Northern Lynx

ㅤThe Gilded Lion of Ghimlyt Dark ㅤ

character

ㅤWar Veteran, Ex-Gladiator, Dad ㅤ

ㅤpersonalityㅤ A kind and surprisingly soft-spoken man given his position, Ahni can often be found with a smile on his face. He's described as a fair leader, furiously loyal to his soldiers, and unyielding in his sense of duty. Those who've fought on the front lines with him describe Ahni as the sort of field commander who leads from the front of his troops, never willing to order those under his command to do something he was unwilling to do. The seeker is often found amongst his enlisted troops, gushing about his son's accomplishments in the studium, or asking about them and their families.

physical

ㅤappearanceㅤ Tall and extremely broad for a Miqo'te. he has a power lifter's body, solid more so than cut like a bodybuilder might be. Years of practice and work outs as a member of the Ul'dahni heavy cavalry, and the influence of his soulstone have toned the Seeker into a veritable aegis in his own form alone.

history

ㅤbiographyㅤ Ahni grew up in a lush area of Thanalan that bracketed the outskirts of the Shroud - an area known as Wellwick Woods. A member of the Lynx Tribe, Ahni spent much of his young life learning how to tend animals, crops, defend his lands, and survive in the desert. the wellwick lynx clan was known as one of the few clans that kept pack animals and chocobos, giving ahni a very early start with riding skills. The seeker quickly became one of the best riders in his clan, and spent much of his teens ranching.

A young woman in the tribe, a healer named X'linha, had developed a deep freindship with Ahni - often helping him heal sick animals and tend to birthing chocobos. The two got lost in young love, and behind the back of their tribe's nunh, began a relationship. x'linha wound up pregnant after just a few moons, and the nunh presented the couple with a difficult choice. Ahni could challenge him, his own brother, for leadership of the tribe in a battle to the death... or ahni could leave, forbidden to return to his homeland for the rest of his days. To spare the mother of his child having to witness him take a life or lose his own, ahni opted for exile and left within the sennight for Ul'dah.

there was little work in ul'dah for a young, uneducated seeker with little skill other than his understanding of animals and tribal agriculture. Ahni quickly found himself drawn into the gladiator's guild, with little other way to make a living for himself, and became a fighter in ul'dah's infamous coliseum. The seeker gained some fame in the ring, fighting under the name 'the golden lion', when he refused to take any of his opponent's lives. wealthy monetarists bet against him in every fight, and somehow the seeker always seemed to survive - sparing his opponent and walking out of the ring battered and bloody. he was a favorite amongst the commoners, an underdog, someone who spat in the face of the monetarists. it also gained him the eyes of the sultansworn.

he found himself quickly drawn from the ranks of the gladiators and into squirehood, joining and training with the sultansworn. he excelled, especially in chocobo riding skills, and found himself commissioned as a member of the Sultansworn. His time in Ul'dah was markedly short, with the start of the Garlean invasion of Eorzea newly at hand. He volunteered to join the immortal flames with a small cohort of sultansworn cavalry riders - a group that took the name 'order of the gilded pinion'. The Order went on to fight at carteneau, with two thirds of the unit's number lost there, their soulstones never to be recovered. Ahni was one of the order's few survivors, returning to ul'dah badly injured and traumatized by the experience.

Ahni was put on desk duty for the remainder of his service as a member of the sultansworn, and took the opportunity to seek an education. ahni studied at the Mercantile military academy of ul'dah, mostly studying military leadership and tactics, with a concentration in cavalry operations and chocobo handling. during his time in academy, ahni was able to meet up with x'linha again - who had recently fled the tribe with her child. Ahni diverted nearly the entirety of his pay to cover the costs of a decent apartment for her and their child, and did everything he could to be a part of their life while balancing his duties to the crown.

Peacetime lasted far shorter than the Seeker would've liked. with the alliance moving to unseat the garlean occupation from ala mhigo, ahni moved to position himself back within the ranks of the immortal flames, and found himself quickly transferred into the sultana's own 7th royal sipahi, a royalist armored cavalry battalion serving within the immortal flames. his time in the 7th took him throughout the entirety of gyr abania, taking part in such noted battles as the raid on castellum velodyna, the siege of specula imperatoris, the siege of castrum abania, the raid on the ala mhigan quarter, and eventually the siege of ala mhigo. following the city's liberation, ahni quickly followed the front lines into ghimlyt dark.

During his time in the trenches of ghimlyt, ahni saw near daily combat. the seeker earned ul'dah's highest valour citation - the grand order of the house of ul - in recognition for his service at the assault on hill 17. with little more than his sword and shield, Ahni went head to head with a magitek colossus in a desperate bid to cover the retreat of his badly wounded squadron. the fight resulted in severe ceruleum burns over thirty percent of his body - burns that still affect his ability to hold a shield or perform fine motor movements with his left hand. Ghimlyt wouldn't be the end of his combat experience... ahni went on to fight in Werlyt, nhalmasque, and garlemald before he returned to ala mhigo and took over the 7th, attaining the rank of second flame commander.

...But his valour in combat earned him few friends back in the city. On numerous occasions, his administration of the regiment spurned Monetarist attempts to install corrupt quartermasters and use the unit for capital gains. Ahni was framed for a number of crimes committed by other Alliance commanders more friendly to the Monetarist cause, and was due to be arrested and sentenced. Through the action of his Executive Officer and a few other senior NCO's under his command, Ahni was warned of his impending arrest and smuggled out of the Capital - the beginning of his exile.Now a war hero turned disgraced exile, Ahni made his way to Sharlayan, and eventually off to Tural - forsaking his past, his home, his history, and most difficult of all, separating him from his son and his partners. He gave up the shield for a second blade, training in the style of Tural's Vipers. He spends his days now in Shaaloani, working as a veterinarian and animal handler.Not one to give up his oath as a Paladin - to protect the innocent and bring justice, Azeyma's justice, to the wicked - he sometimes intercedes where the law fails to, engaging in vigilante work on the side. Some may have heard whispers of a man who hunts down those who find themselves in positions that leave them outside the reach of the Dust Watch, whose power or pel tips the scales ever in their favor - for them, the Warden comes to collect.The Warden's justice balances all scales.

ㅤcampaign medalsㅤ

❥ X'mhasi Tia

❥ V'taqa Tia

❥ Veladrys

❥ Siobhan Fletcher

❥ Laila Aratiri

❥ Nahekka