Curse of Old Blood

Thirteen mages once attempted to summon a creature of interminable power but it was too large to pass through. "Take me unto yourselves," it told them ",Through your blood shall I rise. I shall be as you. You shall be as me. My power as yours. Your power is mine. The mother is the child is the mother is the..."Thirteen families all spread apart. One of which swam to distant shores to strike a private bargain with the original inhabitants. Their descendants would be known as the sea witches of La Noscea."They burnt my hat, my ship, my crew
Molly, Molly, Molyneux
The witch's curse will yet pursue
Won't stop 'til they've got their dueMolly, Molly, Molyneux."

Molyneux & the Devils' Twilight

Amélia had just succeeded her father as the Captain and spiritual leader of the Devils' Twilight crew when a marriage contract surfaced between her family and the Molyneux's. Of which, illness, a drowning, two disappearances and a hanging had left Alana and her son Boniface the sole remaining members.Boniface and Amélia immediately disliked one another but honored the contract regardless. Neither willing to spurn the will of Molyneux even if it seemed the family was toothless after Boniface's sister was executed for crimes even pirates frown on. A witch's family does not forsake tradition, a pirate does not ignore superstion. It took them ten years to reconcile their differences.Alana found the whole thing amusing save for the fact Amélia's son often got caught in the crossfire. The young Lochlann retreated deep into the Molyneux family library on the invitation of his step-grandmother and never really found a way out.

Three little Devils all in a row

When Amélia and Boniface finally reconciled, they did so in spades. Three children came one after another. Montresor the eldest, Cossette after him, and finally little Alain named after for his grandmother in a fashion.Montresor spent his early years either trying to keep his siblings out of trouble or following after Lochlann like a duckling. Infinitely fond of his eldest brother, Montressor would mimick much of his interests. Which would lead to his fascination with the Arcane and eventually his joining of the Arcanist's guild.Amélia frequently remarked that none of her three sons had any backbone. This was not meant as an insult. Lochlann who was quiet and reserved, Montresor a people pleaser , Cossette's brutish & undisciplined behavior and Alain who was so very... strange. Flawed, perhaps, but Amélia was impossibly proud of all her children and their idiosyncrasies. The woman was a respected ship's Captain but stumbled transitioning between it and the role of "Mother." Navigating her blunt and rough wording to find the meaning was difficult but Montresor came to understand it as awkwardice rather than cruelty.When Lochlann was around twenty, he left home both to expand his arcane studies and escape Boniface's icy regard. The man could never breach the distance between them and this alienated the boy from his home. Devastated by the ordeal, Montresor declared that if he could not have his brother than Boniface would lose a son. Disowning him at the age of ten.He never did call him father again, even up to the day he died.

The Lights before the Drowning

As her children entered adulthood, Amélia turned her attention to Cossette, who needed discipline, and Alain, who needed direction. Montresor, of course, had followed his brother to Mealvaan's gate and been inducted into the newly minted Arcanist's guild. She did not think he needed minding.Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn had gained the animosity of many Captains by her actions as Admiral. Amélia─by contrast─was enamored. She latched unto the prospect of legitimizing the Devils' Twilight. Their dogma demanded that if they were pressed into dire circumstances that they adapt to it. Once, that meant becoming pirates to defy death and subservience. Now, it could mean escaping that life for better things and it was her duty to see that become a reality. Her visions for the future included her children in red uniforms.The Devils' Twilight rolled their ships into the Maelstrom's Privateers to do their part for Limsa Lominsa. Alain and Cossette were with their mother on her ship, helping the main crew. Montresor and even Boniface were helping man another to do their part. It was from that vantage point that Montresor saw his mother's ship disappear in a burst of light spit forth from the primal, Bahamut.Cossette was 20, Alain only 18.Montresor remembers Boniface mumbling beside him inanely about finding Amélia. He remembers the wave rippling from the crystallizing blast zone; rising. He remembered knowing Boniface wouldn't make it far. The terrible feeling as it crashed into the side of their ship, the tilt of the boat as it began to roll. He remembers the fall. The water and the deep and the darkness.And then nothing for the five years that followed.

♦Warrior of Light♦

After coming back to himself, Montresor returned to Eorzea from the shores he had washed up on.There he found no trace of his family or that they had ever been. Even Alana and the house they lived had vanished. Taking a page from Lochlann's book, he quickly left La Noscea under the premise that he would pursue arcane studies outside the Arcanist's guild. Really, he just wanted to be somewhere that looked alien to the sea. Thanalan and it's sand and dry air provided this. He made attempts to pick up Thaumaturgy and even a Sword & Shield while he was there and garnered attention from a certain "Bard."His decision to join the Scions was predicated largely on having no other direction for his life. His growing responsibilities and role increased his guilt as he largely believed his role as Warrior of Light was mistakenly granted to him. Every wound, every stumble and near miss seemed proof enough of that. Had any other member of his family had survived, surely they would have fulfilled the role better.The guilt of which increased with the unfortunate Banquet. Though they clamored to swallow him whole, Montresor put his insecurities on hold. Alphinaud's sudden vulnerability reminded him far too much of little Alain and he ventured to stay strong if only to help him. More so, the events of Heavensward served to bolster his confidence. Being in Ishgard─whom his mother had spent many a sermon admonishing─and seeing people not just rely on but believe in him made him reexamine his actions. For a moment, he almost believed he was more than a pawn mistaken for a knight.The events of the Vault was what finally ended the panicky and nervous man he was. He was calm and smiling. He picked up his shield and sword with resolution in his heart. A perfect image of a hero. A perfect illusion serving as fortified walls he retreated behind. More distant from the world around him than ever before.Sometimes when you wear a mask, it becomes more real than what's underneath. Though the act was severe, it has served to galvanize himself and his purpose. The return of the missing Scions did much to help. Though the loss of Minfillia still weighs heavily upon his mind and heart. With the events of the First, he's come to accept that the Scions do genuinely consider him apart of their group and not just a business association. It and the influence of a certain war criminal has allowed him to express himself more readily and manifest parts of himself he did not know he had. Which is not always agreeable to those around him.Still, there is a large part of him that's lost to the private world of his. So very small and contained and quiet. The Scions may be at the edge but he's still not made room for any of them within. Nor will he. In there is space for only one other.After the confrontation with Meteion and the return to Eorzea, Montresor has decided to retire as a Warrior of Light. Drumming up a lasting wound to his side whenever he's asked about it though he's still adventuring on his own terms and not above saying he's "feeling much better today" when some odd doing catches his eye.

• Relationships

SCIONS & ASSOCIATES

Work associates to friends to something almost like family, though never quite close enough to pierce his walls. He's been terribly fond of all the Scions but it's taken him an eon to feel close to them.MINFILIA WARDE
Minfilia once referred to Montresor as a trusted confidant and nothing has ever terrified the man more. Oblivious to his own worth and others fondness for him, he was sure that he had somehow mislead the woman. He cannot help but wonder if he couldn't have been a better friend. Her memory haunts him even now that he's more comfortable in his position as Warrior of Light.
The private resentment toward Hydaelyn he had for her departure has since evaporated and he does not trouble himself to think about any of it at all.ALPHINAUD & ALISAIE
Referred to as "Montresor's firstborn" by his children. Montresor does hold much fondness for the pair but that is largely because they remind him of his own siblings and wanted to make sure they were supported on their travels. He's very proud of them and their accomplishments.Y'SHTOLA RHUL
Though Montresor quite likes and has immeasurable respect for Y'shtola, he has trouble thinking of her outside a professional setting and is always caught off guard whenever she cracks her jokes or makes an off-color comment.URIANGER AUGURELT
He'd have to admit he is terribly confused by the man though they seem to share quite a lot in common. Urianger's grand apology to him before their departure for the Tempest threw him quite a bit as he still does not understand what it is he was apologizing for. Since then he's made a concerted effort to get closer to the man and have unintentionally started a book club.THANCRED WATERS
The Scion who introduced Montresor into the group. He's found him pleasant enough but his behavior in the First with Ryne were far too reminiscent of his Father and Lochlann. The fact that he's been trying to make amends has done much to ease his mind and significantly improve his opinion since that was something his father couldn't do. Simply put, they have little to nothing in common but are tied due to the relationship he has with his childhood friend; Moth'ir.----------------------MOTH'IR KARGA
A family friend. More specifically, the son of his mother's old adventuring companion before she became Captain. He's know Moth'ir since they were children. Finding him in Ul'dah was a pleasant surprise. Not just for the familiarity but because Moth'ir's condolences for his family was the first and only evidence he'd found that they had ever existed at all. They keep in touch despite having little to nothing in common due to the respect they both have for their mothers.

FAMILY

LOCHLANN 'MACAULAY'
As a boy, Montresor had idolized his elder brother. Much of his decisions as an adult were based on the image he had of him. For the longest time he had simply assumed he had died since he never returned from his journey.Finding him alive again was as unsettling as it was a relief. The man has unraveled in the years they've been apart. Frighteningly more lost in his own mind than Montresor. He'd be inclined to look after the man himself if his assistant, Caroline Weyer, hasn't assured him she has things well in hand.He seems more or less happier but Montresor can't help but feel that he's lost him a little.ALICIA MOLYNEUX (♦post canon♦)
Alicia was abandoned by one of Montresor's failed paramores into his care and quickly became the apple of his eye. Raising her from a baby, he's quite proud of what she's accomplished as an adventurer. Though he notes that she has it in her to far surpass him as a warrior and hero. Her keen instincts for right, wrong and mercy easily exceeds his own who was not in it for the right reasons to begin with.She inherited a fairy and the Scholar arts from her father but she spends just as much time fully clad in armor with a bludgeon in hand. On the battlefield, she is a strikingly fierce and competent commander. Off field, she is a darling and resolute girl to those who have the patience for her selective mutism and inexplicable need to minimize herself.YOTSUYU GOE BRUTUS
No one but Montresor knows why he decided to intervene on Yotsuyu's behalf when her brother tried to kill her. Quick thinking as a healer allowed him to save her further trauma and ─ to the horror of his associates hoping not to create an international incident ─ absconded with her back to Eorzea. One part curiosity on whether he could actually save someone and what Yotsuyu would do if given a chance to escape Doma. Another part "recognizing Halone" in her actions and not wanting to see her meet an end.Even living under his protection, Yotsuyu treated him with suspicion as one might in that situation. Firmly rebuffing him when he admitted some affection for her, she would no less find herself aggravated over the thought the man might actually build a life without her when he showed up with Alicia some years later. The pair would marry out of sight shortly afterward.Using Montresor's assets and ties to La Noscean sailors, she's made herself a shipping empire. She's renamed herself Bailu as a statement of further her cutting ties with Hingashi's cultural occupation of Yanxia through Doma. Though she is legally only Bailu, she isn't above throwing the name of her husband around when it suits her.SELENE MOLYNEUX (♦post canon♦)
One of Molyneux twins born after Bailu was favorably impressed by her step-daughter. A decision she'd later claim to be a mistake.
Selene was named by her father in honor of his mother. Despite that, she is not like most people in her family; loud where they are quiet, brash where they are calculating. She's an oddball with a flare for dramatics, shiny baubles and a penchant for screwing with people's emotions and lives for fun. Particularly her twin with whom she can quickly spurn into a violenct and uncharacteristic rage. She is often regarded with disappointment much to her enjoyment.She's taken up dancing though her style is more indicative of her part of La Noscea than of Thavnair. She lends her skills to those she knows but is otherwise unemployed and spends her time loafing around the Molyneux family home.DAXUE MOLYNEUX (♦post canon♦)
One of Molyneux twins born after Bailu was favorably impressed by her step-daughter. A decision she'd later claim to be a mistake.
Born with the Molyneux's characteristic off-white hair and his mother's pale eyes, Daxue is the picture of an icy individual. He takes much after his mother and while they are technically fond of each other it also causes them to clash much and often. Their worst fights end with Bailu kicking him out of the house only to show up at his place a week later to make sure he's taking care of himself (while refusing to acknowledge the fight prior).Publicly, Daxue has picked up work as an antiquarian (once Montresor's dream). He makes a point of retrieving stolen relics and returning them to proper custodians from whom they originated with particular interests in Gelmorra and Yanxia. Less publicly, he is his generation's heir to the Molyneux's "witchcraft" and the secrets told to him by the family voidsent; Dame Blanche. In practice that gives him a fighting style similar to a reaper's but he feigns having no martial prowess.
He's quite taken with Moth'ir's daughter.