Herminia/Main

"*No. I believe in only two things...Myself...and my riches.*" —*Herminia*
**Herminia Bertolini** is a character in *Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent*. She is the main antagonist of the Master of Wealth storyline.

## Profile

### Appearence

Herminia is a slim and beautiful woman with brown hair who has her face partially covered with a golden mask. She wears a luxurious white dress with golden ornaments.

### Personality

Due to her past, Herminia is obsessed with wealth and known to be capable of the most cruel acts in order to keep or increase her fortune. She has great confidence in her wealth and believes there's nothing she cannot buy. She also has a deep hatred to those who are either from lower classes or give importance to other things such as respect and friendship over money, being capable of throwing up when thinking about those kind of bonds.

However, she wasn't always a person who desired wealth above all. Once, she was a broken harlot, unable to share her true self with anyone, until a struggling noble gave her endless love. Eventually, her heart became softer, and she was happy to be with the poor noble. Losing her love to the mafia boss of the town, she wished for wealth so she could escape the sorrow she felt. However, even after getting revenge and gaining the wealth of the syndicate, she spiralled more and more into greed, desiring all the money of Orsterra. Her actions brought her no peace, as she has nightmares of those she killed (her sisters, Gregory who was the first mafia boss she executed, and Lord Taviani) coming back to end her and take all her wealth away. In the end, she was a woman so fractured, that wealth became the only thing she could love as she died.

## Story

* A young Herminia being sold by her sisters.
* Buying the Ring from Oskha
* A local mafia boss notices her.
* Fulfilling her revenge.
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Born in the wealthy House of Bertolini, she was the youngest of three daughters with her older sisters refusing to share their father’s wealth upon his passing. Her sisters killed their remaining relatives while selling Herminia off to a distant land. Herminia was forced to become a prostitute to earn some money. At some time she met a young Oskha and bought the Huntress' Ring from him, a Divine Ring who would fulfill her wish for wealth. In a strike of luck, she got the eye of a local mafia boss who made her his mistress. She didn't waste the choice of taking over the syndicate by winning over the boss's lackeys and have them assassinate him. With her new influence, Herminia went back to her childhood home with her men and took her revenge by having her sisters tortured before being dipped into molten gold, turning them into statues. After that, Herminia used her father’s inheritance to finance her criminal empire while becoming one of the wealthiest people in Orsterra. She would start producing a drug named "powder" and sell it to the people, becoming the most influential drug dealer, taking the position from the mafia boss Don Taviani and becoming known as "godmother".

Years later, her drug dealing put her also in conflict with the new mafia group known as the Bargello Family, who decided to work together with Don Taviani to assassinate Herminia during one of her business meetings. But Herminia bought the loyalty of Taviani's right hand woman Sonia and killed Taviani’s group before going after the Bargello Family, only to be defeated by the Chosen One, who was a member of Bargello's gang.

With the mafia boss killed, Herminia paid three of the four remaining faction leaders, Montella, Tomazzo and Gustoni, to work for her. Only Rosso refused as he based his loyalty on respect rather than money, joining Bargello's side to make him the new Don. The other faction leaders Tomazzo and Gustoni, pretending to follow Bargello too, took the gang to Herminia's mansion and tried to trap them there, but ended up killed by Rosso and Bargello. Also, Herminia had kidnapped Tiziano while he went to meet Montella and tried to force him to join her side, even torturing and overdosing him with her powder to make him comply. However, his loyalty to the Bargello Family proved too strong for her to understand, so she decided to kill him in front of Bargello. After that, she fought Bargello and the Chosen One alongside her female butler, but even after transforming into a giant monster with her Divine Ring, she was defeated and locked herself inside her treasure chamber to be surrounded by her wealth while succumbing to her wounds.

According to the records in the library within the Tower of Remembrance however, there was more sorrow to her past of rising within the mafia. During her time as a prostitute, she was renown for her beauty, as well as the curious fact of her origin. However, after being sold by her sisters, she sealed her heart shut, giving no one an answer to these inquiries. One person who fell for her was a noble whose family was struggling. While this lord had little money to give, what he decided to offer instead was his devotion and love to her. These strong emotion started melting the woman's heart, and they became a couple. However, the mafia boss of the town used great amounts of money to lure the young lord away, while taking Herminia for his own desires. Heartbroken, the lord killed himself, leaving Herminia alone yet again. It was at this moment, when the mafia boss slept with her proclaimed wealth could buy anything, even love, that Herminia's desire for riches truly began. Killing the syndicate boss out of both revenge and wealth, the hole within her heart could not be filled. She desired to be the most wealthy person of Orsterra, gaining the Huntress ring that twisted her desires and mind into those of the Covetous Witch, destined to die at the hands of the righteous.

## Skills

### Passive Skills

#### Resilience Skills

  Dark Resilience
  Light Resilience