Henri Gisoreux

Vital Stats

Name: Henri Lanier Gisoreux [AWN-ree la-NEER jee-SO-roo]
Nicknames: "The Blue Bomber", "The Blue Bullet"
Home World: NA - Crystal - Mateus
IC Classes/Jobs: Machinist, Blue Mage, All Crafting/Gathering Classes
Professions: Adventurer, World Traveler, Combat Engineer, Airship Captain
Specialties: Engineering (Firearms, Machinistry), Blue Magic (Mimicry, Moogle Magic)
Grand Company: Order of the Twin Adder [Rank: Serpent Captain]
Free Company: None Currently [Formerly Aredna's Blades]
Residence: Ishgard, Empyreum, Ward 7, Plot 25Race/Sex: Elezen-Hyur Male
Complexion: Sun Kissed
Eye Color: Steel Blue
Hair Color: Dirty Blonde
Height: 5 fulm, 11 ilm
Weight: 181 ponze
Body Type: Athletic & Toned
Tattoos/Scars: None
Voice: TenorAge: 28 Summers
Alignment: Neutral Good
Place of Birth: The Brume, Ishgard
Nameday: 12th Sun of the 3rd Astral Moon
Father: Valtemont Gisoreux (Deceased)
Mother: Lycelle Gisoreux (Deceased)
Other Family Members: None
Sexual Orientation: Homosexual
Marital Status: Mated/Polyamorous

Appearance

Henri is a biracial Elezen/Hyur of Ishgardian origin and Avalonian heritage. His body is athletic, toned and muscular, a result of regular physical labor as well as an active adventuring lifestyle. His golden-tanned skin is covered in light body hair, and he wears a cinnamon and mint cologne with undertones of machine oil and ceruleum. His dark blonde hair is worn in a spiky military-style undercut with golden blonde highlights, and his eyes are a striking steel-blue in color, changing to a more vibrant electric-blue when he is manipulating aether. His face is classically handsome, with a strong jaw, high cheekbones, full lips... and the pointed ears of his Elezen heritage. His tenor voice, soft and pleasant to the ears, bears a slight Ishgardian [read: French] accent.His clothing, which often contains at least some trace of blue, tends to be stylish, well-tailored to his physique, and somewhat more revealing than the conservative styles prevalent in Ishgard. When he is dressed for "work", as it were, most of his attire is custom-ordered from Tataru Taru's boutique for adventurers, as he is a huge fan of the fusion of form and functionality in her work. Both of his ears are pierced, and he tends to wear simple silver and blue jewelry in the style of the Masked Carnivale's Blue Mages. For those with aethersight or other means of detection, Henri's aetheric aura is a vibrant azure blue in color, though when using the blue magic technique of Aetheric Mimicry, his aether will shift in color to match the person being mimicked.

Personality

An adventurous and ambitious young man, Henri enjoys nothing more than wandering the world and finding new places to explore... and trouble to get into. This also sometimes leads to overconfidence on his part, as Henri tends to tackle problems head-on and with little regard to his own safety. He moves through life in the same bold way, saying and doing as he pleases and very rarely holding back his true feelings and opinions. In Henri's eyes, the adventurer lifestyle is filled with danger and the constant threat of death, and he has chosen to embrace that life with unreserved zest and vigor.Henri is an honest, loyal and trustworthy man who takes great pride in his work, and prefers to surround himself with those who share those qualities. Engineering is his calling and blue magic his passion, and he is at his best when engaged with them. He enjoys the art of conversation, having met a plethora of vastly different cultures and experiences during his travels across the Three Great Continents, and has the uncanny ability to relate to and connect with almost every person he comes across. At heart a good-natured man, Henri is always willing to work hard and help those in need.Due to growing up in poverty as a "mongrel" half-breed in the Brume and experiencing the callous disregard of the highborn towards the lowborn, Henri takes a dim view of those who exploit others for their own benefit, be they oppressive tyrants or merely benignly neglectful. Any respect for authority must be earned from him, not simply given. Henri respects the law only insofar as much as it serves the people, ignoring those he finds immoral or oppressive. Henri is particularly sensitive and defensive about his half-Elezen heritage, keenly aware of the taboos against mixed-race procreation.The death of his parents and the destruction of his home by the claws and flames of the Dravanian Horde during the Dragonsong War left Henri with an almost irrational fear, hatred and mistrust of dragons and scalekin, the trauma of these events leaving deep scars in his psyche. But with the end of the Dragonsong War, the revelations of the reasons behind the war in the first place, and the dawning of a new age for Ishgard and its people, Henri has been working hard to both conquer his fears and move past his prejudices by forging a nascent partnership with the red dragon crafter Kal Khai.

Skills & Abilities

Henri is an engineer of the finest caliber. He has known his way around firearms since he was a child, and has since become an excellent marksman as well as a master of building, maintaining and repairing everything from personal sidearms to siege weaponry. Henri's military service has provided him with a specialization in combat engineering, and working for Highwind Skyways and Garlond Ironworks taught Henri his way around airships and magitek respectively. Henri is a skilled alchemist, culinarian, leatherworker and weaver, an expert carpenter and goldsmith, and a master armorer and blacksmith. He also has a superlative grasp of machinistry, the fusion of Sharlayan aetherology, Garlean magitek and Ishgardian craftsmanship.If engineering is Henri's calling, then blue magic is his passion. His repertoire of spells tends to lean into the absurd: spells such as 1000 Needles, Deep Clean, Flying Sardine, Choco Meteor, Candy Cane, 4-Tonze Weight, Snort, Bad Breath, Aqua Breath, Missile, Bomb Toss, Launcher, J Kick, Tatami-gaeshi, Sticky Tongue, Toad Oil, Frog Legs, Self-Destruct, Pond's Chorus, Lilliputian Lyric and the like are all inscribed in his spellbook. He has also given special focus to learning the magic of mooglekind, acquiring several new spells via the Mogmenders and the Pomguard, including teleportation magic. Developing alongside his skill with blue magic is a talent for performance and showmanship, which he has since perfected by competing in the Masked Carnivale.Henri is a licensed airship pilot and captains the Delphinus as an independent operator, conducting exploratory voyages in the Sea of Clouds. He enjoys reading in his spare time, and is currently engrossed in both Count Edmont de Fortemps' Heavensward memoir and Honoroit Banlardois' The White Yonder. Besides his native Ishgardian dialect of the Eorzean Common Tongue, Henri is also fluent in Ishgardian Elezen, speaks enough Hingan and Doman to "get by", and can understand (but can't himself speak) both Mooglespeak and Dragonspeak. Finally, Henri is also an avid gambler, enjoying a friendly game of Triple Triad whenever he gets the chance to play, and frequently visits the Manderville Gold Saucer in the Sagolii Desert.

"Mimic Magic"

Over the years, Henri has achieved a deep understanding and mastery of the blue magic technique known as Aetheric Mimicry. By attuning himself to the aetheric wavelength of others, he can draw upon their hard-won combat experience in an instant and utilize that experience himself, enhancing the usage of certain other blue magic spells in his repertoire and making him more effective in battle. This aetheric attunement is only temporary, however, and Henri can only attune himself to one person's aether at a time. After intensive study and experimentation with this technique, Henri has since chosen to take his mastery to the next level by studying under the world's greatest mime... Gogo!The "mimic magic" utilized by Gogo allows the Far Eastern Roegadyn to mimic not just a target's aetheric wavelength but their martial and magical techniques learned via training and connections to their soul crystals, and he has since trained Henri in the fundamentals of this mysterious art. In the years since, Henri has mastered mimic magic to the point where he can duplicate even the most esoteric skills and knowledge of those so mimicked... but besides being limited to a single individual at a time, Henri's attunement to their aetheric wavelength also has the unfortunate side effect of imprinting their core personality traits and mannerisms onto himself while engaged in the mimicry.Henri utilizes the power of glamour prisms when performing a mimicry, disguising both his weaponry and his attire to take on the form of a seasoned veteran of the particular role being played. Those with aethersight or similar abilities, however, can see through the disguise to the true form of the blue mage hidden beneath them. The effort of mimicry is also quite taxing on Henri's personal aether reserves; he is only able to sustain the mimicry temporarily before he has to revert to his true form, and he is unable to do so again until his aether has replenished itself. At most, the mimicry will last no longer than a single roleplaying scene or an in-character Dungeon, Trial, Raid, Guildleve or FATE.

Henri's History

The Early YearsHenri was born to Valtemont and Lycelle Gisoreux, a lowborn Ishgardian Elezen and Midlander Hyur respectively, who lived in the Brume in the city-state of Ishgard. While his father worked as an engineer for Skysteel Manufactory, the family struggled to make ends meet and were marginalized within Ishgardian society due to the social taboos of an Elezen and Hyur producing children. Despite this stigma, Henri's parents gave him the warmth and love that the cold Ishgardian society around them never would. Henri was fascinated by his father's mechanical work, and he took to his rudimentary engineering lessons with keen interest. Henri dreamed of following in his father's footsteps and becoming a great engineer in his own right.However, Henri's happy childhood was cut short, as so many others had been before him, by the Dragonsong War. This latest Dravanian attack on Ishgard resulted in the death of his parents and the destruction of his home in the Brume, leaving an adolescent Henri with nothing but his grief. He did his best to carry on alone, but after a few years of living on the streets of the Brume with other orphans of the war and eking out a miserable existence on the scraps he was able to take for himself, he decided to leave Ishgard and the ghosts of his past behind to make a life for himself elsewhere. Departing Coerthas when he reached the age of majority, his wanderings would take him to the neighboring Black Shroud and the city-state of Gridania.Version 1.0 EraNeeding a way to make ends meet now that he was on his own in the world, Henri signed up for service in the Order of the Twin Adder as a musketeer, sharpening and refining his existing marksmanship skills to a fine point. It was during his training that he first met the strapping archer Vinzent Hawke, a Highlander Hyur whose family had settled in Gridania after the fall of Ala Mhigo, who aspired to become one of the Order's new battlesingers. The pair's friendship was almost instant, growing over the course of training alongside one another. Soon enough, Vinzent took his place amongst the Yellow Serpents as a sniper and Henri joined the Blue Badgers as a sapper, and the fast friends operated alongside one another whenever their duties allowed.As a Blue Badger, Henri's engineering skills were further developed by the Gridanians alongside his martial skills as the Order engaged in conflict with both the primal-worshipping beast tribes and the Garlean Empire. During his service, Henri met one of the elusive moogles during a joint operation between the Badgers and the Mogglesguard against the encroaching Garleans, and it was this event that inspired in him a love for mooglekind. But after participating in the cataclysmic Battle of Carteneau, where many of his comrades fell even as Dalamud did the same, Henri parted ways with Vinzent, retired from active duty with the Order and departed the Black Shroud, wanting to put distance between himself and the grief and trauma of that fateful battle.A Realm Reborn EraOver the next several years, Henri made his way across Eorzea with his Company Chocobo, "Peckerhead", taking jobs from the Adventurers' Guild wherever he went in order to fund apprenticeships with the crafting and gathering guilds in Gridania, Ul'dah and Limsa Lominsa. He also spent time working as airship crew for Highwind Skyways, trading his engineering skills for free passage and learning his way around the machinery of airships. Eventually, Henri would leverage what he learned aboard those airships to earn an apprenticeship with Garlond Ironworks in Revenant's Toll, learning the intricacies of magitek as he crafted arms, armor and engines for the war effort against the Garlean Empire.While attending the Masked Carnivale during a trip to Ul'dah, Henri encountered blue magic for the first time, and found himself unexpectedly enamored of its versatility. Approaching the Blue Mages' Guild, he bought himself a soul crystal as well as the spellbook containing instructions on its use. For the next several months, Henri attended studies at the Guild by day... and competed in the Masked Carnivale himself by night. As "The Blue Bomber", Henri not only honed his skill with blue magic, but he learned that he enjoyed performing for the crowds, taking to the Celestium's "stage" surprisingly well. Once he'd learned all he could, he left Ul'dah with a newfound passion for blue magic to contrast his calling as an engineer.Heavensward EraOn the tenth anniversary of the death of his family, Henri made the return journey to Coerthas in order to pay his respects. Seeing the soaring towers of Ishgard again brought back all of the fire and pain that he'd barely survived himself, but he pushed on to honor his mother and father. However, on entering the city, Henri learned of the shocking events that had transpired in his absence: the deaths of Archbishop Thordan VII and Nidhogg himself, the end of the Dragonsong War, and the transformation of Ishgard from a theocracy into a republic. Henri decided to stay in Ishgard for a time and see just how much the magnificent city that had given birth to him had changed... that is, if it had truly changed at all.Paying a visit to Skysteel Manufactory, where his father had labored in his youth, Henri made the acquaintance of Stephanivien de Haillenarte, who ran the manufactory as well as the new Machinists' Guild. Though Henri was inclined to dislike and distrust the highborn elezen, Stephanivien shocked him to his core when he not only spoke highly of his father's work, but offered to take him into the Guild as was his birthright. Accepting the offer graciously, Henri spent the next year learning the art of machinistry, as well as building upon his knowledge of airships and magitek learned during his time with Garlond Ironworks and Highwind Skyways. When he left Ishgard again a fully-fledged machinist, it was a bittersweet goodbye.Stormblood EraWhen Henri learned of the Far Eastern version of the Masked Carnivale, the Fighting Fukumen Festival, he resolved to compete in this distant arena. Boarding a ship in Limsa Lominsa, he left Eorzea behind and, after several months' journey by sea, arrived at Kugane. He fell in love with the city: the people, the culture, the food, the colors, the architecture were all so new and different than Eorzea, and he decided to make his stay an indefinite one. Once the nearby island of Shirogane was opened up for settlement by foreign adventurers, Henri took his winnings from participating in the Fighting Fukumen Festival and purchased a modest apartment in the Kobai Goten, his first real home since leaving Ishgard behind.Henri remained in the Far East for over a year, exploring and adventuring throughout Yanxia, Nagxia, the Azim Steppe and the Ruby Sea. He was most often accompanied by Hiro Nakatomi, a Raen geomancer (and accomplished itamae) who had left his home in Sui-no-Sato behind to experience life on the surface. Henri had initially hired Hiro in Kugane as his translator and guide, and together the two men experienced everything from attempting (and failing) to ascend Heaven-on-High to attending the namazu's Seven Hundred Seventy-Seven festival. And once Doma was liberated from Garlean occupation, Henri contributed his time and skills to assisting the Doman Restoration in their efforts to rebuild what had been lost.Shadowbringers EraShortly after the Doman Restoration was completed, Henri met the Hrothgar gunbreaker Reiner Tirasch, who was looking for allies to aid the Bozjan Resistance in its fight against the Garlean VIth Legion. Serving the Resistance as a sapper, Henri and Reiner became fast friends while fighting at each other's sides during the course of the grueling campaign. After Bozja's liberation, Henri remained with the Resistance for several more months, aiding the Eastern Alliance in the liberation of Dalmasca. After the defeat of the VIth Legion, Henri grew homesick and left Reiner and Bozja behind to begin his journey home. Arriving first in the city of Terncliff, he aided Garlond Ironworks in the greatest engineering project of his life to date: the G-Warrior.Upon his return to Ishgard, Henri learned from the Machinists' Guild that his former home needed his help, especially his engineering expertise, more than ever. With the end of the Dragonsong War, the Houses of Lords and Commons approved the reconstruction and revitalization of Ishgard's damaged residential districts, starting with the Firmament. Spearheaded by Lord Francel de Haillenarte, the Ishgard Restoration drew skybuilders from across Eorzea, and Henri applied his experience from the Doman Restoration to help rebuild what was once his home. Having found new purpose in the restoration and revitalization of Ishgard, Henri settled down and built his dream home (in moogle style, naturally) in the new Empyreum district.Endwalker EraAfter accompanying the Ilsabard Contingent to Garlemald, as well as aiding Garlond Ironworks in its work on the Ragnarok in Sharlayan, Henri retired to his home in Ishgard. There, he spent the majority of his time in the Firmament, working on various engineering projects for the Machinists' Guild and the Mogmenders at the Skysteel Workshop, building and distributing ceruleum heaters to the residents of the Firmament and the Brume alike, joining the other skybuilders on gathering forays into the hidden region of the Sea of Clouds known as the Diadem, assisting Sestivald in training new pilots and machinists to man House Durendaire’s repurposed airship fleet as it transitioned from war to trade and helping to maintain the firearms and equipment of the Hounds.As thanks for all of his efforts in the Diadem and the Firmament, the Skysteel Manufactory sold Henri one of their new Viltgance-class airships at cost, which he christened the Delphinus. He also claimed one of the islands in the Cieldalaes opened up for settlement for adventurers by Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn and Tataru Taru, building a summer home away from the oppressive chill of Coerthas and operating mammet-run farms and workshops to produce goods for export to the Firmament's markets. Everything seemed to be perfect in Henri's life... until Vuk's mysterious disappearance. He searched for his missing mate for months, until a visit to the Iron Colossus put his fears to rest... and a chance meeting with a Hrothgar mercenary in Ul'dah set his heart on a new path.Dawntrail EraAfter hearing about the discovery of more ceruleum deposits in Tural, the so-called New World, Henri realized the potential that this could have not only for his Free Company, but for Ishgard itself if a steady source of the fuel could be secured, as they could continue to modernize their technology. Moreover, he knew that blue magic originated in Tural amongst the Whalaqee people, who had also settled in a ceruleum-rich area that outsiders had sought to exploit. Explaining to Thun that he felt called to the New World for these reasons (and with Thun in turn insisting on accompanying him on the journey), he settled his affairs in the Firmament and loaded up the Delphinus for the voyage across the Indigo Deep.Upon arriving in Tuliyollal, Henri marveled at the city: the bright colors, the soaring architecture, the friendly people, the delicious food, the festive atmosphere, the gorgeous oceanside views... he fell in love with Tuliyollal in a way he hadn't felt since Kugane, and resolved to make it his "home away from home" for the duration of his Turali excursion by renting out one of the For'ard Cabins. He spends his days in the arid expanse of Shaaloani, working with Xal Tural Railing and scouting out potential dig sites for his own future ceruleum extraction operations. It was here that Henri came to meet Angelite "Angel" Michalos, a half-Garlean Turali transplant who was surrounded in mystery, and a new chapter of his life began.

Glamour Gallery

Vuk Faoladh

The most important person in Henri's life: his best friend, his adventuring partner, his mate and his husband. An enormously tall and powerfully muscled Lupin, Vuk was born in Sharlayan, where his parents were studying the nature of primals. Growing up both in Sharlayan and Coerthas after the loss of his parents in the Battle of Silvertear Skies, Vuk was tempered in both body and mind by his "foster parents", the Sharlayan scholar Clemetaux Breathnach and the Ishgardian inquisitor Mairola, and has since grown up to become both a studious scholar and a fearsome warrior in his own right.Vuk is a Time Mage, a practitioner of the mysterious and powerful school of magic known as chronomancy, and his deep understanding of time magic has become inextricably entwined with his other capabilities. This is undoubtedly the result of Vuk's enigmatic relationship with the monstrous mechanical primal known as Alexander, a relationship that spans past, present and future as the Lupin serves as the champion of the Iron Colossus in Eorzea and beyond. Along the way, he is penning his magnum opus: a time-spanning tale of epic proportions appropriately titled The Epic of Alexander.Henri met Vuk purely by happenstance while attending a social function organized by his Free Company, and the two of them hit it off nearly instantly, establishing both a mutual attraction and a mutual passion for their work. In the days after, Henri and Vuk grew closer and closer, and the two fell deeply in love and become quite inseperable. Most recently, Henri and Vuk built their home together in Empyreum, and it appeared that their lives had become very deeply intertwined. Henri couldn't possibly have been happier with the life that he and his coeur du loup had built together.One day, as he was wont to do, Vuk left on chronomatic business at the behest of Alexander... and never returned home. First days, then weeks, then months went by, but Henri was unable to find hide nor hair of Vuk wherever he searched. He eventually made the journey into Dravania and beseeched the Iron Colossus directly for answers, despite its state of temporal stasis. The voice of the primal spoke directly into Henri's mind, assuring him that Vuk would return in the fullness of time. Taking solace in that knowledge, Henri continues to stand vigil for his coeur du loup.

Thungraff Djentmehr

Thungraff Djentmehr (“Thun”), like many other Hrothgar, hails from the Near Eastern nation of Bozja. Thun’s mother fled with her child in the wake of the so-called “Bozja Incident”, a disastrous attempt to communicate with the moon of Dalamud by the occupying Garlean Empire that destroyed the Bozjan capital city as well as the ruling queen’s line. Thun and his mother ultimately settled, as many refugees did, in the Eorzean city-state of Ul’dah in the arid region of Thanalan. Thun himself eventually grew up to become a mercenary and guard-for-hire, still basing himself out of Ul’dah.It was in his capacity of bodyguard that Thun came to meet Henri, who hired him to watch his back during a salvaging expedition to the ruins of Garlemald. And it was there, huddled together for warmth in an abandoned underground train car, that their mutual attraction began to blossom. Further expeditions to the Sea of Clouds and Dravania cemented not only their love for each other but their dynamic as well: Thun protects Henri from himself as much as from the dangers they face together in their travels, and his oft-exasperated demeanor belies the fact that he is completely devoted to Henri.In the months since their mating, and especially in the wake of Vuk's disappearance into the timestream, Thun has gladly stepped into the role of partner for Henri, ensuring that he did not succumb to despair or to loneliness. Declaring Henri to be his queen in the Hrothgar tradition, Thun has since taken up residence with Henri in Empyreum, though he continues to operate in Ul'dah as he is never without the opportunity for lucrative work there. Most recently, Thun approached Henri with his desire to start a family and sire children with his queen, and Henri has vowed to make that happen.

Angelite "Angel" Michalos

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Mogway

Mogway is a moogle from the Churning Mists tribe, and while he is no Mogmender crafter or Pomguard warrior, he is a talented singer and dancer. Befriending the moogle while working with the Mogmenders as part of Ishgard's nascent alliance with the moogles, Henri learned that Mogway wished to see the rest of the world, and he agreed to take his new moogle friend with him on his journeys. Mogway now accompanies Henri wherever he travels (often remaining out of sight), lending his beautiful singing voice, his sweet dance moves and his joyful approach to life to his newest and bestest friend.

Kal Khai

When the dragon Ehll Tou returned to her people from the Firmament, bearing the results of her training in the arts of crafting, no few of her fellow dragons were fascinated by these handiworks and chose to follow her back to the Firmament to learn from the craftsmen of Ishgard. Kal Khai, one of those dragons, met Henri when he paid a visit to the Skysteel Workshop and petitioned him for an apprenticeship. As Henri teaches him everything he knows about engineering, he has consented to bearing Henri aloft as his rider. Through Kal Khai, Henri is (slowly) starting to let go of his hatred of dragonkind.

Organizations

GUILD MEMBERSHIPS◆ Blue Mages' Guild: Henri maintains an excellent relationship with the Blue Mages' Guild, having demonstrated a natural talent for blue magic after his first meeting with the Guild, and has thrived as a blue mage in the years since joining their ranks. His reputation with the Guild has soared as he has tackled both the Masked Carnivale in Ul'dah and the Fighting Fukumen Festival in Kugane with relish, funneling a portion of his winnings back to the Guild in recompense and doing his part to increase the size of the crowds in those venues through his over-the-top brand of showmanship. He is also one of the Guild's leading experts in the Aetheric Mimicry technique, and is one of the only known blue mages to have trained with Gogo himself.◆ Machinists' Guild: Henri's relationship with the Machinists' Guild is as deep and long-standing as with the Blue Mages' Guild, and Henri has the distinction of being personally invited to join the ranks of the machinists by the guildmaster himself, as Lord Stephanivien knew Henri's father and held him in high regard. Henri has thrived within the Guild, and has since taken on a permanent position at the Skysteel Workshop in the Firmament, aiding the other skybuilders in the Restoration project and remaining even after the project's completion. Most recently, Henri answered the call of Lord Stephanivien when the Machinists' Guild joined the Ilsabard Contingent during the Grand Alliance of Eorzea's excursion to Garlemald.◆ Adventurers' Guild: After retiring from military service following the catastrophic Battle of Carteneau, Henri joined the Adventurers' Guild, taking on both battlecraft and tradecraft work as he travelled between the city-states of Eorzea and contributing to the reconstruction efforts after the Calamity. With his military service serving as his foundation, he thrived as an adventurer and a craftsman, honing his skills and leveraging them to earn his apprenticeships with Highwind Skyways and Garlond Ironworks. Though he has long since retired from the Guild, he maintains friendly ties with the organization.MILITARY SERVICE◆ Order of the Twin Adder: Though he has long since retired from active duty with the Grand Company, Henri maintains strong ties with the Twin Adders. A former member of the Blue Badgers unit, he worked closely with the crafting guilds of Gridania and with the adventurers of the Yellow Serpents unit, working to build siege weapons and fortifications to counter the Garlean Empire's push into Eorzea. Even in his retirement, he stands ready to aid his Grand Company whenever his services are required, such as serving as a guest instructor in the use of firearms and siege weaponry.◆ The Bozjan Resistance: Henri was recruited into the Resistance by the hrothgar gunbreaker Reiner Tirasch, contributing his skills as a marksman and a sapper to the war effort against the occupying Garlean Empire's IVth Imperial Legion. Together, Henri and Reiner fought side-by-side with the other members of the Resistance and the Eastern Alliance to help push the Legion out of Bozja and Zadnor, and over the next several months, out of Dalmasca and Nagxia. He still maintains close ties with his former comrades-in-arms, returning to visit the liberated Bozja whenever he can.THE BEAST TRIBES◆ The Mogmenders: Of all the so-called "beast tribes" in Eorzea, Henri holds the closest relationship with the moogles of the Churning Mists. Originally sent to aid them in their reconstruction of Bahrr Lehs as a part of Ishgard's nascent alliance with the moogles, Henri worked closely with the moogles and earned their friendship many times over, holding them in equally high regard as he saw their craftsmanship firsthand. It was through working with the moogles that Henri had his first peaceful interactions with the dragons of Dravania, who also had an alliance with the moogles, and the healing process began for the young engineer. One of the moogles, Mogway, now accompanies Henri on his journeys.ISHGARD◆ The High Houses: As a lowborn "mongrel" from the Brume, Henri's connections with the highborn of Ishgard were virtually nonexistent. It wasn't until well into his adult life, once he'd returned to Ishgard, that he began to forge relationships with the High Houses. His strongest ties undoubtedly lie with House Haillenarte, as he has befriended Lord Stephanivien through the Machinists' Guild, Lord Francel and Lord Aurvael through his work in the Firmament and the Diadem, respectively, and Lady Laniaitte and the Rose Knights via his assistance at Camp Cloudtop in the Sea of Clouds. He has tenuous connections with House Dzamael via the former Count Tarreson, having worked alongside him with the Mogmenders on the Bahrr Lehs construction project, and with House Durendaire via Count Charlemend, working with him on supply runs for Ser Vaindreau’s Grace in the Firmament. He also lends his expertise to Count Charlemend’s associate Sestivald in training the pilots and machinists of the house’s fleet of airships as they are repurposed to ensure the steady flow of goods into and out of the Holy See. Henri does not have any known connections to House Fortemps.◆ The Firmament: Henri's participation in the Restoration of Ishgard, one of the defining events of his life, afforded Henri the opportunity to forge deeper bonds with his countrymen. Besides the aforementioned individuals above, Henri worked with the foreman Augebert Brasher on a daily basis, receiving his tasks and assignments as construction proceeded apace. He also worked closely with the Skysteel engineer Neillemard Hanette, his assistants Nimie and Denys, the Skysteel Workshop engineers Emeny and Joellie and a recovered and repurposed Allagan machina called Spanner in the creation of his Skysteel tools. And in the process of making custom deliveries for the dragon Ehll Tou, the young chronicler Hautdilong and the Skysteel engineer Arvide, Henri would come to form his partnership with the dragon Kal Khai, whom was quite impressed with Henri's artisan efforts.◆ The Redbills: Like Henri, Leofard and Stacia Myste were orphans of the Brume who left Ishgard to become adventurers, and also like Henri, they fell in love with airships, acquiring one from Highwind Skyways and declaring themselves the Redbills. Though they call themselves sky pirates, the Redbills don't seek to pillage and plunder, but to find treasure and freedom in the skies of the Sea of Clouds. The Redbills are kindred spirits to Henri, who has joined them on several of their adventures in the Sea of Clouds, and Henri makes a point to dock the Delphinus at the Parrock whenever he can to visit.◆ The Hounds: When Henri returned to Ishgard for the first time, he made the acquaintence of Hilda Ware, and was shocked at how much they had in common: both half-breed "mongrels", both native to the Brume, both machinists. The pair became fast friends, and Henri aided her Hounds whenever he could during his machinist training. When he returned a few years later, Hilda's Hounds had been formally incorporated into Ishgard's security forces, and Henri does what he can to support their operations within the city by helping to maintain their firearms and equipment.MISCELLANEOUS◆ Garlond Ironworks/Highwind Skyways: Henri apprenticed with Garlond Ironworks early in his career, having been referred to them by Highwind Skyways due to his talents in engineering. He learned all of the intricacies of magitek during his apprenticeship, which would later serve him in good stead as he learned the arts of machinistry. Henri has worked with Garlond Ironworks on several projects over the years: the construction of the Ragnarok in Old Sharlayan, the G-Warrior project in Terncliff (where he served as a test pilot for the eponymous repurposed Allagan warmachina), and even the short-lived expedition into the Interdimensional Rift.◆ The New World: Since arriving on the distant western shores of Tural, Henri has begun forging new professional connections as he settles into the New World. His ceruleum prospecting work in Shaaloani brought him to the attention of Nitowikwe and her husband Wawlika, where his engineering skills have been put to use in service of Xak Tural Railing as they rebuild the Dawnblazer and unite Tuliyollal and Alexandria by rail. And within the bustling city of Tuliyollal itself, Henri has begun making deliveries for the various shops of Wachumeqimeqi: XRal Soj Metalwares, Epistles by Pameka, Xeerol Ja Juicecraft, Shunye's Apothecary and Fish Fancies Donuhanu.◆ The Cosmic Exploration Initiative: Thanks to his experiences as an engineer with Garlond Ironworks over the years, Henri was extended an invitation to join this massive project undertaken by Searchingway and Namingway of the Loporrits of Bestway Burrows on the moon. Arriving at the Moongate Hub in Sinus Ardorum, Henri joined the Loporrits, Studium volunteers, gleaners, artisans and adventurers who had volunteered their services in order to build a dock for the starship Galactic Way and proper facilities for its maintenance. Once the cosmoport has been completed, he plans to take to the stars themselves, boldly going where no Ishgardian has gone before!

Roleplaying Hooks

◆ Like the majority of Eorzea's adventuring population, Henri spends his fair share of time in taverns and other social venues, and this is always a quick and easy way to make his acquaintence. Bonus points if you meet him over a rousing hand of Triple Triad!◆ As an engineer, Henri could cross paths with you while doing work for Garlond Ironworks, Highwind Skyways, Skysteel Manufactory, or the Ishgard Restoration. He is a master gunsmith, and he is usually available for commissioned work.◆ Henri has served in the Order of the Twin Adder, the Adventurers' Guild, the Machinists' Guild and the Blue Mages' Guild, and any connections your character may have with these organizations could lead you to cross Henri's path at some point.◆ As an adventurer, Henri can fight alongside you anywhere in the world, be it on a job for the Adventurers' Guild or even a random encounter somewhere. He is almost always available to hire and particularly enjoys any job which involves seeing new and exciting places.◆ Henri's efforts as a skybuilder, in both gathering raw materials from the Diadem and in using those materials to craft the things needed in the course of Ishgard's Restoration, could very easily give one an opportunity to cross his path, as he spends the vast majority of his time here.◆ As a blue mage, Henri has spent a considerable amount of time entertaining the wealthy elite of Ul'dah and Kugane in the Masked Carnivale and the Fighting Fukumen Festival, respectively, and your character may have seen him performing for the crowds in these venues.◆ Need a lift? As Sky Captain of the Delphinus, a Viltgance-class airship in service to his Free Company, Henri is available for charter flights for select clientele... especially if they take him somewhere he's never been before, as he enjoys exploration quite a bit!◆ As an Elezen/Hyur raised amongst the lowborn of the Brume in Ishgard, Henri feels a kinship with other mixed-blood individuals, especially those who have also endured prejudice and racism in their lives, and will readily befriend them if given the opportunity.

The Delphinus

Henri serves as the Sky Captain of the Delphinus, a Viltgance-class Airship built to order by the Skysteel Manufactory. He was able to purchase the sleek new vessel at cost as thanks for all of his efforts in the Diadem and the Firmament during the Restoration of Ishgard. The triple-decked blue-and-silver airship, bearing the same aesthetic as Garlond Ironworks' Manacutters, is built with a rigid and lightweight frame for more stable flight, a sharp and narrow bow to balance air resistance, a quartet of aetherwings treated with wind-aspected aether for speed, and smaller rear aetherwings between the twin rear-facing propellers for added buoyancy. The vessel is not without the means to defend itself, armed with the latest in Ishgardian weaponry: two pairs of quad-barreled Bertha cannons, a pair of Dragonkiller ballistas and a nose-mounted magitek missile launcher salvaged from Garlemald. The Delphinus flies Henri's personal heraldry, a blue flag bearing a stylized winged dolphin, and the flags of the Holy See of Ishgard and the Temple Knights. The airship bears a standing crew complement of thirty-six including Henri himself, the ship's mammet voyager, and a diverse and cosmopolitan mixture of contracted adventurers and mercenaries originating from all over the star. Though the Delphinus is based out of Ishgard, it has sailed all over the star, from Eorzea all the way to distant Hingashi. Most recently, Henri has begun to retrofit the Delphinus in preparation for a bold voyage across the Indigo Deep to the distant so-called New World.

Roleplaying Style

My roleplaying style is adaptive to who I'm roleplaying with at the time. I'm fine with single-line posts and I'm fine with paragraphs, and I will post at whatever length I feel is most appropriate for the situation; not everything needs to be a novella. And if you're a para/multi-para type, please try to post with some urgency. I have limited free time and I don't want to spend most of it waiting for long posts.I enjoy casual/tavern/venue RP if the mood is right, but I do have a very strong preference for immersive, story-driven RP, with my goals being to have fun adventures, tell collaborative stories and form lasting relationships. I enjoy being out in and engaging with the world of FFXIV, seeing the beautiful sights and having exciting adventures, and vastly prefer doing that instead of standing around in an RP hub or venue.I enjoy the lore of FFXIV and try to be as lore-friendly as possible in my roleplaying, but I'm not inflexible or unbending by any means (I've certainly taken some liberties with Henri myself, but he's not terribly lore-bendy). I'm pretty open to working with whatever someone wants to bring to the table as long as it's at least grounded in the setting and lore of the game, and I expect the same consideration to be given in return.My "don'ts" list is pretty common sense: metagaming, godmoding, blurring the IC/OOC lines, that sorta thing. I'm not averse to bad things happening in-character, with the sole exception of perma-death. Beyond that, I'm pretty open and easygoing. All I ask for is honesty, respect and communication, and you'll get them in return. My door is always open, so please feel free to ask questions or raise concerns at any time.As far as more "adult" roleplaying goes, I require anyone I play with on that level to be at least 21 years old (if not older) and non-trans male. I prefer large, masculine and hirsute Highlanders, Roegadyn and Hrothgar, and will never go there with Viera, Miqos, Lalas, transgender, nonbinary or feminine male characters. We all have our preferences and boundaries and these are mine, so please respect them.

Availability/Contact Info

My play times are invariably after 8PM CST on weekdays (I have a set M-F work schedule), and my weekends are free.I am available on Discord [LoPanda#1927], so feel free to contact me there if you need something and I'm not in-game.Like a lot of you, I do use Mare, and am happy to provide my code on request! Let's see each other as we see ourselves!