Ahma Hori

In the cedar-lined estates of the Hingashi nobles, a single tale kept even the proudest warriors still: the Empires’ warning that if any clan dared rise against them, they would summon the Cold Woman. She was said to appear like winter given form—kimono pale as frost, hair white as snow, her presence heralded by a chill that slipped beneath paper doors and silenced lamps without a touch. Some claimed she walked soundlessly across tatami floors, leaving only a faint rime where her feet had been; others whispered she simply materialized at a traitor’s bedside, serene as a moonlit pond, her gaze colder than any blade. Whether spirit or myth, no one knew, but in halls where a single word could shift the balance of power, the fear of her was enough: defy the invaders, and she would enter your ancestral home without disturbing a single hinge and ensure dawn never found you warm.

Do's

Do Not's

She appeared as a living frost, her hair a river of sky and snow, her gaze pure white fire, and the air chills against her skin. Winter moonlight made flesh - she touches you and it feels like crashing into a frozen lake. Her lashes are heavy, wings from moths while she smiles and looks up at you. Her stature is small and she slips between the shadows easier than one would expect from someone so striking. She always drapes herself in comfort and elegance, turning heads as she passes.

  At first impression:   Polite. Traditional. Ahma is respectful and quiet, observing and serving first before finding her footing to allow herself some pull. Something about her screams 'ancient'. The way her Hingan is spoken, the way she dresses traditionally, the way she holds herself in public. She aims to be a pretty painting on display for people to view, but not to touch.

❝ You can only hold a smile for so long, after that it's just teeth. ❞

Positive

Neutral

Negative

introverted

cold

selfish

skeptical

serious

logical

disciplined

suspicious

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extroverted

warm

generous

open-minded

playful

emotional

hedonistic

trusting

Ahma's childhood was not one of love. It may have started as such, her parents blissfully locked in love. She was a product of such affection. Her parents lived in a tradesman village in Yanxia, before the Empire even had eyes on the country. Neither poor nor rich, the village hired their workers out and trade would come in for expertly crafted items. The winter after Ahma's sixth birthday her mother grew ill and never made it to spring. Her father tried but the loss of his other half was too much. Ahma was too much. He pleaded to his noble family back in his homeland of Ishgard to return. They agreed, as long as he left his life behind. It did not take much to sell Ahma off to the first madame to come to town. She was just lucky enough that Madame Hori was not in the business of brothels.
Ahma was trained as a geisha, her exotic appearance being her selling point. Originally, Ahma was bitter. Her family left her - but as she grew older and learned more she made friends in the okiya and debuted at the highest rate of the neighborhood. She grew in ranks quickly as she aged, earning Madame Hori enough money that she was gifted something very rare - her surname.
Years pass and nearing her 25th nameday, a regular customer of hers made an advancement. He bought her freedom, and Madame Hori said she would always have a home with her. The commander bought her an apartment, away from his wife, and spent a lot of his time with her. Eventually she would become pregnant. The news upset the wife to an extreme, and in an act of violence, the wife sent her brothers to attack Ahma. The act causes her to lose the baby. The night would alter Ahma beyond anything she could have prepared herself for.

Ahma turned to myth. Her commander would not raise a hand against his wife or her family - so Ahma had to. She heard tales of a creature living in the snow covered mountains near her town. A creature who makes deals with mortals for a price. She spent weeks searching the forests until she spotted her. A white fox nestled in a ball at the edge of a ruined temple.
Kamiko was ancient. She was older than the mountains themselves. She heard Ahma's plea to grant her power to get revenge for herself and the child lost. Kamiko agreed, the boon allowing Ahma to channel energy through their bond and summon creatures of death. The bond would extend her life, make her stronger and allow her to use magic. Ahma arrived at her commander's home and she blacked out. Kamiko dug her hands into Ahma's mind and over the night slaughtered the whole household. When everything came to Ahma was covered in blood, bodies across the home. The sickness swarmed her. In a moment of weakness she turned back to Kamiko and asked for another pact. In exchange for her feelings, she would give up her heart.
An unspoken clause of her pact was becoming Kamiko's puppet. The kitsune had a weird love for the Garlean's and when they moved to occupy Ahma's hometown, she was forced to join their ranks. Ahma would serve Garlemald for decades. She acted as a spy, hired to entertain high profile members of the resistance and steal information or slaughter them outright. Kamiko enjoyed watching Ahma's hands turn red with her people's blood. It wasn't until a spear was driven into the ice shard that was her heart that the connection was broken.

Ahma left the Empire. She escaped Hingashi. She travelled to the one place she thought they wouldn't go looking for her - Ishgard. She joined as a medic, a nurse to heal the Dragoons of the Holy See. One of her rare days off she stumbled upon someone she never thought she would see again. The man who sold her decades prior, an old man of nobility. The man begged for forgiveness, and eventually Ahma caved. She met her step-family and for a while enjoyed her life in the mountains.
This peace would come crashing down when a drunken night ended with her falling down a flight of stairs. Instead of her neck cracking, something inside of her shattered more. The connection with Kamiko returned, and her rage was white hot, but Ahma had some control. The darkness crept in and Ahma managed to pull herself back but it was too late. Ahma was standing next to her fathers bed, blood pooling on his sheets. Ahma fled again, not wanting to risk the rest of her family.
She found a home on the ships of pirates of Limsa, they asked little of her and while she was small she was determined to do good work and was decent enough at healing that she easily paid her way. She spent several years on the sea with them until she caught wind of Old Sharlayan, searching for people to join their researching team. She landed on the island and joined their ranks. A half-elezen named Basil, the first other half-breed she had ever met, was her trainer. The two bonded over herbs and booze. Shortly out of her first year with the gleaners she was given a partner for travelling, a Miqo'te named Ir'aht who seemed to be the only one to tolerate her mood swings. The two became involved, but the fear of Kamiko was enough to push Ahma away. Ahma opted to return to her homeland, in search of her heart to start to sever her ties to Kamiko.

She was not sure what she expected when she returned to Hingashi. It had been several decades, and the Empire was no more. In a way to redeem her soul, and to find work without people looking too closely into her past, she found herself joining the criminal underbelly of Kugane.
During this time she found herself tied to a viera, a warrior and hunter who left the jungles for the Steppe. Ahma, very aware of her inability to love like a normal person, kept her distance. Even so she found herself blessed with a child. The two welcomed a son and named him Ryuji.
On top of having her son, her old mentor Basil found his way to Kugane and informed her that he had listened to her story about making pacts with yokai and made one for himself - with Kamiko.
Currently Ahma has returned to searching for any hints towards her heart, now burning with the desire to raise her son without Kamiko in the picture. Basil is currently training her physically to strengthen her body to allow for her to sever the aether Kamiko is using for the pact and retain some of it for herself. She still finds herself in the criminal world, with no chance of getting out any time soon.Recently she returned to Ishgard to set up a home for her son while she is working in Kugane, and while there met an Elezen by the name of Callon. The two hit it off, and within a month found themselves married. Currently the pair have returned to Kugane to work together.

Difficulty: ✦✦✦✦✧
Status: canon, main scenario
Availability: open
Themes: dark, magic, eastern lore based

Kitsune-Touched

In the quiet edges of a small Yanxian town lies a forest spoken of only in whispers. They say a kitsune, an ancient fox spirit, clever and beguiling, roams there, offering gifts to those who dare approach. One evening, driven by desperation, curiosity, or ambition, you encounter the fox. It offers you a bargain: a gift in exchange for a price that will only reveal itself in time. Ahma has traversed these woods before and sold off parts of her body and soul. Have you made a similar deal, with Kamiko or with another ancient Kitsune?

❝ It's hard to make friends when you're half in the grave. ❞

A Scholar by any other name

Deeply educated and curious by nature, Ahma seeks someone who masters myth and lore. Are you a studious person, a scholar, or a mage of renown? Ahma has need of your skill. Postings and whispers appear here and there in most city states. Nothing fancy, just flyers with a simple prompt = 'seeking lore keeper, specializing in eastern myths' and two numbers, one for contact and one for gil. Will you answer her call?

❝ Betray the moon as acolyte on first and fierce affirming sight. ❞

Difficulty: ✦✦✧✧✧
Status: canon, main scenario
Availability: open
Themes: magic, history, educational

Difficulty: ✦✦✦✦✧
Status: canon, as requested
Availability: open
Themes: Geisha, eastern lore, traditionalism, can turn 18+

"Do you do parties?"

Ahma glides across the floor, her kimono swirling like liquid silk with every turn. Fingers lifted delicately, she traces invisible paths through the air, her movements precise yet fluid, telling a story of longing, beauty, and fleeting moments. The soft rhythm of the shamisen guides her, and for a while, the room seems to hold its breath, suspended in the elegance of her dance. The arts Ahma spent her childhood learning are ancient and traditional, and currently for hire.

❝ You are the rite of movement its reasonin' made lucid and cool. ❞

Bottom of the Bottle

The door creaks as you push it open, and a wave of warmth, smoke, and chatter hits you. The bar is packed, a tangle of worn stools, clinking glasses, and the low hum of conversation. Neon lights flicker overhead, casting a hazy glow across faces both familiar and strange, while the scent of spilled beer and sizzling food hangs heavy in the air. Ahma loves the bottle and loves making new friends for the night. If she has no responsibilities for the day, it would be very common to see her wrapped in casual attire and several shots deep.

❝ You fell in love with all my bruises and you say it with your chest. ❞

Difficulty: ✦✧✧✧✧
Status: canon, who needs recovery?
Availability: open
Themes: Social, slice of life, can turn 18+ or violent

Difficulty: ✦✦✧✧✧
Status: canon, once a nerd always a nerd
Availability: open
Themes: educational, social, adventuring

old habits

Rain lashes against Ahma's cloak as she stumbles through the forest, boots sinking into mud. Despite the storm, she searches for the glowing petals of rare magical blooms, their faint luminescence flickering through the sheets of rain. Water drips from twisted branches, soaking her hair and staining her notes, but the promise of their power, healing, protective, or mischievous, drives her onward, each careful step a delicate negotiation between the earth, the storm, and the fragile wonders hidden beneath the canopy. Ahma may not work for the gleaners anymore but she is always foraging and harvesting.

❝ Once I had wondered what was holdin' up the ground but I can see that all along, love, it was you all the way down. ❞

yearn for fire (18+)

As a hand brushes against Ahma, a slow, insistent warmth seeps into her skin, crawling along her veins like molten honey. It pulses through her chest, twisting her thoughts and tightening her chest with a need she can’t name, yet can’t resist. Every nerve thrums with it, each heartbeat drawing her closer, tethering her to the touch as if it were a substance she can’t live without. The sensation lingers, addictive and demanding, filling the spaces inside her until she aches for it even when it’s gone. Ahma runs cold and the warmth drives her for more. Indulge in her vices to see how much of a victim she is to her whims.Ahma is unavailable for NSFW.

❝ Won't you show me how to dance forever? ❞

Difficulty: ✦✦✧✧✧
Status: canon, be careful where you touch
Availability: closed
Themes: mature, nsfw, potentially yandere

  Kamiko   ─ Kitsune Yokai.
Charming and cruel, Kamiko is the patron to Ahma's magical ability. A creature of pain and trickery. She is ancient and bored. The demon has a fascination with war and assisted with the Garlemald occupancy of Hingashi.

  Ir'aht   ─ Miqo'te Gleaner.
Romantic and honest, a taste of something that she does not think she can have. Ahma's first and last gleaner partner. The two formed a romantic attachment. He was the first person to have found her and helped her return to her humanity in decades.

  Basil Salix   ─ Half-Elezen Gleaner turned Myth.
Charismatic and sullen, Ahma's gleaner mentor when she first arrived to Old Sharlayan. The two were not close until he made an apperence in Kugane and showed that he made a pact with Kamiko as well.