claude von riegan. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
godshattering) wrote2030-01-01 12:45 am
godshattering) wrote2030-01-01 12:45 am
EVENT 18 — GODS
FORMERLY KNOWN AS
Claude von Riegan
NOW KNOWN AS
Sidus, trickster god of strategy
AGE
826ish
ARCANA
The Wheel of Fortune
ASSIGNMENT
Patron of the Gambit
PRONOUNS
he/him/his
LOCATIONS
The Godlands, The Free Cities, The Nether
SYMBOLS
Arrows, crescent moons, wyverns/dragons
PATRON OF THE GAMBIT
BLESSING 🌙 CHECKMATE
Predictions; ability to see steps ahead of others; victory from the shadows
AFFLICTION 🌙 FORFEIT
Misreading maneuvers; flawed strategy or decisions; inability to see the battlefield
APPEARANCE (NON-INVOKED)
Claude appears dressed mainly as he does in this art: well dressed in fine robes which speak to a deity who has expensive tastes. Not everything is buttoned up so far - much of his clothing is draped and shows a fair amount of skin and the scars beneath it and especially so if a little seduction is in order. A gold circlet rests on his head and rings line his fingers, particularly those which might've been gifts from valued friends or lovers. His earring is the Wheel of Fortune arcana symbol, and the expression he most often wears is one which makes it clear he's calculating something beneath whatever slyly knowing smile he might have on. And while over his time in Abraxas his smile had tended towards being more genuine than a front, someone observant might notice now it never quite seems to reach his eyes.
His hair is now much longer and while still contains traces of curls when loose, it's most often braided into a long cascading braid which runs down his back. Filaments of gold and small gems are woven throughout his hair as accents meant to catch the light and attention. His nails seem to resemble sharpened claws and are always painted, and his eyes are usually ringed in gold makeup and kohl.
When in his domain, Claude dresses the same.
His hair is now much longer and while still contains traces of curls when loose, it's most often braided into a long cascading braid which runs down his back. Filaments of gold and small gems are woven throughout his hair as accents meant to catch the light and attention. His nails seem to resemble sharpened claws and are always painted, and his eyes are usually ringed in gold makeup and kohl.
When in his domain, Claude dresses the same.
HEIGHT
About 5' 9"
HAIR
Dark brown, curls braided back into one long braid cascading down his back
BUILD
Muscular
EYES
Vibrant, cutting green
APPEARANCE (INVOKED)
When called forth to bless (or afflict if he doesn't feel like complying), Claude will come to his requestor as a looming armored man with the head and wings of a white wyvern. Gold antlers like those from a deer sprout from the sides of his head and shine like they're made of the precious metal itself. A grand bow rests on his back, and his arrows always hit their marks with deadly precision.
If called to a battlefield, he will shift to a wyvern who can take flight and will led his followers through their plans. It's said that he can also appear in the shadows moving as if invisible, and only the briefest flash of a crescent moon will appear in the air before where he is before striking someone down.
If called to a battlefield, he will shift to a wyvern who can take flight and will led his followers through their plans. It's said that he can also appear in the shadows moving as if invisible, and only the briefest flash of a crescent moon will appear in the air before where he is before striking someone down.
HEIGHT
Massive (maybe like 10 feet tall idk)
ARMOR
White and platinum to match his scales
WEAPON
A ornately decorated longbow the size of his god form
EYES
Luminous reptilian green-gold
CONNECTIONS WANTED
RELATIONSHIPS
HILDA GONERIL ✨ lover (soulmate bonded), one-third of threefold god formation
SYLVAIN GAUTIER ✨ lover (soulmate bonded), one-third of threefold god formation
DION LESAGE ✨ TBD
JESPER FAHEY ✨ finally kissed after 212 years
CLAIRE FRASER ✨ adopted mother
GERALT OF RIVIA ✨ TBD
STEVE ROGERS ✨ TBD
KYLE ✨ schemers scheming
ASTARION ANCUNÍN ✨ casual lover to make it awkward later / TBD
ROCKET ✨ once had a rivalry of mischief then realized it'd be way better to cause said mischief together
HIMEKA SUI ✨ world's best duo to invoke for blessings for a party or feast
CIRILLA OF CINTRA ✨ lovers / TBD
SYLVAIN GAUTIER ✨ lover (soulmate bonded), one-third of threefold god formation
DION LESAGE ✨ TBD
JESPER FAHEY ✨ finally kissed after 212 years
CLAIRE FRASER ✨ adopted mother
GERALT OF RIVIA ✨ TBD
STEVE ROGERS ✨ TBD
KYLE ✨ schemers scheming
ASTARION ANCUNÍN ✨ casual lover to make it awkward later / TBD
ROCKET ✨ once had a rivalry of mischief then realized it'd be way better to cause said mischief together
HIMEKA SUI ✨ world's best duo to invoke for blessings for a party or feast
CIRILLA OF CINTRA ✨ lovers / TBD
I'm happy to work with any and all suggestions, give me whatever you've got and we'll go from there! None of my ideas are limited to existing CR since getting something going in this event is a great way to have a follow up afterwards. Here's a short list of things I'm looking for:
🏹 NEW CR If our characters have never interacted before, I'd love to make something happen! This is a great chance to speed run CR with Claude and I'm up for serious or silly threads, ones with lots of action or ones where characters simply sit and talk, and anything and everything in between.
🏹 DEEPENING EXISTING CR Though he won't be at his best - and may or may not be entirely recognizable to those who are close to him - I would very much like to use this event as a chance for him to open up further. He normally holds his backstory very close to himself and only a small handful of characters know anything within it, so this could be a chance for someone to learn something they've wanted to know. If we want to discuss this to make sure a specific topic comes up or to make sure to cover particular bonding, I'm all for planning for that.
🏹 NEGATIVE CR Claude will be intentionally causing mischief throughout this event simply to entertain himself, so: grudges? Petty arguments? A rivalry which only happens when they each remember the other exists or something far more intense? Claude antagonizing your character all because he can? Let's figure something out. To be clear though, anything he does that would affect a player character would be done only after us discussing it first to make sure everyone's on the same page! Other than that all of this will be aimed more towards NPCs, but feel free to side eye him for it all the same.
🏹 MANIPULATIONS / ENABLING This might technically fall under negative CR above, but I wanted to call it out separately. If your character needs a push towards something they wouldn't normally do, wants to end up doing something drastic, wants to cause problems, or anything in between... Claude can help with that. As part of not being a guiding force for good (or mostly good) as he is in canon, he'll gladly help.
🏹 FOUND FAMILY Because he'll be forgetting most of his past and the found family he had there, those he remembers from being in Abraxas would be taking their places in his mind. Also up for this crossing over into believing they're actually related and so forth.
🏹 ROMANCE Claude is generally the slowest of slow burns when it comes to romance for a variety of reasons, but his inhibitions will be more or less nonexistent during this event. I'm open to any kind of romance whether it's a ship for the event, having been lovers for a century or two, having some sort of pining which finally reaches the point of Something Happening during this event, casual lovers - now's the chance. I'm also happy to plot any kind of backstory for this too or to let it develop within a thread. Bonus points if it's awkward after the fact when they go back and remember it happening and then have to deal with that. Anything goes!
THREEFOLD GOD OF INTERVENING FATES
After establishing themselves in Nott's uprising (details TBD), Fodlan's remaining three were often invoked not only as themselves but also as a trio with their blessings overlapping. So much so that over all that time of being called upon in tandem, they became seen as one deity capable of bringing someone their dreams despite what fate has planned to change it all to their favor - or perhaps ruining them in an instant just as easily.
Together with Valentine (Hilda) and Sylvain, Sidus lends his hand to show all the steps ahead one must complete. Some say they've suddenly understood what's in the future, able to see past what they've been told to complete with what's waiting on the other side, and even with plans for those plans to still bring success. Though the god will appear to those who call him who the three have agreed to help, it's not uncommon to find some part of those plans were completed from the shadows with their benefactor not needing to lift a finger to make sure everything goes smoothly.
Of course, should they anger him or his lovers, then the strategy might still seem simple and crystal clear on the surface. It seems like nothing's changed at all even after those godly whispers have gone silent. But when it comes time for things to take place, suddenly those carefully laid plans have gone awry.
The Threefold God's favor cannot be returned once revoked. All that's left is for fate to play out as it was originally written.
Together with Valentine (Hilda) and Sylvain, Sidus lends his hand to show all the steps ahead one must complete. Some say they've suddenly understood what's in the future, able to see past what they've been told to complete with what's waiting on the other side, and even with plans for those plans to still bring success. Though the god will appear to those who call him who the three have agreed to help, it's not uncommon to find some part of those plans were completed from the shadows with their benefactor not needing to lift a finger to make sure everything goes smoothly.
Of course, should they anger him or his lovers, then the strategy might still seem simple and crystal clear on the surface. It seems like nothing's changed at all even after those godly whispers have gone silent. But when it comes time for things to take place, suddenly those carefully laid plans have gone awry.
The Threefold God's favor cannot be returned once revoked. All that's left is for fate to play out as it was originally written.
PERSONALITY & LORE
QUICK DESCRIPTION
luxuriating, blithe, flirtatious, mischievous, petty, rebellious, unbothered, hedonistic and encouraging of others to be the same, unrestrained, cunning, doting to those he cares for, indulgent
Before becoming the patron god of those who find themselves in need of a plan, Claude was always known for his strategies. Some of them were small, like a plan to play a harmless prank on a friend, or larger and far more ruthless - like poisoning a shared resource to win a battle. Always one to make plans for his plans, it ensured his victory more often than not even if it wasn't the original victory he'd had in mind at the start.
This helped establish him in the minds of others as a master tactician all over again, and his following grew. Being asked to assist with this plan or that one was certainly flattering, and with it his reputation grew steadily. Looking at what someone wanted to do began to bring a clearer picture to his mind each and every time, and even more so if he watched quietly from the sidelines or awaited the results from the shadows. Whispers spread of success, and it wasn't long until as the years began to blend together that he became known as Sidus whose favor would give the asker their planned dreams.
Or as it turned out at first just every so often and then increasingly so as centuries passed, perhaps sometimes those would be granted with something more playful making that result to be something worked for, or as something far more sinister with plans appearing fine at first before abruptly falling through over unforeseen information as if the god himself was displeased by the request.
Claude has become a god who does things simply because he can: while he might have once defined his actions as being right by what he believes in, these days they've been relegated simply to whatever entertains him as a god. His ability for strategy means those who pray to him might be blessed - or they might just as easily be afflicted under the guise of a blessing depending on his whims that day. This might mean things tip over into chaos, or perhaps they'll simply go absolutely as planned. Ever one for mischief and trickery, Claude's love of both are on full display as a god. And during the century in which he fought with Sylvain and was also politely estranged from Hilda, well. Things were rather more dire for each of his followers who dared to make a request then even if he was still careful to temper it with just enough good things to make sure he kept that loyalty to him.
ABILITIES
FORTUNE'S FOLLY (AFFLICTION)
A derisive answer to those who have asked for something for which Claude has decided they don't deserve or the Threefold God rules they are unworthy to receive. With one of those coins which appear on his shrines after a prayer, Claude decides the asker's fate... and that continues to never be in their favor as the coin decides. Under the guise of saying that coin's agreed with his decision as proof that it works - a decision to ruin plans which won't be shared, of course - Claude will gift it as a supposed show of benevolence. The coin, however, is weighted this time to the gods' desires and not its owner's, something which will become apparent over time.
OPPORTUNISTIC FORESIGHT (BLESSING)
For those lucky enough to find the Threefold God agrees their fate should be rewritten, the follower will awake to suddenly discover thinking about their plans means they can see all the steps needed as if it was crystal clear to them all along. Each step is carefully and deliberately outlined with plans for how to recover should one of those steps go amiss to ensure nothing but a flawless victory in whatever way it might materialize.
BLISTERING TEMPEST
A combination of Claude's wind magic and fire magic drawn from Sylvain, this powerful attack is meant to smite its target and turn it into ash. It begins with a breeze of dry air not unlike what might feel like a summer day in the deserts surrounding Cadens before growing in strength - and heat right before it ignites all that's within its path.
THUNDEROUS BALLISTA
Drawing on Hilda's lightning magic to electrify his arrows, the biggest sign of the incoming barrage of said arrows is the air suddenly becoming charged to where one might feel their hair stand on end. The clouds gather and darken above to turn the daylight to nearly twilight in the blink of an eye, and the arrows fall to smite all who have the misfortune of being in their trajectory.
SHRINES & OFFERINGS
OFFERINGS
COLORS: 🌙 Golds, yellows, greens best when combined with elements of pinks and reds
FLOWERS: 🌙 Sunflowers, irises, gladioli, daffodils, belladonna
FOOD/DRINK: 🌙 A teapot with freshly brewed tea, cheeses, bags of spices
ITEMS: 🌙 Coins, dice, board games, chess pieces, folded letters with the asker's plans sealed inside, pine needles, and poisons (with the latter said to be of particular interest to him)
FLOWERS: 🌙 Sunflowers, irises, gladioli, daffodils, belladonna
FOOD/DRINK: 🌙 A teapot with freshly brewed tea, cheeses, bags of spices
ITEMS: 🌙 Coins, dice, board games, chess pieces, folded letters with the asker's plans sealed inside, pine needles, and poisons (with the latter said to be of particular interest to him)
In fact, what will get his attention most is a private sort of offering. Something done in secret and without attention drawn to it, just like the plans he might've once made in the shadows. Those offerings should be placed out at night and the later the better since it's said Claude once walked the streets of Cadens most nights to work on all those machinations.
Should he like what he finds, and should his other two godly partners agree, it's said those prayers might be whispered in the asker's dreams that night. As for whether they'll be granted - well. Maybe another offering's in order first to see whether the god of strategy will turn a winning smile upon them, but they might just find a coin with a moon etched into it left alongside what was set out. Perhaps when they pick up the sealed envelope they'll find it still sealed but the coin present between the folds of their letter. The coin is theirs to keep as a reminder of their pact to see these plans through, and seems to be weighted always in their favor if flipped to make a decision.
PRE-EVENT HISTORY
🏹 Establishes himself in Nott's uprising against Thorne alongside Hilda and Sylvain, then ascended as a god without questioning it (too much).
🏹 Parts of his life from before Abraxas become dimmer and more difficult to remember, but he makes sure to hold onto them and creates a journal with all those memories to reread
🏹 Spends the first couple centuries in relative happiness moving between the Free Cities, the Godlands, and the Nether though remained close to the Free Cities to keep an eye on things from a distance. During this time, Jaskier follows him to see what he's up to and to draw inspiration from it.
🏹 It took many years of teasing each other back and forth - 212 of them, to be exact - though after that he became one of Jesper's casual lovers. They've continued to have an ongoing and very casual relationship, one in which Sylvain often features as well.
🏹 Near the end of this period, gets in an explosive fight with Sylvain - quite literally since a small crater was left at the edge of the Godlands, and began a century of not speaking to each other. What the fight was about might be a mystery since Claude himself never once answered any questions asked about it. Plenty of petty remarks were made about his lover, what with him being quick to correct that to ex-lover if anyone mentioned their relationship.
🏹 While in the midst of that century, Claude spent more and more time in the Horizon which resulted in his memory become ever more blurred. Eventually he made the conscious decision to actively stop trying to remember a life before Abraxas. Those years before being summoned began to fade until they were no longer and while he couldn't bring himself to destroy that journal, he made sure to hide it somewhere within the world of Abraxas until it was forgotten, too.
🏹 Spent some time moping on Hilda's metaphorical couch until she (correctly) kicked him off of it and kept a genial distance for a little while after. Requests to the threefold god at this time were often met with one or two of them, but never did the trio appear at the same time as they had before.
🏹 After Astarion's divorce from Haelva, the two also had a fling. Off and on as it was through the years and with neither one of them being at their bests, there was plenty of commiseration about their misery related to other lovers.
🏹 Part of his wandering also included visiting Istredd in his domain, ever appreciative of the library. Despite no longer leaving books behind on Fodlan or Almyra thanks to forgetting them, Claude started a journal of what he's been up to as a god and returns to complete it every so often for Istredd's meticulous records. When stopping by the Nether, he also makes a point to distract Istredd away from his work to go flying.
🏹 During his century of strife over being estranged from Sylvain and partially so from Hilda, Claude began to wander Abraxas more often instead of remaining only in the Godlands in search of ways to soothe a broken heart. He answered echoes more frequently but spite from a maelstrom of bad feelings festering meant that not all of his answers were as benevolent. Around this time he began to be called more of a trickster god who when invoked might grant requests with strings attached and lost his focus on doing things for the right reasons. Instead, they simply started to become done based on his own whims.
🏹 This led to a falling out of sorts with Kyle who didn't approve of this treatment of his followers and made that clear. The two had a disagreement over it, to which Claude simply shrugged and kept going as he was.
🏹 Claude's actions during this time also drew the disapproval of Steve Rogers, someone he had always been close to since their time in Abraxas. As Claude began to move and make intentional choices to forget what had drawn them together, he did so at the cost of upsetting Steve who began to mourn the loss of a friend while still trying to find the traces of the person he once knew.
🏹 After crossing some of Koby's followers with those questionable blessings offered, the two began a snippy not quite enemies but not friendly squabble that's lasted over the centuries. As more years passed neither of them exactly remembered the original cause - just that they sure Don't Like each other and keep a wary eye on the other.
🏹 Eventually, Hilda tired of being the intermediary between Claude and Sylvain since the former stubbornly made no attempts to each out to the latter (and not just because of the sheer volume of snow surrounding and on his mountaintop) and created a ruse to get the two men in the same place again. It was successful and they finally reconciled. That went for the three of them as well, and their relationship strengthened to be something much more than it was before with renewed promises made to each other all over again.
🏹 Claude's responses to his followers tapered off into being less vengeful with balance finally restored in his heart with the two most important people in his life returned to him. Hilda and Sylvain also served to keep him in check from being too disruptive. The mischief certainly never ended entirely since he'd had a century to settle into pettiness. Requests from followers they considered - and Hilda verified - to be less than good at heart were often met with his tricks.
🏹 Over the years, he also met up with Himeka several times at her feasts as never one to turn down a good party, good food, and even better company. His blessings of strategy were honed to help those parties go off smoothly and to make sure that everyone had a good time, and it wasn't long before the duo became the patrons of putting on a good time. Worried hosts can invoke them together to extend their blessings towards their gatherings.
Things to add: Begins to consider remembering some of his past but finds he can't, visits the Nether more frequently, chaos with Ed, lovers/rivalry TBD with Ciri, friends with benefits with Altaïr and seeing a bit too much about each other, full romance things TBD with Dion, found family with Claire, TBD with Viktor, TBD with Cassian
🏹 Parts of his life from before Abraxas become dimmer and more difficult to remember, but he makes sure to hold onto them and creates a journal with all those memories to reread
🏹 Spends the first couple centuries in relative happiness moving between the Free Cities, the Godlands, and the Nether though remained close to the Free Cities to keep an eye on things from a distance. During this time, Jaskier follows him to see what he's up to and to draw inspiration from it.
🏹 It took many years of teasing each other back and forth - 212 of them, to be exact - though after that he became one of Jesper's casual lovers. They've continued to have an ongoing and very casual relationship, one in which Sylvain often features as well.
🏹 Near the end of this period, gets in an explosive fight with Sylvain - quite literally since a small crater was left at the edge of the Godlands, and began a century of not speaking to each other. What the fight was about might be a mystery since Claude himself never once answered any questions asked about it. Plenty of petty remarks were made about his lover, what with him being quick to correct that to ex-lover if anyone mentioned their relationship.
🏹 While in the midst of that century, Claude spent more and more time in the Horizon which resulted in his memory become ever more blurred. Eventually he made the conscious decision to actively stop trying to remember a life before Abraxas. Those years before being summoned began to fade until they were no longer and while he couldn't bring himself to destroy that journal, he made sure to hide it somewhere within the world of Abraxas until it was forgotten, too.
🏹 Spent some time moping on Hilda's metaphorical couch until she (correctly) kicked him off of it and kept a genial distance for a little while after. Requests to the threefold god at this time were often met with one or two of them, but never did the trio appear at the same time as they had before.
🏹 After Astarion's divorce from Haelva, the two also had a fling. Off and on as it was through the years and with neither one of them being at their bests, there was plenty of commiseration about their misery related to other lovers.
🏹 Part of his wandering also included visiting Istredd in his domain, ever appreciative of the library. Despite no longer leaving books behind on Fodlan or Almyra thanks to forgetting them, Claude started a journal of what he's been up to as a god and returns to complete it every so often for Istredd's meticulous records. When stopping by the Nether, he also makes a point to distract Istredd away from his work to go flying.
🏹 During his century of strife over being estranged from Sylvain and partially so from Hilda, Claude began to wander Abraxas more often instead of remaining only in the Godlands in search of ways to soothe a broken heart. He answered echoes more frequently but spite from a maelstrom of bad feelings festering meant that not all of his answers were as benevolent. Around this time he began to be called more of a trickster god who when invoked might grant requests with strings attached and lost his focus on doing things for the right reasons. Instead, they simply started to become done based on his own whims.
🏹 This led to a falling out of sorts with Kyle who didn't approve of this treatment of his followers and made that clear. The two had a disagreement over it, to which Claude simply shrugged and kept going as he was.
🏹 Claude's actions during this time also drew the disapproval of Steve Rogers, someone he had always been close to since their time in Abraxas. As Claude began to move and make intentional choices to forget what had drawn them together, he did so at the cost of upsetting Steve who began to mourn the loss of a friend while still trying to find the traces of the person he once knew.
🏹 After crossing some of Koby's followers with those questionable blessings offered, the two began a snippy not quite enemies but not friendly squabble that's lasted over the centuries. As more years passed neither of them exactly remembered the original cause - just that they sure Don't Like each other and keep a wary eye on the other.
🏹 Eventually, Hilda tired of being the intermediary between Claude and Sylvain since the former stubbornly made no attempts to each out to the latter (and not just because of the sheer volume of snow surrounding and on his mountaintop) and created a ruse to get the two men in the same place again. It was successful and they finally reconciled. That went for the three of them as well, and their relationship strengthened to be something much more than it was before with renewed promises made to each other all over again.
🏹 Claude's responses to his followers tapered off into being less vengeful with balance finally restored in his heart with the two most important people in his life returned to him. Hilda and Sylvain also served to keep him in check from being too disruptive. The mischief certainly never ended entirely since he'd had a century to settle into pettiness. Requests from followers they considered - and Hilda verified - to be less than good at heart were often met with his tricks.
🏹 Over the years, he also met up with Himeka several times at her feasts as never one to turn down a good party, good food, and even better company. His blessings of strategy were honed to help those parties go off smoothly and to make sure that everyone had a good time, and it wasn't long before the duo became the patrons of putting on a good time. Worried hosts can invoke them together to extend their blessings towards their gatherings.
Things to add: Begins to consider remembering some of his past but finds he can't, visits the Nether more frequently, chaos with Ed, lovers/rivalry TBD with Ciri, friends with benefits with Altaïr and seeing a bit too much about each other, full romance things TBD with Dion, found family with Claire, TBD with Viktor, TBD with Cassian
MISCELLANEOUS