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09:36, 19th April 2024 (GMT+0)

Character Workshop - Riven.

Posted by Master of GamesFor group 0
Master of Games
GM, 57 posts
Sun 25 Jul 2021
at 23:39
  • msg #16

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

Still makes sense. :) It seems like they have followed the classical organised crime group trajectory - trying to follow certain principles and stick out for each other at first, at the expense of the rest of society, but eventually the pressure that results from their line of work makes such conduct impractical. They are forced to adapt, to cross lines they didn't cross previously, and those who adapt most ruthlessly will survive and thrive.

Therefore, whoever comes out on top in this power struggle could be a serious threat to New Atlantis... if anyone ever does for long enough.

Whether that happens or not, it would also be an interesting angle for any of your character's dealings with organised crime groups in New Atlantis. Much of it would seem familiar, I'd bet.

It occurs to me that the Nautilian may have let those defectors go with little hindrance on purpose. Volatile, ambitious elements liable to blow up into infighting are exactly what she doesn't need at this stage. Or at least, it is what she would claim later.

By the way, do I understand correctly that you settled on the Reformed?

Also, any ideas on the hero name? If any. If there is one - was it changed from what she used before?
Riven
player, 9 posts
Mon 26 Jul 2021
at 01:51
  • msg #17

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

It feels like all the names I've considered are either already attached to existing characters, pretentious or just don't fit.

I'll keep thinking about it, but it's possible I'll end up running with the idea that this character no longer feels comfortable using the moniker she went under in her previous life but hasn't found anything else she like since. Maybe she'll start out with something generic like Mag and see about working out a better sense of identity down the line.

Edit: It's nothing special, but maybe Ferra?

I'm pretty set on playing The Reformed, but I think I might still try and put together another character before the deadline.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:50, Mon 26 July 2021.
Riven
player, 10 posts
Mon 26 Jul 2021
at 04:53
  • msg #18

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

So a question I'm going to throw your way (not because I can't potentially answer it myself but because I'm trying to get a sense of how these systems could work):

Working off the angle that Ferra was taken down in the aftermath of an incident that went badly wrong and saw her all but left for dead, how would that see her end up in New Atlantis? Would it make sense perhaps for this to be something that ties into ATLAS' activities and some kind of international arrangement for imprisoning/rehabilitating superpowered beings?
Master of Games
GM, 58 posts
Mon 26 Jul 2021
at 05:20
  • msg #19

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

Ferra might work - was that what she was using before?

As for the other thing, well, maybe. One problem I can see is that if there is such an agreement, both sides in the Cold War are going to renege on it on a regular basis. Superpeople are an invaluable asset. Even more so if they are relatively obscure and no team or family of other superpeople is likely to come for them. The Suicide Squad model (not called that in-universe, I think, and not exactly identical, but the core premise is similar) is quite popular. Stuff like that is part of why so many superpeople preferred to relocate to New Atlantis.

ATLAS may or may not be above such methods. However, they may have decided that someone like her (not too powerful, not too evil) is better brought to New Atlantis and reintegrated into society. Perhaps there were several groups involved in the incident, which would put an added incentive for all parties to keep things aboveboard?

I am curious as to what her relationship with ATLAS would be, though. What did you have in mind? Did they just bring her there and leave her in the care of some local government or non-government organisation specialising in this sort of thing? Was she rehabilitated in their own program and then let go? Is she basically on probation, complete with an ATLAS probation officer? Can they call upon her in an emergency? Any of those options could be valid, and there are probably others I haven't thought of yet.
Riven
player, 11 posts
Mon 26 Jul 2021
at 17:05
  • msg #20

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

Ferra might work - was that what she was using before?

No. Right now I would tentatively suggest that one of her handlers had given her the name Kashu (which I’m led to believe is a Hindi name that can mean “Iron Spear”) but she certainly wouldn’t want to retain that label in her new life. All this is a fresh start – a severing of ties.

Really all of this was just me going through the background questions and suddenly being hit by the realisation that this game demanded a reasonable explanation for the character finding her way to New Atlantis. I asked specifically because I didn’t have any preconceptions about that sort of thing and want to check whether you did before ploughing on myself in the wrong direction. I was backfilling, read through the setting details again for guidance and found myself thinking “Maybe I can slot in ATLAS here...”

Still very much spitballing here:

She and hers were victims of a trap set by ATLAS (either pitting two groups at odds so that they could pick the bones for their leaders or a more traditional ambush) and Ferra ended up taking the fall off the back of a moment of reluctance to really push her powers and likely cause significant loss of life. As an ATLAS job they weren’t specifically beholden to hand her over to anyone – it wasn’t on the record – and they ran her through their own system for a time after concluding that she was just a kid being exploited rather than some hardcore ideologue. There was something salvageable there.

She was transferred to one of their New Atlantis holdings for further evaluation and potential training, in part considering whether it would be possible to ease her into a civilian role where her powers could be useful – construction, security or a technological field for example. She wasn't keen. Violence was first and foremost what she knew, and she wanted a chance to fight for something good now she'd had a glimpse of what that was.

What happens after that is kinda up in the air. I definitely like the idea of her being on probation (perhaps being tagged, having an assigned probation officer as you said, and being on this team under terms of a deal with ATLAS) but the nature of all of that is a bit hard to pin down without knowing what sort of team we’re on and how it came about. The pieces will fit together differently if we’re a bunch of impromptu misfits rather than something actually put together by an official agency for example.
Master of Games
GM, 62 posts
Mon 26 Jul 2021
at 21:07
  • msg #21

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

Sure, that would work. We can hash out those details later.

It would make sense for ATLAS to either have a rehabilitation program of its own or to be connected to a government rehabilitation program in New Atlantis. Presumably she was there long enough for them to accept that she can be allowed to go outside of their facility, at least, although still with some supervision. Then maybe she was assigned to the team, or maybe she just fell in with them without time to ask for permission. (When Our Team First Came Together encourages the latter by default, but of course there are ways around it.)

I do think that any rehabilitation workers would be a good deal more wary around her if she openly stated or gave enough reason to believe that she is only interested in violent work. Or would she have tried to hide that, instead trying out the things they suggested but without discovering any great enthusiasm for it?
Riven
player, 12 posts
Mon 26 Jul 2021
at 21:38
  • msg #22

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

Master of Games:
I do think that any rehabilitation workers would be a good deal more wary around her if she openly stated or gave enough reason to believe that she is only interested in violent work. Or would she have tried to hide that, instead trying out the things they suggested but without discovering any great enthusiasm for it?

You know, when you put it like that I'm actually going to take my previous idea in completely the opposite direction.

Ferra gets taken to New Atlantis and makes a genuine effort at starting a new life there. I like the thought that she ends up doing something legit in Downtown, some kind of hands-on work where it's of real benefit to have someone who can move and manipulate considerable quantities of metal without heavy machinery. The violence and things she's been through are absolutely still a quiet part of her - they're not something she can easily let go of - but she's trying her best to move beyond that and live a life that helps the community without taking from someone else to do it.

The Reformed's When Our Team First Came Together... is "We fought a terrible enemy from my old life."

And there you have it. Ferra gets dragged back into the game by a very personal threat, feels the pieces of herself slip back together (albeit not quite as they did before), and ultimately decides that if she's got the power to go and challenge all these assholes out there in the world living off the rewards of other people's suffering then she can't just turn a blind eye. And maybe deep down she also enjoyed getting to throw her weight around again a little too much to put down the sword again.

She's shown her observers that she's capable of improvement, made genuine effort in her home and work life, and now she's got a team backing her up that she's shown at least the preliminary signs of being able to cooperate with. I don't think it's too unreasonable to think they'd sign off on letting her do some work with this new team, if not without at least some modest oversight.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:54, Mon 26 July 2021.
Master of Games
GM, 66 posts
Tue 27 Jul 2021
at 05:53
  • msg #23

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

I think that works out great. I guess she provisionally worked for some sort of construction company? I can see the rehabilitation program being in touch with a number of companies that have use for such unorthodox talents (and are prepared to cope with the problems they may bring with them). If so, that may be a source for some interesting contacts, such as other reformed (or "reformed") supercriminals.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:55, Tue 27 July 2021.
Riven
player, 13 posts
Tue 27 Jul 2021
at 10:41
  • msg #24

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

So like ... how common are attacks (of any kind) on New Atlantis?

I'm wondering because I'm thinking about how I might approach that 'When Our Team First Came Together...' question, and my initial reading is that presenting oneself as an immediate threat to New Atlantis seems kinda suicidal unless you've got one hell of a exit strategy. Maybe there's a risk/reward thing at play, but I'm not totally sure what would drive someone to risk staring down the barrel of all those countermeasures.

I absolutely have ideas for what I'd go with, but I'd just like a feel for whether this is an MCU Wakanda sort of situation (one guy pulls off a successful heist and it puts him on the radar for decades) or if New Atlantis is dealing with some level of comic book crime and villainy, and perhaps the efforts of other outside powers, on at least the semi-regular.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:31, Tue 27 July 2021.
Riven
player, 14 posts
Wed 28 Jul 2021
at 03:29
  • msg #25

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

Who mentored you in supervillainy?

Most of what I know about fighting I learned from a guy called Ashutosh Malhotra. He was ex-Para: spent his time post-War hunting down people like me for paramilitaries, rogue states, supervillains. His thing was taking them alive - they had him train them, not kill them. That’s why Serpiente’s people went after him when they needed someone to work with me. Can’t be many people out there knew more about making kids with powers into weapons.

Malhotra liked hurting people. He made me like hurting people. Made me think that was all my powers were good for.

He was the kind of person who’d use live rounds to test if I could stop a bullet. Proper motivation...

What was your goal as a villain?

When someone hurts your family you hurt them back. La Reyna gave me everything, so when they took her from me … I was just a kid. Wasn’t hard for someone like Malhotra to use that anger. I didn’t care what he needed so long as it got me closer to anyone Serpiente said deserved it. Hurting them like they’d hurt me was the only thing that mattered.

It wasn't how things were when we started out, but in the end I just wanted revenge.

Who first showed you that you could do good?

La Reyna did what she called ‘charity with purpose.’ She told us that when you’ve got power it’s easy to do little things for the people with nothing, and what’s nothing to you can mean everything to them. Some people would say that’s not doing good – I get it – but there are places out there that have nobody looking out for them. The devil who pulls you out of the fire might as well be a saint.

I was young enough back then that I didn’t see it like that. I saw people who were like how I used to be and wanted to help them if I could. She let me. She liked to find things for me to do - said it was good training. Probably thought it was a good way to show the world she had people like me working for her.

It’s not all black and white. I didn’t need the ‘good guys’ to fix me, I just needed some perspective.

What caused you to switch sides?

I grew up in a box. When ATLAS took me outside that box the world wasn’t what I thought it was.

It’s really that simple.

Why do you care about the team?

[waiting for a better understanding of who the team actually is before filling this in]



Key:
  • Yolanda “La Reyna” Pargo - Former lieutenant of the Nautilian and original overboss of the organisation (which I'm maybe calling Patala).
  • "Serpiente" Gaspar - Current head of the organisation. Former member of La Reyna's inner circle who won the power struggle within the loyalist faction.
  • Ashutosh Malhotra - Operative in Para (Indian special forces) who went rogue during WW3 and made a name for himself in the acquisition of empowered individuals.

This message was last edited by the player at 15:23, Fri 30 July 2021.
Master of Games
GM, 76 posts
Wed 28 Jul 2021
at 13:17
  • msg #26

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

The thing about the countermeasures is that most of them are there to prevent large-scale attacks. An invasion or a full-on takeover would be doomed to fail unless backed up by overwhelming power and/or some sort of special edge. As a result, none have been attempted so far, not counting some magical portal plots that were derailed early.

Smaller attacks, on the other hand, are easier to get away with, if only because they don't trigger an all-out mobilisation against them. The technological security assets are non-negligible, but most supervillains or even the smarter criminals tend to find ways around them (or through them). Also, the robots and similar are typically used to contain violence rather than to resolve it where superpowers or similar are concerned. That is what the superheroes are for, but far from all of them are going to be around and unoccupied at any given time, and the city is very big, so they may not be able to respond in time. Especially if there are other situations distracting them, as is often the case. And of course having a good exit strategy is critical, but people interested in this lifestyle have become pretty good at those. The presence of supertech in this world cuts both ways. I suspect there may be cloaked safehouses and escape routes, among other things. Do let me know if it still doesn't make sense, so I can think some more. :)

That said, I'd say it's closer to the latter out of your two exampoles, so long as we don't include full-scale invasions as a typical occurrence. It's mostly just supervillain attacks. Hypothetically speaking, a small-scale, surgical pirate raid backed up by sufficient technology and/or superpowers might succeed in some limited objective through sheer audacity and shock before defenders can rally. Though admittedly it would be very risky. But presumably a credible threat would have a good plan and a worthwhile goal.

---

Maybe I'm missing or forgetting something, but what exactly happened to La Reyna? Who killed her - and who was blamed for it, if it's not the same people? Who did Ferra primarily fight in those days - other pirates, or...

Still going with what you said about Ferra's history before? i.e. that she was brought into the organisation at around 12 after a period of barely eking out a living somewhere?
Riven
player, 15 posts
Wed 28 Jul 2021
at 15:11
  • msg #27

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

Thanks for the clarification on that first point.

I'm having a bit of a rethink about background details, and while Ferra herself is going to stay basically the same there are definitely going to be some changes around her. There's a pretty good chance that I'll actually be keeping La Reyna alive in this new version of things for example. Now that I'm characterising her as someone prone to using small kindnesses to manipulate and gaslight others, I think it makes much more sense to keep her around and make her complicit in Ferra's education and push in a more violent and villainous direction. Maybe there's still a civil war or some other escalation, but perhaps even that's partially a manufactured (or at least somewhat embellished) excuse to rationalise any increased roughness in her training and the need to send a message in her deployments.

Nothing totally concrete yet but I think it's probably a better and more focused direction. Also gives another reason for ATLAS to ship Ferra out if La Reyna's still active in the area and likely wants her attack dog back.
Riven
player, 16 posts
Sun 1 Aug 2021
at 00:22
  • msg #28

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

I've been talking about things behind the scenes with the GM for a couple of days now and I've made some changes that aren't massive but certainly are changes. This is something like my third attempt at writing up something to go here, so I've kinda reached that so-long-as-it-gets-done stage where I'm forcibly making myself go into less detail than I want to. Brain's got caught in a bit of a loop where it keeps iterating over again and just won't let me be happy with how things are turning out.

I'm sure the way I express things here will demand some more questions to clear things up or flesh things out, but that's just how the process works.

Ferra is Artiana Lleshi, an Albanian-born ferrokine who left the country in the mid 90s while she was 13/14 years old.

She was to be taken across the strait to Italy by people smugglers, but when they learned of her powers they instead handed her over to contacts in the Corsair Network under La Reyna, self-declared queen of the Mediterranean, hoping to improve their standing with her organisation and secure future trade and support.

La Reyna welcomed Artiana with open arms, won her over with honeyed words, and handed her off to one of her lieutenants to begin training and acclimatisation to her organisation's methods.

Artiana served under a number of captains across a period of several years, usually book-ending those spells with a period in La Reyna's court. She grew in confidence, both in herself and in wielding her powers.

Most notably Artiana spent a season under Serpiente on the west coast of Africa, the captain actively seeking to inure her to violence and make her comfortable with the idea of wielding her power as a weapon rather than a tool. It was a lesson that took but Artiana never found the stomach to kill. She could relish throwing her weight about and the fear and awe that came with it, but she was always squeamish about killing and corpses.

While housed in Algiers on the journey back La Reyna's court her company received word of the warlord's assassination, her transport from a meeting with local business partners rigged to explode. It was news that sent shockwaves through the Corsair Network, rumors and accusations abounding, and though things remained tense but stable in the days and weeks that followed cracks soon began to show.

A three-way split emerged within La Reyna's inner circle - loyalist, rebels, and those who refused to be drawn on sides. The degree of co-dependence necessary within the Network forced a civil war more cold than hot, but sabotage, assassinations and proxy wars fought by targeting each other's interests were not wholly uncommon, particularly among the smaller parties.

Artiana got caught up in this on the loyalist side and as an individual with powers she found herself thrust into the spotlight as bodyguard, escort, and concealed weapon for those in ranking positions. She performed her duties diligently enough even when they turned to callous aggression but certainly found her conviction shaken. Without La Reyna it felt like any sense that she was working towards something good had gone.

She and some of her comrades were captured by ATLAS after one of their contacts fell prey to a sting operation and gave up details of a scheduled meet-up. Artiana might yet have made it out of that incident, but during the ensuing fray she barely caught herself on the verge of killing a disarmed ATLAS agent in her panic and locked up completely.

Artiana was held by ATLAS for more than a year before being relocated to one of their New Atlantis facilities in the face of La Reyna's apparent return from the dead. With a resurgent Corsair Network rapidly reclaiming its lost territory with newly-acquired tech and funds, and evaluations indicating her suitability for rehabilitation, it was deemed prudent to move Artiana and other held assets far from the warlord's potential reach.

Now approaching 20 years old, Artiana has been engaged in the Rebirth Program on New Atlantis for some time. She's far from truly free, but with much of her criminal record sealed and with proper support from government and civilian organisations she's come some way towards re-integrating with society. She's an active (if somewhat withdrawn) participant in outreach and construction programs in Downtown and has engaged with a number of work programs that meshed well with her talents. Through it all she's made sure to stay in shape, attended classes both to support her rather unorthodox education and refine her fighting skills with traditional martial arts, and on occasion has been allowed to practice her powers under ATLAS supervision for combat data and to track her potential (and with it threat level).

She's far from a model citizen, but she's trying...

Featured Names:

The Corsair Network: A loose web of smugglers, arms dealers, pirates and crime families and shell companies held together by the means and expertise of a group of defectors from the Nautilian's flotilla. They returned in the wake of WW3 and used their expertise and advanced technology to firmly plant themselves in the Mediterranean and secure a position as the predominant force in the illegal movement of goods, people and information. Despite that dominance their efforts have proven notoriously difficult to pin down, and stories abound of many civilian agencies and vessels that have been unwittingly or unwillingly roped into their activities.

Yolanda “La Reyna” Pargo*: Former lieutenant of the Nautilian and current head of the Corsair Network, La Reyna is something of a legend in the Mediterranean. Regal and imperious yet irresistibly charming, she presents herself as one who laughs in the face of the hypocrisies of East and West alike and the friend of any who would defy their cruelty and greed. It's a promise which has proven effective across the years - enough so that ATLAS has its suspicions that she may in fact possess powers capable of subtle mental manipulation. Following her return from 'death' she has led from a formidable submersible presumably retrieved from one of the Nautilian's sunken bases.

"Serpiente" Gaspar: Once a close ally and attack dog of La Reyna within the flotilla, Serpiente has been content to eschew the politics and subtler business of the Corsair Network for bloodier work on the west coast of Africa. She's fostered close ties with local pirates and warlords - those she didn't subjugate by force - and has shown great interest in taking the rich bounty of vessels bound for New Atlantis. La Reyna has always shown a distaste for her former ally's actions in polite company but appears to have made no effort to dissuade from such things.

The Rebirth Program: An off-shoot of an earlier civilian initiative, the Rebirth Program was founded by a former supervillain couple (Mister and Mrs. Smiley) to provide the necessary care and support for retired villains and henchmen to start fresh lives on New Atlantis. Over the decades it's had a number of success stories - those who've chosen to go public about their pasts - that have gone some way to offset concerns and ill-feeling towards its somewhat controversial mission, and a number of its graduates have even gone on to become permanent fixtures on some of New Atlantis' own super teams.

*@GM: While not mentioned here, previous discussion about La Reyna's ambitions regarding New Atlantis absolutely still hold true.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:27, Sun 01 Aug 2021.
Master of Games
GM, 88 posts
Sun 1 Aug 2021
at 06:10
  • msg #29

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

I'll look over it again later but I think it all checks out!

Are we keeping the idea of her having an ATLAS probation officer?

Also, is Serpiente independent now (former ally)? Or is that unclear?
PSinha
player, 15 posts
Sun 1 Aug 2021
at 06:44
  • msg #30

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

This is very well put together. There are so many active characters added to the world too! Nice one.
Riven
player, 17 posts
Sun 1 Aug 2021
at 11:36
  • msg #31

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

Master of Games:
Are we keeping the idea of her having an ATLAS probation officer?

Also, is Serpiente independent now (former ally)? Or is that unclear?

Funnily enough both of these things were addressed in the WIP but didn't end up in the version posted here because I either changed my direction or just didn't feel confident in what I was saying/how it was being said.

Absolutely keeping the ATLAS probation officer. In the earlier version I had her down as wearing a tag and possibly having travel restrictions or a curfew, but at that point it felt like I was introducing elements that could make telling stories more difficult/awkward depending on the direction the game took and I decided to keep any of that out of the to the point summary.

Serpiente is like ... semi-independent. They're still part of the Network but sufficiently removed from its main powerbase (by distance and focus) that La Reyna allows an extremely loose leash so long as her own people are left alone to conduct their business and any aggression from Serpiente's people doesn't bring too much heat down of the organisation as a whole. As we talked about behind the scenes La Reyna has her eyes on New Atlantis, and when you're planning on expanding westward an ally who already holds territory in the west and isn't afraid to get their hands (extremely) dirty is a valuable asset indeed.

In earlier drafts I had Artiana attached to Serpiente's people during the big schism within the Corsair Network but it all became very messy and I wasn't sure how I was going to bring everything together in the end. I had to let some of the things I'd originally written/planned for that angle go because it felt like it was really coming to dominate the focus of things and pull the character away from what I wanted.

PSinha:
This is very well put together. There are so many active characters added to the world too! Nice one.

Thanks!

I'm an overthinker (and I mean that in a negative sense) so when I get stuck I tend to either give up completely or re-iterate the same things over and over again in the hope that eventually I'll find more momentum and actually finish them, and at least some of the time that means the end product is pretty detail-dense once it's refined and cut down to size. The previous draft of this is excessively long; it went the best part of 1,000 words without even reaching the first mention of Serpiente XD

Note: I'm in no way suggesting the previous version was better. It's full of padding and fluff details that absolutely don't need to be here.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:41, Sun 01 Aug 2021.
Master of Games
GM, 91 posts
Sun 1 Aug 2021
at 11:45
  • msg #32

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

For that matter, are you getting rid of Malhotra? I suppose Serpiente may have taken over that role - then again, no reason why she can't have named underlings of her own.

Some of the details can certainly be refined or modified later, when there is a team.
Riven
player, 18 posts
Sun 1 Aug 2021
at 11:52
  • msg #33

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

As a meaningful presence, definitely. It's not unreasonable to think he could be one of La Reyna's lieutenants or someone who played a notable role in Artiana's training at some point, but once I switched to this model where that had her study under multiple individuals (and moved away from setting things in the Indian Ocean) that character didn't seem a necessary inclusion. What I've put there isn't exhaustive though and I'd might end up adding a few more characters before the cut-off point. I'd like to get some names down for at least a few other players in the Network even if there isn't much to say about them.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:57, Sun 01 Aug 2021.
Master of Games
GM, 92 posts
Sun 1 Aug 2021
at 12:19
  • msg #34

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

Feel free to do so. They may well come into play at some point or another. Of course I can just make up my own Network members when I need them, but I wouldn't say no to having a reserve to draw upon.
Riven
player, 19 posts
Wed 4 Aug 2021
at 12:30
  • msg #35

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

Bit of a grab bag of things today.

I've been debating this for quite a while now, and despite the name already being 'taken,' Artiana's heroic identity is going to be Ironheart. This isn't the Marvel universe, she's got very little in common with Riri Williams, and I think there's quite a bit of mileage in playing with different readings of it and Artiana's relationship with a name she didn't entirely choose herself - or maybe not at all.

quote:
Who mentored you in supervillainy?

La Reyna knew she could use my power, but back then I barely spoke English and she had better things to do than teach me. She gave me to her captains – Marit, Faas, Serpiente, Sayko, Zabana – to ‘fix’ for her. They all taught me some of what I needed to know to be useful to her, but they didn’t need a supervillain. She was the only one who wanted something like that.

I loved her then. She seemed the most powerful person in all the world and still she chose me. I believed everything she said, and even when I had doubts I felt guilty for doubting her. I trusted her more than I trusted myself.

I don’t know what she wanted me to become. I still don’t want to know.

What was your goal as a villain?

I didn’t think I was a villain. Not then. I thought the Network was changing the world for the better, giving hope to people who had nothing.

And we were, I think. Some people saw us as heroes.

But we weren’t heroes. We ‘saved’ people who had no other options and we never forget what they owed us for it. It wasn’t charity, and we weren’t doing it just to make ourselves feel good. In the end it was all about power, money, leverage – making the Network stronger. Whatever it took to bring us closer to La Reyna’s idea of a better world.

I believed in her then. I thought she wanted what was best for the world, but she only wanted what was best for herself.

What caused you to switch sides?

Isolation. Ignoring the lies was no longer helpful.

Who first showed you that you could do good?

Nëne edhe Babë - my parents. You want a better answer? Ask a better question.

Doing good isn’t difficult; I never thought I could only hurt people. The hard part is being sure you’re doing good and making the right choices. It’s harder when you’ve done what I have because how you think of ‘good’ changes. You see ways to solve problems good people don’t and you can’t stop yourself from thinking about them. They make sense.

I have people who help me with these things – Marije is very good to me. I’m getting better.

Why do you care about the team?

Because they think I belong with them. Maybe they’re wrong, but I want to believe they’re right.


More additions for the list o' names:

Ash: An individual with powers who worked for Serpiente, probably in their early twenties when Artiana was around so mid-late twenties now. Ash (not their real name) was a weak pyrokene, although in their case it was less a lack of power and more that their power was fairly specific in its function. They could manipulate fire, smoke and ash but had minimal ability fabricate or amplify them, making those powers rather niche in application. This had left them somewhat bitter and spiteful, and naturally those feelings only got all the worse when Artiana showed up and wanted to play understudy. They didn't get along well at all.

Marije ten Broek: Artiana's probation officer. Well-meaning if a little inexperienced working with superpowered individuals, she's played a fairly active role in trying to push Artiana to set down roots in New Atlantis and work out what she actually wants from her life. Probably more than a little annoyed at the extra paperwork that comes with her charge adopting a costumed identity but far from unsupportive if she can stick the landing.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:11, Wed 04 Aug 2021.
Master of Games
GM, 104 posts
Wed 4 Aug 2021
at 20:43
  • msg #36

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

Ironheart seems good to me (though the first reading that jumps to my mind is a distinctly villainous one, which couldn't help her reputation). What do you mean by it not being chosen by her, though? How was it chosen, in-game?
Riven
player, 20 posts
Wed 4 Aug 2021
at 21:09
  • msg #37

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

I have this feeling that Artiana isn't exactly sold on the whole superhero thing. She might recognise in hindsight that she was working for what the world would call a supervillain and was herself something of a supervillain-in-training, but she was never really part of that world of capes and costumes, and while she did pick up a nickname of her own - La Aguja - she never really thought of herself in those terms. She's been trying to live a reasonably quiet civilian life for a while now, and throwing on bright colours and trying to make a symbol of herself has been just about the last thing on her mind.

As such I've always been running with the line of thought that whatever identity she assumed would be largely inspired by (if not entirely handed out from) a third party. Maybe she's signed up on an official government registry and as part of the process they demanded a seat at the table in deciding her self-expression, or perhaps it's an idea from someone around her that Artiana just whatever'd because she really didn't care so long as she wasn't stuck with something embarrassing. I just don't feel like she's the sort of person who (at this time) would be sitting around for hours lovingly crafting a costumed identity if she could let someone else worry about it instead.

I'm totally open to someone else on the team claiming responsibility for the name if they'd like or suggesting their own if they have better ideas.

Of course it's always possible we flip that on it's head and say it feels a little villainous or self-depreciating precisely because she chose it herself. She meant it to say something like confident, stoic and unyielding, but people have a way of reading it (and in turn her) as more cold and unfeeling instead.

Not to mention that it's hardly as if there isn't a history of characters using their former villainous aliases (i.e. Ravager) even after a face turn.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:56, Thu 05 Aug 2021.
Master of Games
GM, 107 posts
Thu 5 Aug 2021
at 21:27
  • msg #38

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

Perhaps I should've asked this earlier, but how strong and versatile is her ferrokinetic ability? Can she create metal, or just manipulate what's already there? Also, can she alter their basic properties, or does she just move/reshape them?
Riven
player, 21 posts
Thu 5 Aug 2021
at 22:43
  • msg #39

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

I was very much in the space of basically a telekine who only does metals but with some ability to change their basic properties - to mould and reshape them rather than anything crazy like transmutation.

Artiana's absolutely someone who can throw cars or shift loaded cargo containers by will alone, but despite that the way she fights and employs her powers more often revolves around precision and fine control than big displays of force. She works with tools and weapons, sometimes using her powers to alter them to suit her needs on the fly, and has enough proficiency and eye for detail to display real artistry given time. With the proper reference she's just as capable of shaping a key from raw metal as she is of ripping the lock off a door.

This whole time I've been picturing her as someone who fights with a small flock of blades* rather than by tossing big metal objects about. She's a needle, not a hammer.

*When I say 'blades' I'm more thinking blunt metal objects small enough to conceal on her person or hide as part of the ornamentation on her costume rather than actual knives. They're weapons that would be fairly useless to anyone else but in her hands - metaphorically speaking - could be used to fight at range or combined to handheld weapons, sharpened to pin down people through their clothes, or even used to create handholds to scale things.

Note: I'm totally happy with adjusting/limiting this in any way you might suggest or dropping it entirely if you don't like it at all.

This message was last edited by the player at 23:53, Thu 05 Aug 2021.
Master of Games
GM, 111 posts
Fri 6 Aug 2021
at 06:38
  • msg #40

Re: Character Workshop - Riven

It looks fine to me. I think the main limit (other than all the stuff you said she couldn't do) is her mentality and practice. She could move big objects, sure, but if it comes less naturally to her, it would be harder to do so with precision and skill when it is necessary. The costume angle is neat.
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