Difference between revisions of "Nadini Locke"

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'''Hero Points/Legend''': 7/10
 
'''Hero Points/Legend''': 7/10
  
'''Legend "Ticks"''': ////
+
'''Legend "Ticks"''': <s>////</s>
  
 
==Notable Possessions==
 
==Notable Possessions==

Revision as of 07:11, 26 November 2014

A character in Memphis Gods, a Scion of Indra.

[1]

Background

Nadini's mother Pameela was the daughter of a high-caste family in North India. Her lot in life would have been to be married off to a man whose face she wouldn't know until her wedding night... until one day when she expected her period to come, but it didn't. A home test kit and a discreet visit to an out-of-town doctor confirmed her darkest fears; somehow, she had gotten pregnant... without ever coming in contact with a man (she had been home-schooled by exclusively female tutors). Her housekeeper Soma, one of the few real friends Pameela had in her otherwise cold and hostile home, realised that there was a very high chance she might be disappeared to protect the family's honor once the news got out; and given that her yearly checkup was coming soon, that might be soon.

In desperation, Soma arranged to have Pameela smuggled out of the country and into the US, where she would marry a man for the right to live and work in the country. However, it didn't go quite according to plan; true love bloomed in what was supposed to be a marriage of convenience, and Pameela's husband Winston was only too happy to raise the baby Nadini with Pameela, even if he wasn't hers.

Nadini grew up in a peaceful suburban community where the neighbors were pleasant and didn't ask too many questions about hers and her mothers' names and why the latter was married to a man of a different race. She'd never been one for books, and was quite the tomboy, but she was gifted in physical exploits and was one of the few people in school who got along with everyone regardless of whichever clique they belonged to. Then, one night, her father talked to her. Not her real father, of course; Winston talked with her every night.

Rather, the one who came to Nadini's bed at night was her father by blood; Sakra Devanam Indra, the god of the sky and the ruler of the Indian pantheon himself. Which meant that she became the first mortal in history to sock a god with a baseball bat. Fortunately (for him, at least), her parents were out for a date and she slept with the windows closed, so nobody heard her yelling at him. He began the old song and dance about how the world was in danger and scions like her were needed to help out, only to be shut down cold before he could get halfway through it. After much bargaining and pleading, a compromise was reached - Nadini would help do the gods' dirty work, in exchange for two boons: full financial support for her college career and the rest of her life, and that Indra would never, ever, come near her family again.

And so, they came to terms.

Now, Nadini's taking her first steps into a larger world. It's pretty similar to Memphis, actually. She hasn't actually met any of the titanspawn (or the wide variety of demonic-type creatures her divine tutors warned her about) yet, but in case she does, she still has her bat ready. Well, that and her awakened heritage as a daughter of the thunder god...

Qualities and Gifts

Qualities

Master [+6] Unconventional Warrior [ ][ ][ ][ ]
Master [+6] Talented Improviser [ ][ ][ ][ ]
Average [+0] Amazonian Beauty [ ]
Average [+0] Supernatural Seeker [ ]
Average [+0] Guide: Koothan Nataraja [ ]

Poor [-2] Monster Magnet

Gifts

Expert [+4] Epic Agility [ ][ ][ ]
Average [+0] Epic Beauty [ ]
Average [+0] Sky Purview [ ]

Legend

Hero Points/Legend: 7/10

Legend "Ticks": ////

Notable Possessions

Visitation

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.

Cliches and errors (geographical and chronological) side, this would actually be an accurate description of Nadini's neighborhood. Within the cool confines of her room and under the warm blankets, our heroine slumbers, oblivious to the world. She's dreaming, of course; dreams of running through the streets of the city at vehicular speeds, leaves and leaflets and litter roaring into the vacuum trailing her as she races down the road, faster than any car, almost as fast as a plane...

...and then her eyes open in sudden, terrible wakefulness. As if on cue, lightning flashes from outside, illuminating her face, and thunder follows in its wake, its rumbling roar slowly fading into the background pattering of rain against walls and windows. She lies there for a few seconds before realizing that sleep will not be coming back to her just yet. So she yawns and stretches in place on the bed, taking in the man in white with the glowing white eyes leaning over her.

"Hello, Nadini," he smiles. "I-"

The thunder drowns out her reflexive shriek of surprise as she scrabbles back and away from the intruder, but it fades just in time for the rest of her frenzied litany to be heard as she immediately goes for the baseball bat she keeps by her bed and begins belaboring him about the head with it.

"-you pervert you rapist you son of a bitch get out get out I'll fucking kill you-"

The bat is suddenly ripped from her hands by an invisible force, but running on adrenaline, Nadini doesn't even pause before switching her posture to give the interloper a shiny new knuckle sandwich instead. To his credit, he manages to avoid that blow, but the girl is hardly deterred; she seems to be trying to break the world record for number of punches in one minute (805).

"Nadini, please calm down! I'm your father!"

That seems to get through. Nadini stops mid-blow, as her mind reboots after encountering the fatal exception error it's just experienced. The stranger lowers his arms from where they've been shielding his face, then begins rubbing his bruised forearms while wincing in pain. Finally, at great length, Nadini is able to muster up the words after painstakingly dragging them out of her mental lexicon.

"You're my what?!"

"...so yes, I am the god Indra, and I am your father."

Nadini's stares blankly at the stranger sitting opposite her. By mutual agreement, they've moved down to the coffee table in the kitchen, where she can kick him out once he's said his piece. It's telling that although the storm started about a couple of hours ago and shows no sign of letting up, he's completely unmarked by the rain, the burglar alarms are all untripped, and she's certain she locked her room door before going to bed. All this is weird and she has no idea what the hell is going on; which is probably why she's going against all common sense and actually letting him speak instead of calling the cops on him.

"Hang on. Let me get this straight. You're telling me you're a god. That you got Mom pregnant with me when she was still in India, and now you've come back to... reclaim me?"

Indra looks like he's going to say something, then he closes his mouth and nods. "Yes, that is correct. As the child of a god, you are mighty in ways you cannot begin to comprehend. This might will be needed soon; the world is greater than you know, and there are threats in its hidden recesses which bode ill for all the worlds, yours and mine. Join me, and-"

"No."

"-together we can - excuse me?"

"You heard me," she says sourly. "I said no. You're a god. You have all kinds of powers. You knocked my bat out of my hands just now. You can deal with crap like this."

She folds her arms, as though to close the issue. Indra sighs in exasperation, then continues, forcing the words out testily between teeth that are just this side of clenched.

"It is because you are my daughter and I value your talents that I am speaking so calmly. Men have died for lesser offenses than striking the King of Heaven - which I allowed, incidentally, because you are young and allowances must be made for youthful-"

"YOU'RE NOT MY FATHER!" Nadini shouts. "Even if anything you say is true, you have not been and will never be my father. My father, my real father, took in my mom when she was frightened, three months pregnant, in a land where she knew nobody and hardly spoke the language and couldn't go home because the only thing waiting for her there was death. My real father raised a child that wasn't his as though she were his own flesh and blood. He gave nearly twenty years of his life for me and my mum. You? What the hell did you do? You got her pregnant and left her to die."

She practically spits the last word at Indra, who simply stares, mouth open and speechless.

"And now," she continues, her voice low and dangerous, "You're here after all these years, to ask me to go with you to fight a war I know nothing about, for people I care nothing about, to break my mother's heart again? How dare you? How dare you?!"

"How did you think Pameela and your father met?" Indra says quietly.

Now it's Nadini's turn to stare in silence. "Wha?" she manages.

"I have other agents in the mortal world, and some of them can take just enough action to make things happen which work out for the best. The gods aren't as mighty as you might think," Indra says, grudgingly. "Don't get me wrong. I called up this storm. I can stop it any time I like-"

As if on cue, the winds and the rain outside die down, even as his eyes shine white with divine power.

"Or I can sweep this city off the face of the earth if I so choose. It's not impossible, and I can do it. But there is a price. There is always a price. And even the gods are bound by the power of Fate."

Her blank stare is enough inducement to continue, even as the storm returns to its previous intensity.

"Fate compels us to fill our roles in the great design of all things. Were I to manifest in my station as the King of the Heavens before the people of this land, I could shake the firmament in my wrath... but at the same time, that would awaken the forces set against me in opposition by our opposed fates; the rakshasa, the asura, and their local equivalents. That would not be good for anyone concerned, least of all the mortal man. But you... well. You are a scion of divine power. Not a god, so you will not be constrained to fit into an archetype that limits your actions, but strong enough to do battle against the forces that threaten the world; at the balance point between strength and freedom."

He twines his fingers, and looks at Nadini. He seems more tired than he did a few minutes ago.

"The world needs you, Nadini. And the forces that have been set into motion against me will not stop either. They will hunt you, and they may well find you. I know I haven't been a good father, but the least I can do now is make sure that you're ready for the trials that will come."

The girl is silent for a while.

"I'm not too good with my mythology. As I recall, even Ravana, the king of demons, asked and received a boon of Lord Shiva?"

"He had to chop his head off ten times for that," Indra grins. "And perform the tapasya for years and years."

"He also received immortality and immunity to and supremacy over gods, rakshasa, beasts and the like. My boons will not be nearly so ambitious. Besides, you're getting my life. I guess that counts as one head, especially since I'm not a rakshasa like him."

"All right," Indra says. "Ask your boons."

"One: you say I have the power of a god. Teach me how to use it."

"Granted. A wise choice. I will assign a lesser deva to do so."

"Two: I don't want to have to worry about money if I'm going to save the world. A sudden lottery win and a full ride scholarship to a college of my choice sounds good to me."

The god raises his eyebrows. "Surprisingly banal. But a prudent decision."

"Three: All this stuff about gods and demons? It ends with me. Mom was just some woman you knocked up and Dad was the guy left holding the bag. I'm the one you're interested in. In short, never, ever interfere in their lives again. They found happiness in spite of you and they've earned it."


Indra looks down for a moment.

"All right. I will grant that boon as well."

"That means we're done? Then you can leave. The door's that way." Nadini jerks a thumb over to the front door. "You're the god of the sky. I don't think you'll need an umbrella."

She folds her arms to ward off any further attempt to prolong the conversation. Indra sighs, and then lightning flashes outside. As the thunder rolls slowly across the heavens, he's gone, leaving only a scorch mark on the kitchen tiles and a small, gift-wrapped box beside it. The card on the outside looks storebought, and reads: Happy Birthday. Opening it, she finds an exquisite pendant of gold, shaped like a vajra.

"Asshole," she scowls.