(no subject)

[watchesandlistens]

RIFTER APPLICATION

PLAYER

Name: Ema
Age: 26
Contact: arlathvhen
Other Characters: Beleth Ashara, Kaisa Daesun
Interests: With Corvo, I'm interested in espionage kinds of things, maybe assassination / vigilante stuff, looking at different kinds of ways that magic works, and anything that involves rooftop parkour.

CHARACTER

Name: Corvo Attano
Canon/OC: Dishonored
Canon Point: Shortly after the events of Dishonored 1
Journal: watchesandlistens
Age: 39

Canon World

There is no specific name for Corvo's world. His world almost entirely consists of water, save for two exceptions: The Empire of the Isles, a series of four large islands and several smaller ones, and the mysterious Pandyssian Continent. The Empire of the Isles is heavily based on London after the Great Fire, and is currently undergoing its industrial revolution, with the ability to use whale oil as a fuel source being recently discovered.

Religion and magic are heavily intertwined, as the only thing in Corvo's world that could be called a god would be The Outsider, a supernatural being that exists and manipulates the powers of the void, from which all magic used in his world comes from. However, the organization The Abbey of the Everyman functions as a militant religious order to oppose the Outsider, scouring the Isles for any sign of his worship, and killing any offenders. Beyond this, it also oversees day to day civil matters, though it has become increasingly corrupt over time.

Animals in Corvo's world bare some similarity to the creatures of earth, though they tend towards being far more violent and vicious. The Abbey suggests that this world emerged from the void, and will one day return to it. And with all of the dangerous forces within it that are hostile to mankin's existence, it's not hard to see why such a conclusion would be drawn.

History

• Born in the Island of Serkonos to a lower class family, with an older sister.
• After his father died in a lumber mill accident, he grew up on the streets.
• At age 16 he won a sword duel festival, and became an officer in the royal guard.
• After two years of being an officer, he was sent to Dunwall to serve the emperor.
• Became the royal protector to the emperor's daughter, Jessamine.
• Jessamine ascended the throne, becoming the Empress of the Isles.
• Became lovers with Jessamine, which was technically a secret but basically everyone and their mom knew about it.
• After 4 years, had a daughter named Emily with her, though his part was kept secret (probably as secret as his relationship with her mom).
• A really crazy bad rat plague started up in Dunwall, and after two years with no sign of it ending, Corvo was sent on a journey around the isles seeking help from the other islands.
• Ended up coming home two days early, just in time to witness the assassination of Jessamine and kidnapping of Emily, which was put together by the Royal Spymaster and High Overseer. He got blamed for it, though.
• Spent six months in jail, with the Royal Spymaster becoming Lord Regent, when a bunch of loyalists who wanted to see Emily be rightfully restored as empress helped Corvo bust out of the prison.
• These loyalists asked him to help them dismantle the Lord Regent's power structure, rescue Emily, and restore her to position as Empress.
• Also this weirdo void entity named the Outsider showed up in his dreams and gave him magical powers.
• Corvo proceeds to use his own skills and magic powers to kill the people responsible for keeping the Lord Regent in power, including the Lord Regent. Not, however, including Daud, the actual assassin who killed the Empress. Go figure.
• Largely avoids killing people who are not these targets (achieves Low Chaos)
• The Loyalists then took Emily and tried to kill him. This works out as well for them as it did the last group of people. Except this time, Corvo doesn't kill them. They end up killing each other, save Admiral Havelock, who gets a sleep dart in the face, before Corvo whisks Emily away to go be the Empress.


Corvo @ the Dishonored wiki.

Personality

Corvo is a stoic man of few words, who rarely expresses himself. He is not predisposed to large shows of emotion, and can be hard to read for those who don't know him well. He prefers keeping his thoughts to himself, and what he does say tends towards being what is only what he feels is necessary. He has an air about him of a man who is, quite simply tired, who has seen and done too much for one lifetime. Basically, he's super broody and enjoys staring off moodily into the distance. Combined with his taciturn nature, he can come off as pretty intimidating--even without his creepy mask.

Despite this, Corvo is a fiercely devoted and loving father, and cares deeply for Emily, and was shown to care just as much for Jessamine. Nothing can make Corvo smile, open up and show his inner kindness, quite like his daughter. Even talking about her makes him seem to lighten up. This fierce devotion creates an equally fierce protectiveness, and he will do everything within his power to make sure that she is safe. And if she isn't--nothing can stop him from coming for her.

Corvo's loyalty is a fixture of his personality, even discounting Jessamine and Emily. If you become his friend, Corvo will bend over backwards to try to do right by you. When he dedicates himself to a cause, or a person, he dedicates himself fully. However, after being betrayed multiple times by people he thought he could trust, that trust is now hard won, and it's not easy to secure the confidence to ensure that kind of loyalty.

Even with the betrayal, heartbreak, and generally shitty time that's been Corvo's life, he hasn't lost his humanity. He knows that he's capable of killing, that he could slaughter his way to his goals. But he has seen what making that choice leads you to, and he refuses to pursue that path. He kills when he has to, but if he can avoid it, he will. He holds back when he could strike, and when he could shout, he watches and he listens.

Strengths & Weaknesses

NATURAL ABILITIES
Corvo is a master swordsman, having regularly trained himself by sparring with three men at the same time, and was reported to be a "whirlwind with a blade". He is trained with the crossbow, though not to the same level as his sword. He's also talented at acts of athletics, running, climbing, and swimming through a variety of obstacles within Dunwall.

SUPERNATURAL ABILITIES
Corvo is marked by the outsider, giving him the ability to unlock a host of magical abilities (for the record there are more available in game but he's only getting the ones I've listed).

• Blink
Corvo can instantly and silently teleport to a different location. This area must be within his line of sight, and must be wtihin 15 meters of his current location. If he tries to blink to somewhere below him that is not within 15 meters, he will appear however high above the target is within range, and fall. Blinking does not stop momentum, and can't be used to break a fall.

• Dark Vision
As implied in the name, dark vision allows Corvo to be able to see in the dark, bathing his vision in a sea of red (similar to wearing night vision goggles). This ability also allows him to see the silhouettes of living things through walls and floor, for a short range. It's a useful ability for traversing through dark areas and avoiding others, but with the red tint to everything (save living things, which are highlighted a bright yellow), it's hard to make out any details and can be generally kind of annoying.

• Bend Time
For 12 seconds, time around Corvo is slowed down, while he can move at ordinary speed. For those affected by it, it appears as if Corvo is moving incredibly fast. They will still be aware of whatever he does within those 12 seconds, and if Corvo runs into the path of projectiles, or is in their way when time resumes its regular speed, he can still be injured.

• Wind Blast
Corvo is able to create a gust of wind,pushing objects away from him. This isn't powerful enough to do much more than stagger people, unless they're close to the edge of a drop. It can knock away projectiles, but only if they're slow enough--arrows will not be effected, but something like a grenade would be.

• Agility
A passive ability that allows Corvo to jump higher than an ordinary person (basically, a double jump), and makes it so that he doesn't take as much damage from falls. Incredible.

MANA
Corvo's magic use is limited by mana consumption. All of his supernatural abilities that can be activated (all but the agility) consumes mana, the amount depending on the ability. Blink and nightvision take up about 20% of his total mana, while wind blast and time bend take up half of it. This mana replenishes itself over time, or can be replenished by drinking an elixer. If it's okay, I'm going to say that the lyrium potions that mages consume will function similarly for him.

BONE CHARMS
Bone charms are mystical little trinkets crafted from whale bone and imbued with the magic of the void. They grant their holder a variety of nifty gifts, ranging from extra health to the ability to eat rats and gain mana. If left lying around, they make a particularly irritating singing noise that occasionally drives people crazy. This effect doesn't seem to happen when they're stashed in Corvo's pocket. Since you can only equip three at a time, I'm just giving him three in total, and having them be ones with a fairly minor effect (though if you guys want them to be completely nonfunctional, that's fine, too).

• Slightly faster at climbing
• Small increase in health
• Ability to hold breath increased by a few seconds

THE TELLTALE HEART
Another gift of the Outsider and definitely the most creepy is the Heart, that just so happens to be made from the heart of the Empress, and has her soul attached to it. Gross, dude. This heart allows Corvo to see where bone charms and runes are located, which will be incredibly useless in a world where none exist. It also makes frustratingly vague commentary on people and places if you point it at either, all in the voice of Jessamine. Luckily for everyone involved, no one but Corvo and the Outsider can see this heart, so no one has to deal with him holding an actual beating human heart and pointing it at people.
(Note: If this ability is allowed, I'll make a permssions post for it, where people can post if he's allowed to use it on someone, and what the heart would say)

NOT A PEOPLE PERSON
Corvo is not particularly adept at the whole diplomacy thing. He has the ability to hold his tongue and he can be polite, but he is not one to talk. At all. With his silence and his brooding stare, he can make people feel uneasy. He has little care for social status, and has thrown nobles out of state dinners for inappropriate comments--though he was the royal protector at the time, so he was within his rights. Combined with his general lack of trust, he is not particularly adept at the whole socialization and making friends thing, and do not ask him to try diplomacy. He can stand there and keep his mouth shut, and that's about it.

KIDS ARE OKAY THOUGH
Despite his inability to be sociable with most people, Corvo has a genuine fondness for children. His own daughter, Emily, is his life and he would go through any lengths and do whatever necessary to rescue her. She is his greatest motivation, and his decisions are all heavily influenced by what would be best for her. But even with children not his own, Corvo can show a gentleness not normally seen. He will go out of his way to protect children, even at the risk of his own welfare and the success of the mission. Despite his trust issues, people trying to use their own children to pull heartstrings will have an easier time swaying him than normal.

Arrival Inventory

• One-handed crossbow with regular bolts and sleep darts
• Pistol (either MIA or nonfunctional)
• His sword
• His clothes
• Three grenades
• Three bone charms (if it's decided they are nonfunctional, I might give him more since they won't do anything but look weird)
• The creepy-ass heart of his dead girlfriend that only he can see
• A likewise creepy-ass mask

'Human'ization

Corvo is a human and will appear as such.

Fit

One thing that I'm interested in with Corvo is him getting a chance to process the events that happened to him in Dishonored, and have a chance to look at his life and how he wants to proceed from here. Corvo will also have an entirely different view on religion, being from a world where there is no true god, and a very different idea on magic and how it works. He'll be pretty unsympathetic about the plight of mages in Thedas, at least at first (Circles sound bad? Try institutionalized witch burnings), and I think it would be interesting to compare the differences. 

SAMPLES

[boop]

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