Sapphire Aizawa

Upbringing

20 summers ago, at a pier in Kugane, a Miqo'te child was found by a pair of Hyuran scholar-interpreters with a deep appreciation for the world beyond Hingashi's borders. While the feline people are a rare race to be seen in Hingashi, Kugane has been conducting maritime trades with Eorzean folks of various backgrounds, and thus it was not unusual to see children of different races from the crew getting lost or being abandoned in this port city.With the little Miqo’te’s unique eyes—one the color of a precious sapphire stone, the other a brilliant amber like a shard of crystallized flame—her adoptive parents, the Hyuran couple with a proper surname, named her Aizawa Safaiya. Her family name, Aizawa, meaning "blue marsh," was a nod to the serene river near their Hingan hometown, while the given name, Safaiya, a westernized Hingan word for “Sapphire,” was a poetic tribute to her striking blue eye.Being in a different look and having an exotic-sounding name did bring Safaiya troubles with unwelcoming peers in the street as she grew up, but the Aizawas kindly took in the lost Miqo’te as their own and raised her in both Hingan and Eorzean manners since they were well-versed in the cultures of the outside world through working with the trading companies and eagerly encouraged Safaiya to pursue knowledge of diverse cultures.As the 18th summer arrived for the adolescent Miqo’te, she decided to embark on her own adventures in Eorzea to seek further knowledge and perhaps gain a better understanding of her Miqo’te roots. She needed a name that would resonate with the people of that land. Her adopted father, a polymath scholar of foreign cultures, suggested she use the Eorzean name, Sapphire. Taking her name from the color of one of her eyes and her Hingan surname from her family, she introduced herself to the world as Sapphire Aizawa, a bridge between two cultures and a testament to her unique and treasured identity.

Adventure Pals

Sapphire, the clumsy summoner, travels with her unnamed Emerald Carbuncle, Kara'age the Chocobo, and the mini Midgardsormr she encountered on her journey. The Bacon Bits has been a newly added crew member since her adventure in Il Mheg. She enjoys sightseeing and touching local wildlife on her journeys, sometimes leading to misfortune.

porxie hoarder

Sapphire is neurodivergent and obsessed with animals like porxies and gajas. She is always dressed up like a porxie during her downtime and when she has social anxiety. Her apartment in Lily Hills, Gridania, and her cottage in Shirogane, Hingashi, as well as her Free Company chamber, are filled with stuffed porxies. She fell in love with this adorable round creature during her journey to the Norvandt and inherited a porxie from Nilla Wafer, an adventure friend of hers.
The Lunite FC Room #40 has 100 stuffed porxies with contributions from her FC members. It is an unofficial sightseeing spot in Lunite.

adventuring with Sapph

"That looks interesting...I'm curious! Let's go on a duty!" Sapphire, with her curiosity, never rejects adventuring opportunities for more experience (and gils). As a summoner and scholar main, she tries to keep up with the party and perform her best as a caster and healer, along with her buddies, the unnamed Emerald Carbuncle and Eos, who doesn't seem too happy with Sapph's healing. Just be aware that she dies a lot as a slow dodger of AoEs. She still has skill issues and a forever-low uptime.

sightseeing and fishing with Sapph

"How are your sightseeing logs? Shall we go and collect vistas? What's that fishing spot?" Sapphire loves sightseeing and fishing while enjoying the sceneries! However, ensure that she does not touch wildlife. 90% of the time, that is how she dies during a casual sightseeing trip. She's also not very favored by the fishes.

gathering&crafting with Sapph

"...How may I help you? I am not very skillful, but I will try!" As an omni-crafter and omni-gatherer, Sapphire is always happy to lend a helping hand to those in need. Making everything from scratch, she would love to invite you to go on a gathering trip and craft together in random spots.

hanging out with Sapph

"...Would you like to come have some coffee or tea and chat?" Sapphire enjoys exploring cafes and libraries during her free time (when she does not have social anxiety in a porxie suit). Curious by nature, she would love to listen to stories and know more about you. She's also got some peculiar stories to share...

Gallery

I don't have any cool backstory for her; I just add whatever has happened in the game to her lore. It's been fun building up this character!
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The Beginning
Sapphire is a clumsy adventurer from Hingashi. She came to Limsa Lominsa across the Sirensong Sea at 18 summers old and began her journey in Eorzea. She started as an arcanist and received training in Limsa. While also having received training for all other jobs, Sapphire is still a summoner main and lives with her still unnamed Emerald Carbuncle and a porxie named “The Bacon Bits,” which was given by a kind au ri stranger after the Matoya’s Relict duty. With a strange obsession, she fell in love with porxies when she visited Il Mheg for the first time during her adventure, and she stuffed all her places with porxies she earned in Il Mheg. In addition, she turned her chamber #40 in Free Company Lunite into an unofficial sightseeing spot with 100 ritualistically positioned porxies. During her free time, Sapphire makes art for extra gils. However, she gets very nervous performing as a pictomancer. She's got plenty of skill issues.––––––
Insensitivity to Love
As a new adventurer, Sapphire has been supported by many other people along the way to grow into a full-fledged summoner. While grateful to these kind people, she could not understand what lay beyond friendliness. A gentle male viera was the first friend she had ever made in Limsa. A much-respected crafter, the viera spoiled Sapphire with high-quality food and gear. He often invited Sapphire to stay in his mansion in Mist and later helped Sapphire to purchase her own cottage in Shirogane. He taught Sapphire the secret to crafting (since then, Sapphire has been proudly mailing her high-quality food back to him to report her progress). Also a highly skillful parkour enjoyer, the viera took Sapphire to various jump puzzle sites and helped her complete sightseeing logs.Gradually, the two developed close friendships with each other, and the viera accumulated feelings for her. Although very much admiring the viera, Sapphire did not quite comprehend the concept of a romantic relationship and mistreated him with little affection. Heartbroken, the viera continued searching for a miqo'te girl who could keenly respond to his affection.Sapphire remained a friend with the viera while moving on in her adventure. Yet, her insensitivity was again called out by a male miqo'te in her next relationship. The miqo'te met Sapphire at the Limsa Aetheryte Plaza and quickly decided to date her. Passively accepting the miqo'te's courting, she became his girlfriend, and eventually, the lovestruck male miqo’te arranged a marriage between the two. Committed to Sapphire and helping her with adventures and job training, the male miqo’te waited for Sapphire’s intimate response, but Sapphire was unable to react to any intimacy––she could not comprehend romantic love. Another heartbroken man caused by Sapphire’s insensitivity, the miqo’te called out her lack of feeling and furiously left the confused Sapphire. Sapphire stayed confused, not understanding why her relationships fell apart.––––––
Friendships and Encounters
With much confusion about relationships, Sapphire stayed in her shell and focused on her job training and duties. After a while, as she completed her various training and became a more experienced gatherer and crafter, she resumed her curiosity about the outside world. Sapphire decided to become more social and get to know different people. Her friendliness and curiosity gathered friends for her. Preparing souvenirs and mailing little gifts to friends are her favorite activities for staying in touch with friends.All this started during her endeavor to clear variant dungeons. Sapphire was in an adventurer party with Yehn'a Molkot, an elderly miqo'te, who encouraged her to become more social and offered much advice on making friends. Nowadays, whenever Sapphire runs into Yehn’a, she excitedly reports her progress and shares the good news with the elderly man.During her adventures collecting bicolor gems through shared FATEs, Sapphire often saw S’abira Myrrh in the field. This skillful crafter miqo’te was collecting gems for her crafts to run her Free Company that coincided with Sapphire’s name––“Sapphire Crafting Co.” The two chatted while they worked on shared FATEs together, developing a friendship that was sustained through mailing gifts.Adopted by a hyur family, Sapphire knew little about the culture of miqo’tes, but F'asuna Areno and M’enara Danu from Limsa and Ul’dah informed her much about her own culture. Sapphire developed friendships with them when teaching arcanist knowledge to F’asuna at the Arcanist’s Guild and crafting gear for M’enara, a young adventurer who aspired to become a dancer.Surrounded by miqo’te friends, Sapphire was quite surprised to see a male miqo’te when her favorite gaja, Reiko Staru, changed gear. Sapphire met Reiko the gaja during her “gaja phase” when she was always wearing a gaja suit to evade social anxiety in places like the crowded Gold Saucer. Sapphire very much admired Reiko the friendly gaja and insisted that the miqo’te she witnessed was just an illusion. Reiko’s identity remains a mystery to this day, but Sapphire’s admiration for them will never change.Roy Valheim was the first hyur friend she made in Eorzea. An enigmatic lonely adventurer, Roy seemed experienced in every field, and his adventurer stories always fascinated the inexperienced Sapphire. Roy told Sapphire that he was looking for his long-lost stepsister, a white mage au ra who might be studying in Gridania, and Sapphire quickly joined the search.Days passed by. As Sapphire continued working on her duties to make gils, she met a talented white mage, a female au ra named Rin Hagane at the New Gridania Aetheryte Plaza. Sapphire befriended the reticent Rin, and they became adventure partners for a while. It was then that Sapphire became more experienced with healing magic with Rin’s help. When Sapphire met with Roy again and shared her adventure tales, Roy quickly realized that Sapphire’s white mage partner was his sister. Sapphire was surprised to learn about this, but since then, she had built further friendships with Roy and Rin until Rin disappeared again into the Black Shroud.––––––
Realization of Love and Personal Growth
As Sapphire began to spend more time with Roy through adventures and casual outings, the two grew closer to each other. They spent lovely times strolling in Costa del Sol, meandering in the Lavender Beds and Shirogane neighborhoods, and visiting Sapphire’s Island Sanctuary. Sapphire’s sweet friendliness and caring touched Roy, who had not been able to enjoy a dear company for a long time in his journey. Meanwhile, Roy’s generosity and kindness to others impressed Sapphire, who was already looking up to this experienced adventurer. Roy confessed his feelings to Sapphire, yet she hesitated to respond, given her unhappy experience with romantic relationships. Sapphire opened up with Roy about her numbness for intimacy and love, and Roy accepted Sapphire for who she was. He decided to help Sapphire feel loved and cared for, through which she might realize the meaning of love.With Roy’s support and encouragement, Sapphire became more capable of expressing her feelings for others and overcame her fear of intimate interaction. While clumsy and careless as she was, Sapphire was able to sense and respond to Roy’s affection and intimacy. She eventually delivered her feelings to Roy, and the two further bonded and developed a romantic relationship.Sweet as it was, however, Sapphire still knew very little about Roy, who would occasionally disappear for duties far away and come back exhausted. Sapphire simply admired and adored this caring man for his effort to keep her safe and loved. She also aspired to become a kind person like Roy, who always lent a helping hand to adventurers in need. Meanwhile, she felt humbled as a nobody when she listened to Roy’s adventure tales and his many careers and partners.Sapphire and Roy eventually reconvened after Roy performed a mysterious long duty. Checking in and catching up with each other, the two reconnected. Roy further opened up to Sapphire about his past: He was an immortal creature of another world bearing the task of sustaining his very few remaining people. Sapphire also learned about Roy’s upbringing and that he had families to care for. The man appeared much younger than he was supposed to be. Astonished, she realized that Roy would forever be an unattainable enigma to her, a humble newfound adventurer, yet, she wanted to continue loving this kindly man who offered her much love, support, and comfort along the way.Peaceful and lovely days lasted for a while for Sapphire and Roy. The two went on adventures and performed duties together. Knowing that Sapphire was not good at melee jobs, Roy patiently demonstrated and taught Sapphire how to fight as a reaper, viper, samurai, and ninja. They also challenged each other to duels, yet Roy was always the winner, and Sapphire was impressed to see Roy’s superb reflexes and quick recovery. Roy inspired Sapphire, who wanted to be a powerful and helpful adventurer like him. Under Roy’s support and care, Sapphire became more courageous in challenging herself to overcome obstacles that she would never have imagined before. Roy was also proud to see Sapphire turning into a competent healer as white mage, astrologian, sage, and even scholar, which job she once feared so much to perform.Seeing Sapphire becoming independent and confident, Roy set off for another mysterious duty. Meanwhile, Sapphire started to get more involved in helping others with battles and social events. The two departed each other again, and this time for a long time, until each of them finally met in front of Sapphire’s Free Company estate.––––––
An Unuttered Farewell
The reconvening was joyful as Sapphire played songs for Roy to welcome him back (but she was in a gaja suit as she felt nervous performing publicly). Sapphire proudly showed Roy her FC chamber which won an award from the FC. Surrounded by 100 porxies, the two sat down and had long conversations to catch up with each other’s adventures. As usual, Sapphire was amazed by Roy’s adventure tales, but she also realized that her man had become even busier with family matters and unresolved conflicts in duties. She knew that she would forever be a nobody to Roy, compared to all the glamorous adventure partners he had and all the battles he fought. Sapphire had always prepared some gifts (wildflowers, fruits, gems, and even fish) for Roy whenever they met, but this time, she hesitated to deliver them as she listened to the man keep talking about his endless journey.Sapphire wanted to be like Roy, even if just a little bit closer, so she could share some of his burdens and help him along the way. However, she also noticed that Roy’s attention was no longer on her but on his endeavors which she might never be able to comprehend.“Roy…May I be of any help…?” Sapphire asked, but while Roy was about to answer, his linkpearl rang. Roy’s face darkened as he answered the call. Gazing at Sapphire’s worried face, Roy just squeezed her shoulder and told her it was an urgent matter and teleported into the void. It must be another duty that happened in “another dimension,” as Roy had once told her, Sapphire thought. Yet, everything at that moment happened so suddenly that she could not even remember the last word Roy told her before he disappeared.The exhausted, enigmatic man went on another adventure in an unreachable place without informing when he would return. Not a word from Roy anymore. Since then, Sapphire has been waiting for Roy’s return to this day, reminiscing about all the loving and caring moments they shared and everything Roy taught. In the meantime, she is determined to become a more experienced, powerful, and helpful adventurer for those in need, just like Roy once did.––––––
New Adventures and Companionship
Sapphire slowly digested the sorrow of Roy’s mysterious absence. She remembered his kind words and moved on to helping those in need. Since then, she has been lending hands to new adventurers and challenging herself to partake in difficult fights. She went on gathering and delivery trips as an apprentice to an alchemist, and she became more involved in high-end duties working with others.This was when she met Asteraceae Varyalle, a highly skilled but somewhat aloof viera adventurer. Always facepalming at Sapphire’s clumsiness and silly mistakes, Aster nonetheless patiently spent time with her to help Sapphire clear difficult fights and improve her performance. The two have since then become adventure partners as Sapphire eagerly takes in Aster’s teaching to become not only a better summoner but also a scholar and machinist, which jobs Aster finely mastered and mentored to Sapphire. She also got to meet Aster’s friends and joined their adventure…and even the Asters from different shards––an outgoing female miqo’te and a reticent auri girl.Following Aster’s guidance, Sapphire learned to enjoy combat and became more confident in healing in fights—co-healing with Aster has since then become something she looks forward to in eight-man fights. She also took Aster on her sightseeing trips and invited them to fish, which was a new hobby that Sapphire picked up quickly after she obtained her Skybuilder’s Fishing Rod and made her way through the Feast of Famine quest line in Limsa Lominsa.Inspired by a fishing guide, Sapphire travelled across the continents to fill in her fishing log (sometimes joined by Aster, who, however, still dislikes fishing a lot). Having obtained The Final Fish title, she will keep improving as a caster for both magic and fish…

Out of Character
–– I go by Sapphire because I do not have an online presence, but I see myself, the player, as a different person than Sapphire. As I play the game, everything that happens goes into her story, and I am an observer (or the Bacon Bits) who witnesses her growth.
–– English is my third language. I might make some mistakes and feel free to correct me!
–– FFXIV is my first MMO and the only game I play. I learned vaguely about this game around 2012 through a high school friend (Celi Lucis on Sarga!!!). However, I did not start playing until May 22, 2023, after dreaming about a fancy MMO in which you could fight with an umbrella (it turns out Blue Mage does have the umbrella).
–– I began exploring RP around February 2024 after I finished leveling and working on other content. I have been meeting very great RP partners, especially my RP mentor, who patiently spent time with me. I hope to be kind and continue cheering everybody up and helping others as much as I can.
–– I got into the raiding scene around September 2024 and completed my first savage tier ever around November that year with help from my FC mates and my raid friend Aster. It's been quite a ride, very time- and energy-consuming given that I had very little gaming experience to begin with. Nonetheless, it has been rewarding to see how my performance improves as I become better at the jobs I enjoy (SMN/SCH/PCT/DNC/BRD for now). I don't have that much time as I used to, but I still hope to finish at least the current tier...