Rules

Personality

Curious and earnest, stubborn and loyal, Zereth is a man of many talents. Some people think of him as reserved due to the fact he does not speak, but those who take the time to learn to communicate with him may find a warm, humble man, who fights to stay kind even as the world around him decides not to be. He's also a bit of a country bumpkin, but his mind is as sharp as the many tools he works with, so though he may not be well-read and versed in the topics scholars regard with high esteem, Zereth's lifetime of experience hunting and crafting make him a formidable foe when it comes to survival.

History

  EARLY CHILDHOOD   Zereth was born in Gyr Abania to a sunseeker tribe, wherein his bicoloured eyes marked his birth as a sign of good luck. A sign that was well needed indeed, for his tribe had suffered greatly during Theoderic's reign, and was now facing a possible invation by the Empire.Around the time he's five years old, The Black Wolf takes over Ala Mhigo, and Zereth's tribe decides they can no longer stay. Having heard of another sunseeker tribe living in relative peace in Thanalan, they load up their home into a couple of caravans and set out to try and cross the border, traveling under the cover of darkness. They don't make it.They're intercepted by a group of imperials. Zereth has faint memories of that night; he was young and scared and confused... but the one thing that yet haunts him to this day is the memory of his mom desperately hiding him up in a tree and repeating these words:"Keep quiet, if you make a sound they'll kill you. Don't. Say. A word."His whole tribe died that day, and if there were any prisoners Zereth does not know who they are or where they were taken. All he could do was cling to the tree trunk and shiver in silence. He stayed there for two days, afraid that if he so much as moved someone would find him. He couldn't even look down.Eventually, a group of soldiers working to smuggle people out of the nation stumble upon the scene, and one of them (a Roegadyn lancer named Intrepid Hyacinth) finds little Zereth up in the tree, dehydrated and on the verge of passing out. They bury the bodies and carry Zereth off to The Shroud to recover, and the Roegadyn soldier decides to adopt him and raise Zereth as her own son. This is when he gains his last name.  LIFE IN THE SHROUD   After such a traumatic event it came as no surprise that Zereth was in an almost catatonic state. Even as his body recovered he refused to speak, and he'd sometimes be found curled up in tight corners. This is when Intrepid Hyacinth decides to move back to her old village, a small, homely place inhabited mainly by retired soldiers, farmers, and families with young children. The quiet, peaceful setting of this village helps ease Zereth's fear, and thus his path to recovery begins.Seeing as he wasn't going to talk anytime soon, Intrepid Hyacinth teaches Zereth how to sign. It helps both of them bond, and even though it takes a good couple of months, she eventually gets to hear the little miqo'te speak for the first time. He still prefers to communicate through sign, and not many people will get to hear him for years, but the whole village comes together to help heal his heart.He spends the rest of his childhood growing up surrounded by nature and training with the retired soldiers. He's taught to hunt and forage and be self-suficient, helping out in the fields and learning how to mend his clothes. In a village as small and secluded as this one, they all rely on each other, and little Zereth was not going to be a burden to the people who helped him so.His trauma will never leave him. It'll always be there, like a scar on his soul, aching and refusing to heal. But he can carry it thanks to the people who raised him, and so, once he's old enough to do so, Zereth sets off as an adventurer in order to make money to help out those back at home.  DIVERGING PATHS   From here Zereth's story can take many routes... Will he travel to Gridania and meet with Papalymo and Yda, eventually becoming the Warrior of Light? Or does his traveling bring him to Thanalan, where he joins the Scions as a regular member. Maybe he just keeps living as an adventurer, selling his services in order to gain more coin...Only time will tell.