let me be brave

Gabriel (42): sage(ish), bard, mentor, therapist, concerned about you

Used to be self-conscious about his relatively short ears. (I hc the ideal beauty standard in Ishgard was long ears.) Earned him the nickname Professor Stubbsy as a kid at the scholasticate (yes it was Nellie.)

His favorite smell is You Applying Yourself.

The House, Gertrude, keeps kicking him out. It was built by a witch using golemancy and functions as its own living soulkin with its own life force and what is essentially an immune system that tends to purge foreign objects it finds intrusive. It does not recognize Gabriel as his own living being, so Gabriel often finds himself opening, say, the door to his own bathroom and stepping outside the front door. It’s rather irritating.

Straight as uncooked pasta until Theneras happened. While Nellianne was his first love, he never really confessed to her until too late and now he has only one shark-bitten ass on his mind 24/7.

His milpreves are built more for healing than offensive spells because he hasn't had formal sage training, but Fourchenault did custom-build him lil milpreves for his own medical needs. What he did learn to do with them instead is induce a frequency-based echo-like trance state where he goes into your mind and relives your memories..

And also because they're frequency-based, he uses them to augment the effects of his bard songs! super bard buffs.

:+:

Theneras (42): Gabriel’s shard in the First, druid, ex-Dreamer, probably seen how you’ll die but won't spoil it for you

May look like he’s plotting to murder you in your sleep but he’s actually intensely affectionate. It may have been his influence that turned Gabriel into a warmer, more affectionate mentor/father figure for Yuuko than his own (terrifying military dad) was to him.

His favorite smell is one of his wolves Dirthamen’s fur when he’s been rolling around in the levin mint that grows all around Lakeland. Theneras can always tell he’s been there by the bit of static in his fur.

It helps if you’ve seen Sense8 because I stole a ton of tropes from that show, but after a few years of sharing aether with Gabriel, he comes to a point where he can reliably “visit” with him. They’re able to feel what the other’s feeling, taste what they’re having and hang out together across worlds. (time fluctuation shmime shmuctuation)

Speaking of stolen things, he has DA ancient elven nicknames for several other OCs and NPCs; Durgen'len (child of stone, dwarf) for the lalafell who kins rocks (@pocketyoukai), asha'bellanar for the aforementioned witch, Fen'mamae (motherwolf) for Shadowkeeper, etc.

:+:

Nellianne (42): Gabriel's former Scholasticate classmate, fencer, rumpy pumpy enthusiast, acquitted of all charges

Fought and won her own trial by combat at the Tribunal, even though half a dozen perfectly chivalrous knights had volunteered to be her champion. Was she safeguarding her clientele? Were the battles staged? Did gil exchange hands? Nothing was proven and it's all good entertainment either way.

Got suspended from the scholasticate partly because of little Gabriel but also avoided getting permanently expelled thanks to him so they're even.

More coming cause I'm having lots of fun writing and dressing her up. Also school days flashbacks!