Medb's Enemies

Balor was the penultimate High King of the Irish Fomóraigh. He ruled over the island at the time of Medb's birth and for much of her early life. He was the grandfather of Lugh Lamhfada by his daughter Ethniu, who destroyed him at the Battle of Magh Tuireadh. He was known as Balor of the Baleful Eye because his vision could destroy anything, even other Fomóraigh. To protect his subjects, he wore a helmet with a visor made of adamantine steel. The visor was so heavy, though, that it could only be lifted for a short time. Despite his later reputation, he was not as despotic as most Fomóraigh and treated his subjects well as long as they did not cause him trouble be revolting. He had seven wives, all married by rape as per Fomórach custom, but he killed or divorced five, one divorced him, and the last survived him.

She was born in the small coastal village of Rinne in The South, the Dreamlands just below Dylath-Leen and the Forest of Parg. Her father may have been a pirate, but if he was he was a nobody, just a simple sailor who raped her mother when his ship raided her village for supplies. Her mother survived the birth, but named her Katie. Because she was a bastard, she was adopted by the village and named Katie Rinne. At 14 her mother threw her out, unable to bear the shame of her violation or her daughter’s disrespect. Katie went to join a group of wreckers and smugglers who used the village as a base. At first, they intended to sell her in Dylath-Leen, but their leader, an old woman, chose instead to make her one of them. What she ultimately had in mind can never be known, because when she turned 19, Katie poisoned her and took over the operation, with the collusion of her lover, the chief of the gang. He barely lasted a year, however, before she killed him in an arranged accident. By then she had five henchmen who were loyal to her and not the organization, and so was able to take full control with little resistance. She expanded their operations to include slave trading, and thereby became associated with the Men of Leng and their masters, the Moonbeasts.

At 23 she stumbled across a fabulous treasure. Though big enough to pay a hefty cut to the Leng Men and still make everyone in the operation filthy rich, she kept it a secret, then had her henchmen kill the rest of the people in the organization. Taking what they could carry of the treasure, they went to Creachabh in the Six Kingdoms and she made a deal with the Thieves Guild, to allow them to fence the treasure in exchange for providing her with a very generous stipend. At the same time, she also made a similar deal with the Leng Men, and thereby played both groups off against one another, to prevent either one from killing her and taking the treasure. On top of that, she kept the location of the treasure a secret; only her henchmen share it, and they are far too loyal to betray her. She then bought and furnished a mansion in the city and created a new persona: Catarine fel Amigortue.

Her story was that her mother was a royal princess of the blood from one of the kingdoms on the southern continent, who was kidnapped by the famed pirate, Amigortue. Originally holding her for ransom, he fell in love with her, and she reciprocated during a night of passion. He then returned her safely to her kingdom. Nine months later, she died while giving birth to a daughter, living just long enough to name her Catarine. Because she was of mixed birth, she could not be part of the succession for the throne, but as granddaughter of the king she could not be simply set aside, so instead she was made the Archduchess of Pikele, which placed her above all nobility and royalty except the king himself. When she was 24, he father came for her and took her away to live with him. She eventually commanded her own ship in his fleet, but when he was betrayed by his most trusted lieutenant and his fleet was destroyed by her grandfather’s armada, she managed to escape, but not before killing the traitor in savage hand-to-hand combat. She is unable to return to her mother’s people. The people of Creachabh accepted her story and welcomed her.

She became a patron and collector of the arts. To further that end, she opened a salon where the social elite of Creachabh could meet artists, poets, storytellers, musicians, and intellectuals on an equal footing. She also donated large sums of money to the city to be used to improve and beautify it. She has become so respected for her service to the city that she was awarded the Legion of Merit and made Countess Stormhold, thereby making her a citizen and part of the social elite.

Her patronage and charitable works are no scam; she has retired from criminal life and cultivates an air of social gentility, with just enough scandal to make her titillating. She made her henchmen part of her household staff: Bertuccio, a one-time bandit chief, became her majordomo; Haydée, a black-widow and child-killer, became her lady’s maid (and secret lover); Ali, a mute former member of The Knives of Dylath-Leen, became her bodyguard; Baptistin, a renegade spy from Ooth-Nargai, became her chargé d'affaires; and Vampa, a marooned pirate, became the chief of her household guard. Despite their inferior status, she rewards them generously for their loyalty, and they in turn realize their best fortunes lay with service to her. However, she maintains contacts with the Thieves Guild and the Leng Men because of the treasure and passes information to them that could net them lucrative profits. She also funds criminal activities for a cut of the take and she occasionally deals in stolen goods and art forgery. She has also forged alliances with Marseilles Sheraton and Gloriana the Cat for mutual benefit and protection. The treasure is so large that even after so many years she has barely made a dent in it, but now most of her fortune comes from investing, and she uses the treasure stipend to fund her social activities.

Despite a crust of respectability, she is still a bloodthirsty cutthroat, and would not hesitate to ruthlessly eliminate any threat in any way necessary. Though a number of people are suspicious of her, none have been able to discover the truth about her. One who came the closest was Marie Delacroix, the Impressionist artist from Ulthar, and she barely escaped with her life, thanks to Medb hErenn and Descartes the Cat. However, few believe that even if the whole truth came out Catarine would be ruined. She has become too permanent a fixture in Creachabh society, and has cultivated a number of important and influential lovers. Besides which, Creachabh is a pragmatic city, with just the right balance of idealism and corruption. As long as she wasn't a threat to the city itself and continued to fund it, her presence would most likely be tolerated, though her "taxes" would probably increase substantially.

Ceithlenn is a Fomórach, the seventh and last wife of Balor of the Baleful Eye, and the mother if Ethniu. She was powerful enough to overthrow Balor and become High Queen herself, but he decided to take her as a bride instead. She nearly escaped four times, but ultimately Balor completed the consummation, and Ethniu was the result. It was rumored, however, that Ceithlenn did not use all her power because she wanted to be Balor's mate. After Balor was killed, she tried to replace him, but the other Fomóraigh chose to follow Crom Cruach instead. However, when he was defeated by Medb hErenn, he and nearly all other Fomóraigh hid themselves away and fell into the Dreaming Death state. Ceithlenn was one of the few that remained active and she continued to scheme to restore the Fomórach rule of the world. She and Medb have fought one another many times, but they are equal in skill and strength, so all their encounters end in stalemates. She could be Medb's nemesis; she is certainly her most powerful adversary. Though she is skilled in multiple weapons, she prefers to fight with a scythe. Her beautiful but terrible form is that of a human female with dead-white skin, white hair, and white eyes without pupils, dressed in revealing black leather and silver armor.

A powerful Fomórach in his own right, he served Balor as chamberlain. It was he who prophesized that a son of Ethniu would kill Balor; he also prophesized Medb's birth and that she would break Fomórach power. He tried to kill her before she was born, but was prevented when the cat Selgach Mór informed him that Bast had placed her under her protection until she came of age. Fearful of the wrath of the Elder Beings, he saved Medb from Ceithlenn when she wanted to destroy her. Later, however, after Medb became a women, he acquired her as a sex slave and conceived a son with her. But he also taught her sorcery in exchange for her teaching him druidical magic. She eventually found a way to escape, abandoning the child, and afterwards she and Elatha became implacable enemies. They each tried to destroy the other; in the end, it was Medb who succeeded.

After he died, Elatha found his way into the Dreamlands. Discovering that it could serve as a refuge, he contacted other Fomóraigh engaged in the Dreaming Death and led them to him. He became the leader of all Fomóraigh in the Dreamlands and tried to take them over, but he was stopped by King Kuranes and the city-state of Celephaïs. Claiming the nightmare city of Hazuth-Kleg for his own, he settled into a kind of cold war with Kuranes as he schemes to break the power of Ooth-Nargai and take over the Dreamlands. Medb's arrival has thrown a monkeywrench into his plans, but he has not given up.

Elatha is something of an anomaly among the Fomóraigh.

Dr. Mabuse is, plain and simple, a mad scientist. The granddaughter of the notorious Pratorias Mabuse, she inherited his genius, but also his sociopathy. She has no qualms about using people in her experiments, and though by no means a sadist, she has no concern for the pain, humiliation, or degradation she inflicts on her test subjects. For all intents purposes, scientism is her religion and the scientific method her only morality.

She had started out as an associate of Medb, helping her do research at Cruachan, her research and development factory. However, she killed Medb's protégé in a lab accident because she did not take proper safety precautions, and she fled to avoid arrest. Medb has vowed to hunt her down and kill her, yet strangely enough, Mabuse holds no animosity towards her and would gladly bury the hatchet, if she wasn't convinced Medb would bury it in her skull. As such, she's never opposed Medb or tried to interfere with her affairs, but Medb is relentless in her vendetta. As such, Mabuse has had to seek protection from less than savory characters willing to fund her experiments, including US government black-ops military groups.

Mabuse has made numerous breakthroughs that seem more like science fiction, or science fantasy, than fact. Her two greatest achievements are the artificial brain, based on her proteinaceous computer design, and the decoherence decompiler, which is based on Schrödinger wave function theory. These in turn led to artificial intelligence, autonomous robots, transmogrifiers, miniaturizers, mind recorders, time machines, and teleporters. A related but unconnected breakthrough involved a device that could breach the dimensional barrier between parallel universes. She has also made breakthroughs in the biological and medical science, including cloning, wonder drugs, and nanotechnology. She has also invented many of the standard mad scientist tropes, such as death rays, bionics, powered armor, advanced hand weaponry, immersive virtual reality, rail guns, and miraculous materials. About the only things she hasn't done is create Frankenstein-type monsters, and Medb believes that is only a matter of time.

Marseilles Sheraton is the celebutante heiress to the Sheraton hotel and resort empire. She is the quintessential partying playgirl, with her nights filled with clubbing, drinking, drugs, and sex, and her days with celebrity appearances, product endorsements, song recording, and acting engagements.

She is also a criminal mastermind, who engages in all manner of profitable enterprises, but specializes in Internet rape / torture / snuff videos and the sex trade. Medb has encountered her in both the modern world and the Dreamlands, and while she has usually foiled Sheraton's schemes in the end, she has never been able to catch her, or put her out of business. Unlike other enemies, however, Medb has little respect for her because of her cold callousness to the suffering of others. Though Sheraton is generally considered to be insane, she is in fact simply selfish and evil.

Uallach, which means "The Arrogant One", was born an Irish princess around 3000 B.C.E. She was taught battle skills, song and poetry, the law and druidry, and taught herself sorcery. One day she learned of an elixir that promised eternal life. One component was the blood of a sleeping Vampire, but when she drank it, she realized too late that the eternal life it granted as that of a Vampire.

Because of her age and power, she has since become the acknowledged queen of the Vampires. As a result, she took the title Ruadhríon, which means "The Red Queen". She has run afoul of Medb numerous times, beginning with the time she tried to permanently collapse the barriers between the Mortal World and the Otherworld to allow ghosts, Faeries, and monsters to roam freely at any time of the year or day. However, since they both adhere to the ancient Irish warrior code, they respect and admire each other. They have since made an informal pact to leave each other alone, provided Medb does not interfere with Vampire interests and Uallach doesn't try to take over the world.

Her appearance can be misleading, since she is short and her years of Vampirism have rendered her body dumpy and saggy. However, her fighting skills are enhanced by her Vampire powers, and her sorcerous prowess is equal to the of Medb's. She is a dangerous and formidable opponent to oppose, and few have lived to regret crossing her.