J'hulsha Thanthea
Immediate Information
J'hulsha Thanthea is a Miqote from Ul'dah who specialises in the culinary arts and as a bounty collector for men and monsters alike. For those from a more criminal background, she also works as a career criminal, specialising in burglary and assassination; despite this, she's known to be picky about both her clientel and the jobs she selects. From looks alone, one can guess that she is part Hingan, Ala Mhigan and Ul'dahn.Despite being rather outgoing, it's easy to end up on J'hulsha's bad side & hard as nails to escape it, and by the Twelve you'll know it. If you get on her good side, though, she'd throw herself in front of a dragon's fire for you. When in a fight, J'hulsha battles through haphazardly forcing aether through her twin daggers, twisting her basic knowledge of thaumaturgy into a variety of different attacks.
Background Information
Will contain spoilers for info that could be revealed in RP.
Tales of Ancestry
24 years ago, a Miqote woman from the J tribe fled from Ala Mhigo as the Garleans marched in, fearing the fate that would befall her if she was to be caught in the middle of the invasion. She was right to be afraid, the hectic noise of steel clashing against steel, houses being raized to the ground and her people screaming in terror on the very night she left. All she had left was a knapsack that grew lighter by the day, failing to find any succor at Gridania. From there, she made the treacherous journey to Ul'dah, where fortune seemed to smile at her; she'd caught the eye of an attractive, half-Hingan son of a merchant who sought a warm body to lay with. Her mother had been lavished with promises of marriage and eternal love, led into bed and remained by his side for half a year, before the signs of pregnancy reared it's ugly head. Fearing the consequences, her father immediately did away with her, tossing her to the sheets in the fine silks he gifted upon her. Opulence turned to desperation in days, whatever baubles and finery that she could protect from being stolen instead going towards stays in ramshackled inns and measly scraps of food. It was in one of those inns where J'hulsha was born as a little boy, the bartender being kind enough to at least donate a towel to wrap her in.
Tales of Childhood
J'hulsha had only four years to spend with her mother before she died. The strain of both carrying and delivering J'hulsha left her immune system weak, a nasty cold she swore would be gone in a week instead tearing its way through her lungs. All she could leave J'hulsha was the story of her life and her birthname. From there, J'hulsha would be forced to fend for herself. At times, she'd be fortunate to find someone providing a warm meal and a roof over her head, but those ended up either being a temporary part of some sort of scheme the adult was cooking up or seemed way too good to be true. To make a living, she'd use her small stature and quick hands to steal what she needed, grouping up with a bunch of other urchins & pooling their resources together. It was here she met her childhood friend Ravka, an aura she saw as her younger brother. Her growing age caused her common tactics to grow less and less reliable. People were more willing to let children off with an earful than they were with teenagers, causing J'hulsha to fall into a new line of work. She turned from just plain market thievery and pickpocketing to burglary and bounty collecting; having to fend for herself, she wasn't new to fighting.When she was barely in her pre-teen years, J'hulsha found herself in the clutches of a thaumaturge who was looking to dabble in summoning a voidsent with a very peculiar method. Having knocked her out and chained her up, he had forced her to drink voidsent blood before she managed to barely escape, having slipped from her chains and knocked the man out with them mid-ritual. Before she escaped, however, she managed to snag a tome that held the secrets of black magic and a fantasia, looking initially to pawn them off for a tidy sum. What stopped her, however, was both the promise of arcane power and a vague urge to change her appearance; after all, the label on the bottle had promised as such. After an eerily pleasant sleep, she found that she now had the form of a woman. Though this answered some questions she had, she found relief in how she now looked different enough to throw the man hunting her off of his tracks if he was to come searching for her. Most importantly, though, was that she looked similar enough to her old body that she remained recogniseable. From here, she'd incorporate the arcane knowledge she obtained into her fighting style, channeling aether clumsily through her blades. She thinks it's a miracle they've never shattered on her, but unbeknownst to her, the ritual had transformed the poor girl into a nightkin.
Tales of the Present
One day, a slightly younger J'hulsha tried to steal some gil from a Mr. Leodaire Serlain, an elezen who operated as the accountant for a small Free Company. The job failed, and she ended up getting caught by the man herself. From there, she was presented a choice; either join the group and use her skills for them, or face the consequences. Not really looking to find out what these mysterious consequences were, she took the deal. It was there she reunited with her childhood friend Ravka and met most of her current best friends, including her present day wife. As well as this, she now had a roof to sleep under, as well as a steady supply of jobs. She even made a shift to working for clients that stood on the other end of the law; the Flames, to be exact, though she doesn't see them as being much different. This isn't to say that she's left her life of crime for good, though. After all, nothing pays out better than good old fashioned crime. Besides, seeing as she could pick her contracts, she only went for those she saw as deserving of a sticky fate; how else could someone as small as her make a difference?From there, she also used the newly aquired spare time and money to develop a hobby she's always wanted to expand upon but never really had the chance to do so; persuing the culinary arts. Ever since she wandered past the more high-class cafes and restraunts and saw the delights housed within behind the windows, she had developed a fixation on seeing what went into them to make them so good. Now, she has the gold to indulge in this, becoming adept in crafting the perfect meal. As such, she opened up a tavern known as the Bounty, building her own abode in the business' basement.In more recent affairs, J'hulsha has learned with the help of a friend that she is a nightkin. The revelation was terrifying, and it explained her fixation with blood, but it at least was a problem with a reasonable solution; kill the voidsent doing this to her.As well as this, J'hulsha had managed to track down her father with the help of a few friends. Initially, it had been for petty vengeance for what happened to her mother, but part of her knew that she was likely not the only bastard he had sired. As such, she headed to where he was - Kugane, to be specific, and cut him down. This wasn't without loss, however; her wife, Vael, had lost an arm. Sure, it was easily replaceable with a magitech prosthetic, but the recovery process before then put considerable strain on the pair. J'hulsha had to retreat from society for a month for this and a multitude of reasons; she had to run her bar, search for any half-siblings, care for the three she found without any guardians and let the heat on her die down.
Roleplay Hooks
In her line of work, J'hulsha needs a reliable source of information. Maybe your character knows something she wants to know?
Sometimes, someone gets assigned a job where they need to work with a partner. You character could be that said partner.
J'hulsha's job takes her to many places. Mayhaps she and your character crossed paths, with something neccesitating a conversation between the pair?
In the end of the day, J'hulsha likes to sit back and have a nice, stiff drink. What's better in this scenario than someone to talk with?
If your character is particularly good with animals, it's likely J'hulsha caught Crumbs staring up at you.
If you're looking for some combat RP, maybe your character, for one reason or another, has a mark or bounty on their head. Assuming your character deserves this (as far as she knows, anyway), J'hulsha would want to turn that in.
