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Lioless — Lou | Merchant - Aodh | SA

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Published: 2018-08-22 23:12:52 +0000 UTC; Views: 2003; Favourites: 51; Downloads: 0
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Description

LOUAP Tracker  | Moodboard

All I ever wanted was the world
I can't help but I need it all
The primadonna life, the rise and fall
You say that I'm kinda difficult
But it's always someone else's fault
Got you wrapped around my finger, babe
You can count on me to misbehave



Self-proclaimed Royalty of Ashlar
Name: Lou
Age: 21
Gender: Genderfluid – predominantly she/her
Orientation: Bisexual
Species: Hippocampus (clown fish)
Build: Arabian x zebra
Height: 15 hh
Coat Color: Sooty palomino zebra

Herd Affiliation: Aodh
Rank: Merchant
Patron god: Ignacio & Cascade

Talents:  locked
Blessing: locked
Familiar: locked

Appearance key points:
x Slightly dished head and big zebra ears
x Slender body with long legs
x Round fin on back and a fish tail
x Hair is kept fairly short – it is coarse and wants to naturally grow upwards rather than down and needs to be very long before it falls naturally
 Hippocampus form

Personality:
Independent - not influenced by the thought or action of others
Decisive - characterized by or displaying no or little hesitation; resolute; determined
Imaginative - having or showing creativeness or resourcefulness
Clever - mentally bright; having sharp or quick intelligence; able

Sassy - pert; boldly smart; saucy
Pragmatic - solving problems in a sensible way that suits the conditions that really exist now, rather than obeying fixed theories, ideas, or rules
Persuasive - good at persuading someone to do or believe something through reasoning or the use of temptation

Vain - excessively proud of or concerned about one's own appearance, qualities, achievements, etc.
Dogmatic - asserting opinions in a doctrinaire or arrogant manner; opinionated
Stubborn - having or showing dogged determination not to change one's attitude or position on something, especially in spite of good reasons to do so
Judgmental - tending to form opinions too quickly, esp. when disapproving of someone or something

In a world where fortune favors the rich, smart and good-looking, Lou aspires to be all these. She gives off the impression of a diva, and will absolutely boss others around if she thinks she can get away with it. Having grown up with the richest parents in a small town, she doesn’t have entirely realistic expectations for her new life and chances of success in the big city of New Valore. She is used to being noticed and envied, and having if not the right to demand things, then at least the leniency to do so. She feels immensely frustrated when things are denied of her; when she is no longer special.

Her attitude paints her as a prissy girl, but despite her dramatic flair and uppity antics Lou is surprisingly not averse to hard work or getting her own hooves dirty. The thing about growing up in a nowhere town is that you can’t afford to be lazy. She has, under all pretenses of glitz and glamour, a very practical way of thinking and a go-getter attitude. While not necessarily a perfectionist, Lou likes to rely on herself rather than others in things that really matter – it’s just a bonus if she can make others do the small and repetitive tasks for her. She is trying to be efficient, not bored to death.
Competitive and adventurous, Lou loves new experiences and ideas, and seems intent on enjoying every aspect of New Valore. If she finds something she is good at, she almost carelessly throws herself into it fully, always wanting to be the best and brightest. Some would suggest her eagerness to throw herself at every challenge is a symptom of her still processing the loss of her world, but Lou is eager and quick to deny such allegations.

Lou enjoys social scheming and gossip – at least as long as she is able to stay on top of it. Quick to form opinions of people and things alike, and generally unafraid to point them out; she has a critical eye and penchant for noticing minute details, but not necessarily the tact and verbal skill to voice her opinions very eloquently. Lou’s somewhat brash manner of speech is sorely out of place in any high society event, and some would argue New Valore in general. She is almost as talented at getting in trouble as she is getting out of it, and tends to fall on her feet even if she gets a few bumps along the way. Her brazen attitude can be as much a blessing as a curse.
She has a loud mouth coupled with a lot of action – she fears nothing quite as much as being invisible. In the big city it is easy to get sidelined and be forgotten, and Lou… Lou is not yet ready to accept that in this new scene she is a nobody.


History:
Lou’s beginnings would have been humble being the child of a merchant and a brothel owner, had she not been born in Ashlar. In a town where there wasn’t much else to see for the workers, they were decidedly the richest around. As the only child Lou was afforded all the attention, and she grew up in a bubble that took a very long time to burst.
Her school could be described as barely adequate and it was never something Lou took a big interest in – at the time following in her parents’ footprints sounded glorious enough. On paper Lou passed her school until lower secondary with flying colors, but it could be argued that it would not have been the case in the more prestigious establishments.

At thirteen Lou became an apprentice to her father, the merchant handling the single general store in Ashlar. Her father was happy to have an extra worker for no extra cost, and Lou was soon running all sorts of errands for the store. Her mother’s brothel interested her far less simply because she would not have been allowed nearly as much freedom due to her young age.
For years the store kept her busy and feeling important. She was fifteen when she was allowed to travel with her father to New Valore for the first time. And what an experience it was! It was the first time Lou had felt quite so small, which simultaneously ignited a hunger for more and fed the fear of being inadequate. On boring days at the counter she had dreamed of bigger things and greater glory, and her daydreams were left rather shattered once she realized what a tough world it was out there.

She was only content with daydreams for a year, and brought up the idea of furthering her education in New Valore to her parents. She could live with relatives, get a real education during the slow months. It wasn’t too hard to convince her parents of the benefits of her having more of a formal education. The new school, a large upper secondary in New Valore, was nothing like the little village primary – just the teachers alone were like from another world. Lou learned many new skills, absorbed heaps of knowledge, and formed her first personal connections to other merchant’s children – future business partners.
Each time she returned from New Valore to Ashlar to help with the shop during high season, the town felt smaller and more claustrophobic, the same faces every day almost haunting. Each time she eagerly returned to her school, giving her technical degree its all, even if the breaks meant she graduated a year behind schedule. When she finally got her graduation papers, Lou felt true pride for the first time in her life – here was something, for the first time, that she had truly worked for and earner.

Lou might have branched out towards something of her own, had her father not fallen sick shortly after her graduation. At first, she resented being back in the town, leaving behind her new friends and larger circles, but soon got used to being one of the important people in the town again. The memory of New Valore faded into the background, brought back only by the occasional letter exchanges between her and her friends from school.
Her father decided to stay in semi-retirement after Lou had proved she was capable of running the store. Using her new connections, she was even able to increase the stock they offered. Less begrudgingly than she had thought, Lou made peace with her comfortable life in Ashlar.
But peace did not stay. The restlessness in Eithne had reached Ashlar rather poorly – just rumors here and there. No one had been prepared when a huge wyvern darkened the skies and breathed fire upon the town. Everything went up in flames, and there was no time to think - the only option was to run. And run Lou did.

She threw herself into a small creek running out of town, a desperate effort to save herself from the flames. She swam, and she swam, slowly making her way from the creek to a drain, from there a stream, until eventually joining a river. Even when Ashlar was already far behind, she did her best to remain unseen until even the smell of smoke was far behind her.
Her journey was a long one. Lou kept herself going with the promise that she would get the word out; she would get help. The journey to Bloom was as long as it was agonizing, her legs not used to such ceaseless travel. There her stories of an enormous wyvern and a malicious silver kirin were frantic, confused and rather unbelievable.
From Bloom she was given a train ticket to New Valore, where her stories – or perhaps more so her panicked and tattered state – were taken seriously enough to send someone to check on Ashlar. Lou herself sought shelter with her relatives, and after weeks of simply traveling in a state of panic and exhaustion, it took a good while for her to realize that there would be no going back.
It was still a devastating blow to hear that there was nothing and no one left of Ashlar. She was the sole survivor. Her parents dead and inheritance burned to a crisp, Lou was left only with a small warehouse and its contents – items that had been awaiting transport from New Valore to Ashlar, or vice versa. Even in the wake of cataclysmic destruction Lou refused to be defeated, and is now determined to build her life bigger and better, to the beat of New Valore.

Trivia:
x Lou is currently building up her wares to buy a small storefront, and meanwhile has a temporary stand in the market to get her by
x She is determined to live on her own, but currently still bunks with relatives
x Doesn’t really understand politics or the upper class and nobility as a whole, but pretends she does
x Feels uneasy about slaves but isn’t outspoken about it
x Her teke is sky blue


CREDITS
Character and fullbody © lemonyh
Design, headshot and small fullbody © queerly

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Comments: 8

waterdrup [2018-08-28 19:28:54 +0000 UTC]

I love that Lou is a diva who will get to work herself <3
And her design is just great, I need to draw her at some point!  

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Lioless In reply to waterdrup [2018-08-30 02:56:37 +0000 UTC]

Ahh thank you! <3
queerly does fabulous designs!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

kruuja [2018-08-23 07:17:31 +0000 UTC]

Throws all my current and upcoming aodh kids at her. Gotta love them primadonna types, always <3 

such a pretty design too wah (and sorry Denver, mobile dA clearly wanted you to see this comment too fgjj)

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Lioless In reply to kruuja [2018-08-23 18:37:18 +0000 UTC]

Thank u!!
We can totally plot up something~

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

KNOXXIS [2018-08-23 04:51:09 +0000 UTC]

Lou with the fab hair.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Lioless In reply to KNOXXIS [2018-08-23 18:36:48 +0000 UTC]

Lou: you clearly have excellent taste

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

ThatDenver [2018-08-22 23:25:18 +0000 UTC]

Hello my cute zebra frien

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Lioless In reply to ThatDenver [2018-08-23 18:36:25 +0000 UTC]

A very good frien

👍: 0 ⏩: 0