Liability Mourneswaith

A Player Character in the Eye of Anubis campaign on the Fraternity of Shadows roleplaying forum. Liability, better known as "Lia", served as the party's Wizard.

Early History

Born into the Mourneswaith family of Mordent, Lia is the eldest child of her father Algernon Mourneswaith and her unnamed mother, and as such the legal heiress to both a thriving brewery and distillery business, as well as a dubious claim of a blood relation to the Mournesworth family.

Tragically, Algernon was a largely untalented dabbler in arcane magic, who cooked up the theory that exposing his unborn child to enhancing spells while still in the womb would ensure she would be born as a mentally and physically superior specimen. The effect of his bombarding his wife's womb with magic was, however, the birth of a caliban -- as any true Mage could have warned him.

Both Algernon and his wife detested the infant, which was born with red eyes, vestigial wings, white hair that squirmed independently, and mottled grey skin like a seal. Lia's mother abandoned home and hearth at the earliest opportunity, running away and disappearing completely. The only reason Algernon did not murder the baby outright is that his own mother still held controlling interest in the family business and threatened to disown him if he ever hurt Lia. This she did not do out of affection, but to punish his son for what she saw as his failure to think things through.

Education

Lia learned to hide her looks with masks, veils, gloves and wide robes. She also learned to avoid her father as much as possible and not to draw attention, especially once he remarried and conceived another daughter, her half-sister Ermenglot Mourneswaith. Lia was sure that as her grandmother aged, her father would be more likely to have her assassinated to clear the way for 'Ermie' to become his legal successor.

In order to get beyond Algernon's reach and attain a measure of protection, Lia had herself enrolled in finishing school in Dementlieu, and later the University of Dementlieu, where she pursued a double degree in Archaeology and History. Although Algernon had always forbidden her to study the subject, Lia found herself as fascinated by magic as her father, and initially attended a few classes at the Department of Arcane Sciences out of curiosity. To her own surprise, she turned out to have a talent for the subject. Though initially torn between fear and temptation, Lia gave in to her longing for actual power, and enrolled in additional classes. When her tutors expressed concern for the heavy course load, Lia assured them she could handle it, privately reflecting that she already had no social life worth speaking of.

Vistani and Prophecy

Being as fluent in Patterna as a giorgio could claim to be, Lia implied she had frequently visited Vistani caravans when such were within reach, presumably in search of arcane lore. She was fairly well-informed about Vistani life and the Vista-chiri birds; an outsider herself, she was respectful and wary of the gypsies, but did not hate or fear them. To Madame Florinca Camolomescro, she mentioned that every caravan she ever visited prior to hers had offered her a reading of the future, only for Lia to refuse. Casual curiosity was no reason to either receive uncertain hints of a future that could lead to tragedy if misinterpreted or would become useless as her actions changed the future, nor to discover the future was set in stone and that her whole life was predetermined.

Death and Menetnashte

Although Lia was doing well in her studies, even managing to squeeze some language courses into an already packed schedule, she never forgot the need for secrecy to safeguard her life. She did not mingle with her fellow students and did not go out, ensured that her family back home never learned exactly what she was doing or how well, and kept her nose pressed to the grindstone.

This finally backfired when one of several male students who had become intrigued by the 'veiled maiden', and fantasizing about her being some great beauty just waiting to be conquered, cornered her in an otherwise abandoned corridor. Having ripped off the terrified Lia's mask and veil in one go and kissing her without asking permission, the boy screamed and ran when he saw the truth of Lia's looks. Lia chased after him, unsure herself what she would actually do if she caught him, but the boy leaped into a river -- and pulled his head under when he saw Lia looking down on him, effectively committing suicide rather than face her again.

Traumatised by these events and terrified for her life, Lia knew there was no way she could prevent this kind of news from reaching her father if even one of his agents in Port-a-Lucine had witnessed them. At around the same time, the Menetnashte Expedition was announced. Realizing that here lay a chance to acquire such scholarly renown that Algernon would not dare attack her anymore, and also to get very far beyond his reach, Lia fought tooth and nail for a position on the prestigious expedition... and succeeded.

Personality

More than a little paranoid due to her upbringing and initially reluctant, even afraid to reveal the extent of her magical powers to the other members of tbe Expedition, Lia gradually opened up as events forced her to act. Unfortunately, one of the things that came through the newly opened door was long-repressed rage over the unfairness of her fate, as well as unfair suffering in others. Combined with what some called self-righteousness, when Lia truly had the best intentions and resented the accusation, this led to several in-party arguments, especially with the Har'Akir-born, Rajian Cleric, Kuzan.

Determined to help the Expedition as best she could, and later to prevent the party's nemesis Adramelech (mainly going by the identity John Lancaster Cavendish) from releasing the monstrous Vestige Beherith, Lia struggled to be useful in whatever way she could. In her drive to do good and fight evil, she did make regrettable mistakes, acting without having informed her teammates.

Combat

Although trained in the use of firearms, Lia's strongest weapon by far was arcane magic. She preferred the element of Fire for her offensive evocations, but was also highly fond of Lightning and Force. Her preferred arsenal included Fireball, Arc of Lightning. Orb of Force and Magic Missile.

In addition to offensive evocations, Lia was proficient in defensive Abjurations and Transmutations, and the Necromancy-spells False Life and Greater False Life. She also valued spells like Mass Fly and Haste to benefit the whole group. A weak melee combatant, her best placing was at a reasonable distance from the fight, typically airborne and hurling spells.

Religion

In spite of being Mordentish, Lia displayed a frank dislike of the faith of Ezra that shocked fellow Expedition member Charles Martel. By way of explanation, she mentioned that her family's chaplain referred to her as a Legionnaire of the Night -- to her face.

Although she was prone to wearing the holy symbols of Andral, the Morninglord and Ra (and even wrote a book and published about the possible historic relation between these solar deities later), Lia prayed to what she called the Heart Beyond. Unaware of the Fraternity of Shadows' doctrines until these were revealed to her by Andre Theroux, Lia already believed most of her world was mired in misconception and delusion, mortal senses and perceptions were innately untrustworthy in a scientific sense, and thus theorized that what was true and divine must lie beyond the world. Her faith never seems to have been strong enough to start a religious movement or even endow her with divine magic, however.

Relationships

Lia had already contracted her familiar Grimmric before joining the Expedition. In spite of their alignment differences, the two of them were on excellent terms, with the familiar taking his cues from his mistress and her relying on his loyalty.

Algernon Mournswaith and Lia remained full of hate for one another right until the point that Algernon died, the victim of a Dread Golem he created to kill Lia at the instigation of John Lancaster Cavendish. His ghost appeared in a horrifying guise to blame Lia for his death, and the two of them argued until Lia swallowed her rage long enough to ask Kuzan to give her father final rites and offered to pass on any words to her family that he wished said. At the time of Algernon's death, Lia had at least overcome her fear of him, as her power far outstripped his.

Remarkably, Ermenglot and Lia never seem to have held any animosity towards each other, and may even have been as affectionate as their dysfunctional family situation allowed. Lia even referred to her half-sister with the nickname "Ermie" in an unguarded moment. For her part, Ermenglot sent her big sister a letter to inform her of Algernon's death and asked her to come home.

Between John Lancaster Cavendish and Lia, there was only animosity, with the mad Necromancer describing Lia as dowdy and boring, and her referring to him as any number of vile things, with 'prancing clown' probably the nicest of them. The two exchanged spells with varying levels of killing intent on several occasions, with Lia regrettably lagging behind the monster's superior preparation and spell access.

Andre Theroux and Lia had a mostly pleasant relationship, in spite of Lia showing less deference than was the professor's due according to his rank, and in spite of some disagreements they had.

Lia was quite fond of Charles Martel, even after he revealed himself to be a spy for the Dementlieuse government. The two of them seemed to appreciate each other's intelligence.

Kuzan and Lia seemed to strike sparks off each other without even trying, with an unfortunate cycle of arguments, reconciliation and more arguments binding them together. By the end of the Eye of Anubis, they seemed to have mostly reconciled their differences.

Otto Schultheiss and Lia were generally friendly, and Lia felt honoured when he sought her help in unraveling the mystery of his adopted son.

Tomas Eisenwald was possibly Lia's best friend on the Expedition. Although she did not return his crush, she both liked and respected the Lamordian Paladin of Lothurr, keeping the secret of his unusual nature after he entrusted it to her.

Statistics

Neutral Good female Caliban Wizard 12 (Universalist)