Ostia Lore Process (Patreon)

Gosh, this has been so difficult. Have a sketchy interlude as I puzzle things out in front of your eyes.

I'm VERY torn on what I want Ostia's lore to be outside of our little 4 session interlude.

I really like Ostia and, considering her station as a Knight Scion, wanted to take the opportunity to actually have a character who could reasonably actually interact with Astartes and not have it be wild in-universe.

But then THAT spiraled into what chapters? Since each chapter is different that would probably shape her opinions on them. And THAT spiraled into being deployed into a long and grueling war campaign where Ostia is deployed alongside the Salamanders and slowly stops being gruff and all business, living and laughing (for maybe some of the first times since her sister's death) alongside them as they fight for years to hold and evacuate a planet threatened by some as of yet undetermined Xenos while maintaining key Imperial assets.

And now I'm torn on where to go. It's 40k, it seems too good to say her and Lieutenant R'tan, an Astartes she has fished out of a collapsed building and also the man who continually dragged her to meals with his men afterward as she used to take her meals alone, just get to have a good time fighting and laughing into the stars.

I'm also I think for the first time struggling with the thought that I've never developed a character for a setting with such stringent and well-known lore. It's stressful, honestly.

So I'm at a crossroads with 3 routes:

Just ignore it, live my best self-indulgent life and have that be Ostias lore, or base everything I do for her in that period of happiness as her 'present day'. This would likely involve familial tensions as she'd be continually deployed and away from any sort of management involved with her house. (Potential for assassination attempts? Upstart regent or younger sibling?)

Have R'tan die tragically in a frontal assault called to save the Armor from a trap or hazard. Ostia continues fighting but returns to her detached and grim mindset. "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice" sort of thing in terms of her being anything other than a soldier or a tool.

OR, Have the above scenario play out, but R'tan ends up in a dreadnought. The sort of middle ground bitter-sweet play. 

I'm VERY torn. But that's what it's looking like. I hope you all enjoyed my ted talk. Once I've got things nailed down I'll do a better post of things, but for now ya'll get a sneak peek into my suffering