Lady Melisande
of House Hildegarde

Profile Summary

Race
Elezen

Age
29

Alias
First daughter of Lord Adhémar D'Hildegarde
Pure-blood heir of the great Lucienaux Anselme D'Hildegarde the Dragonslayer
Divine Conduit of Halone's will
Star Apprentice of the reknown master thaumaturge Zagi'zi
And other pompous titles

Citizenship
Ishgardian

Rank
Minor High House heiress

Pledged to
House Dzemael

Alignment
Chaotic Evil

Loyalty
Holy See

Distinctive marks
Burnt marks on the left arm.
Two long transversal scars in the back: one seemed to have been made by huge claws, the other by a blade.

*

Avatar name OOC
Melisande Hildegarde@Malboro (Crystal)
La' Pacificatrice@Malboro (Crystal)

Story

Deep into the darkness, many hours have I stood there, watching the clouds tainted with red fire, shadows rushing through the black sky. Footsteps fleeing into chaos, echoing the cries of the dying men. The terror, thrusting its claws into the knights' hearts. And the eyes...mocking us, watching us like bugs fleeing into silence.

I have seen the white armors of faith covered in blood. I have smell the burnt flesh and seen the crushed bones of those who were watching the walls. Stones crumbling, defeaning noises, clanking of the spears and dreadful roars. And I stood there as a child, watching, clutching a plush in my tiny arms...praying for my brothers to come back safely.

As the years passed, I have been shuttered inside these walls. At night, I could hear their cries. I could see it all, deep in the eyes of the soldiers.

So I prayed the Fury.

I told her I would give anything to wipe the tears of my people. I told Her I'd be a good girl if She could make the cries stop.

And She did.

The cries stopped.

The silent knights came back.
Never have I witnessed so much serenity in the eyes of those I have praised all my life.

Lying so fearless, so quiet in death...

I prayed untill my grasp of reality faded, but never did my brothers came back from the Horror.
The halls of the House fell silent, cloaked in black veils, tainted with the bitter mourning of the brave souls of those who gave their life to protect us from all harm.

But harm has been done, and no wounds could have been deeper.

Other cries, quiet ones, echoed in my soul, forever stained by the absence of those I held so dearly. Father shuttered himself into different walls, and Mother had no love left in her heart to give me.

I thought my marriage would bring us back renewal, hope.
I thought a new dawn could lie in wait for us, that my prayers had been heard.
How naive. How foolish of me.
Death seemed to be the path I was bound to, forsaken by the Fury - embraced by Nald'Thal. Thrown in a never-ending maze of thorns, under Her watchful gaze, I was deemed to fight or fall. And I chose to fight, earn the Fury's blessings. I chose to make myself worthy. I had to.

There was nothing to prevent my fall - nothing and no one - to help me chose a path.
So I did.
I chose a path and made the oath I would be stronger than my brothers. Stronger than the temple knights. Even stronger than the heroes of our people. I chose a path and made the oath no one would ever harm us again, that no one would have to suffer anymore.

I would do anything.
At any cost.
I will protect Ishgard.
I will make their sacrifices worthy.
Even if it cost me my soul.

Throughout the generations, House Hildegarde has earned its reputation of loyalty, faith and respectability. Their wealth has been mostly used for the Church, and to support the military efforts in the war against the Horde. No scandal tainted their history, no flawn in their praised faith towards the Fury and the sacrifices they made during the war.

Lord Adhémar was the head of the House. He spent most of his life living as a scholar, writing lenghty researches about aether and its use. His arranged marriage with Lady Aurore D'Amarante was an unexpected yet fitting match. She was an Inquisitor when he married her. All her children were raised to value blood heritage, purity of the elezen race, scorn to the outsiders, and prevail duty over one's own happiness. She was well-known for being a merciless woman, strongly dedicated to the Holy See. She insisted to give her 3 sons a path as temple knights, while sending her daughter to the Scholasticate to follow a more quiet and secured path under the watch of Halone.

Alderic was the first son. He chose to be a temple knight and was praised as a model of perfection. He was kind-hearted, eloquent, loyal, faithful and skilled with a sword. The ladies would blush at the sight of him mounting a chocobo, proudly leading men with confidence. Gabriel trained very hard to see the day he would become a Dragoon. Though he lived in the shadow of the first-born, he never felt any resentment. On the contrary, he loved his brother so much it only motivated him to do better. As a matter of fact, Judicael tried to follow the same path, wanting to be a temple knight like Alderic. He tried hard but he was too young and too eager to fight.

Unfortunately, Melisande's brothers never came back from war. House Hildegarde lost all their righteous male heirs, leaving Melisande alone in a House filled with shadows, memories and ingrained misery. Lord Adhémar shuttered himself in his library, barely seeing nor speaking with anyone. As for Lady Aurore, she bursted into hysterical grief. For the sake of the House, Melisande gave orders and rested assured that their parents would be given time to mourn, withdrawing from the public scene.

At this time she was betrothed to the young Lord Theobald of House Boisnoir. She was deeply in love with the young man. But it seems the family was doomed. One day, the young lord was found half-buried in the blood-tainted snow. Murdered by heretics, they said. Starting this day, Melisande drowned into a never-ending rage. She suddenly changed her attitude. The respectable quiet lady became a raging soul. The silent submissive daughter was inhabited by a fiery soul craving for revenge. She growned lonely, casting aside all who would want to approach her. She became cold, distant and fierce. Her words became as harsh as her judgement.

On a new dawn, she left Ishgard. She left to seek the power to make things right again. She left with the faith that she would find the strenght to change, to cleanse her disgusting weaknesses and reborn anew to save the House. To protect her knights. To protect Dzemael and Ishgard, no matter what trials would await her. She left convinced that she heard Halone's call and was but walking in her brothers' path.

In Ul'dah did she find her true calling. Gifted was she with aether, and determination to seek the most powerful mages to teach her led her to a shady thaumaturge named Zazi'gi. After being put to the test, he agreed to take Melisande as his apprentice. The training was harsh, crual and unfair, but Melisande's hatred towards the Horde was absolute. Never did she gave up, seduced by the promise of revenge, and powers far greater than she ever dreamed of.

Unfortunately, in her quest, she also crossed the path of Kudros Crendraven and the demon of the Brumes - a fiend whose alias has been echoing quite often: the Owl. Victim to the most hideous terrorism act, Hildegarde mannor was annihilated in roaring blue flames, killing everyone inside and smashing the entire house to ruins. Only Lady Melisande's escort survived by the grace of Halone, as they were protecting her in her frequent travels.

A ceremony was held during which Melisande gave a heartbreaking faithful speech, and retired from the public scene. Broken by her desires of revenge and the pain of her loss, she gave in to path far darker than those treaded by the the same self heretics she was hunting.

At the present days, none really knows what happened to the Lady. Some says she has locked herself in a private manor to mourn the loss of her family. Others says the Lady gave her life to Halone and threw herself from the walls. Some whispered about the Witch that lives as a hermit deep into the mountains. Only mages would perhaps know that Lady Melisande is well alive, and in the shadow of master Alderique Cibleroit, supervises the ==Arcane Consortium==.

Family

Family Tree

Lord Adhémar D'Hildegarde ( ✖ Deceased )
Melisande's father, The Scholar

An amicable man, known for his erudition and his work of charity. He spent most his life pursuing his goals of erudition. His diplomatic skills have been essential to strengthen the wealth and reputation of the Hildegardes. However, after the death of his sons, he withdrawn from high society and spoke to none but his loyal knight Jean. He led a very secretive life up until his tragic death. Many of his secrets burnt with him in the family manor.

Lady Aurore D'Hildegarde ( ✖ Deceased )
Melisande's mother, The Inquisitor

She had quite a busy life hunting down heretics and ensuring their sins would be purged by any necessary means. She was known to be merciless when delivering the Fury's judgement. She handled the education of the children herself and raised her sons for war. Her only daughter, however, was sent to the Scholasticate and lived a reclusive life. She died with her husband during a tragic and meticulously planned revenge.

Aldéric D'Hildegarde ( ✖ Deceased )
Melisande's elder brother, The White Knight

Aldéric was a skilled knight, strongly dedicated to the House. Spending most of his days leading his men into battle, he was praised to be a good sergeant. His integrity and his outstanding values made him a highly respected man, and one who was usually very appreciated for his compassion and faith.
Although he had many opportunities to marry and give the House the heirs it needed for political arrangements, he always found a way to avoid being dragged away from the Temple Knights.

Judicael D'Hildegarde (✖ Deceased )
Melisande's 2nd brother, The Dreamer

Judicael was very close to his brother Alderic. Though he lived in his shadow, he tried hard to match his brother's skills. He made the oath to follow Alderic's path in protecting Ishgard against the Horde, and died trying.

Gabriel D'Hildegarde ( ✖ Deceased )
Melisande's younger brother, The Hasty

Gabriel was raised like his brothers, hearing the same tales of chivalry, dreaming the same dreams of glory. Encouraged by his zealous mother and despite the better judgement of his father, he insisted to join his brothers in battle. But he was not ready to face the merciless horror of war, and died at a very young age.

Camille Amarante ( ♥ Alive )
A cousine, The Fierce

Although they did not often spend time together during their childhood, Melisande used to look up to Camille. Each time they were dragged into one of those highborn gatherings, Melisande would always seek her out for comfort and protection. They eventually lost sight of each other's as they grew older.

Lord Théobald De Boisnoir ( ✖ Deceased )
Melisande's first fiance, The Alchemist

Théobald had an outstanding reputation in high society for his lineage, mostly, and for being a scholar. He was the first-born of House Boisnoir, pledged to Durendaire House, and which reputation was built on warfare and medical supplies. Théobald was deeply interested in topics deemed pure heresy. The mystery of his death is a fog, a riddle unsolved which left the House deprived of its heir, and indebted to House Hildegarde.

Motto

"By the balance of Her spear will all be set free."

House Hildegarde's motto quotes the Enchiridion as a token of their unflawned faith towards the Fury throughout the ages.

Coat of Arms

The coat of arms of the House represents the walls of Dzemael fortress, with the Fury's spear blessed by an omniscient light. A symbol of loyalty to Dzemael, and symbols merging warfare with faith.

It is usualy represented with their great ancestor Lucienaux Anselm Hildegarde, as a mounted knight on a chocobo, piercing the flank of a dying scared dragon with a spear.

His glorious battle against the dragon's general Irmekt still fashions the dreams of Hildegarde's heirs.

The tale has been told generation after generation as the first righteous and praised deed the family done to earn its place amongst nobility, pledging their lives to House Dzemael.

Medical Record

Wounds treated by the physicians of Ul'dah and the scholars of Ishgard:

Skills

Basic skills
Thaumaturgy theories and academical knowledge
Black Magic notions (secret!)
Alchemy notions
Chocobo riding

Advanced skills
Thaumaturgy (lot of field practice)
Ishgardian Theology
Ishgardian Etiquette
High House dances
Annoying others to deadly extents

Personality Traits

Melisande is a snobbish proud lady, arrogant, xenophobic, fierce and merciless. She is paranoid and suspicious of everyone. She has no respect nor compassion for anything unrelated to Ishgard. She has fire in her blood. Her temper is abrasive. She's likely to explode if anything rubs her the wrong way. She is only driven by passion.

She thinks the foreigners are plaguing Ishgard with sins and vices. She only sees the opening of the gate as a defilement of Ishgard's traditions and fears this will only lead to internal quarrels and political chaos. As a matter of fact she openly loathes everyone bold enough to walk in the Pillars without belonging to the aristocracy.

Besides, she cannot bare to look at au'ra people. Their scales, horns and tails are too much alike of those of the dragons, and always force her to remember painful memories. She'd rather ignore them, or bully them if she's not in a good mood (and she never is). She believes the Xaela are mere savage beasts and would rather have them eradicated.

She has the conviction that thaumaturgy is the master art, and every other form of magic or way of fighting is inferior to the power she seeks. As a matter of fact, she fell in awe when discovering books about the Machi civilization...

And such has sealed her fate.

Motivations

Faith
She spent most of her childhood at the Scholasticate to receive a religious education. She is a blinded zealout devoted to Halone, fanatic to deadly extents. She considers herself Her champion, trying hard to conquer the power which will make her worthy of guiding her people in what she considers the righteous path. A sorry excuse for selfish desires and a twisted sense of reality.

Revenge
The Horde took everything. The war annihilated her House. Lowborn criminals took advantage of it. All that is left from the ashes of her family is but a raging desire of revenge. And this hatred is blindly pushing her into the most dangerous paths.

Strenghts & Weaknesses

Strenghts

Thaumaturgy
She is gifted with magic. As a child, she was overprotected and could not really learn the true art of thaumaturgy, even in the Scholasticate. When she left seeking power to defend her city, she met Zagi'zi Kumai, who revealed her potential. Since then, she ran into so much troubles that she had way too many opportunities to practice in deadly situations. She is a quick-learner and will likely become a powerful thaumaturge...if she survives long enough to get there.

Praise the Fury
Her faith is a powerful mental drive. When everything shattered around her, she held on by praying Halone to guide her. When the situations are too harsh for her to endure, she always turns to the Fury and finds the strenght to keep going.

As a matter of fact she has a strong willpower. She lost her brothers, saw her parents becoming mad with grief, has been rejected by her own mother, took alone the responsabilities of her House, traveled on the most dangerous roads by herself to seek power, has been broken so many times that sufferings became a habit, and witnessed so many dreadful situations she managed to overcome, that obviously her will is difficult to bend once she has decided something.

Weaknesses

Endurance
She is definately not a warrior. She cannot run long distances, nor jump high heights, nor carry heavy weapons. Her body is weak and if someone can get close to her, it would be easy to knock her out.

Short temper
Melisande is absolutely unable to oversee any political or diplomatic meeting. It is incredibly easy to get on her bad side, to provoke her, to push her into outbursts of rage, and behold the whirlwind of passive-agressive disdainful insults she'll come up with to show the full range of her scorn.

Likes

Power in all its forms
Thaumaturgy Knowledges
Mhachi Civilization
Insulting outsiders
Bullying au'ra folks
Being flattered
Ishgardian cream tea
Sweet cakes and chocolates
Pink flowers
High fashion dresses
Peridot jewelry

Dislikes

Everything which is not ishgardian enough
Everyone who is not ishgardian enough
The Dravanians
Ser Aymeric de Borel
Most of the nobles who aren't loyal to House Dzemael
The au'ra. All of them.
The Garleans. All of them.
The lowborns. All of them.

Relationships

PCs

Rumours

Last updated: 08.06/2020

Some of these rumors are untrue, speculation, or are greatly exaggerated.

Common Rumors - Easily overheard

"That blonde imp? Quite an unbearable company, heh? That noble bitch has a broom stuck up her arse. Listen, if you want to meet her, just start shouting there's some heretical stuff going on around and she'll likely barge in screaming fanatical dodoshits with hysterical gestures." - A librarian in Ul'dah

"Haven't you heard of the Hildegarde House's Tragedy? Their family household was burnt down to ashes. Heretics targeted the whole family and their servants, and they slaughtered everyone inside with a raging fire. Lord Hildegarde's daughter is the only one who survived, as she wasn't inside when it all happened. Don't you think this is somewhat suspicious?" - a highborn in the Pillars.

Uncommon Rumors - A little more difficult to hear.

"She is the worst zealous blockhead I've ever met. And worse, she'll do anything for her faith. Glad that we didn't marry. - Simeon Sibaruse

"Lady Melisande? You mean... Master Alderique's lapdog? She is part of the Arcane Consortium. It's a place exclusively dedicated to aether-users. I think they trade stuff, I don't know what exactly." - A thaumaturge at the Ossuary

Rare Rumors - Very rarely overheard.

"Melisande shall not fear the void, while I am at her side." - Lilith Blackheart.

"You should not judge my Lady this harshly. She has been going through a lot. Especially with how her Mother treated her so unfairly... HA! I did not mean to gossip! I have work to do, leave me be!" - A former servant of House Hildegarde.

"The young lord Théobald was so very cautious and reserved. I wonder why he left on that dreadful night... He seemed so...nervous? Something must have happened. Something terrible. I remember lady Melisande had come to see him on that day, and she seemed quite distressed too. My heart ache for them both." - A servant of House Boisnoir.

"Haven't you heard, about Lord Hildegarde? He had a bastard son! Don't you believe me? Ha, it surely would be better for this ruined family to have some filthy bastard taking the reins of the House, rather than this insufferable Melisande." - A gossiping lady.

OOC Notes

Player Notes

Hello, I am a european player, therefore I split my time between Chaos and Crystal DCs, with alt characters I only use for RP. Due to my time-zone (GMT+1), meeting for RP may require some time to work around schedules, but I am always available on discord!

Personal RP Limits
I am a chill player interested in co-creating fantastic storylines and in depth characters development. I rarely DM events but it is something I can do, and I also offer to NPC. I like my life drama-free, so if you start OOC arguments you'll never see me again.

I will play pretty much everything with a preference for dark mature RPs, inter-personnal conflicts, psychological dilemmas and character relationship building.

I won't play any themes around rapes and pregnancy. Please respect my boundaries.

Character Lore Adherence
I abide by the lore and try my best to respect the background of the game. I usually read a lot before taking IC decisions and I like to keep myself informed on everything revolving around my characters' themes.

I am not perfect, so if you are a lore nerd I'll gladly accept your constructive feedback to refine my characters' background and roleplay.

As a matter of fact, I am slightly elitist and will avoid playing with players who makes 0 effort to stick with the lore. I also consider myself neutral in the balance of realistic playstyle and high fantasy: I am usually flexible as long as you don't play OP high fantasy characters for the sake of "winning".

RP Hooks

Any Ishgardian characters
Melisande despises everyone, except perhaps the old-fashioned nobles affiliated to Dzemael, and the priests who mourn the fate of the Holy See.

Any Mage characters
Melisande despises everything that is not thaumaturgy (and by extension forbidden knowledge she might or might not have taken an interest in).

Artwork

1st artwork: Melisande and Alderique made by Shandi

2nd artwork: Melisande and Lilith made by Indra

3rd artwork: Zagi'zi & Melisande made by Vyk

4th artwork: Melisande, Nyssa and Raffailleur made by Nyssa

This is Fine made by Ian

All emotes made by Elbaraa

Contact

• Discord

Ekidna#3626

• Down Arrow

La' Pacificatrice@Malboro (Crystal)

Melisande Hildegarde@Malboro (Crystal)