#dynastintro

hi hi guys ! i’m late as ever , but super pumped to get into this ! i’m still contemplating joining discord bc my experiences with it are , like , nay . anyway , if i end up not joining , feel free to hmu here and let’s get down to some plotting !

INFORMATION.

name: critofano d’onofrio.

position: ruling lord of house d’onofrio.

age: forty-one.

date of birth: august, 3rd.

sexuality: bisexual biromantic.

marrital status: married, childless.

religion: catholic.

BACKGROUND.

even though cristofano was destined to take over the duties of a ruler from his father since the birth, he rarely ever spared the fact much thought.

as a child, he was seen as the golden boy, as the extroverted kid with a spark in thier eye and a casual charm just awaiting to reach its rightful place and inspire people and allies to follow him. the perfect heir any family could wish for.

however, as time went by and cristofano reached his teenage years, frustration and disatisfaction with the boy, more than anything else, started clouding his father’s eyes. the perfect heir refused to perform most of his duties, and no matter how hard others may tried, he simply lacked any interest in following the steps of his ancestors and to learn how to handle everything that came with the title.

rather he became known as a man fond of company and adventure. spending years on grand tours across europe, throwing balls and gatherings in every town, and quickly wasting away the family’s money. when his father cut him off, for some time he managed to sweet talk many of the european houses to let him stay at their places on their own expenses during his travels, but in the end, they became wary of him too, and resentfuly, cristofano returned home.

in florence, he continued in the wasteful way of life - but by then, his father was way too preoccupied by his little uprising against the king. by then, cristofano was old enough to realize what was happening, but way far away from being mature to do something about it. in fact, it was the other way around - his young soul saw the thrill and adrenaline ahead and mindlessly joined his father in the campaign. for a few months, the father and son stood united.

however, cristofano might had forgotten there were always consequences to one’s actions, but fate did not. in the end, the revolt failed, hard -- and quite honestly, to his own joy. the whole thing drained way too much spirit out of his body, and he quickly found out those foolish ambitions and reckless dreams actually cost way more than they were worth. the last straw was when his closest, childhood friends, a group of three noblemen, were executed by the end of it. since then, cristofano’s outlook changed completely.

he withdrew completely from his father’s plans, no matter how much resentment he faced because of it. but as his father foolishly, in hope he’d join him once again, let him know of the plans of launching yet another attack on the royal seat, cristofano didn’t have much time to think. that very evening during the discussion, in his own chambers, he poisoned him. he didn’t really have a chance to regret it -- the peace and stillness immediately taking over their house provided him with all the justification he needed. officially, his father died of heart attack. in reality, the real cause of death is pretty much a public secret.

he came out of it as very much of a chnged man --- quietness replaced the loud facetious jokes, and contemplation settled in where impulsivity once ruled. now, he’s still a sociable man, one hosting balls and inviting artists to his house ; but his eyes no longer tell of the careless fondness he once graced everyone with, and rather speak of suspicions and ruling with an iron fist -- anything to maintain the peace and keep their house relevant at the same time.

BIOGRAPHY

Bahandi was born in Sebu, an island that conquistadors would later try to lump in with their colony “the Philippines.” Her father was a datu (chief/sovereign) who fended off Europeans who stepped foot on their land and attempted to subjugate them. Though they were successful at fighting them, Bahandi has always been conscious of the European violence going on in their neighbouring islands.

This is why she persisted in her desire to go to Europe. She does not want to be intimidated by Europeans, many of whom consider a brown islander such as herself to be beneath them. At sixteen, she travelled to Florence, determined to rise up in Italian society and execute her grand ambitions. It hasn’t been easy, but she is not one to give up.

Her birth name was Bahandi, spelled with the characters I have in my sidebar. But she learned to transliterate her name in the Latinate alphabet, as well as gave herself a ‘surname.’ (Bisaya natives do not have surnames.) Her surname derives from her title back home, ‘Maantigu,’ or knowing/intelligent. Her name Bahandi means treasure.

Notes on her faceclaim: European surnames don’t necessarily indicate actual European heritage in Filipinos, which is why I feel comfortable using Glaiza. As far as I know, she’s fully/almost fully native like myself.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

Hi, friends! I’m Christiana, this is Maria, and I’m super hyped to get this party started. I haven’t written much historical rp but learning is part of the fun! This is a bit long, and I’m still trying to get to know her admittedly, but that’s just how it be sometimes ya know ? Also I used lines from Christopher Smart’s Jubilate Agno in the bio, for the little title things. It’s an astounding work from the 18th century, if you’re a poetry nerd!

Quick summary: girl who lost her childhood loves God more than anything and fears she can’t trust anyone so she trusts very few, is a very scared baby, bites her tongue but boy is she ready to let her voice be heard, actually cares a lot about everything and that’s why she’s a wreck, 

Basics

Name: Maria Moretti

Title: Lady (Eldest daughter)

Age: twenty-four

Place of Birth: Florence, Italy

Gender: Female

Social Class: Nobility

Sexuality: Unexplored/straight

Height: 5'6

Personality/Attributes

Hobbies: Reading/study, prayer, supporting the fine arts, horseback riding, needlework

Religion: Roman Catholic. Maria is incredibly pious. She’s completely devoted to God and her entire worldview is formed within that lens. Every opinion she has, from marriage to political practices, are formed by her devotion to God.

Strengths: Polite, strong-willed, observant, cerebral, loyal, creative

Weaknesses: Pertinacious, sensitive, judgmental, kinda naive

Education: Maria is quite educated, being proficient in mathematics, in reading and writing in Latin, English, as well as Italian, and in many household responsibilities. She particularly took a liking to needlework, which continues to be a soothing task in her adulthood.

Allegiance: her familial allegiance is to the Giordano family, but Maria struggles to feel any loyalty to them. Maria hadn’t concerned herself with the rivalry as a child, but she is older now and unable to ignore such things. That undoubtedly includes showing unwavering loyalty when it is due. Greed certainly is no grounds for wavering, in her eyes.

Biography

For the flowers are great blessings — Maria was a vibrant child. She loved to laugh and play, loved to spend time with the horses and to lay in the flowers imagining she was like the soft petals, loved to bother her older brothers, loved to dance. She would paint with the juice of berries on any surface that would take it and not quite understand why she would be reprimanded for such a thing. She was rowdy and maybe a bit impolite. But in her education, as her childhood whims were beaten from her sensibilities, she learned she could be nothing like the flowers. Not so soft, nor so breakable.

Rejoice in God, O ye Tongues — The only true loyalty Maria knows to be in her heart is to God. For God is in every flower, every brick, every heart of Man, every weave and every stitch, for all creatures were created to be in his image. Because of God, she knows mercy and the deepest love in the universe. A pious woman, Maria grew up with a scripture-based education. She learned to read and write, to do mathematics, to sew and stitch, all skills needed to eventually take care of a home the way a wife should, all she needed to know to become a good Catholic woman. The messages of the gospel reached the deepest crevices of her heart, and she has taken it upon herself to decipher scripture. Heresy, some would say, but her heart is with God and while she loves the church, there is too much disagreement among the men of it for her to trust someone else to tell her what it means. Sometimes her beliefs cause her to judge others, for it is in the nature of humanity to ignore the branch within their own eye while pointing out the twig in another’s.

For all good words are from GOD — Maria observed her environment as a girl. She saw the way she was treated as a lady, the way her brother ruled their house, the way friends would turn on one another, the way her own people treated those below them. She saw deceit in the eyes of those she was meant to trust, pity, not kindness, for the loss of their parents, and she saw evil in those of men who were meant to be like pillars to her community.  There are few she does trust, for her eyes are not oblivious.

For it was taken away all at once from all of them — Maria was young when her parents died, and the memories have faded into each other, now nothing more than seemingly a conjured picture of grief. She did not remember them enough to miss them, but she missed the idea of security, and she longed for a time when her duties as the eldest daughter were not magnified by their absence. The pressures that truly settled on her shoulders as a young girl tore her childhood from her, and every so often there is a glimmer of desire for a life far more free than her own.

For the more the light is defective — Maria has become excellent at biting her tongue. When her brother decided to switch allegiance to the Giordano's, Maria was outraged in his surprising lack of loyalty. She became conflicted. Her brother was the ruler of her household, and her fate was in his hands. She had very little choice but to at least not speak so blatantly against his decision. But how could she support it when his actions, allowing their loyalty to be bought, were so far from what she believed to be right? She feared for what this decision meant for their name and their reputation, for the genuine friendships she had made, and for the consequences of the greed. But she bit her tongue. She knew it wasn't her place. As much as the words, fueled by anger and betrayal, threatened to spill out, they stayed, waiting, behind her gritted teeth.

For the TRUMPET of God is a blessed intelligence — Maria was always attracted to music and the arts, admiring the artistry and the passion. She spent free time among artists, musicians and poets, listening and learning. She continues to this day, when she can afford it. It it a bit of a guilty pleasure.

Lil headcanons

Maria adores stitching, and sees it as a form of relaxation and creativity. She is quite skilled with her hands in this sense, and has the artist’s eye for it. 

some would see her as naive for some of her stances and tbh she kind of is, a bit

is highkey afraid of marriage for so many reasons

click here for my wc page!  

BIOGRAPHY

The D’Onofrio patriarch’s hunger for power is well-known to the people of Florence by now. What others don’t know firsthand is the terror he inspired in his son’s heart, enough for the boy to promise himself he won’t become like his father. Of course, many things are unavoidable. For example, his looks. With the sharp features and brown hair, Valente resembles his father tremendously. He’s rather quick-tempered too, but Valente strives to channel his emotions into doing good. 

He’s very passionate, and does not like to withhold his thoughts in any way, because he considers it to be the cousin of scheming. He hates scheming, as his father was so fond of it. However, as a result, his detractors frame his candour as a dangerous lack of tact. (They’re not entirely wrong there.) He is also well-known for falling easily for attractive women, causing critics to brand him too distracted and unfit for his future role as the Ruling Lord of his noble house. But Valente values the chance to be a better Ruling Lord than his father ever was, and will not relinquish his heir status any time soon. His sister-in-law’s pregnancy will certainly complicate matters.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

Basics

Name: Lucrezia (real name Keziah) De Luna

Nickname: Crezia if you must. It does feel more familiar. DON’T CALL HER LU that nickname is banned she hates it

Occupation: Apothecary, mercenary/spy for hire

Age: twenty-six

Place of Birth: Unknown

Gender: Female

Social Class: Commoner

Sexuality: Bisexual

Height: 5'6

Personality/Attributes

Hobbies: hunting, swordsmanship, drinking, experimenting for the apothecary, gambling

Religion: Lucrezia has always felt abandoned by God, and feels no ties whatsoever to religion.

Fears:

Attitude Toward Death: Death is inevitable, but Lucrezia will keep doing whatever it takes to survive. She has become quite good at cheating death. 

Education: Lucrezia has never had a formal education. The closest thing she got is everything Orzio taught her about medicine, numbers, and the world, as well as the bits and pieces she picked up from working for a number of households as a child. The rest of her knowledge came purely from experiencing the shit of life.

Biography

Keziah was found in Naples. She was ten, long abandoned by family she had no memory of, living on the streets, doing what she could to survive between bouts of working for families as a servant until they deemed her too weak to perform the tasks allotted. She would steal and manipulate anyone who seemed weak enough to give into it. All she knew of herself was a name, heard through foggy memories of distorted voices. It seemed almost as if it came to her in a dream, it was so distant. So she went by Keziah and somehow survived the streets of Naples.

Orazio De Luna was an apothecary, traveling through Naples and treating people as he went. Their first meetings were hostile, as he saw Keziah as nothing but a thief, below even him. She was trying to steal from him, after all. But their paths kept crossing, and eventually, the nature of their interactions became begrudgingly less aggressive. He offered to buy her a meal or two, and she never had anything to give him in return, but he never cared. He pitied her. Eventually, Keziah’s curiosity about the work of this man got the better of her. He began teaching her, albeit begrudgingly, and it wasn’t long before the two developed an almost familial relationship. A distant one, but familial nonetheless. They discovered she could help with his work, and under the condition that she gave up thievery, lying, and cheating, he would provide care for her. The two began traveling together, Keziah taking up the made-up role of his daughter and beginning to go by the more Italian Lucrezia. They worked well, no matter their disagreements, and Lucrezia found herself settling into the life she had obtained. But despite the comfort and the care, it was difficult for her to truly give up her old ways. She resorted to them in times of particular uncertainty. To her surprise, Orazio never gave up on her, despite her fixed behavior being his condition to their companionship.

When the pair settled in Florence to open a shop, she was eighteen, and in a way she never expected, she was devoted to the man she came to know as a father and the shop they took care of. But even this couldn’t stop Lucrezia from accepting a job for coin when offered. It started with simple tasks: finding out who is doing what, get this message to this person, convince them of a cause. As she was asked for more and more, the tasks became increasingly… risky. Violet. Although it took time, people came to know of what she was willing to do. The city of Florence was corrupt far before she entered the game, and she knew the consequences of her actions. As did Orazio, who wasn’t quiet in his opposition of her dangerous pastime. But like the distant father he was, he did nothing to actually stop her. Lucrezia was seen as useful to many and neutral to the rest. Whether it was out of fear or uncertainty about the truth behind the tales about her, Lucrezia didn’t know. Perhaps it was her charm keeping her in the game. All she knew is that people understood that if they wanted something, she was the one who they could rely on to get it.

further reading! 

Lucrezia has always felt like nothing. No more then a speck in this world. Her upbringing has made her cynical, as I’m sure you can tell.

she secretly thinks often about her past. Not knowing where she came from or who she is bothers her in her darkest hours. She more or less settled on the idea that she was abandoned for one reason or another. She can’t imagine she came from anywhere special, either. 

Their apothecary is incredibly popular for their reliability and innovation, especially among the nobility. 

She’s a complete charmer. Lucrezia uses this for her “job” often to get some truth out of someone. She’s a flirt, a major manipulator. Not afraid to play dirty. 

I have no self control, yall

Basics

Name: Maharajkumari Savitri Devi

Title: Maharajkumari (essentially princess. just says the equivalent of princess while she’s in Florence. That, or she doesn’t tell at all)

Nicknames: Savi

Age: twenty-nine

Place of Birth: Vijayanagara, Vijayanagara Empire

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Bisexual

Height: 5'9

Personality/Attributes

Hobbies: music, writing, chess playing, dance, spending time in markets, 

Religion: Hindu

Strengths: Extroverted, charming, diplomatic, creative

Weaknesses: rebellious, stubborn, self-indulgent

Education: Savitri has been educated in many languages, reading and writing, numbers, as well as all sorts of diplomatic and political concepts. She was taught what it meant to lead and rule, to deal with war and national affairs, in the case that she was to do so someday. She even learned sword work and various fighting techniques. 

Languages: Telugu, Sanskrit, Italian, English

Biography

With her father just recently becoming king, Savitri’s position in the world was changing. She wasn’t heir apparent, but she was just as much use in their political game as her brother. Savitri’s father was interested in increasing diplomatic relations. For reasons of trade and alliances, sure, but the king was a man of great wealth. Her whole family was. And he wanted others to know of their wealth, their sublime culture, and their power. He didn’t have ambitions of conquering the foreign nations he was trying to call friends, it was not that kind of power, but he wanted them to know of their empire and see what they did possess. Savitri’s presence in Italy was a gratuitous display of their empire. He wanted to send the best of them, the most beautiful and the most tactful. She was graceful, delicate yet firm in conversation. Her intelligence was to be an example of the nation’s scholarly aptitude, and her beauty, a sign of their status. 

But Savitri didn’t agree to this trip for diplomatic reasons alone. She wanted an adventure. She wanted to meet people far different from her own, and to have a bit of freedom to present herself exactly as she chooses. While she certainly has to stick to a standard, one strictly enforced by her guards and ladies that traveled with her, she found that there was a bit more room for who she wanted to be in her time away from her father. Savitri longed for freedom that her position could not give her. She was eternally grateful for those that she did have, but someone was missing. Not long after her arrival in Florence, Savitri began to evade her ladies and guards. She would go out into the market alone, or as alone as she could be, trying to escape their gaze, seeking out company that they might deem suspicious. As time went on, Savitri started escaping in the evenings, looking for more vibrant scenes than those of the court.

This isn’t the first time Savi has been to Florence. Her first time in the city was 13 years ago, when her family made their early attempts at building relations with Italy. She has been a few times since, but never without another member of her family. so THATS something to consider with possible plotting??? hmmm???

idk i have a lot more but this is what u get for now love yall