🤜 permissions / character information 🤛

[barefisting]

General OOC Permissions:
- Cross-canon, other FFXIV NPCs, and FFXIV OCs are more than welcome! Please make it clear if you're looking for shippy stuff; I will assume all interaction is gen unless it's specified otherwise (and you can always ask that a shipping meme premise be played as gen, no problem).
- I generally don't have any problem with exploring dark themes in threads, but please tag content appropriately!
- Tagging into older stuff is fine! You can see Altan's thread tracker for older memes I've posted him to.
- I try to backtag for a reasonable period of time, but I usually end up letting spontaneus meme threads go in favor of planned PSL stuff. Feel free to prod at me for a tag if I've dropped a thread you want to continue.
- PM me if you want to plot a PSL!

Character Information
Altan is an Au Ra of the Raen clan, one of the playable races in Final Fantasy XIV. Raised by the Buduga, a tribe of all-male Au Ra that only increases its numbers through kidnapping members of other tribes, Altan has always called the Azim Steppe home, though the place of his birth lies far beyond its borders.


Biography
Name: Altan Arasen ['Golden Skin']
Class: Monk
Age: 20ish
Height: 7'2"

VISUAL REFERENCE SHEETS by midvalley:
[ CLOTHING & MINION ] [ SCALES & FACE ]

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Big, perhaps, might be the first impression Altan makes. Or loud. Depending on the particular circumstances, maybe even dim-witted. Whether or not he's actually speaking -- or laughing, as the case often may be -- he tends to announce his presence simply by the space he takes up. He's a fighter of some sort, that much it takes no soothsayer to divine: his muscles are hewn by active use, not merely for show, and the old and new scars that litter his exposed skin are a testament to years of hard living. For a man of his bulk, he often seems restless, shifting his weight from foot to foot or absently shadowboxing like he can't stand to stay still, wanting to race to his next destination.

PERSONALITY
Possessed of the unfortunate combination of a carefree disposition, a distinct lack of tact, and a certain level of haplessness, Altan is either exasperating, pitiable, or infuriating to those who find themselves forced to deal with him. Despite the harsh conditions of nomadic life, he's grown into a strapping young warrior of surprising power and agility, though for now he lacks the cunning or forethought to truly make the most of his strength.

Like many raised on the Steppe, Altan believes might makes right, but he isn't at all interested in asserting himself over anyone else. He's more about satisfying his immediate, impulsive needs, and he's by far the happiest when he's fighting someone -- though whether he's winning or losing seems to be largely irrelevant, as far as he's concerned, provided they're willing not to pull their punches. He admires physical prowess and appreciates strength in any form -- and he isn't terribly shy about expressing that admiration.

Altan has little in the way of one might call 'hobbies' besides fighting and eating, but he has an unfortunate tendency to fixate on things that have caught his attention. In this, he has his own peculiar sort of stubbornness -- once he gets an idea in his head, he's not like to let it go.

HISTORY
Altan remembers little of his life before coming to the Steppe, having become inducted into the Buduga tribe at the tender age of seven summers -- and neither is he particularly interested in learning more. The color of his horns and scales hint the true land of his birth lies somewhere beyond the green hills and forbidding rocks that dot that sprawling landscape, but he has no idea where he’d begin to look even if he wanted to. The jade beads that have been reworked into a hair ornament are his sole memento of that place, as is the dim memories of a hand in his hair and a commanding voice.

Grow strong, little warrior. Grow strong and fight.

An early growth spurt and the bloody-mindedness he would become known for as an adult allowed him to earn im the right to join the chaos of the Nadaam when he was younger than most of the other warriors on the field. It's rumored that rather than subjecting himself to the second trial of Bardam, he simply punched his way through the stones. Perhaps smacking his head against rocks a few times would account for his dimness.

During a Buduga raid of some unfortunate Ul'Dahn merchant's caravan, Altan happened to come across a poster advertising the Gold Saucer, featuring attendants dressed in striking garments displaying their assets to best advantage. Captivated by the sight, and the glittering promise of its extravagant halls, Altan has left the Steppe to see if such a place truly exists, leaving his Buduga brethren behind with not a clue to where he's wandered off.

Other Notes:
- Has Good Genes(tm) and freakish strength and would probably be a much better fighter if he calmed down and used his brain instead of just relying on his physicality and intuition so much.
- While he was raised amongst the muscle-happy Buduga clan, he appreciates (and is attracted to) strength in anyone of any gender; i.e. he's terminally into people who can or look like they can kick his ass. Just don't expect that to be expressed in any way resembling normal.
- The previous Buduga chief found him in the desert as an overgrown four-year-old absolutely ready to throw down with a Gulo Gulo and was impressed enough by the little brat's spunk to take him in.

- Born Takehiko Mitsumune [ 光宗 武彦 Mitsumune Takehiko, 'bright ancestral temple' + 'military prince']
- Happily oblivious to the knowledge he is the last true heir of a distinguished Raen clan once known for their weaponsmithing prowess. Refusing to submit to Garlean rule, his family's loyal retainers spirited him outside Yanxia to avoid having him used as leverage against the clan as they prepared to assist the rebellion, but met a bitter end on the Steppe's sands.
- The headpiece he always wears is refashioned from the necklace that he had as a boy, his last remaining tie to his birthright.

- Yes, the entire reason he decides to come to Eorzea is because he saw a poster of the Gold Saucer bunny girls once and decided he needed to see such costumes with his own eyes. Think of it like a reverse running away to join the circus thing, except he ran away to join capitalism. No it doesn't make a lot of sense. No, he's not very smart.
- Has a pretty decent singing voice!
- Later he acquires a cute little hunting hawk he names Buri. ;w;