Meet Langlicia, the Master Spy

About This Page:

Before we begin, I need to point out that this page only contains information that is  publicly available, meaning it's okay for my fellow players to know.  Because this character was conceived as a spy, she has a number of secrets that my fellow players still don't know yet (but the GM does) which will not be listed here.

In fact, all of the following things about her were originally kept secret from my fellow players and subsequently revealed, little-by-little, through our sessions:

• Her class(es) ("I'm just a cook!")
• Her levels in each class
• Her race
• Her alignment
• Her history as a spy

It's also worth noting that the creation of a spy archetype, complete with secret classes and skills, was only really possible because I joined the game in-progress and initially created the character at level 12.  Had I started normally at level one, I'd never have been able to hide these things from my fellow players, nor present her as a serious and experienced practitioner of her craft.

I do also still maintain a few additional mysteries about this character which are NOT listed on this page, but plan to add them over time as these things are revealed in-game.

Description:

Langlicia is a trained spy, specializing in covert work that involves infiltration, deception, and blackmail.  Her spy code name is "Meade" and this is only known to those she worked for and with during her time in Aresia, as described below.

Race:

Langlicia is a Thylean Aurae Nymph who is about 120 years old, though she currently chooses an appearance that makes her look like a young half-elf woman whose age is comparable to a 25 year old human.  Notably, she is a first-generation nymph, meaning that she was directly spawned by the Thylea the Great Mother goddess of nature rather than born of nymph parents.

First-generation nymphs are created by the goddess of nature when the lesser spirits of nature (such as the wind, the rocks, the water, the sky) find themselves having trouble understanding something about the world, and so the Great Mother grants them humanoid form so that they can go out into the world to interact directly with it and seek out answers to the questions that they have.

Langlicia's reason for being created is because there was a great war between the Titans (Thylea's immortal children) and the Mortals who inhabit the land.  The Sky looked down upon this and didn't understand why such a conflict should exist, so Langlicia was called forth in order to seek out an understanding of the true nature of the conflict, and possibly be an agent of the Great Mother's will in resolving it.

Because of her training as a spy, she is highly practiced at consciously suppressing her natural attractiveness to others, since being "invisible" (or at least unremarkable) is far more useful for a covert operative.  [This is my explanation why her Charisma score is lower than one would ordinarily expect from a nymph.] She is, however, still quite good at being a distraction and/or attracting attention on purpose when she wants to.

Like other nymphs, she does have a desire to "collect" interesting individuals around herself, which for her takes the form of establishing contacts who are willing and able to supply her with information and/or protect her.  She uses this network of informants to help her to survive and to further her purpose of learning about the world and the Titans/Mortals conflict in particular.

For those of particular interest to her, or those she must put trust in whether she wants to or not, her "collection" method takes the form of an Oath of Fidelity.  This is a magically-binding promise (a feature of the Odyssey of the Dragonlords setting) that the oath-taker will never reveal Langlicia's secrets to others, and be truthful with her at all times.

As a first-generation Aurae, she has an innate connection to the sky, the stars, and the energy of the clouds.  She has learned to use this ability to manifest static electricity for brief periods into small weapons which can be held or thrown, which lead to her becoming a SoulKnife Rogue.

As noted above, this was originally kept secret from the party and only revealed due to her interactions with other Nymph NPC's and other role-playing choices I made for her (such as having a habit of sitting outside staring at the stars until midnight before going to sleep, and feeling uneasy when underground).

Alignment:

Langlicia is of Chaotic Neutral alignment.  This is generally consistent with nymphs in general, and in her particular instance it primarily comes from having no real allegiance to anyone but the Great Mother goddess Herself.  She puts great value on maintaining her personal freedom to carry out her calling to learn about the world around her unfettered by rules and restrictions.

She thinks little of the concepts of "Good" or "Evil", and mostly sees the accomplishment of whatever task is before her as the end goal, by whatever means are most effective and expedient.  While she would generally have a slight bias toward doing good, she would also never shy away from doing harm if she felt it useful to do so.  She is, in fact, capable of both great kindness and great cruelty in equal measures.

Class(es):

Langlicia is multiclass of SoulKnife Rogue (Level 8) and Shadow Monk (Level 5), leaning more heavily into the Rogue than the Monk.  As a result of this particular combination of classes, she seldom uses weapons when in combat and is very comfortable going around without carrying any.  This is a very large part of why I chose this particular combination of classes: so that I could create a character who functioned normally without carrying weapons nor using armor, so that she could blend in as an ordinary civilian whenever needed.

The exception is that she does routinely carry a Dagger of Warning, which is kept hidden in a pocket of her clothes that was sewn in specifically for that purpose.  In practice, she treats it more like a talisman or amulet for its warning magic rather than as an actual weapon.  (She's actually used it as a weapon exactly once due to special circumstances.)

The secrecy around her class has lead to a recurring in-joke about her claiming to be "just a cook."  In-game, she'll introduce herself to NPC's as various jobs and roles (because who would say, "Hi. I'm a spy.  Nice to meet you."?!?) with "cook" being the most common one.  She'll also flip it at times to boast about her capabilities by saying the opposite: "I'm not just a cook."  Since the party spends a good deal of time on board a large ship that acts as their "home base", she does actually help out in the galley, just for appearance's sake.

Other Skills:

As a spy, she has a number of noteworthy skills and feats.  On the skills list, she's an expert in Perception, Persuasion, Deception, Stealth, and Slight of Hand, all of which are at least +13.  She is also proficient in six other important skills, including Insight and Investigation.

She also has the Observant feat to boost her Passive Perception (which is a staggering 29), and the Fey Touched feat which grants her access to the Misty Step and Command spells.

With her Dagger of Warning (and her high Dexterity) she is usually near the top and often AT the top of the Initiative order.  She can also become invisible at will through the use of her Spy's Ring, which is capable of protecting her from Scrying magic.

She speaks two languages, Command and Sylvan, which come from being a nymph, plus the Thieves' Cant which comes from being a rogue.

Finally, she has proficiency in Thieves' Tools and the Flute, and . . . of course . . . Cook's Utensils.

Personality:

Most of the time, she presents a very confident (sometimes bordering on arrogant) attitude which comes from being sure of her talents and knowing how to use them.

She is also very secretive, and seldom reveals personal information to anyone unless it is someone with whom she feels a strong connection and/or bond of trust.  When she does talk of herself, she is always evasive.  When questioned, she'll respond with questions of her own, with lies or half-truths, with blatant, obvious lies that aren't intended to be believed, or -- most commonly -- with deft deceit that avoids lies entirely and yet still doesn't quite answer the question.  More often that not, these tactics work due to her exceptional skills in acting, deception, and persuasion; along with the knowledge that her beauty is itself a tool that is effective in making people more inclined to forgive her more frustrating and even anti-social behavior.

The one trait that always shows through though, is her curiosity.  Information -- especially secret information -- is like an addiction for her.  While it does drive her to be a highly-effective spy, it is also sometimes a temptation which can lead her to make what would otherwise be obviously-bad decisions.

Her chaotic alignment often leads to her being a bit of a prankster or jokester, which usually takes the form of verbal sparring with others, particularly Berrain, due to the (in her opinion, excessive) pride with which he carries himself.  She finds it endlessly entertaining to "take the piss out of him" at any and every opportunity.

She can also be a flirt at times, but this is mostly used as (1) a technique of information-gathering, or (2) a way of teasing others for her own entertainment--again, particularly Berrain--since she's not actually the lusty type.

There are few things that make her angry, since anger isn't a normal part of her nature, so people find it shocking on the rare times when it does come out.  One thing that has brought out anger in her, in-game, is when people threaten or deeply disrespect other nymphs, whom she regards as her sisters, and of whom she feels extremely protective.

Origin of Her Name:

Her name is, in fact, the very first clue as to her true nature and identity as a spy, hiding in plain sight.

Her name is basically the concatenation of "Langley" and "CIA".  (The main headquarters of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is in Langley, Virginia.)  Her code-name "Meade" is from Fort Meade, in Maryland, the location of the headquarters of the U.S. National Security Agency.

Early History:

Langlicia was brought into being over a hundred years ago as a reaction to the Titans/Mortals war of five hundred years ago.  As the spirits of the night sky watched from above for a few hundred years, they contemplated with deep concern over what happened and what it might mean for the future of the continent.  Eventually, the Great Mother sent Langlicia forth into the mortal world to learn what could be learned first-hand, and to help determine what--if anything--the Great Mother would do about it.

Her first contact with mortal civilization was in the Kingdom of Aresia, one of the three main city-states of the Thylean continent.

She was initially mistaken for a half-elf child, and taken in as an orphan.  When it was discovered that she had certain special mental abilities (the SoulKnife-related psionics), she was removed from the normal orphanage to a new remote facility simply called "The Farm."

The Farm:

"The Farm," it turned out, was the code name for a state-run training facility for children where they are taught to be spies and other types covert operatives from a young age all the way into young adulthood.  Lang's natural curiosity lead her to essentially go along with it willingly, thinking that the life of a spy would be perfect for her overall mission for learning about the politics of the mortal world.

There, she learned how to use her natural talents as a nymph for things like persuasion, investigation, and deception (along with how to rein in the effects that her natural beauty has on others); plus the practical skills of spycraft such as slight-of-hand and stealth.  She also learned to develop her mental skills to be able to wield the natural static electricity of the sky into a weapon that she could pluck from the air at will and use in multiple ways before returning it to the sky whence it was drawn.  Finally, she was trained extensively in the fine arts of unarmed combat and the technical theory and strategy of combat in general.

While all of the spy trainees are taught the ways of the Monk (Aresia is actually famous for its monasteries), each is further specialized with whatever other skills the trainee shows aptitude for.  In Lang's case, her rare ability to wield psionic abilities and communicate silently with others steered her into being trained as a squad leader.

The training was very difficult and demanding at times, but she chose to stick with it and ultimately "graduated" after about fifteen years there and sent into the service of the Kingdom of Aresia as a covert field agent.  Though she never quite developed the nationalistic loyalty that her fellow trainees did, she was still highly motivated by the carrot of being taught how to gather information efficiently and effectively to help satisfy her innate curiosity about the mortal world and its politics in particular.

In all that time, she managed to maintain the fiction that she's really a half-elf rather than a nymph with most of the people there.  (She maintains that lie to this day, claiming to be a half-elf rather than an aurae nymph in the vast majority of her interactions.)

"The Nines":

Although few even know of its existence, the Aresian covert intelligence directorate is referred to in whispers as "The Nines" within the Aresian government.

The name comes from a standardized ranking system used within the Aresian government where there are seven main levels of ranking within the government which are named after the Seven Heavens in the Astral Plane.  The lowest rank is made up of general managers who oversee the majority of the rank-and-file of public servants, up to level Seven which consists of the Queen, the Royal Family, and the Queen's topmost trusted advisors (those who would appear on the dais with the Queen during a formal audience rather than on the floor).  The Queen herself is sometimes informally referred to as the Eighth level but this is not codified in the law like the seven levels are.

The covert service, since its existence is a state secret, is not officially a part of the seven levels of the government, so it instead refers to itself as the Ninth level of the Nine Hells -- or, more simply, "The Nines".  This serves as an obscure code name for the covert intelligence directorate and it's members.

After The Farm:

Leveraging both her natural talents and skills she was taught, she became one of Aresia's most successful spies, gradually taking on more and more difficult missions and being elevated to a rank that would assign her the role of team leader whenever they would act in small groups.

It was during this period that she discovered both the joys of learning information from any and all sources within her reach, as well as the true meaning of the Farm's "Knowledge is Power" motto.

The larger lesson, however, was that information could also be dangerous, and that there is great power in a secret when revealed.  This wisdom is the primary basis for her extreme secretiveness.  Some secrets have the power to destroy a person's life.

The Bitter End to a Promising Career:

[ Note: This sub-chapter is not quite what I originally wrote for the GM, it is instead a reflection of the story that played out in-game where he combined what I wrote with some storytelling of his own to give us a "detour" adventure that helped integrate my new character into the existing game.  The end result is much better. ]

This lesson about the power of secrets was re-taught to her first-hand when her employment by the Kingdom of Aresia came to an abrupt end due to political machinations.

Unknown to both Langlicia and the Queen Helen of Aresia, there had been a secret coup by unknown parties to take control of the Farm and use it for their own purposes, including secretly walking a line between supporting the Queen and undermining her.

One instance of undermining the Queen involved Langlicia directly, where an operation that was being carried out in the Kingdom of Mytros by her five-person team was revealed to the Kingdom of Mytros in an attempt to embarrass the Queen.

With the details of the operation revealed to the enemy, the Queen was forced to publicly disavow the spies involved in the covert operation and declare them enemies of the Kingdom of Aresia.  Shortly after, they were tried for treason in absentia, and given death sentences if ever found and captured within the Kingdom.  In time, two of the five field agents involved WERE caught and executed so that the Queen could save face.  Langlicia and two others were never found.

That was now more than 20 years ago, so the memory of the incident--and the associated danger--has faded over time.  But since it was always difficult to know how much the danger has faded, Langlicia stayed extremely cautious in her dealings with anything related to the Kingdom of Aresia.  Her long-term plan essentially became to continue using her skills to avoid discovery and capture, and hopefully in a few hundred years it will be long forgotten.

That said, she came away with significant enmity for Queen Helen and indeed feels that the Queen personally betrayed her.  (Her opinion of the Kingdom of Aresia itself is generally neutral to only slightly negative, as she understands the difference between the Monarchy and the Monarch.)

She still, nonetheless, had a death sentence over her head in Aresia and was forced to conduct herself accordingly.

Promotion:

The timing of her disavowal and capital sentence was especially tragic.  Having been a very successful covert operative and having achieved a number of notable successes as a team leader, she'd received notice that she was being promoted in rank to a level where she would be used to plan larger operations and even serve as an instructor at the Farm.

A key part of this promotion would have been the award of a "Spy's Ring" -- a multi-purpose Ring of Invisibility that acts as an official insignia of that rank and an enchanted set of clothing that adds additional protection to the wearer beyond what ordinary clothing would.  Both of these items were enchanted specifically for her in way that they would not interfere with the normal attunement process of other magical items.

Unfortunately, the news came to her while she was away from Aresia, and her orders deemed it more practical for her to complete the fateful mission in Mytros before returning to the Farm to participate in the promotion test and ceremony.  That official return never happened.

Present Day:

Langlicia roamed around for a couple of decades, but recently came into the service of a noble Lord in another country, using her skills to help the family thrive and prosper in return for political protection and a stipend for expenses.

She is currently on board the great warship Ultros and has ingratiated herself with the party known as the "Chosen of the Oracle" with the tacit approval of the Oracle Versi herself and having persuaded the apparent leader, Berrain, that she can be of service.

Her fundamental reason for actually joining with the "Chosen of the Oracle" as a party member is as a vehicle to study, up close and personal, the Titans/Mortals conflict and to be an agent to carry out Thylea's will concerning it.  In fact, she feels as though the Fates, the Great Mother, and the Oracle have all deliberately brought her in contact with this group at this place and this time as the best way for her to fulfill her life's purpose.

Returning to the Farm:

[ Note: These events occurred in-game. ]

It was not long after joining the party that Langlicia discovered that the Ultros was already on course for none other than the Kingdom of Aresia.  Having not been there for many years, 

Work in progress, to be continued

The Tradition of the Escape:

Within the Farm and the Nines, there is no outside public recognition of successes, honors, or promotions.  Because of this, the Nines have over time developed a sort of self-imposed "hazing" tradition that has come to be associated with the awarding of the Spy's Ring.  The basis for this tradition is for the promoted spy to establish the necessary respect of those colleagues over whom one has just been promoted, by demonstrating that the newly-promoted spy's skills are at a level above the others, even without the Spy's Ring.

So the tradition is this: Shortly after being awarded the Spy's Ring, the newly-promoted spy is expected to get himself or herself into some sort of difficult predicament using the Ring's magic, but then to extract himself or herself from that same predicament without using it.  In doing so successfully, one earns the respect of former peers; and those former peers by tradition willingly accept the new rank from that time on with no question.

Over time, most use the occasion of one's first actual covert operation after receiving the Ring to fulfill the tradition, unless that's not possible or not feasible, in which case the spy would instead create a contrived situation to use instead.

On the occasion of Langlicia's acquisition of her Spy's Ring, she chose to carry on the tradition in spite of no longer being an active member of Aresian Intelligence due to the unusual combination of her disavowal and subsequent pardon by the Queen.  Her interpretation of this tradition was to use the Spy's Ring to perform a very public -- though technically invisible -- striptease and then escape the scene with neither the Ring nor her clothes in her possession.  She was able to successfully accomplish this using her other abilities and training, even in spite of some playful interference from others.

In addition, she was able to tease Berrain a bit with a moment of unexpected physical intimacy, as a way of also celebrating her "collection" of him (as Nymphs are wont to do) by having persuaded him to swear a Thylean Oath to her to always be honest with her and to never reveal her secrets.