#╰ ––––––– ✦ ⧽ 𝖟𝖍𝖔𝖓𝖌𝖑𝖎 › hcs ❨ ᶦ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ᵃ ᵍʳᵉᵃᵗ ᵐᵃⁿʸ ⁿᵃᵐᵉˢ ❩

[gnosticreign]

zhongli: the twelfth harbinger, beltrame.

after la signora's death in inazuma, it was clear that great changes were happening within the fatui. all of her subordinates were being shifted around, but there was a twelfth division now formed; separate from the pool that was once signora's, the documents now featured eleven options instead of the expected ten.

pierro, confused, consulted the tsaritsa about these odd changes. "pardon my insolence, but we are only eleven. where has this twelfth come from?"

the tsaritsa smiled kindly, before she merely said, "beltrame will arrive soon. please be ready for him, jester."

with that, pierro ordered his men to keep an eye out for any who would refer to themselves as beltrame, or at least for anyone unusual who would cross into snezhnaya's borders.

within several days, a liyuen man was brought forward to the harbingers, who had called himself by the title that had been provided. tartaglia was in inazuma at the time, so none of the other harbingers knew him for what he truly was until he introduced himself.

"signora had provided the name 'beltrame' for myself, urging me to consider an offer that would not be written to the final contract..." the man's amber eyes were calm, even with faced with the jester's visage. "even without my gnosis, i trust you will not underestimate my services."

beltrame was either or both a shrewd villager and a blunderer who was always trying to appear of a higher rank than he really is. however, in this case, liyue's former archon is everything that beltrame would have been concealing, a threat even without his gnosis.

it was with time, the brief reunion with azhdaha, and the reflections of all of his losses that he decided to take signora's offer to join them. learning of signora's death wasn't a terrible loss, as he wasn't exactly a close comrade of hers, but it was still a bit of a shock.

beltrame's role is simple: keep his role under wraps, continue to act in liyue, while also manipulating the fatui in other locations, namely mondstadt. he would also voluntarily take the responsibility of helping the members of the fatui within the chasm to escape from its maw, although not much is known about the methods in which he accomplished this.

he does not worship the tsaritsa, but instead sees her plan to dispose of celestia a natural conclusion; it was by their orders that the archons fell khaenri'ah, and it is the nature of man to overthrow the gods eventually. the gods could simply topple the heavenly principles, although it would take time and the right stratagem.

the fact that the traveler returns to liyue and trusts him is obviously a snag within the offer that signora had given him, but then...well, she's obviously not here to present her opinions on the matter. indeed, the idea of fighting the traveler is one that he is reticent on.

even so, the tsaritsa had solidified la signora's offer into a contract.

he would do what had to be done.