#character dev;

[vieranbow]

[archaeotechnic]

I've finally figured out the circumstances under which Nev would have become the WoL. In her default canon, Ireneve's family is loosely tied to the Dzemael line through a knighthood/marriage. However, when the family branched off, no longer continuing the knighthood, they lost a lot of the Nobility that would have been afforded to their otherwise Noble name.

So, in this AU, the Knighthood was upheld. Her family never left Ishgard. When the freeze came, it took much of their livestock and workers, but not them. All the while, Ireneve has been brought up being told she would become a knight, training always with this in mind. She would have also had to practice her lying a lot more.

Despite the bad blood between their families, she would connect with Artoirel much sooner in life. And, later, when she is well on her way to becoming a Templar (claimed by them, rather than the Dragoons), she would learn of the corruption of the church. And she would want to do something about it. Because she's still Nev.

The Fortemps men would stop her from getting herself killed. She would have to leave Ishgard to protect her family and pray that the Fortemps could do something in her place. Meanwhile, Yda and Papalymo find her, very disgruntled and probably slicing up a tree, and recognize what her uncle called clairvoyance as the Echo.

From there... the rest would go as it does in the game, for the most part!

[vieranbow]

when your girlfriend tells you she wants you to live on her private island

when you change your last name to reflect your response

when she jumps out of a window in panicked joy

[vieranbow]

Starlight Date, 2024

[archaeotechnic]

Moonfire Faire inspired character development{?}: Ireneve is 100% the type to start peeling off her clothes because she feels too hot when drunk.

[archaeotechnic]

Nev really is a terrible liar. Put her on the spot and she'll just stare at you as if you're supposed to be feeding her lines. If not for how genuinely distressed she was when it came to speaking about her past, I don't think it would have taken long for someone to peel back the facade of her false identity.

She changed her name from Ireneve Guillaumont to "juSt NEv, plEase".

[irredeemer]

When Reda was still a teenager, she nearly lost her life in a fire. Deprived of oxygen and severely injured, she fell into a coma. Healers attempted to save her for many long months.

Eventually, they gave up.

They prepared her body as they did the elderly or the severely maimed; first, they would tattoo her ancestral name on her face and, when it had fully, naturally healed, they would stop her breath as gently as possible.

With a still scabbed tattoo, Reda woke abruptly on day 12, gasping and clinging as though dragged from a river. When the healers tried to find answers, she accused them of having planned to murder her -- and retaliated.

[irredeemer]

A notable element of gnomish death rites is the inscription of one's bloodline on the face upon passing. Before the fires, it had been customary to do so with a staining paste similar to henna. After the fires, those gnomes who held more tightly to their faith began tattooing the ancient signifiers, permanently setting ink to flesh.

It is said that when a gnome dies, returning their body to the soil is necessary so that their soul might rejoin the cycles of life anew. Bearing the mark of their origin further ensures the soul will not wander or be lost in the aetherial sea on the way.

Those gnomes who perish in flame are removed from the cycle, unable to contribute the much-needed nutrients in their bodies to the forests that sustain and protect their people. Similarly, those lost at sea or otherwise distantly from the rooted network of the Thirteen Boughs are also considered less likely to re-enter the cycle, if at all.