Shai
Mirthfang

History

(CW: Abuse, hints of SA, not written in detail.)Having been abandoned as a young child, Shai grew up mostly fending for himself. A bit feral, scavenging for food and mostly steering clear or villages and settlements. Now and again, a traveling merchant made it a point to bring fresh food and clothing for the young Viera he would see in the woods.Having some time, and no sense of direction, Shai found himself in the desert of Thanalan, wandering far into the sands before realizing he wasn't coming across water or shelter anywhere. Ending up collapsing, he woke in a much different situation. Strange language, a chain and thick collar about his neck and in the back of a carriage.By 8 summers, he was sold to a pirate captain, a violent and drunken man, who saw gil in his eyes when he saw Shai. This man was known as 'Captain "Banished" Blackbeard'. A Viera was sure to be a rarity and fetch a high price at a brothel later on in his life, the captain was sure. For the time, he was too young and small, so instead he was made to work. Unwilling to teach the boy to read, write, or even speak the common language, Shai had to guess what he was meant to do or the captain became violent. He took to drawing, his more feral attitude having been toned down and unacceptable to the captain. The boy drew up signs that would help him guess what was needed, alcohol, food, stocking, and other tasks he was meant to do. It helped to lower his punishments, at the very least.During the night in his 12th summer, the captain had come in drunk and angry, taking Shai to a room at an inn and demanding he strip. Still unaware what the man said, he figured it out quickly when he tried to remove Shai's shirt. He didn't remember taking up the captain's knife, nor what followed, he blanked and came to with his clothes torn and the captain laying on the floor. Scared, the boy ran, grabbing the cloak far too large for him and wrapping it about himself as he left the inn and took off. He snuck aboard a ship, unsure where it was going. It docked within The Shroud and thus he ran, taking off through the Twelveswood and towards Gridania, to somewhere familiar.At 14 summers, he was weary and tired, having been hiding away for so long, he ended up falling asleep in a hollowed out tree trunk midday, being woken by a gentle hand on his shoulder. There, a boy just a few years his elder, dark hair and eyes, an Elezen. At first, Shai took to the defensive, ready to fight, but the Elezen just smirked and took his hand, not afraid of the small Viera as he took him out and back home, to Peacegarden.The boy was Vaughn Mirthfang, a prodigy in apothecary and living with his elder brother, a teacher in Gridania. Seeing Shai, the doting Elezen took to hurrying him to a bath, brushing out his long hair, and speaking to him so gently. Shai clearly didn't understand, but he allowed the bath and followed them along to eat as well. Just from his table manners, the two understood what they were working with and thus, the next few summers were spent teaching and raising the boy in a safe home. This was also when he was given his name.By 18 summers, Shai had learned how to read, write, and speak, and had taken up learning under Vaughn. He was quick to learn, able to mix potions and poisons alike as well as identify herbs and ingredients.During this time, he left to gather ingredients a bit further out and ran into more than a bit of trouble. Some of his old owner's crew ran across him and held the boy down. When he returned to Peacegarden, he locked himself away in his room, refusing to speak to the other two in the home for days. When he did confide in them, he was met with support and Vaughn felt his own anger rise and boil over, he planned to make sure those men paid.By 20 summers, Shai had been mistaken for a woman more than a few times, propositioned and followed a few times. He took up a knife and cut his hair short, keeping just one long portion in the front. He also took to wearing a mask to hide a majority of his face.Vaughn, by this point, had been placed on house arrest. He wanted to go out with Shai, show him how to fight, how to survive, but he was stuck home.By 22 summers, Shai was feeling restless, but went to Gridania with the eldest in the home, to see a dance troupe that had come to perform. Just the look on his face was clear, Shai was enthralled, fascinated and driven to learn. He drew while he watched the performance, capturing poses and more importantly to him, capturing what those chakrams looked like. When he returned home that evening, he tried to recreate them and started to practice the dances and moves he'd seen.At 25 summers, he left home, stronger, more confident and far more informed about the world. He'd received his first set of chakram and a new painting set from his home as a gift for his travels. The Viera headed off, starting to travel and explore what the world had to offer.During his travels, he'd fallen in love a couple of times, once ending in tragedy in Ishgard and the other simply not working out with how their lives were. With gil running short, he took to dancing at a couple of lounges, fighting in a couple arenas, and selling artwork where he could.At 26 summers, he'd wandered and found his way to Il Mheg, in awe of all the flora and how beautiful it was. A fight with a sin eater ended with him scraped up, but having survived, the pixies took to having fun and healed him, while also placing a spell that slowly ate away at his vision, leaving everything in a glow and blurred.By 28 summers, he'd returned to Ishgard, having heard of an unnamed clinic and going to visit before his vision entirely left him. Luckily, the medic there, Cheats, managed to unweave the spell and untangle the aether, returning his vision. After that visit, he decided the continue traveling, this time, while practicing manipulating his aether and using it to bring his paintings to life.Now, he heads off towards a new adventure, chakrams in his pack and paintbrush in hand as he learns how to be a pictomancer and learns how to deal with his own issues.

Gallery

Hooks

Note:
Shai ICly is not good at starting a conversation or engaging. He still distrusts many people and worries that he will slip up with language often.
Feel free to approach IC or OOC if you wish to RP.

♥Travels (Most Common)

During his travels, he's stopped in at quite a few taverns, inns, guilds, and other establishments. Whether it be for food, rest, work, or entertainment. It wouldn't be uncommon to see the Viera taking a respite or earning some gil doing various odd jobs.Likewise, with his wandering ways, he's been spotted quite a few times in the lands; gathering ingredients, exploring, getting stuck in vines, or clashing with some of the creatures of Eorzea and on.

♥ Dancing and Fighting (Common)

Working at lounges as an exotic dancer, he's turned quite a few heads. Though he didn't often take to going to a private room with clients, he surely gave quite the sight to remember.Likewise, the masked Viera was seen quite a few times in fighting arenas, even when not participating. He's seen at The Bloodsands, The Crooked Man, and The Scrapyard most commonly, but it's definitely not the only locales he's been spotted.

♥ Apothecary Work (Uncommon)

While Shai is trained as an excellent apothecary, he hasn't done this kind of work for others in some time. He still has some clients and some that pass his information in conversation, but most of his work with this is for poisons or personal projects.

♥ Ishgard and Coerthas (Uncommon)

(Spoilers for HW)
With Haurchefant's passing,Shai made it a point to visit Ishgard as he could, visiting his resting place as well as the city proper. Though while in Ishgard and Coerthas, he tries to keep a low profile, wearing heavier and darker clothing and walking with a gait of a man that carries quite a few regrets. He blames himself for his passing, and thus, tries to be sure to visit and pay respects.

♥ Former Owner (Rare)

With his former owner for a few summers, the boy had been seen working, often bruised and quiet. The beauty marks under his left eye and mouth a distinguishing feature that may cause someone to recognize him from days long past. Though bringing up his former slavery and the pirate captain will not get a kind response.

Notes ♥ Links ♥ OOC

Note: I sometimes have to AFK quite suddenly and for an unknown length of time. Please be patient with me.I am also a ball of anxiety ooc, so feel free to approach as player sometimes is a bit too overwhelmed to do so.

♥ FC

None ATM.

♥ Artwork

• Twitter

• V-Gen Commissions

♥ OOC

-OOC and IC are different. OOC; I am a parent and thus, have responsibilities. There may be times where I need to leave an rp to take care of my child, I apologize but they come before RPs and writing.
-I am 21+ and prefer to write with people who are also above this age.
-I have Mare and Discord. However both will mostly be for those I trust and long time RP partners. If you're in a syncshell I'm in, you'll see his look currently, but in all honestly, I mostly use vanilla game set! The main difference being pierced ears, bunny tail, and body (se give us nipnops in base game plz). Currently, I also use a side ponytail hair due to it being the closest to one coming to the game.. eventually, that will be his main look!-Just don't be a dick and we're good! If you want to just chat, that's fine, if you only want a quick ERP and leave it there, that's fine too!(Though the ERP I may decline if not in the mood to write that!)