Adventures in Eorzea
"I am not the strongest, I am not the biggest, I am not the fastest, but I will never give up."
Adventure
The beginning of any journey is full of unknowns and strife. Grhug knew nothing of the world outside of the Steppe. The little bit of information he had on what laid beyond the Steppe was from his fathers friends. His father would occasionally have other Au’ra and blue Kojin that would bring relics for his father to determine their validity. They would ramble on and on about their dealing in Kugane and the Ruby Tide. He understood that in order to make his way in this world, his skills would be best set for a life of adventuring. With his mothers ax in hand he took his first step out into the world. The fishing village of Iris is where he first learned that the only way he was going to get out of Othard was by ship. He kept himself alive by living off of the land, hunting and camping near the small village. On more than one occasion he found himself defending the village from red Kojin raiders, it was those acts that landed him his first position on a ship. There was one trading route in particular that was constantly harassed by the red Kojin, so Grhug was hired as a bodyguard. He spent the next year traveling around the Ruby Sea on this vessel occasionally having to fend off attacks from pirates and Kojin, In his off time on the ship he learned how to fish out on the sea and to be a more useful crew member. Eventually these skills would take him to the piers of Kugane. He took what jobs he could find around docks and eventually found a larger trading ship that had recently lost many members of their crew to a horrible storm. The captain of this ship was a large Roegadyn man, with sun-touched skin, bald head, a thick black beard and eyes like the sun. He went by Strongfoot, Captain Strongfoot. He trusted very few people and cared for even less. Grhug worked on this ship for many years traveling all around the world. From Kugane, to Thavnair and all the way to the shores of Illsabard. After the better part of a year of working on his ship the captain began to take a liking to Grhug. He began to mentor him explaining the inner workings of the trade and shipping routes. Over the next few years Grhug worked his way up from just a crew member to the captain's navigator and his second in command. Grhug spent 5 years working with the captain, traveling all over the world free to go anywhere. He didn’t mind the occasional pirate attack, he actually enjoyed the battle and it reminded him of the Steppe. He would have traveled the word with the captain until his death, but as the seas got more dangerous when Garlemald began their assault against the cities of Eorzea and Doma. Trade routes dried up and the plundering of trade ships was happening more frequently. During one such raid on their ship the captain was mortally wounded and most of the crew was either injured or killed. The damage to the ship made it impossible for them to get to a major city, Grhug and 4 other crew members were able to get the captain to a small village on one of the islands surrounding La Noscea, it was there the captain joined the aether. The captain spent his final hours falling in and out of consciousness, his last breaths were taken as the sun came up. Grhug and the remaining crew members divided the ship's treasures amongst the four of them with the most senior crew member getting the majority. The four spent a few more nights together talking about the past before a ship would pass this way. The four men caught the first ship off of that island with a small fortune he had amassed by the captain. This ship was going to Old Sharlyan.
Home is Where the Heart is
As the ship arrived to the amazing city of Old Sharlyan, Grhug was greeted with the familiar sight of the clerk at the customs desk. He had been to the city many times before with the captain. The captain normally handled all the paperwork, while he worked on loading and unloading the ship. As Grhug approached the customs officer, he gave his name as Grhug. When the customs officer asked for his surname, he had no answer as he never knew his surname and “Grhug” was always sufficient. He went on to explain that he had been there many times before but his captain handled everything here. The officer looked in their history and found the last time the ship had been there. He was listed as “Grhug Strongfoot”, the officer gave him a document giving him access to the city and said “from now on you a Strongfoot”. Grhug smiled to himself thinking of all the other cities they have been to where the captain took care of things like that. He went on to live on the islands around Old Sharylan for the next year as he spent his money on better food and drink than he was used to. Old Sharlayan had delicacies from all over the world, so he frequently visited the market and main restaurant, The Last Stand. It was there in a back alley he came across a small young Au’ra girl trying to dispatch some local vermin. He watched her for a moment trying to figure out what she was doing. After a while of chuckling to himself, then feeling guilty about it, he went and purchased a small starter bow with 2 dozen arrows. He went back to the girl and presented her the bow. She seemed timid at first, but as he showed her how to use the bow she quickly became less timid and started having fun. He could tell by the look of her, she had been living on the street and hadn’t seen kindness in a very long time. As he watched her dispatch her prey with the bow, he helped occasionally while out of her view; he helped her gather the proof she needed to complete her task to turn into her employer. Grhug waited outside, not knowing exactly what to do. Should he take her to the orphanage, or try to find her parents? He considered this, knowing that he couldn't just leave her by herself.. As she came out of the building she walked directly up to him with the largest smile he had ever seen on her face and wrapped her little arms around him. He placed a hand across her shoulder, squeezed her tight and said, "everything will be fine now….” he took a knee to meet her eye level “where do I take you, the city orphanage?” She let out a loud “NO!” and began to pull back. Grhug quickly took her hand and said “ok, ok, you don’t have to go there, it’s ok, calm down...so what am I going to do with you?" he grins, a playful expression towards her. She looks at him with a confused face and shrugs her shoulders. As he begins to stand up he laughs at ...her blunt truth, he takes her hand once more, "well...I know I am not leaving you alone little lady, let get some dinner then we can rest. We both have had a long day.” They grabbed some food from The Last Stand and went to the inn. He tries to ask her about her life before, but she was very young and doesn’t remember much of her young childhood, not even her name. As Grhug was paying for the room, the elderly lady behind the counter looked a the girl then looked at Grhug and said “you have an adorable daughter there, make sure you watch out for her.” Grhug's first thought was to correct the old lady, but before he could, the little girl let out a giggle of approval. He looked down at her as she was staring back up at him with that same big smile, and smiled back at her while putting his arm around her. He looked back at the clerk “of course I will mam.” As they went into the room, she ran in and jumped on the bed. He could tell she hadn’t seen luxury like this in a while, so he let her enjoy it until she finally laid down and passed out. He tucked her into bed and laid out some blankets on the floor. As he laid there he didn’t know if he was crazy for taking care of this kid or what, all he knew is he couldn’t leave her side. The next morning he woke up at dawn like he always did, while she was passed out til almost noon. While she was sleeping, however, he had the inn staff run out and buy her some new clothes, and summoned an aesthetician to get her cleaned up. She woke to a team of ladies ready to groom and clean her- she struggled against them at first, but eventually gave in to the grooming. She cleaned up pretty well- she honestly looked like a little princess, but with an Auri woman attitude. “Alright so what would you like to do?” he asked her. She looked up at him and took his hand in hers and said “I go with you” with a big smile on her face. He smiles at her and all he can say is “of course little warrior, let's go” At that moment Grhug knew that she belonged to him, it was his responsibility to take care of her and show her a better life. Over the next few days he got the paperwork in order in Old Sharylyan and it was there that little girl was given the name of Levana Strongfoot. From that day, they stayed by each other's side as father and daughter. Grhug knew that they couldn’t stay in Old Sharlayan, the Shalayans did not allow outsiders to stay on their lands long without a purpose. He eventually decided he would take her from there and settle in a small village in lower La Noscea. He would work at the local pier and help the local farmers with the local beast that caused them issues. It was there they lived until the primals awakening caused Grhug to join the grand company of Limsa Lominsa, The Maelstrom and head into battle to defend the land he now called home.
IC Information
Can can be often found loitering around the benches of Limsa