Vainadaite Nightbird

she/her, xaela, proprietress, writer, healer, confidant

About

Name: Redacted
Alias: Vainadaite Nightbird
Age: Appears mid 20s
Romance: Pan Ace
Occupation: Healer; Owner at Lilac Evergarden; Co-owner at Kupo Fried Chicken; Auxiliary Specialist at the Topmast Infirmary
Hobbies: Gardening, alchemy, cooking, reading, painting
Personality: She comes across as a reserved, polite and softspoken. Fiercely loyal and protective of her friends, she shows compassion and empathy towards everyone she meets. However, when asked about her past or conjury, she simply smiles and changes the topic.

A Brief History

On the day of her birth, the Tumet tribe gained a new daughter, but lost a mother. With pale skin and hair unlike her parents, she was thought to be a cursed child and shunned by all, save her elder brother.When she was 6, her father, a falcon-marksman and trader brought her on a trade trip to Kugane, leaving her brother, a Steppes Warrior in training, behind. However, there was a wild storm and their ship sunk in the Ruby Sea. She found herself the sole survivor, rescued by the Raen of Sui-no-sato.It was years later when she finally resurfaced to a world she did not recognise or know, and found herself embroiled in the fighting between Doma and Garlemald as the Domans seeked to reclaim their lands.With the Warrior of Light and the Scions liberating Doma from Yotsuyu's tyranny, she finds herself travelling the world in search of her brother. Chasing various red herrings and dead leads, she hears that he has made his way to Eorzea, and thus sets up shop in Gridania.

HOOKS

Lost Brother
She is in search for her older brother, Enkh-bataar. He was last known to have left the Azim Steppes and joined the Doman Liberation Front during the war, but his whereabouts after are sketchy at best.
Ul'dah Natives: == His physical description matches that of 'Jad' - a popular Gladiator in the Ul'dah Colisseum, though their personalities are nothing alike==Auxiliary Specialist
Twice a week, Vain works at the Topmast Infirmary in Limsa Lominsa, where she cares for the injured and sick.A Thousand Words
Want to send a letter to a loved one? Unsure how to express yourself? Vain runs a letter-writing / scribing service out of her Cafe in Lavender Beds.Teas and Wagashi (Tea Sweets)
Vain has an almost ritualistic love for tea, enjoying the process of creating a perfect brew to enjoy with her friends and guests. She also enjoys creating sweet treats to pair with the beverages. These treats are rumoured to have medicinal properties,

secrets

Interested in heavier RP opportunities and prolonged arcs and storylines? Hit me up if any of these interest you!Rumours from Limsa Lominsa
Don't tell anyone, but that Xaela working for the infirmary, she's no ordinary healer. You know that boat accident? I could have sworn that propeller took off my legs, but here I am, walking again, nary a scar, as if nothing happened! And not only that, you know the grocer's daughter? The one with the horrific blisters and boils that no chirugeon could diagnose? She cured that too! A potion and some bandages alone couldn't have done that. It had to be magic.The Ravings of a Doman Refugee
I don't forget a face. She might have changed her hair colour, but she's that whore Yotsuyu's dog. I don't know what witchcraft she used, but I saw what her magics did - she rendered the Garleans invincible, while my Doman comrades were screaming as their aether drained from each orifice, leaving naught but withered husks.

Drabbles and writing samples

NamelessTraditionally, Tumet children were named when they turned ten and passed the tribe's initiation rite. However, Burenkhcherrug and his wife, Altantsetseg, had already picked names for their second child."Ganbaatar, hero of steel. A strong name, resilient, unyielding," Burenkhcherrug had decided, if the child was to be a boy. "And with his brother Enkhbaatar, my children will be a powerful force on the Steppes."Altantsetseg disagreed, for she knew their child would be a girl, but she chose to indulge her husband's fantasies, "and if it is a girl, then I shall name her after my mother, and she will be the light to bring peace upon our lands.""Boy or Girl. It matters not to me," Enkhbaatar chirruped, "I will protect them, and teach them as you have taught me."Yet, for all their preparations, they were not ready for the birth of their daughter. She came early, far too early, nearly two moon cycles. Burenkhcherrug remembered that night vividly, the darkness of the new moon sky, the piercing screams, the midwives' panic, the rags soaked in red. The cord was twisted around the child's neck. Both mother and child were in danger. They could save only one.Tears fell from Burenkhcherrug's eyes as he laid them upon his infant daughter. She was undoubtedly their child, wisps of deep blue hair, matted with blood, and eyes ringed in bright teal. Her skin however, unlike all the Xaela of their tribe was of the palest white, as if the moon was stolen from the sky and now lay here in the midwife's arms.The midwife nudged Burenkhcherrug to name, to hold his child, but the warrior merely stood stoically, his face twisted in anguish. He held her name in his mouth, on the breath passing his lips, a silent whisper that only the gods could hear. He laughed at the irony, the child whom she thought would bring peace instead brought her demise. He could not bring himself to love this cursed child that stole his beloved from him."I have to mourn my wife." He said calmly, pushing past the midwife into the birthing tent. For whom could blame him? The love Burenkhcherrug and his wife shared was a story for the ages. One many thought would last for decades. To think it would end so soon.The midwife looks down at the child. Small, spindly, weak. There was no wet nurse around, and without a mother, it was unlikely the child would survive the night. Cursed. Truly cursed.The midwife spoke a name, rocking the babe gently when began to protest in hunger. At least she would have a name if she were taken to Nhaama that night.Nergui, nameless.White Magic'My biggest haul yet,' The young Xaela thinks, counting the spoils of her latest foraging trip. She sets the basket of oysters down by the small freshwater pool, and thrusts her hands into the frigid water. The cold burns, and her pale skin numbs almost instantly. It feels strange, she thinks, flexing her frozen fingers, not feeling them as if they were moving on their own accord, like a marionette dancing on a puppeteer's string.Her thoughts jolt back to the present, grasping an oyster in one hand, and a short flat-bladed knife in the other. She slides the blade clumsily between the halves of the oyster, using brute force to prise the shellfish apart, all the while its barnacle covered shell dig into her palm, red mixing with the fluids from the oyster. Her frozen hands however feel no pain, as she gleefully receives her prize, the shimmery pale orb, from within the folds of the oyster. She tosses the pearl back into the basket, and sets the flesh-filled half of the oyster back into the icy water, repeating the process.She'd kept it for last. The unnaturally large shell she found at the base of the tall rock. She'd stared at it for the good part of an hour, wondering how to even begin breaking down that large of a clam, then eventually to just go at it. It yielded its prize surprisingly easily.It didn't look like the other pearls she found. This was larger, slightly oval in shape and incredibly smooth. Instead of a matte reflective surface, it was translucent and glassy, and seemed to glow with a warm light. The strangest thing however, was what seemed like a foreign symbol lightly engraved into its side."ꂑ ꌚꈼꈼ ꐞꂦꐇ ꄞꂦꐇꋊꂠ ꂵꐞ ꌚꋖꂦꋊꈼ."She jumps, dropping the stone as she frantically looks around for the source of the voice, but sees herself alone by the pool. Did she imagine it? It seemed so real. Her eyes drift over the fallen stone, glistening under the clear waters. It seems to call to her and she picks it up again."ꂑ'ꂠ ꁲꉣꉣꌅꈼꀯꂑꁲꋖꈼ ꂑꄞ ꐞꂦꐇ ꂠꂑꂠ ꋊꂦꋖ ꂠꌅꂦꉣ ꂑꋖ ꁲꁅꁲꂑꋊ."She hears the voice again, from behind her this time. It sounds gentle, and warm, and she eagerly turns to meet it. The figure before her is blinding. Pale skin, pale hair, and dressed all in white, exuding an incredible aura of strength and power, and she feels as if the stranger could snuff her very life out if so they wished. The figure pulls back their hood, to reveal sharp, chiseled features and a kindly expression. Middle aged, female, the Auri girl concludes, noting the lack of horns or scales on their new friend.The figure scans the Auri, shaking her head in displeasure, muttering a string of more of the odd sounding words. "ꁅꂑꀰꈼ ꂵꈼ ꐞꂦꐇꌅ ꍩꁲꋊꂠ," she says, offering a hand to the young girl, making her intention clear.The Auri ponders the strange figure, but does not sense malice from the stranger, and reaches out to place the stone in her palm. The pale figure huffs in displeasure, letting out another string of harsh sounding words as she roughly reaches over to grasp the girl's hands, clasping the stone between them."You really should take better care of your body," she chides, her words miraculously starting to make sense. Taken aback, the Xaela recoils as a sudden warmth spreads through her hands. She sees the cuts and bruises on her skin close before her very eyes, turning into faint scars of silver before disappearing completely. She wriggles away in shock, but the older woman's grasp is firm."Stay still," she hisses, and the two stand there, for what seems like forever, as the warmth continues to spread, rejuvenating the young girl's body."What is your name?" The older woman asks, hands still linked with the child. The Xaela opens her mouth to speak, but shakes her head sadly in silence."A skinny, runty, mute child. Seems I have my work cut out for me," the woman laughs, the joy in her voice revealing her true intentions. "Would you like to learn the White Magic of Amdapor?"