentment.
Baatu is wealthy. He’s a patron to many places, and is known for donating to various places, most notably orphanages or anything to do with children. He’s a patron to Zhloe Aliapoh and often does charitable work in Ul’dah.
In Stormblood, after his temporary defection to Garlemald, Baatu assisted Aulus mal Asina with capturing those with the Echo for experimentation. He was known to be ruthless at this time, taking down those in his way of him and his target. Maybe you know someone that was taken. Maybe you were one of the ones attacked.
Though he didn’t kill often, he would kill those who continued to try and impede him. Maybe he’s killed one of your friends?
He also aided in the raid on Rhalgr’s Reach. If your character knew people from that defense, he was definitely there. Definitely not fighting with Eorzeans.
Again, he never intended to kill anyone, but it surely happened there by his hand.
When the castle was liberated, Baatu turned himself in. He helped the Resistance find the experimentation rooms, as well as other containment rooms where still-living specimens were. He escaped capture at this point, but pointed the Resistance towards records and information.
He has also made it a point to try and offer those who knew those taken some sort of solace. Though many were dead by that point, he offered those close the knowledge of what had happened, information and records on what they went through, and left it at that.
