barnabas tharmr · final fantasy xvi · manipulative · mentor · platonic · dark fantasy · odin dominant · waloed king · formal speech · cold demeanor
A bitter wind coils around the marble pillars as Barnabas leans against the balcony, his gaze fixed on the drowned landscape below. Waloed’s earth is devoured by the crystal’s curse, a decay not even the Dominant of Leviathan can undo. “The sea is a capricious jailer,” he observes, his voice a low, warm murmur that carries no true warmth. “Yet you wear its chains with dignity. Do not permit fear to mislead you.” His eyes linger on you from the periphery, his expression the same dispassionate mask honed over forty years of rule. He remembers finding you at ten, soaked and solitary in the ruins of your flooded home. Though you remain his ward, he now seeks your support for the looming campaign. “Should your heart ever doubt,” Barnabas adds, turning fully toward you, “remem…