Y'shai Yhunja

Crystal || Adult || Character Driven || M/RP

"Willin' ta take a shot in the dark?"

When sun meets moon; an eclipse with a lightning-struck heart. An engineer, a hunter, a black cat thief with a hunger for magitek, lover, fighter, foul-mouthed fucker. This leather-clad miqo'te is that and more, he claims, though whatever his proclivity may be at any given time, you can be sure of one thing: he's here to win (and cause trouble along the way).

Profile ---

Name: y'shai yhunja (née tia)
Epithets: wayward panther, the lightning shot, of the dusk, the midnight sun
Age/Nameday: 29 summers. born on the 28th day of the 1st umbral moon (02/25)
Race: mixed blood seeker & keeper miqo'te
Nationality: vylbrandian/la noscean
Gender: Male
Sexuality: gay
Deity: originally azeyma for the majority of his life but now believes in menphina alongside her sister
Profession: freelance craftsman, tinkerer, repairman, hunter for hire, thief
Residence: a hand-wrought cottage built alongside his husband in a secluded plot of land between the twelveswood and coerthas
Hair: black as pitch, choppily cut and rather wayward; soft to touch, though unruly, refuses to stay combed back completely. his braids, however, are meticulously maintained; always adorned with specifically three beads on either braid, tied off with juvenile colibri feathers.
Eyes: blue left on the right, green on the right. to most they are clocked quick as eyes belonging to a seeker of the sun, but those of keener, knowing sight could gauge at how his slitted pupils are wider than the average seeker's, nearly diamond shaped.
Height/Build: 5 fulms, 10 ilms, 195 ponze (5'10", around 195lbs, give or take). shai is broadbuilt, wide in the shoulders, thick in the thighs and arms, sturdy, compact muscle nigh everywhere you look, with a longer torso compared to leg length ratio of a honed swimmer's physique. in accordance with his peoples' traditions, their fervent worship of their totemic animal, the jaguar, physical fitness and intimidating statures were non-negtioable factors for hunters of the Y. and despite his long since departure from his jungle home he maintains his jaguar-inspired body to the utmost. (and he's damn proud of it)

appearance: from a first glance shai cuts the figure of an, albeit larger than normal, seeker of the sun miqo'te; with mismatched green-blue eyes, brown tawny skin, slit pupils, right down to the seeker-unique tattoo in dark ink on his nose. however, on closer inspection, if you're feeling daring, surprises surmount themselves; a fanged, implacable, smug grin, pupils that seem wider than the last time you looked (or is that just a trick of the light?), perhaps it's all in your head, perhaps a miqo'te is a miqo'te is a miqo'te.
lucky for you this particular miqo'te is woefully vain and certainly doesn't mind you staring.
there's no second guessing what his favourite colour is at least. wardrobe nigh head to toe black, matching equally dark hair and fur. slick furred ears (always adorned with a pair of small rose gold hoops) contrasted by a rather thick tail; they give off a particular sheen due to heightened keratin production common among vylbrand native miqo'te— adding a layer of waterproofing to keep the underfur closer to the skin dry.
a single knife scar on his jawline belies a veritable swath of much more from the neck down; chest and torso covered in a menagerie of scars, ranging from large gouges down to smaller nicks, most bearing resemblance to clawmarks, while his arms and shoulders are tracked with thin, red, erratic lines of levin-born scarring. back dappled with healed pockmarks from bullet wounds, patches of burn scarring, some shimmering with a blue-ish sheen if reflected in the light. his hands, as well, are not free from marks of their own, palms calloused, his fingers in particular are decorated with small nicked marks and discoloured burn scars.
personality: brash, outspoken, crass, over-protective long beyond bordering on territorial, an arrogant bastard with a temper on a short fuse; much like looking the part as a seeker of the sun shai seems to be cut and dry of a common tia. from the love of competition, to the shameless ego, bold, brave, blunt with always something to prove, a new high to chase.
and, if he had it his way, you'd never know more than that. nothing beyond flirtatious pride, suggestive smirks over shared drinks, nothing beyond his larger than life, confident, chest puffed persona.
proud, loyal, stubborn, hitting the initial sparks of camaraderie with him may seem easy at first but getting him to trust you? that's another story completely. an unsubtle man to a fault, despite the mask of ego and his slow to trust core he's woefully honest, never difficult to gauge just exactly how he's feeling in the moment; his body language betrays him on the regular.
passionate, good-humoured, with a skew for recklessness over self-preservation, his loud-mouth ego makes a decent smoke and mirror's shroud for a sharp hunter's sense and surprising amount of perceptiveness.
he's endured much and more to get this far in life, creative, wilful, and will use the utmost of his surroundings to his advantage. survival being such an intense main focus for the majority of his life he'll outwardly admit that he's no hero, when it comes down to the wire he's selfish at heart; his family and then himself come before all. and he doesn't care what he has to do to keep them safe.

strengths: excellent marksmanship with both bow and firearm • piloting experience with both modern day airships and garlean wrought magitek vessels • history of sailing and seafaring • scavenging, if there's worth to be found in a scrapheap he'll find it • dexterous, deft hands • physically strong with a high pain tolerance threshold, high endurance • hunting, tracking, fishing • keen hearing you would expect from a miqo'te, alongside decent night vision, though no where as strong as a full-blooded keeper's • a powerful swimmer with a resilient pair of swimmer's lungs
weaknesses: any sort of magic beyond rudimentary basics of second-hand learned conjurery taught to him by his husband (i.e. nothing beyond cure1 and esuna— and even then he has to physically stop moving and focus real damn hard for it to take) • long texts of literature, was illiterate for the majority of his life and has only semi-recently become comfortable reading and writing eorzean common (once again taught to him so lovingly by his husband), however his dyslexia makes him ill-suited for anything beyond light reads at most • though he's a quick draw, physically he relies on his strength over speed, easy to out run • while his knowledge of machina is vast, outside of his engineering his breadth is lacking, not one to know a priceless relic from a household object (barring those of allagan variety)
likes: spicy food, spicy seafood especially • machina, both magitek and not • moving puzzles (think rubik's cubes) • competition (and camaraderie born from said competition) • almonds (raw? good. toasted? the best) • smell of the rain • the sound of waterfalls • bacchus wine
dislikes: dry heats • ul'dah • male xaela (a prejudice he's yet to work through) • the passive and meek • the self-righteous • garleans, personally, generally, immensely • being confined, physically restricted • the smell of raw, burning ceruleum • customer service (most unfortunate part and parcel of being a craftsman...)
trivia:
• the highly customized revolver he's so often seen with, his main weapon of choice, is named eclipse
• naturally runs rather warm
• he is levin-aspected, which is, perhaps, the only reason why he's been able to survive numerous, intense bouts of electrocution over the years
• already possessing a low, deep voice— after enduring said bouts of electrocution from jungle coeurls in his youth he was levin-scarred both inside and out— the former a far lesser known fact. the inside of his mouth and down his throat are tracked by light red running trails, this resulted in scarred, swollen vocal tissue. even now, long after recovery, his voice is permanently altered by this; giving him a bass-heavy, vocal fry thick timbre that rumbles naturally
• suffers from chronic peripheral neuropathy due to nerve trauma from the scars on his chest. though the majority of the symptomatic pain is managed diligently by his talented healer of a husband, some days still have him more out it than others
• his signature scarlet-glassed goggles and dog tag necklace were gifts to him from long ago
• a man of many leather jackets, the one you'll see him in most often is his 'lucky jacket'. how can you tell it's the right one? the lucky jacket has a thick stitch running up the entire length, straight down the spine of it

misc: theme - wildfire by wulf black — playlist on spotify

hooks ---

need a tune up?— despite some rather morally questionable ventures he's partaken in every now and again during the day shai squeezes out a living as a (mostly) abiding, everyday craftsman. need a weapon looked at? something customized? repair or fortification on your armor? just coming by for some routine maintenance? though, in the perilous world that is eorzea, weapon work is a commonplace it's certainly not the only thing he offers; from simple things like repairing out of sync chronometers to larger projects like airship maintenance. he's a man with a passion for working with his hands and isn't one to say no to a challenge, and hey, at the very least, consultations are always free.

scavenger? treasure hunter?— you ask him and he'd say there "ain' much ov' a diff'rence, mate." it's not uncommon to catch shai out on the field of both former and active warring territories to plunder the potential loots of machina fall out. from homegrown eorzea, gyr abania, hells even the voyage to bozja sings sweet to his ears, if there's valuable scrap to be found he'll find his way there sooner or later. those of similar provocation or perhaps those embroiled in the war effort themselves may just find him scouring through the metal rubble.

castrum diver— a thief? reckless spiller of imperial blood? no, no, of course not, come now, just a simple repairman at best! though he isn't exactly chatting about it openly at every tavern and pub shai has a long history in thievery— more specifically castrum infiltration and magitek sought spoils. in most cases he kept his hard won plunder for himself, but, well, a man has to eat and freelance isn't always steady income. drawing up schematics for his own tinkering endeavours and then finding that the magitek got into the right hands... to catch the glimpse of the right eyes and empty the coffers of the right folk. the technological advancements of garlemald sing an irresistible siren song to keen minded buyers. perhaps you're a black market associate he's once worked with, or perhaps you're a fellow thief of similar goals, meeting in the thick of imperial territory with eyes on the same prize.

just another gearhead— if it wasn't made plain as day by now, shai's a borderline obsessive tinkerer. craftsman. self-made and self-proclaimed engineer. as a passion he's had nigh his entire life he's always down to talk shop with similar minded folk, picking the brain of another grease-monkey while knocking back a few is one of life's finer pleasures.

the past rarely sleeps— and hell, he might've slept with you. though now more than happily mated to his beloved husband, shai once had a history of strings upon strings of one night stands, flirting with reckless abandon and never being one for shame. if you fit his type profile there's a chance you could be one of those faded notches on the bedpost.

tribal relations— any fellow tribes or clans that call eastern la noscea home, especially in or around the area of raincatcher gully, may be familiar with an aggressively territorial, traditional and proud tribe of Y seekers. granted, any relation here would most likely be hostile at worst and curious at best, but, if so, you could be familiar with a dark-haired Y tia who stuck out like a sore thumb among his spotted fair-haired family, one who was constantly venturing beyond territory borders...

contact // info ---

21+, EST, here for a good time!
Yo, name's Dominik, feel free to call me any variation of that (Dom, Nik, Nikki, etc etc) or just stick to Y(Shai), or that dumbass over there, I'll probably respond. Got any questions or concerns don't be scared to hit me up ooc! We're all here writing for the fun of it, so no stress, yeah? I'm not currently looking for more contacts at the moment but thanks loads for taking a peek at this carrd!

Tumblr: @ yshai-tia
Twitter: @ raincattcher

in-game name is y'shai yhunja, if you ever see me running around balmung feel free to say hey! i'm usually doing nonsense with my partner, but we're friendly folk, don't be shy, always down to chit chat or run some content for the goofs and gaffs

tribe ---

independence of self. tribe before all.

with ancestry originally hailing from the archipelago of the cieldalaes islands, a remote yet fiercely traditional and proud branch of the Y once thrived. in the secluded, shore-lined jungles of the island hunt was plentiful and the threat of outsiders minimal, few daring to traverse the unchartable mist-laden waters of the southern rhotano. such was a time of prosperity it is said that the territorial Y even made cordial, friendliness with the native lalafellin populace that, too, called the isles home, trading hunt spoils for bounty of the sea.

just how this particular sect of the Y would come to find themselves on the mainland of Vylbrand, nestled in the jungles of Raincatcher Gully in Eastern La Noscea is a fact of history that has grown murky with time. a popular, repeated theory lays blame on the ever increasing activity of Garlean ships on open waters, and with the majority of the cieldalaes outside of protection from any major city-states or even militia, it was the current Nunh's decree at the time to migrate for their own safety, their own future prosperity. after all, what was a miqo'te if not adaptable? if their ancestors could cross massive, frozen expanses during the Great Migration then only shame would become them if they could not make their own way across the rhotano.
another more... silenced, brutally honest tale tells of a Y's nunh conquest of greed and power bringing about their own downfall; seeking to expand their territory and betraying those they had once made mutually beneficial bonds with for their own gain. leading to the eventual exile of their people...

whatever the truth of history may be, rumours nowadays spin tales of always keeping your eyes above when traversing through Raincatcher, there may be shadows in the trees, and if you come across a palm marked with rakes of three clawmarks; Turn Back.

traditional and unwavering, they follow the teachings of their totemic protector, worshipping standard second only to Azeyma herself. territorial, powerful and fiercely independent, going so far as to deviate from miqo'te norms of hunting in packs to insisting on solo hunting alone, they believe strength and self-reliance to be honed above all. a mixture of adapting to familiar yet still new climes and fiercely preserving their ancestral ways has, over time, given born to a deeply insular clan that trusts little and less for those not of jaguar blood.

from the thrice daily worship of Azeyma at her times of transition; sunrise, to sunhigh, to sunset, to their ways of divination, of knowing the flame, the rain, the sea as alive and knowing, their form of huntspeak and native language, even their ways of dance and food preparation, much and more has been preserved thanks to their diligence, even in spite of all they had lost during their migration.

so while some may consider them a merciless, fierce people, the reality is that they have their world, their family and all the memories connected to them, to protect and safeguard, especially from those who would seek to steal, to take and maim and assimilate. the jungle alone is fraught with peril, let alone what resides outside it. and if they must be ruthless to protect their own, so be it.

self before weakness, family before self, tribe before all.