Nova - Human Inventor

[Inquisitor D]

Basics

Name: Her Highness, the Righteous Nova that Blossoms in Dawn's Early Light, Third Princess Of The Imperial House Of Flowers and Jewel of the Fivefold Line That Holds The Flame and Sky, Ebony Class Blade Of The Diamond Court

Ancestry (Heritage): Human (Suli)

Background: Sword Scion

Class: Inventor! [Weapon Innovation] (Wizard Dedication)

Concept: A naive princess of the sword who is on An Adventure to see the world!

Description: Proper presentation is an important duty of a Diamond Court duelist. Nova always wears an immaculately pressed jacket, complete with large bow. Her hair is short, unstyled but clean. She's got amber eyes, dark brown skin, a slight build and a gleaming smile.

Nova's a very cheerful, friendly soul: always ready with some simple positivity and a (usually mangled) aphorism to back up her point. She always seems to be doing something: trying to help her friends or working on a personal project. Those few occasions where she's forced to do nothing seem to be the ones which make Nova truly uncomfortable.

Details

Why did your character join Traxler's Dragoons?

'Join' is perhaps giving Nova too much credit. She was ordered to apply for a place with the Dragoons by her family. This is not supposed to be a permanent arrangement: it's a way for the sheltered sword-maven to finally get some practical experience and make a competent official out of her! The Dragoons have more discipline and safety than wandering adventurers, while having a bit more of a dignified, practical air than the city guard. It's supposed to be more about enhancing her social standing and building connections than doing the work.

That said, Nova really likes it here. The airship is amazing: getting to fly all over the world and help people is downright exhilarating. There's always something new to discover, a new place to explore, a new creature to meet. Even if she was ordered home, she'd probably 'conveniently forget' and throw herself into some new project. She's not the best at getting along in the more disciplined environment of a military order, but always apologizes profusely for her mistakes.

• What is a personal goal your character has separate from the work of the Dragoons? Alternately, what is a cool scene or milestone you as a player want to see your character experience?
  Nova wants to win a significant sword fight one on one. This is a key mark of worth in the culture of the Diamond Court, and while she knows that word of Dragoon missions won't make it back home, this is more about proving to herself that she's got the capability to justify her title.
   
• What is a cool magic item you'd like your character to acquire in the future?
  I'd like something that either enhances or subverts her princess status. I don't have a firm item pick in mind, but my thinking is either some form of crown or outfit change. Either she gets to live her truth, and becomes a clockwork warrior princess, or it's more of a dark thing that she adopts to try and better help her friends.
   
• What does your character dislike about themself?
  Her impracticality. Nova considers herself pretty useless. Her talents and passions are very specific, and while she's able to help people as part of the Dragoons, she's convinced that her contributions to the world are largely meaningless. She can swing a sword, or tinker with machines, but that doesn't feel like it helps anyone beyond the very short term. Any time things go wrong on a mission, regardless of actual causation, Nova will chide herself: convinced that she personally is to blame for not having foreseen and prevented the problem
   
• What biases or prejudices does your character have?
  Those of a naive, positive child of privilege who is only just now starting to live in the real world first and foremost. Nova tends to believe what she's been told until she's seen hard evidence proving otherwise. In training, her fellow Dragoon cadets found her extremely easy to tease, and while she now knows to be a little more suspicious, she still lacks a frame of reference for a lot of things.
  
  Beyond that though, Nova's biggest hangup is probably devotees of the Sacred Circle. The Diamond Court is extremely Tellurian, and has a pretty hardline interpretation of the Geordic Path. It's actually linked to their right to rule: blood heirs of the court like Nova are supposed to be distant descendents of the Five Dragons, and view the Sun and Moon faithful in an extremely suspicious light. Nova tries to be open minded as an explorer and traveller, but she fully expects winged Celestial Assassins to be lurking in the rafters of any church building she visits.
   
• How does your character's highest or lowest attribute manifest itself? How obvious is it to others?
  Nova's intelligence is very focused: when it comes to something she's interested in, she can talk for hours on the subject extremely animatedly. But in regular life, she's kinda oblivious and unsure of things that are utterly routine for most people. She's usually distracted, thinking of something unrelated to the current situation, and not clear on how the world works without servants in any case. Even within her family, Nova's known as something of an empty headed embarrassment, a point of view she's internalized more than she should. She apologizes quickly and passionately if she thinks she's made a mistake
   
• What could be your character's theme song / entry music?
  Entry/Theme: A Dragon Never Yields
  Battle: The Revolutionaries
   
• What is something your character regrets?
• What is your character's most controversial opinion?
  The one aspect of the Dragoons Nova's not fond of is the fact that they hunt the dangerous things that pray on the shadows of society. She understands why they have to do it, but she'd dearly like to find a way for those adorable creatures to be able to be domesticated rather than slain. She's extremely pro monster: a stance that draws some side eye in the Dragoons.

Statblock

AC 19 HP 24/24  Fortitude +6 Reflex +7 Will +6  

Perception +4 Craft 8, Hero points: 1 Mv 25 Sword +7, d10+1 Class DC 18

Trivia - WiP

The Diamond Court are the royalty of the region Aralei calls the Vizenmach. Inhospitable sou-nor-eastern scrubland, it was settled over two centuries back by some of the less formidable clans. It was a backwater of the realm: didn't produce much beyond the food to sustain itself, not much glory, no treasure to speak of. A domain of petty lordlings and poor cousins who could only dream of greater things: ruling over folk who had little but their pride and freedom.

Then came the Twice Born King. To this day, no one knows exactly what it was: some accounts paint it as a great leech-dragon, with batlike wings and an impossible maw of fangs. Others claim the King was an ancient monarch returned to reunite Aralei, or a powerful foreign mage with a plot to build an empire on Aralean backs. Whatever the truth, the twisted falseflesh servants of the King took every village and town in the region for their own. By the time scouts from father afield discovered what'd happened, the whole area looked like a charnel house, with great alchemical flesh-vats raised to begin building their legions for the coming conquest.

Aralei considered the Vizenmach region lost, cursed and damned. They made war against the Twice Born King: a grand and glorious affair that saw many clans come together to avenge their fallen kinsmen and forstall the rise of a tyrant. It took long, bitter years, but over time the clans proved victorious over the King and his endless parade of nightmares. But towards the end of that campaign, the Aralean forces were met with some quite unexpected reinforcements.

Their fallen kinsmen.

The Flower Prince, Callian Diamante, had co-ordinated a mass evacuation effort for those lords wise enough to heed his council. He'd pulled the people of the Vizenmach together, into caverns that ran deep below the region. The Kingsmen, wary of geruilla saboutage, kept close on their trail through the darkened underways. But finally, Diamante and his people found sanctury in the dwarfen city of Karag Mons. The stout folk aren't known for charity, but they'd never turn away so many deperate refugees.

The Vizen spent years beneath the earth. First they were the guests of Karag Mons, eager laborers and helpful guests but in time, they left to build a city of their own: venturing belowground towards one of the highest peaks in the region. This was Karag Lesk, Diamante's last redoubt. As far as he knew, all of Aralei had fallen to the King. That was a thought shared by most of the Vizen. They were, as far as they knew, the last point of human resistance to a nightmare. There were few who resisted Diamate taking the throne, provided his clan continue to prove capable.

The subtler differences, folk didn't really notice until later. Few kept clean shaven in the underground; with light and sharp blades both hard to come by. It was abandoned in Karag Mons: where their kindly neighbours took such pride in their hair, and taught the still bewildered humans how best to style it for efficiency. They were guests, enjoying dwarfen hospitality: sticking to old norms would've been a grave offense. Slavery fell away as an impossible institution to maintain even before they met the dwarfs: everyone was needed to survive now, debts and blood be damned.

And their faith in the Sun and Moon... well, few of the Vizen liked to bring it up, but the Sacred Circle had not saved them from the Twice Born King. They'd found solace in the dark, with the dwarfen folk: worshippers of the dragons Dragons. Preachers in Karag Mons taught the humans of the Geodic Path, and many listened. Diamate himself supposedly bore elemental blood, purportedly from a Wood Dragon ancestor. Many looked up to him already: the idea that he was linked to ancient deities was appealing to the Vizen.

Somehow, as Callian would later lament, he went from a harried leader trying to hold his folk together in a calamitously bad situation to a divinely chosen hero-king. To his dying day, the first King of the Diamond Court regretted not trying to push back against that. Useful at the time, but calamitous later.

When the Araleans met their kin, they scarcely recognized them. The influence of their time below the earth was strong. Small differences might have been waved away, even the cowardice of fleeing ignobly into the dark... but the lapse in faith in the Sacred Circle, coupled with proclaiming Diamate a king, enraged the clan leaders. These traitorous moles were just going to do what the leech-king had tried before them: take the land in its entirety! Before the Twice Born King's forces were ven fully routed, the war turned to conflict between the Araleans and Vizen, the reunion shifting easily into a whole new conflict.

The conflict was ultimately short. Diamate's forces retreated to Karag Lesk, a bastion of stone high on the mountainside. Neighbouring clans mounted a siege as a point of principle, but they didn't last past the winter. Now, the Vizenmach is... in some ways, just what it was 200 years ago, only more so. A backwards land to the people of Aralei, full of twisted savages who scarcely understand what civilization should look like. Most are now content to leave the people alone, and that's just how Diamate's heirs, the House of Flowers, prefer it.

They still train incessently of course, both in case of some new grave threat, and in hopes of proving their superiority against any Aralean champion who feels like testing his luck against the savages. Their ways may be different now... but the pride in a good duel well won runs too deep to fade that easily.

Player Information

No real schedule issues: work from home. Really don't have anything interesting to say here. Apologies.

 

Edited September 13, 2023 by Inquisitor D (see edit history)

[foltor]

"Majesty" is for sitting monarchs. She would be a "Highness".

I like the cut of your jib, and I'm probably going to invite you.

How much do you expect her noble upbringing and bloodline to come up? Is this a 'well, I said I was a princess on paper, but it doesn't actually affect what happens in the game' or 'someone might try to assassinate me or force me to leave the Dragoons due to my standing, but I also expect to be acknowledged by other nobles and to enjoy some privileges'?

I don't know if many noble families would consider Dragoons 'respectable' - in the eyes of nobles they're probably just a notch above City guards. Then again, someone might see this as an opportunity to get a foot in the door with the reclusive House Traxler.

Your accommodations will be very spartan. Even a martial noble would likely consider it a major step down.

[Inquisitor D]

9 hours ago, foltor said:

"Majesty" is for sitting monarchs. She would be a "Highness".

I like the cut of your jib, and I'm probably going to invite you.

I have officially failed my Brit Card! ^^ Edited. Glad you like what I've got so far! Still feel like I've got more to work out/add/explain (I've pretty much just touched on Nova's home state so far) but happy to talk.

5 hours ago, foltor said:

How much do you expect her noble upbringing and bloodline to come up? Is this a 'well, I said I was a princess on paper, but it doesn't actually affect what happens in the game' or 'someone might try to assassinate me or force me to leave the Dragoons due to my standing, but I also expect to be acknowledged by other nobles and to enjoy some privileges'?

This is gonna boil down to how big a nation the Diamond Court leads, and how connected national level politics are in this world. The first is a point I felt obliged to be small with since it's your world and I didn't want to throw in a big new power randomly. And the second is something I'm not sure I have a handle on just yet. The Dragoons visit many nations, far more than a regular traveller is likely to do, right? Would nobles on the other side of the world be familiar with or care about her title?

My leaning was that the Diamond Court are a fairly small power: proud and with a long history, but not someone with a massive place on the world stage. Instead of an empire, they've a small patch of territory that's difficult to take via force of arms, especially with skilled defenders. Thus Nova's background would come up when the team are dealing with a nation that interacts with her home, and could recognize her/her title, but probably wouldn't be so relevant when we're a long way off from it.

Happy to play with that though! We can rework them into a more significant entity or just drop them and work Nova into the aristocracy of a nation you've already got in mind! I'm flexible. I was more focused on internal stuff: what Nova's life was like and how it made her like this. End result is that I'm pretty neutral on just where she falls.

6 hours ago, foltor said:

I don't know if many noble families would consider Dragoons 'respectable' - in the eyes of nobles they're probably just a notch above City guards. Then again, someone might see this as an opportunity to get a foot in the door with the reclusive House Traxler.

I could see the Diamond Court as potentially viewing the Dragoons in a pretty good light. A bunch of studious warriors who face off with the unknown? For a noble group that tries to go for the whole 'elegant duelist' thing, (I suspect Magus is a pretty common class for Nova's siblings: it's their ideal at least) it feels like the Dragoons would fit into a bit of a culture hero niche for them.

Then again... it's also possible Nova assignment was more of a punishment. I'd be down for that: Nova wouldn't intentionally do anything to get herself on the outs with her family, but she could end up there by circumstance and is generally a disappointment. This would be a relatively polite way to throw her out without an outright scandal: stress that they're Traxler's Dragoons, founded by a respected bloodline, and this is a proud moment for the court, yadda yadda.

6 hours ago, foltor said:

Your accommodations will be very spartan. Even a martial noble would likely consider it a major step down.

I'm sorry: you say spartan, I say 'airship'. ^^ So long as Nova's got a place to stow her personal things, she'll make that space her own. There's enough of a change with the bedding and food to make it remind her a little of what she's lost... but one visit to the balcony will cheer her up.

[foltor]

On 8/29/2023 at 7:32 AM, Inquisitor D said:

This is gonna boil down to how big a nation the Diamond Court leads, and how connected national level politics are in this world. The first is a point I felt obliged to be small with since it's your world and I didn't want to throw in a big new power randomly. And the second is something I'm not sure I have a handle on just yet. The Dragoons visit many nations, far more than a regular traveller is likely to do, right? Would nobles on the other side of the world be familiar with or care about her title?

My leaning was that the Diamond Court are a fairly small power: proud and with a long history, but not someone with a massive place on the world stage. Instead of an empire, they've a small patch of territory that's difficult to take via force of arms, especially with skilled defenders. Thus Nova's background would come up when the team are dealing with a nation that interacts with her home, and could recognize her/her title, but probably wouldn't be so relevant when we're a long way off from it.

For your consideration: Aralei features a warrior aristocracy very into a specific fighting style. Your region could have been settled by Araleans, but then became isolated from the mainstream of the culture for several hundred years. The Diamond Court represents an alternate evolutionary path: an Aralei that might have been, less patriarchal and into swords instead of hatchets. The rest of Aralei might view your people as barbarians, hopelessly backwards and out of touch with 'real' civilization.

Her title likely won't mean much outside of her home region, but it could come up depending on how she presents herself. If she seems important or connected, people in power could take an interest, at least enough to look into her background.

[Inquisitor D]

7 hours ago, foltor said:

For your consideration: Aralei features a warrior aristocracy very into a specific fighting style. Your region could have been settled by Araleans, but then became isolated from the mainstream of the culture for several hundred years. The Diamond Court represents an alternate evolutionary path: an Aralei that might have been, less patriarchal and into swords instead of hatchets. The rest of Aralei might view your people as barbarians, hopelessly backwards and out of touch with 'real' civilization.

Her title likely won't mean much outside of her home region, but it could come up depending on how she presents herself. If she seems important or connected, people in power could take an interest, at least enough to look into her background.

*hums* I'm down with the principle of making them Aralean. As to the separation factor... *hums* What would you say to only some of that being natural disaster, the rest being war? A natural disaster alone leading to that much parallel evolution seems hard to justify. I also have the religious gap of Nova's folk being Telluric while Araleans are Celestial. Given the hostility between the two faiths, something had to crop up to cause an outright split.

Rough thinking aloud: perhaps the highlands were hit by some kind of monster invasion. I'm not sure what creatures would best fit, but there were a lot of them and they were strong. Aralei assumed the people of the region were all dead, and they had a ton of monsters to fight. In reality, a fair number of those individuals found shelter below ground: becoming refugees with dwarven cities in the area, and over time establishing their own settlements. There'd be some cultural bleedover, a lot of thankfulness to their new hosts... and probably some adoption of their faith.

When the infestation was over, Aralei found itself with a new neighbour. One who'd spent years building highly secure fortresses, training themselves for combat in their own way, and that now swore loyalty to the 'darkling gods'. That has to have led to war.

Long term though... I dunno. I could see it being a lingering grudge, the mountains still proudly independent and a bit of a thorn in Aralei's side. (potentially giving them a bit more international relevance). Or they could've essentially been slowly absorbed into the empire in all but name: forging closer ties with the capitol and effectively becoming a province. I can absolutely see the aristocratic warriors sneering at the Diamond Court as provincial, looking down on them...

*hums* IDK! Do you have a preference to how to play that, should we go that route? (Also apologies in my delay in getting stuff together. Work's been murder these last few days.)

[Inquisitor D]

Added in a rough version of this national history stuff to Nova's sheet. Happy to edit as much of it as you want, just wanted to jot down something rough to refer back to. (Still need to work out what the locals call their nation, but Vizenmach works as an outsiders' name I think.)