(no subject)
Name: Fenimore [Xelhes]
Fandom: Tales of Legendia
Gender: Female
Age: 15
Time Period: Rite of Accession, after the arrival of the Gadorian Knights
Wing Color: Darkish orangey-specific shade to be determined never later. (This was totally the very hardest part of the entire app, by the way, and I still am second-guessing myself.)
History: (I’m afraid that I only know of one English history for Fenimore, which has at least two errors by game canon, a detail that I cannot recall from reviewing the game, and a few interpretations that I disagree with. As such, I am going to provide my own summary. I have a decent amount of headcanon associated with Fenimore, but I will try to keep this as firmly grounded in canon as possible. I will also attempt to be brief for the sake of your time, but I can expand on it if necessary-it was more a struggle to be brief than anything, as you might guess from the length of this unnecessary paragraph.)
Fenimore was born in one of the hidden villages of the Ferines, an amphibious species of humanoids who can breathe water and air with equal ease. Very little information is given on her life in the village, but what is known is that she had a younger twin sister named Thyra and that she appears to have been indoctrinated in the Ferines culture’s millennia-long hatred of Orerines-humans.
At some point before the game begins, her village was attacked by Orerines acting on behalf of Vaclav Bolud, third prince of the expansionistic Crusand Empire and one of the few Orerines to still know of the existence of the Ferines. Fenimore was amongst the villagers to be captured; the vast majority of the other villagers can be reasonably presumed dead. Through the game, only Fenimore’s younger twin sister, Thyra, was known to have escaped due to being away from the village at the time.
On the Legacy where all future action takes place, the captured Ferines were taken to Vaclav’s hidden fortress and were experimented on with what was later identified by a party member as instruments of torture. Senel later learns that Vaclav’s intent was to somehow artificially cause a Ferines to gain the powers of the Ferines’ long-awaited spiritual leader, the Merines, but it is unknown how much Fenimore knew of the purpose behind the torture--or even if she knew of a purpose beyond the belief that all Orerines hated the Ferines.
Fenimore was introduced in the game when Shirley was locked in the cell next to Fenimore, and the two began to talk through the cell wall. By this point, Fenimore was the only one captured from her village that had not been killed during the experiments, but she mentioned that she held onto the hope that the Merines would come, not realizing that Shirley is the Merines. Their conversation was cut short as Fenimore was taken by the soldiers to be experimented on. After Shirley was shown a gravely injured Fenimore, Stingle, one of Vaclav’s Terrors, intervened and treated Fenimore’s injuries.
When Fenimore awakened in Shirley’s cell, she quickly discovered that Shirley lived among Orerines and was even in love with an Orerines named Senel. She immediately grew angry and called Shirley a traitor to the Ferines. At this point, Shirley was retrieved to be brought to Vaclav and Fenimore was brought along in another cart. However, on the way, Vaclav’s forces were attacked simultaneously by a mixed group of Orerines attempting to rescue Shirley-the player party, Senel included-and a group of bandits seeking revenge.
In the confusion, Shirley helped Fenimore escape into a nearby tunnel system, but when they meet the party, Fenimore refused to let them rescue her out of distrust of all Orerines. The delay as Shirley tried to convince Fenimore allowed one of the Terrors to separate the two groups. The two girls were cornered by more soldiers, but, at the last moment, a Ferines warrior named Walter intervened. He led them towards a hidden room, but stayed behind to give them time when two of the Terrors arrive.
When they arrived in the hidden room, Fenimore appeared to have forgotten her anger at Shirley until a heavily wounded Walter returned and revealed that Shirley is the Merines. At this, Fenimore became infuriated at Shirley for seeming to avoid the duties of the Merines in exchange for living with Orerines. However, Walter stopped her outburst and affirmed his strong trust in the Merines before collapsing from his injuries. At the same time, Fenimore and Shirley heard the Terrors approach again. As Fenimore panicked, Shirley chose to give herself up to lead Vaclav’s army away from the hidden room and left behind a way for Senel to find Fenimore and Walter instead of herself. She told Fenimore that Senel will save them before leaving to draw the soldiers away.
When Senel and the party arrive, Fenimore remained fearful of them, but when Senel decided to rescue Fenimore and Walter for Shirley’s sake, she when with them and even expressed her gratitude to Senel when they return to the surface. Not long after, Walter awoke and used his teriques to take Fenimore away with him.
Off-screen, Fenimore met Maurits, the apparent leader of the Legacy’s Ferines, and asked him to help Senel. When he rescued the beleaguered party, she traveled with him and claimed that she only helped them for Shirley’s sake in the same way Senel saved her. However, after seeing the party’s resolve to save Shirley, she told Senel that she would watch them to see if not all Orerines are bad, even if she was not yet ready to trust them.
Although she did not fight in the later battle, Fenimore helped the allied forces of the Legacy’s Ferines, an Orerines army, and the party in the fight to rescue Shirley by bringing food to other workers and helping at the triage tents. She denied helping for any other reason than for Shirley’s sake, but she blessed the party and told them her true name before they leave the triage tent. At the end of the battle, she was shown coming to comfort Shirley after Stella’s death.
Two weeks later, she traveled from the Ferines village on the Legacy to ask Senel to visit Shirley, who hadn’t made any friends among the Ferines and seemed lonely. Although Fenimore was planning to return to her homeland, she chose to accompany Senel and the party as they came to visit the village.
Upon hearing that Shirley refused to see Senel, Fenimore went to talk to her. Through a combination of insults and encouragement, Fenimore drew out that Shirley is sad that Senel had chosen Stella instead of her and convinced her to try confessing her love to him. After the very unsuccessful confession, Fenimore stayed to comfort Shirley. She professed friendship to Shirley and agreed to stay on the Legacy, thereby becoming the other girl’s first friend and apparently the first Ferines not related to Shirley to see her as a person in addition to being the Merines.
The next day, she came with Shirley to the latter’s Rite of Accession to support her. However, a group of Orerines knights attacked during the ceremony to capture Shirley, killing all who get in their way. When Shirley attempted to shield a Ferines with her body, Fenimore darted in front and was stabbed. With her last words, she gave Shirley her final blessing, begging her to find happiness.
Personality: While I have attempted to keep the history section fairly neutral, this section will likely involve a great deal of personal interpretation. Although she has a respectable number of scenes for a minor character, she does not get the attention a main character might get, so many of Fenimore’s personality traits are displayed in only one or two scenes. So it is difficult to be certain which reactions are normal and which reactions depend on circumstances. However, I will restrict myself to traits which can be well-defended by canon.
Perhaps the trait Fenimore is most renowned for is her temper. A number of her early scenes involve raging at Shirley for perceived injustices. However, I believe that this is an unfair label; while I do not argue that she does not have a temper, I disagree that it is a defining trait.
The circumstances under which she really lost her temper were extremely stressful. The first time, she had only reawakened after being tortured to find out that Shirley seemed to have thrown her lot in with people that Fenimore lumped together with her torturers. The next time, she was being pursued, with the only person she trusted to rescue her barely able to even move, and she felt that she had lost what she had pinned all her hopes on.
While each time she expressed her rage she was misguided, I believe that anger was an understandable reaction in this case. Later, in less stressful settings, Fenimore was what I would call miffed, rather than temperamental, and was occasionally rude, rather than spiteful. Her temper can’t be discarded, but I don’t believe it defines her.
Another common recollection of Fenimore is her hatred of Orerines. In the early game, her hatred causes her to refuse to even be rescued by Orerines, though the group had been okayed by another Ferines. However, through the game, she comes to understand that not all Orerines are alike and comes to help Senel and his friends several times, albeit usually insisting that she is doing so for Shirley’s sake rather than for theirs. Before her death, she even helps Shirley with the latter’s love of Senel, a love that Fenimore had previously thought made Shirley a traitor to the Ferines.
Although most of the six named Ferines eventually came to similar conclusions (only one ended the game without at least some hint of coming to accept that there are some good Orerines), it is suggested that this position is highly unusual amongst the Ferines and likely placed her in the vast minority of the Ferines at the time. So far as it is shown in the game, she appears to be the third most accepting Ferines of all of them.
Of course, while the game does not go into it, I would doubt that this acceptance is very strong yet. Within a month before her death, she was still being tortured by Orerines who had killed almost everyone from her village (I obtained the impression that the Ferines villages are isolated enough that the people of her village would be nearly all of the people she had ever known) and the last memory that she would have before coming to Luceti would be an attack by some Orerines who viewed the Ferines as monsters. On top of that, the hatred of Orerines seems deeply entrenched in Ferines culture. As such, I imagine that she still holds a number of prejudices about Orerines and would remain at least wary of Orerines other than Senel and his group.
Possibly the most famous Fenimore scene, though, was her conversations with Shirley prior to the Rite of Accession. Through most of the game, she is either somewhat reserved, shy, or dismissive, dependant on the situation. However, when she is alone with Shirley, she seems much more confident and a bit livelier.
Personally, since all other scenes once she is rescued from captivity are viewed by Orerines, who she might still be somewhat frightened by, I believe that this scene points towards her personality traits from before her capture. From it, I tend to draw the conclusion that, when she is in a situation that she is comfortable in, she is inclined to having fun and teasing other people. This might be a case of drawing too much from a specific circumstance, but I think that there are signs of it through the game: when she is only amongst Orerines, she is rather polite and quiet, but when the number of Ferines outnumber the Orerines, she grows a little livelier. For example, when amongst Maurits’s retinue, she feels fine with telling Senel’s group that they “aren’t very bright” and generally be more aggressive with her language.
More generally, Fenimore seems to think in simple terms. I emphasize that this does not mean that she is stupid, but it does seem that her lines of thought are reasonably direct. She accepts prejudices as covering large groups and seems reluctant to accept the existence of exceptions. She makes large leaps of logic, such as quickly accusing Shirley of being in love with Senel even though Shirley had up to this point referred to him as her brother (that, or it reveals a very unusual part to Fenimore’s village’s culture). She believes that Shirley should confess her love to Senel, using logic that would be quite valid normally but was somewhat odd due to how recent Stella’s death had been. She seems to be the sort to believe in absolutes and make direct links between ideas, without much introspection.
She also seems to view herself as something of a realist not swayed by emotional connection. She is very reluctant to admit to doing anything for the sake of Senel’s group and tends to deny it vehemently, though, granted, this one could be more due to not wanting to admit to losing her hatred of certain Orerines.
She also readily admits that she could not go into battle and believes that her sacrifice for Shirley’s sake was completely unlike her. The latter could be partially explained by her doubts in her courage, but I believe they also point towards her belief that she is not the sort of person who goes out of her way for another’s sake.
One note that I almost put under “strengths” is Fenimore’s blessings. Ferines are given second names, called “true names.” The true names are in the ceremonial language of the Ferines, Relares, and have meanings that are supposed to reflect the bearer’s true nature. Fenimore’s true name, Xelhes, means blessing, and she seems to have taken it to heart. She gives people blessings and, while there appears to be no effect in a real sense, she appears to believe that they do hold some power. While two of the blessings in the game eventually did come true, her blessing over Shirley’s confession to Senel appears to have more backfired than anything and has no chance of changing in at least Luceti canon.
On the subject of true names, one mention in the history section covered where she revealed her true name to Senel and the rest of the party. Little is revealed in the game about true names, but a piece of fanon that appears to be shared with at least some of the other Luceti Ferines’ players is that true names are only given to people that they trust. By this reasoning, it demonstrates a remarkable step forward in her view of Orerines.
Strengths:
Physical: Fenimore, being disinclined towards combat, is not shown in game to have any particular physical strengths. However, as she is a part of a mainly aquatic species for all that they build their villages on land for now, it can be assumed that she is an excellent swimmer. Her time spent in a cell at most a month prior to her arrival in Luceti would suggest that this skill has greatly atrophied, but I would imagine that she would still be considered fast when compared to a human. I would also guess that she would become a faster and all-around better swimmer than the majority of non-aquatic species when she can return to practicing, although people with extensive training in swimming may be able to outdo her.
While I don’t believe that this is confirmed in the game, I believe the standard fanon practiced by the other Ferines’ players in Luceti is that the Ferines are given their true name after displaying their wings and that all Ferines have the potential to use crystal eres. By this, Fenimore would have both of these, so in the interest of full disclosure I should make a note of these skills.
A teriques is a physical manifestation of a Ferines’s soul that takes the form of a winged creature formed of what has the appearance of coloured, but largely translucent, light. Skilled users of teriques can shape it into other forms-in canon, this mainly took the form of encasing people in balls of light-and use the wings to fly. Crystal eres are basically magic spells that may be cast from a distance. Given that Fenimore never used any of these skills in canon (a brief showing of a teriques in a butterfly form similar to Shirley’s was in the manga, but as far as I am aware this is non-canonical) even in situations where the use of any of the above would have been of vital importance, I believe it can be safely assumed that she has very little skill with these.
Mental: Fenimore appears to be impressively mentally stable. Despite a great heaping of trauma from being tortured and standing aside helplessly as the still living villagers around her were tortured to death, she remains remarkably sound of mind. Outside of certain bursts of anger or fear, she does not generally display the angst one would expect from this. Though I imagine that this is really more from the game’s reluctance to concentrate enough on a minor character to work through these issues, taking the canon at face value requires admitting a great strength of will in Fenimore.
Related to this, Fenimore is notably courageous in certain aspects. While most Ferines remained too distrustful of Orerines to allow them contact even until near the end of the game, Fenimore went on her own to an Orerines town to seek out Senel. To allow herself to be surrounded by Orerines when she had not even spent a full month free from torture at the hands of other Orerines and would not benefit herself from the visit takes an impressive amount of courage, in my mind. More visibly, her sacrifice, for all that it was a split-second decision, took a great deal of courage.
Emotional: Fenimore seems to display a great deal of insight into Shirley’s emotional state. She quickly discerns how fond Shirley is of Senel before meeting the latter. Later, she notices when Shirley is feeling down even when the other girl is trying to hide it and determines the source of Shirley’s sadness.
Weaknesses:
Physical: Other than what was mentioned above about swimming, Fenimore does not display any other signs of physical prowess. I tend to conclude that she is otherwise in average shape normally and that she is currently in lower-than-average health due to the period imprisoned without apparent way of normal exercise.
Mental: Fenimore’s aforementioned tendency to think simply and jump to conclusions has notable drawbacks. She appears more likely to accept generalizations unambiguously and to not think in moral greys. Though this kind of direct thinking can work to her advantage in specific situations, it generally causes difficulties.
Though she often has good intentions, she has a tendency to be rude and insulting to the people she talks to when she feels she is in a secure position. She insults the main party’s intelligence as she tries to convince them to accept Maurits’s help. She repeatedly insults Shirley when trying to encourage her the night before the Rite, telling Shirley that she’s nothing special before the confession and calling her hopeless and pathetic after. Though she has managed to turn both these into positive situations, it is likely that this would not happen in all cases.
Though I mentioned that Fenimore is courageous in certain aspects, she also lacks courage in other areas. She admits that she could not fight, apparently even if she had the skill to do so. Her confidence also seems to take a notable dip when she is outnumbered by Orerines, who she still likely has some lingering fear of. Other examples of this bleed into the “emotional weaknesses” section.
Emotional: Continuing from the mental section, Fenimore’s occasional lack of courage results in her tendency to panic under stressful situations. Her reactions to immediate threat of capture in the Waterways are shown on multiple occasions to never be constructive. When cornered, she demands in a frightened, shaking tone for the aggressors to leave her alone. Once, she appears to lose the strength or will to run when she, Shirley, and Walter seem to be on the verge of being discovered. (Considering what she has gone through, though, I consider this to be entirely understandable.)
Samples (ALL samples must be set in Luceti-verse.)
First Person: [Accidental Voice]
[a groan, followed by the shifting of a clothed body] Mmmnn. [a pause]
[sudden rush of movement] Wha--? [cut off, quickly, and continued more quietly] Where is this place? ...More importantly, what's with these clothes? I definitely wasn't wearing them before--what?
[a gasp] It was those soldiers, wasn't it? Shirley was trying to defend that woman and...and....
Ohhh, I must have fainted. Ugh, why did I have to faint just then? They must have captured us and then....
[in a hoarse whisper--the sort that people use when they want to catch the attention of someone nearby without being heard by other people] Shirley? Are you there? Shirley?
...No good. So not good. What if she's--
No, she has to be alive. She's the one they were after, right? Right. Stay calm. [more movement] I can't have been out that long and it doesn't seem like they managed to get anywhere secure. It's not as bad as last time....
Snow? How can it be snowing? ...Did the Legacy have any mountain high enough for a snowline? They couldn't have made it all the way to the Mainland before I woke up...could they?
Huh...? There's no lock.... [soft grunts, along with some creaking and the slide of wood against wood. After the first moment, the sound of wind became audible.] ...It opened. It can't seriously be this easy.... They must have some other way of stopping us from escaping. Probably are guards everywhere...though...I can't see any.... I don't even want to think about what they'd do if they caught me trying to escape....
No, I have to try. Shirley didn't give up at the Waterways, and that was a lot worse. ...Of course, it was easier for her, knowing that someone was coming for her. What were those two doing, not being there when Shirley was being attacked?!
[a somewhat shakey breath in and out can be heard, but the rustle of cloth as she shivers is likely too soft] I-it's freezing out. What are they doing, putting me in this kind of clothing in this kind of cold? Unless...maybe they don't want the clothing to get in the way if they--they couldn't have the equipment here, it looks like an inn or something...but if they were going to exp--ex--
[cuts off, suddenly; when the voice continues, it sounds like there is something in her mouth] Calm down. Calm down. Calm down. Don't think about it. Escaping comes first.
Though in this weather...there has to be something that I could use. There's at least a sheet...must be an inn somewhere, there's a bed, even...huh?
[a scraping sound and movement] A book? No, that's not important right-- [gasp, followed by a scarcely contained exclaimation] What--my name? Some kind of...experiment log...?
...I have to get out of here. [fast footsteps, followed by a door opening and the sound of rummaging through a closet] Huh. They sure have a lot of clothes here.... I should count my blessings. They're a bit big, but....
Ugh, why do they all have holes in the back? It'll have to do...a bit big, though....
H-hey, what's this on my ba-- [a scream, quickly cut off: from the sounds of it, by stuffing something in her mouth]
Third Person: Though she had cut off the scream almost immediately, it had been loud. Fenimore could hear movement from a lower floor-scratching as a chair was pulled back and the pounding of footsteps as someone rushed upstairs. Wings, absolutely and utterly impossible as they might be, were no longer the most pressing issue.
Taking her fingers out of her mouth, she shoved her arms through the sweater she had started to put on, gritting her teeth as it pressed against her tender wings…or whatever those were. Grabbing an armload of clothes and shoving her feet into a pair of discarded slippers, she raced to the window, tossed it out, and jumped after.
She almost shrieked as her bare legs hit the snow bank, but she managed to keep mostly quiet as she grabbed the clothing that had stayed in one place and ran behind the nearest building. Only when she was certain she was out of sight of the window did she hurriedly shove a pair of pants on and wrap a shirt around her head like a turban.
For a moment, she relaxed slightly against the side of the building, but suddenly she tensed again. They would soon find the window open and see a few stray clothes against the snow. No doubt they would be after her momentarily. Her head whipped around, looking for a way of escape.
Ahead of her was a forest. Although she was not all that confident in her ability to hide in a forest, it certainly was better than in an Orerines village. She doubted that any would take her side.
It was only as she began running towards the trees that she realized that Shirley was likely still captured and, in escaping alone, she was probably lowering the chances for someone else to escape.
If it had been Shirley, she probably would have made sure Fenimore got out, too.
But Fenimore knew she wasn’t as brave as that. Anyway, it made more sense to have someone escape. She could find Walter, or Senel, and they certainly could do more about it than her. She wasn’t a fighter, and she couldn’t act like she was.
The reasoning felt hollow, though.
Fandom: Tales of Legendia
Gender: Female
Age: 15
Time Period: Rite of Accession, after the arrival of the Gadorian Knights
Wing Color: Darkish orangey-specific shade to be determined never later. (This was totally the very hardest part of the entire app, by the way, and I still am second-guessing myself.)
History: (I’m afraid that I only know of one English history for Fenimore, which has at least two errors by game canon, a detail that I cannot recall from reviewing the game, and a few interpretations that I disagree with. As such, I am going to provide my own summary. I have a decent amount of headcanon associated with Fenimore, but I will try to keep this as firmly grounded in canon as possible. I will also attempt to be brief for the sake of your time, but I can expand on it if necessary-it was more a struggle to be brief than anything, as you might guess from the length of this unnecessary paragraph.)
Fenimore was born in one of the hidden villages of the Ferines, an amphibious species of humanoids who can breathe water and air with equal ease. Very little information is given on her life in the village, but what is known is that she had a younger twin sister named Thyra and that she appears to have been indoctrinated in the Ferines culture’s millennia-long hatred of Orerines-humans.
At some point before the game begins, her village was attacked by Orerines acting on behalf of Vaclav Bolud, third prince of the expansionistic Crusand Empire and one of the few Orerines to still know of the existence of the Ferines. Fenimore was amongst the villagers to be captured; the vast majority of the other villagers can be reasonably presumed dead. Through the game, only Fenimore’s younger twin sister, Thyra, was known to have escaped due to being away from the village at the time.
On the Legacy where all future action takes place, the captured Ferines were taken to Vaclav’s hidden fortress and were experimented on with what was later identified by a party member as instruments of torture. Senel later learns that Vaclav’s intent was to somehow artificially cause a Ferines to gain the powers of the Ferines’ long-awaited spiritual leader, the Merines, but it is unknown how much Fenimore knew of the purpose behind the torture--or even if she knew of a purpose beyond the belief that all Orerines hated the Ferines.
Fenimore was introduced in the game when Shirley was locked in the cell next to Fenimore, and the two began to talk through the cell wall. By this point, Fenimore was the only one captured from her village that had not been killed during the experiments, but she mentioned that she held onto the hope that the Merines would come, not realizing that Shirley is the Merines. Their conversation was cut short as Fenimore was taken by the soldiers to be experimented on. After Shirley was shown a gravely injured Fenimore, Stingle, one of Vaclav’s Terrors, intervened and treated Fenimore’s injuries.
When Fenimore awakened in Shirley’s cell, she quickly discovered that Shirley lived among Orerines and was even in love with an Orerines named Senel. She immediately grew angry and called Shirley a traitor to the Ferines. At this point, Shirley was retrieved to be brought to Vaclav and Fenimore was brought along in another cart. However, on the way, Vaclav’s forces were attacked simultaneously by a mixed group of Orerines attempting to rescue Shirley-the player party, Senel included-and a group of bandits seeking revenge.
In the confusion, Shirley helped Fenimore escape into a nearby tunnel system, but when they meet the party, Fenimore refused to let them rescue her out of distrust of all Orerines. The delay as Shirley tried to convince Fenimore allowed one of the Terrors to separate the two groups. The two girls were cornered by more soldiers, but, at the last moment, a Ferines warrior named Walter intervened. He led them towards a hidden room, but stayed behind to give them time when two of the Terrors arrive.
When they arrived in the hidden room, Fenimore appeared to have forgotten her anger at Shirley until a heavily wounded Walter returned and revealed that Shirley is the Merines. At this, Fenimore became infuriated at Shirley for seeming to avoid the duties of the Merines in exchange for living with Orerines. However, Walter stopped her outburst and affirmed his strong trust in the Merines before collapsing from his injuries. At the same time, Fenimore and Shirley heard the Terrors approach again. As Fenimore panicked, Shirley chose to give herself up to lead Vaclav’s army away from the hidden room and left behind a way for Senel to find Fenimore and Walter instead of herself. She told Fenimore that Senel will save them before leaving to draw the soldiers away.
When Senel and the party arrive, Fenimore remained fearful of them, but when Senel decided to rescue Fenimore and Walter for Shirley’s sake, she when with them and even expressed her gratitude to Senel when they return to the surface. Not long after, Walter awoke and used his teriques to take Fenimore away with him.
Off-screen, Fenimore met Maurits, the apparent leader of the Legacy’s Ferines, and asked him to help Senel. When he rescued the beleaguered party, she traveled with him and claimed that she only helped them for Shirley’s sake in the same way Senel saved her. However, after seeing the party’s resolve to save Shirley, she told Senel that she would watch them to see if not all Orerines are bad, even if she was not yet ready to trust them.
Although she did not fight in the later battle, Fenimore helped the allied forces of the Legacy’s Ferines, an Orerines army, and the party in the fight to rescue Shirley by bringing food to other workers and helping at the triage tents. She denied helping for any other reason than for Shirley’s sake, but she blessed the party and told them her true name before they leave the triage tent. At the end of the battle, she was shown coming to comfort Shirley after Stella’s death.
Two weeks later, she traveled from the Ferines village on the Legacy to ask Senel to visit Shirley, who hadn’t made any friends among the Ferines and seemed lonely. Although Fenimore was planning to return to her homeland, she chose to accompany Senel and the party as they came to visit the village.
Upon hearing that Shirley refused to see Senel, Fenimore went to talk to her. Through a combination of insults and encouragement, Fenimore drew out that Shirley is sad that Senel had chosen Stella instead of her and convinced her to try confessing her love to him. After the very unsuccessful confession, Fenimore stayed to comfort Shirley. She professed friendship to Shirley and agreed to stay on the Legacy, thereby becoming the other girl’s first friend and apparently the first Ferines not related to Shirley to see her as a person in addition to being the Merines.
The next day, she came with Shirley to the latter’s Rite of Accession to support her. However, a group of Orerines knights attacked during the ceremony to capture Shirley, killing all who get in their way. When Shirley attempted to shield a Ferines with her body, Fenimore darted in front and was stabbed. With her last words, she gave Shirley her final blessing, begging her to find happiness.
Personality: While I have attempted to keep the history section fairly neutral, this section will likely involve a great deal of personal interpretation. Although she has a respectable number of scenes for a minor character, she does not get the attention a main character might get, so many of Fenimore’s personality traits are displayed in only one or two scenes. So it is difficult to be certain which reactions are normal and which reactions depend on circumstances. However, I will restrict myself to traits which can be well-defended by canon.
Perhaps the trait Fenimore is most renowned for is her temper. A number of her early scenes involve raging at Shirley for perceived injustices. However, I believe that this is an unfair label; while I do not argue that she does not have a temper, I disagree that it is a defining trait.
The circumstances under which she really lost her temper were extremely stressful. The first time, she had only reawakened after being tortured to find out that Shirley seemed to have thrown her lot in with people that Fenimore lumped together with her torturers. The next time, she was being pursued, with the only person she trusted to rescue her barely able to even move, and she felt that she had lost what she had pinned all her hopes on.
While each time she expressed her rage she was misguided, I believe that anger was an understandable reaction in this case. Later, in less stressful settings, Fenimore was what I would call miffed, rather than temperamental, and was occasionally rude, rather than spiteful. Her temper can’t be discarded, but I don’t believe it defines her.
Another common recollection of Fenimore is her hatred of Orerines. In the early game, her hatred causes her to refuse to even be rescued by Orerines, though the group had been okayed by another Ferines. However, through the game, she comes to understand that not all Orerines are alike and comes to help Senel and his friends several times, albeit usually insisting that she is doing so for Shirley’s sake rather than for theirs. Before her death, she even helps Shirley with the latter’s love of Senel, a love that Fenimore had previously thought made Shirley a traitor to the Ferines.
Although most of the six named Ferines eventually came to similar conclusions (only one ended the game without at least some hint of coming to accept that there are some good Orerines), it is suggested that this position is highly unusual amongst the Ferines and likely placed her in the vast minority of the Ferines at the time. So far as it is shown in the game, she appears to be the third most accepting Ferines of all of them.
Of course, while the game does not go into it, I would doubt that this acceptance is very strong yet. Within a month before her death, she was still being tortured by Orerines who had killed almost everyone from her village (I obtained the impression that the Ferines villages are isolated enough that the people of her village would be nearly all of the people she had ever known) and the last memory that she would have before coming to Luceti would be an attack by some Orerines who viewed the Ferines as monsters. On top of that, the hatred of Orerines seems deeply entrenched in Ferines culture. As such, I imagine that she still holds a number of prejudices about Orerines and would remain at least wary of Orerines other than Senel and his group.
Possibly the most famous Fenimore scene, though, was her conversations with Shirley prior to the Rite of Accession. Through most of the game, she is either somewhat reserved, shy, or dismissive, dependant on the situation. However, when she is alone with Shirley, she seems much more confident and a bit livelier.
Personally, since all other scenes once she is rescued from captivity are viewed by Orerines, who she might still be somewhat frightened by, I believe that this scene points towards her personality traits from before her capture. From it, I tend to draw the conclusion that, when she is in a situation that she is comfortable in, she is inclined to having fun and teasing other people. This might be a case of drawing too much from a specific circumstance, but I think that there are signs of it through the game: when she is only amongst Orerines, she is rather polite and quiet, but when the number of Ferines outnumber the Orerines, she grows a little livelier. For example, when amongst Maurits’s retinue, she feels fine with telling Senel’s group that they “aren’t very bright” and generally be more aggressive with her language.
More generally, Fenimore seems to think in simple terms. I emphasize that this does not mean that she is stupid, but it does seem that her lines of thought are reasonably direct. She accepts prejudices as covering large groups and seems reluctant to accept the existence of exceptions. She makes large leaps of logic, such as quickly accusing Shirley of being in love with Senel even though Shirley had up to this point referred to him as her brother (that, or it reveals a very unusual part to Fenimore’s village’s culture). She believes that Shirley should confess her love to Senel, using logic that would be quite valid normally but was somewhat odd due to how recent Stella’s death had been. She seems to be the sort to believe in absolutes and make direct links between ideas, without much introspection.
She also seems to view herself as something of a realist not swayed by emotional connection. She is very reluctant to admit to doing anything for the sake of Senel’s group and tends to deny it vehemently, though, granted, this one could be more due to not wanting to admit to losing her hatred of certain Orerines.
She also readily admits that she could not go into battle and believes that her sacrifice for Shirley’s sake was completely unlike her. The latter could be partially explained by her doubts in her courage, but I believe they also point towards her belief that she is not the sort of person who goes out of her way for another’s sake.
One note that I almost put under “strengths” is Fenimore’s blessings. Ferines are given second names, called “true names.” The true names are in the ceremonial language of the Ferines, Relares, and have meanings that are supposed to reflect the bearer’s true nature. Fenimore’s true name, Xelhes, means blessing, and she seems to have taken it to heart. She gives people blessings and, while there appears to be no effect in a real sense, she appears to believe that they do hold some power. While two of the blessings in the game eventually did come true, her blessing over Shirley’s confession to Senel appears to have more backfired than anything and has no chance of changing in at least Luceti canon.
On the subject of true names, one mention in the history section covered where she revealed her true name to Senel and the rest of the party. Little is revealed in the game about true names, but a piece of fanon that appears to be shared with at least some of the other Luceti Ferines’ players is that true names are only given to people that they trust. By this reasoning, it demonstrates a remarkable step forward in her view of Orerines.
Strengths:
Physical: Fenimore, being disinclined towards combat, is not shown in game to have any particular physical strengths. However, as she is a part of a mainly aquatic species for all that they build their villages on land for now, it can be assumed that she is an excellent swimmer. Her time spent in a cell at most a month prior to her arrival in Luceti would suggest that this skill has greatly atrophied, but I would imagine that she would still be considered fast when compared to a human. I would also guess that she would become a faster and all-around better swimmer than the majority of non-aquatic species when she can return to practicing, although people with extensive training in swimming may be able to outdo her.
While I don’t believe that this is confirmed in the game, I believe the standard fanon practiced by the other Ferines’ players in Luceti is that the Ferines are given their true name after displaying their wings and that all Ferines have the potential to use crystal eres. By this, Fenimore would have both of these, so in the interest of full disclosure I should make a note of these skills.
A teriques is a physical manifestation of a Ferines’s soul that takes the form of a winged creature formed of what has the appearance of coloured, but largely translucent, light. Skilled users of teriques can shape it into other forms-in canon, this mainly took the form of encasing people in balls of light-and use the wings to fly. Crystal eres are basically magic spells that may be cast from a distance. Given that Fenimore never used any of these skills in canon (a brief showing of a teriques in a butterfly form similar to Shirley’s was in the manga, but as far as I am aware this is non-canonical) even in situations where the use of any of the above would have been of vital importance, I believe it can be safely assumed that she has very little skill with these.
Mental: Fenimore appears to be impressively mentally stable. Despite a great heaping of trauma from being tortured and standing aside helplessly as the still living villagers around her were tortured to death, she remains remarkably sound of mind. Outside of certain bursts of anger or fear, she does not generally display the angst one would expect from this. Though I imagine that this is really more from the game’s reluctance to concentrate enough on a minor character to work through these issues, taking the canon at face value requires admitting a great strength of will in Fenimore.
Related to this, Fenimore is notably courageous in certain aspects. While most Ferines remained too distrustful of Orerines to allow them contact even until near the end of the game, Fenimore went on her own to an Orerines town to seek out Senel. To allow herself to be surrounded by Orerines when she had not even spent a full month free from torture at the hands of other Orerines and would not benefit herself from the visit takes an impressive amount of courage, in my mind. More visibly, her sacrifice, for all that it was a split-second decision, took a great deal of courage.
Emotional: Fenimore seems to display a great deal of insight into Shirley’s emotional state. She quickly discerns how fond Shirley is of Senel before meeting the latter. Later, she notices when Shirley is feeling down even when the other girl is trying to hide it and determines the source of Shirley’s sadness.
Weaknesses:
Physical: Other than what was mentioned above about swimming, Fenimore does not display any other signs of physical prowess. I tend to conclude that she is otherwise in average shape normally and that she is currently in lower-than-average health due to the period imprisoned without apparent way of normal exercise.
Mental: Fenimore’s aforementioned tendency to think simply and jump to conclusions has notable drawbacks. She appears more likely to accept generalizations unambiguously and to not think in moral greys. Though this kind of direct thinking can work to her advantage in specific situations, it generally causes difficulties.
Though she often has good intentions, she has a tendency to be rude and insulting to the people she talks to when she feels she is in a secure position. She insults the main party’s intelligence as she tries to convince them to accept Maurits’s help. She repeatedly insults Shirley when trying to encourage her the night before the Rite, telling Shirley that she’s nothing special before the confession and calling her hopeless and pathetic after. Though she has managed to turn both these into positive situations, it is likely that this would not happen in all cases.
Though I mentioned that Fenimore is courageous in certain aspects, she also lacks courage in other areas. She admits that she could not fight, apparently even if she had the skill to do so. Her confidence also seems to take a notable dip when she is outnumbered by Orerines, who she still likely has some lingering fear of. Other examples of this bleed into the “emotional weaknesses” section.
Emotional: Continuing from the mental section, Fenimore’s occasional lack of courage results in her tendency to panic under stressful situations. Her reactions to immediate threat of capture in the Waterways are shown on multiple occasions to never be constructive. When cornered, she demands in a frightened, shaking tone for the aggressors to leave her alone. Once, she appears to lose the strength or will to run when she, Shirley, and Walter seem to be on the verge of being discovered. (Considering what she has gone through, though, I consider this to be entirely understandable.)
Samples (ALL samples must be set in Luceti-verse.)
First Person: [Accidental Voice]
[a groan, followed by the shifting of a clothed body] Mmmnn. [a pause]
[sudden rush of movement] Wha--? [cut off, quickly, and continued more quietly] Where is this place? ...More importantly, what's with these clothes? I definitely wasn't wearing them before--what?
[a gasp] It was those soldiers, wasn't it? Shirley was trying to defend that woman and...and....
Ohhh, I must have fainted. Ugh, why did I have to faint just then? They must have captured us and then....
[in a hoarse whisper--the sort that people use when they want to catch the attention of someone nearby without being heard by other people] Shirley? Are you there? Shirley?
...No good. So not good. What if she's--
No, she has to be alive. She's the one they were after, right? Right. Stay calm. [more movement] I can't have been out that long and it doesn't seem like they managed to get anywhere secure. It's not as bad as last time....
Snow? How can it be snowing? ...Did the Legacy have any mountain high enough for a snowline? They couldn't have made it all the way to the Mainland before I woke up...could they?
Huh...? There's no lock.... [soft grunts, along with some creaking and the slide of wood against wood. After the first moment, the sound of wind became audible.] ...It opened. It can't seriously be this easy.... They must have some other way of stopping us from escaping. Probably are guards everywhere...though...I can't see any.... I don't even want to think about what they'd do if they caught me trying to escape....
No, I have to try. Shirley didn't give up at the Waterways, and that was a lot worse. ...Of course, it was easier for her, knowing that someone was coming for her. What were those two doing, not being there when Shirley was being attacked?!
[a somewhat shakey breath in and out can be heard, but the rustle of cloth as she shivers is likely too soft] I-it's freezing out. What are they doing, putting me in this kind of clothing in this kind of cold? Unless...maybe they don't want the clothing to get in the way if they--they couldn't have the equipment here, it looks like an inn or something...but if they were going to exp--ex--
[cuts off, suddenly; when the voice continues, it sounds like there is something in her mouth] Calm down. Calm down. Calm down. Don't think about it. Escaping comes first.
Though in this weather...there has to be something that I could use. There's at least a sheet...must be an inn somewhere, there's a bed, even...huh?
[a scraping sound and movement] A book? No, that's not important right-- [gasp, followed by a scarcely contained exclaimation] What--my name? Some kind of...experiment log...?
...I have to get out of here. [fast footsteps, followed by a door opening and the sound of rummaging through a closet] Huh. They sure have a lot of clothes here.... I should count my blessings. They're a bit big, but....
Ugh, why do they all have holes in the back? It'll have to do...a bit big, though....
H-hey, what's this on my ba-- [a scream, quickly cut off: from the sounds of it, by stuffing something in her mouth]
Third Person: Though she had cut off the scream almost immediately, it had been loud. Fenimore could hear movement from a lower floor-scratching as a chair was pulled back and the pounding of footsteps as someone rushed upstairs. Wings, absolutely and utterly impossible as they might be, were no longer the most pressing issue.
Taking her fingers out of her mouth, she shoved her arms through the sweater she had started to put on, gritting her teeth as it pressed against her tender wings…or whatever those were. Grabbing an armload of clothes and shoving her feet into a pair of discarded slippers, she raced to the window, tossed it out, and jumped after.
She almost shrieked as her bare legs hit the snow bank, but she managed to keep mostly quiet as she grabbed the clothing that had stayed in one place and ran behind the nearest building. Only when she was certain she was out of sight of the window did she hurriedly shove a pair of pants on and wrap a shirt around her head like a turban.
For a moment, she relaxed slightly against the side of the building, but suddenly she tensed again. They would soon find the window open and see a few stray clothes against the snow. No doubt they would be after her momentarily. Her head whipped around, looking for a way of escape.
Ahead of her was a forest. Although she was not all that confident in her ability to hide in a forest, it certainly was better than in an Orerines village. She doubted that any would take her side.
It was only as she began running towards the trees that she realized that Shirley was likely still captured and, in escaping alone, she was probably lowering the chances for someone else to escape.
If it had been Shirley, she probably would have made sure Fenimore got out, too.
But Fenimore knew she wasn’t as brave as that. Anyway, it made more sense to have someone escape. She could find Walter, or Senel, and they certainly could do more about it than her. She wasn’t a fighter, and she couldn’t act like she was.
The reasoning felt hollow, though.