| Nazca Belonna Jenavais Angeliza de Barsavi | |
|---|---|
 "Papa used to say someday I'd appreciate having a gracious man to order around." | |
| Canon: | The Gentleman Bastards Sequence |
| Species: | Human |
| Hometown: | Camorr (born in Tal Verrar) |
| Age: | 28 |
| Journal: | ironshodboots |
| Player: | Ammmy |
This Is the Story of Your Red Right Ankle[]
NAME: Nazca Belonna Jenavais Angeliza de Barsavi
ETHNICITY/NATIONALITY: Verrari (raised in Camorr)
HEIGHT: 5'10"
HAIR: black
EYES: gray
OCCUPATION: finniker for the Barsavi crime empire
CANON POINT: post canon
So You Threw the Key Away[]
Nazca, as the youngest child and only daughter of the most powerful criminal and second most powerful man in her home city, has a duality to her. On the one hand, she is used to being respected, almost to the point of being nobility in the underworld. This had made her imperious and self-confident (almost to the point of narcissism, though more in the sense that she's amused by her own cleverness than true vanity). However, as the youngest child and the girl, she is used to her brothers upstaging her. This means that despite her self-assurance, she tends to prefer to accomplish things with planning and patience. In the same sense, accomplishing an end is its own reward, and she has very little need for outside approval.
In many ways, she is more a businesswoman than a criminal. Her position and her talents mean that she is in an excellent position to make her fathers’ processes more efficient and more profitable; though she was well trained in fighting and knows the basics of thievery, Nazca herself has never needed to commit petty crimes. As such, a transition to more respectable pursuits would not necessarily displease her; if the position interested her, she could function within its rules, though morality in the conventional sense means little to her. She will not violate her word, but very seldom gives it; she trusts very few people (her father is included, her brothers aren’t), but those few she trusts implicitly.
Though she doesn’t speak unless it’s calculated doing so will be to her advantage, she tends to be rather blunt when that time comes. She has little interest in her father’s rhetoric games, or in her brothers’ taste for boasting and storytelling. She does, however, like verbal games and battles of wits with her friends; Nazca is very smart, and when she finds someone she considers her equal, she likes to take advantage of their intelligence in conversation. There is a playful side to Nazca that belies how ruthless she can be; people familiar with one side of her personality are often surprised if they ever encounter the other. She, however, doesn’t feel there is any conflict between them; she applies herself with vigor to whatever she is doing, whether it’s work, a game, or a mission for her family. In any of these situation, she keeps most people at an emotional arms’ length, but also recognizes the necessity of having loyal supporters in any worthwhile enterprise.
This Is the Story of Your Gypsy Uncle[]
History[]
Nazca Barsavi is the youngest of the three Barsavi children. Her father, Vencarlo Barsavi, brought her, her mother, and her brothers Anjais and Pachero to Camorr when Nazca was just an infant; as such, she has no memory of her native Tal Verrar. Barsavi had been a scholar, a teacher of rhetoric, but at some point before Camorr, turned to a life of crime.
Systematically, he began taking over Camorr's gangs (of which there were around 30 large ones, give or take). Some he bought out, but in most cases he simply killed the leaders, or garristas, then took over their gangs. Barsavi set up Camorr's underworld in an almost feudal manor, making garristas swear allegiance and pay a percentage of their takes. In return, he provided organization of resources, arbitration of disputes and (perhaps most importantly) a "Secret Peace" with Camorr's duke. The duke turned a blind eye as long as the gangs didn't steal from nobility, the city watch, or their direct interests. Given that Camorr was a port city, there were plenty of other rich opportunities to go around, and the underworld had no trouble supporting itself on merchants and traders. Barsavi effectively took over the more squalid parts of Camorr outright, and his authority within them was absolute.
Nazca, as the youngest child and her father's favorite, had run of their home, a barge called The Floating Grave. She drank, swore, bullied the guards and the servants, and saw little reason to be polite or patient with people stupider than herself.
Around the time she was seven or eight years old, a new initiate of Chains (the not-so-blind-as-advertised priest) appeared before her father to take his oath of allegiance. He was a boy about her own age, who she summarily declared skinny and ugly. Her father explained he just needed food, but she remained skeptical. When Locke Lamora declared his allegiance to her father, the boy then turned to her, saying that if she was to be the next Capa, he should swear loyalty to her as well. Though initially disdainful of his offer, she came to delight in her first pezon (vassal), and lorded it over her brothers that she'd obtained a follower before either of them.
Over the next 15-18 years or so, Capa Barsavi grew more and more successful and prosperous. It was a relatively peaceful time, and other than the loss of his wife, he was generally contented. Nazca grew more shrewd and more civilized (at least to a point); during this time, she became the finnicker (record-keeper) for her father's organization. Though she kept paper records for his use, she had the entirety of his financial records memorized, which served him well in catching people attempting to cheat on their taxes or dispute an earlier claim. It was also just flat out intimidating. Her brothers, Anjais and Pachero, became excellent fighters and decent gang leaders, though they were more self-assured and less clever than their position might merit.
About four years ago, Chains died, and Locke was promoted to garrista of his gang. As he was still her pezon, and probably her closest friend, Nazca enjoyed the opportunity to see Locke on a more regular basis. She also came to be acquainted with the four other men in Locke's gang over time, and to respect them to a greater or lesser degree.
A few months back, a mysterious individual known only as "The Gray King" began killing garristas, brutally and in ways he should not have been able to manage in the heart of Barsavi's power. At first a minor annoyance, it quickly came to be a large problem for Barsavi. He forbade Nazca to leave the Floating Grave, and almost never left it himself; after about two months of this, he tried to forbid his sons from leaving as well, but they resisted strongly. At this point, Nazca confided to Locke that she was worried her father had forgotten how to cope with challenges to his authority.
Recognizing that Anjais and Pachero were not equipped to preserve his empire if and when something should happen, Barsavi "asked" Locke to court Nazca, with an eye to put Locke in a position to advise them as their brother in law. Though Locke accepted (not doing so would have been career suicide, and possibly literal suicide as well), he and Nazca privately came to an understanding that they would work together to avoid the marriage while helping Barsavi cope with the Gray King. Locke promised to return the following day to work out details.
In the book, it is unclear whether Nazca sneaks off the Floating Grave that night of her own volition, or was abducted by the Gray King. Given what happens later in the novel, the readers can only conjecture. For this version of Nazca, it is assumed that she indeed left of her own free will, and in fact had been sneaking out for some time. She's been attempting to investigate the Gray King's methods and associates on her father's behalf. However, this night, getting off the Grave was a closer call than normal; one of her father's personal bodyguards, the twin Barangias sister, may or may not have seen her exit. Since no alarm was raised, Nazca thought it was likely she wasn't seen, but realized she may need to deal with complications when she returned.
From there, spoilers ensue, but nothing good happens.
Xanadu[]
TBA
This Is the Story of the Boys Who Loved You[]
- Sebastian LeMat - He visited her in Camorr, and then they got high together in the Nexus. He made her a paper hat.
Adhere to Me[]
I am not Lonneke Engel, Nazca Barsavi or The Decemberists.