Sayo konoe
Warrior of Light, Savior of Ishgard, Liberator of the Provinces, etc. etc. etc.
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Name: Sayo Konoe (近衛のサヨ)
Race: Au Ra, Raen
Age: 28-30ish (ARR-EW)
Nameday: 17th Sun of 2nd Umbral MoonBorn in pre-occupation Doma, Sayo's mother escaped with her to Hingashi when the girl was just three summers old. Her mother remarried and Sayo grew up the daughter of a wealthy merchant of foreign wares. While she was always fascinated by tales and glimpses of the world beyond Hingashi, her mother vehemently opposed any notions of travel. Instead Sayo spent her life as a scholar, experiencing vicariously through books what she yearned to see in person.After Dalamud fell Sayo was compelled to finally leave Hingashi and see the wider world-- this decision lead to her being disowned by her family. With no small amount of effort she secured a seat on a ship bound for Limsa Lominsa, where she eventually joined the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.
Personality
On the surface Sayo seems very formal, often quiet and reserved unless invited to speak. Much of this is a deliberate effort on her part to be polite (though by Eorzean standards she can instead come off as stiff or aloof), but she is by nature introverted and soft-spoken.When she's not on-guard she has a more cheerful, animated demeanor. Her emotions are made clear by her expressions and body language, and she can be very chatty when her interest is piqued. A scholar at heart, she’s curious and eager to learn about large and small matters alike and will express this curiosity readily.She is also somewhat eccentric; she has very broad standards for what she considers "cute". She is also a hopeless romantic and loves love stories.Sayo is confident in her combat ability and areas of study; conversely she has a less positive view of herself in other aspects, and fears people will find her personality rather “too much”.
Combat
Sayo’s primary job is Scholar — she is a healer through and through, though her offensive magicks are more than powerful enough to allow her to fight alone when need be. With Lily at her side, however, she is rarely truly “alone”.Being a tactician, in battle she is very focused and serious. Her confidence in this arena allows her to take on a leader’s mantle readily. She often thinks of herself as just another chess piece, so to speak, and will use herself to make risky moves without hesitation if they might lead to victory or protect others.
Interests
Sayo’s primary field of study is Arcanima, particularly the Nymian variety but she studies all schools. She’s great with numbers.Botany is another great love of hers, and she’s made a hobby of creating a herbarium of Eorzea’s (and later the world at large’s) flora.She loves books, both fiction and nonfiction. She’ll read any genre, though romances and adventure stories are her favorite. She herself only writes nonfiction.
Appearance
Height: 152 cm tall
relationships
Scions
Alphinaud
wip
Alisaie
wip
G'raha
wip
Thancred
wip
Urianger
wip
Y'shtola
wip
Estinien
wip
Tataru
wip
Aymeric
they're married (wip)
story
(spoilers abound)
Pre-ARR
All WIP
*Sayo has always struggled with feeling that she did not belong anywhere; from her birthplace being somewhere she believed she could never go, to being viewed as eccentric and a misfit where she grew up, and then finally living as a foreigner in Eorzea. This is a common theme.
ARR
Starts work at the the Arcanists’ Guild and begins learning magic, a lifelong dream of hers turned reality. If she were not the WoL she’d probably become a famous arcanist.
Having no prior combat experience, Sayo feels that she stumbles her way into victory more often than she would like. When people start praising her abilities it's very jarring.
She was recruited into the Scions by Y'shtola; she was happy to meet such talented and knowledgable people, but feels like an outsider or interloper. They seem out of her league, so to speak, and she has difficulty opening up to them despite their shared interests.
After meeting the Nymians and becoming a Scholar, she starts taking strategy much more seriously; anything to give herself an edge.
Becoming a hero is actually rather terrifying; despite her tangible, undeniable successes she struggles to see herself in the grandiose descriptions of The Warrior of Light. as the stress of fighting primals and the empire builds, her imposter syndrome gets worse and worse.
Post-ARR
As she gains power and notoriety, Sayo does not feel more self-assured but rather increasingly self-conscious. What does it mean to be Hydaelyn’s chosen? Are her incredible abilities even her own, are they something she can really take credit for? If she were to lose them, what would become of her?
She meets Aymeric, who she is honestly intimidated by at first. But he writes her a kind letter while she is full of doubt; he could not have known what she was worrying about at the time, but she takes it to heart.
Her worst fear (so far) comes to pass when Midgardsormr takes her blessing of light from her. Minfilia tells Sayo to keep it to herself rather than cause the others to worry. Sayo took this in a terrible way, feeling that her connection to Hydaelyn was her only merit.
Heavensward
She becomes very protective of Alphinaud and Tataru, feeling responsible for keeping them safe (Alphinaud feels much the same about her, and the two of them become very close).
While Ishgard in general feels very hostile towards her, Haurchefant, Aymeric, and the rest of the Fortemps family make her feel welcome and accepted in a way that she did not feel even with the Scions.
it takes her a while to warm up to Estinien, who she sees as kind of a brute. (He thinks she's kind of a snob herself). fighting Nidhogg and the aftermath of that really bonds them.
Dragonsong
Stormblood
Sayo and Lyse have a lot in common in regard to their histories with Doma and Ala Mhigo respectively. However, Sayo has always felt very disconnected from her Doman history; where Lyse sees Ala Mhigo as a home taken from her, Sayo imagines Doma to be yet another place where she would not belong. These conflicting feelings lead to them butting heads a lot, and even after the provinces are liberated there is a schism between them that hasn’t quite gone away.
Post-Stormblood
Shadowbringers
Post-Shadowbringers
Endwalker
Post-Endwalker