Characters of New Morvena: Minu Dunwielder

Original Minu Dunwielder concept by Jonathan Jacobs; developed by John Schutt, Christian Martinez, and Charles Dickey. Ruined race design and description by Charles Dickey. Art by Matthew Meyer.

Minu Dunwielder with a freak on a leash

Minu Dunweilder, Cult Mother

Minu grew up in Morvena’s Kind Orphanage. From a young age, she had a sharp mind and spent much time with the orphanage’s books. She also played with the porcelain dolls kept in the common room. One day, after hearing from other children that more of these dolls were stored in the attic, she went up on a dare to retrieve them. She found the dolls and a beautiful ceramic mask. When she put the mask on, it bonded to her face and smoothed her features; she no longer possessed the prominent underbite, due to enlarged lower canines, common to the Ruined. The lower canines remained formidable, but the mask enlarged her thin lips, giving her a pouty look that disguised the wicked teeth of her lower jaw. Likewise, her knobby forehead lost its knots and appeared smooth. Her hair grew thicker and more lustrous over the months, and by the time she had reached her teens, she had attracted many young suitors from New Morvena — an uncommon event for a Ruined orphan.

Like all orphans at Morvena’s Kind, at 16 she was removed from the orphanage and placed with a New Morvenan family. She did not stay with them long, as she was betrothed to the young Margen Dunwielder, who had, two years before, come from the Kingdom of Drimsy to purchase the famous Lonely Roadhouse from the original innkeeper’s grandson. Dunwielder stayed to run the inn and soon met Minu, who frequented his restaurant on weekends with children from the orphanage. He began courting her then, and Minu was taken in by his charm and good looks.  Realizing that marrying him would afford her a great measure of freedom, she agreed to his proposal.

They were happy together for a number of years. Shortly after their fifth anniversary, Minu was gathering herbs in the Stag Woods when she encountered a feral Ruined One. The two did not talk, but the mere presence of this untamed Incabehan made her blood whispers surge. She fled, frightened and confused, and found herself at the Church of Morvena. She dipped her hands in holy water to wash her face, as she had become accustomed to do over the years in the orphanage; however, the voices in her blood resurged, and the water stung her hands and face. Although Minu had felt the presence of the whispers as a young girl and teenager, they had subsided after she had married Margen. Their sudden return disturbed her. When she returned to the inn and Margen, she was withdrawn and shaken, but would not tell him what had happened.

Then Minu’s secret life began. The voices in her dreams were strong that night, and she woke with eyes that saw the world in a darker light. Over the next year, she began trekking into the Feral Vale, making contact with the wild cousins from whom she had been separated. She did this late at night or early morning, and kept her wanderings a secret even from Margen, for by that time she had begun keeping her own chambers and only shared his bed on occasion. In the past year, she has isolated herself from him completely, rarely returning to the Roadhouse from outside of New Morvena. Recently hunters and gatherers in the Stag Woods have seen her near what has long been considered a haunted and cursed ruin of a house. All have avoided it… until now.

New Player Race

Incabehan: “The Ruined”

Not all was lost in the fall of Morvena. The devil-spawn of Mindenaron Dismas survived and grew up feral in the wilderland, nursed by the cruelties and whims of the jagged, broken land that was ruined Morvena. Each of the siblings had an innate sorcery. Through the seduction of rootless explorers, they were able to continue their tainted bloodline. The family Dismas lives on in their progeny, the devil race of Incabehans, known commonly as Ruined Ones. In recent years, the orphanage at New Morvena has attempted to civilize feral Ruined Ones. Additionally, not all of these cursed children embrace their devilish nature. Players wishing to create Ruined characters may explore either of these options, or both.

• Immune to Poison and Disease: The Ruined have the blood of devils. They are immune to poison and disease.
• Low Light Vision: Ruined characters ignore penalties for Dark and Dim lighting.
• Natural Weapons: A ruined character can have two of the following natural weapons: bite, claw, tail swipe, or gore (horns); each attack is Str +d6
• Poison: Attacks made using natural weapons are poisonous; victims that suffer a Shaken result from natural weapons must make a Vigor roll or be paralyzed for 2d6 rounds
• Blood Whispers: The whispers of the Dead Queens circulate through the character’s blood, causing discomfort and distraction; furthermore, if the character attacks any fiend or undead creature, the whispers raise harshly in intensity: a Ruined character always suffers a -2 penalty on attacks against fiends or undead
• Outsider: Ruined characters are not welcome in civil society. Despite the best efforts of the rectors at Morvena’s Kind, ruined ones have not largely been accepted and welcomed into New Morvena. All ruined ones are suspect and treated as less than human. When children graduate from the orphanage, they become servants of New Morvenan families. Charisma -2.
• Racial Enemy: Fireh bolg: the fireh bolg are intensely jealous of Ruined Ones, who they view as usurpers of their rightful place as the favored of Incabus; all interactions with fireh bolgs are at -4

Edited by The Grumpy Celt