Pirate Prince
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To finally sub Miri's "pet" and protector.
- Image Credit: Fantasia (1940)
- Role: Schmendrick is a spirit who was sent to kill someone, but after being trapped inside a shield talisman, he was "convinced" to serve a new master: eight year old Miri Nimdok.
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: The name "Schmendrick" comes from a character in Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn; it is derived from Mandrake the Magician and a Yiddish word which Beagle defined as "somebody out of his depth, the boy sent to do a man's job, someone who has expanded to the limits of his incapacity."
- Age: Recently created
- Force Sensitivity: Master
- Species: Shadow (or more specifically, a Shade)
- Appearance: Schmendrick in his natural form is described as resembling a shadow, taking on "a human-esque shape" with arms and legs, round glowing eyes, and a "cruel smirking mouth". When moving he looks like "a noxious black mist... full of malicious intent".
- Voice: John Rhys-Davies as Man Ray in Spongebob Squarepants
- Name: Schmendrick; "the Demon"
- Loyalties: Miri Nimdok
- Wealth: Negligible
- Notable Possessions: Is entrapped within the Dragon Shield Talisman.
- Skills: Is limited to just two main Force abilities: deflect and drain.
- Personality: Unable to comprehend mortal boundaries, morals, and taboos, Schmendrick is not particularly different from the others of his kind... except in one way. He doesn't try to pretend he's anything other than a monster conjured from the mind of a villain in denial—at least, in the most esoteric meaning of the word. He is "one who excites horror by wickedness, cruelty, etc,"—a devil, a shadow, a demon sprung from the pages of a medieval manuscript. A deliciously vile, marvelously and unabashedly evil being... or at least, he was in his time. Once Schmendrick was summoned, chained, and bound to protect a child, he ceased to have any power beyond what was necessary to safeguard his charge. His attempts at corrupting the child have been met with cutesy giggling from her and sidelong glares from her father. The fact that he wound up in this situation because he failed in his mission only rubs salt upon his wounded pride. He wasn't meant for this. Someday he will escape... just probably not anytime soon.
COMBAT INFORMATION
- Weapon of Choice: The Force
- Combat Function: While not as versatile as a proper Force User and trapped inside a talisman besides, Schmendrick is not to be underestimated. He lashes out swiftly and without mercy, burning and slashing at enemies with powerful energy attacks. He is also obligated to drain opponents of their Force energies, killing them in the process and revitalizing himself/the talisman.
- Devil In the Dark: Schmendrick is a Shade, a type of Shadow which is summoned for a specific purpose. As a being of pure energy, he is not bound by typical mortal needs and weaknesses.
- I Want More Life: Schmendrick must constantly consume the Force energies of other beings, or else the talisman he is trapped inside will begin to consume him. Depending on how much he consumes, he may be able to go for longer between feedings or will become desperate. That said, it will take quite a long time for the talisman to consume him fully, if it ever comes down to that—probably years or even decades. And of course, he cannot take energy from the one wearing the talisman or someone the wearer has ordered him not to harm.
- Break My Rusty Cage: Schmendrick deeply resents those responsible for enslaving him. If he is ever freed from his prison, he will seek revenge.
- The Force: As a Shade, he is more vulnerable to various forms of magic, Force abilities, and anti-Force weaponry.
“'You fool! You cannot hold me in a Sith artifact! I am in my element! I will break free!—'
- Schmendrick just before his capture, "Unheard and Unspoken"
- Schmendrick just before his capture, "Unheard and Unspoken"
Back in July of 2020, I wrote a solo thread called "Unheard and Unspoken". It concluded a story arc surrounding a datachip containing stolen files from the personal computer of the late Adrian Vandiir. The primary antagonist of the thread was an unnamed smoke demon; Adrian's writer told me that the demon would be sent along to ensure that the data was destroyed, even if it had to kill in order to accomplish its master's orders. I came up with the idea of having the demon hitch a ride and remain hidden by possessing the body of Faya, one of Adrian's Sithspawn employees. The demon confronted Tammuz Hoole and attacked him. Tammuz managed to captured the demon inside a shield talisman, which is a kind of Sith amulet which can protect a person from Force-based attacks. The talisman was then given as a gift to Miri Nimdok, so that it would protect her. The demon inside, which I decided to name Schmendrick after reading The Last Unicorn, had to fight to protect her or the talisman would devour him for energy.
Fast forward to January of 2021, Adrian's writer subs a species called the Shadows. They are sentient spirits created by Adrian before his death which normally inhabit the Netherworld, but they can possess living people in order to interact in the real world. They are described as looking like humanoid shadows with glowing eyes, though they can change form and take on different shapes as well. While this description and thing with possessing people is very similar to the demon character I established in my thread, to my knowledge Adrian's writer never actually read that thread. But it does create a strong case for me to retcon Schmendrick into being a Shadow rather than just a smoke demon.
Anyway, Schmendrick is deliberately over the top and overtly villainous, yet he winds up falling into the hero-protector role through his actions rather than his personality. He is a being forced to act against his nature to accomplish good deeds.
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