;the false moon
maelstrom captain, part-time catboy || warrior main, knight liker
Sirah’li is a disciplined man who takes pride in his work—as disciple of the hand of carpentry and smithing, and as a Captain of the Lominsan military—but off-hours, he harbours an easygoing side that wants to pretend he’s still a free spirit, being only 27 and yet overwhelmed with responsibility he's shouldered. Earnest, honest, perhaps too much for his own good—yet familiar with pirate gangs and their ilk; Sirah’li is not wholly blind to what lies in the depths of the city, the signet ring and buried memories a keen memento.His desire, more than anything, is to help others at risk of falling to such desperation while keeping himself well afloat. He wants to be the hero he wish he had once. He wants to be a young man who doesn't need to cheat death and choke on blood as a job. He wants stability, he wants to provide it to those who do not have it. But He is a Keeper of the Moon through and through, willing to fight, serve, and die without hesitation.He should be.Naturally white hair—most of it has suddenly turned a brassy grey from stress, with stray strands of white left. Sometimes he dyes it back. Cheek marks are natural.CURRENT STATUS: Post Pagalth’an/Shadowbringers. Inundated with work regarding the Eorzean Alliance, organizing Primal-slaying missions, rounding up tempered to be cured, recovering from Leviathan's latest attack—difficult, stressful times.May or may not be moonlighting as a birdhorse themed superhero currently. WAAARKFinished Endwalker! - 18+ - Walkups+Discord welcome
Background
Full name: Sirah’li Kheilsu
Age: 27 cycles
Gender: Transgender Male
Nameday: 7th Sun of 6th Umbral Moon (December 7th)
Languages: Common Eorzean, Miqo’te (Huntspeak whistles+sign, and Eorzean-Old Miqo’te from Eras past. A pidgin.)
Sexuality: Bisexual
Race: Moonkeeper Miqo’te, Gridanian by extension
Occupation: Captain of the Maelstrom, leading field operations, drills, and too much paperwork for a man who was illiterate barely a decade ago. Professional Carpenter and Smithy, mends books and staves as well. Self-appointed purveyor of relics of the allagan variety, and inventions of the recent. More the latter.
Voice Claim: Yuri Leclerc - Fire Emblem: Three Houses (As played by Alejandro Saab)Note: Sirah’li sometimes will have partaken in MSQ-related events should they involve the Eorzean Alliance. I don’t mention anything by name unless asked/after a reasonably long period of time, and unless discussed it's alright—he’s not going to disseminate private alliance info without good reason, topical mentions maybe.
Plenty of good reasons out there though if you're for some reason interested.
Quick take: A hardworking miqo'te, Limsan-housed but Shroud-hearted. Polite and an enjoyer of simple pleasures like a drink and a good cigar between long hours and multiple jobs, smart after years of dealing with the local pirates and thieves of a criminal nation. His smile is genuine, and Sirah’li enjoys being allowed to drop the responsibility of leading others wherever he can, and actually be a young man—but his eyes nevertheless watch out, feeling the weight of authority on him—even without his uniform on—a weight that pushes him to help others however possible, and watch out for those who would abuse such good nature.Suspiciously—though somewhat (however you interpret that word)—wealthy. He has little issue with spending by the hundreds of thousands on his interests in a night. He has a hard time turning people away in general, it seems.———Hailing from the northerly depths of the Black Shroud, Sirah’li left home shortly after the destruction of the Calamity, his reclusive clan’s ancestral home torn apart and frozen over as a result of the climate’s aethereal fluctuations, and Bahamut’s shackles ripping across the canopy, such devastation not seen by them since the Age of Frost. In search of his own answers and own freedom after Dalamud’s fall divided his community, stole two of his siblings’ lives, and sent countless others into the arms and thrall of the Lambs of Dalamud, Sirah’li took his chances elsewhere. A heated exchange between him and his last brother Sirah'to marked his fate—if he would throw his lot with Gridania, Sirah'to would fight him off like an invader as well.A few years of wandering, and on-and-off adventuring with a close friends he'd made and lost eventually led him to Limsa Lominsa, battered and worn by 19. Jobless and bereft of companions, the title of "outsider" leaving a growing target on his back that left him outside the shelter of already-fragile law, the Maelstrom welcomed him with a cot and comrades; invited by some few who'd seen the miserable miqo'te lose teeth in a fight the night before.Spending so much of his life in an isolated community meant he was awkward interacting with city folk at first. His speech was lilted with a difficult accent, made thicker by years beside a sea-wolf boy, and his few letters weren't Eorzean. His eye, once a prideful sliver of moonlight, mocked as a dead fish's. Tumultuous years spent adventuring, emotionally working through what the Calamity meant for him religiously, barely tolerated in the one place he could run, Sirah'li struggled on a daily basis, working himself ragged to be seen as an equal, to be valued again. To earn his place as his Goddess' child, and he dared not show weakness, turning his old bardic bravado into a shield.Through the years he's gotten a proper understanding to the broader world and adapted to this life well, his accent firmly kept down, and his rank and earned respect for his actions more than enough to dissuade any further trouble to him or those under his protection. Sirah'li has a huge soft spot for the lost and to newcomers of any sort—to a city, a study, or skill, not wanting someone else to flounder and struggle the ways he did. He is blinded by the need to keep up his breakneck pace of handling everything, because he has proven he can do it right, and will not let another person question him again. There's no time for that vulnerability anymore, as much as he knows he's coming to desperately crave it.___Sirah'li's the type to stay polite and avoid abrupt confrontation where possible, more one for quiet anger than a hot fury, smoothing over issues rather than a show of fists. He’s a Captain—but not a Yellowjacket, important distinction, so his actual authority over some things is negligible, as is his right to intervene. You'd understand better if you were in the system yourself. As a teen though? He was impulsive, quick to threaten or save people, recklessly bashing his bow against beasts, an arrogant little bard—a bit of a mess, really, he’s embarrassed of it. Occasionally his old impulsiveness will show through nowadays, and rarer yet, that quelled anger will too, and tempered white-hot by his tamed Inner Beast.———He used to have a crippling fear of the dreadwyrm Bahamut, but he's managed it, bringing it to normal-levels of hating the damn thing and what it means about his beliefs re: the Lunar Goddess and her decidedly Unloyal Hound, Dalamud. It only turned his hair grey overnight seeing the dreadwyrm soar overhead again in his lifetime! Even a joke will rub him the wrong way...
———
Being a Limsan local, and once travelling with a Sea-Wolf Roegadyn boy during his adventuring days, Sirah’li as a result has a thick Limsan accent (or at least, can perfectly imitate one now, in all it’s frustrating, crass glory). Like his miqo’te lilt (hisses, stressed s’s and aitches, rolled r’s/purrs and whistles in every word)—he suppresses it as much as possible, and is pretty clear when he speaks. It’s a sore spot of his, having been mocked in his youth for it.
———
Along with his residence in Limsa, he had the unfortunate nickname of “Fishscale,” “Fisheye,” “Fish,” any variation you can imagine, for his first few years due to how out-of-water he was in speech, personality, because he’s a cat, and—would you believe it—to mock his right eye "that looks cloudy-white, like a dead fish’s eye." His rank now has afforded the respect to not hear them publicly anymore, in favour of the much kinder epithet he carried back home of Lunareye.
———
Sirah'li has had an on and off (offscreen) relationship with an elezen man named Raoul Vaugrenard for the last nearly 9 years. Recently it’s been... very off. The man left the country, continent, and relationship for a Kugane-bound ship with only a day’s notice, and mere days before Sirah’li left on a physically taxing mission himself that left him bedridden. Despite an impulse-decision to sign on to a Maelstrom mission in the east, he hasn't heard a word since, or found him again. He’s not entirely over the way things ended, or how he just can't find him anymore through any of his usual channels, and as a result his head is a bit muddled.Being a very frequent sight at the local bars and taverns (....et cetera, if you catch me here) is tangentially related to this.
Admin
Hey hey!!! Thank ya for checking this carrd out first off.I'm Julian/Apex, also known as Afflatusazem on twitter! I like knights, eyepatches, neon blue... Ahah, if it wasn't obvious.While I don't really RP (not for lack of trying, it just... does not come to me that easy anymoreeee :')) I have in the past! I like to come up with stories and such on the side more I find. Maybe I will roleplay again soon. Maybe that's why I made this carrd who knows, I play XIV primarily on console with a keyboard though so it's a little tough.I love dark fantasy stories, hopeful or tragic, and reading lore. But make no mistake, rules are meant to be pushed n' broken!! I'd love to hear about your character's tale always, I am not here to police your oc.I'm in my twenties, though I'm not huge on nsfw regardless. It's a bit on and off for me as a subject, don't take that personally!I'm also lgbt if the many themes about identity didn't cue you in. I am begging you do not refer to myself or any of my characters with a slur please christ
Comfortable with:
LGBT+ (I’m bisexual and a trans man so ofc!), Discord RP, darker themes, light combat, mundane/casual RP scenes, lore bending.On "darker themes": I dig heavier stuff, but unless it’s stated on their carrd your character/you’re okay with it I’ll skirt around this. Sirah’li himself isn’t a very intense character by any means, but his background and family history, particular his older siblings if mentioned, touch on xenophobia in the Shroud/Gridania, and violence and other such threats among Pirates, as a heads-up.On Endwalker: yeah i finished it in three days. I'll be treating any of my OCs in-universe as Post-Shadowbringers/Shadowbringers 5.55 until like. half a year on. So no casually talking about anything going on unless it's Pagalth'an or Bozja/Zadnor, but privately I'm game for whatever!
Message me about it!
Lasting or permanent injuries—I don’t mind it, but let’s talk it through first, (extensively if it’s the latter) and if you intend this I expect it to be somewhat allowed both ways to be fair. I’m not taking limbs off your oc of course though..!! And Sirah'li's not the maiming type anyways. Fending, moreso.
Romance—If you'd like to pair Sirah'li and your OC let me know! A fling or long term, I'm alright with it, Sirah'li’s had short term and is off a long term, though is a little sore about it. It's not a focal point for me, so I don't mind single ship or multiship.
Please don't
Explicit sexual assault as a joke or roleplayed, use a slur to refer to refer to me or Sirah'li? or at all really. dude
Contact
FFXIV: Sirah’li Kheilsu@Balmung - moondog.carrd.co
Zinaida Kirkegrim@Seraph - kirke.carrd.coDiscord: apex#2490
Twitter: @AfflatusAzem (6.0/Endwalker MSQ spoiler warning)
Potential hooks
Tremors in North Shroud
A denizen of the Black Shroud (or someone privy to rumours in and around) may have heard of the fracturing of an long-held union of three large Moonkeeper families that lasted Astral and Umbral eras alike, due to a religious schism related to Dalamud’s fall, "Menphina's Eye, torn from the heavens." Sirah Kheilsu—the then-leading Matriarch—denounced Gridanian and Coerthan outsiders for this, and any miqo’te who engage with them, worsening tensions with a slew of decisions to protect themselves from what they believe is the end of days. Some splinter groups from the alliance make up the the Lambs of Dalamud, who now go slaughtering the unwary in the name of their dead God.'Kheilsu' might ring an alarming bell, violently deterring wanderers from sections of North and Central Shroud if not for voidsent dealings in Gelmorran ruins, and Sirah'li is... endlessly distressed, by every single thing, and his decision to borderline run from it.
The Twin Adder
Sirah'a Kheilsu, a tall, horned miqo'te, was one of the many who took to the field at Cartineau, alongside Ayoh Kheilsu. Both fell securing their Adder unit’s retreat from a Magitek Reaper advancement, and were too close to the impact of Dalamud to be recovered. Sirah’li, who’s excommunication was a result of his visit to their gravesites and Gridania, to grant them their journey unto the Heaven of Ice... Resents the Adders, specifically, for their deaths. Sortof. He wants to be mad at someone, blame someone, but wavers between committing to the bit and feeling like it's not what they wanted, and resenting himself. Now in the position their superiors were, he spends a long time dwelling on whether another person feels just like him, because he couldn't save their loved one.So he won't let that happen.
Premonition
Since leaving home, Sirah’li’s been haunted by his remaining brother’s warning to him—that leaving the Shroud is just a nicer way of saying he has a death wish like they did, and he shouldn’t bring the evils of the world back to their community by ever returning. With the world as it is, Sirah’li fears this is the truth. Has he been trying to follow the dead so close—joining a Grand Company, on the eve of Calamity—that he would follow into their grave too? Is this all the rotten moon-hound Dalamud’s latent attempts to kill the Kheilsu off one by one? His spirit has found only so much solace lately, and if nothing else will get Sirah’li, it’s his own head.
Axeman
He trains with the Marauders guild officially, and has a Warrior soulstone, allowing him to shake off a lot of otherwise lethal injuries, and crack open Reapers with a solid swing (that almost broke his arm from the impact back, but, y'know!). It's a bit unwieldy, he's always training even two years after earning it, but something he's proud off and willing to help others with similar endeavours.He knows how to turn the facet of Inner Beast power on or off, no inbetween, and absolutely nil regarding offensive magic. He's interested in messing with with some Arcanist books, since he has to rewrite their conduits for the Maelstrom enlistees so often... Maybe it's a way in, to teach him, or maybe you're keen to see Lunareye Kheilsu's Inner Beast turn into a little baby behemoth carbuncle-
Curiosity Killed the Coeurl
Sirah’li can sometimes be considered a bit... nosy, frequenting places where he may hear firsthand accounts of a recent dramatic fight or some other gossip or story, more for himself as a former bard who loves to hear the stuff. Course, it’s a bad look being enlisted with the Alliance while poking his head about everywhere, but he can’t help himself... Maybe it gets him into a confrontation or two, or earns a very weird dynamic of friend.
Reforged
Sirah’li’s good with a multitude of tools to fair degree, picking up far too many housemaking skills from back home for a lad who eventually was to be kicked out. He can fix his gear or that of his assigned unit’s with ease, from stitching cloth to mending metal, and furniture-making as a side-gig. He's very good at putting things together in other words—it’s no Ironworks G-Warrior on his hands, but for reverse-engineering and his time as a deckhand, he’s come far. He has no small interest in minor relics and artifacts by extension, allagan scraps and salvaged magitek always have something he can pick apart and reuse. Hand it over, already, before his excited tail knocks something off the table.He's openly working on making a Magitek Reaper entirely from scratch, but keeps hitting snags, such as "getting distracted by scale-model warmachina that is disturbingly accurate to the real thing."
Who would inherit the future...
Before he dies, something he's pretty sure is quite soon, Sirah’li wants to go on extended leave to Dravania.A goblin contact in Idyllshire by the name of Raggynix Shinytricks has promised that for a... reasonable sum, he can arrange a “sparkled-brain” for this poor uplander looking for a new experience before his time—or new inspiration in other words, for his stagnating work. He swears it’ll be worth his time, once he’s willing to commit, just make certain-sures uplander can make time for it!Pay no attention to the fact the goblin doesn’t seem to have many possessions, except for when he does; a wealth of machina he somehow manages to hide somewhere...Still... something new. Something that could change his life, when his time is running out anyways? Sirah’li’s intrigued by the strange cogs and springs that act even stranger when he’s worked with them, they're proof enough this isn’t some complete scam— flickering out of existence with the wrong touch, and with the strength of a thousand of its kind with the right. Miracle he hasn't lost a hand from accidents with the latter....Does this goblin really have a way to get into Alexander? If he's going to die any moon now, does the danger matter?(Note: I intend this possible plotline to change Sirah’li's personality and uh age... If you may have any reason to want to get trapped inside of visit the inside of Alexander, where a fragment of the past is eternally playing out within, maybe come home with some unusual new toys... Let’s talk! :) )
Misc
He's also just. A wealthyish captain guy who's pretty well meaning all around. If you ask him for anything it's not only his literal job to help people but entirely his nature, knowing himself in a position far better off than the average Eorzean, and aware of what it's like to feel you have no one safe to turn to. He's duty bound, but kept his softer heart that's open to whatever community he finds himself in so long as they respect him as a person back. Sometimes even if they don't. You just bite your tongue in those cases.
Hey go back this part's not done! What'd I tell you. Here's trivia while i work on this for real
Why is the carrd named Moondog: A moon dog is a phenomenon where the moon, due to crystallized ice in the atmosphere, appears to have two bright spots to either side of it. Thus: false moons; also called paraselenae. Opposite of these are sun dogs, or parhelions, though moon dogs are rarer because the moon is rarely bright enough in such circumstances for the dogs to be visible... And well, moon cat. Sirah'li's single moonlike eye and Dalamud as a fallen eye. His navigating by stars coming easy. Religion. Bordering Coerthas. Etc. And "paraselenae" was too long!For a brief time, about a month or so, Sirah'li turned into a Hrothgar. This is treated as canon only as far as it is funny (read: it's not really and I won't force it because lore, don't take it as serious required canon of his. but I like to say it is, because the idea of him screwing up his testosterone dosage so bad he genuinely turned into a giant fuzzy lion is too fun for me to let go of.)Sirah'li is friends with the one other OC I've listed in this carrd, Zinaida Kirkegrim due to the fact he's too kind to think any of the things she's done in the past could really be all that bad, and also she ensured he didn't run off and get killed at 17 during his first adventurers' guild outings. If start to wonder about how "hey they kinda have similarities" it's because though a really convoluted way they're actually aunt and nephew, he intentionally resembles someone important to her she saw as a son, and also I didn't intend to make Zinaida. She showed up after I'd already given some of her DNA to other characters. Please forgive me. I have a type, and it's messy guys trying to hold it together and say they're totally normal people coping fine
Chocoboman?
WHO: This is still Sirah'li Kheilsu!!! Same admin!!! the rest of this carrd is untouched from actual RP setup...!!!! read only if you care about that. or don't. i can't stop ya. it's dry and due for an update though admittedlyWHAT: I am simply going through a very specific phase where I need to be an unserious mascot character because it is the funniest thing I've ever seen.Are you still going to play as Sirah'li: Yea. Apologies if it's mad annoying to remember his name while the displayed one is Chocoboman Chocoboman, or trying to take a "big coolserious captain" seriously when he's named after a joke, i beg of you don't remove me from your friends list for it lmaoAre you... actually being Chocoboman: i will take this joke as far as a ten dollar name change will get meChocoboman is Eorzea's Greatest Hero if you forget the warrior of light and scions of seventh dawn and the first brood and grand company of eorzea and hildibrand manderville all exist. From the backyards of La Noscea to the edge of the universe as we know it, will Chocoboman heed the summoning stone call as your tank/courrier-on-demand. Capable of taming any beast, grounded or flighted! Faster than a speeding chocobo, and mightier than the Red Comet, it's Chocoboman, kweh!Whether Chocoboman is just Storm Captain Sirah'li just experiencing his midlife crisis at the bitter old age of twenty seven is not to be discussed.
Appearance & Gallery
Height: ~5’7-8”, wears a lil bit of heel though
Notable markings: Heterochromia (pale/blue eye). Natural cheek markings, miqo’te eye markings. Exaggerated fangs (one is fake).
Physique: Varies, but good layer of fat and muscle to safely swing heavy weapons and lift with. Weightlifter build at best times, shoulders and back most defined. Soft. Squarish?His hair is white—or used to be, it’s grey with streaks of white nowadays—and is almost always slicked back off his forehead, long enough to trail past his shoulders slightly, tied into a ponytail when not loose. Occasionally it’s cut short, and this almost exclusively when he's at a low point, but it tends to grow back to longer length too quickly to matter.Sirah’li has a fair-to-tan complexion, and when not in either of his Maelstrom uniforms—a dark coat with red accents, or a scalecoat with his iconic white behemoth helm—is usually in a riviera-style vest, some light workman’s outfit, or a fitted coat for longer travels. Likes the colour blue too much. Red isn't his colour, and yet he keeps ending up in it.He keeps a varyingly fit form from running exercise drills, periods of rest/being stuck on bedrest for almost losing his arm again, and lugging around lumber and metal. A few old faded scars are across his upper body, with the occasional fresh bandage, but none too major. Up close, there’s a nearly-faded one between his eyes, and two asymmetrical ones across his shoulders.His glasses, goggles, and visors are all made with a specially treated lens, to keep the harsh solar rays out of his nocturnal eyes when he’s awake in the daytime, or to simply help with his weak nearsight while reading. How does it work, if they're glamoured clear? A very frustrating alchemical process he doesn't really get either...
