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View Full Version : Villain: Edena Pullusia, Neglected Princess of The Eclipse (PEACH)



Leliel
2010-01-07, 05:08 PM
Well, you might remember my old villain, Erebin Pullusia from way yonder.

For those of you that don't, he's a werefox who wants equal rights for lycanthropes no matter what he had to do to get them.

Despite that, he's a pretty nice person (I'm actually considering changing his alignment to a more Neutral one), and the PCs might end up working for him (they'll be non-evil lycanthropes soon after the game begins).

However, I want them to fight his second-in-commands, his daughter Edena and her lover.

When The Plane Below came out, it gave me a good reason why the PCs would fight leaders of the own organization. Why? Read on.


Lady Edena Pullusia, aka the Wolf-Maiden of the Gubbio Mountains.

Quote: "You don't understand. Not me, not my work, nor what I will accomplish for all of us."

*pause*

"Maybe then he'll understand..."

Motivations: Electra complex, Bitterness.

There is few things more pitiable than a neglected child, and even less more so than one whose neglect is born out of the parents' inability to understand what a healthy family is. The desperate prodding for attention, the constant struggle to communicate, the realization by the parent of how much he is hurting his heir, but unable (and to an extent, unwilling) to do anything about it. It is a feeling unable to be adequately captured by those whose own families were caring and loving.

Indeed, many a child of a cold and distant person has often come to believe that they are not really the true progeny of their parents, but the lost heir of a distant place, where they are powerful, happy, and above all, wanted.

Edena knows for a fact that she isn't really the daughter of the Moon-Sorcerer, Erebin Pullusia, but for her, there isn't some fairytale kingdom of lycanthropes looking for it's lost werewolf princess-rather, she's a copy of her father's real one. And in her eyes, that makes her worthless.

After the murder of his pregnant wife at the hands of Pelorite extremists, Erebin turned to the wild magic of the elements to clone the embryo and thus give life to his child without birth. While successful-it's why Edena exists, after all-the raw Chaos needed to fuel the process caused a number of genetic mutations-her hair is blonde despite both parents being brunettes, for example. As a result, Edena is both a reminder of what could have been and Erebin's inability to control the wheel of life and death, and thus, while he loves her dearly, he's also afraid of what she represents.

As a result, Edena sees her father only occasionally, and when she does, he is on guard despite himself, treating her very coldly with rare exceptions. As a result, she came to believe that her father hated her, and what's more, she knew exactly why. She entered a deep depression only exacerbated by her father's imprisonment in the Domains of Dread-so deep, in fact, that her dour mood crossed the line between sadness and self-loathing, and her hatred of the world that allowed her to exist called the Slaadi.

Sensing the potential to rend the barriers between dimensions and find truth in chaos in the young mage, Dyniriex, Lord of Unchecked Evolution, approached Edena and made her a deal-in return for allowing the Slaad to have a place in the world that her father hoped to create, he would give her the secrets of manipulating life on a basic level. She accepted, and it is her knowledge of things beyond that of other mortals that allowed her father to escape.

Now, Edena is putting the knowledge of her Slaadi contacts to good use, creating a veritable army of loyal soldiers from the world itself for her father's resistance movement, the Moonlords. All this is secondary to her real goal though-gaining enough knowledge to manipulate souls as well as flesh, and transfer her own into a perfect clone of Erebin's true daughter.

And then, she thinks, she will finally be loved.

(Personality and Relationships later-until then grade the background)

Leliel
2010-01-07, 09:12 PM
Agh. I made a pretty big logical contradiction.

Correcting.

Leliel
2010-01-09, 10:38 AM
Okay, here's the next part:



Personality: Most of the Moonlord's leadership is not composed of happy people, and Edena is a living testament to that. She is a lonely, moody, and angry young woman, a tendency only exacerbated by recent puberty (she's 17). She despises the fact that she exists, viewing herself through the lens of an inherent failure who can't do anything right, unless told otherwise. Strangely, she often tries to act independent and aloof in front of other people, even though she subconsciously wants to connect with them on an emotional level.

She isn't a docile, sad puppy though-Edena often takes her self-loathing out on other people through passive-aggressive behavior, blaming her troubles on anyone within reach of her tongue, usually her wannabe boyfriend, Jacob. She often acts very grimly and bitterly when talking to anyone other than her father, not to mention her increasing tendencies toward the prototypical mad wizard. Thus, the behind-the-back nickname of "Her Sadism" by her often-abused assistants.

She's still a rather pitiable person, though-perusing her journals reveals a very tormented and scared girl who often doesn't want to acknowledge her own emotions and loneliness, and a growing crush and affection for Jacob that she is determined to remain ignorant of. After all, she can't be loved, as her relationship with Erebin shows-why should she love someone in return?

(Rest later)

Leliel
2010-01-12, 05:49 PM
Alright, the rest, followed by (hopefully) responses:

Relations With Other People: In general, Edena is a loner and sociophobe, inherently scared of emotional contact due to her unfamilarity with it. Ironically, most of her goals and personality can be defined in in terms of her relationship with her father, and for all her show of being independent, she is actually starved for somone to trust and be trusted-but she has blinded herself to that possibility already existing.

Erebin Pullusia: Edena's main goal is to be loved and praised by her father, with all other wants being a part of that ultimate objective. As a result, she is nearly always trying to find some reason to see him, but doesn't create reasons herself, as he might get upset if he finds out. Of course, trying to shoehorn everything into the happiness of a single person is taking a toll on her sanity, and even Jacob is begining to notice the Mistress' composure slipping more often.

Jacob Bok: The unfortunate target of most of Edena's verbal abuse due to his emotional-and often, physical-proximity, he is also the subject of unconscious emotional manipulations by her, due to his dependency on her for emotional validation. Secretly, she likes the attention and general kindness he shows her, and in recent months, she has begun to have rather...vivid...dreams wherin he is a prominent fixture (you can usually tell these are happening by the large smile and flush, followed closely by waking up rather fast and looking mortified).

Dyniriex: Simply put, he isn't helping. More specifically, he's driving her over the edge by design. He realizes Edena was already an emotionally unstable individual before the stress of her father's plot, and that if she completely loses her mind, she will be in a very good position to further the Slaad's goal of ecological catastrophe. He bides his time, helping Edena keep her relationship with him secret, and manipulating the world to reinforce her poor self-image. And then, once she has lost all hope, he will reveal another secret to the werewolf mage-one that will help him most of all.

(The OP requests that you please comment and grade)

Leliel
2010-01-13, 11:11 PM
I can tell by the triple digits that people are interested.

So what gives?

Obtuse title?

Fable Wright
2010-01-13, 11:27 PM
yes, people are interested, but you're not asking them what you want input about. From our point of view, you're essentially saying '42' and then asking 'what do you think about it?' rather than '42 is the answer to life the universe, and everything. What would the question be?' the second thing would get more answers. What you need to do is ask for the input you want.

jiriku
2010-01-13, 11:43 PM
What reaction do you want your players to have to this NPC?
How much social interaction will your players have with this NPC?
How much of this NPCs backstory will be available to the PCs?
What role do you expect this NPC to fill in your campaign, other than second-in-command for the lycanthrope resistance and sword repository for the PCs?

Leliel
2010-01-14, 10:12 AM
What reaction do you want your players to have to this NPC?

I want them to understand that while she's a good person at heart, she's also a villain, however sympathetic. To put it simply, I want them to realize she's losing her mind.

How much social interaction will your players have with this NPC?

If they decide to be enemies of the resistance, then primarily tense non-combat situations and journals. If they work with them, then they're going to be working directly under her, and all that implies.

How much of this NPCs backstory will be available to the PCs?

A lot.

What role do you expect this NPC to fill in your campaign, other than second-in-command for the lycanthrope resistance and sword repository for the PCs?

Like I said, she'll eventually turn out to be an enemy. If they ally with her, it's going to be because Dyniriex has finally got to her and she's gone completely psycho. They'll still be able to bring her back from the brink, however.



And for the record, I want a general critique of her. You know, grade her personality in relation to her backstory, her backstory itself, etc.

jiriku
2010-01-14, 11:51 AM
She strikes me as whiny and self-absorbed, with a negative attitude and failure mentality. She reminds me of an ex-girlfriend I dated and then dumped when I realized that damsels in distress should be left to solve their own problems.

If I met her IRL, I'd find her annoying and irritating and I'd avoid her. If I was around her in-game and you role-played her well (i.e. true to the description), I'd despise her and feel nothing but contempt for her (being this thoroughly screwed up is especially inexcusable when you've got the ability to reshape reality on a whim and have powerful outsiders at your beck and call). I'd probably talk to her daddy and tell him it's time to either use some tough love to whip his daughter into shape or take away her toys (and responsibility) so that she doesn't accidently hurt his movement. I'd also give her a stern talking-to, but people like this are generally very stubborn about clinging to their self-defeating attitudes and self-destructive behaviors, so I wouldn't expect her to change without a major intervention.

In terms of the quality of your backstory, I'd say that her attitude and behaviors are realistic, believable, and the manner in which her early life influenced her present mindset and goals is very consistent, with one exception. D&d's high-magic setting spits on your elaborate plan to create clones and transfer souls...just hire a wizard to cast polymorph any object and you're done. Seriously, for 1,000gp she can get a hat of disguise that will at least give her the seeming of what she wants to be, and a custom item that casts alter self at will wouldn't be that outrageously priced.

Debihuman
2010-01-14, 01:25 PM
Did you create stats for these villains?

Debby

Leliel
2010-01-14, 07:23 PM
I try to get the story and fluff down pat first.