Talia Hekata
Talia Hekata is a Hornhound woman and Imperial Personnel Director of the Avinadal Empire, a role that emerged naturally from what she was already doing before the empire existed: finding and developing exceptional people. Professionally, she was known in the BDSM community as a dominatrix and practicing sex therapist, with a reputation built on precision and psychological insight. The VTC brought her on as a mental health consultant.
She is physically striking — roughly 200cm tall, lithe and well-muscled, with long straight black hair, pale skin covered in purple tattoos, and narrow purple eyes that do not leave a subject once she has decided to watch it. In most situations, she is the one setting the tone.
Aries Villanite was not most situations.
She attempted to establish dominance over him during their initial interactions and got progressively further from success each time until she pushed a button that made him lash out and shift into his beast form. After that, her entire orientation toward him reversed. She submitted to him completely and has maintained that position ever since — while keeping her dominant approach intact with every other person she interacts with.
Her stated goal for the empire's staff is to produce people who are capable, beautiful, and unafraid of themselves. She pursues it with the same focused intensity she brings to everything else.
Talia Hekata reads people for a living, which means she walks into most situations already three steps ahead of where everyone else is. She is a therapist, a dominatrix, and an assessor of human behavior — the three things are not as distinct as they might seem, and the combination produces someone with an unusually precise understanding of what people want, what they are afraid of, and what they will do when pressed.
She is dominant in almost every interaction she has. This is not aggression; it is her natural operating register. She controls the tone of a room without effort and without apology. She builds situations that bring out specific responses in people, then observes what comes out. Her goal with the imperial staff is explicitly to produce people who are capable, beautiful, and unafraid of themselves — and she pursues that goal with the focused interest of someone who finds the project genuinely compelling.
Aries is the exception to everything. She attempted to establish the same dominance with him that she maintains with everyone else, pushed progressively harder when it didn't work, and eventually provoked his beast form. What she experienced in that moment reoriented her entirely. She does not find this embarrassing. She appears to find it clarifying.
Her submission to Aries is total and genuine, but it does not diminish her. She is still dominant with everyone else, still sharp and precise and analytically formidable. The dynamic with Aries occupies its own space — something she chose, with full understanding of what she was choosing.
She is stoic by default. Her emotional content, when it surfaces, is expressed through action rather than statement.
Formation of the Avinadal Empire and the Plasid Campaign ►
The Villanite Trading Company recruited Talia Hekata, a Hornhound dominatrix and sex therapist, as a mental health consultant. After a confrontation in which Aries shifted into beast form, Talia pledged loyalty to him and joined the team with a goal of building a capable imperial staff. Separately, Aries traveled to Plasid after Piper's crystal activated, where he learned of Empress Edith Markov's plan to transfer her consciousness into Enyxia Markov's body using a ritual that would absorb the memories of all Plasidian citizens. Trained in both Myst and Malei by Augustus Markov, Aries allied with Crowned Prince Vinisent Atril and Queen Lynia Yawlin to oppose Edith. The campaign involved liberating slaves in Harkul, surviving military assaults from Edith's forces, and the capture of Augustus and Apollo Regulus. Aries defeated Edith by using Piper's crystal to drive her from Enyxia's body, with Piper's essence expelling Edith before fading. Arielle killed Edith's physical body, trapping her in the Maleidic Realm. Following the victory, Aries and Enyxia founded the Avinadal Empire, named after Piper's middle name Avinadalia. Enyxia became Empress, and a formal imperial hierarchy was established encompassing the Regulus Sanguarchate and Plasidian Triumvirate. Lynia Yawlin and Arielle Villanite joined as High Imperial Consorts. Nyx Regulus and Aurelia Villanite also formed a romantic relationship during this period.
Founding of the Villanite Trading Company and Aries's Recovery Arc ►
Following a period of instability, Aries Villanite is summoned by Arielle Villanite to a derelict mansion in Napoli, where Apollo Regulus presents him with legal ownership of the newly formed Villanite Trading Company (VTC), a goods-and-services delivery organization. The VTC's founding client list includes the Waerrani Bounty Hunters' Guild, the Napolian Mercenary's Guild, the Regulus Sanguarchate, and Ensconce Technologies, granting it immediate legitimacy despite Napoli's notoriously strict Chamber of Commerce. Apollo manages administration with Arielle's support, while Nyx Regulus assumes leadership of the Regulus Sanguarchate aided by Aurelia Villanite. The mansion serves as both residence and headquarters. Aries initially resists the gesture through self-destructive behavior, culminating in a confrontation with Arielle that leads to a psychological breakthrough and his deeper involvement in VTC operations. He and Apollo develop a close personal relationship. Tamica joins as medical and biotech consultant, and following a long-delayed reconciliation with Kiriko, she joins as engineering and espionage consultant. Attempts to hire Trance Tauling are blocked by Napolian law prohibiting the hiring of executives from non-Napolian international firms. A legal caveat allows the hire if the executive is married to the company owner. Aries proposes marriage to Trance, who accepts, motivated primarily by personal affection for Aries and Lalith rather than professional interest. The marriage is formalized through paperwork only, with no ceremony.