Meji Hinadori

From The Heretic Knowledge Vault

Revision as of 13:47, 29 September 2006

Meji is a half elf girl of seventeen from Tsuirakushiti, where she lives with her mother, her grandfather, and her winged cat familiar called Ellis. Her father, whom she has never met, was a Rinkai Erufu by the name of Rarune.

She is currently on a neverending quest (that is to say, to be completed within 3 months) to become an all-powerful demigod and get an A+ on her senior school project. Along her way, she has collected a human assassin, an elven ranger, and a fellow half elf.

Nicknamed 'Scary Little Devil Girl' by Jon - mostly due to her predilection towards magical explosions, primarily directed at her immortal familiar Ellis.

Magic

Meji seems to be a competent spellcaster in the fields of blowing things up, and other destructive phenomena. Most of the time, she uses her magic on Ellis as a form of torture discipline although she also uses it for defensive purposes. Through discussion and references throughout the comic, Meji doesn't seem to be able to use mind controlling magic well, one of the things Sarine uses in many instances. In order of appearance, her spells are:

• Deus ex Machina: the first spell we see Meji try to cast in the comic, to try to fend off either working on her class project or facing the consequences for not working on it. It's apparently a real "probability spell" (or so Ellis says), but it doesn't work (or does it?...), and just singes Meji around the edges.
• Scan: to check state of health on Ellis or maybe others. Ellis wants one after Meji blasts him (for the first time of many) in the school library, but she gets distracted by a book and doesn't seem to cast it.
• Force Bolt: used to "discipline" Ellis, and probably many times later offstage. She uses this, or something like it, to blast Malcolm and James through the roof of a building when they interrupt their mugging of Chris to try the same on her.
• Lightning Bolt: a basic for any would-be mage. She uses a much-attenuated version of it to intimidate a librarian at school, then uses it on the tree in front of Jon when he is practicing his shooting. (Oddly, she calls it a fireball in this sequence, even though the effect is clearly lightning-like.) She's constantly zapping Ellis with a lightning bolt for one transgression or another, to the point that her traveling companions rationalize it away when the ensuing thunderclap happens.
• Pocket Dimension: not clear whether it's a spell or a magical device, but anyway, it allows her to carry all manner of stuff comfortably. First used in the library.
• Obfuscation: to conceal Ellis when they're in Saus and want to be inconspicuous, although she doesn't mention it until much later.
• Earth Smash: with which she squashes the Pottle boy as the mugging of Chris unfolds. This one really gets the attention of the townsfolk in Saus. A much-scaled-down version of the same spell is another of her devices for tormenting Ellis.
• Acid Neuter Arrow: for use on Ellis. Since he's basically indestructible, it's not clear exactly what this one does, if anything.
• Invisibility: used to escape annoying adventurer-wannabe Chris, and later, much less successfully, to try to sneak into the Heretic Knowledge Vault in Emerylon.
• Fireball: another old stand-by. She uses it to incinerate the posse that's tracking Jon (while saving another to zap Ellis after the usual wisecrack), to try to blast Sarine (who dodges the effect) in the room at Mandi's tavern, and much later, on the portal platform to try (unsuccessfully) to blow it up to prevent Anilis and the Paedagogusi from following the party.
• Iron Skin: used to convert Ellis into a bludgeoning melee weapon. Unfortunately, on the one occasion when she actually uses him as a bludgeoning melee weapon, she neglects to cast the spell first. The melee turns out OK (Meji seems to be a competent hand-to-hand fighter), but as regards Ellis, to quote Meji: "Sorry, my bad."
• Hygiene: she doesn't actually use this one on stage, but was starting toward it at the river, when it dawned on her that immersing her "nubile, pert young body" (sic) in the river might be preferable, for its effect on Ian. Things don't work out exactly as planned, however.
• Dancing Lights/Fancy Lighting: used to spotlight her "nubile, pert young body" in the river. Ian notices, all right, for all the good it does her. She also uses them to entertain Ellis on the way to Thranel, light the party's way through the forest, and illuminate the trap sensors en route to the Giant Magic Potato so that Jon can pick them off.
• Dispel Magic: used to try to rid Jon of the charm that Meji thinks Sarine has placed on him. However, there's no charm, and the spell simply irritates Jon, both emotionally and (apparently) physically.
• Pyrotechnics: used to create a distraction in the bandit camp, so that Jon can do some shooting. (Of course, Meji could just as easily have blown them all away with a Fireball, but shooting people seems cathartic for Jon.)

Although we haven't seen them cast yet, she also seems to know:

• Translation (Not yet seen in comic, but Poe said so): Allows Meji to understand spoken language that isn't her native one. Or at least the words, at any rate.
• Polymorph Self: an alternative to bust-enhancing surgery. When she tried it in the past, it didn't last, to her disappointment (and Ellis' amusement).
• Soft Fall: maybe she knows this one, maybe not, but she'd rather hold hands with the supernaturally-enhanced Ian than use it.

Even Meji, however, isn't reckless enough to attempt time magic -- yet.