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Cassandra Viseri Description The House Visieri is a modestly successful trade family within Southport. They have next to no influence; their name carries no weight; their vaults are near empty, nearly all income immediately spent on supporting the “proper” lifestyle and keeping up appearances. The family finds itself in the middle; disliked by the population as wealthier than them, and looked down on by other families. This is the world Cassandra was born into. The youngest child, and least favoured. No hope of inheritance, and no way to make her own fortune – all the family’s funds used by her older siblings in their schemes. The family is not cruel, but in a culture with pretentions to meritocracy and an obsession with shows of status, respect is impossible to earn without assets to leverage. And so Cassandra grew bitter. Her feelings towards her family are complicated; she does not hate them, but resents their ineptitude. Cassandra knew that she would have to make her own way if she wanted more. She began to make preparations and sharpen her mind into a weapon. She wanted to rule. Reshape the Republics into a different society; a strong society that can defend itself against a determined enemy, a fairer society where gender and name did not dictate your future, a more prosperous society that wouldn’t be left behind by the progress of technology. To rule, she needed to study administration and logistics. She began to work closely with the network of craftsmen, dock hands and shipmasters the family relied on. As her older siblings travelled on trade missions and signed contracts, she moved goods. She needed to make people recognise her greatness. During parties and banquets, while her family fought for scraps of influence and played at intrigue, she studied people. She learned to read them and manipulate them. Driven by the pursuit of knowledge, she began to look into magic theory. However, she had little patience for dedicated study, and was not one who could listen to rules and decrees of decrepit men. Frustrated, she began to seek information about a different, more intuitive kind of magic. Thus, she began to read occult writings. Much of it turned out to be made up drivel, but she felt deep in her heart and mind that there was an answer. She would just have to find it. Cassandra will not settle for money, or fame, or political influence. She wants to be feared, loved and worshipped, and use her “friends” to create a better world. Mortal Qualities Inspires devotion [+4] Cassandra is both beautiful and charismatic. At lavish banquets and in humbler settings, she has spent years purposefully training herself to enthrall. Administrator [+2] The stewardship of manufacturing and shipping requires a skillset sorely lacking among glory-seeking merchants. Cassandra knows how to organise things effectively, and who best to delegate tasks to. Flair for drama [+2] The difference between forgettable and memorable is largely in the presentation. Whether through appearance or actions, Cassandra knows how to make an impression that sticks. Drawbacks Fascinated with the macabre [-2] Blood gives us life. Emotions shape how we see the world. Desires drive us. There must be power there. Whether misguided or not, Cassandra is fascinated with the idea of dark magic and can rarely resist the chance to learn about it or experiment with it - even if it proves to be a waste of time. In social settings, she can occasionally forget herself and come across as cold, cruel, or plain creepy. Life of luxury [-2] Servants, silk sheets and good wine make you soft. Cassandra is very unused to any form of physical hardship, lacks stamina, strength and agility, as well as often finding herself highly annoyed and unable to focus if her surroundings are not up to her standards. Starting in: Southport. Her birthplace, and a major hub of trade - what could be a better seat of power? What do you want out of the game? Start a cult! Cassandra also has strong opinions on how a society should be, and has in mind many progressive reforms. This isn't really a "the ends justify the means" situation, though. She feels a strong sense of manifest destiny and creating a better society would increase her personal glory. Zeppelin Insanity fucked around with this message at 21:49 on Feb 7, 2017 |
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Feb 5, 2017 22:10
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Valhawk posted:Feedback: The idea is that Inspires Devotion is more meant for direct persuasion, gaining of allies and followers. Flair for drama is sort of the flip side of it - sending a negative message, causing fear in theatrical ways. Horse head in the bed kind of thing. My intent with the character was that she'd have to rely heavily on her followers to interact with the world, and would be fairly powerless when isolated from them, only able to rely on charm and wits. Valhawk posted:Question: What got Cassandra involved in the occult? My first brush with the occult was... twelve years ago? I was barely a girl, then. I saw a play about the Lifebringers. Before the massacre. The experiments they performed, finding out ways of bending life force to their will fascinated me. The fact that the Lifebringers allowed themselves to be brought to their knees by scared rabble, and abandoned that area of research made me angry. Knowledge cannot be evil, and the pursuit of knowledge is a noble cause. The seeds planted by that play matured in my mind. There has to be more to magic than the Schools let on. If knowledge is forbidden, that means someone is scared of it. They're scared it can break their monopoly on power. And they should be. Valhawk posted:Also, if given a choice between gaining a core of worshipful devotees and keeping her fortune, which would she choose? I don't have a fortune. My family does. I refuse to be defined by them. For now, I use them, but not for much longer. I will forge my own path and make a new name for myself. I will give power to those who follow me and together we'll reshape the Republics. Zeppelin Insanity fucked around with this message at 21:16 on Feb 7, 2017 |
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Feb 7, 2017 02:55
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I've beefed up the backstory a bit. I wrote the initial one while having the worst headache.
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Feb 7, 2017 21:51
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Valhawk posted:Question: Is there a particular scholar or a particular occult philosophy that has caught Cassandra's eye? There is no particular scholar. Due to tight grip on magic that the Schools have, publishing things that have the potential of breaking their monopoly is tempting fate at best. Writing about forbidden knowledge is far from best. Therefore, most writings are anonymous. There are three core ideas that Cassandra is particularly interested in: First and foremost, the idea of drawing anima from more than one person. Some writers seem to think the principle that allows rune-carved objects to draw anima from the wielder rather than the carver may be applied in other ways if properly understood - such as by appropriately structured rituals, or room-sized permanent rune carvings. As with all occult writings, there is no evidence of success other than the word of the author - and most seem to prefer writing about theory rather than risk experimenting and being found. Second, Cassandra feels that blood, as an intrinsic component of life, must have magic potential - either as a source of anima, carrier of effects or something entirely new. So far she has not been able to find any writings on the subject and is working on her own intuition. Thirdly, the darker past of the Lifebringers is something she is very keen to find out about. As mentioned before, she feels that knowledge in itself is inherently good and suppression of knowledge is inherently evil. She feels angry that the Lifebringers didn't defend themselves adequately and instead changed their practices to suit the whims of (as she sees it) weak-minded rabble. One of her plans is to engineer a downfall and expulsion from the Order of a Lifebringer, and use his\hers enmity towards the order to obtain information and encourage further research. If she ever learned the Life rune, she would definitely experiment with Attack and Curse modifying runes. Zeppelin Insanity fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Feb 8, 2017 |
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Feb 8, 2017 02:59
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Valhawk posted:Cassandra - Tell me about the sibling who currently stands to inherit the family fortune. What's your relationship with them? Ah. You wish to hear of my brother, Marcus. Hmph. Everyone does. Though "inherit the wreckage of the family" is more apt. He is my oldest sibling, nearing thirty. If I am the black sheep, he is as white as Northern snow. I am not entirely convinced that he was birthed rather than walking out of a flattering painting in the Hall of Ancestors. Dignified eyes, sharp goatee, wide shoulders clad in gleaming bronze - a noble figure if there ever was one. Having received the most funds and attention from our parents, he is the best educated and least incompetent of the bunch. He... was kind to me. Is, rather. I'm getting ahead of myself. When I was a girl, he spent a lot of time with me, telling me amazing stories about the world. With him, I imagined the godlike mountains of the North and the deep halls of the dwarves. Most of all, he spoke of golden deserts and the jewel-cities of the Emirate. He had a high opinion of the Orcs and their culture. I believe he saw - or wished to see - himself in their steadfast strength. At the same time, he cautioned me not to think of them like many of us do. They are not "noble savages" - their culture is, if anything, more advanced than ours. He did bring back some art from his travels, and his words ring true. I hope to visit the desert cities one day and see more for myself. He told me of the dwarven miracle of iron, though he could not explain it adequately. He told me of the great devotion of Djikstera and of the Hero King in the west. I remember those moments fondly. Unfortunately, he is unfit for this world. He belongs in a fairy tale, or an idealised play. His heart and spirit are strong and good. He always sees the best in people. That's why he is doomed to fail. He has no stomach for politics, and his mind is feeble, poisoned by the foolish teachings of our father and mother. We couldn't be more different, but he understands my desire to rid myself of the family name and make my own way. I think I understand him, too; the burden of preserving crumbling legacy rests heavily on his shoulders. I truly wish him luck. Valhawk posted:additional detail about where exactly your character is starting The House Visieri is a fitting metaphor for House Visieri. It is an old, grand mansion located in the heart of the city, where other great Houses live in old, grand mansions. The inside is richly decorated with items from all the nations in the world. Thick Orcish carpets muffle all footsteps, fires burn in Dwarven braziers. The beds are covered in the best Sidonian silk. The wood is intricately carved and wonderfully inlaid with gold... but that is only part of the house. The outside is a patchwork of a dozen short-lived fashions. What started out as classic Southport architecture, timeless in it's simplicity, has been transformed by the last two Patriarchs into a tasteless mess. Where repairs were called for, they always pursued the latest fad. Like the vain fools they were, they focused on the façade while the foundations crack - there is only so much money left now, and they wished to be seen. As their incompetence drove income lower and lower, sections of the house first became neglected, then abandoned. The servants are told not to go there and the family pretends they do not exist anymore. I often walk the east wing. I do not enjoy it. The dust and mould disgust me. The waste makes me angry. And that is exactly why I go. I need fuel for my struggle to sharpen myself. Contentment is the enemy. I will not allow comfort to dull my mind and blind me to the world. I cannot - must not - settle for mediocrity like the rest.
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Feb 14, 2017 11:59
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