Roaming Zephyr (Zeph)

((mun note: it's fun having a WoL who is basically a puppy, can't maintain real personal animosity towards anyone, and is just kicking back and indulging her competitive streak by crafting/gathering in the current state of peacetime. XD))

so we're gonna keep doin' this little dance. >:)

Sometimes I think if we ever met in person instead of our retainers bumpin' up against each other, there'd be a brawl.

But for all I know it's just someone who also figured out what folks want in today's market. Maybe even someone I know.

...Whoever that one person is who keeps havin' their retainer's prices undercut mine by 1 gil. Multiple items I sell, too, not just one. It's like they're stalkin' my retainer and intentionally craftin' the same stuff just to cut into my profits.

I keep undercutting 'em back by 99,

Zeph's the really tall kid who sprawls lazily in the back row and initially people think she's a scary delinquent, until they're threatened by bullies; she comes up and beats them down and asks if the would-be victim is okay, and they realize she's 1: actually really nice, 2: kind of a doofus :D

Intimidate? Nah. More like...

*sighs and rolls eyes*
Go home, hun.

(Goes for everyone from M'zhet to Zenos.)

Sometimes lyin' in the grass. Sometimes he held my hand.

(Like I said, how pissed do I wanna make him talkin' about this?)

...And then when I got bored sittin' around, we went off to hunt stuff. :)

I said it before, I dunno what to call whatever it is we got, but it ain't a bad thing. Mostly.

down no matter where we are. Somethin' about both of us being chosen to be Azure Dragoons. So anyroad, he kept showing up even on my island.

And I guess I didn't mind. He doesn't talk much, so wasn't too much of a bother. We spent a lot of time just sittin' together watching the sea and the sky.

good thing Tataru had that whole "develop your own island" thing. Spent a lot of time there just kinda thinking things over on my own. Even set up a little mountaintop campsite where the mammets would leave me alone.

Course, Estinien found me there too. Due to, uh, stuff... we can track each other

He couldn't sleep either. So uh... anyway we were gonna go for a walk, turns out NOBODY could sleep that night. Wound up in a great big cuddle pile of Scions in one of the rooms for the rest of the night. (Yeah, Estinien too. :D)

All the same, I kinda needed time by myself to process it all, so

time we touched down again in Sharlayan, for the most part. And that was... kinda embarrassing. So anyroad...

Tried to sleep that night, couldn't. Too restless. So I got up from my room there, found Estinien standing guard by the door. "In case my condition worsened" he says, I know that's BS.

...Man. Not sure how to answer that. Depends on how pissed I wanna make Estinien. :)

Guess I can start with, first thing I said when I woke up on the ship was, "okay, that's it, I'm retired now."

Was pretty okay after that. Got a bunch of good healers on board, right? They had me patched up by the

((Oh GOSH Zeph is nothing like me except for possibly "short person syndrome" (by roe standards) causing her to go above and beyond too often. My better-known alt is actually far more like the player. :)))

...I will just link to this thread...

bsky.app/profile/just...

Wasn't amused. Still not amused. At least it seems more or less self-sufficient. And brings home good stuff from treasure hunts sometimes.

...Y'know, I don't like to throw that "Warrior of Light" clout around. Rather just be seen as another adventurer, nothin' more special than anyone else.

But if that happened?

You bet I'd be pulling out the "You know who I am?" and "Look, I saved the star, can ya do me a favor?"

It might work.

...Really wish I'd had longer with Ysayle to talk about that. And... other stuff.

Even after I met the Scions and they explained the Echo to me, didn't quite click - it sure didn't seem to mess Minfilia up, after all. Wasn't till I met Ysayle and she told me how the Echo confused her that I realized... that was it. I had no memories due to accidentally pickin' up everyone else's.

At some point I guess I figured out that it didn't happen when I was off somewhere all alone, so I mostly wandered around for... seems like about 5 years, going by what my brother's said about when I disappeared. Mostly stayed away from cities except when I needed to do some odd jobs for gil.

...Don't actually remember how it started. Memories are kinda messed up until the point I was in the carriage to Gridania (and that's a story too!) and heard Hydaelyn speak.

Up till then, thought I was crazy. Outta the blue, kept seeing things that definitely never happened to me. Didn't know why.

Already said why I joined Maelstrom (the Admiral♥️).

Ranked up quick just by doin' the stuff they asked me, an' now it's kinda funny 'cause new recruits will be swearin' in at HQ and "what the hells? giant tonberry just ran by!" Poor Rhiki's gotta be like "uh yeah that's one of our captains..."

Zeph stands in a restroom, natural tones with green accents as is her usual. There's a sink with a mirror(?), towel rack, vase of flowers on the counter, a toilet behind her... surely nothing unusual... of course not...

Zeph walks along a series of narrow beams and grates made of what looks like somewhat weathered industrial metal... floating in mid-air somewhere...

Back into the house, more industrial fixtures are seen, including ... gaol partition doors/walls? Steel lockers? And something doesn't look right way in the back... (I won't spoil it for anyone who wants to come visit. :D)

❇️Having said that: Restroom is open to the public, but the plumbing's kinda sketchy - watch out or you may wind up somewhere very strange... ;)

A shot of Zeph's apartment, with her sitting on the "walk-out ocean view deck" in her botanist gear.

A shot of the hot tub (and part of the kitchen) at Zeph's apartment, and the friendly Namazu attendant who hands out towels. Zeph stretches - after a day of blacksmithing, that hot tub really does feel good... she's glad Tataru talked her into actually having a bed and a bath at her place.

The indoor garden at Zeph's FC house, full of greenery growing up the walls and across the ceiling, flowers, a waterfall in one corner, a tree planted in the middle of a circular seating area, upon which she sits, surveying her work.

A shot of the front room of the "Yaksmen's Lodge", decorated largely in earth tones of deep green and warm brown. Sunlight streams in through angled windows and skylights to brighten the dining area, set with white tables and chairs, while a fireplace and candles ensure it's cozy at night too. Zeph stands behind the bar, before a well-stocked shelf full of bottles, shaking up a drink.

(Updated since she moved!)

❇️Visitors welcome in any of Zeph's spaces (including Island Sanctuary)! She's used to sleeping by the side of the road and under bushes, so she isn't home much anyway.

(Farmer's daughter, so plants are comfy.)

Apt: Mist W17, Topmast, A34
FC: Empyreum W26, P48

Only family left is my brother. If I hadn't gone an' made something of myself, he never would've come lookin' for me. Would've assumed I died in the Calamity, since that was about when I disappeared.

Think he'd rather I retire now and spend my days just bummin' around the house I bought us, tho.

...Y'know, maybe I shouldn't be flying around Ishgardian territory on this thing.

For one, Ishgard's a dead serious place.

For two... might pop.

Estinien and Alisaie. Not a question.

...

Maybe Hildibrand if he's not stuck in the ground or something.

...I dunno. Just hit home outta nowhere. I'm glad he never got involved with the Resistance - odds are he wouldn't've survived to track me down.

(And I wouldn't've ever known I had a brother to lose, since I didn't remember him until he showed up. Life's funny, huh?)

...Was at Rhalgr's Reach on some business, found some folks needed assistance. Helpin' a da find his daughter, walkin' with a girl wanted to visit her brother...

Was supposed to be comin' back to the lodge to get a rare herb while it was bloomin' nearby. Wound up hugging Ardent awhile instead.

...
......
..........
...The Admiral's real pretty.

(I know she's outta my league but at least I got an excuse to be in her presence, right?)

This body is a machine that turns... uh, crystal glass, larch and beech lumber, potash, and wildfowl feathers into message book stands.

I betcha I've made and sold about a hundred of the things since the housing market exploded a few weeks back. Another round closes in the morning, and I AM READY.

((Fun fact, Fuchsia is one of the characters who initially inspired Zeph's personality. XD They would definitely get along well.))

I remember goin' back to the Source one night, gettin' wasted where Ardbert wouldn't see me in the Pendants and nag me about it... just lyin' in the snow with a bottle next to Haurchefant's shield. Wonderin' why it was me and not him. And him and not me. He could've been worthy of that title.