Mu

Mu is a transplant from early 21st-century Gothic Earth; a young woman who ran into a burning house in search of either two old people or a grimoire (she is herself uncertain which it is), only for the smoke to turn to Mist, and for her to be deposited in Barovia.

Appearance

Fair-skinned, red-haired and green-eyed, Mu is beautiful, in part because her progression along the Path of the Concubine (her Path of Corruption) has enhanced her looks to the point that she draws unwanted attention. She has a curvaceous yet trim figure, owing to a combination of good genes, an active training regimen and the 'blessings' of the Dark Powers, but prefers dowdy clothes and often wears disguises in an attempt to go unnoticed.

Personality

Mu is heavily traumatised by her experiences in the Demiplane of Dread, and it shows. While intellectually brilliant, she is emotionally warped; unable to trust most people, paranoid and hostile, wretchedly lonely yet incapable of establishing meaningful interpersonal connections. She is also viciously determined once she sets a goal for herself, and has been working on attempts to return to Gothic Earth since her arrival to the Demiplane.

History

In the Brightwell Legacy (Quoth the Raven Issue 22), Mu reveals she was recruited as a child by the Brightwell Coven on her home world to translate the cult's prized grimoire, the Libre des Ombres Sécrètes. She fled once she realised their true nature and swore off magic, but as a young adult was drawn to rescue either the coven's elders or their tome when the coven's headquarters caught fire.

Mu was transported to Vallaki in Barovia, where locals brought her to the Asylum of Broken Souls. The therapist in charge of her case inflicted unspecified cruelties on her in an attempt to break her when she feigned agreement with his 'therapy' that she was suffering a dissociative episode, rather than that she should be an actual Outlander. Matters came to such a head that Mu broke her solemn vow and reclaimed her magic, her power choosing to return to her in the form of her new familiar, Tom-Cat. Armed with the spells her new companion brought her, Mu made a violent escape from the Asylum and hid herself in the nearby forest. Still half-mad from her experiences, and with her familiar whispering thoughts of vengeance in her ear along with spells, she regularly attacked the Asylum's staff with magic. While she did not kill anyone, the Asylum's workers were in a state of terror which only ended when Mu was discovered by the Weathermay-Foxgrove Twins. Laurie and Gennifer refrained from striking Mu down and, after having heard her reasons for her actions, both managed to calm her down somewhat and to arrange for a lavish financial settlement for her by way of recompensation for her suffering. Afterward, Mu went off into the wider Demiplane to find a way home.

Mu is hampered in her quest by memory loss; due to the psychological trauma she suffered in the Asylum, she can remember neither the name of her home world, nor her own true name. Mu is an assumed name - one of many, as she has created numerous identities throughout the Core out of a paranoid need for security.

Mu's exploits since include: investments in both the Boritsi and Carlysle Trading Companies and travels throughout the Core; an episode in Lamordia (to wit, a lengthy cooperation with Diedrich von Hochstatt, Victor Mordenheim and the Red Haunt that resulted in the creation of the World Engine) that reinforced her traumas and ended with her having to flee the country; an episode in Hazlan involving the Vistani, which ended with Mu 'staining her hands with murder'; the events of the Brightwell Legacy, during which Mu discovered that the Libre des Ombres Sécrètes had somehow been transported to the Demiplane of Dread. The book claimed to contain spells and rituals that could return her to Gothic Earth, only for it to fall into the hands of the Mystery Benefactor, who implied he possesses knowledge of Mu's past and home-world.

Powers & Abilities

Mu is proficient with firearms and the sword cane; she admits she is not a champion at armed combat, but she is proficient. As both a Witch with the Strength Patron and a Bard, Mu is powerful and versatile, and easily capable of dominating the battlefield with either ranged spells or (after applying various buffs and wielding self-made magical weapons) martial combat. Mu is skilled in the creation of magical items (although she disdains the use of stat-boosting items for herself), scrolls and constructs, is a profound linguist, and has a wide range of artistic skills to draw on. At heart, Mu prefers to think of herself as a scientist, and she has a hard-won knowledge of maths and physics in addition to her storehouse of planar lore. She is primarily associated with the Weathermay-Foxgrove twins as a source of mechanical and planar lore. Mu instinctively distrusts and loathes arcane magic, be it because of her experiences with the Brightwell Coven or due to the influence of the Red Death on all arcane magic on her native Gothic Earth; she wishes she could focus on pure science instead of having to rely on spells. Mu's cat familiar Tom-Cat enables her to recruit veritable hordes of natural cats in or near urban environments, and she has been known to pay them with food to perform a number of duties, such as bodyguard work, reconnaissance, and even tactical assaults. Mu wears several holy amulets associated with Catholic Christianity, including a crucifix, which should enable her to ward off some supernatural threats. It is unclear how she reconciles her faith with her practice of arcane magic and witchcraft and her progress along her Path of Corruption, however.

Homes

Mu has used the income generated by her investments to purchase several homes throughout the Core, outfitting each with an underground laboratory she uses for her arcane and scientific research and the crafting of magical items and constructs. As she moves from one domain to another to maintain her privacy or because something has disturbed her, it is easily possible for strangers to find these houses unoccupied. Although Mu's supply of scrolls and magic items and her laboratory supplies might seem tempting, would-be thieves would first have to contend with the spells and guardian golems the Witch has set in place to guard her belongings in her absence...

Path of Corruption

Mu has entered into the Path of the Concubine. Associated transgressions:

• 1. Indescriminate terrorizing of both guilty and innocent staff at the Vallaki Asylum of Broken Souls after her escape.
• 2. Threatening the life of the comatose Elise Mordenheim with a pistol at Schloss von Brandthofen in Lamordia.
• 3. Murder of raunie Mariushka in Hazlan. (Not yet fully explained.)

Statistics

Chaotic Neutral female human Witch 9 / Bard 4

Mu retains the services of male cat Tom-Cat as her Witch's Familiar.

Chronology

• 750 BC Early spring. Mu arrives in the Demiplane of Dread, near Vallaki in Barovia. Well-meaning locals deliver her to the Vallaki Asylum of Broken Souls... and into the hands of Dr. Emilio Hochhausen.
• 750 BC Late summer. Mu finally breaks under the constant assault on her mind and body, and reclaims her magic. Tom-Cat finds his way inside the Asylum and Mu breaks out. From the cover of the nearby forest, Mu starts her assault on the Asylum's staff. At some point, she fails her first Powers Check and enters the Path of the Concubine.
• 750 BC Mid-winter. The Weathermay-Foxgrove Twins are called in to deal with the supernatural assault on the Asylum. They find Mu, huddled in the wilderness, and manage to restore her to something a little closer to sanity. The Twins arrange for a lavish financial settlement as compensation for the torture Mu was forced to endure, and tentatively release the Witch on her own cognizance.
• 752 BC Early winter. Mu, working together with Amourette Schlosser, Victor Mordenheim and Lamordian Diedrich von Hochstatt starts designing and building the World Engine. Mu hopes to prove the many worlds interpretation[1] in the Demiplane of Dread, track the diverging realities back to their source and thus create a passage back to Gothic Earth. She combines her knowledge of arcane magic with 21st century knowledge of computers to help design and build the technomagic marvel.
• 753 BC. Spring equinox. The World Engine is activated on the spring equinox at Schloss von Brandthofen and does ... something. Mu discovers Amourette Schlosser is a Fiend; Mordenheim tries to kill Mu after she threatens the comatose Elise Mordenheim with a pistol to stop him tampering with the machine; Diedrich von Hochstatt (seemingly) sacrifices his life in order to save Mu from Adam, Mordenheim and the demon, in an act of selfless love. Mu raises the World Engine's security protocols so its deeper powers are inaccessible to anyone but herself and flees Schloss von Brandthofen. Mu discovers the results of failing her second Powers Check around the time that she is forced to flee Lamordia entirely due to the Schultebott of Leidenheim pursuing her. Adam does not close the Domain's borders to stop her.
• 754 BC Undisclosed events in Hazlan cause Mu to 'stain her hands with murder' and fail her third Powers Check.
• 755 BC Events of the Brightwell Legacy.