unlucky rabbit.

bram bayard.
mateus. crystal.
pst/utc-7.

stoke now kindled flame.

hotter burn, sing 'til breath expires.

may those who wander paths in the dark
find firelight.

play guide.

cece!
they/he.
over 21. pst/utc-7.

rules.

ooc.

hello! thanks for reading my silly guy's silly page! I'm a full time college student who's been playing xiv since stormblood, and roleplaying in forums and mmos on and off since I was given internet access.I'm very shy and you'll probably need to reach out to me for rp first, but I'll be psyched when you do!style: mirror, para/multi para preferred.themes: high fantasy, mystery & intrigue, action/adventure, comedy, horror, magic & occultism.seeking: long-term contacts and small groups, investigation clients and collaborators, definitely-not-friends, lore-friendly monster & voidsent characters.
not seeking: erp or romance.discord: ce.ce
mare: on request!

stoke now kindled flame.

hotter burn, sing 'til breath expires.

may those who wander paths in the dark
find firelight.

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dossier.

basics.

  full name.    bram bayard-violet.
  age.    26.
  race.    veena viera.
  birthday / nameday     30th sun of the 1st astral moon.
  gender.     male.
  pronouns.     he / him.
  guarding deity.     nald'thal.
  sexuality.     bisexual.

  height.     6'0" without heels.
  weight.     approx. 140 pz.
  hair color.     jet black. highlights change often.
  eye color.     fuschia.
  skin tone.     ghostly pale.
  notable features.     noticeably frail, gaunt and out-of-shape; a stiff wind might knock him over. strongly smells of floral cologne. perpetual shit-eating grin. long ears that tend to be more honest than his mouth. always wearing his eternity ring & another ring that acts as a second magic focus.

  combat job.    "thaumaturge."
  occupation.    voidsent researcher, private paranormal investigator, extremely legitimate ul'dahn nobility, occasional antique hawker.
  place of origin.     ????
  location.    ul'dah.
  marital status.     married.

  d&d alignment.     chaotic neutral.
  virtues.     intelligent, passionate, perseverant, flamboyant, well-mannered, well-spoken.
  flaws.     pretentious, arrogant, ambitious, dishonest, distrustful, overdramatic, reclusive.
  likes.   voidsent, ashkin, all things occult, reading (nonfiction and pulp romance novellas), games of chance, collecting trinkets and figurines, theatre, high fashion, red wine.
  dislikes.   physical labor, being outside, germs, fortunetelling and divination, wolves and large dogs, being underestimated, white wine.

extended.

  personality.     An eccentric, haughty Viera who touts himself as Ul'dah's finest paranormal researcher and investigator, despite having broken no ground in the field and having little presence in academic circles.As a self-styled aristocrat, Bram is overly formal, uses grand gestures and turns of phrases while speaking, and has a bad habit of flaunting his wealth. He's quite arrogant and often dismissive of acquaintances, playing tricks with his words and slinging backhanded compliments through the shield of a gentle smile. At best, he comes across as a refined, if not flamboyant gentleman—at worst, a pretentious and tone-deaf snob.Even out of the bounds of work, he is extremely passionate about Voidsent to the extent of being interested in few other things and is prone to breaking into one-sided, rambling conversations about them. Bram was something of a shut-in in the past due to this and an aversion to trusting others, but he's recently begun to come out of his shell (in his own special way).Despite the theatrics, he ultimately seems to be wearing some kind of mask and is generally quite dishonest with the way he speaks to those with sharper insight. A gentler, casual side will sometimes come out when he drops his guard... but is always quickly replaced with more peacocking.

strengths. Near encyclopedic knowledge of most Voidsent. Excellent grasp of destructive magic. Competent tactician. Comfortable in high-class social situations. A natural liar, swindler and salesman. Extremely tenacious and goal-oriented.weaknesses. Utterly inept at physically demanding tasks, melee combat and healing magic. Easily manipulated through competition. Awkward in casual social situations. Innately powerful thaumaturgy + lack of extensive formal training = explosive friendly fire.

magic ability. Bram is a fairly powerful thaumaturge for his experience level—almost too much so, if his story is taken at face-value. He excels at blasting, debuffing and frazzling foes from afar, and has a slight internal alignment towards the element of fire.aetherpool. Blessed with an uncommonly deep well of aether, Bram can expend quite a lot into his magic before draining. It also turns him into a walking beacon to things that seek out the stuff, such as Voidsent, but this is a boon in his mind.amplifier. The ring Bram wears is really a second focus that he can 'filter' extra aether through for a stronger burst with additional casting time. He can also use it to cast simple cantrips when unarmed, like lighting fires, picking simple locks, and levitating small objects.

a. Can play the piano and violin. Supposedly very good with the latter, but refuses to pick up the instrument. Can also waltz, but gods help you if he tries any style of dance more modern.b. Works a side gig as an antique trader at Black Blossom Shop. This and his hobby of collecting random 'interesting' junk has made him passable at item appraisal.c. Has a strange-sounding Ishgardian accent, somewhere between real and fake. Tends to switch between languages, both for 'dramatic effect' and because he understands certain words and phrases better in the former. Gets inexplicably stronger when angered.

d. Plagued by an acute fear of wolves and large dogs, the only creatures that can crack the otherwise unflappable enthusiast of Voidsent and nightkin.e. Natural hair color is white but seldom worn out this way, insisting that he "has an image to maintain."f. Hides his ultimate guilty pleasure, a vast collection of trashy romance novels, in hollowed-out false covers around obscure spots of his library. Will vehemently deny their existence, even if caught red-handed.g. Despite his dislike of the great outdoors, he takes very good care of the manor gardens and flowerbeds.

statistics.

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hotter burn, sing 'til breath expires.

may those who wander paths in the dark
find firelight.

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history.

New residents of the Goblet will occasionally ask about the presence of a manor lying on the district's outskirts, secluded by imposing gates and a crumbling facade. Once the sight of many a gala held by an aging adventurer and wannabe Ul'dahn nobleman, it's now under the care of Bram, his ward and inheritor, who he adopted under hazy circumstances. This is all he'll say about his childhood when pressed, other than waxing poetic about his prestigious tutoring in etiquette and academics growing up. In the Viera's mind, his life begins in the mansion's dimly-lit foyer in his early teens.Left to his own devices when not schooled or entertaining his guardian's frequent party guests, Bram developed an intense fascination with Voidsent and all manner of undead and paranormal phenomena soon after settling in Ul'dah. After a chance sighting of flocking ahriman from afar, the boy began to amass a secret collection of occult magazines and writings to memorize in his free time. Ambitions of greatness in the field and the thrill of unlocking the Void's secrets only grew stronger over time, until the adventurer's sudden passing from age-borne health issues.

Finding himself free to follow his dream career, backed with sole ownership of the estate and a mountain of gil as vast as his unresolved grief, Bram began to position himself as an up-and-coming scholar of the occult. Thus began his habitual cycles of hiding away in his study, refusing to leave the manor for weeks at a time, and jotting down essays and theories with whatever sources he can get his hands on.Overseeing funeral proceedings put Bram in the eye of the Arrzaneth Ossuary, leading to a brief stint with the Thaumaturge's Guild. He picked up the basics of the art within and quickly began to show prodigious magical skill thanks to a deep reservoir of personal aether, but left to pursue self-study within months. The halls of the Guild, however secluded, were still too crowded and suffocating for him to handle (but if asked, he'll tell you his great skill and finesse with magic simply dwarfed that of the other thaumaturges).

Though his aims to deepen the world's understanding of the Thirteenth and make a name for himself are great, Bram is as of yet unpublished by any academic board or scholasticate. His early work, lacking experience and reliable access to subjects, tended to be greatly derivative or too outlandish and exaggerated to publish. In his frustration, Bram made the drastic decision to cut short his independent scholarly work and began reaching out to smaller organizations for research assistance. Pride and social insecurities take a backseat to such an extended failure.Bram intended this to be a very brief change of plan. Use the resources and peers he gained access to as he sees fit, earn some clout, finally get something published—then vanish, back into isolation to handle his advanced studies alone.

Instead he found that the acceptance he'd craved all his life, not to mention more consistent results, were not to be found in the upper echelons of a scholasticate or stuffed inside a published journal with his name across the cover. It's with colleagues fighting and struggling alongside him, pursuing their own goals, loathe as Bram still is to utter the word 'friend' to anyone. Rumors leak from his small cadre of housekeepers that the manor has even welcomed a new resident in the last few years.These developments aren't cause for Bram to ease on his ambitions, however—they spur him on through continued studies and magical exploits. His hopes of breaking through obscurity now fall on various business partners, the groups he works with, and occasional private investigations—as well as some kind of grand, semi-secret project he's working on under the radar. He won't go into it on grounds of confidentiality, but it seems like there's more to it than just another one of his vanity projects.

stoke now kindled flame.

hotter burn, sing 'til breath expires.

may those who wander paths in the dark
find firelight.

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hooks.

i. Those with a pressing paranormal mystery or Voidsent issue will find an enthusiastic investigator or collaborator in Bram. He's always open for new cases, provided he finds them interesting.ii. Should he be otherwise unaccompanied while pursuing relics or Voidsent for field research, Bram may be open to hiring mercenaries or adventurers passing by. He normally takes jobs in and around Thanalan, Coerthas, Hingashi, and Old Sharlayan.

iii. Bram is a curious soul who thirsts for knowledge regarding his subjects of choice. Fellow scholars of the Void, aetherologists, and practitioners of most schools of magic are his favorite people to speak and exchange information with—just don't bore him.iv. If your character knows enough about thaumaturgy, they might notice that Bram can dish out some suspiciously advanced spells when his back's against the wall, especially for someone who insists on being self-taught.

v. The manor has recently tightened security measures, including a blanket ward against Voidsent. However, on occasion, it could still be slipped into by curious souls, travelers seeking shelter, or would-be bandits.vi. Bram rarely leaves a market empty handed and is easy for merchants to sell books, luxury goods, and collectables to. Given his side job as an antique trader, he might have something interesting in exchange...

vii. Bram's late guardian was supposedly an adventurer successful enough to garner a lavish fortune and estate. If your character was very tuned into Ul'dah's adventuring scene more than a decade ago, they may know something of his reputation.viii. Other Viera, or those knowledgeable of the culture, may wonder how he fell into his current life situation, where he's really from and why he is not a wood-warder. He will likely not respond to this observation very well.

stoke now kindled flame.

hotter burn, sing 'til breath expires.

may those who wander paths in the dark
find firelight.

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relations.

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i squeeze myself into the frame you made.

this is someone else, not me.

these expressions — are they truth or lies?
who am i?

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gallery.

stoke now kindled flame.

hotter burn, sing 'til breath expires.

may those who wander paths in the dark
find firelight.

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