striking scales

 biography  Tora was born into the Kagon tribe in the Azim Steppe. From birth until his fifteenth summer, Tora had never seen the light of day - as was customary. He found himself restless, eager to not just see the sun - but the rest of the world as well. Upon relaying this to his parents, Tora was "formally" exiled from the Steppe, and spent the next half year traveling to Eorzea - when he finally arrived in Ul'dah.The history behind his alias is as convoluted as it is comedic. Due to being a young boy in a new country, he had no frame of reference as to what was or was not normal within Ul'dah. Feeling the urge to partially assimilate, he figured a change to his name was necessary - so he followed Lalafell naming conventions. It was only after a legal name change that he learned about his error - Lalafell names did not simply repeat over and over. However, the name 'Tora' stuck.Life in Thanalan was tough, and Tora had brought very little in the form of material possessions or wealth, so he spent his early adult life working in kitchens as a line cook. His naïve, wide-eyed aspirations of Eorzea were slowly whittled away by the stress of everyday food service. Whatever passion for cooking he may have had became dulled.At the age of twenty-seven, Tora had finally saved enough gil to quit his job on the line, and pick up adventuring. He traveled to Gridania to train as a Lancer, picking up odd jobs from the Adventurer's Guild and random citizens. He rose to be one of the most proficient lancers in the Shroud, and was eventually scouted by the Dragoon order.If life in thanalan was hard, life in ishgard was torturous. cold, dark - and not a friend to be seen. being an au ra, the fight to climb up the ranks of the dragoon order was a toil. it was only by his mentor's goodwill that tora stayed in the order at all, serving under the alias "durmont mojette". he served in the order diligently for three years. through his time in ishgard, and had eventually risen up the ranks - as much as someone in his position could have, anyway. Many within the order grew to despise him, going so far as to capture him in the barracks, force fed him errant blood from nidhogg, and holding him there for three days to see if he would transform as they do.he barely escaped with his life, his body forever changed - three prong horns, a long, draconic tail, scales upon scales sprouting in the dead of night. there's a permanent feeling of vengeance that burns within him, even now. he was a different person, after that day.not long later, tora caught wind of the machinists of ishgard arming the citizenry against the threat of dragons, and found himself inspired to support their cause - for reasons apparent. he trained to become proficient in guns and long ranged machinery, stealing away time when he was not with the order. it did not last long, however, as the temple knights quickly caught wind of his activities - their eyes particularly watchful of him. he took his gun and his lance, and ran out of ishgard in the dead of night, deserting the dragoon order.from then til now, he's sold his services as a freelancer of all trades, simply operating under the name 'tora'. in his little house, tucked away in the goblet, tora has settled himself down, aiming for a normal, quiet life.truly, it is never that simple.