application.

[bribon]

PLAYER

Name: Abby
Age: Old
Contact: prosodi; prosodi@disco
Other Characters: Flint, Wysteria
Interests: I play a lot of married nerds. I want to play a guy who's going to swing a sword around, kiss people, and generally be a little ill-mannered and more likely to get chummy with Riftwatch's general roster.

CHARACTER

Name: Desidério Amanza
Canon/OC: OC
Journal: bribon
Race: Human
Nationality: Antivan
Occupation: Kneecap Surgeon Freelancer
Division: Scouting (My time has come!!)
Mage or Not: Nope
Age: Early to mid-30s

History

Desidério is a second or third cousin of some very minor Antivan noble family that fell on exceptionally hard times three or four generations ago. Shockingly destitute, the family has traditionally gotten simply by being hangers on to polite society. Various female cousins have gone into the Chantry; various male cousins have gone to the Templars.

Accordingly, Desi spent very little of his youth considering his social standing. Was he too poor to own very good clothes or to acquire a gambling habit like his peers? Yes, but he had lots of richer friends and near-relations from which he could borrow a good jacket, or who might pass along invitations to parties, or take him along for wild summers abroad. As is the wont of many teenage boys, Desi offset his poverty with hooliganism. By fourteen, he'd somehow contrived not to get stabbed too badly in most of his duels. By sixteen, he was notorious for winning them.

He was also notorious for climbing out of girls' bedroom windows, and being responsible for one or two serious heartbreaks before he fell madly and deeply in love with the girl of his dreams, Veronica Fonteyn. The daughter of a significantly richer, albeit less notably named family, Veronica was explicitly forbidden from associating with the opportunistic Amanza boy. So obviously, they were promptly married. And, given a year or two for the teenage dream to be replaced by a real loathing for one another, promptly annulled. It cost a lot of bribe money; Desidério still owes his ex-wife a significant sum. He wouldn't recommend the experience.

With his poor family being somewhat loathe to put him up and Desi not being particularly interested in returning to being completely destitute, he opted to shame himself with a sort of profession. Something of a sword and a snoop for hire, he's made a living from being willing to stick his nose into trouble and chase down problems. While his most common 'client' is historically his own ex-wife and her lending/banking enterprise, he takes freelance work from a variety of rich merchants, Seleny nobles looking to distance their personal names from more creative problem solving methods, and even the occasional neighbor (so long as they can scrape together the cash for his fee).

When hired to chase down a con-artist who's gotten away with a fat sum of cash from a Seleny merchant, he happily hopped to it in the name of a rich reward. What he wasn't bargaining for was running into the aforementioned con-artist over a rift, getting hit with an anchor shard, and both of them having to slum it in Kirkwall.

Personality

Desidério is an opportunist with a heart of tarnished silver. Stubborn and a little more loud-mouthed than he by rights should be, he's the sort of guy who gets himself into trouble with an unsurprising ease. What is surprising is that he can usually squirm his way out of it again. This mostly works thanks to a loose-around-the-edges moral code (honor? what's that, can he eat it?), and a highly flexible brand of pride. Does he think he should have nice things? Yes, he's great. Is he willing to debase himself for them? Well, he's working up from one of the lower rungs of gentility's social ladders so no, he's not that fussed about being more than a little crass if needs must.

And if he were a little less smart, a little more prone to laziness, and a lot less of a romantic, he'd have made an excellent hanger-on in Antivan polite society. Unfortunately for everyone, Desidério included, he's a half mark to clever, two too restless, and great romance (both the kissing and the adventure kind) is the deity his soul worships. Sorry to his very Andrastian mother. Sorry also to anyone, notably certain ex-wives, who would prefer he focused on improving himself and maybe growing the fuck up a little instead of chasing the next thrill.

Has this worked out for him? Yes and no. He's had his fingertips burned more than a few times, present circumstances where he has a magic cut in his hand and is stuck schlepping it in Kirkwall being only the most notable of recent scorchings. But he's also not penniless, not wearing fashion three years out of date, and all his scars are pretty cool. So you do the math!

Opinions & Affiliations

THE WAR. Would really prefer for it to have continued to be none of his business, but if he's stuck here then he might as well have a good time.

THE CHANTRY. You mean that thing most of his cousins work for? Sure, it's fine. You know, he knew a Chantry Sister once with a fantastically stern disposition. Too bad it didn't work out.

ANTIVA. Objectively the best place in Thedas. Bootstrap economics just makes sense, says local man currently relying on a line of credit extended to him by his ex-wife.

MAGES & TEMPLARS. Seem kind of self-centered, don't they?

RACE RELATIONS. Elves are by and large too poor to hire him, perfectly good information sources when it comes to snooping. Slumming it is an important social skill! Dwarves are good for business, but get suspicious if they start giving you too much money. Something's rotten if a surface dwarf is willing to pay too well and isn't just hiring a Carta goon. Never fight fair against a Qunari.

Strengths & Weaknesses

(+) DUELIST. Desidério is an accomplished swordsman. He's been fighting duels since he was a teen, and cheating his way out of getting killed for slightly less than that.

(+) OBSERVANT. He has a sharp eye for detail, and plies it readily both in the gathering information and playing a role sense. Need a good lookout? Desidério's your guy. Need someone who can quickly pick up and imitate playing above or below his station? You got it.

(+/-) TENACIOUS. For better of worse, Desidério doesn't give up easily. If he's put his mind to accomplishing something, he'll chew that bone down to the marrow even if he's been ordered not to.

(-) OVER CONFIDENT. It's not 'reckless' if you have a plan. It's just that sometimes that plan doesn't work out exactly how you think it will and then you have to make it up as you go along, but don't worry it'll definitely work out and nothing bad will ever happen (to him personally).

(-) CITY BOY. You people sure do a lot of camping.

Inventory

- A sick dueling rapier
- A marginally more sensible sword/belt knife/the usual accoutrements for a guy who traditionally makes his living get into scraps and threatening people
- A week's worth of clothes, but don't worry he can talk someone into kitting him out on credit
- A vendetta against a certain con-artist for getting him into this mess
- A too-expensive smoking habit

Motivation

Caught an anchor in his right hand. Unfortunately, he likes that hand and using it for stuff.

SAMPLES

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