(This is the longest hc i did I kind of digressed half way through)
My latest Rykard hc is that he is the eldest child and 'parent' between the 3 carian demigods. Everything bearing his name exudes this kind of ‘posh' 'sophisticated’ 'I will have you know-' sass you’d expect from an inquisitor-coded demigod of noble blood/one who, mind you, lives in a manor perched atop a live . f u c k i n g . VOLCANO with a crazy snake god in basement (What's with the lands between and weird basements?), I feel safe in asserting that this symbolically reflected his day-to-day persona as well: profanely hot, rich, powerful but nauseatingly prideful blonde male always a second away from hissing lava at 'haters'. He veils his barely concealed madness with an educated taste that screams refinement, if only to drown out the tortured Albinaurics screaming from his torture dungeons (or 'interrogation chambers' to the more sensibly inclined). He also seems like the type to be overbearing (his job is literally being a medieval glorified fantasy cop) and I find it difficult to imagine that some of that pride and sass didn't seep into his family dynamics.
But still, it is evident that he is a man who deeply cares for his family. Radahn's portrait nicely hung (aw), offering Tanith dementia in a bottle so she can forget her soon to be big back snake husband(aw), plotting with Ranni to kill Godwyn (aw)( common close siblings activity).
Mix love for family with his love of power, his love of prestige , of ambition. Spice up his lore with absentee divorced mother, absentee divorced TRAITOR AND ASSHOLE father and the deep turbulent hatred he simmers within himself...you get, the eldest child with fried brain matter
Close enough
I haven't forgotten the war automatons he created and named 'Abductor Virgins' Definitely cooked in the head but...some of them are found in raya lucaria 🥺 and in caelid 🥺
Being the “I fuck my retainers” bisexual is just the cherry on top.
I mean look at this guy 💀 Too much doesn't exist in his vocabulary lmao also y tf does he have chandeliers in his boss room 😭talk about being extra for the sake of it (Banger Villain staple)
Before we conclude this earth-shattering and momentous piece of scientific inquiry, it is only fitting that we take a moment to review the distinguished list of intimate companions he deigned to keep in close company. As the old adage goes: birds of a feather flock together. Let us now examine those whom he permitted to remain by his side, each a mirror in some fashion, of the man himself.
Tanith:
Consort's robe.
Fine robe of white silk worn by Tanith, Lady of the Volcano Manor. Long ago, when Rykard first set eyes on Tanith, she was working as a dancer in a foreign land. Soon, he made her his consort. She was the only human to remain by his side when he became the serpent of blasphemy.
In that moment, Tanith was truly charmed by him.
Daedicar(retconned to being Rya's mother) now Ghiza
Daedicar's woe(Version 1.00):
Disturbing likeness of an old noble whose skin was flayed. He smiles with a serene tenderness. Increases damage taken.
This soft-featured man's name was Daedicar, and he was one of Captain Rykard's paramours, as well an attendant in his Inquisition.
He would test new methods of torture first upon himself, making a gift of his pain and first-hand knowledge to the one he loved.
Also Serpent Eigley (????)(snake babies???)
Let Eigley eat him (verbatim no exaggeration)
Must I say more?
-----
In retrospect, Morgott's beef with him makes so much sense. Not just a clash of ideologies but also character.
Morgott: Loyal to erdtree and order, Humble, tree slave bound by shame and sense of duty, trying to maintain the status quo, weighed by grief twisted into self loathing, extinguishes flames of ambition
Rykard: not loyal to erdtree and order, not very humble, Aspiring slave not bound by any sense of shame or duty, trying to usurp the status quo, weighed by grief twisted into world loathing, Giant snake man
Tldr: hc is that Rykard is a snarky eldest sibling who had to fill in the gaps for TWO absent parents . (This is what having Mommy AND Daddy issues does to a man 🙏Pray for this individual). He needs therapy. But in the lands between...who doesn't?