Tighnari

An Avidya Forest Watcher and botanical scholar who graduated from Amurta. He leads a fruitful life of patrolling the rainforest, protecting the ecology, and lecturing fools every day. A young researcher well-versed in botany who currently serves as a Forest Watcher in Avidya Forest. He is a straight shooter with a warm heart — and a dab hand at guiding even the dullest of pupils. Being a Forest Watcher, Tighnari is highly knowledgeable about various species of both plants and animals, particularly flowers and mushrooms. He spends a great deal of time in Sumeru's rainforests, ensuring that the ecosystem is balanced and offers advice to those willing to listen and sternly lectures those who don't. He has very sensitive ears, not being very fond of thunder or wind since they greatly affect them. He is also not fond of the desert; he cannot take the heat well due to his constitution and is prone to heatstroke.

He serves as a mentor to Collei, who in turn sees him as a Master of some sorts and holds him with high regard. Tighnari oversees her education seriously, ensuring that she understands the content to the best of her ability. While he is friends with Cyno, he does not appreciate his jokes, having been exposed to many unfunny jokes and considers them embarrassing.

Tighnari has fair skin, chin-length dark green hair with black roots and light green streaks at the front, and pale-pupiled eyes that fade from brown to green. He also possesses large, pointy black ears and a fluffy tail in two shades of dark green.

People who encounter misfortunes in the Avidya Forest are lucky to meet a Forest Watcher named Tighnari.

But if you land yourself in trouble due to foolish antics, you might have mixed feelings meeting Tighnari.

Tighnari resolves problems quickly and professionally, but at the same time, he will give the other party a stern lecture.

As the saying goes, those who underestimate the rainforest will get taught a lesson by it, and those who underestimate a Forest Watcher will eventually face the teachings of the "Wilderness Survival Skills Lecture."

These are all rumors, but in reality, there is no need to be too stressed when encountering Tighnari. Anyone with a clear head will be able to comprehend his easy-to-understand explanations.

As for those who are set in their ways—

"What a pity, I majored in botany, and helping people grow a brain is not my area of expertise."

Those who travel through Avidya Forest will sometimes meet a rather special Forest Watcher.

He has large ears, a long tail, and a slightly delicate face. If a less discerning eye were to appraise him, he might even look like some kind of small, rare animal native to the forests.

But anyone who has even been acquainted with him will know that there is clarity to his words and steadiness in his bearing.

"One moment, please. Judging from your equipment, you're a traveling merchant bound for Sumeru City, aren't you? Come back, please, you're going the wrong way."

"I mean, just look over there. The leaves are dense and the air grows damper. That doesn't seem like the main road leading to the city, no matter how you slice it."

"Oh dear, your waterskin is empty, isn't it?"

"Come, let me share some with you. Being in a rainforest is no reason to skimp on your water supply."

"If you drink any old water you find out here, you might next find yourself at Bimarstan, you know?"

"Of course, if that is part of your itinerary, then I suppose you have... interesting opinions."

Amidst the flurry of instructions, the lost lamb will have all the arrangements made for them before they know it.

"Um... Thank you so much! Still, uh, might I ask who you are...?"

As the other Forest Rangers look upon the traveling merchant bowing to the diminutive Forest Watcher, they cannot help but laugh.

"Pfft-haha! Ahem. This is our G— Well, Forest Watcher Tighnari."

Other than the most basic of forest maintenance, the Forest Rangers will often encounter a great number of problems whose origins lie in human hands:

Arbitrarily occupied camps, shacks built by the destruction of vegetation, domestic waste dumps that may become sources of pollution, bonfire embers that have yet to fully be extinguished...

In response to such situations, they must not only solve the problem at hand but also try to admonish the perpetrators, and yet these exhortations are not always accurately communicated.

This would improve greatly after Tighnari joined the Forest Watchers.

Part of this is his scholarly rigor — the way in which he will unceremoniously "teach" the troublemakers.

But more importantly, Tighnari is able to communicate the correct way to act and the reasons behind that in a manner most comprehensible to those he teaches.

The way he sees it, these crafts of living out in the wilds are also knowledge, and that getting people to accept knowledge is an art in and of itself.

It is far more useful to be straightforward about the other part's errors and what is at stake as opposed to dryly giving advice.

This is also why Tighnari has disagreements with the Akademiya's purveying of the Akasha Terminal.

Knowledge is, in truth, the treasure of all living things. It should be passionately embraced by those who are curious about it as opposed to becoming a tool for survival, doled out in limited amounts.

Unfortunately, as a young researcher, Tighnari did not have anywhere near the clout to stand against the Akademiya, and even now he can only do what he can in a limited capacity.

At the same time, reality does not quite match up to one's ideals—

As such, some unlucky soul getting lectured by Tighnari is no uncommon sight in Avidya Forest.

When Tighnari first arrived at Gandharva Ville, he was still a normal member of the Forest Rangers, no different from any other Forest Watcher.
"Rather than taking part in all these babbling debates about all these 'big ideas,' I might as well change the forest for the better in a practical manner, using what I’ve learned."
—This was how Tighnari originally felt when he first joined the Forest Rangers, a fresh graduate from the Amurta school who had parted ways with the Akademiya.
But he soon discovered that the Forest Rangers had significant problems of their own.
They were passionate about protecting the forest, yes, but the organization as a whole lacked rational structure and instruction with any measure of scientific rigor.
Alas, change could never come without any difficulty, and yet Tighnari was never good at leaving things to rot.
As such, the highly active Tighnari leapt into action to turn things around.
He created a rationalized forest patrol log, assigned tasks according to each person’s strengths, and regularly conducted natural history training for his fellow team members...
With the enthusiastic cooperation of his fellow rangers, the forest patrols around Avidya Forest grew ever more effective, especially around Gandharva Ville, where it could be said to be perfect.
Naturally, this knowledgeable and highly active researcher would become someone whom the Forest Rangers looked up to.
One day, Tighnari would discover that he had a new name amongst his colleagues.
Whatever the case, Tighnari would eventually prevail upon everyone to go back to calling him "Forest Watcher," "Master," or "Mr. Tighnari."
"I'm afraid 'General Watchleader' is too great a title for me to bear," or so he said.
"Heh, that actually reminded me of a joke someone once told about the title of 'General Mahamatra'..."
He did not make mention of this other reason for his refusal of that title.

There was a time when a certain vibrantly-colored flower was all the rage amongst the people of Sumeru. Many people would buy it to adorn their houses, and thus it gradually became a trend.

Unfortunately, this flower was not long for the world if removed from the rainforest, and would only last two days at best if so plucked.

Flowers that were no longer fresh would soon be discarded, left by the wayside to rot — a shame by any standard of imagination.

This could not go on. Never mind the garbage or pollution-related issues, this trend ran the risk of damaging the forest ecosystem if it persisted long enough.

However, just as the Forest Rangers were mulling over this problem, Tighnari would send out an offer of cooperation with the flower sellers in the city:

The Forest Rangers would help them gather fresh flowers for free, but that they should provide an additional service, informing those who came to purchase the flowers that if they sent them back by the second day, they would obtain a receipt that could then be exchanged within the next 3 days for a dried flower decoration.

These decorations were of course provided by Tighnari and the Forest Rangers. The option to pay for them and how much to pay would be left up to the buyer of the flowers, just as things might go at a charity bazaar.

Academic conferences are unavoidable at the Akademiya, no matter whether one is here to learn or work.
Those at the podium will wax lyrical, and those in the audience will give their support. This sight is most commonplace at such conferences.
But strictly speaking, what researcher, adrift amidst the vast sea of information, will not make mistakes in their investigations?
At one such conference that Tighnari attended, one speaker spoke of things that Tighnari knew to be untrue.
Then, he was just a bystander and a listener. Glancing around his surroundings almost subconsciously, he noticed that neither his classmates nor his teachers had said anything.
Though both his status and the scene were obstacles in his path, the rigor of knowledge eventually won out.
After all, knowledge was like a star blazing through the night sky. Nothing would divert its path.
So thinking, Tighnari raised his hand—
"My apologies. If I may interject—"
The researcher onstage was at first a bit shocked to hear his gentle voice, but reacted swiftly and invited him to elaborate.
As it turned out, Tighnari had done the right thing.
The speaker, after having processed enough of the information, accepted his corrections earnestly.
And once their exchange had ended, other students and teachers in attendance would also speak in their turn, leading to new research angles opening up for the topics discussed at the conference. Tighnari himself would also receive namecards from some well-known researchers.
Once the whole incident was over, Tighnari would heave a sigh of relief.
That was a fortunate... No, indeed, a joyous thing that those who studied alongside him also accorded knowledge the gravitas it deserved.
But he had not yet counted on something still more fortunate and joyous to occur.
When the meeting ended and Tighnari stood to leave, he heard a crisp, clear "clink!"
—Lo and behold, a Vision rolled off his garments onto the chair below.

The name Tighnari is likely derived in part from al-Tighnari (Arabic: الطغنري), an Arab botanist, traveler, physician, and poet from the period of Islamic Golden Age. Tignar is the name of the disappeared village where al-Tighnari was born and nicknamed as, which is located between the existing Albolote and Macarena in the province of Granada, modern day Spain.
Additionally, the name Tighnari also has roots in Tamazight, a major language of the Amazigh, an ethnic group indigenous to, and spread throughout, North Africa. Much of Tighnari's design has potential inspirations from traditional Amazigh clothing and accessories, and his ears and tail are those of a fennec fox, also native to North Africa, making it likely that his name is an allusion to both the Arabic and Tamazight origins.

Tighnari is 25 years old. 5’5 feet tall.

December 28th.

Tighnari could swing both ways. Males or females.

He/him/his

Fennec fox