Previously discussed with [@Hero] via PMs due to being a non-playable race concept.

[hider=E-Siri-Rai][SUB][U]ＮＡＭＥ[/U][/SUB]
[indent][color=silver]E-Siri-Rai[/color][/indent]
[SUB][U]ＲＡＣＥ[/U][/SUB]
[indent][url=https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Padjal]Padjal[/url][/indent]
[SUB][U]ＣＬＡＮ[/U][/SUB]
[indent][color=silver]Midlander (Hyur bloodline)[/color][/indent]
[SUB][U]ＢＩＲＴＨＰＬＡＣＥ[/U][/SUB]
[indent][color=silver]Hyrstmill, North Shroud[/color][/indent]
[SUB][U]ＯＣＣＵＰＡＴＩＯＮ[/U][/SUB]
[indent][color=silver]Member of the Conjurer's Guild[/color][/indent]
[SUB][U]ＳＯＵＬ ＣＲＹＳＴＡＬ[/U][/SUB]
[indent][color=silver]White Mage[/color][/indent]
[SUB][U]ＡＰＰＥＡＲＡＮＣＥ[/U][/SUB]
[indent][color=silver]But for the horns, Brother E-Siri is an otherwise unremarkable Midlander youth.  He has a tan complexion and darker hair than is typical of the children who serve as the oracles of the elemental forces.  His eyes are a bright shade of blue that resemble a cloudless sky.  Two gazelle-like horns protrude backward from either side of his head, being the distinctive characteristic of the Padjal.  He appears as a mere boy of no more than 10 or 12 summers, wearing a short-sleeved tunic and shorts that mark him as casual as any child.  He was often seen with a cane of unfinished wood, which served as the foci for weaving elemental magic into conjury.[/color][/indent]
[hider][center][img]https://baku-panda.org/images/padjal.png[/img][/center][/hider]
[SUB][U]ＰＥＲＳＯＮＡＬＩＴＹ[/U][/SUB]
[indent][color=silver]Curious, compassionate, and obstinate are three words that aptly describe this forest oracle.  The lesson of his parents has remained the most significant force in shaping the quality of mercy and the character of Brother E-Siri.  He is Stillglade Fane's most outspoken critic, believing the Conjurer's Guild to be stifled inside their den and the Seedseers more concerned with the voices of the elements than for the lamentations of the people that they claim to serve.  At the core of E-Siri's belief, the task of protecting the Twelveswood requires a comprehension of the world in which the Twelveswood exists, including the people, elements, and threats facing it from beyond the borders of the forest.[/color][/indent]
[SUB][U]ＢＩＯＧＲＡＰＨＹ[/U][/SUB]
[indent][color=silver]Not of the prestigious Senna or Yan families, Kosne Rai was born into both obscurity and poverty in the North Shroud hamlet of Hyrstmill.  The son of simple subsistence farmers, the pregnancy complicated the already bleak financial outlook for the fledgling family.  Without coin to pay a midwife, as a newborn babe, Kosne was brought into Eorzea without assistance, leading to his mother's death in childbirth.  His widower father found work where he could in the mun-tuy cellars to pay a wet nurse for the suckling child, barely able to provide for himself and his child as the two struggled to survive under the shadow of E-Tatt's Spire.

It was around the time of his eighth summer, laboring in the mun-tuy cellars, picking beans alongside his father that a pair of odd bumps were first noticed on his head. The horns started coming in over the following year, at which point the child's obscurity was cast aside and the Order of the Twin Adder came for him.  Under the oldest of Gridanian law, he was taken in the custody of Stillglade Fane, a prisoner in all but name as he learned that he was a Padjal, now and forevermore changed.  Over the next several years, he stopped aging but his mind was expanded through literacy, through communion, through an education in the art of conjury.

It was a decade before he would emerge from out of Stillglade Fane, when the threat of the Calamity caused Stillglade Fane's doors to be open to him for the first time since he had been forcibly delivered there.  No longer the humble pauper, he was now E-Siri-Rai.  He was now [i]Brother E-Siri.[/i]  A new identiy, for a new life that had been chosen for him by powers beyond mortal imagining.  As the fires Bahamut rained down over the Black Shroud, E-Siri raced back to the Hyrstmill of his youth in search of the man who had struggled through blood, sweat, and tears to raise him.

He arrived too late.  His father, as penniless then as ever, had contracted an illness down in the damp, cold cellars from which he had never recovered.  His disease treatable, his pain without succor, the father of the boy who had been Kosne Rai died mere yalms from Gridania without anyone from Stillglade Fane, from the Twin Adder, or the Wood Wailers even taking notice.  The man who Brother E-Siri had raced to rescue was not waiting for him there.  Instead, he had passed into obscurity.  

In the five years since, Brother E-Siri has labored outside to bring mercy and healing to the elements and the impoverished throughout the Black Shroud.  Though his trips away from Old Gridania are many, he is frequently recalled back to Stillglade Fane.  There, each time, he labors to be the voice for both the plight of the elements and the people to a Seedseer Council that he fears has little concern for anything other than the trees nearest them.[/color][/indent]
[SUB][U]ＯＴＨＥＲ[/U][/SUB]
[indent][color=silver]• His favorite dish is tomato pie.
• His Padjali name translates to [i]a seeker[/i], illustrating his innate curiosity.
• Related to his study of conjury, he is also a member of the Botanist's Guild in order to learn about the aetherial benefits of different types of wood (foci) and medicinal applications of various plants.[/color][/indent]
[SUB][U]ＲＥＡＳＯＮ ＦＯＲ ＥＮＬＩＳＴＭＥＮＴ[/U][/SUB]
[hider=Prologue 01 | An Ill-Wind From Thanalan][indent][color=silver][color=skyblue]"The Twelveswood does not dwell in isolation."[/color]

The underground vault brought to mind the many storied legends of Gelmorra. Roots descended along the walls, framing the subterranean round where two children debated back and forth.   

The smaller of the pair was a boy possessed of blue eyes and short, raven dark hair that held a slight curl to it. He wore a short tunic, vibrantly colored in hues of violet and silver, with a caduceus symbol emblazoned on the front. [color=skyblue]"There are forces outside the Shroud that shape the dangers that we face,"[/color] the boy offered, continuing to state his case even as he gestured toward the other youth before him. [color=skyblue]"Brother A-Towa..."[/color]

With a broad wave of one arm, the taller of the two cut him off there. "Brother A-Towa died alone in a kobold mine," the tow-headed boy countered sternly, adding, "I'll not see you track down that same path."

With a shake of his head, the dark-haired boy remarked, [color=skyblue]"There's naught more that we can do in the South Shroud. Whatever disturbs the elementals comes from somewhere in Thanalan, not our Twelveswood."[/color]

"Then we are at an impasse," the fair-haired youth answered flatly. "The Order of the Twin Adder cannot venture there without invitation from the Immortal Flames, and our Wood Wailers have no jurisdiction outside the forest."

In unison, the pair gave a sigh in frustration toward the other.  This seemed to be the point at which all their conversations brought them.  When he had looked up again, the raven-haired child said, [color=skyblue]"Then I shall seek another means."[/color]

The taller boy frowned. "If there was a third option, I would have tendered it," he stated in the same matter-of-fact tone as before. Then, softening his manner, stretched forward a hand as he added, "Do not challenge the Seedseer Council in this. Not again."

The smaller boy inclined his head in deference toward the other, yet his eyes shone with a hot-blooded hellfire that belied an obstinate resolve.  [color=skyblue]"I will do what I must, Brother."[/color]

The fair haired youth turned away, a shake of his head demonstrating the level of ire that he held for intractable debate between them. After a moment, he turned back to the other boy and said, "Very well. As you will not be dissuaded in this," the youth intoned quietly. Folding his arms out before him, he bowed in the manner of Stillglade Fane and offered, "Nophica watch over you, Brother."[/color][/indent][/hider]
[hider=Prologue 02 | The Carline Canopy][indent][color=silver]There was a certain [i]warmth[/i] that radiated about the Roost. A quiet din of conversation over a bowl of pottage or cup of mun-tuy brew.  No where else in Gridania was host to such a vibrant and eclectic group as could be found in the Carline Canopy.  Soldiers of the Twin Adder, preparing to depart or returning from points far afield.  The grizzled Wood Wailers.  Adventurers bold, fresh-faced and veteran explorers, bounty hunters, and mercenaries.  Merchants, men of coin and tradesmen plying their art for a living.

Every time that he walked in here, he felt as though he saw something that he had never seen before.  He could sit near the door for hours, listening to the stories that were shared, and trying to imagine the places beyond the forest that were spoken of.

He found the matronly Elezen away from her usual bar, posting new aduyses along the wall.  As he approached, he held up a satchel.  [color=skyblue]"As I passed through Silent Arbor, I picked up the mun-tuy beans from the cellars as you'd asked,"[/color] the boy said, holding the sack of beans out for the woman to take.

For her part, the Elezen looked at the horned child. Then down to the beans he held up toward her. Then, blinking, looked back at him and bluntly answered, "I didn't think that you'd actually do it." Cupping his hand with both of hers, the woman was gracious as she accepted the sack.  

Turning away from her aduyses, she ventured across to her bar.  As she walked, she half-heartedly laughed as she said, "The Wood Wailers might do me in if they knew that I'd used a Padjal as a delivery boy."

A ghost of a smile played across the youthful features of the oracle. His small size made apparent by the height of the bar relative to his stature. The touch of whimsy disappeared, however, as a look of obvious confusion took hold when she had pushed a few gil across the counter toward him. [color=skyblue]"What's this?"[/color]

Now it was her turn to look confused for a moment. "A meager reward," the lady answered, before her smile returned and she offered, "People don't generally do things for nothing." 

The child gave a slight nod of his head, then bowed to demonstrate his gratitude before reaching toward the gil. "So, where are you off to next?" he heard the woman ask.

A good question. [color=skyblue]"I don't know,"[/color] the boy answered honestly. Taking a step away, the child's eyes peered up along the wall, where a map of Eorzea was framed by all manner of time tables, weather predictions, notices, and wanted posters. [color=skyblue]"The direction that the elementals would point me toward is a direction that it seems I cannot travel,"[/color] the boy opined aloud.

"[i]Oh?[/i]" he heard the Elezen matron voice from behind him. 

As the boy craned his head back and admired the map, framed by aduyses, his gaze fell upon one that stood out from the time tables and weather notices.  It was a summons, a call to action ob behalf of one of the free companies.

[i]The free companies.[/i] Brother E-Sumi's advice was correct. The Twin Adder and the Wood Wailers had limits to where they could go.  But the free companies had no such restrictions placed on them, even to the degree to which some worked more closely with the various Grand Companies than others.

As he gazed upon the advertisement, he heard the woman remark, "Well, wherever you venture, full glad am I that you have the Wood Wailers or Adders with you. It's not safe to go alone."

Reaching up, the child pulled the notice from off the wall.  It referred to its gathering as [i]The Blessed Twelve[/i], a rather auspicious name. [color=skyblue]"I suspect you're right,"[/color] the boy noted aloud, even as he continued to regard the notice.  

The call spoke of a meeting in Ul'dah, another auspicious coincidence.  

The sound of a cup and saucer scraping over the top of the counter drew his attention from the paper. When he had looked up, he found the matron pushing a warm mug toward him. "The airship for Ul'dah won't be departing for another few hours," the Elezen noted simply, before adding, "And you'll not find a mun-tuy brew when you get there."[/color][/indent][/hider][/hider]