A lalafell of unusually high stature, much taller than the average and even the tallest Eorzean-born lalafells.
His hair, once fully dark blue as beautiful as the ceruleum lakes of his native land, it is now sprinkled with white strands of hair which he gained from the many years of stress and trauma he endured in the Garlean Military. He is often seen with a large variety of hairstyles, going from short hair to long in a small matter of weeks due to his garlean heritage increasing the speed at which his hair grows rather significantly compared to other races, forcing him to cut his hair quite often.
Upon his forehead sits the so called "third eye" all Pureblood Garleans have, not blackened, but fully functional, making him an oddity amidst mixed-blood garleans.
His eyes have golden yellow coloration, which seems to shiny brightly and unnaturaly in low light, a result of ceruleum-based experiments he had to undergo during his service to the Empire.Vanholzen carries himself around with an air of professionalism and discipline, something he tries to show through his constant attempt at acting well-mannered and respectful, often having to be reminded that he is allowed to relax a little and let loose.
Due to the many years he spent in the lands of Ilsabard, he prefers wearing thick and multi-layered clothing, often robes, heavy coats or jackets with pouches, which are always filled with multiple ceruleum cartridges, all manufactured and filled by himself. Very rarely seen without gloves unless he is with people he may consider friends, revealing his black nails he goes to great lengths to care for and maintain.When speaking with others, he tends to speak as if he was much older than he truly is, often calling him self an "Old Man" past his prime, his youthful lalafell appearance and real age easily betraying this notion. Due to this quirk, he tends to refer to younger people as "Younglings" in an affectionate manner, treating them with the attitude of a supportive uncle, gaining him the nickname of "Gramps" with some of his younger friends.

Born of a female Gerlean Medicus and a male Plainsfolk who wandered too far up north, Vanholzen was born in the fields of Ilsabard.
He spent his childhood years living outside the walls of the capital with his father, living amidst some of the smaller tribes of Garleans that, while still a part of the empire, preferred a simpler life outside of its walls, because his father was never able to raise his son anywhere else, chastised by the other residents and cultures of Ilsabard for the sin of courting a Garlean woman, something that at the time was seen as taboo due to their inability to manipulate magicks.He was born an oddity, a mixed-blood child, born of one of the most magically gifted races in all the lands, unable to use any type of magicks. Other mixed-blood children, contrary to the superstitions running rampant at the time, were born with the ability to manipulate aether, shown by their "third eye" being blackened and non-functional, keeping them distinctly separate from pureblood-garleans, but Vanholzen's was fully functional, his body bigger than any lalafellin children, which allowed him to pass as one of the many Pureblood children that lived in his tribe, if only a tad smaller.At the time, him and his father were welcome into Garlean life, for others took pity on them, for the lived through and understood the struggles and plight of the pureblooded Garleans, being ostracized, seen as lesser and a danger to other's way of life for the sin of being born as they were, his father seen as a betrayer for daring to not only fall in love with a Garlean, but to have an accursed child with one.
He does not remember much of his mother, as she was only a part of his life only until he was 4, having to leave in order to assist with the military, never to return.
The only memento of his mother he carries with him, is the name he was given. Unlike his father and other plainsfolk, who choose their own last name at reaching adulthood, his mother had asked his father to give their son her own surname of Holzen, with his father choosing to add the suffix of "Van" he had heard other people have, unaware of its meaning in Garlean culture and military.

During his teenage years, his father moved with him to the capital of Garlemald, working as an engineer while his son continued to learn about Garlean culture. He received much of the same treatment in the capital as he did before, being accepted as a fellow Garlean by the adults and elders of the race, and being drafted into the military at age 15.
He swore loyalty to Solus early in his military years, admiring him for his achievements, fascinated by all the stories he had heard of the man's early like and seeing him as an example to follow.He was quick to pick up arms and understanding their use, being able to maintain his own gun only a year into his military career, and while the upper officials treated him like just another soldier, he could feel that other soldiers, pureblood who had lived in the capital their whole life, did not see him the same.
Only a few years into his drafting, he had gained his first major campaign, to assist in the invasion and conquering of Dalmasca, enlisted as part of the frontline artillery after the their arrival, followed by long six months during the siege of the Dalmascan Capital.
During his time out in the siege, Ozen quickly gained the attention of his superiors by his discipline and brutality, capable of killing almost anyone that they pointed him at.After the capital of Dalmasca was conquered, word about the brutal mixed-blood soldier began to spread around the ranks, gaining him quite the reputation, only growing further with his further deployment to Nagxia and the other regions of Othard, however he did not take part in the invasion and conquering of Doma, as he had been sent back to Nagxia and Dalmasca to serve as a "peacekeeper" and stomp any rebels or civil unrest, his name coming to be feared in later years.
Unfortunately, the years he spent out in the military prevented him from being there for the tragic passing and funeral of his father, who had died long other engineers during the creation of an improved Ceruleum engine.

As the years went by, Ozen continued to raise in the ranks as those who watched him knew he was deserving of them, the older higher officials continuing to see him as a fellow Garlean simply giving his all for the empire. But not all saw him the same way..
As the years went by and the empire's ideals changed, as it continued to gain more and more power, the younger generations began seeing others non-Pureblooded Garleans as lesser.Long were the days where Garleans shared the same struggles, where they stood together as a nation held together by shared pain its people felt from the discrimination and oppression they felt; Now the nation was a mighty, powerful empire pushed forward by the sheer power its people had, all made possible by the ingenuity of the Pureblood Garleans that pushed it forward... or so the younger generations thought.
Everyone else was inferior, every non-garlean was a savage, and those under the Empire's banner were merely lucky to be a part of something greater, a sentiment that grew more and more powerful with each new successful campaing.With every new rank he gained, the ire he drew towards himself grew, as the new officials didn't think a mixed-blood should be allow to be anything other than a simple conscript soldier.In the later years, as Garlean scientists continue to look for ways to empower their soldiers, Vanholzen is used in experiments to infuse soldiers with greater strength by utilizing some of the aetherial properties of Ceruleum, an experiment that he barely survives from, but from then on marks him, making his eyes perpetually give off an ominous glow.
Following the campaigns to Ala Mhigo, Ozen Vanholzen earns himself the title of "Red Butcher", as every one of his appearances saw him covered in the blood of those unfortunate enough to be alive near him.
After the Bozjan Incident, he was sent out to assist in the culling of the Bozjan Resistance for a while, now used to being thrown around and constantly transferred to anywhere his superiors needed people killed.
Around this time, he had risen to the rank of Tribunus Militum, a promotion that came with a great deal of controversy and opposition from younger Pureblooded soldiers and other Pureblooded Tribunus and Legatus, abhorred by the idea of someone they considered not a "True Garlean" to be allowed a rank so high, but older officials, and his own Legatus choosing to ignore these cries, as they were the few remaining people that saw him as one of their own.
He was given his own personal armor, as well as a gunblade of his own which he helped engineer, a weapon which he named "Bonesplitter", a weapon built to maim, and if needed, blow up anything in its path.

As tensions grew amidst the Empire, with the older generations passing or being replaced by younger blood, those not born Pureblood continued to be seen as lesser, as false Garleans not dissimilar to the "savages" they were conquering.
By this point in his life, Ozen was seen as merely an attack dog for the military, a brutal mutt they would send out whenever a Legatus needed a group of rebels or insurgents to be killed as swiftly or brutally as possible, never allowing him to remain in a single Legion, constantly transferred around, his mind now fully numb to the act of killing for the Empire.The passing of the First Emperor, Solus, only made things worse for him, as he had a very clear dislike for his successors, seeing them as unfit for the throne, Varis being the man he openly disliked the most.
The news of Gaius' death were the last straw, by now none of the men he had grown up respecting and seeing him as a fellow Garlean were a part of the military or any high ranking seat, every person in power was someone born and raise a Pureblood, who only lived through the best times of the empire, having long forgotten why Garlemald came to be come a nation, hating and humiliating any they saw as "savages".
And thus, after 30 long years of serving the Garlean Empire, he deserted.
He left during the height of the War of Succession, handing his weapon and armor to an old retired officer that had helped him get as far as he did, and then leaving for the forests between Nagxia and Doma to live for the next few years, away from all civilization.
When he decided to come out of the forests, he chose to head out to Eorzea in one of the ships, having heard whispers in the wind of the fall of the Empire, Garleans, both conscript and Pureblood now leaving the destroyed capital to seek shelter in other places with some still choosing to rebuild their home.He moved to Ul'dah as soon as he arrived to Eorzea, the nearest large city he knew would be likely to welcome someone like him, to start a new life, hoping to one day move further south to the birthplace of his father in Limsa.

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"Where's your home"A short story where Vanholzen has to deal with the overwhelming realization that he no longer has a place he can call his home.