Mariang

Mariang is a player-controlled (by RielCZ) character from the Fairytale Hearts (Tintervale) Universe.

Fairytale Inspiration
Mariang is a character from traditional Filipino folk tales/legend. She is the (usually) kind diwata/fairy/goddess/spirit/person inhabiting Mount Makiling in Luzon; some say Mount Makiling appears to have a woman's face in it. She is described with copper skin, white robes/dress, and long ebony hair.

The specific story used for Mariang's inspiration (HERE) is an abridged version of the famous Jose Rizal's account of the legend as published in La Solidaridad in 1890 (example English translation HERE). The account describes the sometimes conflicting accounts of a reclusive young woman who cares for the mountain (including restoring order after storms) and the people nearby (including loaning people jewels for important celebrations).

The specific story in which Mariang was trapped details a hunter who found her hut after chasing a wild boar. Mariang chastised him for hunting her boar, but invited him inside. She fed him and gave him ginger, which he put in his hat. On his walk home, his hat started to feel heavy, so he discarded some of the ginger; when he got home, though, he realized the ginger had turned to gold! He tried to find some of the pieces he had discarded, but was unable to.

Initial Meetups
Mariang heard a voice telling her to go to the library. She walked through and felt frightened by the many faceless creatures she saw. But she wanted to help them. And wreak vengeance on whomever caused all this.

She first encountered Peter, and let him hide behind her. She then encountered Beaumont, and finally Valerianella (Nella). They remembered where the library was (part of the priory) and navigated there.

There, they met Flit, a pyewacket. Mariang asked Flit what crime he committed, but Flit essentially commented that the plot would have to further advance, causing Mariang to frown. The party learned they were selected because they have the "pages" from a Fey spellbook bound to their souls.

The Room With Four Walls
Flit led Mariang and the others into a room with 4 walls, one with 1 dot, one with 2 dots, etc. After some of the others tried pushing the dots in order -- and at the prompting of Flit to think "outside the box" -- Mariang realized the group had to break the wall with the 4 dot. After some effort with their weapons, it went down, and the whole room opened to a church-like setting.

Character Creation
Flit said that the party would sometimes be required to bring the otherwise faceless background characters into the story (charisma check) -- "the story of the four heroes saving the city". After Nella tried unsuccessfully to bring a Monk into the story, Mariang managed to get one of the praying monks to awaken and, after she described to him the story of the four heroes, asked (with some prompting from the others) directions to the library.

Fight!
There were six demon creatures the party had to face off against. Mariang used Shillelagh to enchant her staff, and tried twice to hit the demons to no avail. Luckily, Peter came to her (and Nella's) assistance and slayed the demon that had been attacking them. Thereafter, the beings' true forms were revealed; unluckily, it turned out they were all real people, and Flit mentioned that anyone who dies in-story dies IRL. Luckily, these were just illusions. Unluckily, ones Peter had earlier killed were not illusions.

Meeting The Unreliable Narrator
The party met the illusory form of their host. They further explained the nature of the town's curse, and how the party members were freed due to a flyleaf. They also mentioned the ultimate party mission: go into stories, find people with pages, get the pages and free the people, and reassemble the original book (the Codex of All Stories).

The party learned the location of their first adventure, a garden by a rich kid school.

Personality
As evidenced by her inspiration story, Mariang is very kind, helpful, and empathetic. This intrinsic sense of goodness probably comes in part from her Quori spirit. She also may exhibit something of a vengeful (but not cruel) personality, perhaps more tied to her human side.

Trivia
Mariang's hair turns from ebony black to platinum-streaked white when she casts spells.

Her staff has a rock in it near the top curved part.

The sun on her tunic-dress is the 8-ray sun on the Philippines flag.

Art
Thanks be to the artists of Americaland DND!

Mariang as Focus
Riel's original concept art: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/561818730640703488/911456559534596106/IMG_20211119_212231.jpg

Revised Art (thanks Rabbit!): https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/561818730640703488/938517073963921418/Mariang.png?width=861&height=646