On the Disc – an aggressively whimsical semi-parallel version of Earth – there was a country called Borogravia. Borogravia was proud; Borogravia had a mad god (Nuggan) and a dead duchess, both of whom gave a great degree of false hope to a poor and barren nation; Borogravia made war. For years and years, because it could, until there was nothing but war in Borogravia, and it had run out of sons. When a country that loves war runs out of sons, and when propaganda stops working because of that nasty tendency of people to come back from war with fewer arms and legs than they left with, those who enter into warfare tend to have very individual motivations. In the case of what came to be termed in Borogravia the Monstrous Regiment, they were also not sons.
Eight young women cut off their hair, put on trousers, and joined the army to fight for the glory of the Motherland!!, except not really, because generally they were running away from rather than towards something. Maladicta certainly was. Tired of not getting respect from her family (because female vampires are meant to be sexy, not clever or strong or independent), Mal joined the Ins-and-Outs and quickly detected that her idea was not particularly original. She was surrounded by women.
Unfortunately, these eight women were the last recruits of the current war with Zlobenia, and as such were given shoddy equipment and told to go to the front lines posthaste. Before this could happen, however, the recruiting corporal (name of Strappi), a political spy for the highest Borogravian military authority, became so thrilled at the idea of heading to the front lines that he pissed himself and deserted, significant largely because a) he gave away the squad's position to the nearby Zlobenian infantry, and b) he stole Mal's coffee. Mal really needed her coffee; without coffee she would kill for a cup of . . . well, blood. [See powers section]
But speaking of the Zlobenians: those plucky girls manage to capture and humiliate (that is, kick in the fork and strip) the infantry forces, although it might have interested them to know that Prince Heinrich of Zlobenia, the heir to the Borogravian throne and a major reason for the war's outbreak, happened to be in that infantry party . . . and was the one kicked in the fork . . . and actually became quite angry about it. Due to the exciting influence of the Free and Fair Press of city-state Ankh-Morpork, the story of Prince Heinrich's ultimate humiliation at the hands of a small group of green recruits quickly became a hot topic of conversation across the Disc and instantly changed political attitudes towards Borogravia from They are insane and must be stopped (possibly accurate) to They are plucky underdogs and we should support them.
Due to confusing verbal and tactical maneuvering by the Ins-and-Outs' tremendously inexperienced Lieutenant Blouse, the regiment ultimately ended up making its way to Kneck Keep, a vital Borogravian stronghold which had been taken over by Zlobenians. Along this trip, the lack of coffee became an issue. Having substituted her addiction to human blood for an addiction to coffee, Mal began experiencing flashsides, or hallucinations of alternate realities – in this case, of the Vietnam War. As the squad made its way to the Keep, Mal got so close to reverting to her original addiction and attacking one of her fellow soldiers that she nearly had to be staked through the heart – until a blessed bag of beans dropped from the sky and nearly concussed her.[2]
An unconscious yet thoroughly caffeinated Mal (she sucked the caffeine directly from the beans through the bag, which is apparently a thing you can do if you're desperate enough) was left outside the Keep with their Sergeant Jackrum while the others disguised themselves as washerwomen to get inside the fortress. Mal was quickly caught and imprisoned by Zlobenians within the Keep; the others quickly followed (partially because no one believed they were actually women). After a complex series of power shifts within the Keep, the Borogravians retook it and, in their turn, became tremendously offended at the presence of women within their army, despite the fact that the squad (sans Mal, who was still unconscious) had freed them from their cells.
A court-martial was called – but not officially, since a court-martial is only for proper (that is, male) soldiers - and the top brass of Borogravia was about to disregard the squad's achievements and send them home when Sergeant Jackrum returned and revealed that about, oh, one third of the entire military was of the female persuasion. Halfway through this exciting development, the semi-divine Duchess of Borogravia possessed one of the recruits and demanded that Borogravia let go of her and of Nuggan and that the generals return home to save their people form starvation.
It was only after this, in the confusing and frequently condescending peace negotiations, that Mal revealed that she was really Maladicta. This was met with a general lack of offense from the squad, and everyone was sent home with a pat on the back and a none-too-subtle hint not to come back. Mal disappeared, floating around the country aimlessly, never going home and never staying in one place for too long. The female generals stayed silent about their identities. A fragile peace was brokered.
And then, a few months later, broken again. Borogravia went to war one more time. And Corporal Maladicta joined Sergeant Polly Perks serving openly in the Ins-and-Outs as women, whether the brass liked it or not. Polly determined this would be a smarter war, and she engaged that lovely Ankh-Morpork press to keep everyone honest. Mal's job became sneering recruits into shape, among other corporal-y things, and assisting Polly in the fine art of shaking things up.
Powers/skills: Mal is a goddamn vampire, and "on the Disc, all the world's vampire legends are true, even the contradictory ones. They just aren't all true for the same vampire." As stated above, Mal is a Black Ribboner and does not drink blood, having substituted the addictive properties of coffee. Once again, however, a lack of coffee will lead to delusions, hallucinations, delirium tremens, and eventually an uncontrollable craving for human blood. Since she will be human in-game, she won't crave blood in the event of withdrawals, instead becoming generally violent while experiencing flashsides of her Dream life. In other words, caffeine will function as a combined chemical and psychological dependency.
Mal is apparently not a created vampire but a genetic one, i.e. her parents are both vampires. The rules of immortality for vampires are not explicitly stated within the novels, but it's fair to assume that genetic vampires age more or less equivalently up to a certain age. Mal has not yet reached that age. In the context of the game, she will of course age normally anyway.
Mal can change into bats (not one bat but a swarm of them), although it's difficult for her and she ends up naked when she changes back (because female vampires must always be sexy). She tolerates sunlight but does not enjoy it (it tingles). She can levitate and fly for short distances but finds it difficult and physically draining. She's supernaturally strong and fast, with fantastic hearing and a really excellent sense of smell, especially if you're bleeding. She can see in the daaaaark. Canonically she's nearly invulnerable; this power will not be retained in-game.
Other skills include looking fantastically yet carelessly dressed, being smug, avoiding mobs, and sort of knowing how to fight with a pike. Skills do not include technology or flush toilets.
[1] Her last name is never stated in canon. This last name was created following the pattern of Überwaldean vampires with the surname "von Überwald". So, yes.
[2] It is worth pointing out that these were not actually divine beans. They had been delivered by the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, which for various complicated and above all political reasons had a presence within Kneck Keep. They were supposed to be on Zlobenia's side, sort of, but mostly the commander of the Watch, Sam Vimes, just liked the squad. Hence hand-delivery of beans.
maladicta | discworld | 2/3
On the Disc – an aggressively whimsical semi-parallel version of Earth – there was a country called Borogravia. Borogravia was proud; Borogravia had a mad god (Nuggan) and a dead duchess, both of whom gave a great degree of false hope to a poor and barren nation; Borogravia made war. For years and years, because it could, until there was nothing but war in Borogravia, and it had run out of sons. When a country that loves war runs out of sons, and when propaganda stops working because of that nasty tendency of people to come back from war with fewer arms and legs than they left with, those who enter into warfare tend to have very individual motivations. In the case of what came to be termed in Borogravia the Monstrous Regiment, they were also not sons.
Eight young women cut off their hair, put on trousers, and joined the army to fight for the glory of the Motherland!!, except not really, because generally they were running away from rather than towards something. Maladicta certainly was. Tired of not getting respect from her family (because female vampires are meant to be sexy, not clever or strong or independent), Mal joined the Ins-and-Outs and quickly detected that her idea was not particularly original. She was surrounded by women.
Unfortunately, these eight women were the last recruits of the current war with Zlobenia, and as such were given shoddy equipment and told to go to the front lines posthaste. Before this could happen, however, the recruiting corporal (name of Strappi), a political spy for the highest Borogravian military authority, became so thrilled at the idea of heading to the front lines that he pissed himself and deserted, significant largely because a) he gave away the squad's position to the nearby Zlobenian infantry, and b) he stole Mal's coffee. Mal really needed her coffee; without coffee she would kill for a cup of . . . well, blood. [See powers section]
But speaking of the Zlobenians: those plucky girls manage to capture and humiliate (that is, kick in the fork and strip) the infantry forces, although it might have interested them to know that Prince Heinrich of Zlobenia, the heir to the Borogravian throne and a major reason for the war's outbreak, happened to be in that infantry party . . . and was the one kicked in the fork . . . and actually became quite angry about it. Due to the exciting influence of the Free and Fair Press of city-state Ankh-Morpork, the story of Prince Heinrich's ultimate humiliation at the hands of a small group of green recruits quickly became a hot topic of conversation across the Disc and instantly changed political attitudes towards Borogravia from They are insane and must be stopped (possibly accurate) to They are plucky underdogs and we should support them.
Due to confusing verbal and tactical maneuvering by the Ins-and-Outs' tremendously inexperienced Lieutenant Blouse, the regiment ultimately ended up making its way to Kneck Keep, a vital Borogravian stronghold which had been taken over by Zlobenians. Along this trip, the lack of coffee became an issue. Having substituted her addiction to human blood for an addiction to coffee, Mal began experiencing flashsides, or hallucinations of alternate realities – in this case, of the Vietnam War. As the squad made its way to the Keep, Mal got so close to reverting to her original addiction and attacking one of her fellow soldiers that she nearly had to be staked through the heart – until a blessed bag of beans dropped from the sky and nearly concussed her.[2]
An unconscious yet thoroughly caffeinated Mal (she sucked the caffeine directly from the beans through the bag, which is apparently a thing you can do if you're desperate enough) was left outside the Keep with their Sergeant Jackrum while the others disguised themselves as washerwomen to get inside the fortress. Mal was quickly caught and imprisoned by Zlobenians within the Keep; the others quickly followed (partially because no one believed they were actually women). After a complex series of power shifts within the Keep, the Borogravians retook it and, in their turn, became tremendously offended at the presence of women within their army, despite the fact that the squad (sans Mal, who was still unconscious) had freed them from their cells.
A court-martial was called – but not officially, since a court-martial is only for proper (that is, male) soldiers - and the top brass of Borogravia was about to disregard the squad's achievements and send them home when Sergeant Jackrum returned and revealed that about, oh, one third of the entire military was of the female persuasion. Halfway through this exciting development, the semi-divine Duchess of Borogravia possessed one of the recruits and demanded that Borogravia let go of her and of Nuggan and that the generals return home to save their people form starvation.
It was only after this, in the confusing and frequently condescending peace negotiations, that Mal revealed that she was really Maladicta. This was met with a general lack of offense from the squad, and everyone was sent home with a pat on the back and a none-too-subtle hint not to come back. Mal disappeared, floating around the country aimlessly, never going home and never staying in one place for too long. The female generals stayed silent about their identities. A fragile peace was brokered.
And then, a few months later, broken again. Borogravia went to war one more time. And Corporal Maladicta joined Sergeant Polly Perks serving openly in the Ins-and-Outs as women, whether the brass liked it or not. Polly determined this would be a smarter war, and she engaged that lovely Ankh-Morpork press to keep everyone honest. Mal's job became sneering recruits into shape, among other corporal-y things, and assisting Polly in the fine art of shaking things up.
Powers/skills: Mal is a goddamn vampire, and "on the Disc, all the world's vampire legends are true, even the contradictory ones. They just aren't all true for the same vampire." As stated above, Mal is a Black Ribboner and does not drink blood, having substituted the addictive properties of coffee. Once again, however, a lack of coffee will lead to delusions, hallucinations, delirium tremens, and eventually an uncontrollable craving for human blood. Since she will be human in-game, she won't crave blood in the event of withdrawals, instead becoming generally violent while experiencing flashsides of her Dream life. In other words, caffeine will function as a combined chemical and psychological dependency.
Mal is apparently not a created vampire but a genetic one, i.e. her parents are both vampires. The rules of immortality for vampires are not explicitly stated within the novels, but it's fair to assume that genetic vampires age more or less equivalently up to a certain age. Mal has not yet reached that age. In the context of the game, she will of course age normally anyway.
Mal can change into bats (not one bat but a swarm of them), although it's difficult for her and she ends up naked when she changes back (because female vampires must always be sexy). She tolerates sunlight but does not enjoy it (it tingles). She can levitate and fly for short distances but finds it difficult and physically draining. She's supernaturally strong and fast, with fantastic hearing and a really excellent sense of smell, especially if you're bleeding. She can see in the daaaaark. Canonically she's nearly invulnerable; this power will not be retained in-game.
Other skills include looking fantastically yet carelessly dressed, being smug, avoiding mobs, and sort of knowing how to fight with a pike. Skills do not include technology or flush toilets.
[1] Her last name is never stated in canon. This last name was created following the pattern of Überwaldean vampires with the surname "von Überwald". So, yes.
[2] It is worth pointing out that these were not actually divine beans. They had been delivered by the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, which for various complicated and above all political reasons had a presence within Kneck Keep. They were supposed to be on Zlobenia's side, sort of, but mostly the commander of the Watch, Sam Vimes, just liked the squad. Hence hand-delivery of beans.