Character Base

• Character Name: Gaia
• Age: Mid-teens (About 16)
• Canon (Date/Year Released)/Canon Point: Final Fantasy XIV (Shadowbringers Patch 5.4 Dec 2020) Post Eden's Gate Epilogue. Spoilers for Shadowbringers content up through the end of the expansion.

• Items Coming Along: Gaia will have four things appearing with her:

1. Gaia's Hammer: A large hammer that seems too heavy and large for someone of her frame but she wields with ease. Like all FFXIV weapons, it can be used in battle against magic and machines. Of course it will still need blood enhancement for the Beasts and other related needs of Deer Country.

2. Cosmetics Kit: An extensive and well stocked cosmetics kit which Gaia will be relieved to see somehow washed up. While it'll still be a finite supply, at least she doesn't have to go deal with eldritch horror without her makeup from the start. Especially when this palette is so on point!

3. Hair Care: Namely a nice brush and a few bits and pieces of stuff that help maintain her hair.

4. Ice Crystal Necklace: A sliver of ice a little over two inches long. It never melts and glows brightly as if from a light within. The necklace (really a simple leather thong) was given to her by Ryne, made from a shard of eternal ice Gaia had freed her from when she lost control of the summoning of Shiva. It is very precious to Gaia despite calling it 'not her style' and symbolizes her friendship with Ryne.

• Content Warnings for Character: Body horror, death, obsession, kidnapping, brainwashing (through memory alteration), isolation, manipulation, gods, sacrifice, traumatic history.

Character Background

• History: All information as of December 2021 is relevant. Gaia is drawn from the aftermath of the events of Eden's Promise, part of the Eden's Gate raid.

• Core Relationships:

Ryne - Gaia cherishes her relationship with Ryne. Theirs is a bond of friendship that has genuinely grown from the ground up. It is Ryne's persistence to reach out to the prickly Eulmoran that wanted nothing to do with 'making friends' or 'becoming close' in the beginning. They are both the victims of kidnapping and imprisonment, of a destiny they didn't ask for. Both have saved one another; Gaia who charged in to save Ryne from an eternal prison of Light and Ice, Ryne who came for Gaia in the darkness to lead her back home.

Both girls are fast friends and while they are near opposites in temperament and preferences, they often find or go out of their way to find middle ground they can both enjoy.

Mitron - Her relationship here is... complicated. Mitron is, to the current Gaia, the one who kidnapped her away from Eulmore, stole her memories and sought to wrest away her dear friends and companions in his singular goal to restore her to who she once was and have her by his side once again. But he was also a voice in the dark, something familiar. Even when she had her suspicions about his intentions, his voice as the 'fairy' who whispered to her was remembered as comforting.

To Gaia of the past and likely eternally into the future, Mitron is her eternal love; a soul so indelibly twinned to hers that even the Unsundered ascians who saw the fragments of their brethren as 'replaceable' by another echo would not raise one without the other. Their love might not be realized in this lifetime and for good reason. Mitron had suffered a century both mentally and physically to the point where he'd been blinded as to what his actions were doing to her. He needed to rest and heal and one day they would be together again. Yet in the moments they last had to speak to one another before he faded, there was no doubt that even this trial had not severed their bond. Gaia may not fully recognize who Mitron is to her. But within her soul there is the knowledge of what real love is. What it's like and that hope to be reunited one day again is a foundation any hardship will be unlikely to break.

Warrior of Light (Darkness) - While not as strongly connected as Gaia is to Ryne, the Warrior of Light left an impression, just as they do whereever they go. The Warrior Gaia knows is one that brought night back to Novrandt, who was friend and travelling companion to Ryne, Thancred and Urianger. A strong figure who stood at the forefront and faced challenges unflinchingly and for the sake of others- not least Gaia herself. Like the others, the Warrior had accepted Gaia for who she was, who she wanted to be and for that she is grateful.

Misc Others - While Gaia's memories had been in disarray even before she was reborn in Deer Country, there are still many people that impacted her life on a lesser scale. Urianger and Thancred who travelled with Ryne and the Warrior of Light were examples of admirable people who worked to better the lives of others. In addition the people of the Crystarium who helped support the mission to research and restore the Empty. They aided Gaia, sought to find out her forgotten past and provided support. This left an impression on the young woman and was part of the reason she decided to dedicate her future to helping others.

Character Personality Through Key Moments

(2+) Positive Experiences:

Meeting Ryne - Ryne and her companions rescued Gaia from the grasp of creatures known as voidsent. Although in her addled state she had attacked them, the group accepted the young woman as more of a victim than suspect from the first. Their patience but most particularly Ryne's outgoing nature and sincerity eventually pierced the shell Gaia place around herself and she opened up. Having seen the impact of people really dedicated to doing the right thing or doing something for the benefit of many has also left its impression on the young woman.

Mitron (Artemis) - For the current Gaia, Mitron is both a good and bad experience. In the end, he recognizes what he had been doing and frees Gaia. She is afforded a glimpse of that man, the one who loves her more than anything else (and the one she feels she loves in the same way... perhaps not meant in this life, but before and in the future). She has seen his bad side but also the good of what such lasting love and devotion can be, when it is not tainted by the horrors of torment and tragedy. In this she learns that sometimes, Bad Things Happen and the road becomes.... twisted. And that, while Mitron's actions were not right in any shape or form, he too had been a victim.

(2+) Negative Experiences:

Kidnapping and Mitron (Obsession) - The memories of Gaia, the girl born in Eulmore, are fleeting. This is largely due to her kidnapping by Mitron and his influence as a voice she knew as 'the fairy'. His aim was to help her remember her life as Lohgrif so they can be together once again, but a century of pain and mental torment trapped in Eden had blinded him to the impact of his actions on her. Thus, Gaia has witnessed what love can become under such pain and the danger inherent in not tempering one's selfish wants with the desires of another and that even in the truest of bonds, such things can happen. It's.... frightening. The kidnapping, having her memories erased or hidden and being misled has also given her a tendency to be slow to open up to others.

Eulmore Upbringing - For better or worse, Gaia was raised in Eulmore as a citizen. Which means a background of rich entitlement. Still strongly part of her personality, she is used to servants, fashion, trendy things, being able to just 'buy' something without a lot of stress over its expense and having a nice place to rest. This makes her a bit of a snob, though at least she recognizes and tries to work at adjusting to her new, less glamourous surroundings.

Deer Country Attributes

• Canon Powers: While Gaia has limited abilities and command of the Darkness Element, this stems from her true identity as the reincarnation of the Ascian Lohgrif. She has the abilities of an ascian (namely teleporting, sorcery, creation) but she only knows she has this potential and had yet to figure out how to do more than a couple of things. She has managed a short teleportation and can wield an oversized hammer with instinctive skill. Over time she'll be able to cast some low impact elemental spells (Fire and Blizzard).

Her ascian powers will be dwarfed by or compliment her blood powers in time the scales of this balance may shift in the opposite direction depending on how events unfold.

• Blood Type: Darkblood
• Omen: Gaia's omen appears as a crowntail betta.

• Blessed Day: May 20 - An important day for Gaia, as it marks the day she decided not to remain changed to the past and what she might have had. Instead she chose to move forward to the future and life she chose for herself while helping others and offering hope.

• Patron Pthumerian: Bausphomette - Gaia doesn't have any strong desire to worship anyone. Finding she has a Patron Pthumerian won't change much in her outlook on life; she comes from a place where gods and godlike beings are both commonplace and fought against depending on their nature and she's never been very religious. Learning about Bausphomette's principles would garner a great deal of respect from Gaia. She can appreciate the fundamental message of 'Be Thyself'. Any boon she received would be with respectful appreciation. She might not BE religious but she's also not stupid.

• Blood Power Manifestation: In the beginning, Gaia's blood manifestation will be stronger than her canon powers. While she'll have a bout of learning to do, Darkblood has some similarities to what ascians can do and that knowledge runs soul-deep. She'll be able to swiftly adapt what she learns to tactics and has a good sense of focus; one shouldn't get distracted when trying to warp reality after all. Bad things go down.

Gaia will have all the standard Universal Perks and be strongest in time and gravity magic. She will have moderate control over reality shaping.

Time: In the beginning, Gaia's blood magic will manifest its time altering properties by delaying or speeding effects. Rather than casting a spell that hastens one's physical ability, she would instead seek to freeze a localized moment in time, rain a bunch of blows down and then release it for the full impact to strike all at once. For spells, this could be like setting a 'time-bomb', making it less certain when a following spell's effect is going to go off. This may even make it difficult for people wanting to counter, as there would be two spells to unravel. Likewise she might try to delay a timer or the full impact of an explosion, giving her side more time to reach safety or dodge.

Gravity: This will largely focus on its application to objects (moving them around, making them lighter/heavier/etc). Gravity magic isn't a foreign concept to those in Gaia's world so over time she'll pick up how to apply it to cause the gravity to compress (or reverse) in a small area for implosive effects or flight and levitation.

Reality: Even if she wanted to, Gaia won't be outright reshaping laws any time soon. The impact of reality warping will be transformations and alterations. She could turn someone into a frog but why would she? Further development of this particular part beyond 'repairing a leaky roof' or 'changing the shape and color of clothes' will depend on teachers. Ultimately using blood magic to warp reality will seem the wrong or incorrect on a fundamental level.

Writing Samples

One: Gaia and 'Thancred' (Lahabrea) CW: possession, drowning, transformation/body horror, memories
Two: Gaia and Natsume Takashi CW: Corpses

The Player

• Player Name: Maruah
• Player Age: 44 (will be 45 in a week!)
• Player Contact:

hammerspace | Discord: Everyworker#8128
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