One figure is on the cover of BREAK!!'s rulebook, featured on a completed character sheet in the back, and scattered in a few small illustrations throughout. This is Mariah Doeheart, a Battle Princess and a character conceived as the closest to an ideal BREAK!! adventurer as one could manage. She went through many iterations during the game's development, initially beginning as melancholy and serious sort but eventually transforming into the eager heroine she is at present.
This blog entry gives her a more detailed introduction in hopes of giving Players and Game Masters ideas for their own characters, as well as giving us a chance to flesh out our mascot a bit. So without further ado:
Mariah being a bit more excited for her next adventure than the rest of her party is
Her story so far...
Mariah Doeheart is quite fond of her given name. Her parents got it from a great heroine of the early 4th Aeon, a storied warrior who is said to have protected folk in the difficult times following the shattering of the Sun Machine. Her feats included driving off a shadow beast with a small retinue, helping found the first of the Shard cities, and negotiating peace with the Queen of Weeping Shadows.
In contrast, Mariah herself earned the nickname "Poke" as a child due to her habit of getting into places she wasn't supposed to (including some dangerous Akenian ruins where a mysterious little creature she later named Churly Paws protected her) and it stuck with her until adulthood. As a result she has a habit of announcing herself before it's even requested, as if she's trying to make certain that people won't give her another unwanted sobriquet.
The child of Starlight Farmers, Mariah's days were split between learning the family trade and her aforementioned expeditions to the interesting places around her home. Her heart was never quite in agriculture, and she found herself yearning for new places to explore as she outgrew her previously favorite adventuring sites. By the time of her 20th birthday, it was clear that her younger sister was far more interested in inheriting the farm than she was and it freed her to move on. When a neighbor asked if the daring tenebrate would escort them to the city of Magia, Mariah took on the job and decided it was going to be a one way trip. She grabbed her things, exchanged a farewell note for a bag of her mom's cookies, and began her journey.
The trip turned out to be even more eventful than expected. She discovered her ability to call forth a Heart's Blade when she had to chase off a patrician who thought it would be fun to test his new sword out on the pair, found out her neighbor was an aspiring sage while assisting them with their first assignment, and even helped retrieve an important tome for a little wizard in grey (even if Mariah was partially responsible for it being lost in the first place). While these first few adventures were filled with close calls and stumbles, they also burned away any doubts or trepidation that Mariah had from leaving home. She'd found her calling.
Noting her enthusiasm, the little wizard even offered her a reward for another task - he needed someone to find a wayward fool of an Otherworlder and bring him back to Magia. With a new quest and a smile on her face, Mariah set out on another adventure.
Demeanor
Mariah is cheerful and enthusiastic, eager to make new friends and seek out new adventures. She'll introduce herself without hesitation, be the first to charge into a dangerous situation, and has a bad tendency to jump to conclusions here and again. While it can be a bit much at times, it's all part of her earnest nature. This, combined with her genuine (if sometimes clumsy) kindness, has earned her more than a few friends and allies.
She's also naturally gullible, but fortunately her Cry of the Heart ability has helped mitigate that quite a bit.
Churly Paws, Mariah's feline-like Soul Companion, is her opposite in many ways. He's reluctant, sarcastic, and often suspicious of people he doesn't know. Sometimes a voice of reason for Mariah and other times just a grouch, he can still be counted on to always come through in the end.
Using Mariah in your games
While mostly intended as an example of a completed character sheet and a potential pre-generated character in the BREAK!! rulebook, Mariah can also be used as a Game Master Character. She might be the face of a party of rival adventurers, a friendly random encounter in an adventure site, or someone the players can meet and hire in a settlement.
If you like, an older, wiser, and higher Ranked version of Mariah might even be a mentor and quest giver for the party as well. Whether her adventures helped bolster her courage and eager nature or tempered them a bit is dependent on your version of Outer World.
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