Of Wind and Steel
a gleaner turned wandering adventurer
Guild Records
| . | . |
|---|---|
| Name | Takauji Nagatani (尊氏 永谷) |
| Race & Clan | Au Ra (Raen) ♂ |
| Age & Birth | 33 (ARR) 38 (DT) 23rd Sun, First Astral Moon |
| Height | 7' 1.4" (217cm) |
| Origins | Hingashi |
| Deity | Oschon the Wanderer |
| Profession | Adventurer |
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Quick Hooks
A Merchant's Son
Are you from the Far Eastern continent? Traders, collectors, or those who dealt with local caravans may recognize the Nagatani name or the Raen who asked far too many questions about local customs instead of profit margins.Steel on the Open Sea
Takauji spent years as both deckhand and guard. He knows the smell of tar, salt, and incoming trouble. Have you sailed the waters of Etheirys? Served aboard a merchant vessel or preyed upon one? Former shipmates, rival crews, or pirates with long memories may find his face somewhat familiar.Sharlayan Years
Were you ever part of the gleaners of Old Sharlayan? Worked logistics in Labyrinthos, studied in the Studium, or frequented The Last Stand? He spent seven years in their ranks, specializing in sea life and shipment inventory. Former colleagues, scholars who debated the value of war, or visitors frequenting the docks may remember the tall Au Ra who worked himself to exhaustion.Duel-Seeker
He enjoys skillful duels with blades, daggers, or bare hands, especially against those who can withstand his full effort. If you are in the habit of testing your strength for the sake of improvement, perhaps you'd like to challenge him? If you defeat him, expect a rematch in the near future. If you poison your blade, expect no courtesy at all.Oschon's Wayfarer
Travelers, pilgrims, and drifters may recognize his quiet reverence for Oschon. He is not overtly devout, yet the road seems to cling to him all the same. Do you also follow the Wanderer, or at least have noticed him muttering something about "cursed winds" with a furrowed brow?Collector of Curious Things
Have you noticed him studying a scrap of regional cloth, a carved bead, a coin worn smooth by foreign hands? He collects small mementos from every land he visits. Maybe he carries something you recognize, or caught his attention with an item of your own.
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Principles & Fighting Style
He dislikes what he considers “malicious” fighting, but he will step in if someone is clearly beating on a person who can't fight back or defend themselves. Justice matters to him, and despite his preference for pacifism, his experiences in Eorzea force him to reevaluate his perspective.If using violence against a clearly evil person prevents further or senseless injustice later, he will do it even if others judge him for it.
EQUIPMENT & TECHNIQUE
He tends to arm himself with daishō and is most experienced with these as a result of his formal training but later learned to use short blades and barehanded techniques over his travels. He prefers to travel light, avoiding anything that would feel like it could “drown” him. That usually means minimal, if any, armor and slim, slender weapon sheaths.His fighting style is structured, shaped by his teacher's rigid discipline when he was young. This became an early weakness when ranged and magic users put him at a disadvantage and forced him to be more proactive rather than following traditional iaijutsus. To compensate, he acquired enchanted bracers that can shield against magic as a countermeasure.In a fight, he prefers waiting and striking or countering with precision rather than overwhelming force. He would rather end a fight efficiently by slicing a crucial artery rather than beating them down repeatedly. That said, he isn't against taking hits in order to ensure being able to.
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DUELING
He enjoys duels, if for reasons like self improvement or the challenge of fighting someone of equal or higher skill. He gets especially excited if he knows he can go all out without worrying about overly harming the other duelist. Not sure about other scenarios, it probably depends on the circumstances. If he loses, particularly in dagger or barehanded duels, he treats it as a learning experience. He will spend days replaying the fight in his head, analyzing what he could have done differently, before rechallenging after a loss.
POISON
He developed an extreme hatred for poison users after a traumatizing experience where one of his merchant ships was attacked by pirates who used poison-tipped weaponry. Having lost their healer in the skirmish, and being too far out on the open seas to find any other help, he and the other survivors were forced to watch their fellow crew slowly die an excruciating death.
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Traits & Hobbies
He is naturally introverted and quiet, and he tends to take a back seat, especially in larger groups or gatherings.
The Echo developed late in his life, which meant that early on he relied only on his natural skills - leading to a lot of old scars and injuries from his time on the trade ships.
He has a relatively active and expressive tail. By default it sways gently, but when he is agitated or anxious the tip flicks restlessly. The spikes along the top shift with his mood, flattening when relaxed and spiking up when alert. Fully flattened spikes are something only someone he deeply trusts would see, like a significant other, while most others would just see the spikes sitting somewhere in the middle.
Oschon is his patron deity - chosen due to his life revolving around travel since he was young. Although not extremely religious, it’s enough to affect some of his mannerisms such as using "cursed winds" as a swear if something goes wrong, or "Wandering One guide your way." when saying a (rare) favorable goodbye to someone.
He likes collecting small mementos from other cultures, more “bits and bobs” than large display pieces. The items tend to be meaningful to the places they come from, like cloth from a region known for weaving.
He is organized, but not a neat freak. He hates it intensely when something is out of place. Even so, he tends to procrastinate paperwork, which means it often builds up into piles in his room.
He likes coffee, seafood, skewers, fruit, and the smell of oud incense.
Relaxation usually comes in the form of fishing or hot salt baths. He also enjoys listening to string and flute music, and has even taken up music himself, joking that the calluses from swordplay are useful for it.
He occasionally smokes, but only Yanxian pipes, and he never drinks alcohol because he dislikes the feeling of losing control of himself.
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Of Wind and Steel
a gleaner turned wandering adventurer
Early Life in Merchantry
Born in 1544 as the first of two sons, his early life was spent nearly equally between Yanxia, the Azim Steppes, the Ruby Sea, and Kugane.His father was known for managing to get along with anyone he came into contact with, an ability that came in rather useful to his profession as a merchant. The good relations he fostered gave them the freedom to pass freely between borders, and the profit from the unrestricted trade allowed them to live without want despite being considered a family of commoners within the social structure of the Hingan Raen.Together with his brother Ryojiro, he spent many days and nights on the road in long lectures and discussions with their father as part of raising them to help in the family business. The topics ranged anywhere from regional goods and their benefits, to Othardian bartering, to the nature of the village they were heading towards. Although Ryoji was far more inclined to the mercantile side, he, on the other hand, was far more taken by the cultures and what made them unique.
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In between, he picked up a love of both books and horses from his mother whose family had trained steeds for Hingan lords. She instilled in him how to understand, tame, bond, and respect their strength. They spent many afternoons reading novels out loud to one another underneath the wide trees of Yanxia, or racing on the vast and open Steppes. To him, those days of enjoying the wind in their hair and laughing about feeling like flying through the skies are treasured memories.
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As he grew older, under the teaching of his father's friend, he picked up a fighting style originally focused around the samurai of Doma and their signature weaponry but an unexpectedly dirty street brawl one late evening in Kugane led to the quick realization of the necessity of learning how to fight properly with fists as well.Over the years, despite his father's best efforts, the exposure to the various nations and their peoples only led to his discovering a deep yearning to see more of the world. Whenever time allowed, he would often spend hours fishing on the high cliffs of the Ruby Sea or at the busy ports of Kugane as he watched each ship leaving by the far horizons.
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Sailing the World
One month after his younger brother turned 15, he started his journey to explore beyond the borders of the Far East by signing up on board the largest merchant vessel he could find at port.His inexperience with the trade led to his first assignment as being a simple deckhand tasked to manage both ship and cargo, a commonly dirty duty that he embraced wholeheartedly out of both appreciation for being accepted and excitement to finally make his way.Within the next four years, he was lucky enough to find himself under the guidance of one particularly seasoned captain whose sea routes passed from the shores of Othard to Thavnair and Eorzea, and eventually his position elevated to becoming part of the ship’s guard. Unfortunately, the longer routes meant more cargo was needed to make each trip worthwhile, leading to the ship often becoming a target of the pirates that roamed the deep waters.
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The Sea of Knowledge
With knowledge of economics came shrewd trading. With knowledge of agriculture came bountiful crops. Engineering brought wells and sewers, ending squabbles over water. Wealth of expertise could be bartered for wealth in coin. And the more their wisdom spread throughout the world, the more mankind as a whole would thrive. And so it was that no matter the trials and tribulations of the age, the citizens of Sharlayan would live by their founder's teachings.
— Stewards of Wisdom
After one particularly grueling journey beset by uncommonly strong storms, their ship finally lands upon the foreign shores of Sharlayan and his interest was immediately piqued by the people whose very principle lay upon the thoughts of renouncing the ways of war and pursuing enlightenment through knowledge and reason. The idea of peace spoke to him and at the very last moment where his feet were inches away from boarding the ship meant for returning to the sands of Limsa Lominsa, he found himself turning and casting himself into another new life.
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A FORTUNATE MEETING
A few days later, it was at The Last Stand where—if asked for his opinion—the gods set him upon his path. Engrossed in his thoughts of how to pen a letter to his family about his decision and almost verging on changing his mind, he was chanced upon by an elderly Hyur whose kind but stern face came into his view and barraged him with questions of his appearance and heritage. In the blink of an eye, hours passed with stories of the Eastern worlds and memories of what felt like a life long gone. It was then that he discovered that by fate or luck, the man was the key he needed - an esteemed but retired professor of the Studium.To his fortune, his tales and answers earned the professor's favor who then paid it in turn by leaps and bounds. His decision to abandon ship has been spurred in part by that which the esteemed scholarly society offered yet the professor sought to turn his eyes in a somewhat different direction—to that of the Gleaners whose booted members were littered across the city just as much as that of their enrobed brothers.
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JOINING THE GUILD
Though not often covered in the glamour that often followed the Scholars, the truth of the matter was that the Gleaners were the other side of the proverbial Sharlayan coin and it was only due to their efforts that the academics could have been given as much focus as they had been. More importantly for him, while the path to becoming a Scholar of the Studium was barred to one who had no history nor backing, that of the Gleaners’ Guildship had no such barrier and with the professor's help, his steps soon darkened the Guildship's doors. There, he quickly learned that the position offered the same benefits he desired—and much more beyond, to his great discovery later.Due to his late entrance, his seniors sought to impart as much knowledge and practice as they could spare. Grateful not only for the opportunity but also their genuine support and welcome to his becoming an addition to their Guild, he threw himself wholeheartedly into the ventures and more often than not, ran himself ragged for days upon end until the only respite he had was the eventual passing out by the crates or books that he had been tending to.
The next seven and a half years became the most cherished times of his life—even taking into account the grueling early years and not a moment was touched with regret. Over that time, he developed a specialty for sea life, born from his familiarity and love of his time on the water.
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FAMILIAR GROUNDS
Access to the Noumenon brought him no small amount of joy. Entranced by such a vast and unique collection of knowledge that called to his younger self, each second spent within its tome-covered walls only further spurred on his impassioned drive to become a member of their society. Letters sent back to his mother occasionally included small packages of at least two or three titles.
Despite his love for books, he often spent time at edges of The Speaking Monopteros where the loud and endless debates often reminded him of his time at the sea when his shipmates would argue and curse on deck—minus the all too often bloody endings.
Still, when the time came for a quiet escape, he more than favored the far corners of Tranquility’s forests where he had discovered an old overgrown path that led to an outcropping halfway down the cliffs. It was there that he would fall asleep on the grass, away from prying eyes and lulled by the crashing roar of the waves on the stones below with dreams of the Ruby Sea.
Within the boundaries of Labyrinthos, the vast majority of his time was spent in the Upper Acrinthos which primarily dealt with identifying and handling incoming shipments. Neophyte gleaners would often be assigned to take inventory and deliver supplies to various facilities, and the work held a lot of familiarity to him as it was much like his father’s work at a trader’s docks. He also often loved to walk through the forested paths of the Mistloom where the humid enclosed space reminded him of the hot springs of Kugane.
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Of Wind and Steel
a gleaner turned wandering adventurer
Gallery
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Sharlayan Home
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Visual Journey by Expansion
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Quick Reference Sheet
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