philanthropist - smuggler - historian

ANYE VAEL

• PROFILE
• BIOGRAPHY
• NOTES
• HOMETOWN
• RP HOOKS
• OOC

Age: 30
Sex: Female
Pronouns: She/Her
Race: Half-Highlander, Half-Elezen
Birthplace: Ala Arghyl, Gyr Abania
Family:
Rowan Vael (mother, deceased)
Lucien Devereux (father, deceased)
Current Residence: Limsa Lominsa, Vylbrand
Sexuality: Homosexual
Relationship Status: Single
Current Occupations: Philanthropist, Historian, Smuggler
Former Occupations: Pirate, Smuggler

EARLY YEARSBorn to a vintner-turned-poet expat from Ishgard and a local dock forewoman in the port town of Ala Arghyl, Anye would have a fairly uneventful childhood until the invasion of Gyr Abania by the Garlean Empire. Living on the coast, her family were among the first refugees to flee the region, and thus had the good fortune of finding shelter and work in Limsa Lominsa before the wave of refugees to Eorzea reached crisis levels.For the next several years, Anye's parents found steady yet meager employment crewing privateer vessels in service to Limsa, and Anye herself would follow suit in taking odd jobs on various pirate ships upon coming of age. Tragically, this simple existence would be interrupted once more by the Empire, as the ship her parents served on was lost at sea during the Seventh Umbral Calamity, struck by an errant piece of Dalamud. Now left on her own with no remaining attachments to Limsa and nary a gil to her name, Anye stepped away from piracy and set out to find more lucrative work and new opportunities elsewhere in Eorzea.A SMUGGLING EMPIREIt was during this time that Anye first arrived in Ul'dah, and was horrified to find the abysmal conditions her fellow Gyr Abanian refugees had been forced to live in. Desiring to help, but lacking the immediate means to do so, she returned to Limsa and sought out a few trusted companions from her piracy days. Over the next couple of years, they orchestrated an elaborate smuggling and laundering operation, whereby luxury goods stolen from the wealthy would be redistributed through an otherwise innocuous-looking shipping company, with the resulting gil either being donated directly to Ala Mhigan refugees, or used to buy essential goods that would then be distributed to them.Despite some early setbacks -- including one near-arrest that resulted in Anye being barred from setting foot in Ul'dah to this day -- this philanthropic smuggling operation proved successful, and Anye sought to expand it to other disadvantaged groups outside of just the Ala Mhigan refugees. Over time, her group provided aid to the people of Ishgard's Brume during the latter days of the Dragonsong War, to Ishgard as a whole following the war's end, and later to Ala Mhigo, Doma, Bozja, & Dalmasca as each region rose up in revolt against the Empire. She even volunteered her services to the Eorzean Alliance on occasion, most notably during the fighting in Ghimlyt, where her skills at funneling materiel enabled her to deliver supplies to frontline soldiers where more conventional supply lines couldn't.EARLY RETIREMENTIt was around this time that Anye noticed a trend that was both promising and troubling: many of the corrupt, wealthy entities she relied on to fuel her relief efforts were beginning to reform or were collapsing entirely. Ishgard, in particular, went from being a lucrative target to a major dependent. In Anye's eyes, this made those former targets no longer ethical to continue to prey upon. While less greed & corruption was great for the world at large, it directly threatened her ability to continue to do her own good work. By the time her operation was lending aid to Thavnair and Garlemald amid the Final Days, it seemed to her like the end of her smuggling days were fast approaching.Thus was the decision made to step away, and leave the life of benevolent crime behind. In her eyes, she had already accomplished everything she could for the world, and had earned some time to herself. Leaving the dismantling of her smuggling enterprise in the care of her 'Retainers' (the affectionate term she uses for her co-conspirators), she renovated a former storehouse into a cozy cottage on Vylbrand's coast and set about relaxing and indulging in interests in magick, history, & culture that she'd not had the time to explore prior.A NEW CALLINGFor a restless spirit like Anye however, retirement soon proved to be an ill fit. It wasn't long before she found herself in a bit of a rut, feeling aimless and out of sorts. The excitement of her old life as a smuggler called to her, but with the world at relative peace it seemed the only way to scratch that itch now would be to prey upon those she had once helped -- a line she adamantly refused to cross. After days of drunkenly moping around her cottage, the sight of her bookshelf finally brought inspiration: archaeology!Having traveled the world several times over and dabbled in all sorts of smuggled goods, Anye had already become well-versed in the history and peoples of Hydaelyn, and her staggering collection of historical tomes only reinforced this wealth of knowledge. Her swaggering manner & often crass demeanor belied an exuberant appreciation for foreign cultures, as well. What's more, the world being at peace didn't mean that the plundering of artifacts by the wealthy had stopped. The more she thought on the matter, the more it all came together.With newfound energy & excitement, Anye set to work on this new venture. Initially working with smaller local tribes and the scholars of Limsa, she used her expertise as a former smuggler to help secure sites of cultural significance, rendering them much less vulnerable to exploitation and theft. Before long, these efforts caught the attention of like-minded professors in Old Sharlayan, who began to employ Anye on larger-scale expeditions where her unorthodox education would prove valuable. Slowly but surely, Anye found herself drawn into academia, and despite some initial reluctance and a continued annoyance at the stuffiness of her Sharlayan clients, she's been known to confide in private that the change in careers has left her genuinely fulfilled.That's not to say, however, that she's put the thrill of the heist entirely behind her. Though she may haunt the halls of the Studium by day, by night she and her Retainer crew reconvene to extract ill-gotten antiquities from the hands of wealthy collectors and black market traders, either spiriting them back to their rightful owners, or ensuring they find safe haven in museums or universities for study.Researcher and righteous thief. It's a delicate balancing act to live in both worlds, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

PRONUNCIATION
- Anye's name is pronounced phonetically as "ONN-yeh," with heavy emphasis on the first syllable. The second syllable is a short "eh" sound, rather than an "ah" or "aye." Her surname, "Vael," is pronounced the same as the words "veil" and "vale."ACCENT
- She speaks with a heavy Ala Arghyl accent, which is meant to sound something akin to a hybrid of highly stereotypical Irish & Scottish.RETAINERS
As the leader of a far-reaching philanthropic smuggling operation, Anye naturally couldn't do everything on her own. With this in mind, she recruited three long-time friends of hers to serve as her seconds-in-command, or as she playfully called them, her Retainers:J'Nym "Nymsi" Pharel - Among Anye's oldest friends, Nymsi is a one-eyed miqo'te who very much looks the part of a pirate. Not one to sit idle, she is often very hands-on with smuggling operations, preferring the thrill of the heist.
Lameera Hryskjir - The most reserved and timid of the group, Lameera is an awkward rava who was rescued from slavers by a young Anye & Nymsi. A natural with numbers, she primarily serves a behind-the-scenes role as the organization's bookkeeper.
Hahn'ara Kha - Despite her blasé, lackadaisical demeanor, Hahn'ara serves as a diligent administrator, handling practical matters that would otherwise bore Nymsi or require more people-skills than Lameera could muster.
Laureinne Devereux - Though Anye's attempts to mend fences with her surviving relatives has largely been met with scorn and rejection due to her father's abandonment of the family business, she has managed to rekindle a strong bond with her cousin, Laureinne. Chafing at the banality of minor nobility, Laureinne jumped at the opportunity to work alongside Anye and her Retainer crew, using her family's status as vintners to the elite to gather intel on any illicit antiquity trading that may require intervention.EQUIPMENT
Naturally, it wouldn't do for a criminal-turned-field-researcher to be incapable of defending herself. Anye's current weapons of choice are a pair of gunblades, of both Garlean and Bozjan make. The Garlean gunblade is a refurbished piece she managed to snag from an Imperial officer's corpse during her stint as a supply runner in Ghimlyt, while the Bozjan gunblade is a commissioned piece that is designed to be both sturdy and light, allowing her to wield it in a manner akin to the lighter rapiers she'd become accustomed to as a young pirate.THE CHAPEL PERILOUS
As both an avid reader and a self-made student of history, Anye naturally has a lot of books. In fact, it may even be fair to say that she's collected a few too many over the course of her adventures, reaching the point where she physically cannot not contain all of her massive assortment of tomes in her own house.Needing a suitable place to not only store her vast collection but also easily access it, Anye simply...built her own library! Having leased a storehouse from Hingan crime boss Arkies Hoshizuki back when she herself was in the smuggling trade, Anye obtained permission to renovate the place into a suitable study, thus creating what she has gone on to christen the Chapel Perilous.Within the Chapel is Anye's wide array of historical accounts, cultural & religious texts, apocrypha, and research papers. Some are simply her personal copies of established knowledge, while others are long-forgotten or even outright forbidden tomes that carry no small amount of danger to possess. The latter are what earned her library its name. Anye chose "Chapel Perilous" in reference to a parable she remembered from her childhood. The parable referenced a chapel where visitors would either be enlightened or damned from the moment they crossed the threshold, the spiritual knowledge they gleaned rendering them forever unable to reverse or alter their trajectory.(POTENTIAL?) WINE HEIRESS
Anye is - or at least could be - heiress to one of the most highly renowned vineyards in Ishgard, Chateau Devereux. Her father Lucien was the eldest son of the Devereux family and thus heir to the vineyard and its substantial fortune. However, after meeting Rowan Vael while overseeing a shipment to Ilsabard, and well aware that his family would never permit marriage to a person of such 'lowborn' standing, Lucien abandoned his family's wine empire in order to follow his heart back to Gyr Abania, and back to Rowan. The use of Rowan's surname instead of Lucien's for their daughter is indicative of this falling-out with the Devereuxs.THEME SONG
"The Queen of Argyll," renditions by The Killdares and Ken TheriotIn-universe, the song "The Queen of Al' Arghyl" was penned by Anye's father Lucien as a declaration of love for her mother, Rowan. It was first performed for Rowan in the middle of a crowded tavern, much to her embarrassment, after which Lucien proposed to her. The Ken Theriot version of the song is intended to represent this performance.The Killdares version of the song is more explicitly Anye's own theme, here being less a love song and taking on a decidedly different meaning. As one of the few still-living natives of Ala Arghyl, and by far the most prominent, she is indeed the 'queen of Ala Arghyl' in spirit, and this bigger, louder version of the song keenly reflects her big personality.

Located along Gyr Abania's southern coast where the Velodyna River empties into the sea, Ala Arghyl is a port town that once served as a major hub of commerce and culture for the region prior to the Garlean invasion. In contrast to the stark, barren mountains and salt flats surrounding the capital of Ala Mhigo, Ala Arghyl sat amidst verdant cliffs, and enjoyed an almost constant drizzle of rain.Being the easternmost port in Aldenard, Ala Arghyl saw frequent visits from ships traveling between Vylbrand, Werlyt, & Thavnair, and became a rich cultural melting pot as a result. The town was also home to many of the famed Crimson Duelists, who were hailed as heroes by the locals to such a degree that the Fist of Rhalgr saw very little adherence along the country's southern coast.As with any nation that has prominent coastal and inland population centers, a notable cultural divide existed between Ala Mhigo and Ala Arghyl that was an occasional source of tension between them. Where Ala Mhigans tended to view the people of Ala Arghyl as weak, indulgent, and culturally diluted, Ala Arghylans similarly derided Ala Mhigans as stubborn, prejudiced, and brutish. This divide was perhaps best demonstrated by the two cities' local economies.Possessed as Gyr Abania was of a mostly rocky landscape, it's no secret that Ala Mhigo thrived on exports of masonry, salts, and other earthy building materials. What is less-known in the modern day however, is the reputation Ala Arghyl once had as one of the Three Great Continents' leading producers of glasswork. Using the abundant silica and limestone from further inland, artisans in Ala Arghyl crafted all manner of glass products, from spectacles, to ornate glass jewelry, to extravagant stained glass windows. Merchants docking in the city would often claim that instead of following the lighthouse in, they could instead be guided by the kaleidoscope of lights that glistened off of the city's windows, as nearly every resident regardless of wealth or status adorned their homes with stained glass in all manner of traditional Gyr Abanian patterning.One city known for sturdy, practical masonry, another known for extravagant and fragile glass. As apart economically as they were culturally. However, much as both cities were united by their shared need for their nation's resources, so too did they set aside cultural differences when the need arose to stand as a singular Gyr Abania. When the Empire came, Ala Mhigans and Ala Arghylans fought as one, to the very last.Sadly, once Garlemald's invading armies reached the Gyr Abanian coast, Ala Arghyl was razed as a means of cutting off a vital supply line for resistance forces. Although Ala Mhigo has since been liberated from the Empire, and reconstruction efforts are well underway for the surrounding regions, the total annihilation of Ala Arghyl bodes ill for it ever seeing such a return.

Not sure how to engage this boisterous lass? Try some of these options!ROMANCE IN THE AIR
For her entire adult life, Anye has thrown herself into her work. Be it crewing in Limsa, smuggling to feed the poor, or securing antiquities, she's never really taken time to just enjoy her life, much less invite others to share in it beyond the occasional fling. Now that she's taking life more slowly and actually relaxing for once, she's been on the lookout for a special someone (or someones) with whom to settle down. If you're looking for a longterm slice-of-life or romance style RP for your character, maybe she and Anye could hit it off!AN UNLIKELY ACADEMIC
Despite appearances, Anye is very well-read and well-traveled, and fancies herself as something of a historian. Intellectual pursuits and exotic antiquities are bound to pique her interest. Perhaps she'll overhear your character mention a cultural or historical curiosity she's been researching?CRIMINAL CONNECTIONS
Being a (semi-)retired smuggler, Anye might be the perfect person to help your character procure something of value...legal or otherwise. Do be careful, though. While she herself has a checkered criminal past, Anye has particular disdain for kidnappers, slavers, and others who prey on disadvantaged people...and she considers Ul'dah's elite to be the most predatory criminals of all. If your character has beef with the Monetarists, they'll probably get along with Anye just fine.IN VINO VERITAS
Does your character enjoy wine? Do they consider themselves a regular sommelier? If so, Chateau Devereux is a very famous vineyard on Hydaelyn, and your character may be familiar with it and its high-quality wines. More importantly, they may have heard rumors of a scandal within Chateau Devereux involving the disappearance of the eldest son, and a bastard daughter he sired with a hyur commoner...and Anye just so happens to prefer her wines expensive, Ishgardian, and of a certain label...SHARED LIFE EXPERIENCES
Is your character a pirate, privateer, or otherwise a longtime resident of Limsa? If so, they might remember some sort of run-in with Anye in the past. Alternatively, is your character a refugee from Gyr Abania? Well, so is she! Maybe there are stories to be shared there.

- I am 21+, and will strictly RP with other players who are also 21+. This is non-negotiable.- My prior experience in RP includes 10+ years of WoW, several years of SWTOR, and not enough years in The Secret World (I miss it so much!), as well as tabletop experience via Pathfinder.- If I am IC, the RP Tag in-game will be up. If that tag is not up, then I am OOC and doing other game content or FC activities.- IC is not OOC. I am not my character, and I strive to keep an absolute boundary between in-game and real life. I will not hesitate to break contact and block if I feel as though this boundary is being pushed.- I do not RP on Discord. All RP is strictly in-game.- All types of RP are accepted, from silly to serious to mature.