Rowland Mason

"Of all my adventures, the journey home is the hardest of all"

## Powers and Abilities

### The Echo:

While Rowland has the echo, he is incredibly untrained with it and has even wanted to get rid of it. It is theorized to come with a unique ability.

### Physical Abilities:

The strength to efficiently wield very large swords, Swordsmanship, dragoon jumping."The special technique"

### Magical Abilities:

Aetheric shielding and attack enhancement. Darkside, Dragons Blood, Bahamut tattoo. "Flame of Mason"

### Non-Combat Abilities:

High alcohol tolerance, Surprising Charisma

Rowland Mason, 21 years old, Ishgardian-born adventurer. Once a free paladin, he journeyed with his friends across Eorzea, taking on the mantle of adventurer from the young age of 15, a year before the battle of Cartenaeu. In the end however, all journeys eventually bring you back home, although it may be colder than you remember. Now a member of the Valkyries, he has started to find inner peace and has started his social life anew; but there is no rest for Rowland, between fighting with the Wings of Darkness, climbing the ranks of the Crystal Arrows and working with the Warriors of Darkness/Light, he's got his work cut out for him.

> -*"My name is Rowland Mason. Three years ago you took everything from me and turned me into a monster; but now that monster is unchained, it shall tear your flesh from the bone and as you scream for mercy, i'll make you tell me where to find the man responsible."*
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## Appearance

Rowland has short, spiked, brown hair and hazel eyes to match. He's of typical height for his race and usually has clean skin, insisting on always washing straight after every job, no matter how small. If he reveals it, he has a tattoo of a wing on the right side of his neck. When he uses the power of his dragons blood, his pupils become dragon-like slits, his irises become blue. Upon using the power of his tattoo, both eyes take on a similar form, although red. Across his body you can find a few scars and he'd be happy to tell you where each one came from. His favorite outfit consists of a red scarf, plain white shirt, black pants and eastern style greaves. He almost always wears finger-less leather gloves, for fear of even getting a little bit of sweat or oil onto his swords when he wields them. From his neck dangles a key.

Pre-Silvy rescue raid in Kugane: Before this event, when activated, his tattoo would grow to cover his right shoulder and right side of his upper back, while his right eye would become red, with a dragon like slit for a pupil. Rowland rescued Silvy Rosethorne from death, which caused a link in the pairs aether, resulting in the evolution of his tattoo.

Post-Silvy rescue raid: After the raid, when activated, the tattoo on his neck will run down to his center back and expand into three images. In the middle of his back lies a dragons head, on the right side is a knight with a greatsword, while on the left is a female mage with a grimoire. Both of his eyes become red and draconic.

When using the tattoo, his abilities become enhanced with an additional red aether.

"Flame of Mason": Depending on what abilities he is currently using, his appearance will make slight changes. His eyes will become draconic, but instead turn purple in colour, while a orange-red aetherical flame coats his entire body.

## Personality

Rowland can be shy at first, but once you get to know him, he's much more outgoing and excitable. Rowland can be hasty, rash and arrogant, always acting before thinking, he quite often follows his heart rather than his head; as Dawn Evergrace says, he keeps getting himself into trouble. Rowland values his swords, dog (Red) and friends more than his own life and will do whatever he can to ensure their safety, for this reason, he tends to lie about his recent activities and true feelings to the majority and likes to work alone. He believes that he's a monster who's undeserving of life and has started to stop caring about the consequences his actions have on his body, but he tries his best to stay human, for all the friends he has met since living in Mist. Rowland has decided that before his life comes to an end, he wants to make a lasting change to the world, to make it a place without conflict, as well as obtain the revenge he has desperately sought for 3 years and counting.

While he isn't afraid of germs and dirt, he will often wear gloves to protect his weapons from oil, dirt and sweat and after every adventure is done, he tends to rush home or to the nearest hot spring to wash.

Dried Ketchup makes his skin crawl.

## Early Life

Rowland was born in 1556 in a village within the Coerthas Western Highlands, close to the Dravanian Border. Originally a farming village, the Coerthan landscape was bountiful before Dalamuds fall. His mother, Cecilia Mason, owned the farm while his father, Brandt Mason, worked as a Blacksmith who often had to make long trips to Ishgard to sell his wares.

Rowland lived a normal life for most of his time in his hometown and despite his shy personality, he made many friends. He got especially close to a girl of similar age to him named Julia Coldren, a young girl from a family of healers.

1562, age 6, life continues as normal, despite the fear of Nidhogg, living so close to the border, as well as the Garleans as they attack Mor Dhona. Rowland cries to his mother one night, screaming how he sees visions of falling stars.

1564, Rose Mason, Rowlands younger sister is born.

In 1565, Rowland goes on a trip to Ishgard with his father, where they buy a puppy to celebrate his sisters first birthday. They reveal the gift to his mother and then the baby, who utters her first word in this instant. Well, it was more than likely a random noise that happened to form a word; however the noise sounded like "Red"; and so the dog was named as such.

1568, Rowland and his hometown friends nearly perish while playing outside the village, when a Dragon attacks. An unknown Dragoon saves him and all semblance of fear left Rowlands heart as he was mesmerized by the hero's acrobatic fighting style.

Life would continue as normal for a few more years. He grew close with his sister, who he'd describe as the "Spunkiest little girl in Coerthas", telling her improvised stories of daring heroes going on wild adventures, known as the Twilight Knights. Every night he would sneak out of the house to meet Julia under an apple tree outside the village.

## 1570-Under the apple tree

Rowland clambers up the apple tree, resting along a thick branch midway up, head tilted up as he gazed towards the twin moons. His eyes started to slowly flutter, ready to sleep right there, as if he was a bird about to roost; however he wouldn't sleep as just as Rowland was about to drift off a gentle, yet loud and commanding voice sounded

"*Wakey wakey sleepy head, the v.i.p has arrived!"*

This startled him and caused him to fall from the branch, just narrowly managing to cling and hang on to it, dangling from the tree with a screech.

"*J-juliaaaa! Don't d-d-do that i nearly fell! Help me out here would ya?!".*

Julia, blonde hair, eyes bluer than the sea that surrounds Limsa Lominsa, the gentleness of a young lamb yet the confidence of a Haillenarte knight. The girl giggled and merrily skipped up to him, grabbing his feet and pushing up, her tongue cracking through the corner of her lips in concentration. With her help, the young Rowland managed to curl over the tree branch and climb back up to regain his posture. Julia sat down, back up against the tree. She too would stare out towards the moons. An apple dropped into her lap, causing her to look up to Rowland, who's arm was outstretched above her, while his other held a bright red apple to his face, which hosted a big grin.

Minutes passed as they ate the fruit in silence, there was somehow a thick layer of tension between them this night, despite what the exciting start to this story would have you believe. Julia swallowed and looked up to Rowland to finally speak.

"*So you're really going to do it huh? You're going to head on out and become an adventurer? You really don't think you're a bit young?"*

Rowland flicked the apple core out into the field before crossing his arms behind his head, closing his eyes with an exhausted sigh before replying.

"*I'm not going yet, give it another year maybe. But yeah, I AM going, there's nothing for me here in this boring ol' town. I'm gonna make a name for myself Julia, become more famous than the Azure Dragoon himself. Slay beasts, save damsels, all that kinda stuff!"*

Julia covered her mouth to laugh and stood up, brushing her bright white dress down, she'd slap the tree to grab the wannabe hero's attention.

"*And how will you do that exactly? You couldn't slay a beast, you can't even lift a sword! If i was a damsel in distress, i'd be rooting for the monster!"*

Rowland tensed up in shock as Julia laughed at him, causing him to lose his balance. He'd scream and flail his arms about as she once again caused him to fall out of the tree, except this time, he'd land firmly on the ground with a grunt, which he would choke on upon impact. Rowland opened his eyes to look up at the clear night sky, who's view was swiftly replaced with the head of a chortling Julia. The young conjurer leaned over and held her hand out to Rowland as she whispered in a spirited tone.

"*I'll tell you what though ya goofball...every knight in shining armor needs a sidekick and you can't get anything better than someone who can heal your wounds!"*

Rowlands cheeks flushed red as he stared into those oceanic eyes of hers, the stars in the sky reflected off his eyes and truly personified what he felt in that moment more than words ever could. He managed to utter a sentence, although it was full of stutters.

"*A-a-are y-you saying...y-you'll-l co-m-me with....me?"*

Julia crouched down to take his hand with a warm smile, seeing as he was too shy to take hers.

"*Of course i am, i'd go anywhere with you"* She'd lift him up back to his feet and patted his shoulder, giving Rowland a smug smirk "Besides, *who else is going to save you when you inevitably get yourself into damselesque danger?"*

Rowland, face still flushed, stared at her still in bewilderment for a few moments, until he finally processed what she just said as he'd shake his head to break his trance and his brow furrowed

"*Ya know what princess!"*

Julias laughter echoed off into the endless dark of night, drowning out Rowlands embarrassed rants.

On that day, under the apple tree, Rowland found the first member of his adventuring party, nearly a year before they'd set out from home for Gridania.

## Early adventuring years-1571

Rowland leaves home with Julia, despite heavy protest from his parents. They set out for Gridania.

They run into a Au-ra outside of Gridania, who pickpockets Julias coin-purse. Rowland takes notice of this, but while the stranger commends him for the observation, he soon vanishes in the burst of a smoke-bomb.

Rowland and Julia attempt to sign up at the local adventurers guild, The Carline Canopy, although are requested to complete a job before they receive official membership; to catch a Au-ra thief.

As it stands, they merely want the official membership. They strike a deal with a merchant, borrowing his wagon in order to set a trap, in return for granting him 75% of their payment.

## 1571-Arimitsu Nocta Part 1- "My special technique"

It was 1pm when Rowland and Julia left the city, into the central shroud. They rode on the back of a chocobo-drawn carriage, sinking themselves down into its cargo. They couldn't see the treeline past the balloons that held it afloat, couldn't see the direction they were going, they couldn't even see from where their target could attack from; actually they couldn't really see anything, except for each-other and a few sacks of gods knows what. It all only served to build up their anxiety, and it didn't help that there was some kind of revolting stench. Perhaps they should have hired a florist?

"*Ergh, I can't stand this! I'm so uncomfortable, and what IS that smell?!*" Rowland moaned through his shirt, which he was using to cover his nose.

A pebble through in from outside the wagon, bashing Rowland on the forehead. At first he'd scream, startled over the idea of an attack, however his fear was quickly dispelled when he noticed Julia scowling at him, wand in hand. Curse her conjury, that really hurt!

Rowland grabbed the pebble, ready to throw right back at her; though soon after he found he couldn't, his heart stricken by fear when he beheld the sight of her face red with frustration, her wand glowing with aether. She'd place a finger to her lips and hiss at him.

"*Would you please be quiet?! This was your idea so don't get all grouchy, just because its a bit stinky! You already cheated us out of the majority of our payment, you get what you deserve ya brat! So shut up before you reveal our location!*"

Rowland grits his teeth, his body tensing up until he drops the pebble. He'd let out a sigh, sheepishly withdrawing himself from the conversation, crossing his arms and hugging himself tightly "*...Sorry Julia.*"

Not another word was spoken for the next twenty minutes. Rowland would occasionally glance at Julia from the corner of his eye, her face still red, still glaring at him. He'd look away and then back...nope, she's still mad. Rowland would puff his lips out and start to whistle, all the while looking around the carriage awkwardly. That didn't last long though, his watchful companion would clear her throat, chucking a pebble up and down in her hand.

"*Sorry Julia! Quiet time, stealth mission!*"

He'd bashfully let out a nervous chuckle, Rowland hated getting on her bad side and at this point he just wanted to find a way to cheer her up. A smirk came across his face, something in the carriage caught his attention. Julia raised a curious eyebrow. Rowland shuffled through a few bags beside him, lifting up a small cage housing a baby chocobo, which would probably explain the stink from earlier.

Rowland held the caged bird in front of his face, turning his voice into a squeak "*I'm Mr Chocobo head, turn that frown upside down little lady!*". A childish giggle wormed its way out past his grin when he peeked out from behind the cage at Julia who, at first, didn't seem amused, but this young clown could see that she cracked a smirk from the corner of her mouth.

"*I'm serious now, you're gonna get us caught!*" Julia shook her head, her smirk growing as she fell silent again.

Rowland gently kicked her foot "*C'mon, stop being so serious! Just crack a small laugh, Mr bigshot thief won't even not-*" As Rowland tried to lift the spirits he brought down, his efforts were cut short, his short speech interrupted by someone outside of the carriage, uttering a single, quite foreign sounding phrase.

"*Katon!*"

A wave of fire swept over the air above the carriage, bursting the balloons, bringing the vehicle down onto the road. It would tip over on Rowlands side, launching Julia out of the carriage, her flight sending her slamming back first into a roadside rock and knocking the wind out of her. Rowland rolled out of the carriage, the sword at his belt coming free, sliding across the dirt. He'd clutch his sleeve, rubbing the soil off of his face. Rowland frantically looked around for his friend, when he spotted her, gasping for breath at the side of the road, something inside him snapped. Rowland got up onto one knee, the anger on his face so uncharacteristic that he looked like a different person, some feral animal whos sight was focused on what lay ahead of him. Standing before him was the Au-ra from earlier, as they suspected, clutching the coinpurse of the merchant they hired. The thief would let out an annoyed huff, stomping out a few embers from the scorched ground in front of him. 5'10, Raven black hair with a scar marking his face from the inner corner of his right brow to halfway down his nose; he didn't look much older than Rowland.

"*Damn it, damn it! Don't want to get carried away and start a forest fire. Oh...*" The thief raised his brow at Rowland, then glanced at Julia "*I get it...you are those adventurers from earlier. They must've hired you to catch me. Well I'm really sorry about that, but that's not going to happen, I am too close...and i'm sorry about your friend, but just get her to the conjurers guild and she will be fine.*"

But Rowland didn't want to hear any of it. This man had stolen from many, and he hurt Julia! The fledgling adventurer grabbed his sword, drawing its grey steel and charging forward, clutching it in both hands he'd violently swing at the enemy.

The strangers apologetic stare shifted, his gaze now emotionless as his hand went limp, the coinpurse falling to the ground, his free hand smoothly gliding through the air to his belt to draw a long dagger. If the fire magic wasn't enough of an indication, Rowland now felt something in his stomach, telling him that this was no ordinary thief. The odds were stacked against him in this first battle of his career.

The thief turned his body to the side, Rowlands sword brushing by the tip of his horns and in his rage he would clumsily flail past his foe. A cold and sharp pain passed through his shoulder, but before he could let out a scream, the wind whistled behind him as the dagger cut across his lower back. Rowland spun back around to strike again. His father taught him a few things about swordplay, but its as if his mind and body couldn't apply that practice to this fight, he wasn't composed enough. Rowland was left open when he raised his sword above his head so that when he brought it down, the thief closed the gap, limiting the swords effective range, he was skilled, applying three motions to one; his shoulder slammed into Rowlands chin, then his dagger thrusted up, gently cutting past Rowlands arm as the thief then slid to the side, his next strike already in motion, the dagger gently gliding past Rowlands chest, not cutting deep, but drawing blood. The thief dashed away, regaining distance, but quickly turning back to keep Rowland in his sights. The onslaught came at such a speed that Rowland didn't have any time to muster a defense, it felt as if each strike pierced his skin at the exact same moment. He'd drop his sword and fall to his knees, his left arm hugging his body and clutching his right wrist.

The strangers speech became clear and direct, his tone commanding obedience. *"Listen boy, I am evidently out of your league. You are messing around with something you do not understand, so take your girlfriend and run back to your guild to get patched up. You are lucky I have not killed you, seeing as that is what I am trained to do."*

Rowland rolled around on the bloodstained soil, trying to swallow a scream that he couldn't help but soon choke out. He'd grit his teeth, his eyes tight shut. His breathing was erratic, the only thought in his mind was that he had to take this guy down, but he knew he didn't stand a sliver of a chance while he was fighting like some kind of feral puppy. But damn it, if he doesn't win this, they won't let him into the guild! A warmth fell over him, his pain fading, his wounds closing as he was bathed in a green light. Julia was sitting up again, casting curing magic. Rowland was filled with relief, so much so that even if she didn't heal him, his mind was now clear.

Rowlands mouth slowly curved into a toothy grin, his fist pounded into the soil as he forced himself back to his feet, sword in hand.

"*And what exactly don't I understand? What am I missing from the big picture?!*" Rowland ran back into the fray, weapon held high, his swing sluggishly delayed. The thief stepped to the side, too early for a smooth dodge, perhaps Rowlands earlier display had made him more careless. Rowlands strike was a feint, his attack redirecting into a side wards swing. The Au-ra raised his brow, caught off guard but still not panicked, he was just as fast and reactive as before, leaping over the swing in a display of acrobatics, his body swinging around to kick Rowland, who promptly ducked under the blow. As his body arced under the kick, he'd step to the side and raise his sword again, enhancing his speed with aether to quickly swing twice, left and right, back and forth, a basic but effective sword technique. Or rather that was the intention, if the first strike wasn't deflected. The thief brought out a second dagger, crossing both into Rowlands sword. With a spring in his step, Rowland recoiled, spinning around to give his new attack momentum, though that was blocked as well. The thief crossed his second dagger over Rowlands wrist, slicing it again, disarming him.

"*I'll admit, you're doing a little bit better now...so i'll...*" He'd thrust his knee into Rowlands gut once,

"*do you..."* twice,

"*the honour*" and a third time, before throwing him forward. Rowland staggered, but managed to maintain his balance.

"*Of an explanation! If that's what it'll take to make you piss off!*"

Julia bathed Rowland in more healing magic, he'd glance at her with a warm and grateful smile before focusing on the Au-ra again.

"*I don't care about your reasoning. You're a criminal, and you're also our ticket into the adventurer's guild. Cut me up all you want, come up with any excuse, we're going to defeat you!*" Although, despite Rowlands determination, he remained where he stood. It seems he was curious, even if he wouldn't admit it.

The Au-ra thief smirked "*I like your grit boy. Look, I'm also a member of the adventurers guild, I joined in Limsa Lominsa. A certain...job, had brought me to the Shroud. For reasons that aren't relevant right now, I'd run into this poor family in a village not too far from here. Their kids had sighted the target of my job and I wanted them to show me where. ...Because of me they're now being held captive by a large group of bandits, for an extortionate ransom. I've taken matters into my own hands, stealing from passing by merchants and adventurers, I'll display the money, kill the leader and get those children out. It's that simple.*"

The two boys stared at each other in silence, their very gazes connecting as if they wanted to read each others souls. Rowland felt it, that this story was the truth. He couldn't work out why the Raven haired Au-ra wouldn't just alert the local guards, but it was the truth nonetheless. After an eternity of silence, Rowland finally replied.

"*Alright, I can believe that. But nonetheless, there're better solutions! We can help you, lets sneak in together and rescue the kids!*"

The other boy laughed. "*What? And risk your clumsy loud mouth blowing my cover? No thanks...with this last little excursion I've made enough gil to execute my plan. Tell you what, once I rescue the kids, I'll hand over all the money I stole to you. You can turn it in, say I got away. That should do, right?*"

That wasn't good enough for Rowland and he'd rush forward, fists swinging "*You've gotta be kidding me! I'm not so dishonest to cheat my way into the guild!*"

The thief rolled his eyes, stepping forward, his front foot passing by Rowland, blocking one punch and hooking his arm under the other and around Rowlands neck, sweeping his leg from underneath him and throwing him to the ground. As he fell, the worlds motion slowed to a crawl. Rowland could see Julia launching a stone spell at the enemy, providing a split second distraction. The thief staggered forward and turned to face her. Something in Rowlands mind directed him to grab at the thief's belt, and so he did. A smoke bomb? Rowland gritted his teeth and yanked, the device bursting, masking the pair of them in thick white fog. Rowland rolled back onto his feet as he hit the ground, but he could hear the opponents daggers whistling through the wind. That strange sense from before, telling him to grab the smoke bomb, came back, instructing him on exactly how to guard. He'd thrust both his arms out in front of him, elbows bent at an 80 degree angle, fists pointed up. The opponents attack closed in, revealing him to Rowland despite the heavy fog; Rowlands forearms clashed with his wrists, just below the daggers, and he could feel the prick of cold steel against his cheeks. It was a close call, but now...

"*You're not helping anyone if you're hurting innocents in the process! We'll save those captives alright... and we'll save them my way! Have a taste of my special technique!*"

...Now Rowland and Julia had won. Rowland reared his head back and lunged it into the boys face. The thief dropped his daggers, his eyes glazing over as he crumpled to the floor.

No weapons, no aether.

A headbutt.