#oc: zita de riva

[goatsorcery]

when zita first starts falling for lucanis, her thoughts often circle back to “why didn’t viago introduce us sooner”. after they get more serious, zita’s thoughts change to “i see why viago didn’t introduce us sooner”.

[goatsorcery]

zita being told by lucanis that her voice is a comfort to him when she probably heard “you’re paid to kill, not talk” from her superiors more times than she can count

[goatsorcery]

thinking about de riva in regards to the events of eight little talons. im sure they shared their concerns before hand of the dangers of having all the talons in one place. and then viago returns with the news that four talons are dead, he survived being poisoned, and he has a new pet snake named after the guy who tried to kill him.

[goatsorcery]

zita de riva (rogue - antivan crow)

[goatsorcery]

zita constantly encourages viago to make a claim for his royal title, in part because she thinks he’s best suited for the job, but mostly because she likes imagining herself as his royal advisor

[goatsorcery]

after the events of veilguard, there is a very good chance that zita kills/tries to kill illario and/or caterina on lucanis’ behalf. she doesnt understand why lucanis is upset by her offer.

[goatsorcery]

while i love the idea of a carefully planned out coup wherein zita and viago oust the old talon and put viago in their place, i also love the idea that it all happened a bit by accident. it started with viago slipping poison into the wrong cup, and now the current fifth talon is slumped over, dead, and viago's seconds away from being caught red handed. zita walks into the scene of the crime and is immediately like "i got this" and somehow she manages to stage everything so it looks like viago was going to be named heir and was trying to save the current talon. everyone, somehow, buys the story, and viago is forever impressed and nervous about zita's skills.

[goatsorcery]

i think viago becoming fifth talon is zita's idea. the idea starts out as zita being annoyed with the current talon and saying something along the lines of "this wouldn't happen if we were talon". and then viago's like "we? i'm clearly the better choice" and it devolves into a long argument about who's better suited for the position until zita finally relents, "fine, you can be talon, so long as i get to plan the coup". usually, viago is wary of zita's plans (if they're ever organized enough to be called that) but this is the one time zita's methods are just what they need.

[goatsorcery]

i really like the idea of zita and viago starting in the crows around the same time. i headcanon that zita was eight or nine when she was pulled off the streets of salle, and viago was 15 when he chose the crows over exile. i just love the concept of them being in the same group of recruits, having to fight each other for their spot in house de riva. zita, who's scrappy and resourceful from having to take care of herself and has nothing to lose, versus viago who's lanky and a bit sheltered but is determined above all else to prove himself and has everything to lose. they're thrown together in a fight to the death, as all recruits are, and it's brutal and goes on longer than it should to the point where they have to be separated or else both would likely die (viago's still the king's son, even if he is a bastard and zita's their top recruit). there's no clear winner, and both of them earn the de riva name. zita blames viago's success on nepotism, viago accuses zita of breaking the rules during the fight. they both hold a years-long grudge because of it.

[goatsorcery]

zita de riva is a sharpshooter first and foremost; at her best as a sniper taking out her targets from precarious rooftops. but she also has a reputation as a seducer and is known for wining and dining her targets before taking them out. while lucanis has never met zita (thanks to viago’s constant meddling to make sure they never end up in the same room) he knows zita’s reputation, and begins to worry when she starts being nice to him.

[goatsorcery]

davrin: this is my girlfriend rook and her boyfriend lucanis and his girlfriend neve

[goatsorcery]

the current zita and viago dynamic i'm rotating around in my brain is like if they were two rival co-workers who start an office job in a competitive field at the same time but viago keeps getting promotions and at first zita doesn't care because she reaps all the benefits without having any of the responsibilities. but then viago gets promoted to ceo and she's still not even middle management, and viago starts bossing her around and seems to forget that they made a plan to gain enough industry influence to take over viago's dad's company

[goatsorcery]

both zita and lucanis are immediately protective over each other because they’re both thinking: “if anything happens to them viago is going to kill me”

[goatsorcery]

zita meeting caterina and illario during lucanis’ recruitment mission is literally viago’s worst nightmare. he spent years preventing the dellamortes from meeting his talented but often questionable protege, and then zita walks in with her latest highlights being ruining a crow sting and releasing two ancient elvhen gods and the first thing she does is ask about caterina’s dead favorite grandson.

[goatsorcery]

viago’s “because you always think of something” line if you don’t save treviso really sums up why viago tolerates and respects de riva — sure, they’re impulsive, but they’re able to get the job done, even in extreme circumstances

[goatsorcery]

based on the rapport that viago and teia have with lucanis, and the rapport they have with de riva, it's probably safe to say that they've spent a good amount of time together, which makes it so funny to me that de riva and lucanis have never met. what sort of 3d chess was viago doing to make sure that de riva and lucanis were never in the same room, ever.

you can argue that since de riva is a lower rank in the crows that they'd not have any occasion to cross paths with lucanis as viago and teia do as talons. but i think it's funnier to head canon that viago was constantly going out of his way to make sure they never met. mostly because de riva could make a bad first impression which would reflect badly on him, but also because viago worries they'd get along dangerously well.