#raranen

Here's my current roster! All links go to the character’s tag.

For posts about all/most of my characters that may not be tagged individually, see #all the characters.

Note: At the time of this writing (July 2023), I only have in-game access to my Balmung alts plus Strammund due to my current FFXIV subscription type. I'll still take asks for any of them, though!

Apparently a lot of my characters have Zhah'ra as a retainer. Go figure.

My first response when I saw this tweet was "oh god! too many to list!"

...but then I listed them anyway. 😅

One of Zhah'ra's retainers is Iris, his coworker/friend from when he was working at a bathhouse in Ul'dah (also an alt)

Renan's retainers are their component selves (back before they got chimera'd together) and also their old colleagues and comrades from the Nymian armed forces.

Silver Sage's retainers are all (very vaguely) members of his village back home, including his protege.

One of Maati's is her black sheep cousin (also an alt)

Ryoku's retainers are the lord he serves, his little sister Aiko, and a few of his fellow retainer-soldiers.

Danyell has his older sister Danicka and a few other members of the heretic band he was part of for a while in Coerthas.

Raranen's retainers include his mother Fafala and several people who work for his chocobo breeding stable, including his jockey, Marshall.

Iris has Zhah'ra (former coworker and friend) and Dee (reluctant acquaintance) in retainer form.

Mama Dee's retainers include Zhah'ra, who used to be in her dance troupe; Daisy, the dancer who took over the troupe when Dee retired; her husband, T'arik; and Amande and Lumien, her husband's two IC retainers.

Maparhi has her Hearer mentor, her mother Aynur, Zhah'ra (her cousin), and a few acquaintances from the Shroud as her retainers.

Surprisingly, only 10 out of 18 alts with retainers have story-significant ones - fewer than I expected!

Who: Raranen Sasanen; NPCs: Etraux, Fafachale

What: Etraux returns from an errand. 

Where: Raranen’s stables, the Shroud

When: Quite recently (late winter, perhaps a moon after Heavensturn)

Content: tobacco (pipe smoking), 

Written for MAHI prompt words: elbow, background

"Thank you, Etraux. The baskets can be unloaded and stowed in the barn. Have you the change?" Raranen barely glanced up from the scratch of his pen over paper, though his guest - a Dunesfolk with blond hair and silver-grey eyes - gave Etraux a scrutinizing look. 

Etraux couldn't remember his name. Chela? Fafa? Something. All Etraux knew was that he'd been visiting for more than a sennight, that his boots bore not a single blessed speck of dirt, and that he smoked a spicy, sickly-sweet tobacco that smelled nothing like the acrid stuff in Oscarlet's pipe.

(Etraux’s chest clenched painfully. He hauled his thoughts back into line. )

"Yessir." He fished the coins out of his purse and let them clink into the dish on Raranen's desk. "The price at market was lower'n expected, which is why there's extra there." 

"Hmph.” A puff of smoke washed over the sleeve of Etraux's jerkin and curled up into his nose. "Why didn't he buy another bushel, instead, and save a later trip?" 

Etraux hesitated, his back stiffening. He kept his gaze level, studying the tack diagram on the wall behind Raranen's desk while he fought down the urge to justify himself.

"Because I budgeted a specific amount of krakka root and greens for the moon,” came Raranen’s unbothered reply, “and because while they keep in storage for a while, the quality declines over time. I am not in the habit of feeding my birds old produce, even if it was inexpensive to start." Raranen's pen kept scratching over the page. "You should know that yourself, Facha, being in the business of feeding your performers."

"Oh, surely you're not telling me a hungry chocobo can tell the difference between a root that's two suns old and one that's a sennight old?" Facha scoffed.

Out of the corner of his vision, Etraux watched Raranen spit the other man with a flat look of pure impatience. He had to stifle a laugh. 

"'Fraid they can, sir," Etraux put in. "The vegetables start not smellin' right, lose all their sweetness. Racers need all the fuel they can get, see." 

Facha hmphed again. "I think the birds would eat them anyway, if it were that or starve." Another stream of pipe smoke made Etraux's eyes water. 

Raranen sighed. "That is all for now, Etraux. Thank you." 

Nodding, Etraux turned to go, fleeing the tense silence slowly thickening behind him. 

---------

Despite the rakish, devil-may-care attitude he cultivates in other aspects of life, Raranen is very conscious of the value of money and keeps careful track of his funds. However, he also believes that money exists to serve a purpose and is not an end in itself. As a result, he does not hesitate to spend it when it suits his aims.

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Prompt 13: Extra Credit!

Who: Raranen Sasanen, Danyell Dwynwen

What: This music is very nice, but it’s putting Raranen to sleep.

Where: Buscarron’s Druthers, South Shroud

When: Quite recently.

Content notes: Minor heckling?

Raranen fought back a yawn and frowned into his drink. Well, that just about does it. He cupped his hands around his mouth and called across the packed tavern. 

"You there! Bard!" 

The minstrel looked up from his lute and the intricate -- but slow -- tune he had been plucking. Raranen had seen him play in a few taverns on this side of the Shroud, and this didn’t seem his usual style.

"What's the matter -- did your paramour tell you your cooking's terrible? You're putting us all to sleep." Raranen grinned to take the sting out of the jibe. 

At least the fellow had a sense of humor -- he laughed, fingers drawing a tumbling riff from the strings. "Sounds like you have a request on the tip of your tongue," he volleyed back. 

Now we're talking. Raranen's grin broadened. "Something lively! And I know you can sing. Let's hear it." 

Shaking his head, the bard stood from his chair and resettled the lute's strap on his shoulder. 

"Alright -- you want something lively?" he called to the crowd, a grin spreading over his face like clouds parting. "On your feet!" 

Heads turned at the packed tables as his fingers flew over the strings, heel thumping a steady beat on the boards. The rhythm pulsed through the room, raising eyes and tapping toes. 

Raranen whooped and hopped down from his chair, clapping in time as the minstrel shouted to the crowd:

"When I say 1, 2, you say 3, 4! One, two!"

The crowd thundered: "THREE! FOUR!" -- and they were off.

Raranen threw a thumbs-up to the performer, who winked back. Much better.

-----

Today was assigned to Raranen, but I had an extra ask for Danyell, so I shoved the two characters together. 

To answer the question: Danyell is fairly easygoing and usually takes feedback with grace, though he doesn’t accept it all uncritically. He jokes back and forth with hecklers and will tease grumpy patrons if he thinks it will be received relatively well. Like most people, he does have a scant handful of subjects where he struggles a bit more to keep level if he is criticized about them.

-----

Prompt 28: Irenic

Who: Raranen Sasanen, his chocobo Dandy Plume, and his childhood friend Fafachale (NPC)

What: Raranen gets caught up on the latest Ul’dahn gossip.

Where: The vicinity of Raranen’s stables, southern Central Shroud.

When: Perhaps a few moons ago? Mid-summer.

Content notes: Mild teasing? Bird puns?

“So, what will you do about it?” Raranen pushed the linkpearl more firmly into his ear, then bent to check the girth on Dandy Plume’s saddle. 

A sigh came through the pearl. “IS there anything I can do? If he wants to quit, he will, right?”

“True enough,” Raranen replied, hoisting himself up and astride. As he set out through the paddock gate, he chuckled softly. “Do you remember that one time Albrecht thought---”

“Tch! Albrecht! That man--! I certainly do remember what he thought. I remember what you thought, too: ‘Don’t count your dodos before they hatch, and don’t put a saddle on one and call it a ‘bo’ -- isn’t that what you said?”

He grinned, holding the linkpearl in place as Dandy Plume settled into a smooth trot. “Sounds about right. So... who’s the dodo egg here, Fafachale?”

“Raranen,” Fafachale groaned. 

“If you get tired of keeping your broodiness to yourself, you could always come visit, you know. Get away for a while.” 

There was a thoughtful silence, punctuated only by the crunching of grass and gravel under his chocobo’s feet. 

“Maybe. It would be nice to be able to speak more freely, away from all the little birds.” A chuckle. “Only if you promise Heru won’t get jealous, though. I swear that hawk is out to keep you single forever.”

Raranen is usually fairly easy-going. For him, anger most often shows up as quick, decisive movements, a clenched jaw, and his voice going very tense and quiet (as opposed to his usual fairly energetic speech.)

The only thing that has ever gotten him past “quiet and controlled” into blood-boiling rage is when he discovered that one of the stablehands he had hired was hurting some of the birds -- plucking small feathers as punishment for “misbehavior,” putting their tack on too tight, delaying feedings, and other small cruelties. The hand was fired on the spot and sent packing. If Marshall hadn’t talked him out of it, Raranen honestly might have had the man whipped -- not only for his cruelty against innocent creatures, which Raranen cannot abide, but also because of the added insult of the financial losses incurred due to some of the animals’ temperaments being destroyed. Instead, Raranen wrote letters to as many other chocobo breeders, racing organizations, and stables as he could find, warning them about the former employee’s behavior. 

Raranen loves interesting textures. As a child, he used to get in trouble frequently for going around touching ALL the fabrics in his parents’ storerooms. On one particularly regrettable occasion at the age of six, this included the trim on a visiting lady’s sleeve - a faux pas which Raranen’s parents were keen never to have him repeat. 

Now that he is an adult, he takes aggressive steps to keep his hands to himself, even if it requires literally sitting on them. He has developed a habit of clasping his hands behind his back whenever he isn’t actively holding something.

🔜: Are there any characters you want to add, but aren’t sure about?

In all honesty, I mean… I have a couple of free character slots on Mateus burning a hole in my pocket, so chances are very good that I will end up playing around in character creation again. But as far as existing concepts? *shrug* I read down through my list, and all of the ones that aren’t currently active are inactive for good reason – I can see the ways in which the character just didn’t jell with me. 

If I had to choose, I’d say that Raranen Sasanen might be an option, especially to play him off of Maati. He is Maati’s cousin and is somewhat the black sheep of their extended family – they see him as being too devil-may-care and irresponsible. He struck out on his own to pursue a project of breeding chocobos intended for hunting and racing instead of helping to manage the family’s fabric-and-millinery import empire.

💬: Write a bit of banter between two of your characters. 

“Oh, honey, you haven’t been trying to sleep in an airship seat again, have you?” Zhah’ra’s tone was teasing as his thumbs slid through the layer of lanolin on Maayan’s skin, zeroing in on a knot lurking next to her spine. “Keep breathing for me.”

Maayan snorted a laugh that stopped short in a hiss. “How did you ever guess?” she tossed back over her shoulder as she settled her head back onto her crossed arms atop the padded table. She groaned as he dug into the bundle of muscle tension with steady pressure. “That’s it right there, ugh. Twelve bless you and your magical fingers.”