somnia app

[zauns]

PLAYER INFO

Name: Manda
Preferred Contact: PM
Age: 40
Invite Link: here!

CHARACTER INFO

Character Name: Silco
Canon: Arcane
Age: early-mid 40s - if an exact age is needed, 44
If Under 16, why is this character a good thematic fit for Somnia?: n/a
Canon Point: Season 1 Episode 9, the moment of his death
Wiki Link(s): wiki link

SOMNIA-SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

1. Dreams are how Sleep chooses you. What might draw your character into Somnia— a wound, a wish, a weakness? Would they follow the dream, or run from it?

For Silco, it would be a dying dream. A last gasp of something like possibility before all of his chances run out. How could he do anything but try to grasp it? Silco is a survivor, ruthless in pursuit of his goals, and his death comes at a critical time for him. He wants to keep Jinx safe, and he wants freedom for Zaun. His own life is less important, but he believes that he's the only one capable of achieving those things - no one else can be trusted. Knowing that he's dying, he'd reach for any possible opportunity to get a few more moments or another chance entirely. He would follow that dream, whatever the cost, while being well aware that there almost certainly will be a cost.

2. Somnia is a slow unraveling—of worlds, and of selves. How does your character respond to fear, transformation, and losing control? Do they fight, adapt, collapse?

Silco has always been a fighter. When control is taken from him, or when something happens that frightens him, he reacts by quickly planning his response and taking action. This is clear in his response to the first fundamental act of betrayal in his life, Vander's attempted murder - his trust broken and control taken from him, he chose to fight, and once he got free he molded himself into the sort of person who could never have that sort of thing happen to them again.

Of course, straightforward conflict isn't the only way to fight. From early on, Silco fought for Zaun, but later he used adaptation as a weapon, taking his new circumstances - physically scarred, trust broken, friendless - and using them to make himself into something stronger, something that could fight even harder. For someone who's willing to lie, cheat, murder, and do even worse in order to get the outcome he wants, adaptation is just one more tool available.

The one thing he would never do is crumble.

3. Connection is the only constant. What kind of bonds does your character form— fast and burning, slow and wary, deep and desperate? How might that shape their time in this world?

It isn't easy for Silco to trust anyone, and so any bonds he makes are done so carefully. Mostly, he prefers that they be transactional: he wants to know what the other person wants or desires from him, and he wants to have some control over how and whether he gives it to them. This can be mutual, to an extent, but Silco greatly prefers to be the one in control. Anything else requires trust, and that's where things become difficult.

He is capable of forming deeper bonds. His relationship with Jinx, as codependent and manipulative as it might be, is still a deep and real one. He felt a connection to her immediately, seeing himself in her, and his love for her both humanizes him and ultimately leads to his destruction. While Silco might prefer his relationships transactional, he's still human, still capable of connection and love and vulnerability, no matter how he might wish otherwise.

In a world where he has no choice but to make connections, Silco will struggle. He won't want to show any weakness, and he'll immediately look for ways to manipulate others, rather than connecting to them with any sort of honesty. He will be put in the Pear Wiggler, as he deserves.

4. What are two major forces in your character’s personality that are often in conflict? (Ex: logic vs emotion, power vs guilt, obedience vs rage, etc.)

The main conflict in Silco's character, the one that leads to his death, is the conflict between his ambitions and his emotions. After his betrayal by Vander, he chose his ambitions - his ultimate goal being Zaun's freedom, he decided to turn himself into whatever monster was needed to make that happen. And he did become a monster, the sort of man who kills easily, who doesn't care for the human cost of his plans. He spread Shimmer in the Undercity and in Piltover, to give himself the power to ultimately push for Zaun's independence. He did whatever it took, without regret or remorse.

But beneath it all, Silco was still human, and still capable of emotion. He loved Jinx like a daughter, and because of that, his control faltered. The other Chem-barons began to believe they might wrest power from him, his own underlings questioned his motivations when she was involved, and ultimately Zaun's independence - the thing he'd done so many terrible things for - hung in the balance. He intended to choose Jinx, to choose his own emotions, over the thing he'd worked for all that time, but in the end, he died because of it. All that time turning himself into someone who hardly trusted anyone, who could do terrible things without blinking, undone by the simple fact that he was still capable of love.

VESSEL SELECTION
Which Vessel Type are you choosing: Token or Offering? Offering
Why does this Vessel type feel appropriate for your character? By choice (though as an obvious trauma response), Silco turned himself into a metaphorical monster: a crime lord who ruled Zaun without morals. Him turning into an actual monster seems entirely appropriate.
Choose one OR list three subclass options within your chosen Vessel type that you think would suit them: Merrow. Water is a central theme for Silco, starting with his metaphorical 'baptism' at Vander's hands that sent him on his villain arc. His first base of operations (partly underwater), his own self-comparison to the monsters of the deep, his baptism of Jinx, and finally his burial, body floating down into the water - it's a recurring theme, so Merrow suits him perfectly.

Samples: TDM thread