Dark Knight Sellsword
Vidar Ealdhelm
A son of Ala Mhigo, his unyielding will carries his blade to etch his name upon history. Yet dark forces entreat upon him a fate otherwise unexpected.
He/Him
Age - 28
Race - Hyur (Highlander)
Height - 6'3"
Heterosexual
Nationality - Gyr Abania (Ala Mhigo)
Occupation - Mercenary, Adventurer. Tracker. Void Hunter (?)
Job Training - Dark Knight, mainly. Well-practiced Gladiator as well as minor training with Lancer and Archer.
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Voice Claim- ENG: Neil Ellice (Soap MacTavish from CoD: MW (2019) ) / JP: Tomokazu Seki (Shinya Kougami from Psycho-Pass)
Appearance
Tall and extremely well-built for a Hyur (even by highlander standards), Vidar exudes an aura of strength. That is doubled with the scars of battles past laid all over his sculpted body, with a particular scar embedded deep in his right arm. That one holds a special property.He is often seen in his dark purple armor, accented with flourishes of a deep red and gold lining that pays great indication of his craft. Otherwise, he can be seen in some variety of clothing albeit almost all of it helps to maintain a rugged vibe to his energy. Despite his true disposition, he cannot help but indulge his taste for darker sensabitlies.Personality
Almost in an affront to his appearances, Vidar is actually incredibly friendly and positive with a great degree of loyalty to those he considers close. Socially, he can appear withdrawn but it is mostly just that he is used to keeping to himself. Once acquainted, his rambunctious side shows and he is commonly joking and teasing.Additionally, he is quite the bullheaded personality, sometimes much to his detriment. The combination of wanting to prove himself to the world as well as having an unshakeable sense of perseverance leads him to accepting any challenge set before him.He is still a mortal man however, certainly not above himself or others to have a down day here and there. His training helps to maintain an emotional balance and acknowledgement of such and thus, once trusted or in situations that require clairty, it can be seen that he is quite emotionally intuitive.
HistoryBorn of the great city-state of Ala Mhigo, Vidar was but a young child when the Garlean Empire had come to conquer the nation that had freshly turned against itself. This forced his family to flee in order to save themselves, finding refuge in the slums of Ul'dah. His father had been a royal soldier turned revolutionary that found that his fighting skills would serve as the best way to keep Vidar and his mother afloat by entering the gladiatorial pits, but this had but simply opened an avenue for the young boy to be exposed to the world of martial practices. As a poor refugee, Vidar was faced with forces on all fronts trying to bar him from anything greater than his current station and it ignited a fire within him that wanted to prove the world wrong. He found that in fighting in both the literal and metaphorical, fostered by practice whenever he followed his father to the guild- where many other fighters got a kick out of the young boy wielding a sword and shield far too large for him.Eventually, he grew into them and caught eyes as a promising young prospect for the circuits whenever he would be old enough proper. However, this was in almost complete opposition to his father, whom had sacrificed his pride for his family to serve as a throw for cheated bets in order to get the means and funds to keep living well enough. That pain would eventually be caught by Vidar in secret, whom saw his father break down in the comfort of his mother. That had sparked something inside the boy, whom already had a chip on his shoulder from the oppression he faced at every turn. At the tender age of 14 and a vow in his heart to never yield, Vidar left home to become a mercenary.There, he spent his time roughing it from frontline to frontline on the edges of borders and commonly engaged against Garlean forces when enlisted. It wouldn't be until he was 16 that he found himself his mentor, an Elezen dark knight by the name of Autrant Claudeux. He had taken special interest in the boy and his tenacity, finding something that could be mended after Vidar began to follow him along his travels. Thusly, under his wing, Vidar would be trained in the dark arts as well as the way of the greatsword alongside Autrant's daughter, Elphiette, in the snowy wilds of Coerthas. Initially bitter rivals, they both found a kindred spirit in their rebellious ways and become incredibly close for the next two years. That was until Elphiette had insisted that the two secretly infiltrate an Ishgardian death cult. The endeavor proved to be over their heads when the cult was one of voidsent worship, summoning a powerful entity that the two engaged. In an act that can only be described as vengeful malice, this voidsent was particularly keen on Vidar and inflicted an egregious wound on his right arm that seemed to stain his very being. Before anything further could occur, Elphiette had sacrificed herself in an attempt to send the creature back to the fissure it came, sending both to the chasm of the abyss and Vidar alone amongst quelled chaos.Ashamed, Vidar had abandoned his master and drifted off into the world for a number of dark years. This transient state pushed him to even off the soil of Aldenard and out to the far east, where he would continue to live off the only means he knew how. Amongst fighting from frontline to frontline with no direction, the wound that was given to him by the voidsent was in fact a mark of death that cursed him to be the subject of desire for the ravenous creatures. Fighting battle against men and demons day and night, Vidar grew weary with an already depleted will. It would be a miracle that an Au'ri salesman in Othard would find the mercenary lying in filth and bloody wounds after a long week's worth of fighting. This man went under the alias of Ujimoji, an exiled member of the tribes of the Azim Steppe, who lived in Shirogane with his younger sister Bayarma. They would care for Vidar, whom helped to protect Ujimoji when his conman ways led them all to trouble and to help Bayarma harness her own sense of battle. For over a year, they became like family and Vidar soon recovered his spirit in their company.This eventually led to Vidar leaving back to Eorzea, where he would participate in the coming battles of liberation and in particular freeing Ala Mhigo from Garlean clutches. That campaign helped to further bolster the dark knight's pride, leading him back to his master to seek forgiveness. In turn, Autrant helped to complete his training in harnessing a hold over his emotions and to face the world with a newfound brazenness that only Vidar was capable of. Even against the coming dark.Nowadays, Vidar is an active helping hand to those who need it, from adventurers seeking experienced protection to even helping track down missing persons. There is still a great desire to leave his name upon the world, but it is tempered by the mysteries of the void and what his family lineage means for himself. After all, what good is a legacy left behind if one doesn't know what it would be?
Hooks-Sellsword
If you've got coin, you can hire him. He is more than fine with serving as protection or an extra arm for individuals, groups, and the like should they have some steady gil to keep him around. Not to forget, thanks to losing a close friend years before, he does hold a soft spot for people looking for someone.- Brawler
Vidar loves a challenge, especially those of the fighting variety. Having spent years both training and fighting on the battlefield, he is somewhat eager to prove his strength against fellow opponents or even just discuss past struggles with a fellow warrior. He admires strength and finds a unique kinship and interest with other fighters.-Ala Mhigan
From Gyr Abania? Perhaps aware of the migration towards Thanalan? Likely there can be some shared or at least well known history. If you had fought for Ala Mhigo's liberation, more than certainly you might've caught a purple armored swordsman cleaving his way through magitek weapons.-Well-traveled
Being a mercenary for such a long time, Vidar has seen duty in theaters all across the globe and more than likely he has been to your corner of the world. He may not be formally educated in history and the like, but his boots-on-the-ground level of traveling has let him experience culture firsthand and satisfies his eagerness to explore. Maybe you could incite that with a proposition too.-Marked for Death
Due to circumstances that Vidar is currently unaware of, he has been marked by a powerful voidsent to have others of its ilk drawn specifically to him. To those that could read the aether around him and to those well aware of the void or even borne of it, there exists a certain deeply tainted frequency to his aura that can be best described as a brand. Those keener than most would notice the oddity within that oddity, that there seemed to be two separate brans in place. This situation inversely has drawn Vidar to investigate the void for himself to figure out how to both alleviate his situation and what exactly drew that demon's ire for him all those years ago. He may be just as drawn to you as you are to him.
OOCHey there! This is the OOC, or author's note even, section of the carrd. You can call me Vidar, of course, but you can be more specific and call me Zero or Wave! I'm a pretty chill dude (he/him) from Adamantoise/Aether and will actively engage in conversation about just anything really. I try to be friendly but of course I do have my limits and there's just general things to know.- Well over 18, so I'd rather keep any and all interactions with other adults. So minors, do shoo away please.- Almost 3 years into FFXIV roleplaying (comparatively speaking), but have been roleplaying for YEARS amongst many different communities so don't worry too much. I also like to keep things along the para-style length with sometimes going multi-post.-ERP is perfectly fine and I do find it quite fun on even the casual level, but it really isn't anywhere close to my sole interest with this character. If you couldn't tell, I also have an interest in storytelling so at the very least I am flexible with options. * winkyface *-Always open to mature subject matter and themes of many shades, but don't get really egregious about certain topics/get fetish-y about suffering and such.-PST so think about that when hitting me up about things.-Am an artist! Maybe one day I'll throw a commission tab and such, but I'd rather up my art upload rate first. Otherwise, you can follow me on blue sky- @vidarealdhelm.bsky.social . Don't be weird tho!
- (RIP MARE)
> PlayerSync - 03AP0MLAVL
> Lightless - JFTZH1TVGY
> XIVSync - 4ZV02YF9AKOther than that, I do hope you enjoy my character here. Vidar was made with a love for the dark fantasy hero and lot of other dark media I love from games to anime, but in a contrast to the (dead) meme about DRKs, he's a big friendly guy who would rather push through for himself and everyone he loves rather than wallow in his despair. He's always a work in progress, but I hope you enjoy the central theme of legacy and the conditions it brings upon those who you might never know, or who might never know you. I always try to keep a throughline with my characters and direct theming, but still flexible enough for both lighthearted AND serious storytelling. Otherwise, if you're done reading and interested, shoot me a tell!