Clandestine

NOTE: This carrd is an archive! The pandemic caused many people to stop playing FFXIV and the notion of rebuilding a whole new RP group to run events for immediately made me burn out. It's been converted into a personal plot device for me to yeet at people whenever I need an easy RP hook.
--The Lotus - an ancient artifact from the Fifth Astral Era - has been shattered into countless pieces and scattered across Hydaelyn. Each petal holds tremendous power, sparking hunger in the hearts of cruel men, but more troubling still are the strange, unusual occurrences sowing chaos across the land...What will you do?

About

"Clandestine" is a small personal plot spearheaded by Tiergan Vashir on Balmung and centered around the shattered remains of a Fifth Astral Era artifact known as "The Lotus".The story was specifically designed in a way to empower others to flex their creative muscles in different directions - whether that be occult/horror, action and drama, casual humor, dark angst, or just a neat place to share your character’s personal story plots with a tight core of good folks.You are encouraged to be creative and bring whatever you like to the table. If you’re eager, but shy - you can always come to Tiergan and who will provide as much assistance as they're able (barring any low-spoon periods.)You are encouraged to use the plot to push along your personal stories, bring out the best and worst in both your own characters and others, or just generally use all of this as an excuse to create the exact kind of RP you would like to have most.As of right now, there are two ways to interact with the plot:

1) Your character is part of the Link."The Link" is a telepathic connection in the Clandestine story that ties together various people, allowing them to share (sometimes unwillingly) thoughts, memories, feelings, dreams, visions of their present environment, etc. Players with characters in the Link are invited to a Discord and a Cross-World LS which functions as the telepathic bond.Players who are part of the Link can decide to be "Chosen" by the Lotus, which involves the creation of a custom Petal NPC just for you.The Linkshell is meant to remain relatively small and grows at an extremely slow pace. This is mostly, because I (Tiergan) don't want to bite off more than I can chew as a person with a full-time job and chronic fatigue.The CWLS is also extremely quiet when there's not RP actively going on, and I feel a little shy soaking up someone's CWLS slots unless I'm pretty sure I can hopefully make it worth the while.Because the Link is also a narrative device, it is also subject to a few restrictions as to what kinds of characters can narratively be in the Link so as not to bring the RP to a grinding halt.This means even if I absolutely adores you as a person and deeply enjoys RPing with you, I might not invite you directly into the Link-aspect of the plot for a variety of different reasons.For example: While villainous characters are awesome and important - villainous characters (even certain types of villainous NPCs) are currently not permitted in the Link, because a very reasonable first response for most other characters would be to avoid using the Link at all together at any cost in order to protect their mind and thoughts from a threat - thus making it impossible to RP using the Link at all.

2) Tiergan (or someone else directly involved in the plot) has abducted you for sweet, sweet RP.If you are drawn into the story by a friend already participating in Clandestine as one of the members of the "Link", please feel free to enjoy the Clandestine story as you would any other plot or campaign you are participating in. If you have ideas, suggestions, or want to do something major related to the plot that you think would be fun, feel free to coordinate with the friend that pulled you into the plot or with Tiergan.While your character may not be involved in the 'Link' aspect of the story, there are plenty of other ways to enjoy the plot where it is not at all required:

• Investigating the unusual aetheric nature of the Link with magic or devices.
• Scouting unusual activity or monstrous beasts to see if they are potential petals.
• Battling the various NPC villains bent upon collecting them to do harm.
• Getting caught up in the power of the petals themselves.
• Stealing petals and running off with them for your own cunning plans! 😎 (Just give Tiergan a heads up, a heads up first just in case a particular petal was planned for something.)
• Anything you can think of, feel free to suggest.

While Tiergan ultimately has veto-power on any major ideas and needs to be given a heads up (just in case there's a conflicting story already in the mix) - most shenanigans that foster more RP are encouraged and welcomed.If you are ever unsure about anything or whether you are able to jump into something specific, just give Tiergan or the friend who enabled you to engage in all of this a poke.

It began during the Mage War of the Fith Astral Era...

...a group of individuals from various nations longed for a lasting peace that would bring an end to the fighting and chaos. These individuals met with strangers garbed in black cloaks and scarlet masks, gaining the knowledge necessary to create the Lotus - an artifact forged from the souls of countless war-survivors aching to bring the violence to an halt. Fashioned after a flower symbolic of Life, Death, and Rebirth - the Lotus was believed to have the power to end to all war on Hydaelyn ushering it into what was known as the Final Astral Age - an era of lasting peace and prosperity.Countless people gave up their lives willingly to the Lotus, all in hopes that their sacrifice might pave the way for a better future for those they left behind. Their souls were absorbed into the artifact itself, providing it with a level of sentience that enabled it to select a number of individuals for ** Ascension**: the moment when the Lotus would bloom in full, pass on all of its collected aether, and transform its Chosen into ‘higher-beings’ meant to reshape the world.Over time, caretakers of the Lotus continued to add more and more souls to the artifact, each petal upon the Lotus representing a life sacrificed to its cause. Recently however, the Lotus has at last been shattered on both a physical and aetheric level - pieces of it scattered across Eorzea and the lost souls spilling out into the world, unable to pass into the Lifestream due to the Lotus’ power.Strange occurrences have begun happening all across the land, tied to the petals scattered across Hydaelyn.Whispers are heard where they should not be. The journal of a long missing child writes new words of desperation across blank pages as danger swims in placid waters. A cave of glittering crystal manifests all of your most heart-wrenching guilt. Beasts both terrible and kind walk lands they'd not lived in before. Fragments of a doll lie scattered in the forest, binding the spirit of a monstrous soul. A village lies frozen in time, empty of all its people, until sweet music drifts in from beyond. A man long forgotten binds the memories of others in pages where they'll always be remembered...And for reasons unknown, the moment the Lotus shattered, a strange interweaving web of connections sprang into place, linking the minds of several different individuals across Eorzea.Your character - for good or for ill - has stumbled upon this madness.

The Lotus

The Lotus is crafted entirely of metal the same color and texture of steel, with each intricately crafted petal marked with a unique glowing scarlet symbol etched into the center. It gives off a bright crimson aether that can often make it appear to be a red flower from a distance. Each petal contains a soul that selects a living mortal somewhere in Hydaelyn as its ‘Chosen’.The Lotus petals can physically be separated from one another and reassembled again very easily. 8 or more petals brought together will form a smaller Lotus. That said, "shattering" the Lotus involves a sudden mass dispersal of petals on a level much deeper aetherically than physically taking the Lotus apart.When the Lotus was whole, all the souls within it would think and act in unison. The artifact itself would bind itself to a host known as the Catalyst, root itself deep in the host's aether, and gradually siphon it away for power. The more aether it absorbed over time, the more it would gradually 'bloom' with the aim of culminating in Ascension - the moment when the Lotus would bloom in full, kill it's present Catalyst, and pass on all of its collected aether, transforming all of the Chosen selected by petals into ‘higher-beings’ meant to reshape the world."Shattering" the Lotus enables the souls sealed within the petals to think for themselves again. The Lotus itself no longer attempts to bind itself to a host or siphon aether. It's purpose is scattered until it can be reforged and made aetherically whole.While there is evidence that the Lotus has been shattered before in the past, it has always been reforged and protected, carefully maintained by an unknown organization that continued to add petals to the artifact over the years, seeking out individuals afflicted by the horrors of war as recently as 15-20 years ago. This organisation presently works hard to find and collect all the petals scattered across Hydaelyn, hoping to make the Lotus whole again so that it can continue towards its ultimate path.Tiergan was the Lotus' last known Catalyst and the one who caused its most recent Shattering.

Petals and Lotus Beasts

A soul tied to a petal is often referred to as a Lotus Being or Lotus Beast. Each petal comes with its own unique gifts, powers, and abilities tied to who they once were as people. They each carry a tremendous amount of power and aether, which causes them to be coveted by a wide variety of individuals (from mages to mad scientists to pirates to power-hungry merchants) who seek to utilize them, their powers, or their massive stores of aether towards their own ends.While some of these souls are able to manifest as mortals, looking the way they did when alive, many often take monstrous, terrifying forms which is why the term 'Lotus Beast' was coined.When the Lotus is whole, these souls work in unison as one mind, but when the Lotus is shattered, their personalities, goals, and motivations are varied as they were in life as average people. Naturally, many of the souls desire the Lotus to be made whole so that they can achieve their original purpose of ending all war. However, some Lotus Beings have their own agendas, enjoy their freedom as individuals, or can be reasoned with and made allies.Because souls travel to the Lifestream upon death, becoming a petal is a process that can only be performed on the living, and usually only on willing participants. The process is strenuous and most petals do not recall what the transformation entailed, only what their life was like before and what their existence became after.Years spent trapped in a tiny sliver of metal without much normal mortal interaction can cause sanity to degrade. The older and more ancient a Lotus Being is, the greater the risk of mental instability and insanity.All Petal Beings tend to feel a natural urge to find their Aesanir - their Chosen they wish to impart their power to when Ascension occurs. Once an Aesanir is chosen, the Petal binds themselves to this individual and cannot choose another until the current Aesanir dies.All Petals feel a sense of completion upon discovering their Aesanir, and through them are able to more fully experience and enjoy the world again on a deeper level. This is why even Petals who may not necessarily believe in the Lotus' ultimate goal any longer still tend to seek out and select a Chosen.

Non-Player Characters

All information about NPCs can be assumed to be common knowledge you could learn from others or something you could easily learn from Augreaux (The Book).(That said, you can still RP out learning this info directly from others or the Petals themselves if you like!)

The Petals

Villains

Rules and Guidelines

1) If you want to add a shiny new character into the Link, give me a heads up and let me know what the character is like before doing so. Typically I want to play with all your characters, because I love to devour stories, but I also want to make sure we have a good equilibrium for the Link that doesn't make it hard for other RPers to justify their characters using it freely.As an example: Characters that are outright 100% villainous that want to viciously murder everyone else are difficult to justify, because it would be very logical and reasonable for everyone in the Link to suddenly cut off all interaction with the Link entirely to protect themselves, rendering it unusable for RP. This makes doing anything fun and creative in there harder.

2) Outside of serious cases with abusers in the community - no name dropping in the Discord. It’s natural to need to vent sometimes and we have a specific space for it in the Discord for a reason. However, do not share names and do not ask for names to be shared in the Discord. You are welcome and encouraged to ask folks for more info in DMs.

3) You absolutely can RP anything Clandestine related with anyone outside of Clandestine. Just give me a heads up if you create a new Petal, so I can give it my stamp of approval. (And yes, you can invent new Petals unrelated to your character if you want. I just need to know so I can keep track of them all.)Clandestine’s story is also your story. Please feel encouraged to treat it like any other aspect of your character or your RP. You can even use Clandestine-related plot elements for your own events outside of Clandestine. AKA, your character suspects there is a Petal somewhere in Thanalan and you recruit your non-Clandestine friends to go find it. Or you recruit your non-Clandestine friends to help your character deal with being hunted by Lotus Cultists.Just give me a heads up if you are doing something along the lines of creating a new Petal (just so I can make sure there isn’t a duplicate Petal with the same name already in my notes). When it comes to inventing bad guys, you can make as many cultists as you like and make them as varied and unique as you like as they don’t have a specific uniform and have done a pretty good job hiding over the years. If you need a more Powerful And Higher Ranking Cultist™, give me a poke!You can also invent new NPCs that simply just want to get their hands on a nice petal for its power (curious mages, greedy politicians, treasure-hungry pirates, etc.)

4) If for any reason you no longer want to be in Clandestine, it is 100% okay to leave whenever you like. Just give me a quick heads up when you go. Please, please do not feel forced to stay to preserve my feelings. I promise I will not be butthurt or have any hard feelings. You do not have to give me an explanation and I will not ask for one. This is a game and this group is just for dorky plot fun. It is not more important than your overall comfort and happiness.

The Guardians

The Guardians of the Lotus that have watched over and protected it since its creation during the Fifth Astral Era. Little is known about this cult-like organization other than that they have the ability to track the aether of the Lotus and the Petals, and thus are known to sometimes find and observe or attack related Chosen.Continuing the great work of their ancestors who originally crafted the Lotus, the Guardians have added more and more petals to the Lotus over the course of centuries, sacrificing souls to the artifact as recent as 20 years ago. Because of this, they can sometimes be found near battlefields and warzones, searching for war-weary souls willing to listen to the promise of an eternal peace for all of Hydaelyn.

Alabaster Drake

A ruthless scientist known for his cruel experiments upon other spoken. Alabaster Drake appears fixated upon the fragility of the mortal body, obsessed with discovering ways to help mortal-kind transcend their limits, grow more powerful in all ways possible, and perhaps even return the soul back from death.He has taken great interest in both Wyra'li Polaali's unusual crystal, the Petals, the Link, and the Chosen - repeatedly making attempts to capture and experiment upon members of the Link. He is known to have multiple hidden laboratories and has captured an unknown number of petals.

The Book

Name: Augreaux
Chosen: Jophoix Suinuet
Status: Found. Allied.
Ability: Information storage and retrieval. The ability to retrieve and tear out memory from the minds of others and 'save' or store them within physical objects such as books. Increased strength and durability in Beast form.Mortal Appearance: A tall, lanky elezen with a face framed by pale blond hair and clear blue eyes. He's often seeing the long grey robes with sleeves spattered with ink.Petal Beast: A towering, long-bodied creature capable of growing many slender bony limbs with skin and hair as pale as white parchment and eyes like blackened coals. It is able to grow and elongate itself, and it's obsidian robes look more like constantly billowing shadow and ash.

Bio: The Link's ever helpful librarian dedicated to assisting all of those bound to it. Originally a scholar during the time of the Mage Wars, Augreaux was not only a lover of books, knowledge, study, and research, but also grand tales of great heroics and saving princesses.After all his friends and family perished in the war without even bodies to be buried, he became distraught by the fact he was not only unable to help them due to his lack of power, but also that everyone he loved would be forgotten as time simply marched on without them. He willingly became a part of the Lotus, determined to create a world where no one else would suffer the same fate.After the Lotus' recent shattering, he was initially encountered as a Petal Beast, tearing memories from the minds of others and storing them in books out of an obsession with 'saving' others and ensuring they would never be forgotten by history.After being befriended and talked into seeing reason, he now works with those in the Link as an ally, eager to help and genuinely excited to assist. He answers any questions he can and is willing to fight to protect those who have shown to care for him. His bond with people within the Link and particularly Jophoix, who he inadvertently marked as his "chosen", has helped mend his once deteriorating sanity little by little over time, though he occasionally relapses when stressed.While he has great magical ability as a creature of the Lotus, Augreaux is ultimately a pacifist, preferring to heal than do battle, and tends not to want to fight unless his companions are in danger.When in his Petal-Beast form, Augreaux is able to remember, store, recreate a vast library of knowledge. He can recall and present to the link over 420,871 books - the majority from the time of the 5th Astral Era. His power to store knowledge ties back to his unusual ability to tear the the memories from the minds of others and store them in book form.These odd powers do not work as easily when he presents himself more as a mortal, and he has to assume his more beastly visage in order to activate them.

The Wave

Name: Mara
Chosen: ---
Status: Found. Allied (Somewhat). Mostly Dormant.
Ability: The creation and manipulation of water. Limited spatial and temporal manipulation within water. Monstrous strength and power in beastial form.Mortal Appearance: A hyuran woman with long black hair. No one has seen her face as of yet.Petal Beast: A massive, terrifying water creature with ink-black hair, dark eyes, skin like as pale as a water-logged corpse, long spines about the back and shoulders, and powerful octopus-like tendrils from the waist down. She has been seen in both lake and ocean environments.

Bio: Alive during the time of the Mage Wars, Mara lost her husband to the constant fighting and then her only son, Alwyn, to the Great Flood that marked the war's end. After nearly perishing to the flood herself, Mara willingly gave herself to the Lotus in rage and grief over the loss of her child, infuriated by those she saw at fault for the deaths of her family.However, as centuries passed and the Lotus' goal never truly came to fruition, she became disillusioned with the Lotus itself.After a previous shattering that occurred over 12 years ago, Mara's petal found itself in one of the lakes of La Noscea where she slowly began to draw young children to the waters, stealing them away beneath the depths and mistaking them for her lost son.Those within the Link first encountered her upon finding a mysterious journal, quill, and bottle of ink that turned out to belong to a small boy. When writing in the book, the boy would write back, his words miraculously appearing upon the pages, and it was through this the group discovered he had been trapped beneath the waves of a lake for the last 12 years, frozen at the same age, unable to breathe.When rescuing him, Mara emerged as an enraged monster, her mind seeing only that her child was being ripped from her by cruel strangers. Yet through extreme patience (and more than a little luck), Mara was reasoned with and her mind cleared, able to see that she was not saving her child- but robbing other mothers of their sons.She has since been a relatively quiet presence in the link, lapsing into dormancy where she cannot harm others unless specifically called forth. The easiest way to draw her attention is to inform her of the harm of children.

The Sea Serpent

[ Photo from https://valentinvanporcelaine.tumblr.com]Name: Unknown
Chosen: ---
Status:: Found. Allied.
Abilities: Mass Teleportation. Water creation and manipulation.Mortal Appearance: Unknown. They have displayed a somewhat mortal appearance of drowned hyur with ashen skin, milky white eyes, long pale hair that is perpetually damp, and clawed hands, but this is not likely how they looked in life.Petal Beast: The Sea Serpent's appearance is unknown. It primarily sticks to the shadows of the Linkspace, with only a ripple of glittering scales flickering in and out of view from the darkness.

Bio: Not much is known about the Sea Serpent other than that after the recent Shattering, the petal itself somehow wound up in hands of a pirate captain manning the ship known as the Black Charlatan. With its power, the pirate vessel was able to escape at high speeds from pursuers or vanish all together from view.After being retrieved from the pirates during a most unusual mission, the Sea Serpent will now allow any within the Link to travel across large distances through teleportation and is able to increase the speed of vessels such ships both in the air and sea.That said, their reach and power is not infinite. They sometimes require rest and there are limitations to how much they can do:1) The subject being teleported must either be connected to the Link or must be touched by someone who is part of the link and directing the teleportation process. In the second case, the touch is required so the Sea Serpent knows to bring along an additional person as a 'possession' of the first, an extension of them just like armor and weapons. A person who is not part of the Link attempting to use the Sea Serpent must be holding the physical petal itself in their hand.2) The teleportation requires a portion of your energy and focus to work. The Sea Serpent greatly amplifies and directs your own anima, bit of you are exhausted , drained, or otherwise in a situation where you cannot focus and cannot invoke a teleportation, it will not be able to help you.3) Leylines are required for his powers to work with extreme precision. If he's forced to teleport individuals far from leylines, it require more effort and a greater reduction in accuracy - sometimes to the point where he will refuse to do so out of fear of where you might wind up.

[[ OOC Note: The main purpose of this Petal is to give us an excuse to easily travel anywhere in Hydaelyn we want for RP regardless of how long it would realistically take to travel (AKA two months by ship to get to Othard.)The Limitations are in place so that if you have a narrative where you want your character to be stuck, in a bind, or trapped in some way, the Sea Serpent doesn't just nuke all dramatic tension by providing an easy escape where it makes no sense why your character wouldn't use it. ]]

The Fox

[ Artwork by https://www.deviantart.com/remarin ]Name: Valgard Hellfury
Chosen: Sylbfohc Ostulmsyn
Status: Found. Allied.
Abilities: Increased durability. Fire creation and manipulation. Increased strength in bestial form.Mortal Appearance: A tall, muscular highlander man with dark bronze skin, rich hazel-gold eyes, and deep brown hair that highlights blonde in the sun.Petal Beast: A massive beast of black and crimson. It has a fox-like shape save for it's six limbs and multiple eyes. There are cracks and openings all along its fur that seethe with flames and weep a thick, black, tar-like fluid. Whatever happened to him before he gave up his life to the Lotus -- it likely involved flames.The extra limbs can retract down to four.

Bio: Valgard served as a Royal Guard during the final days of Ala Mhigo's last monarch - Theodoric, King of Ruin. He was one of the many that stepped aside and allowed his countrymen to pass during the Rebellion, feeling greater love and duty towards his country than the mad, paranoid, murderous ruler he was sworn to protect.He could never have predicted the rain of fire and death that came after as the Garlean Empire seized upon the vulnerable nation. The former guard could only watch in horror as his friends and family perished in the hail of explosives, flames, and gunfire that came with the Imperial assault.Father of four children and eldest child of six, after Ala Mhigo's fall, Valgard found himself to be the last surviving member of his family with no living friends left at his side. After dedicating five years to the Resistance, he bitterly gave his life to the Lotus, sick to his core of War, Death, and all its' terrors.He felt early on that the nascent Resistance would not be enough to reclaim their home, and was proven right over the years as the Resistance failed to be successful in over 20 years.Though Ala Mhigo is now free and Valgard aids and protects his Chosen, Sylbfohc, the Fox still believes in the Lotus' mission and purpose and will admit to wishing for the artifact to be made whole and complete. However, he abides by his own personal code of ethics and it is this code that has him working in support of the Chosen even if it is against his belief that the Lotus might save them.It is hinted that he may or may not have met Ojene Suinuet in the past.

The Spear

Name: Tsusupi
Chosen: Unknown, but has definitely selected one and is searching for her.
Status: Missing.
Abilities: Unknown.Mortal Appearance: Unknown. However, they have stated they were Lupin in their life before the Lotus.Petal Beast: Oddly enough, this peculiar little petal-creature has only presented itself as a tiny white dog about the size of an extremely fluffy, excitable Pomeranian. It claims that before the Lotus shattered, it had a much more impressive form, but the shattering seems to have affected its ability to manifest itself properly.Bio: This strange little petal appeared one day to announce that they were searching for their Chosen, who they described as a "GREAT DELIVERER OF JUSTICE" who is "TALL AND MIGHTY AND VERY MAJESTIC" but also "very hard to track! Most perfect at shielding!"Loud, enthusiastic, kind-hearted, and very extremely naive - this passionate little petal's greatest desire is to bring JUSTICE to the world. They view the Garlean Empire as the most visible form of injustice in the land thus far and appear to have selected their Chosen entirely by sensing the individual's passion for justice through the Link. Unfortunately, they don't seem to know exactly what their Chosen looks like, other than that it is a woman, and are searching for her.They are convinced that once they find their Chosen, the two will be able to deliver justice properly and save the world from itself through their combined might.Their love of justice was inspired by hearing many grand tales of heroics and nobility growing up and one can surmise from their name and race that in life, Tsusupi likely hailed from Othard.During their last appearance, they admitted being worried as their physical petal was being moved and carried, held in the grasp of "strange men and women who seem like they are not very just." They described a box of metal and tubes meant to try to utilize the petal's power for ill purpose, and said "I... I always thought science was supposed to be just." before disappearing.They are suspected to be held captive by the scientist Alabaster Drake.

The Stag

[ Photo by https://www.deviantart.com/onodrim-photograph ]Name: Ekah'zi Viphaado (Asygvir)
Chosen: ---
Status: Dormant somewhere in the Black Shroud
Abilities: Mental Enthrallment. Earth / Nature creation and manipulation. Aether manipulation. Massively increased strength and power in bestial form. Limited spatial and temporal manipulation within heavily forested areas.Mortal Appearance: An adult male Keeper of the Moon with long, obsidian black hair, storm-grey skin, and deep-blue eyes flecked with star-like silver.Petal Beast: A truly massive creature whose antlered crown almost seems to pierce the heavens. It's head is that of a rotting stag with the lolling jaw of a wolf, filled with bloodied dagger teeth and tongue. It's body is thickly furred, oily black, and the deep cavern of its open ribcage is filled with a snarl of earth, thorns, and vines that spider outward to wind and curl around decaying bone and flesh. Its own physical petal rests, half-buried upon the surface of its exposed, sluggishly beating heart - gleaming crimson.

Bio: This towering petal looms like a forbidden god through the depths of the Shroud, often surrounded by a throng of enthralled followers made up of both man and beast with eyes turned a milky white.It can attack using the earth and the Wood itself. However, arguably its most terrifying power seems to be its ability to enthrall or dominate the minds of others, inspiring either unnatural calm or brutal savagry.It was reportedly responsible for a significant amount of grisly, mysterious deaths in the Shroud, yet despite its massive size and power, this petal has managed to deftly evade the Hearers and Conjurers of Gridania, somehow knowing how to stay away and out of reach. The Wood, oddly enough, seems not to blare any alarms in fury of its presence. It's almost as though the beast knows how to hide itself from the anger of the elementals.---After being calmed, subdued, and brought to see reason, it was revealed through the collective efforts of those in the Link that Asygvir was once Ekah'zi of the Viphaado Clan - a miqo’te who once lived as part of a tribe indigenous to the wood.During the Mage Wars of the Fifth Astral Era, as the nation-states expanded and rose up around them, many Moon Keeper clans were forced deeper and deeper into the wood, their way of life was forced to change.The Viphaado Clan however, could not leave their ancestral home, having spent years guarding over a small, sacred, circular lake they called the Moon Mirror that they believed carried the combined spirit and power of their ancestors. This lake carried a tremendous amount of aether and blessed with intention, could bring about wondrous effects that were often used for the good of the Wood and the clan. It was fiercely forbidden to approach the Mirror with negative intent or desire as the Mirror would often balance this by exacting that negative intention six times upon the caster.They protected it fiercely until Mhachi mages corrupted the lake, infusing it with the void so that they might exploit the Moon Mirror’s power to attack enemy nations, caring little for the grief and destruction they wrought amongst the clan as a result. With the Moon Mirror corrupted, void creatures rose up from the water, powered by aether and years of belief. They eviscerated the vast majority of the clan destroying them - and were used as weapons in the Mage Wars.As the only survivor of the incident, Ekah'zi grew to adulthood full of rage in his heart and as a petal, took on what he imagined was the guise of "Asygvir" - a mighty forest spirit revered by his people that means “Destroyer” in their tongue, known to be a protector and destroyer of evil in the Shroud. It was also known as ‘He Whose Crown Pierces the Heavens’.Calmed and dissuaded from his plans to purge the forest, his petal lay dormant in the Shroud, needing to be found. An attack by Alabaster Drake's minions drew the Chosen to the Stag's location, his petal secured and his trust at last earned.For now.

The House

Name: Yiyisa Yisa
Chosen: ---
Status: Found. Allied. Currently acting as a safehouse.
Abilities: Spacial manipulation.Mortal Appearance: A lalafellin woman with wild curly, fiery-red hair and bright emerald green eyes.Petal Beast: Manifests as a literal house, able to manipulate all objects and most plant-life within her and 20-30 fulms of space around her. The walls and furnishings can shift and move, and Yiyisa can occasionally make alterations to her form. That said, she can still accumulate dust and clutter inside of her, and seems to like it when others help clean.She is able to alter enough of the space around her home to open up a deep ravine filled with water (her moat) as a defensive measure and has opened up the ground beneath the feet of invading enemies. It is implied that whatever enemy is swallowed up by the earth is potentially ejected somewhere else.When 'folding' back into the petal, she leaves beyond any living creatures that are not plants she owns behind as well as any inanimate objects she does not consider part of her or owned by her. For example: a sword placed in her rooms would be left behind, but a sword given to her would be taken with her.Bio: In life, Yiyisa Yisa was a highly accomplished Nymian marine and adventurer who traveled the world far and wide before eventually settling down with her husband, scholar with a fairy named Marim. Together, they had 16 children. It is not yet known why she decided to become a Petal.The Chosen first encountered Yiyisa upon learning of reports of strange crystalline creatures attacking a haunted house in the Shroud. Upon dispatching the creatures, the group were gradually allowed into the building only to learn the house the beasts were attacking was sentient and alive, flustered over having "let herself go" in an embarrassing way when she now had guests.She revealed she'd been in the Shroud since the most recent shattering of the Lotus and that she had not only successfully repelled 5 attacks from Alabaster Drake's creatures already, but that she is able to immediately detect when something is within 20-30 feet of her due to her grounds actually being a part of her.After much talk and discussion, the Chosen assessed that Yiyisa was friendly (if not very lonely, and eager for company to fill her empty nest) - and it was agreed upon that Yiyisa would be moved deeper into the Shroud where all could take shelter with her for protection.

The Hourglass

Name: Unknown
Chosen: ---
Status: Found. Given to Tiergan by Orion.
Abilities: Time manipulation. Illusory magic based upon people or places and their histories.Mortal Appearance: A hyuran youth, barely into adulthood, early twenties at oldest. Ragged, worn, and battered from war, clothing and armor in shreds with a stare that has seen far, far too much. Far more than anyone so young should ever have seen. He has olive-skin, black hair, and hazel eyes.Petal Beast: UnknownBio: Originally located wtihin an ancient, crumbling ruin in the heart of Thanalan, Tiergan made a botched attempt to retrieve the petal himself on his own, only to become frozen in place by the petal's power to manipulate time.He was saved when a certain treasure hunter came across the scene searching for artifacts and Orion's arrival split the petal's focus - freeing Tiergan from being being locked in place. The struggle that came after made clear the petal's temporal abilities as well as the petal's ability to manifest illusions based upon history of people and places.The petal was eventually captured by Orion. Taking a great interest in the artifact, the treasure hunter gave a false replica to Tiergan, who stored the 'petal' away safely, believing it to be real.After the abduction of several Chosen by Alabaster Drake caused many to take shelter with the House for safety, Orion met with Tiergan, offering both an apology and the true petal in a warded wooden container.

The Talon

Name: Unknown
Chosen: ---
Status: DormantAbilities: Unknown.Mortal Appearance: UnknownPetal Beast: UnknownBio: Little is known about this petal other than that it has sat dormant since the Lotus' shattering and was one of the few that didn't leave the 'core' of the Lotus itself.

The Star

Name: Lissa
Chosen: Ambitious Daughter (Aergthota) - Chosen of a previous Link. Was 32 at the time of their meeting. Is now 52.
Status: DeceasedAbilities: Powerful healing abilities. Able to uplift mood and spirit through auraMortal Appearance: UnknownPetal Beast: UnknownBio: A white mage from the Amdapori Kingdom. Lissa is one of the few known Petals to finally know rest.

The Child

Name: Unknown
Chosen: ---
Status: DormantAbilities: Manipulation of flesh.Mortal Appearance: UnknownPetal Beast: UnknownBio: The Child is one of the oldest and first petals of the Lotus.
Though they may behave and manifest as a youngling, they have been bound to the form of a petal for so long, many speculate this petal is actually far older and the steady march of time has deteriorated and regressed this soul far from their true age to that of a child.They were originally found by a former servant of Haukke Manor who had gone mad from the influx of voidsent upon the manor grounds. This servant utilized the petal's abilities to murder countless innocent people traversing the shroud, consuming their flesh for greater strength and power.To stop the madwoman's killing spree, the petal transformed the flesh of servant's body to that of a small doll, scattering the pieces of across the manor's lawn with the petal itself sealed within the doll's chest to prevent the murderer from continuing.Chosen amongst the Link eventually found the scattered pieces, reassembled them, defeated the murder, and ultimately rescued the petal who has slept peacefully in dormancy since that time.

The Coin

Name: Unknown
Chosen: ---
Status: Captured and DormantAbilities: Rapid creation of physical structures. Illusory magic that manifests all manner of riches. Ability to change size.Mortal Appearance: UnknownPetal Beast: A pale, golden-eyed imp that can change size upon command.Bio: The Coin is able to build vast ever-shifting labyrinths, conjuring the illusion of vast riches and treasures, to exploit the greed of unsuspecting adventurers.Those amongst the Link at the time ventured into one of his creations, only to emerge victorious, capturing the Coin and causing all of the missing adventurers to be released. Little is known about him since his capture.

The Chalice

Name: Lady Gliadinne
Chosen: ---
Status: Dormant.Abilities: UnknownMortal Appearance: A beautiful older elezen woman dressed in elaborate finery that gives her an air of lavish riches and nobility. Her fine silvery grey hair pulled up in a series of elaborate braids adorned with deep sapphire jewels and glittering gold. Her eyes are a deep blue, skin pale with a slightly cooler hue that indicates she may be Duskwight. When she speaks, it is careful, proper, and deliberate. Though she is calm, there is a cold sharp edge to her stare that indicates she has seen much in her life and has been hardened by it.Petal Beast: UnknownBio: Former Ishgardian nobility who lived roughly 140 years ago. Lady Gliadinne's family was brought to ruin when her parents were falsely accused of heresy. Though the charges were ultimately found to be untrue, the damage to her House's reputation had already been done. Her fiancé, a man from another noble house, had immediately broke off the engagement and her family had been stripped of both power and wealth.Angered that the love and friendship she'd fostered as a noble were so fragile and determined to survive, Lady Gliadinne became a courtesan, using her natural intelligence, quick wit, and charisma to amass a tremendous amount of gil, learn all there was to know of Ishgard's secrets, and became a trader of rare goods from distant lands. Though she was no longer considered nobility, she grew powerful in her own right and used this power to care for the cast out, the poor, and less fortunate that had also been ignored or spurned by the wealthy - including the children of the Brume.She seems to firmly believe in the mission of the Lotus and does not presently consider herself an ally of those in the Link, though she also seems content not to act for now - believing that the Lotus will inevitably be reformed at some point or another.

The Spider

Name: Unknown
Chosen: ---
Status: UnknownAbilities: Illusory magic in the form of silvery threads that manifest what one deeply misses and wishes they could have returned in their lives, whether it be people, physical objects, or locations.Mortal Appearance: Unknown.Petal Beast: An enormous beast with a hyuran face and torso perched atop a gnarled, spider-like body with too many limbs. It's clawed hands are more like talons and the creature's hair is long, glossy, and midnight black with horns protruding from his brow. Razor sharp spines run along the shoulders, vanishing into the arms.The beast's facial features could perhaps once been described as beautiful were his mouth not filled with razor sharp teeth. Though it's eyes may initially appear black, they glow scarlet when provoked.

Bio: Unknown

WIP