Darien Cadell
Balmung
IC
OOC
Hooks
last edited 24/10
Intro
Darien is not someone who takes himself seriously. He has a penchant for snark and arrogance that tends to get him in trouble, but his insults are usually meant in good humor and he tends to be drawn toward similarly crude people. You might find him brooding now and then. He's an emotional guy who has been through a lot, but he usually tries to keep things light unless something particular is bringing him down.Darien has found a better sense of balance over the years, but he still leans toward impulsive and rash. He's a fighter who enjoys fighting for the sake of fighting as long as the reason for the fight isn't awful on its surface, but he is also reticent to hurt anyone who he sees as innocent or coerced.
Character Influences:Darien has the same approach to snark and the same capacity to be both the good guy yet do a lot of damage whether he means to or not as these guys do.
+ Archer from Archer: For his general outlook on life, how cool he thinks is, his approach to relationships, and his lack of good sense and sometimes intellect.
+ Geralt from The Witcher: For his broody side, just how much shit he's seen and been through, and low grade not being ordinary or natural.
+ Jimmy from Rockstar's Bully: For being a bully that also stands up to bullies, for relying on friends while also being a pretty bad friend, for being a bad influence while also badly influenced.
Origin: Ala Mhigo born, Garlean trained
Age: Early 30s
Build: Fit but has lost some of his axe-wielding bulk
Hobbies: Gardening, cooking, violence
Job: Logistics in imports/exports (occasionally smuggling), bodyguarding
Education: Ala Mhigan lancer training, Garlean military, street survival via Limsa and Ul'dah
Residence: Currently Gridania Lavender Beds, but tends to travel
Appearance
Darien was born a fighter, taking after his parents in the Ala Mhigan Resistance, and that's usually pretty obvious to look at him, though he's always been more of a scrapper than a musclehead. He has had a scar across the bridge of his nose since childhood.Though he doesn't exactly look back on his military years fondly, he has kept some fastidious habits regarding his general hygiene - hair always out of his face, precision facescaping, cleaned up regularly and never overly scented - but not so much his dress, which he prefers to be informal and laid back, unafraid to lean into silly from time to time.
History
Born a few years before the Black Wolf took Ala Mhigo, Darien woke in the sands of the Sagolii after the Calamity when his Garlean airship crashed, the rest of his unit becoming casualties of war, but he had no memory of who he was. Nearly dying of thirst, he was rescued by an elderly refugee couple in Little Ala Mhigo. He eventually remembered his name but not much else. Knowing from the wreckage that he was Garlean and worried the Empire might come looking for him, Darien decided to put some distance between himself and his rescuers and headed for Ul'dah in the dead of night.Darien survived on the streets, but not without getting in trouble. Often. He was repeatedly incarcerated for short stints for petty crimes in both Ul'dah and Limsa Lominsa. That was how Darien made his connections with The Grim Echo, and he did so without much of his memory to rely on, so even those who know him fairly well mostly only know him as a petty criminal turned adventurer.With a little help from sources less than natural, Darien's memory returned in bits and pieces. Not long after he began to remember, he dropped off the radar as he returned to Ala Mhigo to reconnect with his past and to help fight for his home's liberation. While Ala Mhigo did earn its freedom, Darien found he would never feel at home there again due to Garlean and other influences. In more recent years, he has found other places to call home.
Talents
Darien has always felt most comfortable in solid armor with a large, simple weapon in his hand, usually a spear or an axe. However, he suffers from a surfeit of aether which has bothered him for years. Over time, Darien has learned to manage his aether issues with surreptitious training in red magic that he indulges regularly.There is something going on beneath the surface with Darien, between the aether issues, the memory issues, and his tendency to disappear for extended periods, but he is less than open about what he knows.He also really enjoys cooking. A lot. But these days, he tends to keep this skill to himself. He certainly no longer runs a restaurant of any kind.
OOC Notes
Post Style: Mirror. Reflex and preference is short quick responses in most interactions but will drift comfortably into multi-para posts as suits situations or partners.
Availability: Mostly open but I tend to keep busy in-game and don't often look for RP outside of events or requests, so you won't likely find me city loitering.
Favorites: I'm a fan of quick repartée but often have difficulty with small talk and lack confidence with strangers. I will quite happily eavesdrop in silence to learn about others but I also appreciate being approached with almost any scenario.
Mature RP: I am an old, but I am wary of consent issues and prefer to approach any mature RP carefully. If that's what you're looking for, be prepared for a slow burn.
Hooks
The Grim Echo: Darien has been involved with Sindl Arahn's Free Company on and off for years and is one of the founding members.
Seedy Restaurant: Darien ran a little hole-in-the-wall place in Ul'dah for a couple years that some might remember either as serving surprisingly delicious fare for somewhere the reviewers refused to acknowledge existed or as the place where shady backroom deals were made almost daily and bodies were found nearby with eerie frequency. The restaurant only existed for a few years, recently changed owners, and even more recently changed names, so is essentially a different place, but for a time, it was his and had his name on it.
Ala Mhigo: Either through the Resistance (his parents in early years or himself more recently) or the Empire as Darien was born in the city and conscripted and trained as a soldier there when orphaned as a child.
Othard: Darien spent a couple of years doing courier work between Hingashi and the Steppe after the liberation of Ala Mhigo. Even though he's squarely back in Eorzea, he still has a lot of business and casual contacts in the east that he visits somewhat regularly.