INFO POST.
INFO & BACKGROUND 💅
TAKA AMBULARA
full name:
Taka Ambulara
age:
38
dob:
august 20th
pronouns:
he/him
field:
detective / ex-merchant
eyes / hair:
brown / black
height:
6'1"
PERSONALITY
Lowkey and laid back, Taka is often mistaken as lazy and uncaring, though this couldn’t be farther from the truth. He often keeps his true thoughts to himself, playing down his own mental acumen, which makes his sudden bursts of insight all the more surprising to those who don’t know him. In reality, he is intelligent and calculating, and remains good-humored except when he’s obstinate, too.
Typically a lone wolf, he isn’t the life of the party more than he’s the guy sussing out the social dynamics of it. Though calm and collected, he’s also self-indulgent; Taka enjoys a good drink, a hearty meal, a hot bath, and a long nap when he can manage it.
At his core, though, he’s considerate and amiable, and a pillar of calm and reason when the “party” dynamic gets a little too off-kilter for its own good.
Typically a lone wolf, he isn’t the life of the party more than he’s the guy sussing out the social dynamics of it. Though calm and collected, he’s also self-indulgent; Taka enjoys a good drink, a hearty meal, a hot bath, and a long nap when he can manage it.
At his core, though, he’s considerate and amiable, and a pillar of calm and reason when the “party” dynamic gets a little too off-kilter for its own good.
ELEVATOR PITCH
A wandering detective-turned-merchant/peddler-turned-detective-again who was exiled from his homeland and carries an alien relic with him. One of the surviving ritualmates of a completely remade world, he travels with his companions to unravel the truth behind the alien gods — and maybe set things right, too.
"Ronin meets noir meets laidback Sherlock Holmes" vibes.
Well.
Taka was born to the Ambularas, a wealthy merchant family with widespread influence across his homeland. He, however, had no interest in the business, too clever for his own good to find any challenge or fulfillment in the trade. Instead, he set his mind to solving local matters that the authorities could not be bothered to tend to: missing persons, stolen family heirlooms, and even the occasional murder. He made a name for himself—even if it meant becoming the “weird one” in his family’s eyes—and eventually travelled the land all over seeking new problems to solve. It landed him the title of detective; he bemusedly accepted it.
All was well and good until he stumbled upon a dire conspiracy: a branch of local governance kidnapping the poor and infirmed and sacrificing them in terrible rituals to summon the remains of a “god.” Taka infiltrated their meeting place and discovered all they had managed to summon thus far: a curved, bone-like talon, referred to as the Nail.
He stole it and snuck away, but made the miscalculation of reporting these activities to the national branch of investigations. Turns out, they were in on it, too, and immediately accused Taka himself of wrongdoing, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice for the poor, missing persons. Instead of challenging these accusations, his family backed them, unwilling to ruin their reputations just because Taka couldn’t keep his nose out of trouble.
He was branded an Exile and sentenced to live the rest of his days on the Central Continent, ushered there by military ship. Taka decided to take matters into his own hands, bribing a handful of mariners into ferrying him across the ocean on one of his family’s ships instead, filled to the brim with wares. He took the Nail with him, too, unwilling to leave the artifact in the hands of those who would harm others.
Once he landed in Central, he survived by playing wandering merchant, selling what he could of his family’s stock to get by. Eventually, he heard tell of gods and rituals on this side of the ocean, too, and set to investigate. His snooping culminated in him participating in a ritual overseen by an alien god, along with other individuals who found themselves in the same situation for their own reasons.
It went badly. Betrayed by one of the others, the god's Heart was stolen, and the world was utterly remade via its unfathomable power. Taka awoke sprawled across the far shores, wandering inland to find a land that wasn't the same as before, filled with new people, places, and drained of magic. Years later, he eventually reunited with two of his other fellow ritualmates. They currently seek to find the man who betrayed them and figure out a way to return the world to its prior state; and though the task is a gargantuan one, surely the aid of a detective can't go awry.
A wandering detective-turned-merchant/peddler-turned-detective-again who was exiled from his homeland and carries an alien relic with him. One of the surviving ritualmates of a completely remade world, he travels with his companions to unravel the truth behind the alien gods — and maybe set things right, too.
"Ronin meets noir meets laidback Sherlock Holmes" vibes.
BACKGROUND SUMMARY
Taka hails from the Sister Continent, or so it’s named by those who live in the Central one; a place shrouded in mystery and muddied with exaggerated tales of the natives who call it home. It’s a rare occasion that someone from across the sea pays Central a visit, though there have been recent attempts to establish trade routes between the two different worlds. The odd straggler might arrive on shore, met with both curiosity and trepidation from the locals, and live the rest of their lives under such scrutiny. Otherwise, there is no benefit to being a stranger in a strange land, so one must assume that these instances are rare and born only of dire circumstances.Well.
Taka was born to the Ambularas, a wealthy merchant family with widespread influence across his homeland. He, however, had no interest in the business, too clever for his own good to find any challenge or fulfillment in the trade. Instead, he set his mind to solving local matters that the authorities could not be bothered to tend to: missing persons, stolen family heirlooms, and even the occasional murder. He made a name for himself—even if it meant becoming the “weird one” in his family’s eyes—and eventually travelled the land all over seeking new problems to solve. It landed him the title of detective; he bemusedly accepted it.
All was well and good until he stumbled upon a dire conspiracy: a branch of local governance kidnapping the poor and infirmed and sacrificing them in terrible rituals to summon the remains of a “god.” Taka infiltrated their meeting place and discovered all they had managed to summon thus far: a curved, bone-like talon, referred to as the Nail.
He stole it and snuck away, but made the miscalculation of reporting these activities to the national branch of investigations. Turns out, they were in on it, too, and immediately accused Taka himself of wrongdoing, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice for the poor, missing persons. Instead of challenging these accusations, his family backed them, unwilling to ruin their reputations just because Taka couldn’t keep his nose out of trouble.
He was branded an Exile and sentenced to live the rest of his days on the Central Continent, ushered there by military ship. Taka decided to take matters into his own hands, bribing a handful of mariners into ferrying him across the ocean on one of his family’s ships instead, filled to the brim with wares. He took the Nail with him, too, unwilling to leave the artifact in the hands of those who would harm others.
Once he landed in Central, he survived by playing wandering merchant, selling what he could of his family’s stock to get by. Eventually, he heard tell of gods and rituals on this side of the ocean, too, and set to investigate. His snooping culminated in him participating in a ritual overseen by an alien god, along with other individuals who found themselves in the same situation for their own reasons.
It went badly. Betrayed by one of the others, the god's Heart was stolen, and the world was utterly remade via its unfathomable power. Taka awoke sprawled across the far shores, wandering inland to find a land that wasn't the same as before, filled with new people, places, and drained of magic. Years later, he eventually reunited with two of his other fellow ritualmates. They currently seek to find the man who betrayed them and figure out a way to return the world to its prior state; and though the task is a gargantuan one, surely the aid of a detective can't go awry.
history
Abilities
investigation
No detective worth their salt lacks in skills of observation, reasoning, and deduction! For Taka, logic applied to problem-solving comes easily; puzzles are fun. Seeing the forest for the trees is his real weapon, one that he tries to keep keen despite the situation he's found himself in.
the nail
A strange alien artifact that Taka stole away from his home, naturally resembling a large, ivory talon. It can shape itself—large or small— into anything hard, pointy, and/or sharp at the user's discretion and can be controlled with a thought. Makes for a deadly weapon, able to cut through anything he's tried it on thus far, but Taka prefers to keep it in his coat as a nail file.
ooc info:
jen . cst . ![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
aurajen . pb art by takehiko inoue
FELLOW RITUALMATES 💅
NOVA
the stelliform sorceress | ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stelliformis
stelliformis●●●●●●●○○○
The most powerful sorceress I'd ever seen until magic was practically nixed in this world. For what it's worth, even a fraction of her old magic's nothing to scoff at, but I think she's having a crisis of identity because of it. Can't really blame her.
VALSA LEY
the ousted assassin | needlecrafts
needlecrafts●●●●●●●○○○
I always thought the Needles were supposed to be the stuff of nightmares, but this guy's the friendliest of us all. But maybe that's why he's so deadly — no one expects the sunny one to be a trained killer, too. Anyway, I feel for him; neither of us came from precisely loving families.
THE COURIER
the cursed courier | tbd
●●●●●●●○○○
Where the hell did you go, kid?
WEIR DREDGER
the dreadful dredger | fossick
fossick●○○○○○○○○○
The man who betrayed us; he already has a pact with one of those gods, granting him some kind of borderline necromantic power, but it's his pure selfishness that makes him dangerous. We're trying to hunt him down.