Ashlyn Orben

An Auri trader and merchant living in Kugane, frequenting Thavnair and
the Thanalan, and exploring her Xaela roots on the Azim Steppe.

Ashlyn Orben: About

Race: Raen Au Ra
Gender: female (she/her)
Height: 5'2"
Age: 41
Birthplace: Terncliff, Werlyt
Current Home: Shirogane, Hingashi
Ancestral Tribe: Orben
Guardian: Llymlaen
Relationship: single
Job: independent trader

Ashlyn is an Au Ra in her early forties. With white scales she presents as Raen, though her paternal grandfather was a Xaela from the Azim Steppe - a heritage she treasures. She has green eyes, and is a redhead. She previously used ruby coral dyes for a deeper shade, but has since let some early grey show through. She is at the tall end of the average height range for Auri women, and will wear glasses on occasion to sharpen her vision for reading and distance.Her favourite colour is turquoise, which accents many of her outfits and jewelry. She'll also wear elements of red in the forms of a hair-tie and a ring on her left hand, following an old Raen tradition of donning ruby coral for protection.While travelling or working she often wears a cropped brown coat with extra arm guards, over a rough-spun tunic. The outfit includes a short leather skirt with a bag strapped to her thigh for gil and other small items, and the belts at the waist includes a clip for a sheathe. Though trained with a gladiator-style sword during her service in the Immortal Flames reserve corps, she now prefers an uchigatana that is lighter and more suited to her small stature.

Other go-to outfits are in the fashion of Werlyt, such as a turquoise vest, or Ul'dahn from her many years having lived there as an independent trader. She does also love two blue dresses that are paired with an ornate hair ribbon purchased from Radz-at-Han years prior.

Ashlyn Orben: Story

Ashlyn was born in Terncliff, high on the cliffs of westernmost Ilsabard. She inherited the last name from her paternal grandfather, Khartsaga Orben, a Xaela who had left the Azim Steppe in search of adventure and married a Raen from Werlyt along the way. Though the family became increasingly Raen through marriages and two generations, Ashlyn remained keenly aware of her roots.From an early age Ashlyn was taught Orben tribe traditions surrounding boat-mending and sailing. Her father and grandfather would often take the children on trips in the family's boat - though it would just be her and her father once Khartsaga passed and her siblings grew disinterested. In fact, between two brothers and a handful of cousins, Ashlyn was the most compelled among her family to engage with their history. She alone maintained an interest in continuing the Orben traditions passed down, taking increasingly longer voyages for days at a time into the Sea of Jade with her father.To that end, she was ultimately inspired to follow in her grandfather's footsteps in search of adventure abroad. She left Werlyt at age 17 - four years before the Garlean occupation - having booked passage westward with hopes of becoming an Ul'dahn merchant.

On arrival she found herself lucky, able to find employment as a helping hand among the stalls of the Sapphire Avenue Exchange. She continued these odd jobs over several summers, eventually broadening her skills enough to secure jobs with larger trading concerns. By the 10th summer in Ul'dah she had established herself and could finance her own independent ventures, frequenting the routes between Thanalan and Thavnair as a freelance trader.

By the time Ala Mhigan refugees began arriving at the Ul'dahn Gates, she was wealthy enough to offer aide - which she did frequently, feeling a duty towards Terncliff's neighbours. But full aware that donations would not be enough in the long-run, she signed on to train as a swordswoman for the Immortal Flames reserve corps. She ultimately hoped to one day fight for the liberation Garlean-occupied nations, but was happy to do her part whenever called to service. And called she was, fighting alongside the rest of the Ul'dahn Grand Company in several skirmishes and battles.When the time did come to free Ala Mhigo and Werlyt, she was overjoyed to be assigned to the Gyr Abanian front and remained there for most of the campaign. When all was done, Ashlyn was able to see surviving family again for the first time in over 20 years. She took every opportunity to contribute to the recovery efforts of her home, leveraging her trading networks and bending the ears of representatives from many merchant concerns.

Aside from Werlyt, trade opportunities in the freshly liberated and newly opened markets included those in the Far East - though her focus there was in no small part fueled by frustration with the corrupt Monetarists, represented in Kugane as the East Aldenard Trading Company. Thus her aim in trading across Othard was to join those providing alternatives for clients who held the same reservations.Ashlyn added these areas to her ever-expanding routes, continuing to frequent Thavnair as a midpoint on return home to Ul'dah. It was during one such stop to meet with clients at Radz-at-Han that the Eorzean Alliance began their march on Garlemald - a nation she still resents - preventing her from being recalled to duty. Instead she was on-hand to help in the evacuation of Thavnair when the 'blasphemies' appeared.

Present Day

Ashlyn continues her work as an independent trader, now with 24 summers of experience. She remains far outside of the realm's richest merchants, but is quite wealthy nonetheless. She tries to spend her gil wisely, leaving room to contribute to the causes she feels strongest about and offer her goods and services to her friends.She most often trades on behalf of individual clients, but will take commissions from companies outside of the East Aldenard sphere. These ventures take her throughout the Far East, across Thavnair and Werlyt in Ilsabard, and back to the Eorzean regions of Gyr Abania and the Thanalan. Though of late she has found herself increasingly on the Azim Steppe, and has since moved to an apartment in Shirogane.

Her efforts at reconnecting with her Xaela heritage have proven fruitful. Though she remains estranged from the Orben, Ashlyn has found friends among the Oronir in particular. She sees this as a gift from Azim Himself, as she has long thought of the Oronir - the Dawn Father's chosen - as examples that dawn-born Raen like herself should look to. How close she gets to the tribe in the long-run remains to be seen.Among the other draws to life on the Steppe was her employment as serving staff at the Avragch tribe's Growling Yurt Cave Spa & Bar. She made countless friends there, and enjoyed the chance to meet people from a variety of Xaela tribes - as well as returning Raen such as herself.

Ashlyn Orben: RP Notes

Skills, Likes, and Dislikes

  • Skills:
    • piloting small airships
    • trading and shipping logistics
    • sword-fighting (uchigatana)
    • reading and writing
    • being confident in a crowd

  • Activities:
    + racing her Ironworks Falcon
    + swimming, sailing, and nautical things
    + visiting the Near and Far Easts
    - politicking and diplomacy
    - riding live mounts, including chocobos

  • Ideals & Attitudes:
    + supports open borders across Aldenard
    + supports Ala Mhigan and Doman recovery
    + values duty with the Immortal Flames
    + prefers monogamous, long-term dating
    + values Xaela traditions and learning them
    - distrusts Monetarists and their companies
    - dislikes Garlemald, cautious of the people
    - dislikes most magicks and aetheric things

OOC: About the Player

Hi, I'm Ashlyn! Yeah it's my irl middle name 😅 Canadian, mid-30s, she/her. Computer powered by Lenovo, I'm powered by Tim Hortons 😉I haven't been playing FFXIV since spring 2023, but wanted to keep this Carrd up if I do pop back in. Plus I still adore her character! Her homeworld is Mateus on Crystal, and her apartment should still be there in Shirogane (ward 6, room #52).I'm an experienced roleplayer from Star Trek Online, coming up on a decade on and off in that RP community, as well as writing stories and logs for my character. I only started playing FFXIV in mid-2021 and RP'd quite a bit.I expect if I ever get back into the game, I'd be around for one-off stories - bar RP, trader doing trader things, etc. Hard no's are non-consensual ERP and fetish play, unplanned violence resulting in permanent injury or death, and characters who are (or know story/lore as if) the WoL.

Trading with Ashlyn

Ashlyn has a variety of goods available for sale or trade. These are packed into saddlebags on her chocobo, stored in the luggage compartment of the Ironworks Falcon, or kept in her apartment's storeroom if at home in Kugane. Items are those that Ashlyn obtained during travels across Gyr Abania, Thavnair, and across Othard, and such as:(OOC note: I have copies of these items in the chocobo bag storage for reference, so what Ashlyn would have with her is always pre-determined.)

  • Textiles:
    cuttings of cloths, wools, threads, and leathers

  • Ingredients:
    dried or bottled herbs, roots, plants, and some foodstuffs

  • Natural sundries:
    examples of gems, minerals, and other gatherables

  • Products:
    reagents, collectibles, crafted goods, and consumables