Character History
Like many children of Dalmasca, the Garlean occupation robbed Abylnfheta of her home. It also robbed her of her birth mother, birth name, and her memories prior to the age of ten. Though that age is only an estimate.
The name she wears now was bestowed by a pair of mercenary insurgents who fought for the Dalmascan resistance - a Roegadyn from Limsa Lominsa, and a Dalmascan native. Her first name - meaning “Raging Fighter” - had less to do with her actual fighting ability, and more to do with the barbed tongue she stung her “kidnappers” with. She was found alone, emaciated, on a forest on the edge of a battlefield. Knowing well the fate that could befall a lost viera child, the pair took it upon themselves to care for her and keep her out of harms way. It took her a few weeks to understand that these men were genuinely trying to help her. But she's grateful for their patience.
Her surname comes from her surrogate father and primary caretaker, Roric Payne. He was born in Dalmasca to a highlander family living in Rabanastre, his father being a trade liaison for a large company. Roric considers himself a Dalmascan through and through, and had planned to stay and fight until he died. But Abylnfheta changed all that. With a child to care for, the man retreated west, taking the lowest risk jobs that he could in order to pay for passage, all while training the girl so that she could defend herself if needed.
Eventually, the pair made their way to Ul'dah, which is now their permanent home. Today, her biggest problem is her adoptive father, Roric. At 45 years old, his body has been worn by decades of war. He can't bring in the money that he used to. Thus, she has resolved to pick up the slack - by becoming a mercenary, just like the man she begrudgingly respects. As much as they bicker, he's brought her up well, both by being a remarkably positive example and a negative one. It was a desire to see him cared for which lead her to pick up the spear for coin. But rather than receiving the gratitude she'd hoped for, he laments that she adopted his own dangerous career. “Abby you damn flop eared fop! You could live for thousands of moons, but this work will kill you in tens if you're lucky! If I outlive you, I'm gonna kill myself and give you a piece of my mind!” Regrettably, her reply is not fit to print here, nor anywhere for that matter. Thankfully, her ire is largely reserved for Roric. Suffice it to say, she expressed to him that she hopes he learns to relax and picks up a healthier hobby than work.
At the very least, they certainly care about one another.
OOC
If you rub her the wrong way, Abby can be prickly. I, however, am not. Feel free to approach me or message me or whatever. I'm not part of any sort of RP group. At present I have plenty of free time, and I'd be happy to pop in for a one-off.
I'll add here that Abby really has no notoriety of any sort. She's just some rando mercenary, one of who knows how many in Ul'dah. The only thing which makes her stand out is her penchant for black clothing (if metal existed in Eorzea, she'd be a metalhead), and the fact that she's a viera.
I honestly haven't given too much thought to her early youth backstory, but if I had to just toss an idea out there - lore seems to indicate that viera have a nasty habit of killing people who enter their woods. The Garlean Empire probably didn't like the fact that they didn't have control over forests within their own territory (most empires hate that tbh). The viera probably killed Garlean tax collectors, and even worse - didn't pay their taxes. Of course, Garleans have airships. So they could probably just fly over the natural defense barrier which is the forest, locate the viera villages, and flatten the area via generous application of high explosives. This could easily have concussive and amnesiac effects on those lucky enough to survive, coupled with them burying the memories as a response to the severe trauma. And that's why she was wandering the woods aimlessly as a small child.