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& like a shooting star, he shines

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— details— at a glance— history
—— i. prologue
——ii. a realm reborn
——iii. heavensward
——iv. stormblood
——v. shadowbringers
——vi. endwalker— statistics— rp hooks— nsfw— affiliates— gallery
——i. aesthetic
——ii. artwork
——iii. reference— the author

｡:+*— details

name. istolin de saillonaux
age. thirty-six
race. elezen
pronouns. he/him/his
sexuality. homosexual & polyamorous
marital status. single

nationality. Ishgardian
residence. Ishgard, the Pillars
profession. Tea sommelier, chirurgeon, former combat medic
title. Viscount, doctor

likes. Smoking perhaps too many rose-scented cigarettes | the simple pleasure of a good book | the sound of the stopper pulling free of his favourite bottle of bourbon after a long day | waking in a tangle of sheets & a lover's embrace to the gentle patter of rain on windows | writing at two in the morning, when wine & words & melody flow just sodislikes. His peers' negligence of Brume affairs— it is the duty of the fortunate to care for those without | viscous textures on his skin (he knows it isn't blood, but oh his memory's stained war-red) | being unclean or disheveled | the sand & the heat | wasabi— the traitorous bastard was not green tea ice cream, & now he trusts neither

｡:+*— at a glance

hair purest white & feather-soft as clouds, still curling ever so slightly at the tips & around ears despite his best efforts to style it straight. fine stands will surely become an unruly tuft at the hint of humidity.eyes pale blue & reflective like a mirror's surface, borrowing barest whispers of color from environs. & when emotion runs high or his magical gifts are required, those aetheric hues dance with starlight, as if gazing at the night sky.skin smooth & unmarred at a passing glance, as if chiseled from purest alabaster, a dancer's musculature reinforced with the training of a knight. only lovers might be privy to the scars the lie beneath, a tapestry of fang & flame, of blade & most notably of claw— an old wound that pains him still, spanning the width of that slender torso from upper left waist to right hip. surely it ought to have killed him, were he not born beneath a lucky star...movements precise in their elegance, a quiet confidence that comes from years of stumbling, of falling, of crafting one's own divinity out of the broken shards of one's past failures. a gentle smile of plush rose petal lips, a flutter of snowy lashes, a gloved finger tapping at the dark freckle beneath the corner of his left eye as his gaze turns skyward in thought. always, always, a gentle melancholy. for those we have lost & for those we may yet save.clinging to the ishgardian is the scent of rose, amber & vetiver. the barest hint of fine tobacco & tea is often present behind the perfume.& when he speaks or sings, it is with a low, gentle tenor & the unmistakable accent of an ishgardian highborn. he has an odd habit of not using contractions in his speech, & rather saying more words than are perhaps required, especially when in a casual setting.

｡:+*— prologue

Born to Baron Arthurioux & Lady Mirabelle - the baron's second wife following the death of his first - the young heir to House Saillonaux excelled at music & dance. Even as he was enrolled in the Temple Knights' academy, Istolin showed great aptitude with blade & bow alike.It was early into his career that everything took a sharp turn. A routine patrol went sour as his captain revealed himself to be a heretic, drinking a vial of dragon's blood & transforming into a massive diresaur, which tore through the small contingent in a matter of minutes. & despite a near-fatal wound - one that still pains him to this day, leaving a massive scar across his abdomen & an extensive list of food sensitivities - the only other survivor reported Istolin had fled the field... not knowing he had merely sought to send up a signal flare for help. The beast, meanwhile, fled to the Stone Vigil, & would later be known as Giruveganaus.Deeming the incident suspicious, Istolin was taken not to the care of chirurgeons, but into the custody of the inquisition, questioned at length without remorse or reprieve. At the edge of witchdrop, after two weeks of torture & interrogation, that confession they sought was on the very tip of his tongue— anything for this nightmare to be over. But a knight of Camp Dragonhead came forth at the last possible moment, with evidence to absolve the young elezen.

→

｡:+*— prologue

On his sickbed, Istolin heard word of the Empire's advancement into Eorzean territory, & grew disheartened with Isghard's lack of support. Though there was no war between Garlemald & the Holy See yet, he knew they would advance on coerthas once the alliance had fallen. & so he made up his mind to leave his homeland, to report to Carteneau as a representative, to show that Ishgard had not abandoned her neighbors. Alas, bad things come in threes, & the last unfortunate incident to befall Istolin occurred shortly after his crossing into the Northern shroud.It had barely been a week since his release from the Inquisition, body & mind still ravaged by their particular brand of hospitality... of course he would present an easy target from brigands. They made off with everything he had on hand, including his signet ring— his sole proof of lineage & his ticket back into Ishgard.Fortunately, he was found by a woodcutter not far from Fallgourd Float, & taken back to Gridania to heal & recover his strength to join the fight in Carteneau. But he would never make it to the flats before Dalamud burst open, before Bahamut's hellfire laid waste to the continent.Unable to return home, Istolin thought to stay to help with recovery efforts in Gridania & the Shroud, & it was during that endeavor that he learned of the Scions of the seventh dawn. Maybe in joining them, he might find his lost signet ring, to finally return home?

｡:+*— a realm reborn

To say the last five years were easy would not be a lie, yet throughout the restoration of the shroud, istolin proved himself a competent ally of the scions, joining them in their endeavors to combat the beast tribes who had begun summoning their deities in earnest, while also working to undo the footholds the empire had remaining in eorzea.It was a typical adventurer's life, following the road & lending succor to any & all in need until the scions were summoned to ul'dah... only to bear witness to the sultana's apparent assassination at the hands of the warrior of light, raubahn's execution of teledji adeledji, & the escape from thanalan that ensued.This was not how he ever imagined returning home, still unable to process the eternal winter wrought by the calamity, yet the warmth offered by a childhood friend, lord haurchefant of house fortemps was a much-needed balm to his wounded spirits.& so with his heart in his throat, he accompanied the warrior of light's entourage across the steps of faith to an ishgard ravaged by cold & war, by the cancer that had only been allowed to spread in his absence, to be looked upon by his countrymen as a stranger, an outsider, a pariah.Yet the past five years had forged him stronger, had given him the tools to perhaps bring about some change. He was a ghost now in Ishgard, assumed dead when the lesser moon fell, no longer beholden to his family name. Now, he could act where he could never have before.

｡:+*— heavensward

This isn't how he had intended to return home, as a stranger - a ghost- to all, but perhaps now he can act without the shackles of his former life holding him back. What he hadn't expected was the scions' prying, but of course they would pull at the first thread they saw out of place, unravelling the entire history of Ishgard as he'd been raised to believe.His entire world was pulled from under his feet, reeling with the loss of his dearest childhood friend - the only one who had recognized him upon his return to coerthas - & a crisis of faith as the tenants he had held so close to his heart were shattered before his very eyes.Istolin spent a long while adrift after the fall of Thordan, his heart as tumultuous as the civil unrest that had claimed his home. Though in the months that followed, he was returned to his family, he still couldn't rest as the city he loved began to tear itself apart. It's in these months that he begins his studies as a chirurgeon, spending every waking moment buried in books & notes... & drink. It's around this time that he meets a man who would be his first husband, a brume-born assassin with whom he quickly formed a physical relationship with. This would, over the months, warm into an adoring love.The two had not been married long when misfortune struck.

｡:+*— stormblood

It was to be one last hit, one last assassination before his husband would take up the post at the skysteel manufactory that istolin had helped arrange to provide a safe employment, one that the man had coveted since his youth. One last assassination, with a mark that had been anticipating him, who fought back & left the man near death. in fact, he was on the threshold of the fury's halls when istolin found him, following that trail of blood, & in his fear & grief, he sought to restore his lover with astromancy.bole, ewer, balance, arrow, spire & spear...even the combined light of those constellations were not enough— he needed more & so he reached farther, tearing open the seventh astral gate. it restored his beloved to life, yes, but that suffusion of starlight threatened to tear his mortal flesh apart. There was no evidence to tie him to that death as he finishes that assassination contract, body moving on its own, fueled by pure emotion. In fact, there's nothing left of the mark, body dissolved as he overwhelms the man with that excess of starlight.When his husband awoke & learned the truth of what happened, it terrified him; aether & magic had always made the man nervous, & to know just what istolin was now capable of him... he ran into the night, never to return.but there's no time to grieve as nidhogg's return brings his scion allies back to ishgard. To rid his home of its scourge, he stands with them on the steps of faith to either triumph in the victory of liberation... or to meet his end & quell the sadness in his heart.It was to be the former, this tale bearing a happy end, & with the war finally brought to an end, istolin was officially reinstated as a citizen of Ishgard and rightful heir to House saillonaux.