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[heartofthestar]

APPLICATION

Player Name: Dragon
Player is over 18?: Yus
Player Contact: ultimaweapon

Character Name: Venat
Character Age: >12000
Canon: Final Fantasy XIV
Canon Point: Post MSQ fight: The Mothercrystal
History: As Venat, as Hydaelyn.

Name two positive character traits for your character. How have these traits helped bonds or relationships the character has had?:

Deeply, profoundly caring: Venat cares. About individuals, about people, about life, the world, everything. Her journey truly began when she arrived at the conclusion that life was inevitable, and that inevitability was miraculous, and that moment also defined her friendship with the archivist who considered it his purpose in life to watch her path. That caring led her to watch over mankind through millennia of pain and loneliness, and in the service of that guardianship, forge a bond with the Warrior of Light who became first her champion, and then her release. The world knew her as Hydaelyn, a goddess enigmatic but benevolent, venerated enough that the planet itself was named after her. And in her final moments, against the Warrior of Light and the Scions, she put her life on the line to ensure that the people she loved would be protected, or find their own way if they were at last ready.

Boundless conviction: Venat hews true to what she believes in, no matter what stands against her. So deep is her conviction that she sundered her own people and the very planet, ending her civilization and condemning mankind to suffering, out of the belief that it was necessary. This sounds negative, but the narrative of the game makes it clear that her choice was correct -- not necessarily moral, just, or kind, but it achieved precisely the end she set out to accomplish, and left mankind strong enough to survive against despair both existential and incarnated.

This conviction created and defined her enemies, the Ascians Emet-Selch, Elidibus, and Lahabrea. All survivors of the Sundering, these three despised her deeply and profoundly for her act of stripping away paradise and slaughtering their people, and seemed to take personal pleasure in undoing her work and causing her pain in the process.


Name two negative character traits for your character. How have these hindered their relationships or bonds the character has had?:

Weird weirdo: Ancient society was different, with their focus on society over the individual, a discouragement of emotional displays, and a complete lack of understanding of suffering and mental health. Venat shares many of these characteristics -- like everyone else, she fails to notice Hermes is suffering from crippling depression, and though she took liberties with customs such as masks, at no point did she ever set aside the universal garb of the Ancients or even consider doing so. But Venat also took a very different viewpoint than most of her people, with clear consequences for her relationships with them: though she is much respected and much admired, people view her as an idol or at least a person set apart. Even the repressed Ancient society allowed for close friendships -- witness the trio of Hythlodaeus, Emet-Selch, and Azem -- but Venat had only one friend, the archivist of her long acquaintance, and even he seemed to regard her more with awe than any sort of familiarity, to the point that he insisted to her that he'd stand on ceremony with her even if it pained her. One could safely say Venat has never had a close, personal friend as a normal person would understand it.

Isolation and exhaustion: After 12 millennia as Hydaelyn, Venat has had literally no social contact in all that time; her priorities focused entirely on watching over mankind much as a god, rather than tending to any personal needs or desires she might have had. Arguably, being the heart of Hydaelyn may have blunted those social needs somewhat, but nonetheless she has been alone for a very long time, enduring immense abuse and suffering. At the end of it all she is also extremely, deeply grateful to stop -- to finally set down her burden and rest, even if that rest is essentially oblivion. All this means the present Venat is deeply, deeply exhausted, and though she will find a reason to keep going, that exhaustion won't simply disappear. That will make getting closer to her difficult, and moreover, that long period of isolation means she won't even think of actually considering someone a friend in a close and personal sense without an immense amount of work to make her realize it is actually possible in the first place.



What is the most important relationship or bond your character has formed?: Venat found a kindred spirit and protege in the Ancient she surrendered the Seat of Azem to; some time later, the Sundered soul of that Ancient visited her from the future in the form of the Warrior of Light. The two alone shared knowledge of what happened to Hermes and Meteion, and the inevitable fate of Ancient society. Twelve thousand years later, Hydaelyn made the nascent Warrior of Light her champion, guiding and protecting them until she spent much of her power aiding them against Lahabrea and the Ultima Weapon. Despite her silence, the Warrior continued to champion her cause until at last the time loop came full circle, and Hydaelyn could welcome the Warrior she had met long ago, and challenge them to a battle for the fate of mankind, with her life on the line.

What sort of bond or relationship would you be interested in exploring in this game?: Notice how I keep saying 'Venat never has had a close and personal friend and doesn't know how to have one?' Having people treat her like a person and not an idol or goddess or any such thing would be fantastic!

What power or skills does your character have?:

Creation Magic: Can create almost anything out of her own aether by holding a template or image in mind. The template, or 'concept' is the limitation factor; without one, she has to completely construct every last detail of her desired creation from scratch, which is just as hard as it sounds. Ancients maintained a storehouse of these and consistently tested and refined new ones as part of mastering their magic. Venat possesses several personal concepts: her weapons, her robes, her familiar Argos, Loporrits, and the primal Hydaelyn -- and presumably some normal utilitarian ones that are more flavor than actual power. Venat won't be able to create Loporrits in-game, and will only be able to use the Hydaelyn concept as a transformation similar to other Ancients, rather than to create the full-fledged primal.

Battle-hardened: Venat can change between Paladin (tank), White Mage (healer), and Dancer (DPS). These determine whether she is best at enduring damage, dealing it, or healing it, though she has ability to do all these things in any job.

"The Gift": Can understand and be understood by all things with a soul, which is weirdly-defined in XIV terms and isn't necessarily associated with sapience.

Endless Lifespan: Venat has no natural limit to her lifespan, and with even the slightest attention from her magics, doesn't age.

Arrival Inventory:
⏵ White robes
⏵ Mask
⏵ Honestly even those two are arguable so let's stick with that

Please provide two writing samples that are no more than one year old:

Being nice to someone who maybe doesn't deserve it
Being nice to someone who definitely deserves it