Post by Nommyuks on Mar 28, 2016 11:06:58 GMT
 | [PTabbedContent=Queen Medb Rider][PTab=Status] Parameters
Personal Skills
Class Skills
Noble Phantasm
[PTab=Profile] Character Details 1 Height / Weight: 5'3ft / 105lbs Source : Ulster Cycle Home Region : Ireland Alignment : Chaotic Evil Gender : Female Personality Generally speaking, Medb’s personality matches her position as a warrior goddess of sovereignty and intoxication, or at least what she’s believed to be. For her usual character, she can be described as perky, frolicsome, flirty, and catty. Given that her summoned appearance is her at a younger age, instead of employing seduction with womanly appeals, the queen instead makes use of her adorable youth to cause people to become infatuated with her. Her esteemed position in her time has given her an ego grand enough for her to come off rather light-hearted or carefree, often so self-assured that a more stern or majestic side mainly appears when handling affairs as a queen. Being one of the few women in her time to hold so much wealth and power to rival kings, her romantic antics shows that she’s an assertive and charming woman that ensures events happen her way only. Despite being a queen, it is shown in her pillow talk with Ailill that she can be surprisingly childish and possessive when her position is questioned or resisted. To that end, she never forgets wrongs done to her and can hold deep grudges behind her playful smiles, shown in her taking revenge on the embarrassment Cu Chulainn brought to her. Although bubbly, she is not above intellectual pursuits or games, engaging in chess against Fraech in the Cattle-Raid of Fraech. It is without a doubt that the warrior queen’s royal deposition shows more than her fighter one. Having been the most beautiful, generous, and gracious of the daughters of Eochaid, the High King of Ireland, she naturally exudes the charisma and pride of one born into a noble life. This shows in her inability to accept shame and defeat let alone for someone like her husband, Ailill, to be to hold greater wealth or power than her. Her high standards particularly made her stand out amongst the women of the time as she requested particular qualities for her men, which tended to insinuate that they ought to be better than her at these traits. In her rule, she is shown to be a rather hospitable queen, always treating those in her court with the utmost respect. If her extravagant outfit has not reflected it already, then it is without said that Medb enjoys her position of sovereignty, believing herself needing to be greater, grander, and livelier than all. This can make her an eccentric woman as she often employs multifarious events and engages in quirky interests. Plus, it makes her self-centered as she had her way with as many men as she pleased while requesting her husbands to not be jealous. Although, as shown with the events of the Cattle-Raid of Cooley, this haughty demeanor can make her rather greedy. Needless to say, it is not as if she is a tyrant as her soldiers hold great loyalty to her, but as shown with the number of her partners in life, she can be notably fickle. As for the warrior side of the queen, it needs to also be mentioned that among Eochaid’s daughter, she was also known to be the deadliest and craftiest, able to hold herself against any man. In particular, she is known to run speeds that surpassed chariots. Furthermore, amongst the other sovereign or war goddesses, she was the only one who personally led her troops in battle and even joined them, said to be a warmonger by the Distorted One (Cu Chulainn). This is not to say that she did not employ wit, knowing full well of measures needed for her to take to limit the amount of her men that were getting slaughtered by Cu Chulainn during her infamous cattle raid. Additionally, she had made preparations of shields around her to avoid the Ulster hound’s killer stones, and also bargained or convinced many able men to fight against him, including his foster brother Ferdiad. All of this goes to show that despite her gender and prestige, Medb is one to relish in the thrill of battle and reflects a willpower akin to a warrior. When on the defensive, she tends to reflect a rather sassy demeanor while taunting the assaulter. On the flip side, offensively she enjoys overwhelming an opponent entirely and displaying her greater might and skill to boast her sovereignty. Needless to say, she is a headstrong and courageous woman, never wanting a husband weaker or more cowardly than her. Although, she is not above trickery as she abuses peoples’ weaknesses both in mind and body, shown with her baiting Ferdiad to attack his foster brother, when forcing Cu Chulainn to break his geis, and how she uses her sex appeal to enforce loyalty or to get Cu Chulainn to spare her. Due to the circumstances revolving her death, Medb has developed a fear towards cheese and remains agitated whenever she bathes. Given her obligation to keep appearances a queen, she does not make her discomfort obvious. Instead, she does her best to act normally, often sweating coldly or losing the color of her skin. Goosebumps arise and she fidgets frequently, eyes darting. Because of her scarring, the Goddess has strongly convinced herself to be lactose intolerant so she can avoid cheese altogether. If she consumes cheese in any way, then a placebo effect causes her to become sick... Only if she realizes her mistake, of course. Also, whenever she notices something flying around her, her first instinct is to duck and cover. Another peculiarity of the Queen is that she has a knack with animals. This is not due to her godly influence, but merely her adoration for them. Her fluffy garments reflect a fondness to equally fluffy critters. Plus, Medb is characterized by a bird and a squirrel or marten on her shoulders, even having a hound called Baiscne. Furthermore, her position as an intoxicating woman has her seemingly immune to the effects of liquor. This can cause her to be even more rambunctious during festivities, knowing no restraint and often challenging men to a drink off. On this note, it goes without saying that Medb is unable to back away from a challenge. Whenever angered, Medb can be described as rather bratty or fearsome depending on the credibility of the cause. Her initial reaction is to enforce her sovereignty and thus become more assertive on her position. Whenever controlled by the frustration, she seethes in rage and loses the eloquence expected of a queen, adopting vernacular more akin to a warrior. On the other hand, if the offense is more serious, then she makes use of her craftiness to hone her indignation into a weapon. Here, she can be quick to ruthless, cruel, or virulent means and can adopt a heartless or algid demeanor that seems unfitting for her usual chumminess. It is here that her long lasting grudges arrive from. More malicious intent drives her as she employs witty or sarcastic attacks towards others. So, while it may be amusing to test her charisma and pride, Medb more often than not passes with flying colors. Though, whenever jolly is where her positive qualities shine, especially that of her humor. Medb gains amusement from an assortment of interests ranging from characteristically feminine things such as fashion, beauty, and love to the off-putting ones of horror, gore, and violence. Not to mention that she loves dark humor and puns. Other than that, she takes pleasure in the varying emotions and expressions caused by her teasing. It is quick to note amongst her targets that she can be rather sadistic. Here, the Goddess often targets peoples insecurities and confusions, wishing to arouse their hidden wants. Cattle-Raid of Cooley An infamous battle that began, surprisingly, in bed. During a mere pillow talk between the king and queen of Connacht, Ailill, out of his insecurity regarding the stability of his standing, boasted about holding greater wealth and power than his wife. As one of great pride, Medb reminded the man how he even got his current position--by marrying her. Then, the two began to compare their personal wealth to see who really did hold the most... ending in them having equality in everything but their cattle. Finnbhennach, Connacht's famous stud bull, was originally a part of the queen's herd, but wandered into the king's for he had no interest being a woman's property. As a result, Ailill held more wealth than her and thus a higher position, prompting Medb to scout for an equally if not more stud bull... which happened to be Donn Cuailnge whom was born into the herds of Daire mac Fiachna of Cooley. Initially, she attempted to obtain the bull through peaceful bargaining, but Daire came to the information spouted by one of her messengers where she would have forcefully taken the bull if he refused. This cause him to retract his initial acceptance of the offer, and so the queen came to fulfil her drunken messenger’s words by beginning a cattle raid. As she and her army was beginning its travels, a Sidhe woman appeared before her by the name of Feidlem, warning the queen that the men of Connacht would be covered in crimson blood through the hands of Cu Chulainn. Skeptical of a single man able to perform such a feat even after hearing the stories told by Fergus mac Roich, she came to quickly realize after the slaughtering of hundreds of her men that it would be better to seek a negotiation with the Ulster man. Initially, she attempted to use her womanly seductions to convince the hero to come underneath her service, but failed and instead had to agree to his suggestion of sending a man to face him every day. Believing that losing a single man every day was better than losing hundreds, she reluctantly agreed. No matter the warrior sent by her with the promise of her daughter in marriage and material goods, they were all slain by the Hound of Ulster. This included his foster brother Ferdiad while his foster father Fergus could not bring himself to fight a fellow Ulster. In fact, were it not for Fergus’s loyalty to his brethren, then the raid would have ended quicker as he purposefully led Medb’s army in convoluted paths so that the curse of Macha would lift off of the men of Ulster. Eventually, despite her plans, the men of Ulster did in fact regain their vigor and came to the aid of Cu Chulainn, resulting in a great battle. The primary objective was to retrieve the Brown Bull of Cooley, so once that was achieved, Queen Medb and her forces retreated. As they returned back to the land of Connacht with the bull, Finnbhennach felt the presence of its long rival and rushed to face him. Indeed, these two bulls were not in fact just mere bulls, but Aos si (people of the mounds [Sidhe]). The aos si were supernatural beings that are often compared to elves or fairies, and are often said to be the ancestors, the spirits of nature, or goddesses and gods. This is evident in the bulls’ immortality and how decades before they fought each other throughout all of Ireland in many different forms such as ravens, water monsters, dragons, humanoids, and eels. Unable to stand with one another, they fought once again as bulls in the lands of Connacht, causing havoc and destruction until Donn Cuailnge came out victorious. However, becoming madden with insanity, Donn went off in a rampage and then died from overworking his heart into bursting. As a result, Queen Medb did not get the bull she wanted, but ended up equalizing the wealth between her and King Ailill. Death Given the embarrassing circumstances of her death, Medb is very reluctant to speak about it, albeit the mental scars she is left with often give the idea away to anyone. Ironically, for someone who gathered victims of Cu Chulainn to plot his death, a victim of her, particularly one of the sons of her sister Clothru, Furbaide, took vengeance upon her. While she was bathing in a lake as per her custom and earlier so on this particular day of convergence between the people of Connacht and Ulster, Furbaide had previously prepared himself for this moment by placing a stake into the lake that was of equal height to Medb and of the same spot that she regularly bathed in, stretching a rope from said stake to one at his home. Whenever he had free time, he practiced knocking off an apple on top of the stake at the lake. Now that his chance has come, upon hearing from one of the people that the beautiful woman was Medb, he did not wait to pick up his stone and instead used the cheese he was eating. Waiting for her to turn in his direction, his practice came to bear fruit as he struck her straight in the forehead and killed her. Goddess of Intoxication and Sovereignty/Warrior-Queen of Faeries There are traces of a connection between Queen Medb and the Goddess Medb. Another alternative to the name Medb is mead, which is a sacred drink connected to the goddess of sovereignty who is often depicted with a horse (Fergus). It is also stated that Medb assumed kingship and took Ailill into sovereignty with her. These two correlations infer that she is a manifestation of the goddess of sovereignty whom each king must marry to gain true kingship of a land. Thus, she has relation to the horse goddesses Epona, Rhiannon, and Macha. The last one particularly dwelled with mortals and married a farmer. Plus, she holds a sacred grove known as Bile Meibe and is represented by a bird and a squirrel sitting on her shoulder. For her connection with faeries, her name and title has resemblance to the Warrior-Queen of the faeries Mab. Plus, in Shakespeare’s work “Midsummer Night’s Dream”, Titania, a pivotal character, is based off of Mab and holds resemblance to Medb through the altercation with Oberon. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
