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   PEONY HAVENCREST the shot heard across worlds | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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YOU CAN GO YOUR OWN WAY you can call it another lonely day BACKGROUNDBorn Panha to a Keeper of the Moon family in the South Shroud, the infant Mi'qote was raised within her small, nomadic hunting community near Camp Tranquil, loved by her parents and siblings both. However, as a mere toddler Panha was separated from her family during a run-in with poachers, carrying with her only scant memories of her family and a limited ability to communicate due to her own age. However, before monsters or thieves could pick her off, a carriage traveling to Ul'dah from Quarrymill comes upon her, the carriage's driver picking her up and taking her back to Ul'dah with him where she is handed over to a woman within the same house's service staff for caretaking, a Hyur named Meriel Havencrest. Only able to somewhat pronounce her own name, Meriel mistakes Panha's name for Peony, and unable to have children of her own, takes the toddler Mi'qote under her wing and raises her. Though uneducated herself, Meriel teaches Peony from a young age how to take care of herself, as well as how to accomplish many of the tasks around the household, which belonged to a wealthy Lalafellin monetarist named Momotiye Babatiye and his wife, Sucici Suci. For the first several years of Peony's tenure on the staff, she mostly helped out cleaning in the servant's quarters themselves, so as to earn her keep without asking a mere child to attend to the family of the household themselves, while learning from Meriel in the evening before bed. The only other children among the servants were several years her senior, meaning Peony didn't really have anyone her age to call a friend, though many among the staff looked out for her wellbeing. She did come to see Meriel as her mother, in time coming to call her as such, and the two shared a special bond that ran deeper than blood. To Peony, Meriel was her whole world, and even from a young age, she understands that if it weren't for Meriel, she would have likely been turned out onto the streets, or worse. As Peony grew older, she was asked to carry more responsibilities among the serving staff in the Babatiye household, waiting on tables at feasts and cleaning the rooms of the masters of the house themselves. It wasn't long before she caught the attention of Sucici, who found the presence of a young Mi'qote among the staff to be quite a novel discovery. More and more, Sucici asked for Peony's assistance, until the day she decided to remove her from the serving staff entire and adopt her as a member of the household. It isn't exactly an offer Peony can refuse, given turning her down would likely see her turned out to the streets, and Sucici is not known for being a patient or understanding woman. Reluctant though she is to be waited upon by the very people she grew up around, the young Peony also cannot deny the tantalizing appeal of comfort and privilege, of what it might be like to have a full belly every night, and sleep on feather-light beds. And at first, the transition isn't so bad. Perhaps a little comfortable at times, and her heart aches when she thinks of Meriel sleeping alone after all their years together. But being the apple of Sucici's eye certainly has its advantages. At first. It starts out innocently enough, Sucici asking her to sit a little straighter at dinner, or picking out her outfits, asking her to wear lavish and ornate dresses. It's a small price to pay for the comforts of her new life, but soon Sucici's reach extends even further than that. Hobbies that Peony has enjoyed in her scant free time in the past, such as painting and metalworking, are taken away from her, replaced with hobbies more becoming of a young woman, like needlework. And despite her lack of formal education, Sucici sees no need to fix that, even if Peony asks more than once if she will teach her to read and write. But no, it soon becomes all too clear that what Sucici wants isn't a daughter that she can care for, the way Meriel had cared for Peony. She wanted a doll, a show pony she could trot out for her friends and fellow socialites, and in time she whittles away what freedoms Peony has, until she's at risk to lose her individuality altogether. Despite Sucici's overbearing control in Peony's lift, Peony still attempts to express herself, Meriel sneaking her art supplies and other things she enjoys, visiting her in her chambers late at night so the two can talk at length, but even this cannot last forever, and soon enough Sucici's iron grip tightens around the serving staff until the truth comes out. Once Meriel's disobedience is discovered, Sucici dismisses her from the staff, and only allows Peony to leave the house with supervision. Effectively, the two are cut off completely, and Peony is utterly devastated. She has lost not only her freedom, but also the one person she could call family. Still resilient, Peony's individuality continues to butt up against her adoptive mother's restraints, and she befriends a chocobohand when Sucici concedes to letting her visit the stables from time to time. The chocobohand, an Elezen from Ishgard names Avert, regales her with stories of the austere stone walls of the Holy See, its stern and pious people, and the way of the machinists that call the Skysteel Manufactory their home. Enchanted by his stories, Peony starts visiting Avert nearly every day, which proves to be her own undoing, as when Sucici discovers Peony has made a new friend, her grip tightens once again, and Avert is dismissed. Once again, Peony is devastated and alone, and it seems the last spark of her defiant spirit is snuffed out. It certainly stays that way for awhile. Years, even, until Peony is nearly fifteen, and has given up trying to fight back against Sucici's oppressive hand. She only speaks when spoken to, spends her time doing only what Sucici allows, dresses and does her hair the way Sucici dictates. Peony's heartache is nearly overwhelming, and though she feels it keenly for a very, very long time, soon enough she grows numb to it, and the urge to connect with other people in meaningful ways also falls silent. That is, until the day Momotiye himself pulls Peony aside to tell her she has received a letter. Sympathetic to Peony's position but unwilling to outright defy his wife, Momotiye intercepts a letter sent from Meriel to Peony before Sucici can have it destroyed, as she has so many others. Reading Peony the letter, Momotiye relays that Meriel has returned to her hometown of Fallgourd Float, and works in the inn there, and asks Peony to visit her someday, reminding her of her love. It's not a command, not a slap on the wrist, but a warm invitation made from the heart. The letter lights a spark in Peony's heart, and the very next day, she begins to plan her escape attempt from the Babatiye house. What she didn't anticipate was being kidnapped instead. Stolen away in the night, Peony awakens within the hideout of a group of thieves known as the Ten-Thousand Needles, despite there only being ten of them (their leader, I'vhey Tia, thought it sounded cool at the time, okay). The thieves inform Peony that she has been kidnapped at the request of a rival monetarist family, but to the Needles' dismay, she is simply elated at this turn of events, and begs them to take her on as a member of their group. From her time of a lowly servant to her ascension as the daughter of the elite, she has no strong love for the upper crust of Ul'dah, and as long as it gets her out of Sucici's clutches, Peony would do just about anything. The gang hardly takes her seriously at first, preferring instead to collect their payment for her successful kidnapping by turning her over to their monetarist client, dismissing her as a spoiled brat. But she doesn't relent, her pleas eventually convince I'vhey to give her a chance. After all, it could be beneficial to have someone so familiar with the innerworkings of Ul'dahn high society among their ranks, and Peony is nothing if used to playing a part. Given a trial job, Peony is first tasked with acting the part of an unwilling captive being handed over to the Needles' monetarist client so they can claim their reward, only to offer some secrets of the Babatiye household in exchange for other valuable information. However, before the monetarist can use Peony as a pawn against the Babatiye household, she is stolen away by the Needles once again, who welcome her into their ranks. With her knowledge of Ul'dahn society, Peony becomes a crucial player for the Needles in many of their jobs, acting as a decoy or a distraction while they carry out their work, always in diguise lest Sucici or Momotiye see her at a social event. Though expected to do her part and pull her weight, for the first time in many, many years, Peony is free to do as she pleases. At first, it's difficult for her to break habits formed to behave and be still and quiet, but encouraged by her raucous cohorts, she finds her voice again, and her agency, rediscovering her enjoyment of working with her hands and making others smile and laugh. Even so, Peony has difficulty forming deep, personal bonds with the other thieves. Even if she considers them friends — family, even — she tells them little of her past, using humor as a crutch to get around opening up about herself and connecting with others in a meaningful way. Even when I'vhey begins to teach her to read and write, she is cautious about opening her heart, in case he and the others are taken from her, just as everyone else she's loved before has been. After about a year working with the Needles in Ul'dah, it would seem Peony's number was up, when she comes face to face with Sucici at a party, who recognizes Peony despite her disguise. With her fellow Needles in the wings, Peony is able to escape just barely, but the Needles are trailed to their hideout by the Immortal Flames. Their hideout and identities compromised, the Needles flee the city, and though Peony insists they leave her behind and cut their losses, to her utter surprise, they refuse and bring her along with them. She's one of them now, and either they all escape, or none of them do. The Flames trail them all the way to Vesper Bay at the edge of Western Thanalan, where they barter passage to the far east (I'vhey insisted he always wanted to travel the world, anyway) with a group of pirates. And so Peony travels to Hingashi, where the Needles set up their new operation in Kugane. With her trust in her allies solidified due to their refusal to leave her behind, Peony's heart starts to heal, and slowly but surely, she lets them in a little bit closer, her life flourishing in the city so unlike the one she left behind. Though Kugane's culture is far removed from that of Ul'dah, Peony still is able to blend in as a member of high society, no longer fearing discovery, and though the Needles frequently butt heads with the Sekiseigumi, Peony is happier than she has ever been before in her life. Her life is her own at last, and she is content right where she is, on her own terms. But her heart continues to yearn to see Meriel again, or perhaps to even seek out her birth parents, if they're still alive. And when news of the Seventh Umbral Calamity reaches them, it's all Peony can do to not hop on a boat to head straight home and check on Meriel. What she does allow herself, however, is to write Meriel, now that she knows enough to do so on her own. The troubling news of the Empire doesn't only come from Eorzea, either; Othard is only the Ruby Sea away, and the cruelties and injustices happening in Doma that reach her ears are hard for her to stomach. She's learned to look out for herself, and for awhile, that was enough, but after her heart was restrained for so long, it's difficult to rein it in when it feels so strongly for others who suffer at the hands of those who have power over them. That's something she can relate to all too well. Finally, after five years of crime in Kugane, Peony decides to leave the Needles and return to Eorzea, deciding to take up the mantle of an adventure in an effort to fight back against the injustices of the Empire, hoping someday she can return to the East and help free Othard from Imperial oppression. Maybe she can finally visit Ishgard and visit the Skysteel Maunfactory, and just maybe next time she's in Kugane, she can learn the Way of the Samurai... Eorzea-bound once more, Peony bids her fellow thieves farewell, and returns to the Shroud for the first time in twenty years. At last she visits Meriel, and spends much time catching up with her mother, but soon enough she just move on from there, too. Bound for Limsa Lominsa, the first chapter in her true adventure is about to begin... PERSONALITYwould an idiot do this? [ consumes lightwarden aether to impress a ghost, an elderly cat and an eldritch abomination ] ABILITIESsomething something echo something EXTRA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
