The twelfth character in my silly poem series is Zoisite Ruby of @loldragoon-ffxiv - an OC with a far more complex and poignant backstory than my poetical silliness would suggest.
As well as Zoisite, you will find a profusion of fantastic characters on this blog - including Feldspar (the handsome husband of Fennie of @scholarlostintime, famous for his shorts and wine-making), his little sister, the very forbearing Rose Quartz, and Ichelle, diplomat, handsome noblewoman and Azure Dragoon.
A skillful writer, gposer and all round good sort, I heartily recommend @loldragoon-ffxiv. Along with @scholarlostintime they also run some fantastic RP events at Feldspar's Inn, The Cracked Cluster - keep an eye out for some more of these in the future.
As I understand it, once she unlocks the full potential of The Echo, Ichelle becomes quite a powerful political figure in Ishgard, especially given her position in the Ishgardian military as the Azure Dragoon.
Given her experience of Ishgardian tradition placing unwanted limitations upon her on the basis of her sex - and then later being the victim of a sexual assault a young age - has Ichelle now used her power and influence to negotiate any changes in how such matters are dealt with in Ishgard? Has she experienced any pushback in doing so? And does she have the support of her father in this?
So, unfortunately, despite Ichelle having a lot of legitimate/official power through her position as the Azure Dragoon and as the heir to House Fortemps, she is not particularly popular amongst the rest of the nobility in Ishgard, so she has very little social influence. At best, she's tolerated by the other high houses because of her position.
That's not to say she isn't trying to change things in her own way, though. Since the Dragonsong war was long over by the time Ichelle came into power, domestic extremists (mostly young nobles upset about social change) are far more concerning to Ishgard than international threats. A lot of conspiracies, terrorist threats, trafficking rings, etc, and she's uniquely good at dealing with that kind of thing because of the way her Echo manifests. Ichelle takes the idea of justice very seriously, and she does her best to make sure that everyone, regardless of their background, can get justice when they're wronged. She feels like the best way she can help change things is to hold people accountable for their actions. This is also how Fennie and Feldspar ended up adopting Chrys and Chal-- she was investigating their mother's murder.
Artoirel spent most of Ichelle's childhood establishing House Fortemps as the face of a new, progressive Ishgard, at least in the sense that they supported the new government, and that he considered Ichelle (as 3/4 Elezen, and with a commoner mother) a fully legitimate heir. BUT he was always fairly traditional on gender roles because Ichelle faced enough adversity because of her background without making things even harder for herself. He's come around on this since she was younger, now that she has the power to protect herself and is clearly much happier living authentically. He tries to support her when he can, these days, but he only has so much social influence himself.
Ichelle giggles. “Oh, the look on her face when you just walked into the kitchen and started rummaging around the pantry.”
Feldspar chuckles in return. “I thought she was going to murder me when I lit the stove.”
“I probably should have warned you properly,” she grins, “about how the Manor operated.” The giggling dies down, and Ichelle merely smiles. “You never did quite fit in there, in Ishgard.”
“I suppose I didn’t, did I?” Feldspar nods. “I’ll always appreciate that you and your parents took me in, though. After my mother asked me to leave.”
“Of course.” Ichelle reaches out to punch Feldspar affectionately on the shoulder. “You’re family.”
Feldspar holds his breath, feeling oddly nervous to admit his feelings out loud. Exhaling deeply, “I’ll miss you.”
Ichelle’s eyes fill up with tears, and she covers her face in embarrassment. “Don’t make me cry.”
“I’m sorry.” Feldspar sniffles. “I will.”
“At least I can be content I’m not leaving you alone here.” Ichelle fans her face, trying to prevent the tears from falling. “Fennie will take care of you. I’ll make sure he promises as much before I go.”
Nodding, “I don’t think that will be a problem.” Feldspar grins. “We’ve talked about adopting kids, once you find a way home…”
Ichelle’s eyes light up. “Really? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” She tosses her pillow at him. “Gods, Feldspar. I’ve been so worried about you for years and now this. I didn’t know if you’d ever find something like...”
“Like what?” Feldspar quirks an eyebrow, throwing the pillow back.
“Like happiness. You have a purpose now.”
Feldspar shakes his head. “I’ll admit I was a bit aimless before all of this, but I wouldn’t consider myself beyond saving.”
“That’s not-” what you said before, Ichelle cuts herself off, not wanting to ruin the mood with old memories. “Nevermind. I’m happy for you.”
Willing to accept the change in topic, Feldspar smiled. Thinking of Ichelle finally reuniting with the rest of her family, “I’m happy for you, too.”
Ichelle jumps at the moogle suddenly appearing before her, handing her a small package with a letter stuck to the top. Mumbling to herself, “This must be the gift Fennie mentioned...” She offers the postmoogle a gil for its efforts, and it vanishes again without a trace, leaving her a bit frazzled in the courtyard of Revenant’s Toll.
Recognizing her name in Feldspar’s distinct handwriting on the top of the letter, she gave a cursory glance around her to make sure no one would read over her shoulder and unfolded the paper.
“Chelle,
Fen insisted we have this conversation in person, but I wasn’t sure I could say what I need to say if I saw your face. Does that make me a coward?
He told me you seemed suspicious when you two spoke; suspicious about me and my involvement in this. I needed to confirm that your instincts are sharp as always, but I also wanted to explain myself and why I’ve behaved like this.
I have a confession to make. I’ve not been entirely honest with you, or Fen.
I haven’t tried to go home. Not in any substantial way. I went through the motions, of course. As soon as I realized I was not where I should be, I tried my best to understand my situation and attempted the most obvious possible solutions. If only to assure myself that it wouldn’t be that easy.
But that’s sort of the point, isn’t it? I claimed that I had already exhausted every possibility because I didn’t want to know. At first, I convinced myself I was just saving Fen the effort of trying to solve this problem for me when I had no real intention of following through. But now that he’s as invested in my staying it doesn’t make much sense that I continue to keep this from him, does it? So why do I?
I think part of it is that he wouldn’t understand. He’s so close with his family, and it’s hard to explain to him that I both miss home and don’t at the same time. I have dreams about promising Yhone I’ll never leave like her father did and then the next night dream of my mother telling me to never come back, and it’s so much more complicated than I can really put into words.
And as Fen and I talk about kids, it hurts me that they’ll never meet any of them. My mother, my sister, Rose, Erleanne.
You.
So yes, while I’ve admittedly been sabotaging my own efforts to return, It isn’t because I don’t want, or don’t expect, you to go home either. I hope you do. In fact, I’m counting on it. I’m counting on you to tell everyone that I’m OK, I’m happy, I’m in love and starting my own family here and that I love and miss everyone every day. But this is where I’m staying.
I’m sorry for making you doubt me. I hope you'll forgive me, and maybe even come to trust me moving forward. I don't want to spend our remaining days being suspicious of one another, not when we've wasted so much time already.
Love,
Feldspar.
PS: I’ve included a gift we bought for you in Kugane. You would literally not believe who we bought it from.
PPS: Come visit me. I'll cook for you! You look too thin!”
Ichelle folds the letter back up how she found it and holds it in her hands for a moment, trying to hold back both a sniffle and a chuckle at the same time.
She opens the box, revealing a bracelet adorned with beads, crystals that matched her eyes perfectly. She snorts a bit dismissively at the gift, knowing damn well that Feldspar knows how she feels about jewelry.
5. Where is your character’s ideal place to live? What are their reasons?
Feldspar: He’s not very picky about this, but he’d prefer somewhere relatively warm.
Ichelle: She’d rather stay in Ishgard, close to home.
Zoisite: She tends to follow around the people she’s close to, regardless of location. But she’s always been drawn to Gridania and Kugane.
15. Where would your character go on vacation?
Feldspar: Somewhere sunny, conflict-free, and preferably with no shortage of beaches.
Ichelle: She prefers exploring unfamiliar places that are still somewhat close to home. “Going to Coerthas when you live in Ishgard isn’t a vacation.” “Not with that attitude it isn’t!”
Zoisite: Anywhere new! She’s always been curious about the parts of the world she’s never been to, Thavnair, Ilsabard…
21. How close to your character’s IC appearance is their in-game model? 22. How would your character react to someone giving them a fetch quest? 16. Is your character anticipating another calamity? If so, what’s their plan? (FOR EVERYONE MUAHAHAHAHA)
21. How close to your character’s IC appearance is their in-game model?
Feldspar: With the ear mod, pretty close. His IC height is about an inch taller than max midlander height though.
Ichelle: Again, height... she’s actually about 5’8 ICly. Otherwise she looks pretty much the same as her model.
Zoisite: If I could go back and re-make her model, I would, but at this point I’ve made so many IC excuses for her appearance vs her race that it’s too late to change it. Anime genetics it is!
22. How would your character react to someone giving them a fetch quest?
Feldspar: at this stage in his life, he would outright refuse it. But fetch quests were basically his job most of his life until fairly recently.
Ichelle: She’d be internally annoyed, she has important things to be doing after all, but she’d probably end up doing it anyway.
Zoisite: She loves a good fetch quest, sometimes. Especially when she’s anxious. It keeps her mind off of things. And right now, she has a lot of things to keep her mind off of.
16. Is your character anticipating another Calamity? If so, what’s their plan?
Feldspar: He hasn’t put much thought into it, honestly. If he had to do something, he’d probably just try to stay as far away as possible.
Ichelle: She intends to get out of this mess long before any kind of Calamitous event. Worst case, she’d fight to the bitter end.
Zoisite: She’s definitely concerned about it, but she’s not much one for plans. Unfortunately for her, planning is much more Alphinaud’s thing...
