Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Hit Points: 35
Armor Class: 10
# of Attacks: 1
Damage/Attack: 1-4
Move: 12”
Hit Bonus: none
Psionic Ability: 160 points
Attack Modes: B, C, D
Defense Modes: F, G, H, I
Strength: 11
Intelligence: 18
Wisdom: 16
Dexterity: 14
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 17

Medea was born the daughter of the
King of Colchis, a small barbarian country
near The Black Sea. By the time she
was eighteen, she had a vast knowledge
of herbs and the lower reaches of the
magical arts: She trained a dragon to
guard her father’s great treasure, a fleece
of gold that hung in a sacred grove.
When a handsome&ranger named Jason
arrived in a quest for this fleece, Medea
fell in love with him. Using her magical
arts, she helped Jason overcome all the
trials her father set in his path. At the
last, she charmed the dragon and allowed
Jason to steal the fleece easily. Out of
gratitude, Jason offered to marry her
and take her back to Greece. When she
accepted, all her troubles began.
Though at first her marriage was happy
— she bore Jason two sons — Medea
was feared and shunned by the other
Greek women. Out of loneliness, she
pursued her magical studies even deeper,
though this made the rumors about
her worse. The final blow came when
Jason coldly divorced her, pleading political
reasons, to marry the pretty daughter
of a neighboring king. In revenge,
Medea sent the bride a beautiful but poisoned
tunic, which stuck to her skin and
burned her to death. Half-mad with grief
and rage, Medea then slew her two sons.
When guards rushed in to arrest her, she
stared them down, then summoned a flying
chariot, pulled by two dragons, and
made her escape. She was assumed to
have returned to Colchis, but since she
had betrayed her father, this is obviously
mistaken. Utterly embittered about the
human world (her alignment had previously
been chaotic good), Medea took
refuge in a barren, arid country, there to
study dragonlore and magic. No one is
entirely sure where she went, so a party
of adventurers may well come upon her
caves, set high up on the flank of a rocky
and inhospitable peak.

Medea is a passionate woman who is
sometimes overpowered by the strength
of her emotions so that she performs
extreme actions which she later regrets.

When Medea decides on a course of
action she will let nothing deter her,
especially not a sense of conscience.
She makes a good friend (as long as a
friend remains constant and true) but a
terrible, vengeful enemy.

Even in old age, Medea is still a striking
woman, tall and straight of posture,
with pale gray hair done up in braids
above her strong, handsome face. She
wears a long tunic, much-mended and
stained, that shows traces of rich gold
and purple embroidery. At her waist is a
golden belt, the clasp in the form of a
dragon’s head, and a long, curved-bladed
knife in a bronze sheath. Her caves are
clean, but poorly furnished; she lives
alone except for her dragons. Her high
charisma comes from the negative fascination
she can exert. Even those who
are afraid of her find their attention
riveted on her. Her betrayal by Jason has
left her bitter about fighting men. If any
such approach her, she rolls a reaction
with a -20 modifier on the Encounter
Reaction Table (page 63 DMG). Magic-Users, especially women,
will receive a polite though distant
greeting from her (roll reaction normally).
Although she seems physically weak,
she is a dangerous person to threaten
with bodily harm. Not only will her faithful
dragons always rush to her defense,
but she has a number of powerful spells,

These spells may be chosen by the DM
to fit his or her campaign, though there
are three spells which appear in all the
legends about her (Fear, Hold Person,
and Confusion). To save time, DM’s may
wish to use the suggested spell list given
at the end of the description,
As a Sage, Medea’s major areas are
poisons and dragonlore, her minor ones
herbs and potions. On poisons, her
chance to know is exceptionally high
(+10 on percentile roll). Though ordinary
money means nothing to her, there
is a 75% probability that she will answer
a question if the reward is a golden,
bejeweled bauble that would make a
good present for one of her many dragon
friends. In her cave will be a large number
of herbs and poisons, and a good selection
of potions. Though most of these
can be DM’s choice, there should always
be one potion of dragon control and one
vial of horrible deadly poison — in similar,
unmarked vials, of course. If the DM
wishes to add an Orb of Dragonkind to
her/his campaign, Medea’s cave is the
logical place to put it, It is also possible
(45%) that she will be raising a dragon
hatchling in the cave.

Her chariot dragons serve her willingly
and will come to her telepathic call,
They are young brass dragons, who pull
her chariot (move 24”) for a fixed term in
return for learning their first spell. They
have the usual hit die, etc. for their species
and are able to talk but not use
spells yet.

Medea has a psionic ability of 160
points. The DM may assign any psionic
abilities he or she wishes, or simply give
Medea the suggested psionic abilities of
Animal Telepathy (18th level), Detection
of Magic (16th level), Clairvoyance (14th
level), and Mind Bar (12th level).

Suggested spells usable
1st level: Charm Person, Detect Magic,
Feather Fall, Friends, Read Magic.
2nd level; Detect Invisible, ESP, Mirror
Image, Scare, Web.
3rd level: Dispel Magic, Haste, Infravision,
Phantasmal Force, Suggestion,
4th level: Charm Monster, Confusion,
Fear, Fumble, Polymorph Other.
5th level: Animal Growth, Feeblemind,
Hold Monster, Monster Summoning III,
Wall of Force.
6th level: Anti-magic Shell, Legend
Lore, Stone to Flesh.
7th Ievel: Mass Invisibility, Monster
Summoning V*, Power Word Stun.
8th level: Mass Charm, Maze,
9th leveI: Monster Summoning VII*.
*More dragons will appear.
Bibliography: Medea is a common figure in
Graeco-Roman literature. The best sources
are Euripides’ tragedy, Medea, Apollonius of
Rhodes’ epic poem, The Argonautica, and
Ovid’s Heroides, Epistle XII.

Written by Katharine Brahtin Kerr
 
 

Giants in the Earth

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Dragon 47