The Queen Of Ssyrathis

The Medusa Queen, or Empress, who rules Ssyrathis from Ophiussa.

Name

Sthenissa IV (sthen-ISS-ah). Sthenissa is a throne name, not a family one: she's the fourth ruler to take it, not anyone's fourth daughter.

Presentation

She's a greater Medusa, with the lower body of a snake, and a bit larger than a typical one. Her court is conducted behind veils, and to see her clearly is to risk death. Her features favor Hobgoblin bloodlines more than the classical Greek image of a medusa. That tracks: Hobgoblins and Medusae are close kin, both goblin stock, and the aristocracy and the caste beneath it are more related than either side likes to advertise. See Ssyrathis document.

She bears an Aberrant Sigil, the thirteenth mark: the curse everyone else whispers about, worn on a throne. See Sigil Houses document.

Her Marshal, who commands her armies, is a Hobgoblin and bears the Yoke Sigil.

Gargoyles. Some of those she turns to stone don't stay statues. She makes Gargoyles of them: a living person, petrified, then raised again with a lesser devil as the animating force.

The Throne

Her rise started at Aurelia. She was part of the force Ssyrathis sent from Felicita against Aurelia, about 134 years ago, the push that failed when a god came down to stop it (see The Caldrian Empire document). She came back from it, and she gained power steadily for the 80 years of war that followed. When the war ended, she decided it was time to take the next step.

She took it the traditional way: in a magical duel against the ruler before her, to the death. The duel is a long-held tradition in Ssyrathis. The throne isn't inherited; it's won, and the loser doesn't survive the losing.

She has ruled since the end of the Long War, about 54 years. She's long-lived, as Medusae are, but not ancient: around 186 years old.

Open: her Marshal as a character; the duel's forms and rules beyond "to the death."