ABOUT

"Koh?""Hmm?" their eyes flitted up for a moment, tearing their attention away from the newsletter."Whe- where were you born?"Koh cocked an eyebrow and flashed a sharktooth grin at the young Elezen. She had meant to ask when, they knew it all too well but Koh decided to let it slide. Rielle squirmed a little in her chair and cleared her throat, she knew Koh had caught her slip up."I was born in Gridania.""R-Really?!""Please don't look that surprised, Rielle. You wound me…" Koh covered their mouth with the back of their palm. The elezen girl on the other hand let out a small chuckle of relief. She wasn't sure if Koh would've glared at her the same way they did with Sidurgu sometimes. "But yes, I was born inside the city proper. It was…" they paused for a moment, eyes seemed to stare off into the far distance, a sad smile painted their lips for a moment, Rielle took note. "It was an okay life. I had my lancer training there and made my way to Ul'dah when I was about 17 summers.."Koh left out some parts of course. They didn't mention to Rielle that it took a while to gain entrance into the city. Hunger filled days and strange dangerous nights till they earned enough money while guarding caravans. They danced around the past. "I worked as an apothecarist there…" it would've taken too long to explain why they became one. An alchemist who worked in a bordello ran away after sleeping with one of the girls there, and Koh while filling a courier request helped out and eventually found a permanent room there as the house apothecarist. For a moment Koh mulled over telling her some of the stories that courtesans used to tell them, amongst other things. Like matters of the heart, what exposure to dark forces does to the mind and body…"What brought you to Ishgard then?""Oh, that… well I fought and tracked down monsters.""Sidurgu did mention that," Rielle narrowed her eyes staring into Koh's right eye. It was the only one she could see. The other was hidden behind a black metallic eyepatch, and sometimes the soft wavy strands of dark brown and grey hairs. There were two scars visible plainly on their face. "No one just wanders into this place.""The only thing that matters is that I'm here for good," Koh shrugged their shoulders and sat back in their chair. The wood creaked slightly as the sound of the tea kettle whistled…Koh had come to Ishgard after stealing a black mage soulstone but they weren't known for their subtlety when it came to stealing. Blood was spilt in the aftermath, a necessary sacrifice to keep the cult from hurting anyone. All of this was a reaction from the horror of Tam-Tara Deepcroft; they had lost a good friend and seemed to have been the only survivor of the mission. They experimented with materia beforehand, trying to see if infusing it into the body would've worked to become strong enough and it did for a time; the materia left permanent scarring and corruption that tainted their body and over time changed their appearance. A soulstone was necessary for their personal vengeance, to keep from being cooked alive by fire magic. All of this was to avenge their best friend, the voidsent that had killed them was still out there.Yet the stone had cracked and burnt them one day while conjuring spells. Koh wore the scars plainly as a reminder of their folly. They hid their left eye to cover their shame of weakness with the materia. They had come to Ishgard to hide and find a way to repair the stone. Truth be told when the stone cracked, Koh was interested in the stories and rumors of the Dark Knights that were around and the story was there had been some seen in Ishgard. The creed was appealing, mirroring Koh's own and using power from within seemed useful. There surely was enough pain and suffering inside Koh to channel it out properly.That was around the time Koh had befriended Sidurgu and met with Rielle. They became fast friends as the young elezen had remarked. Then the war came, and with a broken soulstone and forbidden dark arts it seemed easier to lend their lance for service. Koh hadn't noticed it but during the war they had been subconsciously channeling aether into their lance, with a thrust or a sweep it sparked flames. As happy as an occasion it reminded Koh of the nature of the Orthodox church and kept it secret. Still they were an excellent Lancer, and through their service in the war, they were named a Dragoon.It was the aftermath of the Dragonsong War that kept Koh in Ishgard, after realizing the horrors it cost both man and dragon once it as done and Nidhogg slain. Koh stayed to help in the restoration effort, taking up carpentry (as it was in their blood) and eventually other tools of the trade to help. Eventually it was enough to earn a permanent residence and home. They turned part of the upper part of their home into an apothecary (unsanctioned by the church), helping both nobles and those in the Brume alike.There are still days where the silence reminds them too much of the horrors of Tam-Tara. Koh can still hear the voices and smell the blood and stench of the voidsent. Nightmares take them, so Koh sleeps very little some days. They burn the midnight oil with work or wanderings around The Foundation and the Firmament. Other times to other cities to try and just escape; a drink or two never hurt.