#firefly grove

[renofmanyalts]

👋 - someone waves at your character. what do they do? for zhah'ra, or renan

Prompt 3: Muster

Who: Renan Avnei’shoham, Zhah’ra Savaptha. Mention of Negevs Ha’dov ( @negevshadov )

What: Zhah’ra is initiated into the very solemn greeting rituals of Negevs’ household. 

Where: Negevs’ flat at Firefly Grove, Lower La Noscea

When: A few suns after Zhah’ra’s initial arrival, just before Starlight of last year.

Content: Pure silliness.

------

The door to the living room creaked as Renan let themselves out, blinking in the brighter light with nap-bleary eyes. They caught a flash of pale skin around the edge of the bookcase. Ah. Negevs' newly-rescued ket was peeking at them from where he had wedged himself into the corner of the sofa.

Renan could feel his wary gaze as they stood stretching on the rug. It had been some time since they had shared space with anyone new, and this one was still a puzzle. 

They spared Zhah'ra an appraising glance, and he offered a friendly wave. They were still not entirely confident of their grasp on miqo'te body language, despite several discreet inquiries -- and one or two brazen ones -- but Renan thought the low set of his ears might speak of uncertainty.

Perhaps it was time to break the ice. 

With comical deliberation, they raised both arms over their head -- then canted them left -- then upright again -- right -- and up -- while holding his gaze, eyes exaggeratedly wide. 

Zhah'ra stared at them, blinking, eyes huge in his too-pale face. He shrank back into the cushions, confusion sprawling across his features.

Renan lowered their arms, canting their head. "No?"

He shook his head jerkily. 

A laugh bubbled up in their chest. 

"Come. Will show." They crossed the rug in a few quick strides, urging him to his feet with gentle tugs, then chivvying him through into the bedroom. 

Renan went to the dresser and gestured to the stuffed paissa sitting on its cushions there. Renan had bought it on a whim from a tinker’s cart some time ago, and with Negevs’ amused permission it had enjoyed pride of place in the bedroom since then. A moment's searching located the switch on the base, and the figurine sprang to life, waving its fan-wielding arms over its head.

|O.O| /O.O/ |O.O| \O.O\

Turning to Zhah'ra, Renan aped the little monkey-bird once more, moving their arms in the same jerky rhythm. 

To his great credit, the ket took a moment to look back and forth between Renan's motions and those of the mechanical toy... ...and then, evidently mustering his courage, joined in with a faint smile. 

Some hope for him, then. Renan grinned. 

"Will greet Negevs, upon return... yes?"

[renofmanyalts]

Long Shadows

Who: Zhah’ra Savaptha, Renan Avnei’shoham, Orleux Debosquet*, and an unexpected visitor* (*NPCs) What: Nearly a moon of jumping at shadows, and here one had come and fallen across Zhah’ra’s doorstep.  Where: Firefly Grove, Lower La Noscea When: Recently -- less than a sennight ago Content notes: Stalking, trauma reactions.

Written for MAHI prompt words: HISS, SPINE

“I’m afraid there is nobody here by that name.” Orleux’s voice was polite but firm as it drifted up the stairs. 

Renan held up a hand to Haldjarr -- shhhh -- and crept over to peer through the railing. 

A man stood before the front desk: an elezen, tall and pale-skinned, with dark hair pulled back in a tight tail. 

“That is a shame,” the man said quietly. Renan could not see his face, but the cant of his shoulders suggested a not-very-apologetic smile. “I had hoped to follow up on a business opportunity with him. Could I leave a message for him, perhaps?”

“You are welcome to leave a message, but I cannot deliver it, I am afraid. There is no one here named Flower Jinjahl.” 

The stranger crossed his arms. “Very well.” He turned to go, footfalls soft on the wood despite his heavy boots. “I will return later.” 

Renan narrowed their eyes. 

---------

“He showed up here?” Zhah’ra hissed, feeling the color drain from his face. He had been awake for less than a quarter bell when Renan broke the news. Nearly a moon of him jumping at shadows, and here one had come and fallen across their doorstep.

Renan nodded solemnly. “This morning. Sent away by Orleux. Nobody here by that name.” Well, that was not a lie, Zhah’ra supposed. No one at Firefly Grove knew him as “Flower.” 

Thud thud thud.

Zhah’ra jumped at the noise, only to realize that it was his tail hitting the leg of the kitchen table. He grabbed for it, trying to still its thrashing -- and then had to suppress a wince as Renan gave him one of their soft looks of concern. 

“Man, not ghost, but… worried, yes?” they murmured, coming over to hug him about the shoulders. He gave their arm an awkward pat, leaning into it as he waited for them to let go. 

“Yes,” he admitted quietly, when they had taken their seat again. He realized that he was gripping his braids and turned the motion into smoothing down the frazzled hair. “I… have been trying to avoid him.”

Renan nodded slowly, and Zhah’ra could almost see the wheels turning in their head. 

“Worried Grove cannot protect you? Or worried of danger to Grove?”

Zhah’ra blinked. “I’ll be... “ He swallowed. “I’ll be fine. It will be fine. Maybe… maybe if I don’t avoid him in the city, I can head off the worst of the trouble…”

He could feel Renan’s skeptical gaze even as he looked away -- looked anywhere but at them and the inquisitive tilt of their head. 

“It will be fine, Renan.” He reached out to squeeze their hand. “Thank you for telling me.” 

“Mm.” They returned the squeeze. “Ket does not tell in return, but. Not required. Can listen other ways. Whatever is needed - will say, yes? When you know?”

Zhah’ra nodded. “I will.”

--- Written with “The Gloaming” by Radiohead on repeat. (lyrics)

[renofmanyalts]

💎 Does your OC collect anything? Is there a reason? When did they start and is it beginning to turn into a little bit of a hoarding issue? What do they do with their collection?

Who: Seselah Rerelahi, Faezbhir Grynemerlsyn (NPC), Haldjarr Grynemerlsyn (NPC) What: The Grynemerlsyns consult with Selah about two manifests in very similar handwriting. Where: Firefly Grove, Lower La Noscea When: Several moons back.  Content notes: none

Written for MAHI prompt word: SYMBOL

“No,” Selah said flatly. “They are terribly similar, I’ll grant you, but this hand uses looped descenders and ascenders -- and consistently. This one eschews loops for this angled stroke instead.”

He bent closer to the page, squinting -- then clucked in disapproval. “...and this one has a habit of letting his pen run almost entirely dry before revisiting the inkwell. See here, how the edges of the strokes grow frayed?” 

Faezbhir frowned, taking back the manifest and peering at the dense script that covered it. 

“If yer sure." He didn't sound convinced. “Just ain’t in a hurry to get another bad batch o’ flour, is all.” 

“I’m not certain. That isn’t possible - a man may disguise his handwriting, or it may even shift over time, as any habit might. Besides, I am hardly a detective. But assuming that the two documents were not produced at some terribly lengthy interval -- and did you not say that the first one is from just two moons ago? -- then I would find it more plausible that these were from two different people, and not from some unscrupulous person going to extraordinary lengths to sell you the same poor-quality flour under a different name.”

“And didn’t I tell you so?” Haldjarr said, clapping his brother on the shoulder with a chuckle. “Naught to worry about.”

“Aye, aye! Ye did! Ain’t no call to rub it in,” Faezbhir grumbled, straightening his turban. 

Haldjarr turned back to Selah and nodded gravely. “Thank you kindly for sharing your expertise.”

“...aye, thank you,” Faezbhir added, trying not to sound too sour.

Selah waved away the thanks, an uncomfortable look on his face. “Think nothing of it. Best of luck with your flour sourcing, gentlemen.” He paused a moment, glancing at the two documents. 

“When you have finished with them... might I have those? I should like to add them to my scrapbook as an example of variations on that script. This one--” He tapped one of the manifests. “--uses a particularly fascinating variant of the numeral 7.”

---------------

In addition to his duties as Secretary to the Elytra Concord artisan co-op, Selah is a scribe by trade. He does occasional freelance work in Limsa Lominsa, and has built a reputation for precision and readability rather than creativity or decorative flourishes. However, he is also fascinated by interesting and unique variants on the several scripts in use in Eorzea. He maintains a meticulously-catalogued collection of examples of unusual ways that people form letters, numbers, and punctuation. Certain volumes in his personal library are kept purely for the hand in which they were transcribed, rather than the content per se. Thankfully, the collection is so far contained to one thick album and a few shelves of books. He refers to them now and then when looking for inspiration, on the rare occasion that a client asks him for some specific mood or “personality” for a commission (usually an advertisement).

----

Top image credit: Reddit (modified by Ren)

[renofmanyalts]

∯ darest i draw this out yet longer?

Oak tree stays quiet now. No more snores. 

Blue fur-tuft serves to pillow bird eggs -- the smallest legacy.

Can you know the mark made here?

Faezbhir bakes so many pies, retells stories, roars with laughter.

[renofmanyalts]

E:  EMBRACE - Does your muse like hugs? What are their hugs like? (for Renan or/and another character of your choice)

Renan doesn’t like hugs - Renan LOVES hugs. 

Being wrapped up in a warm, firm hug from someone trustworthy is the best kind of comforting pressure for them - calming and settling - and they don’t hesitate to ask for them from Negevs, Maayan, Zedyr, Zhah’ra, even Orleux. (And sometimes Faezbhir – but only when they know nobody will see, because they know he won’t agree otherwise. And yes, they tease him about this.) 

Likewise, anyone who is reasonably friendly and who gives Renan the signal that hugs or snuggles are welcome WILL get them – they definitely don’t withhold affection! They also try very hard to remember to check in verbally, first, if there’s any doubt. They do slip up sometimes, but rarely twice with the same person.

Their hugs come in two basic forms, depending on their energy levels:

“Tackle-hugs”: In their usual bouncy state, their hugs most closely resemble a half-tackle -- and they can knock an unprepared recipient off balance. They have learned the hard way that not everybody likes that (or can even handle it), so they do their best to moderate their enthusiasm until they’re sure. 

“Sit-down hugs”: When in a quieter mood, they tend squish themselves in next to (or sometimes on top of) the other person, sometimes resting their head on the other person’s shoulder. They can stay like this for hours, if allowed.

The only exceptions to this are on days when their patchwork body is giving them a hard time – then sometimes being embraced is just a little too overwhelming. But sitting quietly shoulder-to-shoulder or head-on-lap is usually okay, once they get out of the bath.

[renofmanyalts]

What are they anxious about right now? (You choose the character. :D)

Right now, Selah is worried about how attached he is to Cannonball, the pugnax puppy he looked after while Negevs was away in Gyr Abania. 

Cannonball is Negevs’ dog, you see, and Selah keeps fretting that he is allowing Cannonball to stay attached to him when he should be working harder to transfer him back. As Selah sees it, every day he allows it to continue will only make the coming reckoning more painful -- for Cannonball, mostly, but also for himself. But it has been much more difficult to do than he could have ever anticipated when they first met.

What Selah hasn’t quite picked up on is the fact that Negevs is more than happy to have Cannonball continue to look after Selah -- which is, in truth, what is happening! -- as long as the dog is well taken care of. (Which, of course, he is.)

[renofmanyalts]

🌈 , pick your favorite character to answer with:)

🌈 In general, who’s more positive?

(I had this whole answer typed up basically right after you sent this, and then I accidentally closed my browser window. POOF, it was gone. So here’s my best attempt at reconstructing it...)

Random alt picker sez: Selah!

This is a strange question to answer. You could argue that I am more positive, but I’d say that it’s less a matter of “attitude” and more a matter degree, as well as what kinds of supports I have vs. the ones he has. 

Selah is optimistic -- the kind of optimism that slants toward idealism and can occasionally throw the deficiencies of the status quo into sharp, frustrating relief. I have some of the same tendencies -- he gets them from me, hah -- but they show up in Selah much more sharply, perhaps. 

Selah is... also much more unhappy than I am, but, again, it’s not a matter of attitude so much as of environment. A “more positive attitude” is not likely to help him much, because it’s his situation that is at the root of his unhappiness. Whereas he struggles with fears of being rejected (again) and with deciding to what extent he can live authentically, I have much more support in my close circles for the ways in which I want to express myself. 

And it’s not like he is fundamentally an unhappy person, either -- he takes joy in things, and he does ultimately believe that the world can be a good place. It just... isn’t there, yet. But it could be. In the meanwhile, there’s puppies, and tea, and Orleux and the Grynemerlsyns. 

(I’ve also recently settled upon the headcanon that Cannonball, the puppy Negevs was fostering after finding it abandoned in Castrum Oriens, has unequivocally adopted Selah as his owner -- much to Selah’s chagrin and, eventually, reluctant acceptance. There’s a dog bed under his desk now, and cautionary whuffs occasionally emanate from it if someone seems to be intent on disturbing him.)

[renofmanyalts]

Yay message books!

All of the various RP spaces I have designed now have them, hurray! This also seemed like as good an excuse as any to list them all, haha.

Mist 15-46: Summer cottage of Maayan Delafontaine

Aethernet: Central Mist Subdivision, up the hill

IG owner: Rhetzedyr Guldarensyn

IC location: Lower La Noscea, near Mist but technically not in it.

A cozy cottage with all the amenities, including a sun porch and a shady garden. Maayan summers here when the air in Limsa gets too oppressive. Renan often stays there with her, splitting their time between swimming in the bay and sitting in the loft, devouring every book they can get their hands on.

Mist 13 subdivision*, apt. 13: Harvest Fountain Toys & Jewelry

Aethernet: The Topmast Subdivision

IG owner: Rhetzedyr Guldarensyn

IC location: Limsa Lominsa Upper Decks, east of the Aftcastle Plaza

A small, sunny shop located up the spiral stairs from the Missing Member, co-owned by Zedyr and Maayan. Zedyr lives in the small apartment behind the shop, accessed through the workshop area. **Due to the nature of Harvest Fountain’s merchandise, no children are permitted in the shop.**

* EDIT: RECENTLY MOVED! Huzzah!

Goblet 11 main, apt. 63: Zhah’ra’s tent 

Aethernet: The Sultana’s Breath

IG owner: Zhah’ra Savaptha

IC location: A tent in northeastern Rhalgr’s Reach, near one of the waterfalls

One of the many tents located throughout the Reach. The tent opening faces away from the center of the camp, toward the stream fed by one of the waterfalls tumbling down the cliff. The interior is cozy, if a little cramped, with mostly scrounged or makeshift furnishings. (Message book is hidden overhead, above the vanity.)

(My latest project! Still needs a few more hidden windows to make the “sunlight through cloth” impression complete.)

Mist 13-60: Firefly Grove - headquarters of the Elytra Concord

Aethernet: Mist Southwest Subdivision, down the steps

IG owner: The Elytra Concord <Alae>

IC location: Lower La Noscea, a little ways up the road from the Moraby Drydocks

The farmhouse at Firefly Grove was lovingly restored by the artisans of the Elytra Concord several years after the Calamity salted the surrounding farmland, and it now serves as the small business association’s headquarters. The cellarage houses the Concord’s growing ensemble of collectively-owned equipment, while the upstairs is home to the Concord Café. 

Mist 13-58: Home of Feldrael Bleistyrwyn and R’yhunzi Khoyo (and Son™, the duck)

Aethernet: Mist Southwest Subdivision, up the stairs

IG owner: Feldrael Bleistyrmwyn

IC location: Eastern La Noscea, up on one of the cliffs around Wineport

After her retirement from active duty with the Maelstrom, Feldrael returned home to Wineport and took up residence in her parents’ former home: a cliffside house looking out over the terraced vineyards. She lives there with her wife, R’yhunzi, doing custom gunsmithing and repair work as Palestar Powderworks. The house features storage for her collection of wine (some of which Feldrael produced herself) and theatre garb. A pond in the yard and a cushion by the fireplace ensure that their Son, the duck, is comfortable and happy. (Decorated on commission!)