a real hero wouldn't need to be kept on a leash or find such joy in battle. The Scions know Adalyn loves fighting, but she fears if they learned just how much she delighted in bloodshed, they would question her capability as a hero. And she fears they would be right to. 3/3
#AdaLore
Fantine: Had private tutors for her entire life, so when she entered the Studium at age 14 and suddenly had to deal with massive lecture halls and self-guided study, she crashed hard and was soon let go for poor academic performance, much to her father's dismay. (3/3)
#AdaLore #AviLore #FantLore
She pushed open the door, and T’nbuela looked up from the grimy counter she was wiping down with a rag. “Adalyn,” she said warmly as Adalyn approached the bar, tossing a handful of gil down in front of her. “The usual, then?” “Please.” Adalyn’s eyes traveled over the miqo’te’s face, following the angle of her jaw before tracing the curve of her upper lip with her eyes. “Say, the Krakens’ll be in town for the next few weeks… don’t suppose ye’d be interested in comin’ back to the ship for a—?” “If this is a proposition, the answer is no,” T’nbuela said, pouring Adalyn her requested drink and sliding the tankard across the bar. “Got enough men takin’ a pass without you addin’ to the lot.” Adalyn winced, but nodded, touching two fingers to her brow in a casual salute. “Understood, ma’am.” T’nbuela grinned at her as she folded her arms on the bar. “At least ye’ve got manners, unlike most ruffians,” she said. She lifted her chin, and Adalyn followed her gaze to the silver-haired man nursing a tankard of his own in the back corner of the dim room. “Though ‘e took rejection better’n most. Not half-bad lookin’ if ye want to shoot yer shot.” “Might do just that, then,” Adalyn said, and tossed another coin her way. “Cheers.” She made her way over to the handsome stranger, but stopped several fulms from the table, zeroing in on the tattoos that adorned his neck. The man looked up, giving her an easy smile as he looked her up and down. “Why, hello,” he said. “You know, I’m quite used to having beautiful women stare at me, but is there something you needed?” Adalyn inclined her head, tapping her neck in a mirror of his tattoos. “Ye’ve archon marks.”
“You recognise them?” He seemed pleased at her statement. “If you’d like to join me at my table, perhaps I could regale you with the tale of the harrowing ordeal I went through to earn them?” He smiled, looking up at her through his lashes. Adalyn sat, crossing one leg over the other as she leaned forward in her chair. “I think names’d be in order first?” she said, and held out a hand. “Adalyn Keene.” “Thancred Waters, and may I say, the pleasure is all mine?” Thancred returned the handshake, but the moment his fingers closed on Adalyn’s skin, her vision went black. Of all the timing in the world…!
He darted between the legs of shoppers in Hawker’s Alley, eyes scanning their belts for a promising target. There, hanging at the hip of an elderly elezen—perfect. Thancred made a show of bumping into him, snatching the pouch off his belt as he ran by. “Sorry!” he called over his shoulder, and for a moment, he nearly thought he’d gotten away with it before a gust of wind swept his feet out from under him, and he landed on his back, air rushing from his lungs. The elezen he’d tried to pickpocket bent over him, plucking his purse from Thancred’s fingers. “I believe that belongs to me,” he said—but then he helped Thancred to his feet, tugged open the drawstrings, and pressed a few coins into an astonished Thancred’s hand. Thancred looked up with wide eyes, hardly daring to believe his luck that the man wasn’t furious with him. “Can I go?” “A moment.” The elezen knelt, putting them at eye level, and his own crinkled in a kindly smile. “What’s your name, lad?” “Who wants to know?” Thancred said hotly. “Louisoix Leveilleur.” “...Thancred Waters.” He glanced away. Louisoix sat back on his haunches, bracing his staff on the cobbles for support as he studied Thancred. “An orphan’s name,” he said. “Is there no one looking out for you, Thancred?” “I can look out for myself just fine,” Thancred said, his nostrils flaring. Louisoix inclined his head. “If you’ve need of coin, lad, there are better ways to obtain it than thieving.” He held out a hand to Thancred. “If I offer to buy you a meal, would you perhaps indulge an old man and listen to his tale?”
Adalyn swayed and caught herself on the edge of the table before she could topple out of her seat and onto the filthy floorboards. Thancred caught her by the elbow at the same moment, looking at her with no small astonishment. “Are you alright?” “Fine,” Adalyn said, tugging her arm away and straightening up. “How long was I—?” “Having a vision?” Thancred cut in, and Adalyn sat up like she’d been electrocuted. “How’d ye know?” she breathed. Any semblance of seduction was gone, Thancred’s expression serious as he folded his hands on the table in front of him. “This is not the first time you’ve had such a vision, I’d wager, where you find yourself walking in another man’s memories,” he said, and after a moment, Adalyn nodded, eyeing him warily. “You have a gift, Adalyn, a very rare and special gift. I recognised it the moment you had your little fainting spell because I know others like you—others blessed with the power of the Echo.” It was the first time she’d met anyone with knowledge of the strange fits that had plagued her since childhood, that more than once had cursed her with knowledge of things she had no right to be seeing. It was the first time anyone had ever referred to it as a gift, a blessing, but Thancred seemed to know what he was talking about, and more importantly, he knew others like her, others working to stop the Empire’s advances as they marched on Eorzea. When Adalyn returned to the Misery that evening, it was with a heart heavy in the knowledge of what she was about to do.
heard it was Thancred day, so here's (I believe) something I've never posted before: how Adalyn met him
#IxiMakes #IxiWrites #AdaLore
Give me an NPC and I'll tell you their relation to my OC
Adalyn with folded arms, grinning
Hit me!
#AdaLore
She wrapped a towel around herself and realised she’d forgotten to bring a dressing gown with her; Adalyn dithered for a moment before shaking her head. She made it back to her room without being spotted. It was when she was in her room that she wished she’d been caught in her towel instead. She was in the middle of drying off when she heard the door open, and she shrieked noiselessly, scrambling to throw the towel back around herself. Haurchefant let out a startled yelp and slammed the door shut, and Adalyn froze by her bed, chest heaving. “I am so sorry!” Haurchefant said through the door. “A thousand apologies, Adalyn, I had thought you still in the bath!” So what were you doing in my room? Adalyn thought to herself, still clutching the towel tightly shut in front of her. She realised she was a bit stuck for options to ask without opening the door. She was already blushing furiously from the interruption, but the blush deepened when a thought wormed its way into her head, urging her to keep the towel on and go to the door. So she did, wrapping the towel more securely around herself as she padded to the door and pulled it open. Haurchefant straightened immediately, swallowing as he took in her appearance, his gaze travelling up her body before re-focusing on her face. “Why were you in my room?” Adalyn asked, and Haurchefant looked relieved by the question. “I had hoped to leave a gift for you,” he said, and held up the small black box in his hand that was tied with a simple red ribbon. “I return to Camp Dragonhead before the dawn, and thus thinking you still bathing, wished to disturb you not. I would sooner pluck out mine own eyes than lay them on you unbidden.” Adalyn laughed, a hand coming up to cover her mouth. The other let go of her towel so she could sign, using her elbows to keep it in place. “Consider yourself bidden,” she said, and stepped back, holding the door open a little wider.
—Fortemps Manor resulted in a brief moment of panic before realising who'd come knocking. ;) But once she's no longer in such a vulnerable situation, she's not fussed if anyone accidentally gets an eyeful.
#AdaLore
Death in Ultima Thule aside, Adalyn also suffered a few other notable injuries. Charibert left burns across her back/shoulders that require frequent stretching/kneading, and Nidhogg and Zenos both left punctures in her upper torso that restrict her arm movements without warmups. #AdaLore
—rest at its home in the underworld at the end of a long journey, don't you think? :)
#AdaLore
—where she realised Hythlodaeus' bow was identical to her own. When she found out it was a gift from Azem, she realised she must have remembered the bow not from her forgotten past, but from her own past life. #AdaLore
Apollo played jump rope with the gender barrier and her shards split pretty evenly between afab and amab with all of them ending up some flavour of nonbinary/fluid. Gender is such a mortal concept, really; there's no good equivalent for how the ancients considered it. #AdaLore
—lot to be desired) and when the Scions in turn learned to sign, Adalyn found her voice again.
She learned to be quite expressive through her face and body language to get her point across to everyone else, though.
#Adalore
Estinien and Aymeric were unofficially 'together' for almost a decade before Adalyn came into their lives, but it wasn't until she came back from the First with G'raha in tow that they sat down and finally discussed what they all were.
I need to start tagging them as the #Adacule 😆 #AdaLore
As soon as she opens her mouth, it becomes obvious Adalyn was born a wharf rat of Limsa Lominsa. #AdaLore
—repay the healers and Mother Miounne who tended to her, but also in the hopes of uncovering the truth about her missing past. (And oh boy did she ever.) #AdaLore
Adalyn pestered Carvallain until he agreed to teach her. (Not that there was much else to do to pass the time at sea.) They borrowed books kept by the ship's medic, but Adalyn learned how to write with a stick in the sand and it's why her handwriting is still utterly atrocious as an adult.
#AdaLore
—call herself one of them.
She's very fond of Ala Mhigo and visits frequently, but she's also not sure how much of that fondness is from a misplaced sense of pride she can't call her own. #AdaLore
(Lyse is convinced, though. They chat about it whenever Adalyn visits because Lyse gets it.)
Adalyn has what we'd call EDS, which was mild through most of the MSQ but had her symptoms aggravated after dying in Ultima Thule. She now manages her chronic joint pain with a hefty combination of regen spells and potions (and a lot of hot baths and massages from G'raha). #AdaLore
She loves the art of killing and knowing she's bested another opponent. If her life had turned out a little differently she would have been happy to keep running with her old crew without a care for who she hurt, and she knows it.
Not exactly fitting behaviour for a hero.
#AdaLore
Two Adalyns stand back to back. On the left is ARR Adalyn: shaggy hair that falls to her shoulders, a green hunter's tunic, a bard's hat pulled low to obstruct her face, her head bowed. On the right is present day Adalyn as WHM: white sleeveless vest, red trousers with a dagger strapped to the thigh, one arm lifted against the glare of a light. Behind them is a lighthouse bathed in blue.
Just like her mother's.
#AdaLore
Adalyn's always favoured the Cryptlurker's Staff because it's a proper bonking stick. She uses it as a quarterstaff, a vaulting pole, and a walking stick to lean on. She might be a white mage, but her preferred combat style is "hit it in the face until it stops moving". #AdaLore
for her because it was her first real gift she'd ever been given, and the last tie she had to the Krakens after leaving them behind to join the Circle of Knowing.
It saw her through a lot of battles as a bard and played a significant role in Adalyn defeating the Endsinger. 3/3
#AdaLore
Adalyn wrote her thesis proving the link between bardic music and dynamis! She opted for the ribs for her archon mark because being able to blend into a crowd comes in handy, and having very distinct tattoos in a highly visible area like the neck is a bit counterproductive for that. #AdaLore
Not exactly the same, but I decided ages before Dawntrail that kid Adalyn really admired Ketenramm and wanted to be a great sailor like him someday.
And then she met him in Tural and was deeply unimpressed. What might've been a fanboy moment turned into a "Wow. You sure do... exist." #AdaLore
out for the kids in an unofficial capacity. If Adalyn considered the ship's captain her father figure, Aersthund was her first real mentor before Louisoix.
(Carvallain later named the Seventh Sage after him because six out of seven sages agree piracy is bad for your health.)
#AdaLore
I don't talk about them a lot because it's really a relationship I'm gonna have to explore in longer form but Adalyn could've really bonded with the twins over Louisoix if she'd remembered him initially because he was one of if not the greatest influences of her life
early morning #AdaLore rambling
The Firmament Restoration! Ishgard is deeply important to Adalyn and she worked hard to see it rebuilt, but not only that—tagging along with Francel and Charlemend to establish trade with the Krakens let her meet Carvallain for the first time since losing her memory. #IxiWrites #AdaLore
The Crystal Exarch kept silent vigil over the scrying window, watching Adalyn make her way across the sands of Ahm Areng with her companion. He supposed he oughtn’t be surprised she’d ditched his original arrangement for an escort; it was only natural she would be suspicious. It was a fine line he would have to walk—earning Adalyn’s trust, but keeping her at enough of a distance that his betrayal would not surprise her. She would not question his deception, and he could die in satisfaction knowing she hated him. When Adalyn at last made it to the shadow of the Inn at Journey’s Head, he sighed, passing a hand over his face before ending the scrying spell. He reached into his robes and withdrew the Allagan communicator. “Are you there?” There was silence for a moment that seemed to stretch on an age. Then the speaker crackled to life. “Aye. Have you news of our friend?” The Exarch couldn’t help but remember the grimace Adalyn had given him the evening prior when he’d referred to the Scions as her friends. “She and Alisaie will soon be reunited,” he said. “Once she has gathered both Leveilleur siblings, I will be directing them your way.” “Thus are the wheels of destiny set upon a new path,” Urianger murmured. “How much of thy tale did Mistress Keene seem to believe?” The Exarch passed into the Umbilicus as he considered, casting an eye over the multitude of books piled higher than he stood. “The extent of my deception remains to be seen,” he said at last. “Whenever I thought she had exhausted all questions, she would try once more to trip me up. I confess to rather inelegantly taking advantage of her muteness to avoid giving away more.” He could almost imagine Urianger pursing his lips in disapproval. “Hm. Thy care for her never ceaseth to amaze.”
The Exarch sat at the edge of the small mattress he used as a bed on the infrequent occasion he slept. “Do not mistake me, Urianger. I will stop at nothing to see her saved. If she thinks poorly of me for it, all the better. You know this as well as I do.” Urianger was silent for so long that the Exarch wondered if the connection hadn’t dropped, but then— “I swore my aid and my secrecy when thou didst pluck my soul from beyond the rift because I believed thine chosen course the best chance of success. Pray, do not forget thyself around her. She is smarter than she lets on.” The Exarch ended the call and set the communicator aside. He took a deep breath, let it out again, and lay back on the mattress, staring up at the ceiling as he folded his hands over his breast. He’d plucked his own heart out nearly a century ago, to be replaced with crystal that soon began to spread. He’d managed to slow it down, but it would not be long before it overtook his entire body. Adalyn would need to defeat all of the Lightwardens quickly if he were to see his plan to success. His heart was long gone, and yet, the ache he felt was all too real. The Adalyn he’d called to Lakeland was a far cry from the Adalyn he remembered. Oh, the fury, he remembered vividly and had anticipated it once more, but there was also a sadness that hung about her like a shroud now. It hadn’t escaped his notice how she still wore the necklace described in Count Edmont’s memoirs, but he suspected heartache was only one facet of it.
The Warrior of Light was deeply unwell, that much was certain. When he’d deigned to spy on her the night previous, against his better judgement, he’d found her seemingly talking to thin air, downing an entire bottle of wine in the process. Her invisible conversation partner seemed to disappear after the first bottle was empty, but then she’d proceeded to drink her way through the rest of the stock—wine enough to last an ordinary person a month. He hadn’t accounted for her inhuman constitution, nor for the circumstances that drove her to such lengths. Urianger had given him a thirdhand account of what Y’shtola had borne witness to in Azys Lla; could it be possible that she had been talking to Esteem? He sighed and tugged his hood a little lower over his face. In the wake of her beloved’s death, her aether had fragmented. Now, he feared her spirit had broken with it—or was all that happened afterwards in Doma and Ala Mhigo what finally drove her to despair? Either way, Adalyn Keene was hurting, and he was about to force her to endure so much more in the coming days. Once his plans finally came to fruition, the gods would have no mercy on his soul.
thinking about how unwell the catboy must have been and I gotta say, this is still one of my favourite Adaraha scenes I've ever written
(cw: wol alcoholism)
#IxiMakes #IxiWrites #AdaLore
archiveofourown.org/works/358459...
Carvallain was seven years older than Adalyn and the Krakens put him in charge of minding her. Adalyn pestered him to teach her everything he could—and lacking much else to pass the time on board a ship, Carvallain agreed. He's the reason why she can read, and she taught him how to curse.
#AdaLore
Adalyn: refers to his parents as Pa (derogatory) and Ma.
Auvrienne: Edmont was "the count" when talking to others, or "my lord" when addressing him directly. She doesn't start calling him Father until after Stormblood.
Narin: Maqli is Aav, and Baatu is Ba.
#AdaLore #AviLore #NarinLore
