Tarquinia d'Ardea
Keywords: brave, confident, adventurous
Age: 33 (March 29)
Height: 5' 6"
Build: compact
Occupation: military
Connections: Trion (best friend), Tuthau (best friend), Sally (best friend), Alin-Maya (friend), Miguel (friend), Alliann (friend), Roberta (ex-girlfriend), Sylon (ex-boyfriend)
Age: 33 (March 29)
Height: 5' 6"
Build: compact
Occupation: military
Connections: Trion (best friend), Tuthau (best friend), Sally (best friend), Alin-Maya (friend), Miguel (friend), Alliann (friend), Roberta (ex-girlfriend), Sylon (ex-boyfriend)
Appearance
Tarquinia has dark blue hair and dark brown eyes. Her skin has a medium olive hue. She keeps her hair in a bowl cut with angled bangs, parted on her left above the eye. Her face is oval in shape, with round features: nose, jawline, chin. She typically wears blue lipstick.
As the Jack of Spades, Tarquinia's wardrobe frequently features a spade motif. Her clothing is typically masculine in style, and casual (for Ardean fashion, which has a sort of 15th century European aesthetic).
As the Jack of Spades, Tarquinia's wardrobe frequently features a spade motif. Her clothing is typically masculine in style, and casual (for Ardean fashion, which has a sort of 15th century European aesthetic).
Best References
Personality
Tarquinia has always been a dreamer, but unlike most, she's never been one to sit around and wait for her dreams to come true. She's always putting herself out there, working her way towards her goals, completely determined to do what she feels is right and necessary.
While some people view her as degenerate for her extremely progressive views and behaviors, Tarquinia is nothing if not honorable and fair. She believes strongly in freedom and justice, in honesty and integrity, and above all, that love is the greatest truth of which people are capable. She has never compromised her morals, though growing up where she did and how she did, her morals are a bit different from most people's. She makes a strong distinction between sex and love, and her feeling is that sex, when practiced by consenting individuals, is something to be proud of and enjoy. So long as no one's getting hurt (unless that's what they're after), it's perfectly allowable and natural and should be encouraged. She makes no secret of her own sex life, and has always been comfortable taking partners as whim strikes her. She loves exploring different people -- uncovering their quirks and techniques.
One of Tarquinia's most defining qualities is her self-discipline. She enforced order on herself at a young age to deal with a chaotic world around her. She drives herself beyond what anyone else expects of her, always seeking the next level of her personal and professional development. She knows she has limitations, but through hard work she can expand those limitations. She never falters, never doubts, just moves forward and accepts failure as somethign to learn from and move on.
She also loves adventure, discovering new things and meeting new people. To her, the world is one big mess of limitless possibility, and thanks to being part of the Triumvirate, she can see and experience whatever she wants to. That especially includes anything that gets her adrenaline going. According to her, an adrenaline rush is the only thing better than sex. She loves extreme sports and darign feats of danger. If you tell her there's adrenaline to be had somewhere, she's there.
While she can appear somewhat serious, her passions in life reveal the fact she really is quite fun-loving. It's just that hers is a quiet smile, and quiet chuckle, never a big deal to anyone but her and the people who know her best. She fully ascribes to the "step back and take a look at the bigger picture" mentality, and encourages people to take breaks when they're getting too serious or heater about things. She's really a more mellow, laid-back person than her disciplined nature would seem to suggest. She has determination, yes, but patience and calm in equal amounts. She's quite capable of playing the long game and working years at her goals; she doesn't ever feel the need to rush things.
It can be fairly easy to partner with Tarquinia, but earning her love is something else entirely. Tarquinia genuinely likes to be around people but doesn't open up easily. She has to trust you first, and she never trusts people she doesn't know. She has excellent skills in reading people and can tell quite accurately after a few minutes if she'll want to invest her time in a person for the long run.
Though Tarquinia has had several long-term relationships, they are always open, and she retains relations with her preferred sexual partners regardless of who she is seeing at any given time. She currently remains active with Trion and Alin-Maya.
While some people view her as degenerate for her extremely progressive views and behaviors, Tarquinia is nothing if not honorable and fair. She believes strongly in freedom and justice, in honesty and integrity, and above all, that love is the greatest truth of which people are capable. She has never compromised her morals, though growing up where she did and how she did, her morals are a bit different from most people's. She makes a strong distinction between sex and love, and her feeling is that sex, when practiced by consenting individuals, is something to be proud of and enjoy. So long as no one's getting hurt (unless that's what they're after), it's perfectly allowable and natural and should be encouraged. She makes no secret of her own sex life, and has always been comfortable taking partners as whim strikes her. She loves exploring different people -- uncovering their quirks and techniques.
One of Tarquinia's most defining qualities is her self-discipline. She enforced order on herself at a young age to deal with a chaotic world around her. She drives herself beyond what anyone else expects of her, always seeking the next level of her personal and professional development. She knows she has limitations, but through hard work she can expand those limitations. She never falters, never doubts, just moves forward and accepts failure as somethign to learn from and move on.
She also loves adventure, discovering new things and meeting new people. To her, the world is one big mess of limitless possibility, and thanks to being part of the Triumvirate, she can see and experience whatever she wants to. That especially includes anything that gets her adrenaline going. According to her, an adrenaline rush is the only thing better than sex. She loves extreme sports and darign feats of danger. If you tell her there's adrenaline to be had somewhere, she's there.
While she can appear somewhat serious, her passions in life reveal the fact she really is quite fun-loving. It's just that hers is a quiet smile, and quiet chuckle, never a big deal to anyone but her and the people who know her best. She fully ascribes to the "step back and take a look at the bigger picture" mentality, and encourages people to take breaks when they're getting too serious or heater about things. She's really a more mellow, laid-back person than her disciplined nature would seem to suggest. She has determination, yes, but patience and calm in equal amounts. She's quite capable of playing the long game and working years at her goals; she doesn't ever feel the need to rush things.
It can be fairly easy to partner with Tarquinia, but earning her love is something else entirely. Tarquinia genuinely likes to be around people but doesn't open up easily. She has to trust you first, and she never trusts people she doesn't know. She has excellent skills in reading people and can tell quite accurately after a few minutes if she'll want to invest her time in a person for the long run.
Though Tarquinia has had several long-term relationships, they are always open, and she retains relations with her preferred sexual partners regardless of who she is seeing at any given time. She currently remains active with Trion and Alin-Maya.
History
Childhood
Tarquinia was born "Tara" in the squalor of Low Town, her mother a prostitute and her father a faceless nobody, just one of so many clients. Her mother stayed pregnant often, since she could make more catering to men with that fetish. Tarquinia was one of two that survived to full-term, the other an older brother who was killed in a street skirmish when Tarquinia was young. She grew up in the brothel, surrounded by other bastard children, running and playing in the streets together. Nobody much cared for them, but they were a smart group of kids. You had to be to survive. They all wanted to get out of the brothels, especially the girls, whose future included taking up their mothers' profession if they did not escape. Tarquinia never worried about it. She knew, right from the start, that she was going to get out.
Royal Academy
When she was twelve, precocious and daring, she snuck away to the open tryouts for the Royal Academy, borrowing some of her friends' nicest clothes to look presentable. She went and stood in the line along with other children from the city, the rest of whom were there with their parents, and all of whom were boys. When the Head Protector reached her in the line, he asked where her parents were, why they didn't stand behind her as everyone else's did, to which she replied: "My mother is a whore and my father is every man you see here." This elicited shocks and gasps, but the Head Protector only roared with laughter and pulled Tarquinia from the lineup. She sat in his office, totally unafraid, as he interviewed her. He decided that, even though she was parentless, even though she was a girl, she was the bravest of all the children standing there in the courtyard. He let her enter the sparring trials to see what she knew. She came out on top, a position she has occupied ever since. She registered with the name "Tarquinia" at the school, and listed her surname as "D'Ardea," since it was her homeland and, by her assertion, the male population had fathered her.
Tarquinia dormed with the boys, ate with the boys, trained with the boys, and woe to any who thought they could pick on her because she was a girl. She was spunky, determined, and quick. Most of her teachers hated her, but she always had the Head Protector on her side, and over time some of her other instructors became supported, too. They recognized she was different from the other students in more ways than just gender. She'd known hardships in life far beyond most. Her classmates generally hated her with a passion, being young boys confronted with being frequently outperformed by a little girl. There were a few who didn't, chief among them a boy named Rolf who'd also had a hard family life and with whom Tarquinia became close friends, but the general atmosphere was one of resentment. At one point, a large group of boys tried to gang up on her, and Tarquinia climbed up a chandelier to safety, where she taunted and jeered at the boys and made lewd references until teachers showed up and broke it apart. Never once did she back down, and her fortitude eventually convinced the bullies to try and pick on other people, at which point Tarquinia became known as the Defender of the Weak, because any time the upperclassmen picked on the smaller kids, Tarquinia was there. She got her share of scrapes and bruises, but she gave as good as she got, and the younger students began to look up to her. When she first gained her womanhood, the Head Protector finally put her in her own room, for the sake of the boys as much as for Tarquinia. It wasn't a terrible secret when she lost her virginity, nor was it a secret that she had trysts with both students and some teachers, but in truth Tarquinia's interests went beyond the boys, and her greatest comfort and partner was one of the scullery maids.
At sixteen she entered the upper classmanship. It was tradition to haze the incoming seniors. The boys decided to make Tarquinia's hazing worst of all. They paddled and whipped her more than her classmates, made her do extra "water trips" in the sewer tunnel, and never once did she complain. At the end, when the upper classmen came around and asked each student if they had had enough, it was only Tarquinia who said no. (There were plenty of boys sniffling and crying at this point.) This prompted a short discussion by the seniors, and the level-headed students wanted to make Tarquinia head of her class, but the current class head had something different in mind and declared if she wanted more he was going to give it to her. He wasn't talking about continuing the hazing, so Tarquinia slipped her ropes, took off her blindfold, and shoved it down his throat, declaring his actions reprehensible for someone whose future included the royal knights. It took three boys to pull her off the Head Senior, and he shortly after was dismissed from the school in disgrace. Tarquinia became Head Senior of her class. She was firm but fair in her position, weeding out those students she felt weren't knightly material and finding ways to send them from the school. The final senior class was a bit smaller than usual, but everyone there was just and honorable, or as close to it as was possible under the circumstances.
Appointment to the Royal Guard
It was traditional for Head Senior to enter the special ranks of the elite Jacks. When Tarquinia was eighteen her class graduated, and the king came to ask the Head Protector for his best student, as he did every year. When the Head Protector presented Tarquinia, the king was outraged. He asked again, and again was told Tarquinia was the finest student. Tarquinia challenged the king to find a senior teacher who would say otherwise, and there were none. Rolf stepped out of the class line and declared that there was no one better suited to the Spades, and several other students did the same. The king was furious but there were centuries of tradition and ceremony to follow, so he accepted Tarquinia as a Royal Spade. He then had to listen as Tarquinia select the three students who would go to the other special divisions. Rolf was among the three selected: Tarquinia sent him to the Clubs. The other students in the class were destined for the Royal Knighthood.
Thus, her time as a student ended, and Tarquinia D'Ardea became the One of Spades. It was like school all over again, with many of the other spades and suits resenting this little girl, but there could be no doubts about her skills. She trained harder and longer than everyone else, and each year at the challenges she rose in rank, first to Six of Spades, then to Ten of Spades, and finally, before king and country, she won the right to be Jack of Spades. The king was again furious, but by this point, Tarquinia had won respect from most of her peers and was something of a national hero, her story a flag to which children aspired. There was as much dark gossip about her as there was fanfare, of course, that she had slept her way to the top (despite the plain flaw in this: it was decided by competition), that she was a sexual deviant (which she didn't particularly deny). She just laughed at the gossip, chose partners she liked, and very secretly became as much a banner for the sexual liberation of woman as she was everything else. The king was always trying to find ways to get Tarquinia dismissed, but without success. Tarquinia turned out to be as good a player in the art of courtly and political intrigue as she was anything else. Besides, several court figures, including lords and dukes, really liked Tarquinia (and some even privately enjoyed her company), so the king's bumbling plans were generally brought to Tarquinia's attention early on before they could reach fruition.
The Princess Anastacia's Revolution
As Jack of Spades, Tarquinia was personal protector of the Royal Family, and she ingratiated herself to one person in particular: the Princess Anastacia, who was pretty and naive and oh-so-easily impressed by Tarquinia's deeds and valor. Tarquinia totally corrupted the princess, turning her from that naive little flower into someone with an understanding of the world, capable of leading the country instead of being just an ineffectual, bumbling figurehead like her father. Tarquinia suggested the Princess not just be married off to produce a male heir, but instead that maybe the country could be ruled just as well by a Queen. The princess totally agreed, and insisted she would not bear an heir to the throne until the crown rested on her head (which would happen only at her father's death). It was shocking, a huge scandal. There was a court revolt. Those entrenched nobles who sided with the king, and the new, free-thinking nobles who sided with the princess (including amost all the unmarried nobles, who thought for sure this would increase their chances of marrying a princess).
Things went nuts. This wasn't a people's revolt, it was contained to the palace, more of a small political coup than anything else. Tarquinia defended the princess from assassination attempts, never stepping a second from the princess's side (even if it meant sleeping in the princess's bed more openly than previous). Unfortunately, in the end, the king's side won out. The nobles who followed Tarquinia and the princess fled or were locked up or any number of things, including death under questionable circumstances. The princess begged Tarquinia to escape because the king was out to execute her, and if Tarquinia were to die, the princess would have nothing to fight for. At the princess's behest and royal command, Tarquinia escaped. The princess was imprisoned, but Tarquinia's heart was lightened to know that the imprisonment could only last until the king died.
Escape
Tarquinia fled into the countryside, but she was a street-smart city kid, so while she had been hunting several times, she had never really roughed it and didn't much like it. She wound up taking shelter in an old, deserted little temple she stumbled across, falling asleep under the altar only to wake in the middle of the night at the sound of voices. She listened, and discovered they were talking about her. At first she thought they were assassins or hunters from the king and prepared to fight them off if they discovered her, but she found the voices weren't trying plot her death but discussing how nice it would be to have a person like Tarquinia with them, how they would protect her from the king's machinations until such a time as the king died. Tarquinia, never one to cower in fear, decided to come out and announce herself.
The three beings standing there weren't mortals. They glowed with light and when they smiled, it just washed away all troubles and fears. One held his hand out to Tarquinia. They had known she was there the whole time, of course. He said if she wanted to, she could come with them. She knew immediately that this god was something special and felt some kinship to the strange figure, so she went, and found herself at the House Between the Worlds.
A New World
The man was, of course, Trion Bartholomew. Once it was explained that he was an avatar of very mortal nature, not a god himself, Tarquinia found him very approachable, and a kindred spirit. They had both kept their own counsel during their lives, fought their way up from nothing to positions of power and respect, lived by a code of personal discipline and honor, and loved royals. They understood each other so perfectly, it seemed natural to them both to become lovers, a tryst which included Trion's boyfriend Alin-Maya, whom Tarquinia found too adorable and sweet for words. (That was what had first attracted her to the princess, but unlike Anastacia, Alin-Maya adamently refused to grow up or develop any real sense about the world.)
There was nothing Tarquinia could do about the situation back at home, so she enjoyed her time at the Household. She found friendship in Shu Li, Sylon Argesant, and Alliann, and discovered a talent for music. She quickly gained a reputation for her sexual prowess, which was seen not as a negative, but as her being in touch with her physical side. She had a fling with Sylon and played around a bit with Shu Li. Mostly she maintained her connection to Trion (and Alin-Maya by extension).
A New Battle
For a while, things were idyllic. Then, the Household came under threat from Deity Command, an ancient enemy of the Household's founders who wished to subjugate the Household and all who lived there.
Tarquinia was the first to stand up and answer the call to defend her new home. Viewing Deity Command's system as oppressive and unjust, she rallied the other members of the Household to fight alongside her. Together, she and her new friends formed the triumvirate to protect the Household and everything it stood for: freedom, individuality, acceptance.
Tarquinia stood proudly beside Trion throughout the war, all ten years of it. Because they had each other, neither faltered. They formed an important leadership team crucial to the morale of the Triumvirate, part of the backbone that kept everyone strong. When Alin-Maya was lost to Deity Command, Tarquinia grieved with Trion, but refused to let her lover succumb to despair, and they found a third partner again in Tuthau, surviving together.
The Home Front
It was seven years into the war, and nearly ten years since Tarquinia's departure from her homeland, when news that the king had died and the princess had become queen reached Tarquinia. She immediately travelled home to find her princess, only to discover that over the years they had grown apart. The princess had truly grown into someone worthy of the title queen, and as such had married to continue her lineage and was now pregnant. Her husband: Rolf, Tarquinia's friend from the academy, who had stayed quietly loyal to the princess and served as her jailer through the years. Both Tarquinia and Anastacia realized that they had simply gone down different paths and were now such different people that they didn't fit together the way they once had. Anastacia was happy for Tarquinia, and Tarquinia was just as happy for Anastacia and Rolf. It was a bit of a bittersweet reunion, but the important thing was they both had someplace they belonged, and for Tarquinia, that was in the Triumvirate, so she returned to Trion and the the war.
War's End
After ten years, the members of the Triumvirate gathered and held a Conference to decide how to proceed. At the Conference, Tarquinia spoke against the Commander's "quick victory" plan, which entailed more risk than was acceptable in her mind. The long-term continuation of the war eventually won out, which led directly to the peace treaty (as the enemy felt sure the long path would lead to their own failure). Tarquinia was overjoyed when the news of the peace treaty arrived, and was equally happy when Alin-Maya was restored to Trion's side. It was a purely wonderful and joyous occasion.
Roberta
Trion and Alin-Maya wanted to spend more time together after so many years lost, and Tarquinia felt she needed more in her life. She used this newfound peace to explore universes that previously no one had bothered with. It was through Pavel that Tarquinia discovered the city of Seattle and met Roberta.
It wasn't love at first sight, it was friendship. Tarquinia had never seen a motorcycle before and didn't know much about the Earth, and their conversation turned into planning a road trip across North America, and this being Tarquinia, the road trip didn't end up a mere pipe dream. They actually went out and did it, once Tarquinia obtained a license to ride a motorcycle.
Bob didn't know what to make of Tarquinia at first, since Tarquinia spoke a bit oddly and was so out of touch with Earth history and culture. But it was great fun, and when the trip was nearing its conclusion, Tarquinia invited Bob on a tour of where she was from: the Triumvirate. Bob was totally blown over and they decided to extend their trip indefinitely. Somewhere along the way they became lovers, united by this great life quest.
Breakup
Both Tarquinia and Bob thought they would continue their shared journey forever, but after three years, Bob wanted to settle down on Earth and Tarquinia wasn't ready to give up adventuring. They parted amicably. Tarquinia remains sad to lose the greatest love of her life so far, but believes deeply in her heart that her greatest adventure is still to come.
Tarquinia was born "Tara" in the squalor of Low Town, her mother a prostitute and her father a faceless nobody, just one of so many clients. Her mother stayed pregnant often, since she could make more catering to men with that fetish. Tarquinia was one of two that survived to full-term, the other an older brother who was killed in a street skirmish when Tarquinia was young. She grew up in the brothel, surrounded by other bastard children, running and playing in the streets together. Nobody much cared for them, but they were a smart group of kids. You had to be to survive. They all wanted to get out of the brothels, especially the girls, whose future included taking up their mothers' profession if they did not escape. Tarquinia never worried about it. She knew, right from the start, that she was going to get out.
Royal Academy
When she was twelve, precocious and daring, she snuck away to the open tryouts for the Royal Academy, borrowing some of her friends' nicest clothes to look presentable. She went and stood in the line along with other children from the city, the rest of whom were there with their parents, and all of whom were boys. When the Head Protector reached her in the line, he asked where her parents were, why they didn't stand behind her as everyone else's did, to which she replied: "My mother is a whore and my father is every man you see here." This elicited shocks and gasps, but the Head Protector only roared with laughter and pulled Tarquinia from the lineup. She sat in his office, totally unafraid, as he interviewed her. He decided that, even though she was parentless, even though she was a girl, she was the bravest of all the children standing there in the courtyard. He let her enter the sparring trials to see what she knew. She came out on top, a position she has occupied ever since. She registered with the name "Tarquinia" at the school, and listed her surname as "D'Ardea," since it was her homeland and, by her assertion, the male population had fathered her.
Tarquinia dormed with the boys, ate with the boys, trained with the boys, and woe to any who thought they could pick on her because she was a girl. She was spunky, determined, and quick. Most of her teachers hated her, but she always had the Head Protector on her side, and over time some of her other instructors became supported, too. They recognized she was different from the other students in more ways than just gender. She'd known hardships in life far beyond most. Her classmates generally hated her with a passion, being young boys confronted with being frequently outperformed by a little girl. There were a few who didn't, chief among them a boy named Rolf who'd also had a hard family life and with whom Tarquinia became close friends, but the general atmosphere was one of resentment. At one point, a large group of boys tried to gang up on her, and Tarquinia climbed up a chandelier to safety, where she taunted and jeered at the boys and made lewd references until teachers showed up and broke it apart. Never once did she back down, and her fortitude eventually convinced the bullies to try and pick on other people, at which point Tarquinia became known as the Defender of the Weak, because any time the upperclassmen picked on the smaller kids, Tarquinia was there. She got her share of scrapes and bruises, but she gave as good as she got, and the younger students began to look up to her. When she first gained her womanhood, the Head Protector finally put her in her own room, for the sake of the boys as much as for Tarquinia. It wasn't a terrible secret when she lost her virginity, nor was it a secret that she had trysts with both students and some teachers, but in truth Tarquinia's interests went beyond the boys, and her greatest comfort and partner was one of the scullery maids.
At sixteen she entered the upper classmanship. It was tradition to haze the incoming seniors. The boys decided to make Tarquinia's hazing worst of all. They paddled and whipped her more than her classmates, made her do extra "water trips" in the sewer tunnel, and never once did she complain. At the end, when the upper classmen came around and asked each student if they had had enough, it was only Tarquinia who said no. (There were plenty of boys sniffling and crying at this point.) This prompted a short discussion by the seniors, and the level-headed students wanted to make Tarquinia head of her class, but the current class head had something different in mind and declared if she wanted more he was going to give it to her. He wasn't talking about continuing the hazing, so Tarquinia slipped her ropes, took off her blindfold, and shoved it down his throat, declaring his actions reprehensible for someone whose future included the royal knights. It took three boys to pull her off the Head Senior, and he shortly after was dismissed from the school in disgrace. Tarquinia became Head Senior of her class. She was firm but fair in her position, weeding out those students she felt weren't knightly material and finding ways to send them from the school. The final senior class was a bit smaller than usual, but everyone there was just and honorable, or as close to it as was possible under the circumstances.
Appointment to the Royal Guard
It was traditional for Head Senior to enter the special ranks of the elite Jacks. When Tarquinia was eighteen her class graduated, and the king came to ask the Head Protector for his best student, as he did every year. When the Head Protector presented Tarquinia, the king was outraged. He asked again, and again was told Tarquinia was the finest student. Tarquinia challenged the king to find a senior teacher who would say otherwise, and there were none. Rolf stepped out of the class line and declared that there was no one better suited to the Spades, and several other students did the same. The king was furious but there were centuries of tradition and ceremony to follow, so he accepted Tarquinia as a Royal Spade. He then had to listen as Tarquinia select the three students who would go to the other special divisions. Rolf was among the three selected: Tarquinia sent him to the Clubs. The other students in the class were destined for the Royal Knighthood.
Thus, her time as a student ended, and Tarquinia D'Ardea became the One of Spades. It was like school all over again, with many of the other spades and suits resenting this little girl, but there could be no doubts about her skills. She trained harder and longer than everyone else, and each year at the challenges she rose in rank, first to Six of Spades, then to Ten of Spades, and finally, before king and country, she won the right to be Jack of Spades. The king was again furious, but by this point, Tarquinia had won respect from most of her peers and was something of a national hero, her story a flag to which children aspired. There was as much dark gossip about her as there was fanfare, of course, that she had slept her way to the top (despite the plain flaw in this: it was decided by competition), that she was a sexual deviant (which she didn't particularly deny). She just laughed at the gossip, chose partners she liked, and very secretly became as much a banner for the sexual liberation of woman as she was everything else. The king was always trying to find ways to get Tarquinia dismissed, but without success. Tarquinia turned out to be as good a player in the art of courtly and political intrigue as she was anything else. Besides, several court figures, including lords and dukes, really liked Tarquinia (and some even privately enjoyed her company), so the king's bumbling plans were generally brought to Tarquinia's attention early on before they could reach fruition.
The Princess Anastacia's Revolution
As Jack of Spades, Tarquinia was personal protector of the Royal Family, and she ingratiated herself to one person in particular: the Princess Anastacia, who was pretty and naive and oh-so-easily impressed by Tarquinia's deeds and valor. Tarquinia totally corrupted the princess, turning her from that naive little flower into someone with an understanding of the world, capable of leading the country instead of being just an ineffectual, bumbling figurehead like her father. Tarquinia suggested the Princess not just be married off to produce a male heir, but instead that maybe the country could be ruled just as well by a Queen. The princess totally agreed, and insisted she would not bear an heir to the throne until the crown rested on her head (which would happen only at her father's death). It was shocking, a huge scandal. There was a court revolt. Those entrenched nobles who sided with the king, and the new, free-thinking nobles who sided with the princess (including amost all the unmarried nobles, who thought for sure this would increase their chances of marrying a princess).
Things went nuts. This wasn't a people's revolt, it was contained to the palace, more of a small political coup than anything else. Tarquinia defended the princess from assassination attempts, never stepping a second from the princess's side (even if it meant sleeping in the princess's bed more openly than previous). Unfortunately, in the end, the king's side won out. The nobles who followed Tarquinia and the princess fled or were locked up or any number of things, including death under questionable circumstances. The princess begged Tarquinia to escape because the king was out to execute her, and if Tarquinia were to die, the princess would have nothing to fight for. At the princess's behest and royal command, Tarquinia escaped. The princess was imprisoned, but Tarquinia's heart was lightened to know that the imprisonment could only last until the king died.
Escape
Tarquinia fled into the countryside, but she was a street-smart city kid, so while she had been hunting several times, she had never really roughed it and didn't much like it. She wound up taking shelter in an old, deserted little temple she stumbled across, falling asleep under the altar only to wake in the middle of the night at the sound of voices. She listened, and discovered they were talking about her. At first she thought they were assassins or hunters from the king and prepared to fight them off if they discovered her, but she found the voices weren't trying plot her death but discussing how nice it would be to have a person like Tarquinia with them, how they would protect her from the king's machinations until such a time as the king died. Tarquinia, never one to cower in fear, decided to come out and announce herself.
The three beings standing there weren't mortals. They glowed with light and when they smiled, it just washed away all troubles and fears. One held his hand out to Tarquinia. They had known she was there the whole time, of course. He said if she wanted to, she could come with them. She knew immediately that this god was something special and felt some kinship to the strange figure, so she went, and found herself at the House Between the Worlds.
A New World
The man was, of course, Trion Bartholomew. Once it was explained that he was an avatar of very mortal nature, not a god himself, Tarquinia found him very approachable, and a kindred spirit. They had both kept their own counsel during their lives, fought their way up from nothing to positions of power and respect, lived by a code of personal discipline and honor, and loved royals. They understood each other so perfectly, it seemed natural to them both to become lovers, a tryst which included Trion's boyfriend Alin-Maya, whom Tarquinia found too adorable and sweet for words. (That was what had first attracted her to the princess, but unlike Anastacia, Alin-Maya adamently refused to grow up or develop any real sense about the world.)
There was nothing Tarquinia could do about the situation back at home, so she enjoyed her time at the Household. She found friendship in Shu Li, Sylon Argesant, and Alliann, and discovered a talent for music. She quickly gained a reputation for her sexual prowess, which was seen not as a negative, but as her being in touch with her physical side. She had a fling with Sylon and played around a bit with Shu Li. Mostly she maintained her connection to Trion (and Alin-Maya by extension).
A New Battle
For a while, things were idyllic. Then, the Household came under threat from Deity Command, an ancient enemy of the Household's founders who wished to subjugate the Household and all who lived there.
Tarquinia was the first to stand up and answer the call to defend her new home. Viewing Deity Command's system as oppressive and unjust, she rallied the other members of the Household to fight alongside her. Together, she and her new friends formed the triumvirate to protect the Household and everything it stood for: freedom, individuality, acceptance.
Tarquinia stood proudly beside Trion throughout the war, all ten years of it. Because they had each other, neither faltered. They formed an important leadership team crucial to the morale of the Triumvirate, part of the backbone that kept everyone strong. When Alin-Maya was lost to Deity Command, Tarquinia grieved with Trion, but refused to let her lover succumb to despair, and they found a third partner again in Tuthau, surviving together.
The Home Front
It was seven years into the war, and nearly ten years since Tarquinia's departure from her homeland, when news that the king had died and the princess had become queen reached Tarquinia. She immediately travelled home to find her princess, only to discover that over the years they had grown apart. The princess had truly grown into someone worthy of the title queen, and as such had married to continue her lineage and was now pregnant. Her husband: Rolf, Tarquinia's friend from the academy, who had stayed quietly loyal to the princess and served as her jailer through the years. Both Tarquinia and Anastacia realized that they had simply gone down different paths and were now such different people that they didn't fit together the way they once had. Anastacia was happy for Tarquinia, and Tarquinia was just as happy for Anastacia and Rolf. It was a bit of a bittersweet reunion, but the important thing was they both had someplace they belonged, and for Tarquinia, that was in the Triumvirate, so she returned to Trion and the the war.
War's End
After ten years, the members of the Triumvirate gathered and held a Conference to decide how to proceed. At the Conference, Tarquinia spoke against the Commander's "quick victory" plan, which entailed more risk than was acceptable in her mind. The long-term continuation of the war eventually won out, which led directly to the peace treaty (as the enemy felt sure the long path would lead to their own failure). Tarquinia was overjoyed when the news of the peace treaty arrived, and was equally happy when Alin-Maya was restored to Trion's side. It was a purely wonderful and joyous occasion.
Roberta
Trion and Alin-Maya wanted to spend more time together after so many years lost, and Tarquinia felt she needed more in her life. She used this newfound peace to explore universes that previously no one had bothered with. It was through Pavel that Tarquinia discovered the city of Seattle and met Roberta.
It wasn't love at first sight, it was friendship. Tarquinia had never seen a motorcycle before and didn't know much about the Earth, and their conversation turned into planning a road trip across North America, and this being Tarquinia, the road trip didn't end up a mere pipe dream. They actually went out and did it, once Tarquinia obtained a license to ride a motorcycle.
Bob didn't know what to make of Tarquinia at first, since Tarquinia spoke a bit oddly and was so out of touch with Earth history and culture. But it was great fun, and when the trip was nearing its conclusion, Tarquinia invited Bob on a tour of where she was from: the Triumvirate. Bob was totally blown over and they decided to extend their trip indefinitely. Somewhere along the way they became lovers, united by this great life quest.
Breakup
Both Tarquinia and Bob thought they would continue their shared journey forever, but after three years, Bob wanted to settle down on Earth and Tarquinia wasn't ready to give up adventuring. They parted amicably. Tarquinia remains sad to lose the greatest love of her life so far, but believes deeply in her heart that her greatest adventure is still to come.
Gallery
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