The Fulminatrix

First Impression

Appearance: The Black Rider, a shadow draped over a beast that was once a horse. It comes as a herald of ill-omen, ruination, and doom. It's flesh is pale as ice, withered to the bone, and beneath the cowl there is no face, just the hard glint of two luminous eyes, fierce and cold as a winter nightmare.

Basic Lore: The Fulminatrix is one of the Black Riders, and not just a member of the Eternal Night, but one of its leaders. As such, the Fulminatrix is incredibly hard to fight, and thus far, impossible to kill. It has powered weapons, deadly magic, and is seemingly nigh invulnerable. Black Riders are known for different approaches, magical affinities, and such, and the Fulminatrix is no different, being strongly associated with thunderstorms, lightning and lightning magics, and undead.

Basic Known History: The activity of the Black Riders and the Eternal Night are generally tied to the whims of the Dread Gods. The Black Riders have been absent from the world at large for not quite two centuries, following the heroic defeat of Nogrun. Also known as the Black Mountain Fortress, Nogrun rose to power on the back of military conquest, slavery, and a strong economy based around heavy mining. A triple alliance of men, elves, and dwarves broke Nogrun, but cost dearly. The Black Riders saw four of their number defeated, and two of those completely destroyed.

Vatoanah, the Requiem of Menace, was completely and irreversibly annihilated when Archbishop Crocell VII was able to land a legendary Cosmic Karma spell on the Rider. The Rider was blown apart in a cloud of dust that only all seven Dread Gods working together could reverse.

Zonam'gas Aturomug, the Capricious Chaos, slain by Heloane al'Hegade. This was notable for three reasons. First, Heloane was not a soldier of any sort, and was only at the battle of Nogrun as her husband was a soldier in the Order of the Northern Stars. Goran Hegade held the banner aloft as the fight turned against the Northern Stars, and having given up his lance and sword to carry the banner, was quickly overcome and slain. Heloane took up his shield and the sword her had been carrying and was filled with what many consider to be divine fury. The truth was that Heloane was a practical woman, and knew that Goran was entrusted with the Sword of the Equinox. The power of the blade slew that which was evil, and those wounded in the fight found their wounds lessened. In the final fight between the Capricious Chaos as al'Hegade, the camp follower wife beheaded the Black Rider with such force and holy power that the dark being was devoured by light. The second point of interest was that Heloane was six months pregnant at the time of the battle. The third point of interest was that her unborn son, in fifty years, would become Holy Pontiff Hadreham the First, and would oversee what many consider to be the Silver Age of the Holy Temple.

Double Take

Common Appearance:

Powers and Abilities:

Equipment and Allies:

The Sword of Darkness - a bastard sword forged of Abyssal steel and set with gold crossguards, and a black diamond set in the pommel. The weapon is a devastating +5 blade and is considered a holy weapon when used against undead, demonic, and chaotic foes. The Fulminatrix used the weapon to keep its own minions and henchmen in line as well as in feuds with other Dreadlords. 

The Hammer of Shadows- A former human, the Hammer was once a blacksmith who moonlighted as a gravedigger and corpse handler. The tale of how he fell and became a friend of the dark is a story for another time and place, unfortunately. The Hammer serves the Fulminatrix as its castellan and master of arms, not just keeping its weapons and armor in working condition, but making new weapons, and new armor, and keeping the Fulmintrix's minions well equipped for death, war, and evil.

Intermediate Lore:

Researched History:

Getting to Know Her

Original Appearance:

Allies and Minions:

Ellemma Ambiger, Marquess of Aegermonth (30 Friends of Evil #2, That Fucking Woman)

Marquess Aegermonth is a sorceress of middling skill, part-time assassin, and is alleged to be a secret courtesan. Commoners who utter 'Marquess Eagermouth' tend to find themselves detained, tortured, or the benefactor of the worst sort, being granted lands along the ogre wastes, or their children conscripted and taken from them. Ambiger smiles and plays the part of the scheming noblewoman, ambitious and moderately corrupt, but still successful. As a Friend of Evil, she is a font of information, material resources, gold, and commands three legions of soldiers of highly questionable alignment as well as providing breeding stock for fell horses, and her personal cadre of Fell Knights.

Saralah Konnor, Captain of the Winged Amazons Mercenary Company

Captain Konnor is the epitome of an amazon warrior, tall, statuesque, with long black hair, long legs, an angel's face, and figure out of wet dreams. She is proficient with lance, bow, and sword, and leads six scores of fellow amazonian warriors. They are notable for their reliance on mounted warfare, including heavy emphasis on mounted archery, as well as their gleaming silver armor, winged helms, and such. The Winged Amazon's officer corps is a blood sorority sworn to darkness, and about a third of all the soldiers are in some level initiates. They are not a force of evil in the field, but more than one remote abbey, traveling holy man, or other isolated locale has been discovered to be a freehold of evil and put to the blade. The band makes a point of capturing accused rapists, and keeping them as thralls until there are enough to enact a Feast of St. Richards. The accused are relieved of their entire manhood and are then left to watch, bound, and gagged, as the sorority clean, cook, and consume their genitals. The men are marked on the face and hands, have their tongues and eyes removed, and then they are released as shattered and broken creatures.

Aruna, Guildmistress of the Guild of Beggars, Canhamwaithe

Aruna is a dead thing that retains the shape of a humanoid woman, wrapped in dirty rags and filth. It is the leader of the guild of beggars, thieves, assassins, drunks, and rat snatchers for the metropolis of Canhamwaithe. It commanded the limited abilities of hundreds of the lowest of the low in the major city, but is more valuable as a font of information. Also, as an undead that spends time among the sick, diseased, and depraved, Aruna is an incubator of plague. Where other Black Riders have sought to lay a fortress of light low with armies and fell sorcery, the Fulminatrix has had greater success with a wagon of diseased rats and fresh beggers to poison the underside of such a bastion of good.

The Invisible Assassin, Penelope Hachinal

Hachinal is a woman who was robbed of everything by an unexpected source, the Holy Temple. The Hachinal family was long devoted to the service of the Divine, and in the course of that service, her father and her brothers were lost to accident and intrigue. Her mother surrendered herself and her surviving daughter into the cloister of the Temple after the schism ended. The blood was not shed by evil hands but by hands devoted to the same divinity over a matter of dogma and politics. The surviving Hachinal women fared poorly, the mother eventually succumbing to a nameless ailment. Penelope found herself the subject of scrutiny among the lay clergy, most often as a subject of examination so that said lay brothers could learn to identify witches, or determine if a woman were still a maiden or not. A certain cleric would mend her virginity after these 'examinations' and give her penances for the wickedness she inspired in good and moral men. When the Fulminatrix took the cloister to liberate its Vault of Inequity, it rescued Penelope and made brutal work of murdering the cult that had consumed the Cloister. since then, Penelope was raised at the side of the Fulminatrix, learned the silent art of stealth, poison, assassination, and how to destroy things from the inside out. Some whispers do more damage than a trebuchet.

Aagrata, the Mirror of Shadows

Aagrata is a rare and terrible thing, a doppelganger by species, and a blue mage by trade. Her innate abilities allow her to emulate the outward appearance and mannerisms of a person she spends enough time around, has physical contact with, or kills/consumes some of their essences. Her mastery of Blue Magic allows her to copy some of the innate and magical abilities of someone that she is mirroring. Rather than copying any of the nobles, royals, or other people of power and importance she has had congress with, her favorite suit to wear is the mortal guise of the Fulminatrix, as well as copying its powerful necromancy, abyssal powers, and such. For more fun, Aagrata carries a legendary weapon, Satasha-Oh, the Blade of the Doppelganger. If Aagrata expends power through the blade and cleaves something with it, it will become multiple copies of itself. The duplicate is loyal to Aagrata and counts as a doppelganger afterwards, should it survive. Aagrata is suspected to be the Fulminatrix's lover.

Conversion to Evil:

Getting to Know All About Her

Human Life:

Skeletons in the Closet