SFW
Lore Lenilheify
War Profiteer•
Ul'dah
No Badges
Race
Miqo'te
Clan
Keeper of the Moon
Free Company
None
Introduction
Greedy and remorseless, but certainly not impulsive.
Player's notes
No additional notes provided by the player.
Character Information
Basic details about Lore Lenilheify
Age
27
Race
Miqo'te
Married to
Her Career
Occupation
Small Business Owner
Body Type
Normal build
Birthplace
The Black Shroud
Residence
Ul'dah
Class
Rifleman (Machinist)
Background
The story of the character's origins
“There are over 55 million weapons in worldwide circulation. That’s one weapon for every
twelve people on Hydaelyn. The only question is: how do we arm the other eleven?”
Lore learned a few lessons as a war orphan.
Lesson 1: A crude weapon in hand is worth far more than the most honeyed words.
Lesson 2: If you’re poor, you may as well be a ghost.
Lesson 3: The strong do what they can, the weak suffer what they must. And if you have no money, nor weapons, you have no strength.
Lesson 4: Strength without cunning is easily controlled and misdirected.
Since her early childhood, she has sought to put those lessons to work for herself. And it has gone well.
She started her career as a mercenary. She used her earnings to fund her own education, and became a craftsman. With her earnings from smithing, she got a loan and purchased a little workshop, then sold weapons to the Eorzean Alliance. After expanding her operations by hiring on a few more smiths, she diversified her business – selling security services, providing loans for bounty hunters in exchange for a cut of the bounty, and selling insurance to adventurers.
𝚂𝚞𝚋𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜
Word on the Street
Lore is popular among the street urchins and orphans. Despite her tight fisted reputation, she's often seen handing them gil and sweets, all in exchange for a few words. “What have you heard this week?” Similarly, she's been seen in bars not having a single glass of alcohol - just sipping mocktails alone, as her ears sweep across the establishment. Few know her true place of residence, and she's often found sleeping in her office. None know of her origins. The Moon Keeper only answers that she was born in the Black Shroud, with no further clarification. Precisely what she endured to become what she is - a mystery. Her broader reputation is that of a quiet, law abiding citizen. Strictly speaking, she has never conducted illegal business. Her taxes are paid on time, the Brass Blades get their palms greased when appropriate, and she stays out of the way of the Syndicate. Whatever her goals, she seems keen to avoid trouble.
Mannerisms
Lore moves with a confident assuredness - and a pistol on her side. Her ears sweep the area, much like her gaze, always on the look out for pickpockets or other, more violent threats. She is polite in public, and never eager to pick fights. Fights cost money after all, and risk injury. If it cannot be avoided, better to outsource the risk to someone else. In privacy with those few she trusts, and in business dealings with those weaker than her; that is where her cynicism and coldness rise to the surface - she has no need to negotiate with the weak. She need only state her terms.
Voice
Lore's voice would almost sound sweet and girlish, were it not so restrained and measured. Her register is often formal, seemingly Ishgardian in influence, and it seldom leaves that stiff place. “Icy” is perhaps the best way to describe her demeanor. But that's not to say she is unable to put on a mask. When dealing with certain customers or assets, she is prim, proper, and demure, adopting a neutral and business-like voice and poker face which betrays almost nothing. If the situation truly calls for it, she can even be charming. She is never rude to strangers.
Unadorned
Despite being fairly well off, Lore avoids wearing the status symbols so often associated with the wealthy of Ul'dah. Loathe to keep wealth idle, and even more loathe to keep it on her person in an easily pocketable fashion, she only wears jewelry when forced. For that purpose, she keep's a set of earrings and rings under lock and key - only retrieving them for those meetings where such status symbols are almost a prerequisite for attendance, and certainly a prerequisite for respect.
Behavioral Hooks
- Lore will offer gil for gossip, especially from orphans and travelers.
- She often barters or trades information before giving her own.
- Often drinking alone, if you pay atention, you can see her ears drifting across The Quicksand, listening in.
- You see Lore generously tip Momodi, and ask the her a question about another patron.
- She's always looking for couriers.
Decrypting Lore (OOC)
Lore is difficult to approach as a character, both for myself and for other roleplayers. That difficulty is part of what draws me to try and play her, but I'm also sympathetic to what a chore that is for others. So I thought I'd write a brief blurb to make it easier.
I personally don't mind walking up to people, but Lore is the sort of person who talks to others for a reason. If approached, she might shmooze you if she thinks you'd be a valuable contact, or she'll make small talk to be polite, or maybe try to weasel useful business information out of you - but generally the only reason she'd talk to somebody is for business. That could be information, a weapon request, or really anything of mutual benefit. DM me if you're interested in contriving a reason to get together. I'll always be proactive and try to reach out if I'm interested. And of course you can always just walk up and see where it goes.
As a bit of a warning for certain plot types: something else I've realized is that Lore cannot trust unfettered generosity. For her, contracts and mutual interest are ways of making a dangerous world into something more predictable: they're the frameworks she uses to avoid danger and maintain a sense of control. Everything which operates outside that framework is a potential threat. I honestly don't know if her shell can be cracked - but trying to crack her shell without mutual reciprocity, by giving freely, is going to back her into a corner and make her dig in deeper. In her mind, nobody gives freely unless they're a fool (unpredictable, dangerous to be around, and likely to hurt her out of their own sense of justice) or they've got ulterior motives. What she wants is mutual leverage, both ways, to ensure that cooperation is in everyone's self-interest. She can't trust sentiment or feeling, but she can trust someone to act to their own benefit.
Misc. OOC Notes
Lore is not a good person: she's cold-hearted, self-interested, and at times remarkably bereft of empathy. Thankfully, I don't share her character flaws - I have different character flaws, like deriving a gremlin sort of pleasure from roleplaying terrible people. Feel free to approach me or message me or whatever, I promise I don't bite. 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.
Lore would be a solid Lawful Neutral sort of antagonist (pretty much nothing she does is actually illegal, and she's not evil as much as she's incredibly selfish/paranoid). As an example: if you took pity on one of her debtors, and decided to bail that person out, she'd even help you - to an extent. Pointing out money making opportunities, bargaining for your services, providing reasonable extensions, etc. She doesn't want to hurt the debtor: she wants the debt paid, and is happy to take a moment between her other obligations to help you do it.
I'll add here that Lore really has no notoriety of any sort. She's small time compared to the large companies. One of many workshops which provide weapons, and companies that provide services to adventurers. So it's not surprising if your character has never heard of her. If you are an adventurer in Ul'dah, you may have heard about her in passing for being cold, shrewd, liable to fret over every last gil, and for extracting every last onze of value she can from a contract.