[HoZ 4e] Heroes on a Sea of Swords - Medinah's Thread

[Shadow_Elf]

The City of God, Dhuqa the 1st of Atumeq, AF 360
The Hunters prepare to go their separate ways for the day, planning to meet up and debrief the Captain later on in the evening.

OOC: This is the personal thread for your character. If you don't have any immediate private RP to do or questions to ask, you can just continue posting the main IC thread as normal. Feel free to use this thread for Private canonical IC actions as well as OOC questions about the direction you want to take your character's story, etc.

[Dacia Brabant]

Since it's been a while and it doesn't look like Amirah's going to participate in Medinah's conversation with the captain, should we just go ahead and have it here then? I'm not sure if Shaur is shipboard or not, but I'm fine with whatever you have in store for this part take place here. Also, I figure this is as good a place as any for Medinah to formally meet her "benefactor" if that's something that can fit into our timeframe here.

[Shadow_Elf]

Medinah is aware that Shaur is staying as a guest of the sultan, which was part of the compromise that allowed Medinah to leave her side in the first place. She won't have slept on the ship in Medinah's absence, though Kalam is there to remind Medinah where the Captain is if she's forgotten.

As for the benefactor, sure. This thread can be as non-linear as you like, provided you can still follow along. Once back aboard the ship, the benefactor will contact Medinah in her a dream state the first time she "rests" (I know she doesn't strictly sleep). You can post an intro to either arriving at the palace or the power-down scene or both at your leisure, and I will respond accordingly.

I also get the impression Amirah may be waiting on Medinah to say something in the public IC thread?

[Dacia Brabant]

Heh, well Medinah wouldn't have forgotten but her player certainly did. Oopsies. :smalltongue:

I'll go ahead and post her arrival to the palace shortly soon as I hear from GW, then when that's all wrapped up we can move on to the dream sequence as time permits.

And yeah I'll go ahead and say something in the IC thread--I must not have caught onto that, sorry.

[Dacia Brabant]

Well I guess we can have the meeting with the cap'n in the IC thread after all. Nevermind. :smalltongue:

[Shadow_Elf]

Medinah receives a private mental transmission from Mattijra.

"Don't speak ill of Mafas, warforged. He may seem dull, but in my experience, the only thing scarier than Mafas is his god. And believe me, I have done some scary stuff to people's brains. When he says he doesn't need to know their weaknesses to beat them, he means it."

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah, assuming the kobold's telepathy allows two-way communication like Amirah's, thinks back:

"Nicely spotted, and actually I was insulting all of you; Mafas, like most god-botherers, was merely the easiest target, but the knife-fighter, the healer, the armored warrior and even yourself, you're all seeing this threat through your own looking-glasses. I've no doubt of your friend's strength--hells, he's huge!--just as I've no doubt of anyone's skills. My doubts are purely in terms of vision: something's driving this war from the shadows, yet all anyone cares to see are the snakes slithering ever closer toward their nests..."

[Shadow_Elf]

Mattijra
"How very... robotic of you. Their reason for being here is of little consequence; they are attacking, and we are being paid to strike back.

She pauses for a moment. Though her outward visage shows no change, she conveys the notion of her peering closer at Medinah. "You are a lot chattier than any other warforged I have met. Admittedly, I haven't met many, but... you're quite the oddball. What's your designation?"

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah didn't change her expression either, but inwardly she was cooly nodding along with the psion's every thought--save the last one, that drew an immediate reaction.

"My designation? I have no designation. I have a name and it's Medinah. You can ask my maker what my des-ig-na-tion is, except of course he's dead."

That would've brought at least a frown if she didn't have total control over her illusion. She took a brief pause to calm down before continuing.

"Pardon me, it isn't your fault, you're just used to the way those soulless automatons are. And you're clearly right, I am different, and if I'm unusually chatty it's because I'm required to keep silent around most mortals, lest their bigotry cause an uproar. It's profoundly annoying. If you find it uncomfortable, though, I'll desist.

"Oh but there is one more thing: I've no use for money, I fight only for the honor and defense of my captain, ship and crew, and naturally to protect myself--and since all of those are at stake I'll fight this war until the bitter end, the snakes' preferably. So you're right, it is very robotic of me, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

[Shadow_Elf]

Mattijra
"An... awakened warforged? I have to say, I'd love to dissect your mind... but I will refrain from it. Professional courtesy and all that. Nice chatting with you, Medinah." The kobold cuts off the two-way mental link.

[Dacia Brabant]

By the way, when you have time if you'd like to move forward with those meetings with the captain and then Medinah's "benefactor" I'd be up for that. :smallsmile:

[Shadow_Elf]

RP I have time for, it's the battle maps that'll be killer time-wise. Set the scene whenever you'd like.

[Dacia Brabant]

The City of God, Utared the 1st of Atumeq, AF360

Medinah

It was the night before the Midnight Mirage set sail from her home port, just after the Hunters' meeting with Captain al-Farid wrapped up, and Medinah was still lingering in the map room.

She didn't make eye contact with Shaur--or anyone else as they left the room for that matter--but from her posture and the expression she wore on her illusory guise (she was starting to get good at this whole disguise thing) it was clear she wanted to discuss something with the captain, and yet not quite able to initiate conversation.

The Medinah of a few weeks ago never would've been so bashful.

[Shadow_Elf]

Captain al-Farid
The half-marid frowns. "Is something troubling you, Medinah?"

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah

The warforged answered her captain after a short pause, still not making eye contact at least at first.

"It must've been jarring for you, hearing me talk this way for the first time after so many years of 'affirmatives' and 'probabilities.' People get used to having things a certain way, I think I understood that even back then, before all this..." It was then that she finally looked up at the captain with eyes tinged with regret.

"But I never would've done what I did if I'd had any thought, any inclination at all that it might cause you to backpedal from me in want of a blade. You, to whom I owe everything, you who I swore to protect--that I should cause you to feel even for a moment that you need protection from me is unconscionable to me, and I must ask your forgiveness," she offered with as much feeling as her mechanical voice could allow.

[Shadow_Elf]

Captain al-Farid
The dhampyr woman seems puzzled for a moment, as if deciding which comforting gesture would best be suited for the machine. "It is I who should be sorry, Medinah. It's just... I know that warforged are vulnerable to programming changes. I was concerned for a moment that the Pirate Lords had gotten to you, and I reacted out of shock and instinct. You don't have to worry, hon. Soul recalibration or no, you're still the same Medinah who has taken arrows for me, stopped stray spells from hitting me and who has faithfully kept my Hunters from harm to the best of her abilities. I just... need some time to get used to the sassy Medinah who uses colloquialisms and tries to convey emotion instead of stating it before she speaks."

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah

The warforged positively beamed at her captain. After a moment she realized what she was doing and looked away.

"Ah yes, I see what you mean. Well, I'm not too worried about anyone reprogramming me--I'm not sure it's even possible to do that to a soulforged, and besides..." she trailed off a bit, then added with a wry smile, "Well, they'd have to deactivate me, right? Good luck with that!

"Er, by the way, am I getting any better at conveying those emotions? I've been practicing at night, gives me something to pass each watch."


Just as an FYI, she'll be retraining something to pick up Bluff as a trained skill, I'm just not sure what yet, heh.

[Shadow_Elf]

Captain al-Farid
A fanged grin is the initial answer. "Much. Manipulating your illusion is still pretty clunky, but you seem to be getting the hang of it. A bit more practice and you might even be able to reliably pass as human when you speak," she says, clearly impressed by her bodyguard's progress. "We've an early morning tomorrow. I know you don't sleep, but I'm only part-vampire, so I still have to," she says, jokingly. She begins cleaning up the map room and preparing to call it a night. "Anything else you need to talk about?"

This is not meant to pressure Medinah into speeding up this conversation; it can continue across the deck and into the captain's cabin, the antechamber of which is Medinah's cot.

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah

"That's very encouraging, thank you, I'll keep working on it--especially the voice. I had to keep quiet the whole trip back from Aqur, it was soooo annoying," she smirked as she moved to help Shaur clean up and opened the door for her on their way out. "I think that's all I needed to say, but was there anything you wanted me to say? I know you were... curious to know more about what's changed with me, but if you're tired we can certainly save that for another day if you'd like."


I'm certainly fine with continuing, but I guess it depends on Shaur. Like you say, Medinah's the only one who doesn't need to sleep. Wouldn't that be nice? :smalltongue:

[Shadow_Elf]

Captain al-Farid
As they exit the map room, she nods sagely. "Yeah, I'd like to know what happened, in as much detail as you can manage. But for tonight, just the short version will do," she responds after a moment.

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah

The warforged nodded in response as she thought carefully as to how to shorten such an important event in her existence. Finally, as they were walking across the deck toward Shaur's cabin, Medinah came up with a way to approach it.

"I really wish I had more to go on as far as how I was created. My maker never shared the details with me--and even if he had, my memories of that era are vague at best--but I do know that to give me actual life and sapience and not simply a program to mimics it, he required the presence of a soul. I think that's something Uncle Abdul might've mentioned to you when he restored me?

"At any rate, that soul wasn't just there to take up space; it has a functional use as well, and that's to serve as a conduit for power from, well, from beyond the veil of this world I suppose. Although I'm trained in sword magic, that stuff's almost exclusively for defense, whereas the curses I bestow and the many debilitating attacks I have at my disposal, those all flow from the wellspring of my soul.

"Does this make any sense at all? It's like how wizards or alchemists like Rahman know their magic through intense study, or sorcerers like Jalil simply know their spells and have to learn to control them. My magic, the kind that's not from studying sword magic anyway, comes from a soul pact with the Great Beyond."

She held off on that last sentence until after they'd entered Shaur's cabin, just kind of letting it hang there.

[Shadow_Elf]

Captain al-Farid
The captain pauses. "Legends and scriptures speak of many such entities. Not all of them are... pleasant company. To which manner of creature is your soul pact signed?" she asks, concern creeping into her voice.

Obviously Medinah does not understand Najman cultures, because the other plane is pretty cut off from Siraaj. You'll need an Arcana check for your best guess at what the new pact holder is, and Bluff if you intend to lie about the result :smalltongue:. You can consider it trained only if you decide what skill is getting dropped for it.

[Dacia Brabant]

Sure, I'll go ahead and roll Arcana: [roll0]

I'll let you know ASAP about Bluff.

[Shadow_Elf]

Sure, I'll go ahead and roll Arcana: [roll0]

I'll let you know ASAP about Bluff.


Medinah suspects that, given the spiteful nature of the magic she has gained and the fire-and-brimstone spell effects, that her patron is likely one of the evil extraplanar entities. She thinks that, as givers of contracts, they are likely of the lawful type as well. Given this information, she believes her patron is a Devil, though she knows little about devils, their hierarchies, and what brand of devil her patron might specifically be.

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah suspects that, given the spiteful nature of the magic she has gained and the fire-and-brimstone spell effects, that her patron is likely one of the evil extraplanar entities. She thinks that, as givers of contracts, they are likely of the lawful type as well. Given this information, she believes her patron is a Devil, though she knows little about devils, their hierarchies, and what brand of devil her patron might specifically be.


Thanks, that's about what I figured. While we're at it, what does she know about vestiges? She does still have that pact, even if it's dormant, and my long term character arc for her is to come back to it in epic.

As for Bluff, while I'd like to drop Insight I don't want to lose Tactical Insight, and it makes more sense that she'd have to tone down the intimidation factor a bit if she's gonna try to pass for human. So that's what I'll do, I'll drop Intimidate for Bluff.

[Shadow_Elf]

Retraining approved. Vestiges will need another Arcana check.

[Dacia Brabant]

Arcana: [roll0]

[Shadow_Elf]

Medinah knows that vestiges are beings of this world, stubborn souls who have refused to move on to the next life. Often, they were once powerful mages or beings of the Otherworld trapped in the mortal realm, before they died. Vestiges rarely remember who they are or were, and often they have lingered so long that they exist as but a single emotional driver, such as fury, guilt or sadness. When vestiges sign contracts, it is typically an attempt to get involved with the physical realm they have refused to leave; they can only have an effect through a willing mortal. They rarely expect anything in return for this opportunity, but souls bound to vestiges are more likely to become a vestige themselves.

[Dacia Brabant]

Okay, that sounds good. At this point, I think she has enough to go on that she may reasonably believe her soul to be a vestige--of what specifically she wouldn't know (yet anyway), but that would explain to her why it went silent after she accepted the devil's deal.

At any rate, I'll have Medinah's reply up soon.

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah

The captain's question gave Medinah pause. Finally, she shook her head and said,

"I'm sorry, I still don't know enough about mortal belief systems to make those kinds of value judgments. I was never even completely sure about the whole soul thing myself until my encounter with Lord Rustbucket, and after the fallout from that I think my soul might just be a vestige--that is to say, an entity who refused to cross over to the other side.

"One thing I can say for certain though is I tend to channel quite a bit of rage, and a lot of the power I've gained is either based on fire or mindfire, for lack of a better term. I suppose that doesn't sound too pleasant, especially not for a water-based person like yourself. Well, on the plus side, that rage could just as easily be coming from my soul itself, and fire and anger often go hand in hand thematically speaking. Vestiges do tend to be pretty darn stubborn, and are likely to be naught much more than a single emotion.

"Unfortunately I may never know more than that, since old Rusty had a way to sever my connection with the vestiges that were linked to me and they haven't come back. All that's left, is me."


Technically that's all true, from a certain point of view, but she does know more than she's letting on so I agree that a Bluff roll is required: [roll0]

Hopefully she won't throw me off the ship and we'll have to retcon the whole campaign. :smalltongue:

[Dacia Brabant]

Well, I think it's time for Dark One's Own Luck. It's kind of cheating, but she didn't use it that day and, well, I'd say it's as good a time as any for her devilish side to come through.

The power lets me take the higher of two rolls between that 24 and this: [roll0]

[Dacia Brabant]

I swear, the forum dice-roller algorithm must be in love with Medinah. It's the only way to explain how this keeps happening. :smalleek:

[Shadow_Elf]

Captain Shaur al-Farid
The captain nods. "I... think I understand. That'll do for now; I don't see anything inherently malicious in these... vestiges you talk about, so it shouldn't be an issue." She flashes a fanged grin. "Alright, time for me to hit the hay. This was a good talk, Medinah. I'm glad we get to have real conversations with each other now," she says before proceeding into her room and calling it a night.

Medinah, darling. That was quite the lie you composed there. Is there any particular reason you don't want your Captain to know about our little deal?

The feminine voice in her head is familiar; it is the same sickly-sweet entity that contacted her in the Iludai cave network.

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah

"Me too," she said, smiling back at her captain even as she heard the Voice in her head. After what Medinah had just done it was hardly surprising that she'd show up (assuming it really was a she), but still it was a bit jarring especially after not hearing from her since the battle in the caves of Ilud.

The warforged retreated to her alcove to mentally engage with the entity in privacy.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, was her tersely silent reply, but rather than leave it at that she decided to prod a bit. The Captain is... unique in terms of her ancestry, to say the least, but she's a good woman. Although she might understand why I'd treat with a being such as you, given the circumstances of what happened back there in the caves, and though I'm not ashamed of what I did, I very much doubt she'd approve. But tell me, what's your interest in all this? You've been awfully quiet until just now.

[Shadow_Elf]

Well, I just thought it was... interesting. I can't read your mind, honey, but it is my job to watch over you. Remember that.

As for our interest? Well, there's a war going on, and you're in a... uniquely powerful position. We don't need anything just yet. I just want to let you know that I have my eyes on you, hon.

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah

I... see. We've been operating on a verbal agreement for some time now, and some of the ambiguities are beginning to raise questions for me. Perhaps it's time we discuss the finer points of our arrangement. Let's start with who you are, who you're working for and why exactly you need to watch over me.

[Shadow_Elf]

In front of Medinah, a woman suddenly appears in a puff of brimstone. Medinah's olfactory detection, while limited, would pick up the presence of real brimstone; it is readily obvious that everything, including the woman, are either a mental figment or an illusion. The woman is human, but her red eyes and fiery red hair are incredibly out of place for a pureblooded human, unless some magic or dye was used to modify them. Her skin is pale, as if it almost never sees the sun, and totally unblemished. She wears a simple but garishly red dress.

"Very well, dearie. Let's get something in writing that all parties involved can agree on, eh?"

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah

The warforged looked her up and down skeptically, but after a moment simply shrugged.

"Well, at least you've got style, I'll give you that much," she replied, then grimaced as she realized they were talking aloud, at which point she resumed their thought-speech. All right, but let's keep this between us, shall we? In fact, that's one thing I'm going to have to insist upon before anything further. All your dealings concerning me--and by 'your' I mean you personally and every single one of your associates, past, present and future--are to be addressed to me and only to me. If you need to make reports to any of your superiors, I'll respect that, but no one else is to be involved unless I expressly, freely and without compulsion say so. Agreed?

[Shadow_Elf]

The red woman giggles.

"Oh, it only looks like I am here. And it only sounds like I am talking. I assure you, none of your crew mates are listening in," she says cheerily.

"As for this exclusivity... yes, I'll agree to that, but on one condition. You are now an asset; if I feel that you, that asset, is in danger, I will be allowed to contact one of your crew mates, under some subterfuge, to ensure that the danger is prevented. Deal?" She asks this genuinely, but some magical element of the words indicate to Medinah that she isn't really negotiating on this loophole.

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah

Medinah just shook her head and facepalmed at her amateurish mistake. Of course the whole thing was an illusion, right down to the voice.

You're quite good at this, you know. I'll really have to work at my illusions to even be half as good as you, she half-smirked as she mentally replied.

Well, I can see we both have our own hard-line positions. All right, I'll accept that, so long as it's under some subterfuge as you say, and only in emergencies. I hadn't realized I'm so valuable, how very flattering. So, does that courtesy extend both ways? As in, will you warn me of those dangers as well? As much as it encourages me to know my shipmates are with me, I'm confident in my own abilities to handle most threats--as long as I see them coming.

[Shadow_Elf]

The Red Woman
The devil giggles. "Yes yes, of course. I was simply stating the scenario in which the loophole would be required. We will, of course, try to keep this between us."

She conjures a long sheet of parchment, and a quill. There are already quite a lot of words on it, but she inscribes the agreed upon amendment at the bottom with a flick of her wrist.

"Now, here are the core requirements of the pact, hon. First, if we require you to do something, I'll ask and you'll do it. The restriction here is that we cannot ask you to harm your crew or Captain, or through inaction allow harm to come to them. We also cannot ask you to abandon your Captain for an extended period of time, but if she sends you away like she did when we, ah, met, then you may have to add a detour to your trip. We will never directly countermand an explicit order of your Captain.

Second, when that metal shell of yours is destroyed and you pass on from this life, and it is understood here that that may take an awfully long time, your soul is signed to the Hima Sovereignty. What this means is, you get reincarnated as one of us.

Third, termination penalties. Breach of contract by either party comes with penalties. If we break our end of the bargain - say we stop providing you powers or something - then your soul and actions are freed from our control, and you get severance pay. If you breach the contract... well, your soul will be annihilated on your death, never to be reincarnated. And we'll kill your Captain. And we'll probably sink the ship, too, and any number of other silly, petty things the Contract prevents us from doing in the meantime." The last bit is said with a cheery smile and intonation.

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah

Medinah nodded along with most of that, but looked askance at the red woman at that last part, not finding it amusing in the least.

I see. Well I don't have a problem with taking orders, and I don't much care what happens on the Other Side, but this business about harm and particularly breach of contact concerns me. I just want to make it clear, there's no one more capable than me at ensuring the security of the Midnight Mirage, so it would be harmful to my captain and crew if, say, I were to be kicked off the ship or otherwise stripped of my position as a Hunter or bodyguard to the captain as a consequence of something you ordered me to do. In fact, I'd like to read over that contract in full, just to make sure we're both on the same page here.


If I wanted to see what, if anything, Medinah knows about the Hima Sovereignty, would I roll Religion or Arcana? And assuming she gets to read her contract, I'm really just looking for what actions would constitute breach of contract by either side and what they consider to be harmful. Would that also require a check of some kind?

[Shadow_Elf]

The issue with the matter of a contract (which I see as a must for an Infernal Pact) is that I hate legalese and I am not particularly keen on writing one up. But yes, it exists in theory and Medinah gets to read it. I will come up with some specific examples for breach of contract soon.

She won't know anything about the Hima Sovereignty no matter how high her check result is. It's on Najmah, the Plane of Night and she has no reasonable reason to have knowledge of the other plane, because they are so severely separated. Even the Archmage Council of Admaja had limited knowledge of the other plane and its power structures, and they were in direct contact with some of its denizens back in the day.

[Dacia Brabant]

Okay fair enough, I don't blame you for not wanting to write up a bunch of legalese--I have to read through it as part of my job and even that's bad enough. Examples were pretty much all I was looking for.

Seems like we're close to wrapping this up, so we can just skip past the part where she reads it over and we'll get to that stuff whenever you have time. Medinah does have a parting question for her handler though before we call this scene a wrap.

[Dacia Brabant]

I'll go ahead and wrap this up then, we'll just assume the contract is mutually acceptible and deal with the examples OOC.


Medinah

After thoroughly reviewing the document, Medinah nodded and presented it back to her intermediary.

Very well, I accept your terms as amended. I just have one question, if you'll satisfy my curiosity: has the Hima Sovereignty ever before made a pact with another being like myself?

[Shadow_Elf]

The Red Woman
The devil smiles. "Oh, dearie, that's above my pay grade. All I can tell you is that I have never personally brokered the contract of a being like you. And plus, most of your kind don't have a soul to barter with; you're rather unique in that, aren't you just?" She takes the long scroll back, and with a flick of her wrist it rolls up and vanishes.

"We'll be in touch, sweetness. Until then... good luck with the snake hunt! I'm sure you'll do just fine, hon." A puff of fire, smoke and brimstone and the woman is gone.

[Shadow_Elf]

Demons (Hard DC Result):
Medinah recognizes these creatures as Dreamripper Demons, a particularly rare and devious variety. Also called Nightmare Demons, they are resistant to mental assaults (+5 saves vs. Charm) and have limited teleportation abilities. Most of their powers involve manipulating hope and fear in their victims, and their gaunt, statuesque faces never show even a hint of emotion.

Undead Snake (Average DC Result):
An undead animated snake, this creature's animating arcana and physiology seem to lend themselves to spitting bones.

Two-Headed Snake (Average DC Result):
This is a shadow serpent. Its two heads can act autonomously and it is adept at striking foes while moving and keeping out of harm's way.

Flickering Snake (Average DC Result):
You're not entirely sure what sort of creature this is, but it has the stink of teleportation magic about it.