[ooc] thediadem application

[exarched]

Player Information

Player: Freya
Contact: PM
Invitation OR characters played: Noa invited me like a year ago
Are you over 18?: stares into the sun yes


Character Information

Character: G'raha Tia
Canon: Final Fantasy XIV, Dawntrail Patch 7.2 (NAME)
Age: Oh boy...SO! Physically, he is mid-20s. (He was 24, officially, when he sealed himself in the Crystal tower.) In actuality his soul is about 300 years old (200 years in stasis + 100 living on another world.) His soul from that timeline was fused with his soul in the current timeline into the character he is today. So...old-ish.
History: FFXIV Wiki
Possessions: Just the clothes on his back and his linkpearl (used for communication, now defunct).
Weapon: G'raha is a magic-user and therefore his weapon is a focus point to channel magic rather than something actually used in hand-to-hand combat. It is a staff (made of either metal or wood a a combination of the two), with a piece of the Crystal Tower itself as the main magic/focus point.

Powers/Abilities: G'raha Tia comes in with a set of magical abilities that are shared with other characters who train in similar disciplines, and a few unique ones. He is known as an "All-Rounder", or someone who can fill any necessary role in the party, whether that be Tank (being the front of the party and playing to high defense to avert enemy attention and taking damage), healer (what it says on the tin), and DPS (or someone whose primary job is to deal damage).

BLACK MAGE

Black Mages use offensive, generally elementally-based magic. Elements affected at Fire, Ice, and Thunder (Lightning). Black Mages also have access to "unaspected"/non-elementally charged attacks that have a "dark magic" aesthetic. Black Magic in XIV relies heavily on the use of following the natural flows of magical rivers across the world. (The ability "Ley Lines" is one that summons a sigil on the ground to reflect this.) Black magics are considered highly destructive and take time to cast, so this tends to leave the practitioner rooted in place for several seconds, leaving them vulnerable. Black Mages do have some personal utility to allow infrequent movement in small bursts or slight increases to speed, but these effects last for short stints and have long cool-down periods. See the full list of Black Mage Job Abilities.

G'raha is seen using the full utility set of Black Mage abilities associated with whatever level the player is at. He appears to keep a fairly standard rotation of spells for maximum damage output, which he has likely calculated on his own. (Don't check his FFlogs.)

In roleplaying context, black magic will likely be his go-to in regards to offense if the situation calls for it. This would primarily be fire spells of varying degrees of efficacy. Though video game mechanics mean we don't see the ground burning or frozen for more than the animation slot, it seems realistic to me that there would be environmental after-effects. That being said, G'raha is not the kind of person who would go around setting fires to things for shits and giggles, so he will be contentious of where and how he casts.

WHITE MAGE

White Mages are tasked as nature-based healers who align themselves with the elements of Earth, Air, and Water. White Mages also have access to "unaspected"/non-elementally charged attacks that have a "light magic" aesthetic. White Mages connect with nature and borrow the aether found in living things like trees and flowers, but even in things that are not historically considered alive like the air and water itself. White Mages can pull on their own life force to cast spells, but it is known to be deadly to do so. While White Mages do have a couple of offensive spells in their utility, their primary job is to heal their allies once damage is taken. They have additional spells to boost their own healing capabilities or provide a sustaining healing effect over time. They have a few abilities that remove "status ailments" which are specific to battle, and to bring back allies who have been knocked-out from a fight.

G'raha is seen using the full utility set of White Mage abilities associated with whatever level the player is at. He does tend to spam the few offensive spells available (Glare and Holy), so it can be said he is relatively aggressive in his style, but (in my experience) he tends to over-heal the WOL regardless of what class they are playing. So does he play favorites? Yes, yes he does. See the full list of White Mage Job Abilities.

In roleplaying context, I look at this as being able to provide boost of energy/stamina to people in addition to healing minor injuries and/or accelerate a natural healing process, but not complete it. Even in XIV, healing magics for more serious ailments and injuries is always used in tandem with more traditional medical practice. G'raha cannot cure diseases or raise the dead.

PALADIN

Paladins are melee fighters whose primary job is to stand in front of danger and protect their comrades. Think of the stereotypical "Knight" in mythology. They use a sword and shield as their man forms of combat and their spells are used mostly to boost their own attacks, temporarily raise their own defenses, or to shield their allies. They even have an ability to take damage in place of an ally if they choose. What spells they do use have a similar unaspected "light magic" appearance to the White Mage abilities. They do have a unique ability amongst other tanks in that they can cast a self-heal (as long as they have the magic reserves), though they be lacking a healer to help them. Their "Invulnerability" spell makes it so they take no damage for a short amount of time. See the full list of Paladin Job Abilities.

G'raha is seen using the full utility set of Paladin abilities associated with whatever level the player is at. Unique to him, rather than having equipped sword and shield, he summons up aetherial simulations and uses those instead. They appear to be just as effective as traditional main and off-hand weapons, but it shows that his style of combat is always more magically-leaning. (This appears similar to the Padjal weapons, though it's unclear if this is just a coincidence or something he figured out how to do through his studies of White Magic, for with the Padjal are historically the only practitioners of.)

In roleplaying context, G'raha will probably use this the least unless there is a clear reason that he needs to stand in the way of something to protect his friends. He would mostly be using the shield/damage mitigation, though he has other skills at his disposal unrelated to Paladin that might be more useful depending on the context. He would use this more if he were, say, needing to explore something dark and spooky and was taking the lead on it, just so he could be more ready to take anything untoward that might pop out at them. I don't see a need to keep the tank Invul. It's more fun if he gets hurt.

Of course, G'raha is our special boy and has other abilities at his disposal.

CAT TIME WIZARD

G'raha is descended from a lineage of Miqo'te who were entrusted with the royal blood of the Allagan Empire, making him a loose descendant. It is that bloodline and the discovery of that history (awakening the spirits of those ascentors to further empower him) that allowed G'raha to inherit an intimate connection with the Crystal Tower. This massive monolith gave him access to an enormous amount of magical power and technology. It is important to note I do not believe G'raha can accomplish the abilities below without it, and as such his connection is not as deep as it was when he was the Crystal Exarch.

TRAVERSAL BETWEEN REALMS: He transported himself AND the Crystal Tower into the past and onto another world. This was accomplished with the research already completed by his former colleagues before his attempt.

TRANSPORTING OTHERS BETWEEN REALMS: G'raha was able to pull the Scions of the Seventh Dawn and the Warrior of light from one world to another, and across different points in time. At a later time, he summoned adventuring souls to help fight alongside the Warrior of light.

ILLUSIONS/DOPPELGANGERS: G'raha was able to send an illusion of himself to another city-state to act as bait.

INVISIBILITY: He is able to turn others (and potentially himself) invisible for a period of time. This allowed the Scions to stay hidden when he entreated with an adversary in the Crystarium so they could listen to the conversation.

While I'm sure there are some other in-universe equivalents to these abilities, I do not have any intention of G'raha being able to replicate it. He notably will use his experience traveling across time and space to how he analyzes events and appearances in the Diadem, but it won't give him any control over circumstances. I think it would be fun if he had a goal to try and see IF he could try and recreate a similar ritual to what he did to summon the scions (or further send them home), even if it's unsuccessful. (And something could go horribly wrong for him too!)

REGULAR CAT WIZARD

Even less connected to the Crystal Tower, G'raha is a scholar and an accomplished mage in his own right and has several abilities he has worked to hone.

ALLAGAN HISTORY: His bloodline aside, G'raha is a historian who has extensively studied the Allagan Empire, a civilization known for it's magical technological accomplishments until it essentially imploded on itself. This does give him insight to different types of technology and how one might merge magic into more standard forms of technology.

FLOAT: He has learned a spell called "Float" which allows him to raise someone a couple of feet off the ground. G'raha uses it to save his friends from a lethal fall, but it turns out he learned it so he could reach high shelves in the library.

ARCHER

This is the role he uses early on in the game when we first meet him. Though this comes with some additional abilities in XIV, I see no reason to go into them much since he will unlikely use...anything related to it. Considering how far he's come in other areas. The only thing that matters is that he can fire a bow and arrow if he needs to. So cool.

Application Questions

Who is the most important person in their life and why? What might be different if this person hadn't been around?
Thank you, this question was made exactly for G'raha and he has a 100-page dissertation on it.

In all seriousness, the Warrior of Light (player character in XIV) is a pivotal person in the lives of many, but G'raha puts a lot of significance on them that has essentially guided much of his journey and growth. It isn't even "the WOL saved him and changed his life", but that their presence and deeds throughout their career had shaped so much of the world into the future, G'raha could not help but let them become his inspiration and purpose.

Originally, he met the WOL during the Crystal Tower raids, where they are part of the same team investigating the Crystal Tower (great name of raids, I know). It is in following the path they forge through it that G'raha is able to uncover the mysteries about his lineage, and it is in getting to know them that ultimately what leads him to decide to seal himself away in the tower to protect it and its technology for future generations. This in and of itself is a path he would have never imagined, but it is really only the tip.

When G'raha is awakened two-hundred years in the future to a world decimated and in chaos, it is the tales of the WOL that have survived the ages and give what little hope the peoples of that day have to move forward. The person G'raha was able to work alongside, having traveled so much farther and done so much more than he might have guessed. And it is those tales that inspire him to act--in order to save the world from destruction, he risks himself and the Crystal Tower, performing an untested feat to travel through time and space to another world in order to prevent the WOL and their friends from perishing, so that they might prevent the disaster that brought the world to ruin.

After that, he had about one-hundred years to pour over the same tales and work himself up, creating an image of the WOL in his mind. He knew them back when they were still fresh for adventure, but he comes to idolize them and consider them a sort of ultimate hero of which he longs to travel alongside. Despite his attempts to hide is original identity (in the "off-hand" chance they remember him, because he's smart but also oh so stupid), G'raha is never REALLY able to hide the fact that he thinks the WOL is amazing. He tries to keep a distance as a mysterious benefactor as the Crystal Exarch, but he's unable to stop himself from little moments of adoration and attempts at friendship, like making them a basket of sandwiches with a heartfelt note of encouragement. (And then later tries to pretend that he's an evil villain to save the WOL from the minute guilt of his death? Dumbass.)

G'raha might not have ever done this, the First not saved, and the Eight Umbral Calamity not averted if not for the WOL. Several worlds are literally saved because he was inspired by them. Full stop.

Regardless, once he is able to shed the persona of the Crystal Exarch, he is able to be more upfront and honest with his desires to spend time with his hero. Especially once he is returned to the Source and his souls are merged, we get to see G'raha back in more youthful spirits. He's excited and nervous in the WOL's presence but eager to be involved and help them however he can. It is almost like being aside your favorite celebrity and G'raha is likely comparing what he's read (and memorized) now close-up with the person he has idolized for so long.

However, we do see his adoration shift from being a constant fanboy to something more congenial over the course of the next expansion. We learn that, while he is still the WOL's Number One Supporter, he has gotten to know them as a person and considers them a friend and companion. This is not a tempering of his expectations of a hero of legend, but instead the blessed and welcome result of knowing the WOL as more that lines on a page. The WOL not only gave him a second lease on life (by bringing his soul back to the Source), but also realized all his dreams in bringing G'raha into their fold as part of their team and journeying together on their next grand adventure.

Instead of feeling that it's just a dream realized, a box checked on his bucket list, G'raha sees this only as more opportunities to explore, to live life, and to fight alongside of the most worthy individual they have ever met. The Hero, yes, but also the Person, imperfect and wholly human, who he has come to care for greatly. They are the north star for his character arc, in which he is better for.

Is there an event in your character's life that they'd do differently? How so and why?
I think immediately of this quote G'raha speaks while narrating at the end of Shadowbringers:

Yours is a long road, my friend, and it stretches on to places beyond imagining. With your every step, these grand adventures shall grow more distant and faint. And there may come a day when you forget the faces and voices of those you have met along the way. On that day, I bid you remember this... That no matter how far your journey may take you, you stand where you stand by virtue of the road you walked to get there. For in times of hardship, when you fear you cannot go on... The joy you have known, the pain you have felt, the prayers you have whispered and answered—they shall ever be your strength and your comfort. This I hope—I believe, here at memory's end.

Which to me, speaks of someone who understands that the road of life is never a straight shot. There will be twists and turns. There will be loss and regrets intermingled with the triumphs. But what he sees is that every step along the way is what gets you there in the end. You (general) are a culmination of your life's experience, made whole by the sorrows as much as you are by the joy.

Despite being someone who literally travels through time to undo a history, I do think that G'raha understands his limitations and definitely doesn't believe he's perfect. There are likely a multitude of things he wishes he handled differently, whether it be a conversation, a battle, or plans that did not just work out. However, he does have an uncanny history of his missteps having unintended positive consequences, such as how he originally intended to get to the First at the time of the Rejoining, but incidentally ended up there one-hundred years prior. This ended up being a good thing because it gave him time to build up the Crystarium and prepare for the arrival of the WOL. In addition, his attempts to get the WOL instead brought all the Scions to the First, which in turn greatly benefited the WOL and G'raha's efforts (and may not have been successful without them.)

However, G'raha does express regrets about....well, not expressing himself appropriately. He works on that, trying to be more honest with his desires. One thing that is hinted at during Dawntrail is that there are people who have passed who G'raha wishes he could see again and bring back, though he doesn't mention specifics.

So I don't believe he has a singular large event, if only because he understands the ripple effects of time and knows that there are always going to missteps.

UNLESS...we go less personal and look at the Eighth Umbral Calamity, because then he absolutely did not want it to happen for the whole world ending, WOL dying reasons. And he got to fix it? Lucky him!

Or maybe it was summoning Thancred without his clothes. Sorry, buddy.

What's the greatest challenge you foresee your character facing in the setting?
Getting along with Emet-Selch for the sake of others. And the cat allegations.

I think availability of resources is going to be a hurdle for him. With the Students of Baldesion, his research was backed and he was sent on missions pertaining to his area of interest. As the Exarch, even if he built up the Crystarium, he had the power of the Crystal Tower/Allagan Technology at his beck and call. Later as a Scion, G'raha has the networks of his colleagues and his own connections forged years prior to fall back on. He has never made leaps without having a shoulder to stand on, of which he has eternally been grateful. (Even traveling to the First was done thanks to the research of Cid and company.)

While he has no problems putting in the hard work to get things under way, this is really the first time he is starting wholly from scratch. G'raha will definitely accept the challenge, of course! It won't stop him. But there will be definite hurdles to his progress. I do think he will feel a definite need to perform and provide in this areas for the people he cares about. Being unable to might feel like a personal failing at times, but it will make him strive harder next time.

We do know G'raha is willing to go to great lengths to accomplish what he believes is necessary, so I would be curious to what kind of trouble he could potentially get into when he has less to work with to start out.

What's the easiest thing you foresee your character adapting to in the setting?
G'raha is well-equipped to deal with the implications of multiple worlds, realities, and the confluence of them. His experience with traveling across the rift of time and space both of his own action and that of journeying along with others gives him a more solid footing and his own open mind and curiosity leads him to want to investigate. He is someone who works well with others and likes to share information (when he doesn't feel that such information will cause undue harm to someone or thwart a plan he has in place--MUCH less likely these days) and will be very collaborative with other characters.

He can take a practical approach to the circumstances (when the horrors aren't so overwhelming they absolutely wreck you) and is able to play the long-game when it comes to seeing results. Though he will be well-aware he does not have the time provided to him when he was closely bound to the Crystal Tower, he does understand the time and effort that go into building a safe community. Curiosity begs consequences and he is prepared to face and accept them as well, and he is somewhat painfully likely to offer to put himself in danger for that in lieu of others. He will understand that new opportunities mean new risks and will be acutely aware of that timelines across worlds may or may not be affected by what they do in the Diadem.

This will all be equal parts fascinating and also worrying to him, which is fun.


Samples

Sample:
TDM Top-Level featuring G'raha being teased by the twins (and the subsequent fear of timeline discrepancies) and G'raha and Adrian playing magical Home Alone with some jerks.
TDM Thread w/ Emet-Selch where they have to work together and Emet...doesn't leave G'raha to die?
TDM Thread w/ Sciel where Sciel is cute with tarot cards and G'raha is a nerd.