#oc: darth calumnia

[vultures-and-scavengers]

so i play guild wars 2 now. (again. i played like 5 years ago, and then stopped. mistake)

this is GW2 AU! Calumnia... named Calumniah, because the original name was taken. she’s a mesmer! because in SWTOR, she’s a madness sorc mainly, and i always headcanoned her as an illusionist, and mesmer fits that perfectly! it’s taken a hot minute to get used to the class, but i’m really enjoying it! i finished the base game personal story two days ago and then moved onto the living world.

#sylvari #sylvari oc #oc: darth calumnia

[vultures-and-scavengers]

calumnia tells mortis at the last moment, in person. she owes him that much. he has mentored her through her rise to power, become like a father to her. now she is about to tear apart the family she’s created.

she will have no regrets (this is a lie)

striding into his office, she sees the exhaustion, the resignation, the despair on his face. he knows. he knows why calumnia has come.

she lays out her reasoning in the same meticulous tones that have earned her respect at dark council meetings. calumnia will not be swayed. she has collected her evidence and made her connections and now that she has everything in place, she has nothing left but to break the news.

he does not call her a traitor. (he thinks it)

he tells her if he sees her again, he’ll have to fight her. possibly kill her. there has never been another punishment for traitors and he is the lord of justice. the law belongs to him and he belongs to the law.

he grants her this mercy. leave, he tells her. get out of my sight and don’t return. (it is a rejection and a benediction: he can give her a headstart and nothing else)

she makes no spectacle, writes no grand speeches. instead, she steals three harrower dreadnoughts, six terminus destroyers, and two gage transports. she takes her people to the sarkhai system and there they wait.

she keeps an eye on the empire. this is how she knows mortis dies. (this is how she knows umbris killed him)

#oc: darth calumnia #oc: darth umbris #SWTOR OCS

[vultures-and-scavengers]

I was tagged by @uldren-s0v​, and of course, gotta do it for calumnia.

tagging (only if y’all want) @pyr0clast​, @transgendersauce​, @ct-hardcase​, @gracelingdesolate​, and @villainship​

SEASONING: cinnamon

WEATHER: rain and lightning storms

COLOUR: gold, red, black

SKY: dusk

MAGICAL POWER: force illusions, force drains, force stealth

HOUSE PLANT:

WEAPON: she has a lightpike that she built, and she also wields Kallig’s lightsaber

SUBJECT: psychology, history, political science

SOCIAL MEDIA: none. she is Big Sister, watching it all. as a dark councilor, she might have, like, an official pr account, but she would never have any personal social media

MAKEUP PRODUCT: eyeliner

CANDY: chocolate

FEAR: failure, not being enough. later, being too much.

ICE CUBE SHAPE: cubed

METHOD OF LONG-DISTANCE TRAVEL: fury-class imperial interceptor. later, the harrower dreadnought Hungering Vengeance

ART STYLE: architecturally... bauhaus/minimalist. art style-wise? geometric, surrealism, or like... she’s from nar shaddaa, so bright lights, electronics, neons, sort of cyberpunk-y

MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURE: siren

PIECE OF STATIONERY: none. holo-messages, very precisely formatted and worded.

THREE EMOJIS: 🔪☕👀

CELESTIAL BODY: dromund kaas/hoth/oricon (they’re technically celestial bodies, lol)

#oc: darth calumnia

[vultures-and-scavengers]

Vanilla(Republic). Things are mostly according to the vanilla storylines, with a few exceptions. Kho skips the Knight Chapter 2 to partner up with Aliya as he recovers from the loss of Master Orgus, and Sarrai takes his place instead, and she’s the one that ends up mind-controlled by the Emperor- Orgus wasn’t her Master, there’s no ghost to break her out. Kho and Aliya launch a rescue mission and get her out, and Kho goes on to complete Chapter 3. Aliya goes with him to fight the Emperor.

Vanilla (Empire). Xiann and Tyma split the Inquisitor storyline: Xiann goes to Tatooine and Nar Shaddaa, Tyma goes to Balmorra and Alderaan. Chapter 2 and 3 see Xiann remaining mostly on Dromund Kaas to play politics, make friends, and enable the completion of the Silencers, while Tyma does the Force-walking. Calumnia joining Intelligence around the end of Chapter 2 of the agent story changes Cipher 9′s path a little, but the large events are mostly unchanged, however Intealligence is NOT disbanded. Warrior and Bounty Hunter are almost completely unchanged.

Vanilla Revan Plot. We fuck some things up here. It’s my own Revan, who did not destroy the Star Forge, but did return to the Empire, as she’s a sort-of halfway Child of the Emperor. He doesn’t take control or order her, and she doesn’t know, she’s just mildly influenced into courses of action. The Republic breaks her out, but the Imperial team sent to the Foundry is composed of Revanites: she is not killed, and the Foundry is transferred to “Imperial” hands before vanishing and getting covered up by Revanites. She begins plotting the downfall of both Sith and Jedi from the shadows.

Makeb. Not really any story changes here. Wrath (Mythra) handles it on Imp side, Aliya does the Republic side.

Rise of the Revanites. We go straight from Makeb into the assaults on Korriban and Tython: Arkous claims there’s no better way to field test new Imperial Isotope-5 technology than on the Jedi homeworld. It raises suspicions on both sides, and Calumnia, leading Intelligence to quietly investigate Arkous. Arkous is discovered to be a traitor and part of an unknown cult, and Calumnia requests the Wrath secretly take him out, which she does. Tyma, now Darth Umbris, takes his spot on the Council.

Rogue Sith. Fearing the discovery of her Revanites, Revan influences Malgus enough and he chooses to create a schism, starting the First Imperial Civil War. Investigations into Arkous’ benefactor (as he does not share Revan’s name in this timeline, and Revan doesn’t announce herself or bomb the Temple at Rakata) are halted as Malgus takes priority. Revan also organizes the release of the Dread Masters as another diversionary tactic, stalling for more time for the Star Forge and Foundry to continue to build her military’s strength.

Revan’s Reveal. With Intelligence still intact, Beniko’s operation on Rishi is supported by Intelligence itself, with multiple Ciphers playing their part... having been briefed ahead of time so they could play their part knowingly. Theron Shan is there as well as the Voidhound. Lana Beniko still betrays Theron, but this enrages Darth Calumnia, and Beniko is banned from working within or with Intelligence once the mission on Rishi is over. The Battle over Rishi still happens, but it’s not meant to be some massive battle where the Republic and Imperial fleets are taken out in one blow. It’s meant instead to announce Revan’s presence, and then lead the Republic and Empire to Yavin.

Yavin. Yavin is a nightmare: this is not a campaign finished in a few weeks. Revanites are dug in, and the jungle prevents effective use of tanks, artillery, and air support. Yavin is a meat grinder with the Republic and Empire paying for every foot they gain in blood and death. Revan’s intent is not to win, but to bog down, wear out, and demoralize her opponents’ forces. The Yavin campaign lasts 11 months, and at the end, with the Republic and Empire having finally made it to the Temple’s gates and believing victory is in sight, Revan plays her final card. The Temple is a trap, loaded with explosives, and the explosion causes massive casualties for the Republic and Empire.

Revan’s War. As the Empire and Republic reel from their loss on Yavin, Revan launches new assaults on key locations all over the galaxy, including the Kuat Drive Yards, Balmorra, and the Tytun Rings. Zakuul’s skytroopers and Eternal Fleets are replaced by the Star Forge and Foundry’s near limitless production of droids and starships. There is no Zakuul, just the Rakatan space stations and Revan. As the Republic and Empire begin to regroup, Revan glasses Ziost. Most of the population perishes, including Darth Cordatus (Xiann).

Imperial Schism. Darth Calumnia and Darth Moirai plan secret peace talks with the Republic, believing that war with the Jedi was foolish with Revan seeking to wipe out both orders. Their peace talks are leaked, and Revanites and Sith Traditionalists alike whip the Empire into a frenzy of controversy, turning into the Second Imperial Civil War. Darth Umbris claims leadership of one faction, outwardly appearing a rational leader who wants to focus on Revan and end the Civil War, but secretly encourages it to intensify.

Betrayal of the Forsworn. Calumnia is unwilling to fight in a civil war as Revan (who killed her little sister) continues to expand her holdings and collect more and more victories, and deserts the Empire, signing a mutual defense treaty with the Rift Alliance, and thus forcing the Republic to accept her faction as an ally. Most of Imperial Intelligence and a large number of Cordatus’s followers join Calumnia, including the Lord Wrath, who has been disillusioned by her wife’s increasing bloodthirsty behavior (Darth Umbris) and decided to dissolve their marriage.

A Losing Battle. The Republic stands alone against Revan as the Empre consumes itself. The Forsworn find a home on Tython after a reluctant Jedi Council allows them to make their home in the ruins of Kaleth. They contribute massively to intelligence efforts, and organize small strike teams to make quick hit and run attacks to attempt to bog down Revan’s advances. It becomes clear, however, that Revan is winning this war, and Calumnia works with Jedi Archivists to study Revan and her history in an attempt to discover a weakness they can use.

and that’s all i have, folks

#THIS is my overarching plot #it is revan heavy because fuck valkorian #and fuck zakuul #and its sith politics heavy #you cant tell me the empire wouldnt tear itself apart without the emperor holding it together under one leader #it would. it absolutely would. #oc: darth calumnia #oc: darth umbris #oc: aliya vydari #oc: darth cordatus

[vultures-and-scavengers]

calumnia is op, but she’s really fucked up about it, and she pays a price for it, and i just think that’s neat.

#oc: darth calumnia

[vultures-and-scavengers]

i think after killing the dread masters, instead of dark lord, calumnia should go by dread lord. and dread lord would have been a sick-ass title to get after oricon

#oc: darth calumnia

[vultures-and-scavengers]

[template]

tl;dr: calumnia’s a bitch but she’s family/friends oriented about it

i forgot to add her height though. she’s 5′4.

#swtor ocs #swtor fanart #ish??? #thats a new drawing of her #oc: darth calumnia

[vultures-and-scavengers]

16 & 17 for calumnia! 👀

i love these questions, they're not like... the usual ones, they're really making me think

16. what scents do they enjoy? (either to wear or for things like candles or incense)

whatever the in-universe equivalent of peppermint is, that! that's what she'd be most likely to wear.

she also really likes the smell of rain, which is a good thing, because calumnia spends the majority of her time as a sith on dromund kaas.

17. do they decorate for holidays?

she did as a kid, and then when she was left to raise her younger sisters. she probably stopped by the time they were 16ish, honestly. i don't know if she'd start again.

maybe? she wants the forsworn to last, as a faction, so she might try to reclaim holidays that were lost to time/sith cruelties, or she might try to create new ones to push for more of a culture and identity specific to the forsworn.

but she doesn't really have the decorating spirit.

#oc: darth calumnia

[vultures-and-scavengers]

6 10 12 for calumnia!

ooooooooo this made me think, thank you for sending this ask! :D

6. do they own anything that would make them embarrassed if someone else knew/saw?

hmm. i think when she went from hutt intelligence agent to becoming watcher 51, she kept her own apartment on nar shaddaa. it's pretty rundown, things don't always work 100%. i don't think she would have invited anyone there, lol.

post becoming sith? cal is an illusionist: she knows the power of images and reputation and knowledge. i think she would have buried deep or eradicated anything from before becoming sith.

MAYBE she would have kept mementos from her parents before her and her sisters were orphaned, but their parents were poor. mom wass a waitress and their dad was a bounty hunter. xiann became a bounty hunter before being sith, so she'd have been more likely to keep mementos from their family.

she is a big rotworm fan. i don't think she'd be embarressed if people saw her living room, with all the huttball memorabilia, but i don't think she'd flaunt it.

10. what types of clothes are they most comfortable in? (either physical comfort or emotional)

if no one is going to see her, she has more casual sweatpants and space!t-shirts: usually rotworm themed. she's from nar shaddaa- she grew up watching huttball.

if people are going to see her, then she prefers more austere, refined clothes. again, image and reputation are important to her, so she's going to choose clothes that emphasize power and influence- that's why post oricon, she changes her armor to be undeniably dread master inspired. she was sent to oricon in a power play to kill her, and she survived and suceeded in defeating them: she wants to remind people of that. clothes are her armor and her shield.

12. do they hang on to things for sentimental reasons? if so, what?

she is not sentimental, at all. she's an icy lil bitch for the first half of her life. not by choice though: she's surviving hutt politics and then sith politics.

post leaving the empire and forming her "forsworn" faction, i think she does get more sentimental. at that point, she's lost her sister, cordatus, the one she was closest to, and she's no longer within the sith empire. i mean, she leads the forsworn, so she's The Big Dog, and she has more room to allow herself sentimentality and compassion and such.

i'm trying to think of anything major. some coffee cups, maybe. she takes a lightsaber for aliya at one point- i think she might have kept that lightsaber. (pre-relationship! she's been a sucker for aliya for a hot minute, it takes them ages to get together, but for a while, they do sort of have a mutual pining/sad understanding that being together isn't an option for them)

#oc: darth calumnia

[vultures-and-scavengers]

history

Caliga was late for their weekly training session. It was out of character for her, and Aliya surveyed the faces of the Padawans gathered for training in the dojo to find poorly concealed disappointment. Privately, she was amused, but as a Jedi Councilor, she should probably have warned them not to be too eager to take lessons from a former Sith. Aliya, however, was an unorthodox pick, promoted in the middle of a war

Aliya bought into prejudice about Sith before. It had cost her the life of her Master, choosing to believe that Parkhanas would bluff to save his own life, choosing to believe what her Masters had taught her, that Dark-siders always lied.

A feint Caliga had taught Padawan Orion three weeks prior had saved her life just three days ago when Revanites raided the supply convoy she was escorting to Tython with her Master. That had given Aliya everything she needed to make her case with the Council: two training sessions a week, one with Caliga, and another with Ar’kass, both supervised.

As the two were most involved in working with the Jedi, they needed to earn some goodwill, and had hastily agreed. Caliga had often shown up early to these sessions, and Aliya knew she valued them.

So why was she late?

Comms were going unanswered, and Caliga’s location was hidden in the Force. Oh, Aliya could sense her: Caliga felt like Hoth, all ice and hidden secrets, but tinted with the faint smell of molten lava and burning metal. If Aliya listened close enough, she could hear the faint whispers of Oricon lingering around her.

Aliya tried not to listen too closely these days.

She led the Padawans through some refresher courses, keeping an eye on their stances and footwork, when the door to the training room swept open. Caliga stalked in, clearly upset about something, and her eyes were far away. The Padawans paused their katas, and Caliga’s eyebrows rose. “I didn’t say stop, did I? If you can’t master the foundation, everything you build on top will be weak and prone to failure.”

Her tone was harsh, and Aliya saw the apology and realization in Caliga’s eyes. Her voice was a little softer as she corrected a Padawan’s stance, reminding them to widen their feet and ground themselves before winding her way to Aliya.

“I doubt I’ll be a good teacher today,” she said. She didn’t apologize for being late: it was one of the things that irked Aliya about Caliga, that she never apologized, or at least, never with words.

“The Council?” It was a guess, but if anything was irking Caliga, it was usually the Council. The relationship between the Forsworn and their half-built base at Kaleth and the Jedi Council had started tense and mistrusting, and it hadn’t eased, even three months after the Forsworn’s desertion from the Empire.

“No,” Caliga says, before amending her words, “Well, not today’s Council. Later, Master Vydari. I’ll tell you later.”

Aliya was only more curious, but Caliga couldn’t be budged once she’d made her decision. She assumed it had to do with Revan: Caliga had assigned a contingent of Forsworn to work with the Archivists to piece together Revan’s history, her strategies, and her philosophies, to see if they could pinpoint a weakness or something to use against her.

Deep in thought, Aliya almost missed Caliga’s question, aimed not at her, but at the Padawans. “Have any of you trained to resist mental attacks while dueling?”

The Padawans look nervously at one another, but only one nods, a young Zabrak named Theorin. Caliga sits on the steps, her usual spot when she goes into lecture mode, and the Padawans sprawl on the ground around her. Her next question is a little more pointed, probing for information, “How much experience have you had?”

“Very little, Master Caliga,” Theorin answers, “My Master and I fought a Sorcerer at Corellia. He... put visions in my head, muddled my senses. My Master tried to to teach me a little more mental shielding after that, but it’s not really her strong suit.”

Caliga’s head tilted slightly, and then she asked, “Red Sith? Tall? Ostentatious purple and black armor? Long hair?”

Theorin stared at her for a moment, and then nodded, looking nervous.

“Lord Messerin- One of Ravage’s bootlickers. He tried to sell out a rival, tip off the SIS to his rival’s location. Ke’tar killed him.” She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. “She said it was a hard fight, harder than Ravage was. I’m impressed you survived the fight as a Padawan, especially one untrained to fight sorcerers.”

Theorin opened his mouth, indignance winning out over his anxiety, but Caliga cut him off, her voice going hard. “Jahl Ke’tar, if you didn’t know, was previously known as Darth Moirai, the Dark Council member who led the Sphere of Diplomacy after killing her predecessor, Darth Ravage. Lord Messerin gave a Dark Councilor trouble, Padawan. I was not being judgemental.”

With Theorin looking chastened, Caliga moved into lecture mode, going over the difficulties of what she termed “bimodal dueling”: fighting on both physical and mental fronts. She reviewed over the theory, but footstomped the importance of basic mental shields.

As Aliya watched Caliga test Padawan’s mental shields and help the group improve their shielding, a dark pit began to form in her stomach: just what, exactly, had Caliga found regarding a past Jedi Council that made her suddenly concerned with mental shielding?

#swtor ocs #oc: darth calumnia #oc: aliya vydari

[vultures-and-scavengers]

the high priestess // intuition, mysterious // superficiality, hidden motives

darth calumnia, head of sith intelligence, liar

#swtor #swtor fanart #sith inquisitor #the high priestess #swtor ocs #oc: darth calumnia #rowans doodles #hands are the devil but today i won

[vultures-and-scavengers]

Discarded Speech Titles:

Why I Deserve a Raise

Why The Empire Is Losing this Fucking War

No Great Power Is Worth This Great Responsibility

I’m So Fucking Tired, I’m Living On Take-Out And Delivery, And I Have 73 Reports To Read and Bring To The Dark Council Before Dinner Tonight

Can We Stop Killing My New Hires

I Need The Budget For More New Hires

If The Military Steals One (1) More Intelligence Analyst Of Mine, You All Die. Yes, You, Marr.

Ravage Is A Waste Of Space (This Is Not Relevant To This Topic, But I Do Believe It Should Be Brought Up At Every Dark Council Meeting)

If Someone Introduces New Flimiswork, I Will Light The Entire Citadel On Fire

The Madness of the Dread Masters Made More Sense Than Some of These Fucking Forms

#swtor #swtor ocs #sith inquisitor #oc: darth calumnia #sphere of sith intelligence #imperial intelligence #rowans doodles

[vultures-and-scavengers]

Presentation Title: Probable War Outcomes If The Dark Council Continues To Murder One Another

Subtitle: Ravage’s Murder Still Beneficial

#swtor #swtor fanart #swtor ocs #sith inquisitor #darth ravage #oc: darth calumnia

[vultures-and-scavengers]

When Darth Ravage says literally anything in a Council meeting.

#swtor #sith inquisitor #swtor ocs #swtor fanart #oc: darth calumnia #objectively he is not the most evil but he IS the most ANNOYING #darth ravage shut up and go away challenge #rowans doodles

[vultures-and-scavengers]

do you ever think about how by the end of chapter 3, the sith inquisitor doesn’t even have their own body anymore? changed and altered at the most fundamental levels by the mother machine. your head is not your own, you share it with the dead. your body is not your own.

how much of you has been stripped away by the sith order, forced into compromise after compromise, just to stay alive?

#swtor #sith inquisitor #oc: darth umbris #oc: darth cordatus #oc: darth calumnia

[vultures-and-scavengers]

Imperial Intelligence is asked a lot of (extremely uncomfortable) questions in the wake of the invasion of Korriban. They go through a crucible of mole hunts, internal policy reviews, operational reviews, investigations, and thus Calumnia attempts a band-aid measure.

#swtor #swtor ocs #imperial intelligence #sith inquisitor #sphere of sith intelligence #oc: darth calumnia #it only works because her people see her suffering alongside them #and also she approves all overtime pay #the overtime pay was an important factor #she also shoved some of the blame on arkous #'we had no warning you were planning an invasion of tython and so when we were forced to pivot and focus on that #our other operations lost resources'