Anguela Noctis's page

Anguela is a noblewoman from House Porphyria, descended from King Chadris III's fourth son Eagon who escaped Queen Domina's purge of the late monarch's family. She has the legendary drake's blood associated with the line, and all who currently know of her believe her to be the rightful heir. Raised in secret outside of the city, Anguela has come to Korvosa to reclaim the throne from the usurping Arabastis and fulfill a prophecy made by her maternal grandfather that the dragon queen would rise again. Sheltered by a family of arcane merchants named Noctis, she believes she is the city's best hope for prosperity and grace, but she knows she must bide her time and strike when the moment is right.

Perhaps Anguela is best described as haughty. She is a tall, dark-haired beauty with deep yellow-green eyes and an angry line for a mouth. Though she is clearly human-- Chelish, one might guess by her coloring-- she takes great pains to hide her teeth when she speaks or smiles, and only a keen observer will note her bite is full of sharp fangs like a predator. Her voice is strong and cutting, but with a refined accent. She sounds like an aristocrat. She is dressed like a city guard, and her clothes sparkle with gemstones which have been sewn on the seams-- but upon closer inspection these are revealed to be only colored glass. She carries a small pack and a pouch on her hip, but no spell components or holy symbol. She is aggressive and proud, and based on her involuntary expressions she does not seem to think much of the current regime.

1. A description of what your character looks like. What clothes do they wear? What do they do with their hair? Are they clean or dirty? Do they accessorize?

Even in hiding, Anguela is impeccably dressed. She prefers gowns and skirts that make her seem larger, usually black with ruffled sleeves. She braids her long dark hair, twisting it like a snake coiling around its prey. She also wears cosmetics to highlight her yellow-green eyes and thin lips, a subtle warning of her dangerous nature as well as a nod to her vanity. She also likes baubles and shiny things, and decorates her clothing with jewelry that looks more valuable than it is. She almost compulsively keeps herself clean with magic, believing that as the heir to the throne, she should be pristine at all times.

2. An explanation for why the Korvosan Guard would call on them for help. Are they a local mercenary with a good reputation? Are they a community leader with public goodwill on their side? Are they a guardsman themselves? Are they an informant in the criminal underworld of the city? It's your call!

Anguela has a contact in the Guard, a captain who was instrumental in smuggling her into the city. Anguela is not certain why this captain does what they do; they could be a loyalist who believes the crown should return to House Porphyria after the Arabasti king dies, or they could have a personal reason for disliking the current regime and want to see it undone. Perhaps they too have secret ties to Porphyria and do not want to be exposed before their family's honor is restored. But calling Anguela to serve in the Guard serves a double purpose; it keeps her under the captain's watchful eye, and it gives her the opportunity to distinguish herself among the people of Korvosa that (gods willing) she will one day rule.

(This contact could be Field Marshall Kroft herself, or someone else who vouched for her with the commander.)

3. Tell me where your character from. Are they a Korvosan native? Are they from Kaer Maga? Are they a Shoanti, or a Chelaxian?

Though Anguela appears Chelish, she was born in Kaer Maga where the rest of her exiled family lives. Her maternal grandfather is a mystic oracle of Nethys, and he believes she is destined to become the next Queen of Korvosa. Through a network of merchants who also act as spies and dissidents in the city, Anguela was brought here and hidden with them, posing as the daughter of a prosperous vendor of magic items. She has not been here very long, less than a year. In her opinion, Kaer Maga was a cesspool compared to Korvosa-- she thinks of the latter as her city and the former as a place where exiles go to hide and die and be buried in shame.

4. How did your character become whatever character class they are, or learn whatever abilities they have?

According to legend, House Porphyria has always carried magic in its blood. It is said that the original matriarch of the House was a dragon, and thus her true heirs always have draconic qualities. In fact, it was her House that first introduced as pets the pseudodragons and house drakes that now can be found throughout the city. The exiled House has since maintained that their lineage follows this arcane blood. However, it has been several generations since a child has been born with these signs-- there have been none since the last King Chadris, and truth be told his claim was very shaky.

When Anguela's mother gave birth, it was clear to all that her daughter had the blood-- she had scales on her skin and tiny sharp teeth in her little mouth. However, she was stillborn. The family, led by her grandfather, made a difficult decision and paid the church of Nethys to have the baby raised. It was unusually done, using necromancy as well as healing magic, but they succeeded and she was brought to life to fulfill their hopes.

As a child, it was obvious that she had access to supernatural powers, though her control over them was very weak. Servants would complain that when she touched them, they felt drained of energy, or that her spit burned like acid. They hired tutors to help her learn to control her magic, which mostly involved learning to control herself. But always bubbling beneath the surface, Anguela has a powerful hunger that makes her want to lash out, to claw and tear and chew. As she gets older, this pool of magical energy she carries within her becomes more powerful, and her experiences will shape how she can draw upon it.

5. What does your character do for a living? When and why did they start doing that?

Anguela has been around magic all of her life, so masquerading as the child of a magic merchant was not difficult for her. Serving in the guard is harder; she devotes a lot of effort to making herself seem more intimidating, or letting slights and insults go when her pride is bruised. She relies on her natural charisma more than her prowess in battle, though she is not bad with a longspear.

6. Is your character religious? Why? What does faith mean for your character?

As the future queen of Korvosa, Anguela believes she must honor all of the gods, though she has special appreciation for Nethys, who her grandfather serves, and for Abadar, who her adopted family reveres. She has some of her grandfather's oracular powers, which she supposes must ultimately come from Nethys, but she sees them as part of her own array of supernatural abilities, not divine gifts-- sort of like how the rightful king can supposedly cure scrofula with a touch. The gods are sort of abstract powers for her. People make contracts with them, which they then fulfill in predictable ways. Since they don't interfere in worldly affairs very often, they are mostly out of sight and out of mind for Anguela.

7. Your character must in some way care about Korvosa. For some, this is because it's their home and the place where their family is from. For others, it's because it's a place of opportunity where you can make a good buck if you're lucky and ready for it. Why does your character care about being a city hero?

Anguela believes the city of Korvosa belongs to her and her family. She wants it to prosper under her influence, and thus she wants to be seen helping it prosper. When the time comes for her to emerge from hiding and claim her birthright, she wants lots of loyal subjects who will follow and support her. While she recognizes that there are parts of the city that are corrupt and dangerous, she believes these aspects to be rooted in the usurpation of her family's claim and that restoring her to the throne will allow her to mend these tears in the tapestry of Korvosa.

8. What are your character's moral lines? What would they never do? What can they not stand by and watch? What will they always take advantage of?

Perhaps it is in her blood, but like how pseudodragons always fight imps, Anguela cannot abide devils and won't ever ally with them. She also finds the undead distasteful; even having grown up in Kaer Maga where they are often used as servants. She doesn't trust them and certainly won't create them. She struggles with insults to her pride; she has difficulty backing down from a challenge. But as part of her image of herself as nobility, she necessarily feels responsibility and concern for those she considers her subjects and advisors. She won't betray them, and she won't stand idly by while they are imprisoned or tortured. She loves magic, and will always use it if it is available, but when she gets upset she tends to charge into battle without thinking or planning. Biting her enemies is always her go-to maneuver.

9. If you have a character who has sworn a code (such as a Paladin or Cavalier, for example) be explicit in what that code entails.

Oracles don't really have a code, but there are sort of god-driven ends that they are looking after, right? Anguela's grandfather, and by extension her, follow the idea that House Porphyria was wrongly killed off and exiled from Korvosa, and that she should be seated on the throne instead of King Eodred. After a vision that the current monarch was in poor health and would soon be replaced by "a dragon queen," they conspired to place Anguela in the city so that she and their agents can be ready to take control of the succession. Whether this vision came from Nethys or some other power (and why) is uncertain, but it has the air of implacable divine truth about it.

10. What's your characters economic situation, and the economic situation of their family? A desperately poor character with a rich family tells a very different story than a desperately poor character with a poor family.

Anguela's family is rich, but the poorest rich, surviving on favors and bargains made based on their prospects as rulers in the future. They have tried to maintain a standard of wealth befitting their nobility, but they are very much nobility-in-exile. Anguela has come to Korvosa with almost nothing to her name, the last of their disposable assets having been spent to get her there safely, and she has had a hard time adjusting to living within modest means. Frugality makes her irritable. However, she must endure her relative poverty for now, as that's simply the way things are. By her standards, her adopted family is just barely surviving, but being moderately successful merchants and traders of magical supplies and equipment, the Noctis shop receives a lot of custom from the many wizards and other arcanists of the Academae. They are comfortable enough to take the risk of sheltering Anguela, but poor enough to dream of the rewards they will receive when she comes to power.

I'm very excited about playing an arcane caster with a focus on melee combat. Tactically, I think that will be really fun, and the spin on her being exiled nobility is a really neat headspace to get into. The dichotomy of a refined, aristocratic princess cast against a bestial, bloodthirsty monster is delightfully appealing.

I've built Anguela to be a scrapper-sorcerer, with the intention of moving into the Dragon Disciple prestige class as soon as possible. She will be a bit light on feats as I intend to take Prestigious Spellcaster to make up her lost caster levels, but she should make up for it with the power of her spells. I think she will be an interesting blend of a noble face character and an aggressive combat-happy monster.

Anguela first met Darius Filipes on her caravan ride from Kaer Maga. It was raining, which was good for secrecy, but Anguela was annoyed because it meant that the unkempt soldier who had just joined their party would likely ride inside the wagon, or at the very least standing nearby on the board. At least he'll get a shower, she thought. He looked to her like he needed it.

Her family's contacts in Korvosa had hired him to help smooth their passage into the city. Staring at him as they traveled, it was hard for Anguela to believe that he was much more than he seemed. But he was an ally of sorts, and so she made an effort to make friends. His gruff demeanor put her off somewhat, but she valiantly rose above it and was pleased to discover that he could be quite a good storyteller when he was willing to talk.

On the fourth day of rain, petulantly and somewhat masochistically, she struck up a conversation with Darius about the rule of law, specifically as it applied to the royal succession. She expected the haggard mercenary to say something like "What does it matter who is in charge, as long as I get paid?" but she was pleasantly surprised when he began to speak passionately about his belief in the system. She realized that night that she respected him, and had begun to actually enjoy his company.

Their interactions were cut short when they neared their destination, as they had to ensure Anguela got inside Korvosa without being seen, and so they hid her nailed up inside the cart. She briefly thought that she was sorry she and Darius would not be able to converse any more, and she wished him well in her future endeavors. Someone to keep an eye on, she thought. A good man.

Anguela rolled her eyes again. Why have I been partnered with this naive dandelion-sniffing hedge knight? she thought for the fourth time that day. The finely-dressed guardsman was infuriatingly quiet, gentle, and slow to anger. She felt compelled to bait him, picking fights with citizens for the merest infractions of the law, testing his patience. But every time Atticus remained calm, and kindly diffused the situation without resorting to even the threat of violence.

Finally, Anguela felt she had no choice but to ask to see the commander. "I cannot work with this guardsman," she told Field Marshal Kroft. Encouraged to elaborate why, Anguela felt irritated and pinched her nose to quell a growing headache. "We're just not a good fit," she complained. But after conferring privately with Atticus, the commander encouraged her to try harder, and rejected her plea.

She began to suspect collusion, and questioned her partner intensely on his relationship with Kroft while on their rounds. She found him exceedingly reticent in his answers, which heightened her paranoia and drove her into fits of frustrated sputtering. And somehow he tolerated all of this abuse, remained beside her as they patrolled, and never once showed anger or resentment.

Anguela began to envy the man. How did he do it? What inner peace had he discovered that made it possible to endure her acrid clouds of ire every day? She felt beaten down by his resistance. What's the point? she thought. Slowly, she began to give ground, to let up and simply serve together. She was beaten. She felt beaten.

When the two of them got into a scrap with a pair of criminals that they caught red-handed, Anguela was pleasantly surprised to see how good Atticus was in a fight. He superimposed himself between her and their enemies, taking a blow in stride that would have easily felled her. She still didn't like him, but she had to grudgingly admit that she liked fighting beside him. It could be worse, she thought.