Queen Karnuta Müd (Deceased)

Lawn Ornament

Queen Karnuta Müd was the ruler of the fortified town of Fuall and the object of worship for the Cult of The Mardu-Tarr. She was a Mardu-Tarr, which is a powerful, immortal monstrosity. Mardu-Tarr are created by a curse inflicted by the gods to 'punish' those who have been the victims of rape by a god. In retribution for tempting the god to sin with their beauty they are condemned to live forever as hideous creatures that no one can look upon without being turned to stone. Karnuta Müd was in fact the biological daughter of one such woman, she was therefore, presumably, born as a Mardu-Tarr. They have hair that is composed of live serpents and serpentine features. Only the strongest of constitution are able to resist the power of their gaze and any who fail in this test are petrified.

She arrived in Fuall roughly fifteen years ago and swiftly established herself as ruler and protector of the town. She had a pathological hatred of men and has effectively decimated the male population of the town. Men were permitted to visit the town on a restricted basis but the only men allowed to live within the town were those that she had raised as her 'sons' or those who had demonstrated personal loyalty to her. She saw all men as predators who cannot help but be drawn to harm women. Her need for retribution for her mother's trauma had effectively led her to commit mass murder on people who's only connection to the original crime was to happen to share a gender with its perpetrator, a grim harvest which includes potentially hundreds of children. Despite this she remained convinced of her own moral superiority and the righteousness of her actions. She saw herself as the saviour of this town and as the protector of the women who dwell there.

She was a devious and cunning individual well used to playing mind games and employing any resource that she could to gain an advantage. She was also highly ambitious and keen to advance the cause of her own power. Secure in her position she considered herself superior to her foes and could be deeply condescending when speaking with them. She was willing to offer deals and alliances as she did not feel threatened and she would rather have used a potential foe to further her own ends than to engage them in combat. Her ambition was to free the land from the threat of the creatures of legend, though this was presumably so that she could expand her own influence. In her pursuit of this goal she sought to possess a powerful magical artefact (a Heartstone) that was formerly in the possession of the Hill Giant but is currently held by Lilly. She possessed a great deal of knowledge about the land and its history gained over her long years of life, including knowledge which was meant to be hidden. A song recalled by Gideon the Bard, entitled 'The Ballad of the Battles', makes mention of Karnuta Müd as a figure from history. The song details the days of the Cataclysm and the reign of destruction wrought by the summoned creatures. The song claims that she fought against the monsters but that she had to retreat from the battle before its end.

She was attended upon by a small group of men that she referred to as her sons. They are the ones fortunate enough to survive exposure to her power during her cull of male children whom she had raised as her own. They were either employed as scholars or as her personal guard.

Ultimately her arrogance and hubris proved to be her undoing. She left the safety of her fortified stronghold in an ill-advised final attempt to appeal to the party from Darétik. At the end of their conversation the Sorcerer Oswlen claimed to have a gift for her in his hand and asked if she wanted it. She returned to see what the offered gift was at which point Oswlen used the spell Prestidigitation to summon a small mirror in his hand and upon seeing her own reflection she succumbed to her powers of petrification and turned to stone. The party, intending to make her the centrepiece of an ornamental garden in Darétik, took the petrified creature with them but the statue was unfortunately broken when hit by a rock thrown by a Hill Giant during combat. The broken pieces were carried back to Darétik by the party with the intention of mending the statue and continuing with the planned garden.