rules & guidelines

01  This page and all contents herein are intended for adults over the age of 21. This is non-negotiable.

02  Content warnings for this page (and for general interactions with this character) include, but are not limited to: organized crime and criminal activity; casual/flippant references to violence and/or murder; drug use, trafficking, and addiction; references to past incidents of abuse, both physical and sexual, slavery and/or human trafficking*, and torture.* Extremely unlikely to come up as Vespertine is a victim of this particular venue of crime and has no interest in perpetuating it himself, nor is he interested in talking about that period of his life. Its inclusion here is for the sake of caution and thoroughness.

03  If you are someone who is triggered by or otherwise sensitive to themes of UNREALITY and/or FOURTH-WALL BREAKS, I strongly recommend against clicking any hyperlinks on this page that lead to a different Carrd domain. Please exercise discretion and use your best judgment.

04  Pair codes are welcome, but please do not ask me about it or bring it up in-game. Ask for my Discord handle or some other means of communication and we'll take it from there.

05  Walkups and tells are welcome when my in-game status is set to Role-playing (or some other venue-specific icon). If you'd like to set up a scene, please feel free to reach out so we can discuss ideas and availability!

06  Vespertine is a deliberately antagonistic character, and while he usually puts on a cordial face for his public interactions, he is nevertheless very much not a nice guy. I'll do my best to check in before he says or does anything especially mean, as I have no intention of causing hurt feelings OOC (and I implore you to reach out if that does happen!), but please keep this in mind if you choose to have your character interact with him.Vespertine is also a character intended to fill a villainous role, and while I welcome (and expect!) conflict as a general rule, please understand that I also would really rather prefer that people don't interact with him for the sole purpose of, say, beating him up or making a public example of him (unless it's something we've discussed beforehand). You're welcome to try making a fool of him (please do this, actually), but I'd like to avoid anything that could lead to permanent consequences (unless, of course, we've discussed it beforehand)!

07  I'm open to RP involving mature/dark themes with this character as a matter of course, but if you have any specific concerns, please reach out so we can discuss it in detail! I'm also potentially open to shipping (etc) with Vespertine, but please understand that he is not exclusive and sleeps around (a lot). (Please also understand that IC=/=OOC, but if you'd like to play around with jealousy and/or hurt feelings IC, I'm open to that as well, just so long as it stays in-character.) By that same token, if you'd like to establish your character as having had a previous relationship with Vespertine, professional or otherwise, I'm totally game, let's hash it out via DM!

MR.VESPERTINE

venomous; vexatious; violent.
a businessman of Ul’dah, dealing in somnus, rare goods,
illicit services, payday loans, and other assorted sundries.
if you know his first name — no, you don’t.

dossier

01  general

full name.  Violet Vespertine
also known as.  wouldn't you like to know?
species.  Viera (Veena)
date of birth.  23rd Sun of the 5th Umbral Moon
age.  private!
gender.  masc (trans)
pronouns.  he/him
sexual orientation.  gayoccupation.  an honest businessman :)
actual occupation. crime boss & racketeervoice claim. Camden Sutkowski (as Aventurine, Honkai: Star Rail)

02  background

birthplace.  somewhere in the Skatay Range, long gone today.
current home.  Ul’dah, the Hustings Striplanguage(s).  Eorzean (fluent); Vieran (native); Garlean (some)parents?  dead.
siblings?  none.
other family members?  gone, all gone.

03  appearance

hair.  pale, off-white lavender; moderately long, almost always tied over his shoulder.
eyes.  deep red.
height.  172 cm / 5'8"
build.  lanky; leggy; slight.scars.  burns covering nearly the entire left side of his body, from his clavicle all the way down to his ankle, as well as a large number of small, deliberately-placed cuts wrapped around his upper torso and back.
other remarkable features.  his ears are a bit short compared to other Viera like him.

04  personality

positive traits.  passionate; driven; resourceful; tenacious; eloquent (when he wants to be).
negative traits. vain; passive-aggressive; sadistic; moody; insatiable; insincere.
likes.  flattery; finery; cheap menthols; expensive liquor; positive attention from attractive men; having his sense of superiority affirmed.
dislikes.  not being listened to; insults regarding his appearance; other Viera; losing (anything); Garleans (all).

do unto those that which they did to you.

biography

background? history?

No, that’s something other people have, don’t you see? Anything that happened in Vespertine’s life prior to his arrival in Eorzea is strictly on a need-to-know basis, and...Well.Nobody needs to know about the small Vieran village where he was born and raised, located in the remote, frigid mountains of Skatay, at the very edge of occupation by the ever-encroaching Garlean Empire. Nobody needs to know about the roaming squadron of the Vth Imperial Legion to whom his elders handed him over as a “voluntary” hostage in exchange for the safety of their village; nobody needs to know about the atrocities he suffered at the hands of the squadron’s acting commander during the years he spent as the man’s prisoner and de facto slave. Nobody needs to know, although rumors certainly abound, how each member of that same squadron was struck dead by poison in a single night, with some notable few among their number bearing obvious signs of torture before their demise...As far as Vespertine is concerned, all of those events, despite having occurred just over a decade prior, might as well be ancient history — and private fucking information, besides.(More importantly, perhaps, is how he scarcely considers any of those events as having happened to him, not as he exists today. No; all of that suffering belonged to someone who’s now long dead, someone who burned to cinders when the Dalmascan resistance set fire to that Imperial camp. The flames scoured him clean of all weakness and doubt, and all that remained was the man he is now — the man he was forced to become in order to survive.)

ON THE HOUSE.

In any case, all that matters is what lies in the present day: his influence in Ul’dah’s colorful criminal underground, the wealth he’s amassed by funneling somnus and other illicit goods to those with the gil to pay for it all, and the reputation he's incurred by what becomes of those who don’t have the gil to pay for it all.

The House Vespertine is one associated superficially — in the circles of polite society, at least, among those who either don't know any better or those who do, and who also know well enough not to speak on such matters in public — with the acquisition and trade of rare art or valuable relics... But it takes only the barest scratching at the surface of their dealings to decipher what’s really going on, that the head of this “noble house” and “merchants’” “guild” is a member of the nouveau riche with a finger in every pie of the city’s various criminal trades. (Well, virtually every pie; for reasons that are perhaps self-evident, the slave trade is his one line in the sand that will not be crossed, and he has been known to have people killed just for trying to offer up another person as “collateral” for his services.) And that suits Vespertine himself just fine; the more people who know not to fuck with him, or to even try fucking with him, as he plays at being a socialite and spends his wealth most conspicuously... Well, isn’t that the ideal?

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hooks

shrewd businessman

  • Need large quantities of illegal (or otherwise difficult to obtain) goods on short notice? The House Vespertine is almost certain to have what you need. Low on gil? That's fine, too — but do take care to inspect the terms of repayment before running up your tab, because the master of this house loves nothing more than calling in debts.

what's in a name?

  • The self-styled lord of House Vespertine is to be addressed strictly as Mr. Vespertine, or "Mr. V" for short; just "Vespertine" or "V" is permitted only by those with a close working relationship, and never by clients or employees. To call him "Violet" etc. is likely to result in violent reprisal; tread with care.

hired goons

  • Vespertine is rarely, if ever, seen in public without at least one (usually two) of his manservants (usually Au Ra or Roegadyn) flanking him at all times. They attend to his every need, even though he's never polite about whatever it is he might be needing.

hobnobber

  • Makes semi-frequent appearances at posh venues, the Gold Saucer, and other social settings attended by the nouveau riche. Take care in approaching; unless he initiates a conversation, he is likely to be very cross about being disturbed, even if that disturbance comes from an acquaintance or client.

salvemaker

  • It's not exactly something he advertises about himself, but Vespertine is in fact a skilled apothecarist with the knowledge and resources to craft a number of alchemical concoctions. Potions, poultices, salves and tinctures, lotions and balms and all manner of plant-derived remedies: you name it, and, for a certain fee, he'll have it delivered to you with utmost discretion. Of course, if your goal is to harm rather than heal... Well, he can help you with that, too, and with no questions asked — for an additional fee, that is.

cold-blooded (?)

  • As hot as it gets in Ul'dah, Vespertine is almost never caught straying from his favored style of dress: long sleeves, high collars, outer layers, and invariably full coverage. His dedication to such fashion in the face of unsuitable climes is truly something remarkable.

"merchant's" "guild"

  • He calls it a "house," but don't get it twisted; it's really just him and his loyal employees. One might infer that playing at nobility is something of a hobby for him, if not some kind of game or even a fetish.

unknown factor (it's probably blackmail)

  • How exactly does such a young (?) Veena male, already something of a rarity outside Skatay, acquire such black market capital and underworld sway in a town like Ul'dah? Good question! He's not going to tell you.

vindictive streak

  • If you're in any way involved in black market dealings and possess any traits that could identify you as Garlean — an accent, a third eye, a tattoo or anything else, no matter how miniscule — you've likely been warned to stay well away from this man. Why? Perhaps it's better if you don't know.

imperial rumors

  • Please ask before engaging with this hook, as it is not intended to be common knowledge!

  • Perhaps you once served with Garlemald's Vth Legion; perhaps you lived in an area they once occupied. Perhaps you've heard tales of an entire century struck dead where they stood in a single night, each and every one slain by poison, some few bearing obvious signs of torture. Could it have been an inside job to rid the Empire of a problematic centurion, or was it simply the work of local resistance groups? Nobody knows for sure — except, perhaps, for the only one among their number who remains unaccounted for to this day: a young Veena being held as their hostage.

connections

rook

The most trusted ally and confidant of the one and only Mr. Vespertine, and one of very few people V can trust to act on his behalf...usually. Rook takes care of whichever tasks are too sensitive and/or complex for Vespertine's other goons to handle, and then some. Possessed of a polite and uncommonly refined air, if also a bit overly formal and stiff, which not only stands in contrast to Vespertine's venomous personality, but also belies his own enormous physical strength. Likes quiet evenings indoors, cute things, extravagant desserts, and any excuse he can get to engage in violence on Vespertine's behalf.

★ rphub (NPC)

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goons (various)

Vespertine's veritable army of hired underlings, the vast majority consisting of Roegadyn and Highlander men, variable in their temperaments and level of decorum, but all invariably burly and well-built. (One might infer that Vespertine has a type...) Their uniform is tidy and monochrome, and they're always careful to engage both Vespertine himself as well as the esteemed clients of House Vespertine with the utmost respect...that is, of course, unless the particular client in question has been called on their debt, or if they've otherwise incurred Vespertine's ire, at which point all decorum is officially off the table.

★ NPC (multiple)

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the moonshadows archive

On semi-frequent occasion, clients of House Vespertine who come up too short on gil to make their scheduled repayments may instead choose to offer up personal assets as collateral, which typically come in the form of fine relics, historical artifacts, and objects of similar rarity and value. Of course, determining that these items are in fact rare, valuable, or even historical requires a certain level of professional expertise... Thus did Vespertine first come to meet with the Moonshadows Archive, an organization based in Ul'dah dedicated to the preservation of such relics, and thus did they enter a contract to their mutual benefit.

★ Carrd / RPHub

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec elit velit, faucibus vitae cursus eu, tristique sit amet arcu. Pellentesque posuere quis mauris eu aliquet. Fusce eu urna eu quam sodales venenatis sed vitae urna. Phasellus a ligula semper, elementum massa quis, vestibulum elit. Sed hendrerit, nisi malesuada vehicula pharetra, metus lacus dignissim tortor, a ornare orci arcu ut mauris. Duis ac risus at tortor porttitor efficitur vel sit amet ligula.

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