Dalii the Adventurer
As Warrior of Light, Dalii's fascination with the natural world was the first manifestation of her Echo. As an ordinary Xaela traveler to post-Calamity Eorzea, it happened because you don't need the blessing of a giant glowy rock to realize that there is infinity in a patch of lichen. Her backstory as her tribe's beloved problem child is identical, but she is a lancer, botanist, and culinarian only. She came to Eorzea with little understanding beyond what is generally known--that Gridania is attuned to nature, that Ul'dah is a mercantile hub, Limsa Lominsa is full of pirates, and Ishgard doesn't like anyone, especially people who look like dragons. After a year or two here, she's since come to grips with the good points and bad points of Eorzea's city-states. While she can still be somewhat naive to Eorzean ways, she's good at landing on her feet. (I'm completely open to playing both WoL flavor and Adventurer flavor Dalii, but WoL!Dalii is definitely marked by. All the things that happen.)
Strengths
- Friendly: Although certain parts of Eorzea can be hostile to outsiders, Dalii stubbornly maintains a general sense of goodwill towards others until they demonstrate that she shouldn't.
- Curious: There are few things Dalii loves more than new things, new people, and new expriences. She can happily wander the woods for hours, or watch an anthill, or explore a dark cavern full of weird fungus. And she is curious about people, too. If you look unusual or if you're doing a job she's not familiar with, she'll offer to help if you tell her about it, and if you're looking for participants in something, she's the sort to try something just because she hasn't done it before.
- Caring: Dalii has a deep love for all things living. She cares about the people she meets and will do things like protect them from physical dangers and share her food. Even if her relationship with her tribe is complicated, she has strongly absorbed their values of taking care of one's own and not letting other people go without if she has something to share.
- Ethical: Dalii won't hunt for the sake of gaining trophies, she doesn't steal from people, and if someone looks like they're in trouble, she will do what she can to help them. She has a strong sense of right and wrong that she is loath to violate.
Flaws
Feckless: You won't believe how happy she was when Ywain told her that recklessly plunging into danger was required to be a good lancer. She doesn't look before she leaps (from heights that are occasionally too high), she offends people without consideration to long-term consequences, and she'll go lance-first into bad, dangerous places... and she might drag you with her.
Argumentative: Her curiosity can easily turn into nosiness and prying. And she's so used to people at home getting mad at her that her instinct is to push a disagreement further and further until it becomes a fight. She'll throw down if she feels mad enough. And she doesn't think enough about the fact that while she doesn't hold grudges, other people do.
Grubby: She doesn't care about being grubby. She enjoys activities that have the side-effect of getting her more grubby. And she doesn't understand why some people might have an objection to that kind of thing.
Notes:
- I am presently in Heavensward 3.1 and while I do know some broad-strokes spoilers about who dies, who is secretly this other person, and how cute and tiny the Great Serpent of Ronka is, I'm doing my best not to spoil myself on things I don't already know.
- This also means that I haven't actually unlocked access to the Azim Steppe, so I might make some mistakes with Xaela lore! If I do, give me a friendly tap and I will be happy to course-correct.
- I'm usually online anywhere from 1PM - 4PM Eastern US time (1300 - 1600, GMT-5). You can send me a tell if we're both online or DM me on Twitter.
- I won't launch into sensitive topics without warning or discussion. Of course, XIV's setting has lots of sensitive topics, but if it looks like we're going towards, e.g., racism and colonialism, I'll start an OOC conversation about it to make sure we're on the same page; if you don't want to go somewhere just let me know and I won't. If you want to play out something that feels like a sensitive topic, ask me and we can discuss it.
- Not interested in ERP, probably not romantic storylines either unless the result of character progression. (Though for the record, Dalii likes women.)