striking scales

  —   a dossier of  tora, aka duuren , a ffxiv-borne OC   —  
    written by LUKA  (he/him, 21+)   

• TENETS
• HISTORY
• HOOKS
• CONNECTIONS

Tipping of the Scales

tempered rage — unbridled love

  001.   bigotry gets a swift block. it doesn't matter what kind, or in what manner - grow up.  002.   don't hound me about roleplaying. this is a hobby for me, don't ruin it by attempting to demand things out of me.  003.   don't pressure me into roleplaying with you, or roleplaying in a specific way. get to know tora as a character, let's see what develops naturally.

  004.   i do not erp. if that's your main goal, look elsewhere.  005.   long term RP will only occur with those who are 21+.  006.   ooc, i am very shy. friendship will spawn naturally, please do not try to force it. i will more than likely back off if this is the case.

  007.   tora is not an excessively dark character, but he does contain themes such as violence, death, possession, and alcoholism when they are relevant. be advised in advance, but i will also do my best not to drop these onto your lap.  008.   i prefer in-game RP! depending on the situation i don't mind doing discord RP occasionally, but it's not my preferred method.  009.   my interests change quickly, and my focus shifts - this does not mean i've completely lost interest! my brain just works like a ping pong ball most days.

NAME  Duuren KagonNICKNAME/ALIAS  Tora, Toratora Toratora, Durmont MojetteTITLES  The Dragon of Ul'dahAGE  34DATE OF BIRTH  8th Sun of 5th Umbral Moon, circa 1520 (OCT. 8th)GENDER & PRONOUNS  trans male, he/himORIENTATION  gayRACE/ETHNICITY  au ra / steppe xaela

HEIGHT  7’02”HAIR  dark black hair, large streaks/blocks of pale green towards the frontEYES  snake-like orange eyes, with a dark green ringPIERCINGS  lower horns are piercedSCARS / TATTOOS / MARKINGS 
tattoos : an ishgardian cathedral from his sternum to his abdomen. a cluster of jasmine flowers with a small tanto and sheathe on his inner left thigh.
scars : many various burns and knife nicks upon his hands. three large scythe inflicted scars on each shoulder as well as the lower abdomen. a kitchen knife stab wound in the lower back. mastectomy scars, with decorative filigree scarificationDISTINGUISHING FEATURES  sharp, straight nose. hardened brow. three prong horns, distinctly mutated. a spiny tail. scales as black as night.PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION / FIRST IMPRESSION  tora is a tall, pale man with a broad frame and pinched brow, an exhaustion that seeps out of every pore. he is well dressed, stylish whilst clad in gold and black. he carries himself with both masculine confidence, and a feminine grace - he embodies both, whether in a fitted suit or gown.POSITIVE TRAITS  patient, caring, witty, intelligentNEUTRAL TRAITS  stubborn, independent, silver-tongued, argumentativeNEGATIVE TRAITS  self-destructive, prone to dishonesty, passive aggressive/insincere when upset,ASTROLOGY  libra sun, libra moon, leo risingMBTI  ENFJ-TENNEAGRAM  Type 4 Wing 3NEURODIVERGENCES & DISORDERS 
- depressive tendencies
- alcoholism
- recently developed smoking addiction

PARENTS 
- khulgana kagon, mother
- monkbaht kagon, fatherSIBLINGS 
- khuuyagaa kagon, blood brotherSIGNIFICANT OTHER 
- d'evali yukihyoCLOSEST FRIENDS 
- khulan tumet
- karmen sparx
- victor alafaelOCCUPATION  restaurant owner and chef, fight club owner and announcer, freelance adventurer (semi-inactive)CURRENT RESIDENCE  goblet, ul'dah / thanalanNATIONALITY  Steppe/Ul'dahn || Mongolian / Turkish / IrishLANGUAGES  Common, Xaelic, some Hingan, some Doman || English, Mongolian, some Japanese, some Chinese, some GaelicPHYSICAL DISABILITIES / CHRONIC ILLNESSES 
- chronic migraines, often debilitating
- frequent and persistent back pain
- overuse of his knees - requires stretching oftenPOWERS / ABILITIES / SKILLS - the wyrm's fire — his already fire-aspected aether burns with the fury of the dreadwyrm, making it incredibly potent, yet equally as unstable.
- a warped esteem — never trained as a dark knight, tora is nevertheless able to channel his aether into a double - it carries traits of his bonded, as well as the dreadwyrm. such a double can only exist for seconds, however.
- commune with the brood — as a host of the dreadwyrm's blood, tora is able to sense the presence of another of nidhogg's brood - not always to his advantage.

IT STARTS IN THE STEPPE. but it does not continue in the steppe, not for tora. his fifteenth summer, he declared his intent to leave the steppe in search of the larger world, exiling him from the kagon tribe for turning his back on the dusk mother, Nhaama. wide eyed, naive - he daren't look back.but what went unsaid, however, was the true reason for his departure.his family asleep upon beds of furs and karakul wool, little duuren kagon felt a pull, a voice calling from a plane he cannot see. many of his elders had spoken of a similar experience - nhaama guiding them towards a path, or a goal. was this nhaama? was this the mother of dusk?BUT LO - THE DUSK MOTHER DID NOT SPEAK. it took naught but one phrase for duuren to be certain - whomever this was, t'was no god he had been told of. a gilded hand seemed to caress his jaw, a booming voice echoing throughout the cave - or perhaps, it was just his mind. had he gone mad?FIND ME, CHILD, the voice declared. duuren held out his hand, reaching outwards towards the gentle caress and booming voice. whomever it was - whatever it was - had left. the young auri was left in the cave to wonder what it meant. to wonder who was calling out to him, of all the many who lived upon the steppe, upon the star.

AND SO, HE LEFT. to say there was nothing left for him in the steppe was an abject lie - but of course, there was nothing that would keep him there above all else. much to the chagrin of his brother, as he had made known - but duuren figured that little khuuya would manage just fine.he had no plan, not really. just a pull, an instinct towards eorzea, south, south. he attempted to scrape together the funds for a boat ride - luckily for him, no one in the tribe could cook meat as well as he - but the fare was far too high for a young, teenaged auri to ever pay. it was only by the good will of a vieran shipmate that tora ever made it across the sea at all.A MONTH PASSED. or perhaps two - the days became fuzzy. soon, land came into view - the cape of deadwind, a port that teemed with coin, and delighted in the underhand. upon sneaking his way off the ship - duuren became quite adept at the haggle. two weeks, and he was on the next carriage to the capital. to ul'dah.UL'DAH IS HARSH. but it is not unkind - if one can so believe it, and believe the difference. many are willing to help a wayward soul, a new face - so long as you speak the language of deception, or are more than willing to learn. tora was a quick study. in a city where a knife in the back was as familiar as a hello - duuren clawed his way up from beggar to dishwasher, waiter to line cook. and soon, he changed. his name, one of his few remaining ties to the steppe, took the backseat to a moniker.TORA.

TOIL, AND TOIL, AND TOIL. ul'dah is harsh, not unkind. but the harshness is stark - a blistering heat than even tora's midnight scales grew tired of the burn, a wealth disparity that separates monetarists from workers, the rich from those 'getting by'. every chef in the steps of thal had a story about being spat on by a merchant.HE THOUGHT HE COULD TOIL. a test from the voice, that voice he heard all those years ago now. he waited, he longed, he prayed for that gilded hand to hold his face in its hand once more, and speak to him again. but the voice was silent - or perhaps, tora had grown deaf to it. he wasn't sure which brought him more dread. and yet - he remained. knife wounds and burns littering his hands, exhaustion seeping into his bones, gray-green hair within his twentieth summer, crows feet by sharp eyes. all those knives to the back became quite literal, in tight, seedy kitchens.HE BROKE.

ten years in ul'dah. ten years of blistering heat, ten years of knives and burns and berating bosses - and he snapped. unstable aether, combined with bone-deep exhaustion, and raw, raw anguish. his apartment was scorched in seconds.his heavy footfalls somehow made it to the milvaneth sacrarium. a place of worship, to a god tora did not know - he had never taken a single step beyond the doors, before. with a tired sway, tora knelt before the statue - nald, if he remembered. imposing, cold stone - tora could not help but press his forehead against the floor before him.it remained quiet....DEAREST CHILD. LIFT THY HEAD.

ul'dahn local.

UL'DAH IS NOT A CITY FOR THE LAWFUL.
requirements: none.tora is not a criminal, he would say. but he holds little esteem for the word of law. there is no boon to be had by forgoing morals for legality.his own infringements upon the law are financial, almost entirely. though, that would imply that any in ul'dah have not schemed in the pursuit of their own wealth - a small population, indeed. tora is not violent, not cruel, not uncaring - he has his lines in the desert sand. but he is not above harboring, abetting - perhaps even helping - the odd one in trouble. troublemakers and thieves will make no enemy of him.

dragoon deserter.

UNABLE TO BEAR THE MANTLE.
requirements: knowledge of the dragoon order.during the time of the dragonsong war, there was talk that a draconic heretic might be in line for the title of azure dragoon. a sponsored ward from the house of mojette - a house with a less than stellar standing amongst the nobility - under the name 'durmont mojette'. 'how do we know he's a heretic,' argued few. 'and we wish to bet it all on the chance he isn't?' mysteriously, though, durmont mojette disappeared, never to be seen again.there are but a handful of paintings of this durmont, and just as few in the way of remaining records. but his name was well known, for a brief time. many would have heard about the heretic in line for the holy duty, and even more about his 'untimely' disapperance.

burning blood.

IT BURNS.
requirements: aethersight.tora is no mage. outside of a bout, his aether is never to be seen, never to be called upon. it is unstable, a forest fire - only supreme focus can channel it. upon his blade, it glows a bright orange, roaring like a fire - though a pale blue holds the center, a grounding current.but to those who can see - tora's aether is a mess.not unlike staring at a sun, it hurts the eyes to look at. the pale blue at the core is the only balm to intense heat and light, as the roaring fire rips through. a single gust of wind could set a field alight, as the scent of ash and smoke envelop him in a blanket. but this fire - it is not solely his own. borrowed, stolen, parasitic - whatever the case, it is born of someone else, something else. something primordial.

an orthodox spirituality.

NALD'S CHOSEN CONDUIT.
requirements: divine intuition, or a very keen eye.it is not unheard of for men of the steppe to follow the twelve. though if ever there was a man more dedicated to ul'dah's venerated traders, it would be tora. a necklace with the emblem of their seeing eye, ul'dahn prayer that falls from his lips with a practiced ease - yet nothing shows this devotion more clearly than his eyes.beyond the golden glow of his irises, typical of a kagon, is a gaze. sometimes, tora gazes upon something like he is placing it upon the scale himself, waiting to see whether one tips to the left, or the right, on the cusp of life and death. he is no reaper - but his eyes observe the scales.such devotion is kept close to his chest, outside the hallowed halls of the trader's den. were one to ask, any reply would be dismissive and evasive - an understatement. nald and thal are no mere comforts, they are not simply divine beings worthy of worship. to tora - they are something else entirely.

  D'EVALI 'V' YUKIHYO    —  @carrd
Heavily Affiliated.   Bonded.  KHUUYAGAA KAGON    —  @carrd
Secondary Main.    Tora's only brother by blood.

  KHULAN TUMET    —  @bluesky
Affiliated.    Best friend.  KARMEN SPARX    —  @bluesky
Affiliated.    Close friend.  VICTOR ALAFAEL    —  @carrd
Affiliated.    Close friend.

  LORD ADRIAN MOJETTE    —  npc
founder of house mojette, as well as it's current reigning lord, adrian mojette is a man intent on building his nobility from the ground up - all in the service of restoring gelmorran heritage sites. to do so, he needed a champion - a chees piece of esteem. he was to be that piece, only for his time as a dragoon to be cut short by a grievous injury. so, he needed a replacement. and he found one in tora.

  IRRLICHT   —  WOL canon exclusive
tora's greatest mistake, yet one he would make again.king thordan had lahabrea by the heel. finally, they were to be rid of a troublesome ascian - but tora couldn't abide. he, in some way, had loved lahabrea - whilst he had stolen thancred, of course, but still. in his infinite wisdom - tora trapped lahabrea's soul in the auracite. with thancred's aether, weakened from the lifestream, tora sees several birds and one stone - the men he loves, a single body, and a cure for thancred's weakened aether.and yet, he gets none of these things - to say there is still a lahabrea or a thancred, after their souls become so mixed, is impossible - and thancred's body can barely handle the brimming creation magick of an ascian, his nerves alight in a chronic pain. but if tora regrets it now, after all he's done, he'll fall apart. so tora will love him.

  BITTER KNIFE   —  npc
tora's harshest boss, a chef with half his life spent in the kitchen. loud, rude, and often cruel - his impeccable teachings were at the cost of tora's sense of balance - it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it almost drove him mad. and yet, tora respects the knife - for all his faults, tora would have been eaten alive in ul'dah without his guidance.

  TBD    —  npc
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  PETRA HYSKARIS   —  npc
one of the few Tora was lucky to call a friend, during his travels to eorzea. captain hyskaris, as he's now known, was but a second mate on a ship docked in kugane, and caught tora attempting to sneak onto the boat by climbing in through one of the portholes. At first, he took pity upon the young caela, and helped him stowaway without being caught - though their friendship slowly grew, as they were the only men of a similar age on that journey.

  TBD    —  npc
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