Joan Abaddina

Joan Abaddina
Type	NPC
Actor	Matthew Mercer
Character Information
Pronouns	she/her
Also known as	Elder Abaddina
Creature type	Humanoid
Race	Goliath
Class	Druid
Languages	Common, Giant
Place	Hearthdell, Demithore Valley
Connections	Hishari (formerly) Demithore eidolons Hevestro (teacher)
Profession	Soothsayer Spiritual guide
Status
Status	Alive (in 843 PD)
Stats
Level	At least 10 (Druid)
Appearances
First seen	"Faith or Famine" (3x60)
Last seen	"Crisis of Faith" (3x61)
Stream	Campaign Three (2 episodes)

Joan Abaddina, also known simply as Elder Abaddina, is a soothsayer and spiritual leader in Hearthdell, a village in Issylra. She lives in the Knotburrow, a cottage in the Arklune Fields covered in vibrant vegetation. As an NPC, Elder Abaddina is played by Matthew Mercer.

Description

Appearance

Elder Abaddina looks like a very old half-giant woman standing about 6'5" with cloudy eyes, faded marks and tattoos on her arms, and carrying a runed staff on which plants and flowers grow. She has extremely long, thick woven gray hair tangled with colorful beads and rings, and deep gray-brown skin.

Personality

Elder Abaddina appears to be extremely respectful of traditions and devoted to the local spirits of the land, and wary of any outside visitor or idea she deems dangerous to her village.

Biography

Joan was born sometime in the previous century into a family that had dedicated itself to protecting Hearthdell from outside threats, a position she would eventually inherit. She fell in with the Hishari, a cult centered around the restoration of the elemental Primordial powers, but after Hishari fell to ruin, she saw the error of their teachings and returned to the area around Hearthdell.

She learned magic from Hevestro, an archdruid, training under him for three or four years. As an elder in Hearthdell, she worked not only as a soothsayer, but also as an intermediary between the Demithore eidolons and those neighbors who followed the lifestyle of The Loam and the Leaf.

When a temple dedicated to the Dawnfather was built in the village Elder Abaddina was not pleased, aware that the religious forces of Othanzia would rather end Hearthdell's "pagan" lifestyle. Just as the goliath had suspected, the presence of religious guards increased in 843 PD, months before the apogee solstice, made even worse when two judicators were sent there. By then the Demithore eidolons were unhappy, and Elder Abaddina and her neighbors began to meet in secret to change the situation. During the solstice itself there was a celebration in the village, and at one point people began to listen to Ludinus Da'leth's speech on divinity, after which eleven people disappeared, teleported to other points in Exandria. Elder Abaddina used her scrying well to look for the missing people, locating three of them, but she was also very interested in the ideas the archmage had described in his speech.

When Bells Hells arrived to the village the elder talked to them, using her powers to check Orym's memories, and was very interested about the information they offered, trusting them only when they stated that they weren't followers of the Prime Deities, and agreeing to let them use her scrying well if they helped her free Hearthdell from the cult of Pelor. In a secret reunion the townsfolk listened to Elder Abaddina's own speech about freeing the village and defending their way of life, and she persuaded those brave enough to join the plans to fight the followers of the Dawnfather. Later that night, while Orym and Bor'Dor tried to speak with some guards in the Sunrise Sanctuary, the rest of the participants in the plan prepared to attack if necessary, and Elder Abaddina (or the spirits of the land, according to her) began to influence the night mist and the vegetation near the temple, causing it to grow on the walls to make easier to climb over them.

During the following battle Elder Abaddina summoned an Earth Guardian, and the eidolons empowered both the goliath and the elemental, helping them break the door of the temple. She attacked Flameguide Kiro directly at one point, casting Blight against her, but later, when the follower of the Dawnfather was killed, Joan reminded her allies that they had to capture their enemies, not kill them. When a Dawnborn Angel appeared, summoned by Kiro's dying prayer, Elder Abaddina was intimidated by it, since she hadn't expected a direct celestial intervention; she kept using her magic to help and heal the adventurers, but refused to fight the angel directly. Once the followers of Pelor were completely defeated, the soothsayer used the power of the Demithore Eidolons to destroy the Sunrise Sanctuary, although she waited long enough to allow Bells Hells to search for treasure. Afterwards the surviving members of the temple were banished, except for one who used to be part of the community of Hearthdell; Abaddina welcomed him again, promising the possibility of redemption, after which she gave the money of the temple to Proleff (so he could return it to the people) and left the townsfolk celebrating their victory.

The old goliath, exhausted, returned to her cottage accompanied by Bells Hells, who intended to spend the night with her so she wouldn't avoid her part of the deal to help them Scry on their friends. Joan prepared some tea for them, talking with them for a bit about the gods, the spirits, and the morality of mortals in relation to those entities. The following morning, after preparing breakfast for the adventurers, she used her scrying well for them three times using objects connected to the targets of the magic: she showed Bells Hells that the other half of their team was still alive near Uthodurn; Deni$e saw a worried Dariax (and Dorian); and Abaddina revealed a house connected to Bor'Dor's dagger, although apparently not his home. The group then asked the old woman about how they could travel to those far lands they had seen through the well and she recommended asking Hevestro, her old master, for help. She provided them with a wind eidolon guide in the form of a cougar, after which Bells Hells set off for the Irriam Canyon.

Relationships

Prime Deities

Elder Abaddina deeply resents the worship of the gods and hates the forms of oppression that stem from it. Because of this, she trusts in Ludinus Da'leth's plans to make the deities disappear, despite knowing very little of said plans.

Character information

Notable items

• Scrying well
• Staff

Abilities

Goliath abilities

• Mountain Born
• Natural Athlete
• Powerful Build
• Stone's Endurance

Special abilities

• Pink spores: Elder Abaddina is able to produce spores that when inhaled by another person, allow her to read their memories.

Spells

1st-level

• Cure Wounds

4th-level

• Blight

5th-level

• Conjure Elemental
• Mass Cure Wounds

Appearances and mentions

• Campaign Three: Bells Hells
  • "Faith or Famine" (3x60) (first appearance)
  • "Crisis of Faith" (3x61)
  • "A Long Walk of Reflection" (3x62), mentioned only
  • "A Haunted Past" (3x63), mentioned only
  • "Reunited" (3x64), mentioned only
  • "Bloody Flowers" (3x67), mentioned only

Quotations

• (quoting Ludinus Da'leth during her own speech) "For tonight, the children inherit the world".

Trivia

• Her name is the feminine form of John, which comes from Yehochanan, which means "God is gracious/merciful" in Hebrew.
• In Warhammer 40K, Eidolon is an ancient lord commander rumored to have served as a lieutenant to Abaddon the Despoiler, whose name is similar to Abaddina's.
• Her cottage and the way it creates its own furniture is very similar to Ligament Manor, the home of Morrigan the Fatestitcher. Both Elder Abaddina and the fey hag share certain similarities, according to Marisha Ray.

References

Art: