Ciel Sauveterre

Traveling songstress
Opera singer
Faithful of Oschon
Scion of the Seventh Dawn

History

Ciel Sauveterre grew up in Gridania, the only child to a ranking member of the Wood Wailers and a Conjurer, and spent some of her earliest years as part of a chorus for various festivals and faith events. While her upbringing was mostly peaceful, it came with certain expectations. A born Hearer, she was destined to become a part of the Conjurers' guild, something which never sat quite right with her, and she would later have an arranged engagement to one of her father's Duskwight subordinates, Theirremont, when she became a teenager. Although the latter arrangement was determined by her parents, she took well to the young man she would be given to and friendship blossomed into her first love, a complete opposite of what might be anticipated from similar tales.Theirremont mysteriously broke off their engagement one morning before dawn, while Ciel was still asleep. He slipped his ring from her finger and stole into the Shroud, come to find out later that he was working with poachers. Confused and worried, she ran off to find him and learned of his ties, but by the time she found him it was far too late. The poachers had gone after a creature deemed sacred by the Elementals. Most paid with their lives while others fled. Theirremont stood his ground and struck the final blow to the beast, but his own light would fade beneath the canopy while wrapped up in Ciel's arms.As a witness, and for failing to stop this crime, she was marked by the Elementals and her Conjury was sealed. She fled the Twelveswood with only her robes on her back, her voice, a dropped bow taken from a fallen poacher, and the young coeurl kitten Theirremont had given her as an engagement gift. It never occurred to her where or how he could have afforded such an extravagant gift when he was caring for his ailing mother in his spare time.Her departure from the Shroud was 2-3 years before the Calamity was even a concern in any Eorzean's mind.After several days of following the road south, Ciel ended up in the arid climes of Thanalan and beheld the domes and towers of Ul'dah in the distance. It meant a new life, a very different one than any she could have imagined up until then, but it also meant opportunity. She later sent word to her parents of what happened, but feared returning to Gridania due the Elementals' wrath.She signed on with the Immortal Flames. This placed her on her new path, introducing her to new comrades, and providing her with experience she needed to survive. She quickly toughen herself to the new world she was introduced to. The tender green leaf of the Shroud gradually distinguished herself among other members of the free brigade through cooperation, effort, and bringing much needed boosts to morale when they were needed. She found reward placed in her hand, and rank upon her shoulders as time went on, but this path, too, had its end.The Battle of Carteneau.She watched as Dalamud slowly crawled closer and loomed ever larger in the sky. She had to have felt the same despair as anyone else at the reckoning of it all, when a hopeless war lay spread out upon the field before her, and beneath the red-burning sphere which would surely crush them all. Most of her assigned unit, the Wulfegard, was annihilated in the conflict, and those who survived perished under the crush of falling Allagan debris and flames. In those last moments, desperate, she sang out for salvation and clung to a wounded man in armor until everything blurred and vanished from her awareness.Fast-forward five years. Somehow, Ciel found herself right back at the beginning of her path, in the Twelveswood. While silence greeted her, the old tension of the Elementals remained yet felt distracted by the damage sustained in Dalamud's fall. Arriving in Gridania, she learned that her father died trying to defend their home from Imperial incursion, and her mother took her own life in the aftermath, after losing her husband and fearing the death of her only daughter. She had no anchors remaining there, and placed herself back on the road at Oschon's whim that she might fully know the realm and all the world that is Hydaelyn.Since the Calamity, Ciel has returned to aid the Scions and Flames, both, in helping to quell some of Eorzea's problems, and also redeemed herself before the Elementals. In between her duties, she travels the realm and beyond to share her music.

IC Details

NAME: Ciel SauveterreAGE: Late 20'sRACE: Elezen, WildwoodGENDER: FemaleSEXUALITY: HeterosexualMARTIAL STATUS: SinglePhysical AppearanceHAIR: Long, straight white hair spills like a curtain past her shoulders, to the middle of her back. Clean, smooth, and well kept, this is someone who spares no small expense on upkeep.EYES: Green, the shade of emerald of fresh spring greenery, and gleaming with sunlit warmth.HEIGHT: 6′1″BUILD: Slender, but neither soft nor thickly muscled. She is healthy and active, and frequently travels on foot to fully enjoy her surroundings. Her arms are also well-toned due to her use of the bow.PERSONALITY:Ciel is, and ever has been, a gentle woman who refuses to allow her experiences to dim her light and harden her heart. There is enough despair in the world without her taking it all in, or adding to it, and thus does she do her damnedest to help quell suffering where she can whether this be by hand, by bow, or by song. However, she does guard her heart well after one betrothal ending in disaster, and a later marriage ending in betrayal at her husband's hands. But she is still a born romantic and has been known to flirt unabashedly when she feels like it, sometimes even in the midst of battle as a means of befuddling an enemy.Her warmth and kindness extend to the mortally wounded and infirm, to whom she has given much of her time in making their last moments peaceful. When nothing more can be done to hold them to the realm of the living, a final succor can be granted to a fitful soul in the form of song. In this way, she has been likened to a Valkyrie for her knack of gently ushering the dying brave unto the Heavens once they have laid down their weapons for the last time.DISTINGUISHING MARKS:Her right cheek is adorned with ink in the form of a pair of violet stars. It is exceptionally rare to see her without them, if she should find a need to cover them for a costume or some other reason. Their meaning is known only to her.Between her shoulders rests another pattern one might assume to be ink… a lasting reminder of Carteneau.She’s also almost always dressed to the nines, unless she’s in uniform. But she somehow has the knack of making that look good, too.RP HooksAs a performer and wanderer:Ciel has been a presence on many stages over the years as a performer and a host, taking on main roles as well as extras. She is one of the founding members of Palazzo Aldenard, and was the first Maria in their iteration of Maria and Draco. She is a versatile songstress, classically trained in opera, and keeping experience with several string instruments. She can use her voice to stir the air and create shifts in light, energy, and fleeting illusion.She has traveled frequently and such ventures have taken her around the Star to many lands. She has her sights on Western shores in the near future.As an Immortal Flame:Presently on reserve as member of the Free Brigade, Ciel earned her rank of 2nd Lieutenant prior to the Calamity. She earned her place through feats of valor, and looking after the well-being of her comrades before, during, and after conflicts.She lacks the bark of a ranking officer, preferring to be of a gentler mien, but will not hesitate to put her foot down if tested. Ciel disappeared at Carteneau and was believed to have died there until she resurfaced nearly six summers later. In recent years, she has participated in the liberation of Ala Mhigo with the Eorzean Alliance as well as the conflict at Ghimlyt Dark.As a Scion/Walker of the Path:Ciel came into contact with the Circle of Knowing some time after first enlisting with the Flames, a couple of years before the Calamity. Rumor had it that she was not the only one to experience the phenomenon known as the Echo, so she followed the rumors, learned names, and those names led her to the Waking Sands.As an outsider to the city-state of Ul’dah, she had very few other connections outside of the Flames, even as a busker growing in reputation. Finding those who shared her strange gift was a comfort, and it allowed her to set some stronger roots outside of rank and file.OOC RP PreferencesI am open to mature/dark RP themes, but anything which will cause lasting mental or physical trauma to the character needs to be discussed beforehand. IC death, dismemberment, and rape are immediately out of the question and not up for discussion.This character is currently open to the possibility of shipping - traditional romantic, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, slow burn, combat couple are all great themes for shipping, just to name a few. She does have a preference for men.