rabidbacon

Regalia

@Sylvan Sorry to see you go, but all the best!

Umbra: The Abyssal Connection

Posting within 48 hours!

Regalia

<Snipped quote by rabidbacon>
We were planning to have Cetra have an extremely well-maintained border.... rigorous seas, and a big wall along the border. Kinda can envision a North/South Korea type of divide there.

@Tlaloc

Whoah... ok. I now have this sudden idea where maybe... I could take a page from N. Korea defectors.

Considering having my Regalia working for your theocratic Templar force to clean up some secrets but eventually she couldn't take it anymore and she went to the other side (Votara). Was almost killed in the escape, but that's when the Dominant came to her.

Again, just spitballing here, open to ideas or reverting to others if you're not into it.

Regalia

<Snipped quote by rabidbacon>

So it's funny you should mention that, and I'd be happy to work with you as well, but I have also already been writing Votara as having the Regalias of Ramuh (Lighting) and Garuda (Wind) working together, with the Regalia of Garuda an NPC unless they get nabbed by a player later. I'll send you a DM and we can put our heads together on this one!

@Sylvan

Sounds great, looking forward to it! Though, are we permitted to do something like this, @Mirandae? I worry that having all three in one nation might run counter to something you had planned.

Though! If Votara is some sort of border / buffer standing against @Tlaloc's prosperous theocratic nation, maybe it makes sense to have them there? Perhaps my Regalia is also harvested for resources alongside being used as some sort of soldier-y person (as she is a criminal and may have less rights than your usual upstanding citizen).

Just brainstorming, very open to suggestions!

Regalia

<Snipped quote by rabidbacon>

I'm currently writing up Votara for my character

@Sylvan

Would you like to collaborate? It might be interesting if a nation has 2 Regalias in its clutches.

Also, I like how your Regalia is into disaster cleanup - would you like a relation/connection? One angle I ca
see here is that my character is forced to work alongside yours as a form of community service, and Leviathan being all about water, it sounds like it works well hand in hand.

Regalia

Is anyone considering Votara or Dalmasca? Am considering changing my character's home to a place with more rivers.

The Sweetest Con [ rabidbacon and sweetestsins ]

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"I look just about like everyone else," he hissed back, though he made an effort to step deeper into the shadows at her observation. Cullen watched her work -or rather, he struggled to do so, as he could barely see her- and gained a new respect for all Leliana's agents. The speed at which they disappeared into darkness like they were made of it was astounding. "Multiplying...? So the previous gathering was much smaller than this, I take it."

It was difficult to hold his tongue throughout the proceedings, hearing all the complaints hefted upon the Inquisition's vulnerabilities and shortcomings. The worst of it was that they weren't wrong in their suffering. He racked his mind for ways to solve the problems without aggravating the situation by rationing, and the only solution that came to mind was to simply find ways to get more of the lyrium, even if it meant expending a few forces to secure it. He had considered putting together a group to raid some of the Circle towers for stores, but given the carnage that Templars have dealt, the veil was no doubt thin in those places. Demons were all but a guaranteed presence there, making whatever efforts at reconnaissance there a costly gamble.

He waited and looked around, not at all pleased with the boldness of those who had gathered. He had to wonder if the same was happening to the few Templars who worked beneath the Inquisition's banner. His eyes tried to identify those whose hoods fell as they made their impassioned cries; were they healers? Or those who worked to support field agents in combat and defenses? Perhaps their services could be turned away from the arcane as they managed this tricky situation. That's all this was, he reminded himself. The situation was the problem, and not the people.

As soon as the gathering dissipated, Cullen would follow Hyacinth away from the crowd, but not without looking over his shoulder. Was he really that out of place?

"Do you know any of them?" he asked the elf, fatigue etched all over his face. "I'd like to find the ringleader of this... this gathering. There's always a leader in these things, and once we get them to stop, the rest should fall into place. The last thing we need right now is our own agents raiding the Inquisition's supply lines." He sighed, crossing his arms. "But this is hardly the place nor the time to discuss. And I suspect you'll have to report to Leliana before anything else. Tell her what you heard today, exactly as you heard them. It should make sure we're on the same page, when I suggest the raids on enemy supply lines."

It was a desperate effort, to be sure, but these were desperate times. They had to use all that they had, and unfortunately, those happened to be the lives of the very agents of the Inquisition.

"I intend to oversee the first one, personally." His hand instinctively went for the dagger at his belt as he said the words. "I will show them that we are doing all we can."

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"Well, that was frightfully quick," whispered Alba, as she awoke to the sound of people coming down to open her cell door. "This must mean something very good, or this is the end of the line for me." The pirate eyed each of her imprisoned crew as she passed them, and she mouthed a farewell to all, with a grin. "Addio! Take care of the ship for me, Giuseppe. And you, Alessandra... make certain the sails are repaired. Marco! Do not forget to - agh!" A well placed hit to the ribs silenced the captain, and she was forced to make the rest of the walk to the court with a gag.

Her eyes adjusted to the strange warmth of the hall's abundant sunlight, after hours in the cell, and as soon as they caught sight of the Inquisitor and her advisors, they widened with fascination. Here were the very people who held her life in their hands; Alba wondered why they seemed so much smaller than she thought they would look. Ophelia herself was dwarfed by the ugly throne she sat upon; far better for her bottom to be seated on something more regal than this, thought the pirate. Finally, her gag was removed, and as soon as it was done, the pirate immediately spat on the ground, leaving spatters of blood upon the stone floor. A palpable ripple of disapproval moved through those present.

"This is Alba Selvaggio of Rialto, present here for associations to murder, coercion and the threat of violence," announced a graceful voice, one whose sounds were familiar to the pirate's ears - a fellow Antivan. "She has claims that she and her crew are innocent, but there is plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise. It did not take much time to find out that this woman is the leader of a crew of raiders; I have some old records from my associates that happen to mention her... particularly, as a great leveler of any merchant company's balance sheets. In a word, she is a pirate, Inquisitor."

Alba licked her lips, giving the people before her a bloody grin. Unlike most who appeared before the Inquisition's judgment, the captain stood tall, as if calmly awaiting for death was a common affair. Despite her apparent disdain for the proceedings, she still held her tongue and had enough tact to let the Inquisitor speak first.

The Sweetest Con [ rabidbacon and sweetestsins ]

@sweetestsins i'm dying. i can't believe she's sitting in judgment this quickly 🤣
I love how the scenes have two different vibes. Hyacinth would give Ophelia a run for her money as Inky!

Regalia

Here's a submission, still open to changes here and there, but this is a general idea!

‎

Regalia of Leviathan

^{_{s o u n d t r a c k}}

‎

Harriet "Harry" Farkas

_{P R E S E N C E}

---

Harry is a simple person, provided one understands what her goals are in a given moment. Unfortunately, she is also an excellent liar and an exquisite bullshit artist if the situation calls for it, which makes it difficult to decipher her intentions. Whatever the objective is on a given mission, however, one can count on her single-minded pursuit of it, even at the cost of her own life. This determined energy is interpreted as either manic optimism or bull-headed recklessness, depending on who you ask.

Having spent much of her life in organized crime, Harry is perfectly comfortable working in a hierarchical system, knowing when to give way and when to wield authority. Teamwork comes naturally to her; she tends to get bored when working on her own. With regards to appearances, when on a clean up job, Harry will usually be spotted wearing the uniform of a sanitation worker, or perhaps, even a lab coat - whatever is appropriate to get the work done. When on parole, she is frequently spotted wearing a light-colored suit, tailored well. When asked, Harry jokingly says that they are impulse buys, but everyone knows it's the syndicate, reminding her that they still own her and that they are using her newfound connection to the Dominant as a dog-whistle PR move against their rivals.

_{C H R O N I C L E}

---

Many criminals fall into the life because of circumstance, and Harry is no exception. Having little in the way of good guardians or reliable resources, turning to thievery and fraud was all but a forgone conclusion. Of course, Harry was never good at it, at first, and she spent a good part of her youth serving time in correctional facilities. To an upstanding civilian, it seemed like a place of stagnation, but to those within, it functioned quite a bit like little recruiting centers for the criminal syndicates that worked hand in hand with their corporate clients. As soon as Harry was free, she found that work already waited for her with The Revenant Coalition.

Harry started as the lowest of the low, but she found the arrangement to her liking. There were warm beds, free meals and even an education, for those who served with full loyalty. In time, her responsibilities grew, and eventually, she found her place among the Revenants as part of the sanitation crew - in plainer words, hitmen and garbage collectors all-in-one. They did the job, and they cleaned up well, after. So good were they with this work, that the Revenants hired them out to other allied syndicates in Spiera to help them keep their tracks clean.

Everything would have gone on well for Harry, but of course, the good times could not last. One spoiled daughter of a high-ranking Revenant was implicated in a serious murder case, and to save face, Harry was made to take the fall. She complied, expecting an easy time of it, but little did she know of the murder's implications - she spent much of the time narrowly avoiding death, attacked by other prisoners left and right, with the authorities turning a blind eye to the fights. Despite the fight in her, there was only so much Harry could do against them all.

It was in one of those dire moments that Leviathan came to her; she was caught in the showers, back against the wall, a rusty shiv stuck in her gut. Blood poured from several other wounds as she struggled to fight off a pack of other prisoners, all who were intent on receiving a reward for the bounty on Harry's head. As the life leaked out of her, Harry suddenly found herself wishing she could follow the river of red down the drain and out into the ocean, where she could finally be clean.

She did not know it, but as she fell into that trance, the room inexplicably filled with water, drowning all those present. Harry herself nearly drowned, too, but the waters abated quickly enough to avoid that unfortunate end. Without much in the way of aid, she dragged herself out of the showers and passed out, saved only because she had been spotted by the staff in the control room. As she came to, they informed her of what happened, but not without making her sign a few papers. In her groggy state, she'd essentially signed off on her rights to privacy, and agreed to what was explained to her as lifelong community service, in exchange for better parole conditions. In any case, Harry has made some attempts at escape, but it's tough to disappear when the world has its eyes on you. She's not the type to give up easy, though.

_{H O M E}

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Spiera is a temperate country known for its metal ores, its expensive wines, beautiful ships, and its historic temples. Much has been done to preserve the ancient parts of the city, and seen from the drones, one is struck by the clear divide of darkness between old and new during the evenings. It is the wealthy who choose to live archaic lives at a leisurely pace, their privacy secured by private guards and a lack of government and corporate surveillance. Those who are less fortunate live in crowded, glowing cities that surround the chip factories and the ore refineries. The country's wineries are run only by a select group of religious orders, and they maintain the standards and the distributions of the wines. Drinking Spieran wine is said to be a blissful experience, and many of the exports are bought up in advance to satisfy the demands of Anima's followers alone - her worshippers make up a good majority of the nation's religious groups. Aside from Anima's sects, the second largest group of worshippers focus their fervor and faith on Ultima, the listener of Wishes.

_{T R I V I A}

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Likes:
- Mint chocolate ice cream
- Working in a group
- Clean, orderly surroundings
- Loyalty
Dislikes:
- Disorderly, slovenly places
- Rum raisin ice cream
- People who give up too easily
- Traitors
Random Things:
- The pale irises are contacts; she has blue eyes. This was a recent change done after a PR consultant told her it would make her look less pedestrian and more ethereal. She usually wears black browline glasses, when out of the public eye.
- She is about 5'9".
- When Harry was actively working for the Revenants as a hitman, her favored approach is to get close to the target and take them by surprise. She says it's less messy that way.
- Harry is now at the top of organ donor lists, just in case.
- Actually not a very good swimmer, just competent enough to not drown.

_{S O C I A L}

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In Progress! Tag me for inquiries.

Regalia

By the way, are there any canon crime syndicates that already exist? Or do you prefer that we make our own?

What I had in mind was a syndicate of sorts that provides protection, blackmail or espionage services for corporations. Which part of the world would be most notorious for such things?