“Some losses you don’t heal from.. You just learn how to carry them quieter.”
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Tell my mother, Tell my Father // I've done the best I can
Born to Garlean refugees who sought peace in the snows of Ishgard, Dante Slater grew up chasing warmth in a city that offered none. He made an honest living as a barkeep in the Brume, where he met Gwenndolyn, a lowborn woman with a sharp laugh and steadier heart. Together, they built a small life that felt almost safe, until his wife began to dream of the lands beyond. They left for Limsa Lominsa, hoping the salt air might taste of freedom; Dante traded bottles for a badge, joining the Yellowjackets to keep food on the table. Their daughter, Lilian, was born beneath the sound of gulls and waves. For a while, it seemed the world would finally leave them alone.
Yet, peace rarely lasts. One evening, while stationed in the city proper, Dante returned home to find their countryside outpost silent, their household turned upside down. The slavers of the Sable Mare — a black-sailed ship that traded in the kidnapped — had come through Western La Noscea. His wife and child were gone. By the time he found them, the fate had been written for the family in blood; by the luck of the Maelstrom finding the Outpost, Dante's body survived. But his heart was left on the ground that day, forever mourning the life he fought so hard to build. Darkness gathered, and from the day rose Gwen’s spirit — a furious, voiceless shade bound by vengeance. Her wrath struck a chord in the hollow of his soul, and together they forged a pact.
Now, Dante walks the line between man and memory — a dark knight turned reaper, a sellsword who answers coin with quiet precision. He speaks little, works hard, and keeps his promises. Those who fight beside him say his calm feels unnatural, as though nothing in the world could shake him. But beneath that stillness is a quiet mercy.
He seeks to hopefully save those who cannot defend themselves; and if the shade of Gwenndolyn still lingers in his shadow, and if the small ghost of Lilian still watches from the edge of the firelight… then perhaps he can learn to live once again.