Modanthe
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Modanthe was a giant dridder and an important actor of the Age of Elves. She had an athletic build, short brown hair and sharp green eyes. She is usually represented in combat outfit, wielding her legendary war spear. A competitive and aggressive individual, she was famous for being ill-tempered, hotheaded and foul-mouthed but also fiercely loyal to her friends. She became the personal bodyguard of Empress Eteni and one of her most trusted confidents.
Background
The first mentions of Modanthe in historic records are found when she was part of a small band of wandering dridders who used to conduct raids and pillage. One day in 5534 BU, they decided to attack the Elven city of Restalen in order to feast on its inhabitants, a brash and very foolish idea. However it's unclear why the security was so lax this day, but using the treetop, the dridders managed to reach the lush gardens of the city and to drop among the elven nobility gathered here. They started to gorge themselves on the terrified elves, with little opposition. Modanthe herself caught and swallowed Empress Eteni, before the guards finally came in, killing several of the attackers, repelling the others, and capturing Modanthe after forcing her to cough out the Empress.
The dridder was locked up, likely to be soon executed. To her surprise however, she was given a short visit by Eteni herself, coming to talk. At first, Modanthe took it for some sort of teasing before death and locked herself in a defiant silence. This didn't discourage Eteni who came back a few days later and eventually the dridder decided to respond. They confronted their visions, those of two very different individuals; Modanthe's bleak, sarcastic and somewhat nihilistic outlook on the world, versus Eteni's bright and hopeful view on things, and steely resolve. Modanthe discovered she rather appreciated these debates with this sharp elf, rarely having taken time to take a pause to think things through before in her life. She was also impressed by Eteni's courage, coming to her un-escorted. A sort of respect developed between the two, eventually turning into a strange friendship as Eteni continued her visits over the course of the dridder's captivity. After several years, Eteni proclaimed Modanthe to be free to go, after having her swear to never attack an elven city again. Modanthe, however, decided to stay at her side, and took an oath of loyalty, swearing to defend her friend and Empress. Thus, Modanthe became Eteni's personal bodyguard, carrying her across the Empire and protecting her. Over the years, the bond between the two strengthened to become very solid and their confidence in each other absolute. Life for Modanthe was not easy though as many elves remained deeply suspicious of her and some part of the nobility never accepted her at all. The giant dridder made efforts to adapt herself to the sophisticated and polished elven protocol, although her crude, hotheaded and brutally honest nature was quick to come back.
War with the Dridders
The reign of Eteni was marked by a war with the dridder kingdom. It was then ruled by Queen Taxshillia. Under her cruel iron rule, the place where Modanthe was born had become a hellhole, forcing many dridders to flee further to the north where they formed raiding bands, attacking and eating elves and posing a growing threat. Modanthe herself was distressed by how hard life had become here under Taxshillia's reign, seeing in those rampaging bands part of her own former life prior to meeting Eteni. Eteni offered help from her army to overthrow the Queen while Modanthe worked to have dridders secede from the Kingdom and join the Empire. After a bloody struggle and a violent civil war, Modanthe finally slew Taxshillia in a duel leading to the quick collapse of the loyalist forces, while in Restalen the famous epic piece "The saga of Modanthe the brave" was written to sing her courage and valor. Modanthe settled as an ambassador during the following years of peace. A guerrilla war started, marked by increasingly violent and deadly skirmishes, waged by the vengeful royalists. Modanthe organized the defense, not hesitating to take part in battle herself. She was finally slain in 4749 BU, killed by a javelin in an ambush. Eteni deeply mourned the death of her friend and proceeded to push forward with a stern determination, crushing the revolt completely.
Modanthe is still, to this day, a controversial figure among some dridders. Depending who you ask, some will call her "Modanthe the fearless", while others will call her "Modanthe the traitor". Most will agree however that she was one of the most formidable warriors of her kind.
