Keerith's Journal

A place to post back-stories, character descriptions, etc.
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Keerith
Metal Cat
Posts: 473
Joined: Tue Apr 27, 2004 1:43 am
Location: Nebraska
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Keerith's Journal

Post by Keerith »

(OOC: FYI, any comments in parenthesis and prefaced by 'OOC' are out of character commentary. The rest of this is an in-character RP post. And, of course, information learned OOC is different from information learned IC)

I am Keerith Galeo, and this is my story.

Keerith stared at the single line on the page, and sighed. She scratched behind one of her ears with her pencil and looked over at her sister, N'talya. She had always been the more introspective of the two, and it was only at her insistence that Keerith had even picked up the blank log book to start a journal. Of course, now that she had actually started writing the damn thing N'talya was asleep.

Keerith braced herself against a rail as the boat lurched in the heavy seas, a green braid drifting past her eyes, and then reached over and shook N'talya. She could hear another traveller throwing up on the other side of the hold.

"By the gods, Nat! How can you sleep through this?"

The sleeping miqo'te mumbled and rolled over. Keerith watched her sleep a bit longer, smiling, before she turned back to her journal and tried to block out the motion of the ship, the sounds of others talking, and her own worries about the journey and her future.

---(Keerith's first journal entry)---

I am Keerith Galeo, and this is my story.

I grew up in Hyrstmill, near Gridania in the Black Shroud and like my mother before me I studied the woods and tended to plants. I met N'talya when I was six; she was five, and one of the refugees from Ala Mihgo. We adopted her. I can barely remember those days; everyone was scared, terrified that the Empire would come for us next. Fifteen years later the threat of an invasion still looms, but most of us have adapted or just forgotten about it. Life goes on, after all.

When we grew older, we knew we would have to leave the village. We could barely do enough work to care for ourselves; they already had plenty of botanists, and N'talya's attempts at the merchant business always ran aground in the small community. And, well... I know there is more to the world than forests and gathering herbs. I want to see the world, and travel on the aethyr. There is too much going on in this world for me to be content with a simple life. That is why we sold most of our belongings, booked passage to Limsa-Lamosa, and -


---

Keerith looked up and frowned, her ear twitching. Some lady was singing, a beautiful, haunting melody. She surveyed the hold, but couldn't find any songstress; it was apparent by the looks on several other traveler's faces that they heard it as well. It seemed like most of the travelers couldn't hear it, though, or just didn't care.

A few of the other travelers headed towards the door leading above decks. Keerith shook her head; there was no way to hear a singer through the wood of the deck and over the raging storm outside, but she was curious anyway. She got up, put on her jacket, and followed the others out into the storm.

---(Keerith's entry from the next day)---

Last night was... bizarre, to say the least. I heard a voice singing, over the sound of the storm outside, and I was not the only one. However, we never did find the person singing. When we got above deck, I was nearly thrown from the ship - the seas were violent, the storm was fierce. A mass of deep sea... things were swarming across the deck, attacking crew members.

The other travelers were armed, and helped the crew fight the swam off. It was all I could do to hold on to the mast and watch, but I still couldn't bring myself to go back below decks. One man in particular caught my eye - a Roegadyn warrior who I later learned was named Sthalmann. While other fighters picked off single monsters, he waded into the thick with his axe, clearing large sections of the deck at a time. It was like seeing music in motion, despite the violence contained in each swing.

The swarm broke, flooding back into the roiling seas just in time for us to spot an even larger monster racing towards the boat. It leaped out of the water, arcing up and over the boat; the thing looked like a dragon or a sea serpent, and it was larger than anything I had ever seen before, even the largest of the trees in the forest. A casual flick of its fin would have been enough to reduce our ship to scraps. It was one of the most beautiful and majestic sights of my life.

Today has been calm, easy sailing - almost a let down after last night. N'talya is upset she slept through it, but I think she could sleep through an aetheryte explosion without missing a beat. This afternoon, we will arrive in Limsa.
-Keerith
See you later, space cowboy!

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[FFXIV: Keerith Galeo, Priestess of Ormagöden]

"Can't bend what's made of metal / We're reinforced with steel / We never will surrender / We never kneel." - Made of Metal, by Dream Evil
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Keerith
Metal Cat
Posts: 473
Joined: Tue Apr 27, 2004 1:43 am
Location: Nebraska
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Re: Keerith's Journal

Post by Keerith »

It is the end of my second day in Limsa-Lamosa, the first full one, and I am hungry.

Keerith paused, frowning at her journal, and then shrugged, adjust the lamp on the table, and continued writing.

It has been a long day of work, harvesting lumber and running errands for some of the other guilds here in Limsa. All I had at midday was some dried fish and an orange I picked while out working. N'talya, Twelve bless her, offered to take our money out to shop and then cook dinner tonight so I could rest. Hopefully she's back soon, as I am starving.

Keerith paused again, this time to wipe a small drop of drool off of the page. She closed the journal and stood up from her chair, stretching with a yawn. She was about to leave the room at the inn to go find her sister when the door opened and the Miqo'te in question walked in, carrying a small wrapped bundle.

Although the two Miqo'te were sisters, they looked nothing alike - N'talya had been adopted after her family died in the razing of Ala Mihgo. Keerith Galeo was a Keeper of the Moon with short, green hair and a pale complexion while N'talya Galeo was from the other tribe of Miqo'te, a Seeker of the Sun with long pink hair held back in a pony tail and more of a tan than her nocturnal sister. Where Keerith was polite but reserved, N'talya was outgoing and charming. When Keerith was observant and quick to jump at opportunities, N'talya was introspective and rational, a big planner.

Keerith's attention zoned in on the package and she licked her lips, then tilted her head to the side. "That's not a lot of food, N'talya. Hoarding our money?"

The other cat-girl grinned in response and shook her head, then made a beckoning motion towards the Elezen still standing in the doorway. Although they weren't short, the towering Elezen made the two Miqo'te look like children by comparison. He was older, as well, his face lined and his red hair touched with gray, a pair of delicate glasses on his face. He carried in a large sack, and set it next to the table with an audible sound of clanking.

"I spent it all, Keerith. Every last gil we've made," N'talya informed her sister, to Keerith's dawning horror. Food doesn't clank! N'talya dug around in the bag and pulled out a skillet, then began cooking the fish that had been in her smaller package.

"Spent... it... all?" Keerith murmured, staring at the sack. "On what? That much gil could keep us fed for two weeks!"

The Elezen watched, exuding a sense of calm indifference, then looked over at N'talya. "Miss Galeo? Is there anything else you would ask of me?"

N'talya looked up from her cooking and nodded. "Arinthalos, this is my sister Keerith. Keerith, this is Arinthalos," she said, introducing the two. "I hired him through the adventuring guild as a retainer; he will be helping me set up a shop in the market wards. Arinthalos, please treat any request from my sister as one of my own. Oh, and give her a pearl to our linkshell. That'll be it for tonight. Tomorrow, we start building our empire." N'talya grinned, then went back to her fish, turning the pieces in the skillet over.

Arinthalos reached into his pocket and handed a small pearl over to Keerith, who accepted it numbly. The Elezen then bowed and left, closing the door behind himself.

Keerith stood there a bit longer, staring at the sack and the pearl in her hand until N'talya set places for dinner at the table and put Keerith's fish on her plate. She blinked and shook her head.

"WHAT?!" Keerith reached down and turned over the bag, dumping it out; it held a wide array of tools, parts, and miscellaneous objects, but nothing that looked at all like food. "Did that just happen? What just happened?!"

N'talya chuckled, digging into her fish. "Come on, Keerith. Give a cat a fish, and she'll be fed for a night. Give her a fishing rod, and she'll be fed for the rest of her days. You don't want to be a delivery girl forever, running errands for the guild for loose change, right?"

Keerith sat down and started eating as well. After a few mouthfuls, she sighed. "Sorry. You know how I get when I'm hungry. So, explain it to me."

N'talya waved her apology off with her fork. "Oh, I know. I paid our room rent up through the next week, and took what was left out to buy some craft tools and supplies for my store. I found some great deals, so I think I'll be able to turn a profit if it sells well. And with our own tools, we can work on local guildleves for some additional income. Who knows, maybe you'll find something you like more than harvesting lumber? I also picked up a linkshell, so the two of us can keep in touch."

Keerith thought about it, then nodded. "I suppose that makes sense. And... what was his name? Arinthalos?"

"Yes, our new retainer," N'talya replied.

"Do we really need a retainer? I thought that was something for adventurers with money, not broke botanists and penny-less traders."

"Oh, he was my best find of the day!" N'talya exclaimed. "I paid his contract through the end of this week; we'll need to put in some hard work to finish paying out the month, but it will be worth it. He's a retired adventurer, used to be a conjurer. He can help me with my stand, give you advice about things out there outside the city, and, well... we're in Limsa-Lamosa. A pirate-infested cesspool, to quote what he told me earlier. I'd like having someone around to watch my back when you're not here, you know?"

Keerith slowly chewed her food, thinking about that as well. "Yea. You're right again, Nat." She pushed the empty plate away from her, then started picking through the pile of things next to her chair. She came up with a sewing needle, and started picking her teeth, dislodging a piece of fish stuck to one of her fangs. "I'm still hungry, though."

"Well, if you want to eat tomorrow you'll have to work hard!" N'talya replied, laughing. Keerith scowled at her, and just to make a point, pulled a piece of cloth out of the pile and started chewing on it.
-Keerith
See you later, space cowboy!

Image
[FFXIV: Keerith Galeo, Priestess of Ormagöden]

"Can't bend what's made of metal / We're reinforced with steel / We never will surrender / We never kneel." - Made of Metal, by Dream Evil
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