I. Let's Begin

Who is Tyrniwarg Grymrammsyn? A fierce Roegadyn with an insatiable interest in history. A roguish Lominsan who is very proud of his heritage. An explorer and scholar. An adventurer and storyteller.Tyrniwarg (or just “Tyrn” to those unable to cope with the spelling, pronunciation, or the very existence of traditional Sea Wolf naming conventions) is a tall Roegadyn, even by his race’s usual ceiling-threatening standards, with an affable personality to match. He is an optimistic, patient, and approachable person with a wry sense of humour that belies his seemingly stern and scarred face (itself, in his words, “an ongoing testimonial to the merits of ducking incoming sharp objects”). For over forty summers (he can be annoyingly vague about the exact number), Tyrn has adventured his way across Aldenard, Ilsabard, and all the way to the Far East, collecting a variety of experiences, allies, enemies/arch-nemeses, artifacts, and, most importantly, stories.Charting Tyrn’s story, with all of its facets and occasional exaggerations, requires us to begin at a pre-Tyrn point in history: specifically, the life of his father, Grymramm (or Cruel Ram, for all you Hellsguard and translation enthusiasts). Decades ago, Grymramm was a skilled soldier of the southern Ilsabard nation of Bozja at a time when it was fending off border incursions from the neighbouring Garlean Empire (you may have heard of it). When cavalry raiding gave way to all-out invasion, Grymramm came to the quick conclusion that a change of nationality was definitely in order.Generally, Grymramm had a very practical view of war: he didn’t consider it an honourable contest of nations fuelled by patriotic tales of bravery and glory, but an ordeal where at least two parties were trying to beat each other to death until one side’s flags changed. His view of war with Garlemald specifically was even less rosy, likening it to a suicidal walk into a Magitek thresher while praying to be lucky enough to drag one’s bloody body out the other side with just a lost limb. Retreat and desertion were definitely preferable to either becoming target practise for the latest Imperial war machina or living under the inevitable occupation. Furthermore, he had no family ties to bind him and no desire to defend a profoundly corrupt country where seven-out-of-ten destitute common folk were barely surviving beneath the poverty line, and the remaining three were seriously contemplating cannibalism.Grymramm left the ill-fated battlefield and set out for the one place where he believed that no one would look twice at a very war-wise and combat-scarred Roegadyn: Limsa Lominsa. Unfortunately, Eorzean paranoia towards those migrating from Imperial territories lead to many misunderstandings that often turned violent. It was during one such incident that his path crossed with that of Aerstrael, a stern, deputized Lominsan arcanist who was famed for her ability to tame even the most delinquent Carbuncle with her smouldering glare. It wasn’t exactly love at first sight, but their encounter led to a surprisingly pleasant resolution that was followed by an incredibly adorable courtship. Tyrn came along about a year later.

II. Books, Brawn, & the Early Years

Tyrn’s childhood was typically Lominsan; this means that, between his formal lessons in history, arms, and the arcane, he was also learning things his parents rather he didn’t know from people that they preferred he didn’t associate with. Bear in mind that these were the days before the current rule of Admiral Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn. Thanks to Ketenramm the Blue’s discovery of the so-called “New World,” Limsa Lominsa was experiencing a golden age of booming trade and exploration; many of its ruthless and rummy buccaneers often (temporarily) turned heel and filled their holds with legitimately acquired goods while they also (reluctantly) traded their black flags for cartography tools. This was the world Tyrn grew up in, and the multitude of sights and stories drawn from it continue to shape him today.Young Tyrn’s arcane talents and voracious love of literature made him a prime candidate for enrolment at the Sharlayan colony in Dravania, though he never seized this opportunity. Many errant members of the Sons of Saint Coinach were frequent visitors to Lominsan ports, where they hunted for Allag artifacts and other historical treasures, and Tyrn often struck up conversations with them that gave him a very favourable impression of their work. However, this path of professional scholarship ended up being a road-not-taken thanks to the influential advice of his less-than-academic associates. Just a few days shy of his sixteenth nameday, Tyrn joined the Upright Thieves, and his expertise with arcana were sidelined in favour of the physical combat skills that he had both learned and sharpened in his surroundings.For those that are unfamiliar with Lominsan history, or as much of it that was recorded between vacillating bouts of ruthless piracy and thriving trade, the Upright Thieves were the precursors to the current Rogues Guild. Thanks to a treaty established centuries before by the surprisingly patient and diplomatic Admiral Agatzahr Roehmerlsyn, they also served as the diligent enforcers of a code of conduct that kept the city-state’s residents, particularly its pirates, from turning on one another in a skull-crunching, backstabbing, and front-stabbing murder spree. As long as Lominsans did no wrong by one another, they had no fear of being clapped in irons or (more likely) greeting the next dawn in the choking embrace of a vengeful noose. Respect for the code helped maintain a very tenuous peace throughout the city-state, and Tyrn was very effective at enforcing it.However, being the dubiously moral compass to a largely immoral, if sometimes fascinating, environment ground at Tyrn’s conscience and challenged his sensibilities. It was hard to be jovial about history and discovery when an average morning’s work included dragging a screaming, mercy-pleading pirate from a tavern so that they could be made a very public example of the consequences for violating the code. The job was easy enough for him; he was large, could be cryptically well-spoken, and was a brutally efficient combatant. It made for an intimidating package, but life spent effectively being a goon, even a righteous one in principle, wasn’t all that enjoyable or fulfilling.Tyrn’s parents encouraged him to give the Sharlayan option another attempt, but something about its structured environment and settled lifestyle didn’t appeal to him. Having not found high seas adventure with the Upright Thieves, he opted to chart another course, taking an open position on a merchant ship owned by the East Aldenard Trading Company.

III. A Roegadyn at Sea

Some observers may consider it strange for Tyrn to have not bothered finding a posting on a Lominsan vessel. However, the lion’s share of the city-state’s outgoing ships was more eager to seek the riches of the New World, and he was far more interested in the old one (having not seen it, it was new to him). While few would consider any employment with the East Aldernard Trading Company to be a moral upgrade from state-sanctioned vigilante, the operative word in its name was the direction that its boats were heading, which was east. Ilsabard, Radz-at-Han, and even far-flung Kugane were places from textbooks and stories that Tyrn was eager to experience. True, his employer’s intercontinental success was paired with an infamous reputation; many Ul’dah merchants are pirates of a different sort. However, they carried an air of legitimacy that made working for them more socially palatable than travelling under the standard of a Lominsan buccaneer.Tyrn’s employment as a mercenary guard was likewise a lesson in the significance of appearances, his new captain eloquently making it very clear from the onset that he was there to be eight big Roegadyn fulms of “Stay the Seven Hells away from this ship!” Fortunately, the work involved much more than standing menacingly on the deck to deter prospective pirates and slashing down any wavekin that dared to creep up over the side. During Tyrn’s time with the Upright Thieves, ships were things that he often travelled on, stormed, and plucked delinquent crew from, but seldom managed personally. Now he was getting a much more thorough education on the many ins and outs of sailing, and he liked it.By the time the ship reached Radz-at-Han,Tyrn had acquitted himself well in fending off pirates and monsters and had also developed an aptitude for marine navigation. At the recommendation and with the blessing of his captain, he transferred to another company ship that was bound for Kugane. Along the way, he was not only exposed to a variety of sights and cultures that he had only read about but also made time in different port stopovers to have an adventure or two.Upon arriving in Kugane, he spent the better part of a year getting familiar with the region, as well as making favourable impressions on company officials. He continued serving on various short and long-distance voyages, often with the company, but sometimes with independent crews when the former had no need for him. The combination of his skills, reputation, and a shrewd East Aldernard manager’s desire to capitalize on an embellished version of his background as a “genuine Roegadyn pirate” from Limsa Lominsa eventually earned him the captaincy of his own vessel. These were good years for Tyrn as he lived the life of adventure that he’d chased since childhood.

IV. Ambition & Revolution

Tyrn was nearing the end of his twenties when Ostolen Azoja, a Hrothgar Bozjan expatriate on a self-appointed heroic mission, darkened the doorstep of his Kugane residence. Ostolen was a former officer of the pre-Imperial Bojzan army that had been “reduced” (in his words) to working as a mercenary after escaping conscription following the country’s defeat. He had recently arrived in the city and had heard stories about a Roegadyn captain who periodically spoke of his Bozjan heritage. Based on several descriptions, Ostolen had expected to find Grymramm, but was instead surprised to stumble upon his son.Tyrn’s first mistake was confirming his identity to the man. His second was inviting him in to listen to his story. It was plain from the onset that luck was not something that had favoured this Hrothgar, despite his having been born with a proverbial silver spoon. A son of Bojzan nobility, he had been Grymramm’s superior prior to the Imperial invasion. Ostolen put conspicuously great effort into lauding his former subordinate's skills and accomplishments, not to mention their close relationship; he even implied that Tyrn’s father owed a few of his patented strategies to their time training together. Had Grymramm been present, many details would have been swiftly corrected, and most of those remaining would have been deemed a steaming crock of excrement.Of course, Tyrn was no fool; he knew enough from his years with the East Aldernard Company to recognize the build-up to a sales pitch, especially a desperate one. True enough, a few hours into his melancholy tale of front line defeat, unlikely heroic retreat, and decades as a notorious mercenary fugitive of the Empire (possibly the most embellished detail; an Imperial soldier was more likely to trip over Ostolen than arrest him), he revealed his true goal: the liberation of Bozja.Now, let’s pause for context (especially for those of you measuring trifling details, like canonical chronology). Bear in mind that this predates the current Bojzan rebellion, not to mention the Doman and Ala Mhigan uprisings that reminded the Empire of the perils of continuing to brutalize colonized underdogs while juggling a civil war for succession. This even predates the Bojza Incident itself (don’t know what that is? Do your own research! This is Tyrn’s story!). The occupied Bojza of the day was a heavily fortified and industrialized region that promised naught but bloodshed and tears to anyone foolish enough to step inside its borders. Yet, stepping over that line was just what Ostolen wanted to do.Ostolen’s plan was to, by some miracle, get past the legions of troops and Magitek machinery patrolling the border and countryside, infiltrate the fortress city, and make his way to the citadel at the centre. There, he would claim the surviving ancestral weapons of Gunnhildr's Blades, the country’s royal guards, provided they had not been damaged or spirited away by a colonizing collector. Ostolen would use them, and his status as a direct descendent of one of the renowned guards (yet another unlikely claim; this man was a bad storyteller) to rally the surviving nobility into action and generate a rebellion from within the capital itself.The Hrothgar’s scheme wasn’t entirely the work of a desperate madman, just mostly, and many intelligent listeners would have quickly dismissed it. It had a profoundly glaring flaw, but this wasn’t the impossible border crossing, the improbable entry to the city, the presence of a hero-pulverizing army with itchy trigger-fingers for savages, or the coin flip’s chance that the treasures were even still there in the first place. It was Ostolen himself. Besides being a frequent and terrible liar, Tyrn could tell that he was also the very type of person that his father had often railed against in stories about “back home:” a bigoted, raging classist who overestimated himself, underestimated those with less pocket-money and perceived prestige than himself, and was all too willing to climb over the latter in the name of whatever he happened to consider the greater good.Still, even wise people can make bad choices, and there was likely something that inwardly nudged Tyrn to go along with the wild and crazy aspirations of this selfish, broken-down Hrothgar. Perhaps there was a faint bit of guilt that was encouraging him to make up for his father’s decades-old desertion. Maybe it his historian’s curiosity over Gunnhildr's Blades and the other aspects of Grymramm’s homeland. Maybe it was the explorer in him that was eager to see a place he hadn’t seen before. Maybe it was just having the opportunity to punch a Garlean in the face, which most people on two-and-a-half continents will agree is a good enough reason for doing just about anything. Ultimately, you’ll have to ask him about it yourself.

V. The (Other) Bojza Incident

Whether you are a diligent historian or a die-hard enthusiast of obscure facts, it is highly unlikely that you will find much evidence of Ostolen’s ill-fated Bozjan rebellion. There is almost nothing left that could inspire future generations, including the far more successful Bozjan uprising that later followed the liberation of Ala Mhigo and Doma. In this respect, history has been very kind to all those involved in this obscure affair. Still, there’s an interesting story here, with potential for something more, and that fits with our theme and with Tyrn.It was clear from the very start that this expedition required capital and a ship, and therein was the real reason for Ostolen’s tracking Tyrn down. Despite his accounts of his storied post-war days as a wandering hero of the people, it was evident that both the Hrothgar's wandering and (unlikely) heroism had done little for his financial state. To his credit, he had scraped together enough to hire the Bloodied Blades, a mercenary company composed largely of dubious Brass Blades retirees, washouts, and other ne’er-do-wells who had ended up in Kugane because it was about as far away as they could afford to flee from Ul’dah justice. Tyrn knew them by reputation; they were often hired by the East Aldernard Company to do the dirtiest of their dirty work and, knowing that these are Ul’dah standards that we’re defining things by, that’s got to be some despicable stuff. They were also the only ones desperate enough for gil to take on Ostolen’s quest.Though the mercenaries had taken their name mostly as a jab against the majority’s former station (these were not great minds we’re talking about), Ostolen saw it as a sign, with the Blades looking for the blades to revive the Blades. Tyrn saw them as an investment in cannon fodder at best; at worst, this journey would likely ensure that this scum would never trouble Kugane again. To their credit, the Bloodied Blades did help get everyone right to the Bozjan border relatively unscathed, losing only five of their number to monsters, disease, and an accident involving a seemingly derelict catapult.This is where the story gets blurry, because Tyrn has not always been very forthcoming about the specific details of the events that transpired over the next few weeks. It’s certain that the party managed to approach the region by sea and get through the border, likely via some roundabout bandit path known to the Bloodied Blades or a route unknown to the Garleans that Ostolen (miraculously) may have told the truth about. They may have even made it in sight of the capital, but the particulars just aren’t on paper. Any reports regarding Garlean activity against intruders were likely blown to smithereens years later with the city, and if there are any surviving Bloodied Blades out there, they certainly aren’t talking. Despite this lack of specific details, it is abundantly clear that few things went according to plan.There are only a few documented facts that can be confirmed about Tyrn’s Bojzan (mis)adventure, and those are mostly its consequences. First, his ship went right back to Kugane shortly after depositing him, Ostolen, and the Bloodied Blades onshore. It did so under a newly promoted captain and has never returned to the Roegadyn’s command. Second, the East Aldernald Company quietly took possession of Tyrn’s residence in the city, selling it and its contents and pocketing the profits. This may have been arranged as compensation for their clandestine support or a penalty for misuse of their vessel. Either way, the organization did not seem too concerned over whether its employee and his companions were alive or a collection of messy smears beneath Garlean boots and war machina feet. Such are the methodically unsentimental ways of Ul’dah enterprises.

VI. From Ilsabard to Ishgard

According to the East Aldernald Company, it was over five years later when Tyrn was spotted on the completely opposite side of Ilsabard, making his way closer and closer to Eorzea. However, even their suspiciously meticulous records cannot fully account for the intervening time. Gaining any perspective on it would involve collecting a horde of personal accounts along with several Garlean military reports. Tyrn rarely elaborates on the exact details of this journey, but this can be excused as it was, particularly during its opening months, an anxiously harrowing experience that involved his acclimating himself to trusting people from the very nation that he had fought against and feared for much of his life. Even to the world-traveling Tyrn, the Garlean Empire was a monolithic entity that was infamous for its ability to manufacture problems, often literally in the form of heavily armed war machines with a penchant for indiscriminately scorching, stomping, and slaughtering everything in their path.Fortunately, Tyrn's time in Ilsabard wasn’t all spent fighting mechanical horrors and the occasional archenemies; if it had been, he would have likely spun around and hiked, sailed, or even swam his way back eastward at the earliest opportunity rather than keep travelling west, right into the heart of Garlean territory. Well-connected adventurers will find reports of a Roegadyn vagabond being spotted in the temperate, scenic, and fertile lands of Corvos, often taking work as a farmhand. This stranger became a person-of-interest after he was repeatedly spotted trespassing on Allagan excavation sites. Since the Garlean philosophy for troubleshooting is that trouble must be shot, Tyrn quickly found himself confronted by the Rat Catchers, who were a group of mercenaries that were hired to weed out dissidents and other problem-cases that were beneath the notice of the regular military. They engaged the Roegadyn on several occasions in the former republic of Landis, but they lost him in the labyrinth alleyways of its sprawling, industrialized cities. Such sightings are noteworthy as they marked Tyrn’s opting to head even deeper into the empire, rather than detour south to the comparative safety of Radz-at-Han.Several locals of the Imperial central continent, of Werlyt, and of then-occupied Ala Mhigo all have their share of stories about a Roegadyn adventurer who was as at home among peasants as he was engaging more influential figures. Tyrn made his way through communities, sharing his tales and listening to others as if he was fuelled by an insatiable need to digest the nuances of every culture he encountered. These travels gave him an appreciation for the many different histories that were smothered beneath the infamous uniformity of the Empire. Fortunately, his activities rarely drew the Garlean military’s attention (albeit with some exceptions), and even the Rat Catchers grew wary of confronting him; they most likely believed that the bounty on his head wasn’t worth the cost to their numbers or to their pride. This combination of official Imperial indifference and genuine fear allowed him to safely cross the border into Eorzea.Tyrn’s years in Ilsabard reinvigorated his interest in history and yielded a hefty collection of artifacts and curiosities that demanded much of his attention. Consequently, he sought out the expertise of the eccentric Lord Morgan de Chevalier, a minor Ishgardian noble whose reputation for accumulating historical documents, relics, and other treasured antiquities was well-known to even the stuffiest scholars of Sharlayean. Unfortunately, Tyrn discovered that his lordship had fallen victim a very common affliction of the then in-progress Dragonsong War: death by dragon. Tyrn arrived just after his funeral, and made the acquaintance of his widow, Lady Monique de Chevalier.Being a lady of modest nobility and suddenly perceived as an easy marital prospect for every semi-affluent Ishgardian who could presume to lift a weapon, Lady de Chevalier was immediately beset by a myriad mass of unwanted marriage proposals from aspiring suitors. However, she was a former adventurer and as eccentric as her husband, by Ishgard standards. That meant she was a reasonable person who knew that wooing someone immediately after their spouse’s corpse was interred was neither romantic nor desired. While periodically amused by her pursuers, she was not inclined to ward them off with her own considerable skills. Instead, she thought it more entertaining to strike a bargain with Tyrn: in exchange for access to the lavish collection of texts and treasures that she and her husband had acquired during their adventurous years, he would take on the role of “Her Ladyship’s Brute,” mercilessly beating back every prospective suitor that crossed her doorstep (often to her almost-disturbing amusement). Given Tyrn’s extensive combat experience, as well as the average constitution of a pampered Ishgardian noble, this was a bargain. Suffice it to say, many aspiring lovers soiled their smallclothes, and worse, while facing the de Chevalier household’s appointed guardian.

VII. Further Adventures & Role-Playing

Tyrn eventually left Ishgard, though it is unclear whether this was due to his having exhaustively studied the de Chevalier collection or his shear exhaustion with the antics of Lady Monique. He returned home, to Limsa Lominsa, to reconnect his roots while he contemplated his place in the world. Though his experiences had both enriched and scarred him with their fair share of rewards and tribulations, he did not have any regrets, so he ultimately chose to continue being an adventurer.This is where Tyrn’s story becomes very open-ended. He currently spends much of his time on the road, working one job or the next, falling into many different roles suited to not only his skills, but also his interests. His study of history can often stand at the forefront of these, with his rekindled desire to explore the past motivating him to take on work that, while financially lacking, offers very distinctive learning opportunities, not to mention a chance for finding a relic or two.This approach has already led to many adventures and misadventures, like his descending into the cavernous depths of La Noscea to locate an ancient Allagan latrine for an eccentric Ul’dah collector or his accidental foiling of a smuggling ring. More recently, he’s seemingly attempted to make up for Ostolen’s failed expedition by supporting the more current (and organized) Bojzan resistance. Let’s not even get started on his posing as a master chef to resolve a bitter three-way academic war between Gridanian, Lominsan, and Sharlayan scholars. There have been some wild times.Tyrn’s background is designed with many potential RPing hooks that offer opportunities to make connections through events during his youth, his time at sea with the East Aldernald Company, his subsequent adventures in Ilsabard, or various other points. If you’re interested in inserting yourself into an earlier period of his life, then please give me an out-of-character warning first so that we can brainstorm the finer details and avoid any potential confusion. That said, his story is also very open to adding completely new experiences and people; a total stranger is just as welcome as an old friend, enemy, or something else entirely. If you’re unsure about anything or just want to chat, feel free to send me a message.Now, let’s see what happens next. Maybe you’re a part of it.