intro

APPEARANCE
Orangey-blonde hair and heterochromia (left: green, right: blue). Starting at 173 cm (5ft 8in) and ultimately ending up at 183 cm (6ft) he’s on the tall side for Miqo’te, and decently built after years of adventuring. Floofy hair and tail with a texture more akin to cat fur, and soft to the touch. He’s the type that has good hair and skin though he doesn’t particularly put much care into either. Initially looks a few years older than his actual age. His hands are very rough and he has a lot of shallow scars, especially on his upper body, mostly from his adventuring past though he gains quite a few working as a Scion. Over the course of ShB he also gains two significant scars on his face: one on his lower right cheek and the other across his left eye. During the final fight against Zenos, he gains another on his lower right cheek, making an X shape.

PERSONALITY
Generally upbeat and cheerful, for better or for worse P’iuma isn’t the type to dwell on things, always moving and quite intent on at least having something to do with his hands and/or mouth at all times. He’s not the brightest tool in the shed, to put it lightly, though he’s self-aware of that fact and isn’t above making a joke at his own expense. He’s earnest and eager to please, especially to people he likes, though this has backfired spectacularly on him in the past. Essentially, a loud and cheerful himbo.

VOICE: the birds'll fly from tree to tree and fill me with their song

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stats

traits and trivia

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backstory

• isle del lucertola
• the calamity's wake
• gridania and alwyn

ISLE DEL LUCERTOLA, 1558 - 1572

P’iuma’s home island of Isle del Lucertola is located at the southernmost point of the Strait of Merlthor, where the waters of the Strait and the Rhotano Sea meet, and is considered one of the northernmost islands of the Cieldalaes archipelago. Situated between the continent of Aldenard and the island of Vylbrand, the P tribe made the medium-sized, crescent-shaped island their home when the Miqo’te tribes migrated back into Eorzea during the Fifth Umbral Era. The island is named for the basilisks that roam its unsettled areas, and the tribe that adopted its name from them in kind. Its close proximity to both Thanalan and La Noscea allows the Isle to act as both a trading post and a stopping-off point for merchants and travellers alike, and situating itself at the meeting place of two ocean currents means the waters offshore teem with bounty. The mudflats of the island’s inner crescent act as another source of food as well.

Thanks to this plenty, the tribe of the Basilisk was able to flourish and become large enough to have a political structure centered around two Nunhs, acting in tandem as community representatives and leaders. The two Nunhs would often work in harmony, but clashes and rivalries were not uncommon, and this was especially the case when P’iuma was born. P’stah Nunh, older and wizened for his years, would often butt heads with P’iuma’s father, P’sheba Nunh, who was younger and, having but relatively recently gained the title, much more headstrong. As P’sheba’s first and only son, P’iuma was adored by his father, and he personally taught his son how to hunt, fish, and sail from a young age: skills that would be necessary for survival on the island. As he was never particularly close with his mother, his older sister P’rhetmi Sheba and his younger sister P’thalee Sheba were his closest family members besides. He was particularly fond of his “baby sister” P’thalee, who from a young age was more prone to aether sickness than most. As a result she was often housebound and/or with P’iuma, who was going through his education as a tia to be a pillar of the community whether he wanted to or not. It brought the two siblings together, with P’thalee showing a talent for words and numbers far outstripping P’iuma, which he was nothing but proud of. Outside of his immediate family, P’iuma was quite fond of (see: had a hopeless, badly kept secret crush on) one of P’stah Nunh’s sons, P’tako Tia. Despite being ten years his senior, as the youngest of the tias besides P’iuma, P’tako was usually the one charged with babysitting and eventually tutoring P’iuma to fulfill his future responsibilities as a tia.

P’tako, being a good-natured fellow, took to the task quite well and grew to be very close to P’iuma in spite of their fathers’ frequent feuds, even more spurred on by events too close for comfort causing unrest. The primal threat brought the Sahagin to act out with increasing frequency against the tribe’s fishing and trading boats, and the island, though blessed in its location, was also close enough to the western side of Aldenard to bear witness to the Battle of Silvertear Skies. At four years old, P’iuma watched with fear and fascination as dragons and airships darkened the skies and Midgardsormr emerged from his slumber to protect Silvertear Falls; the sight remains one of his earliest memories.

Despite current events, P’iuma’s life itself on the island was relatively peaceful, aside from the occasional odd dream or vision of the past that he would see but chalk up to an oddity. Besides academic pursuits, which usually brought back mixed to negative results, P’tako also taught P’iuma how to play and sing music, something that P’iuma took to surprisingly well thanks to a combination of his own innate talent, wanting to impress his crush, and the fact that it wasn’t letters or numbers for once, thank the Warden. When P’iuma reached his tenth nameday, P’tako gave him his own little harp, which immediately became one of P’iuma’s most prized possessions.

On that same day, P’tako took P’iuma on his first excursion off the island to the city of Limsa Lominsa, roughly half a day’s sailing away. Little P’iuma was fascinated by the new sights and sounds, and he was unwisely given free rein to run around and play while P’tako took care of his errands. At the time, P’iuma’s tail had already outgrown him, and he had to wrap it around his waist to keep from tripping on it. But unfortunately for him, it came undone as he roamed the streets, and he took a rather nasty fall, scraping up his knee. But as luck would have it, a little girl, eager to practice her healing magics, came up to him and patched him up. This little girl was Meira Irinasch, and the two would quickly become the best of friends. For the next few years P’iuma would jump on any opportunity he could get to visit Limsa Lominsa and thus Meira, his first and only friend he’d ever made outside of the island. He was still too young to make the voyage on his own, though it gave him the motivation to get his sailing skills up to snuff so he could eventually go to and fro whenever he pleased.

Fate would have different plans for them, however. In the twilight years of the Sixth Astral Era, the Empire’s movements grew suspicious and the Meteor project was revealed to have begun anew in its second phase. P’iuma’s odd dreams began to show up more frequently, cataclysmic meteor showers and unsettlingly real visions of horrific scenarios playing out in front of his eyes. As rumors of disaster and destruction at the hands of the Empire reached the P tribe’s ears, Meira’s family decided to evacuate to Thavnair, and though she and P’iuma made plans for her to run away to his island with him the next time he came to Limsa Lominsa, he was too late. By the time he returned, only her brother remained.

Dalamud creeped ever closer seemingly with each passing day, and imperial airships would loom overhead the island with increasing frequency. With the island’s close proximity to what looked to be Dalamud’s point of descent, the Carteneau Flats, P’sheba Nunh grew restless, encouraging the members of the tribe that had a mind to do so join the Eorzean Alliance or assist the adventurer forces in whatever way they could, in the vain hope that it would help against the incalculable threat the Garlean Empire was planning against Eorzea. Some left, but when Dalamud finally fell, many were never heard from again -- and in the end, there was nothing left to do but pray. Though by some miracle Isle del Lucertola was mostly spared from the wrath of Bahamut, the residents of the island were given front row seats to witness the Calamity that befell Eorzea.

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backstory

• isle del lucertola
• the calamity's wake
• gridania and alwyn

THE CALAMITY’S WAKE, 1572 - 1573

The Calamity wrought utter disaster and scarred every part of Eorzea in some way or another -- Isle del Lucertola was no exception. A shard of the lesser moon came crashing down and lodged itself in the center of the island, and though thankfully it landed far from any inhabited areas, it warped and corrupted the aether around it into one of the familiar spires of corrupted crystal dotting the realm today. Those more susceptible to the effects of the corrupt aether that radiated from it grew severely ill, one among them being P’iuma’s little sister, P’thalee.

But that was far from the last of the effects the Calamity had on the island. Among the few blessings Isle del Lucertola had to count was the agreement among the city-states to reduce airship travel, which meant travellers were given little choice but to go by sea from Thanalan to La Noscea and vice versa. Thus traffic and trade on the island never completely ceased, which aided the island greatly in its recovery.

However, severe aetherial imbalances following the Calamity made the ocean’s currents unpredictable, driving away fish from the area surrounding ground zero of Dalamud’s impact and affecting living conditions as a result. The Sahagin grew bolder and more desperate, and now there was yet another actor making the P tribe’s lives difficult: the Empire. Imperial activity in the area began in earnest as the XIVth Legion decided to take advantage of Eorzea’s weakened state, building strongholds and taking resources and conscripts from all over the realm. Most notable in the Rhotano Sea was Castrum Marinum, built off the coast of Cape Westwind to serve as the southernmost imperial outpost, and to strengthen Garlean forces in both La Noscea and Thanalan. Of course, the construction of an imperial castrum requires quite a bit of manpower, but the XIVth Legion was hardly above taking it by force from nearby settlements.

Whether it was due to Sahagin attacks or imperial kidnapping, the disappearance of members of the P tribe became a regular occurrence in the wake of the Calamity, causing the ever mounting fear and anger to reach a fever pitch among the people of the island. Cries for justice and vengeance began to spread, and at the head of this stood P’sheba Nunh. This drove a wedge down the middle of the population between those that wished to keep their heads down for fear of even greater retribution on the part of the Empire, and those who thirsted for revenge. P’stah Nunh, who was firmly in the former camp, began to worry about the instability this brought and in the worst case scenario, what would happen if P’sheba Nunh actually carried out some of his wilder plans to storm the construction site. In any case P’stah Nunh deemed P’sheba too much of a wildcard to continue holding his title, and so at his behest, the tia of the tribe began preparing to challenge P’sheba Nunh for his title.

In all of this, fourteen-year-old P’iuma’s chief concern was for P’thalee, whose condition worsened month by month, and then day by day: at first she was unable to leave the house, then her room, then her bed. Simply taking care of her own needs became an arduous task for her, and though P’iuma was usually on hand to assist her, her condition continued to deteriorate as time went on. Eventually the first contenders for the title of Nunh began challenging P’sheba, and though he fended off the initial waves of challengers without much difficulty, eventually his years and the strain of battle took their toll. P’iuma watched on as P’tako defeated his father in single combat, earning the title of Nunh and quickly banishing the former Nunh from the island, in the hopes that the calls for revenge would fade away with his departure. When he arrived home he found his sister, passed away after her monthslong struggle with aether sickness.

The shock of his father’s defeat and exile, the heartbreak of his yearslong crush becoming Nunh, the crushing guilt of leaving his sister alone as she died; P’iuma was unable to bear it. Not the thought of seeing P’tako as Nunh, much less the thought of burying his sister. So he made the decision to run away. That night, he packed his bags along with his fishing spear and his most precious belonging, his harp, and at the crack of dawn, he stole a small boat. He hadn’t thought out where to go beforehand, but he found himself setting sail for Limsa Lominsa, the only place he could think to find some semblance of comfort even though Meira was no longer there.

But storm clouds darkened the horizon. Unbeknownst to him the Sahagin had just summoned their primal, and as it ravaged the shoreline of Vylbrand, P’iuma sailed straight for it. He was scarcely out on the water for half a day when the sea serpent primal breached in front of him, and P’iuma got a good, long look at the being before it summoned a great wave to attack the shore once again, knocking him off his boat and sending him hurtling into the water, at the mercy of the sea.

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backstory

• isle del lucertola
• the calamity's wake
• gridania and alwyn

GRIDANIA AND ALWYN FORREST, 1573 - 1577

The tidal wave’s strength was such that P’iuma was sent up the White Maiden into the Black Shroud, but miraculously enough he survived the journey and washed up ashore in one of the less ravaged areas of the West Shroud. There he was revived by some friendly, travelling sylphs who, amused by his funny accent and interested in the harp in his possession, invited the small, sad and ‘wet one’ (ultimately the name that was decided on after some bickering amongst themselves) to Nine Ivies in exchange for song and dance. It took him a few days but eventually, thanks to the Hearers and the adventurers coming through the settlement to speak with the sylphs, he managed to get his bearings and make his way to Gridania.

The forest city-state was unlike anything he’d ever seen, the heavily wooded scenery a far cry from the windy, open meadows of La Noscea or the sea spread in all directions around him on the island. With nowhere else to go and already being regarded with suspicion for being an outsider, P’iuma sought out the Adventurers’ Guild as he had been advised. He signed his name in the ledger Miounne offered, officially joining the ranks of the adventurers he’d seen and heard so much about. But P’iuma was scrappy and small for his fourteen summers and a ways away from becoming of age, his fifteenth nameday still a few moons away; so when Miounne asked him for his age, he panicked and lied, saying he was nineteen. Though she clearly didn’t believe him, she knew well enough that a youngling this far from home after the Calamity likely didn’t have much of a choice, and allowed the subject to drop.

At her suggestion upon seeing the fishing spear on his back, P’iuma joined the Lancers’ Guild, though he soon turned his eyes to the Archers’ Guild and the Carpenters’ Guild as well, seeking ways to occupy his hands and his mind. At the Archers’ Guild P’iuma would make his first friend since his arrival: a Dunesfolk Lalafell named Enten Tanz. Though she was quiet and slow to open up, the two gained a rapport, bonding over being regarded and often shunned as outsiders by the general Gridanian populace.

P’iuma had little need to worry about getting suspicious looks for lying about his age for long, however. Puberty took him quickly over the next year, and as his fifteenth nameday came and went and his sixteenth drew near, he grew into a tall, fit young man. The busy adventurer lifestyle suited him well, and between training and learning under the mentorship of the guilds, to make ends meet he did odd jobs for coin, and performed at the aetheryte camps in and around Gridania on the side. It was at Bentbranch Meadows that he was approached by a Midlander conjurer by the name of Alwyn Forrest, who admitted he had become interested in P’iuma after seeing him around and hearing his songs. P’iuma, who was simply excited to make a new friend, was happy to make his acquaintance.

P’iuma would soon learn that Alwyn was much older than him at twenty-seven, born and raised in the Black Shroud, and that he was related to one of the former members of the Company of Heroes, Riol Forrest. He would also learn that Alwyn was quite ambitious partly because of this, with dreams of fame and grandeur, and a wish to be admired just like his cousin. Giving the bards something to sing about was his creed. The two of them would meet regularly after that, and spurred on by his words, P’iuma began adventuring with Alwyn. Before they began their partnership, however, P’iuma decided to come clean with Alwyn that he was still technically underage -- but his nameday was coming up soon, he promised. Alwyn, surprisingly enough, did not seem to mind much and in fact encouraged him to get his start early. They began a romantic relationship not long after.

Alwyn as a partner, professionally and romantically, was quite different from Alwyn as a friend. Though he talked big, his healing magic was not always as potent or well-timed as he thought it to be, and P’iuma, who was leading the front, found himself gaining shallow scars here and there on his body as time went on. Initially P’iuma didn’t think much of it as he wasn’t familiar with how healing magics worked, until a couple of concerned onlookers, Enten included, said something about them. But Alwyn found it difficult to claim fault, instead scolding him and making P’iuma feel guilty for blaming and not believing in his lover, and beginning what would become a habit of storming off and refusing to respond until P’iuma apologized a requisite number of times. P’iuma, eager to please and not wanting to ruin his first relationship, decided to stop complaining about it, and reassured himself and others that he didn’t mind, they looked cool. Alwyn knew best; he was older and more experienced, so of course he always knew best.

Alwyn also busied himself with fixing P’iuma’s more egregious backwater island habits, like teaching him better table manners and ironing out his Lominsan accent with surprising patience. However, there was one instinct that could not be tamed: his heat, a mundane stepping stone for most adolescent Miqo’te, but not so for one who lacked the guidance of other Seekers like P’iuma. Alwyn was unusually enthusiastic in offering his assistance, and though P’iuma initially refused because being so intimate so early in their relationship made him uncomfortable, he eventually gave in. He didn’t want to give offense, and Alwyn was very persuasive.

Overstepping boundaries aside, something finally gave when, a year into their adventuring, P’iuma had a dangerous brush with the wrong side of a hooligan’s spear and was left with a rather nasty scar near his collarbone. This finally prompted the two of them to reach out and form a proper party, P’iuma inviting Enten to join them and Alwyn recruiting a Roegadyn marauder, recently arrived in Gridania. The four of them ventured together for a couple of years, though they had their share of strife--usually between Alwyn and Enten, who would butt heads whenever Enten quietly objected to Alwyn’s decisions or self-imposed leadership. The cycle would repeat endlessly: Enten would make a disapprovingly deadpan snarky comment, the two would argue, and P’iuma would have to pacify an upset Alwyn with returns diminishing depending on whether P’iuma let a stray giggle slip out at Enten’s, admittedly clever, words. And thanks to the marauder, P’iuma finally learned of the tinctures that existed in surprisingly wide distribution to help curb the effects of his monthly heat, over a year after they first started.

Eventually P’iuma would find himself puzzled with how unhappy he felt with Alwyn, despite the fact they were supposed to be happy lovers. Every day felt as if he were treading on eggshells and jumping to Alwyn’s defense, despite how unhappy he knew it made Enten in turn. Due to this, P’iuma would find himself starting to distance himself from the party somewhat, adventuring on his own just to escape the pressure being with Alwyn would put on him. None of this was helped along by the strange dreams he was having with increasing frequency of a gigantic crystal -- of Hydaelyn, all made one, as she would tell him. But Alwyn treated P’iuma well when P’iuma hadn’t done anything wrong, so he decided to shrug it off as simply the end of their honeymoon phase; he wanted to be a good, devoted lover, after all.

The severity of the situation would only dawn on P’iuma soon after he made this decision, when he stumbled into dizzying fame all on his own by unwittingly thwarting the Ixali plan to take over the Guardian Tree of Gridania and slaying a lesser Ascian in the process. In what seemed like an instant he was suddenly being lauded as a hero, being chosen to act as Emissary in Gridania’s Greenbliss ceremony, a privilege not given to simply anyone and even more scarcely to someone the Gridanians considered an outsider. All the while P’iuma was unable to fully enjoy the accolades, as just behind him Alwyn would be disapprovingly clicking his tongue or being generally broody about the whole situation.

When P’iuma returned from his task of being Gridania’s envoy to the other two city-states, Miounne heaped praises upon him, and pointed him back to Limsa Lominsa where her counterpart in the city had heard tell of a good adventuring prospect. As P’iuma and his party were about to board the airship to Limsa Lominsa, Alwyn was being sarcastic and difficult - as he had so often been in recent days - and Enten, having had enough, called him out on being jealous and upset that P’iuma wasn’t just the little trophy boy Alwyn had groomed him to be. Predictably, and with very little time left until their airship was to take flight, Alwyn stormed off, but this time Enten stopped P’iuma from giving chase, and he let her. Their party without a healer, they embarked.

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