Johanna, Shieldmaiden of Endor
Human Fighter
Johanna was a human fighter who appeared in Azimuth Campaign One. She was played by L.M.
Johanna was an ally of the Zenethian Children on their quest and joined them in Endor, the First Mountain. In the course of their journey, they aided King Alphonse Brancana in rekindling the old alliances of the world against the dual threats of Esturk, The World's End, and Psaro the Manslayer. As part of this, Johanna received Zenthai's Blessing and earned one of the reforged Zenethian Items. They traveled the world and gathered allies and forces to their banner and became known to the rulers of the world as the Zenethian Heroes. The Heroes were instrumental in the victories in the Fourth Age of the Tarterian War and the Manslayer War.
Johanna remained in Endor as a Shieldmaiden of the king, training and influencing the Endorian army for years to come. Many years later, she would die in childbirth, and High King Thorik Oathenhammer would create a great burial vault in the Mausoleum of Dwarf Lords in her honor. The Zenethian Greatsword would be buried with her, and the King would take possession of Chedae's Tear, a holy item of Johanna's creation.
Description
Appearance
Johanna was a human woman with fair skin, brown hair, and green eyes. She was tall and muscular, with an intimidating presence. Her hair was kept long and often was tied back in a high ponytail, leaving strands of bangs hanging to either side of her face. During the events of the Zenethian Heroes, Johanna wore heavy half-plate armor decorated with animal furs. She wielded the Zenethian Greatsword.Personality
Johanna was a quiet and imposing figure. She was often serious and reserved, and was content to let the other members of the Zenethian Heroes discuss and plan. Though she was often at the back of social encounters, she was always at the front of combat encounters, fearlessly charging into combat, even against dangerous and powerful opponents. Johanna was a very loyal person. She swore her service to both High King Thorik Oathenhammer and to the Zenethian Heroes, and she never faultered from this oath. This was shown be her immediate willingness to leave Endor, the First Mountain, when so ordered by the High King and by her relentless resolve in aiding the Heroes in their quest. Johanna suffered from feelings of inadequacy and a strong imposter syndrome. Though she received Zenthai's Blessing, and was instrumental in the victories of the Tarterian War and Manslayer War, Johanna struggled with her place as a Zenethian Hero. It is said the death of Zenthai, The Dragon King, affected her particularly hard. Despite these feelings, she performed her duties in service to High King Thorik Oathenhammer admirably and achieved great standing in the city of Endor and among the dwarves. Though in her youth she was not overly religious, during the course of her journey she grew to admire and respect both Zenthai and Chedae, The Heaven's Light.Biography
Background
In 4A 968, Johanna was born in the Wild Lands in eastern Gimor. In her youth, she survived the various dangers and perils of the Wild Lands and the tribes that live there, and she became a skilled warrior. At some point, she left her homeland to travel, eventually making her way to Endor, the First Mountain. In 4A 996, during the Endor Tournaments, Johanna participated and won the Tournament of Swords. As the winner, she earned the title "Champion of Swords" and was appointed as Shieldmaiden under High King Thorik Oathenhammer.Campaign One: The Zenethian Heroes
The Lands of Endor
In 4A 996, the Zenethian Heroes arrived in Endor, the First Mountain. There, they met with High King Thorik Oathenhammer and learned of Endor's rising tensions with Branca. After King Thorik used his Truthseeker Axe to learn the party's intentions, he welcomed them and the orcs they had brought to Endor. To aid them, King Thorik brought forth the champion of the tournament of swords: Johanna, Shieldmaiden of Endor. Curious about the tournaments, the party went to The Arena. They found that Aoth’s way into the archery tournament had already been paid by an anonymous benefactor. Winning the tourney would give Aoth the chance to fight the previous year’s champion. When they inquired who the previous champion was, they learned it was a fighter from Parthenia, and his name was Psaro. With a day before the tourney would begin, the party decided to search for information that could help them on their journey and point them in the direction of the last Zenethian item. They found a History of the Third Age where the final actions of the Zenethian Champions were detailed, and learned Sanazi, Wielder of the Zenethian Armor, had gone missing in Santeem to the west of the Flat Peaks Desert. They had their destination, but the tourney and Psaro were too important. They alerted the King and prepared to face their enemy. Aoth fought his way to the finals, where he was reunited with Duvessa Nighthawk and defeated her to win the tournament. The party prepared in the stands as Psaro walked onto the arena floor. Psaro knew they were here and he wished to talk. He offered a trade: their blood for the lives of their captured friends. The party declined, and Psaro summoned great fireballs above the arena and sent them crashing down into the stands. When the dust settled and the flames died out, a doppelganger of Psaro lay burned and dead. King Thorik understood he had been deceived and declared war on Psaro for attacking his people. He promised full aid to Branca and ordered his armies make ready. The Endor Tunnel was blocked and needed to be cleared for the King’s army to march forth. His scouting parties had not returned, so King Thorik ordered his two champions, Johanna and Aoth, to clear the way. They rode out to the tunnel to find the great mountain passage blocked sabotage. Nearby they found beasts working a great spell circle, loosing the blood from the dwarf bodies of the slain scouting parties. The party engaged, and the dark voice inside Rath directed him to alter the runes of the spell. With the spell shifted, Rath lost control of his body as the entity revealed itself as an aspect of Esturk. When the party rushed to help Rath, he plunged his sword into the chest of Trip. Her blood was spilled on the spell circle below, and her soul was pulled from her body. Though the taint of Esturk had been removed from Rath, the body of Trip still lay on the ground. She could not be revived and magic cast to call her soul back failed. The party completed their work to clear the blocked tunnel pathway and carried the body of their sister back towards Endor. Upon their return, the King’s army was marching forth to aid Branca. They brought Rath before the King who used his Truthseeker Axe and the party learned it was not his actions that slew Trip, but he did nothing to prevent it either. Disappointed and angry with Rath, but with greater evils ahead of them, they released Rath back to their party. King Thorik volunteered his clerics to watch over Trip’s body, so that should her soul be saved, she could be returned to life. They left her body in the care of them at Endor's Temple to Zenethia. Brigitte left Fifi to guard her sister and took Trip’s Zenethian Swords. Resolute, they boarded Leo’s ship and headed towards where Sanazi had last been seen in Santeem.Towards Esturk, The World's End
On the way across the sea, they found the wreckage of several ships and one survivor, Petra D'Silva. Petra offered to help the party in exchange for safe passage. Later on, a flock of harpies attacked the ship and crew, and the fighting alerted a Leviathan who attacked the vessel. Joseppe and Ivan formed a magical wall of iron suspended above the creature and dropped the mass onto it, and they repelled the creature, slew the harpies, and continued on. They arrived at Birdsong Tower on the southern coast of Santeem. Inside, they fought elementals and fire lizards. Brigitte used her gift, a golden locket, and with the activation of the tower's mechanisms, a vortex opened beneath Brigitte, and she disappeared through it. For the party, she was only gone a moment. Brigitte returned as the time ritual spell completed. With her return, all the Zenethian Items had been regathered. With a surge of holy energy emanating from each item, the party were whisked away in emerald light. On the Eternity Stair, Zenthai, The Dragon King, congratulated the children for gathering the artifacts of their parents and thanked the others for their aid. With a breath, Zenthai recast the Zenethian Items into new crystalline forms. Each took the form best suited for its new wielder, and with his energy they were once more recharged and glowing with holy light, and Johanna received the Zenethian Greatsword. With these gifts, he named them the Zenethian Heroes, the ones with the power to defeat Esturk, The World's End, and save Azimuth once more. Zenthai returned his Heroes to the Material Plane reenergized and with newfound power. With their task ahead of them, they quickly returned to their ship and set sail for Tarteria, where Esturk stirred. The party arrived in Tarteria and travelled to the miasma-cloaked Aktempto. They found desecrated memorials to Morazar and Porgorag and the entrance to the mines was infested with demons. Petra was captured at the entrance, and as the party went forward to rescue her, Chedae would not proceed, and they left her behind. Petra had convinced the demons to bring them to Esturk directly, feigning that she had betrayed them. The ruse worked and they were led deep into the mines. On 2 Avedar 4A 996, the Heroes went before Esturk, The World's End. Trip's soul was claimed by Esturk and she, along with Morazar and Porgorag, were turned into Dark Champions. Tunnelling through the dark and earth, Zenthai, The Dragon King, appeared and forced his way into this space between worlds to face his rival. The Heroes fought against the Dark Champions while Esturk battled Zenthai. Eventually the Dark Champions were defeated and their souls were saved. However, the battle above went poorly for Zenthai. Alone and still wounded, he had not the strength to hold back Esturk indefinitely. Latching onto Esturk, Zenthai pulled a shining rainbow crystal from The World’s End, and as the dark Dragon screeched, the power exploded, sending Zenthai crashing into the battlefield below. Esturk flew down and landed heavily on the mortally wounded Zenthai. And with a final attack, Esturk killed The Dragon King. The body of Zenthai scattered into lights that spread through the cavern and coalesced upon each of the Heroes, granting them Zenthai's Blessing, and the strength of resolve to face this fight. Though Johanna, Ivan, and Brigitte fell in the fighting, the Zenethian Heroes fought back against the darkness, and with a final blow, they sent Esturk, defeated, back into the darkness. They revived and recovered themselves, and as they left this place, they sealed the entrance behind them with an explosion. The demons were gone and the mines were empty as they ascended back to Azimuth. When the Heroes emerged, they were met with the sun breaking through the storm above Tarteria, and their donkey approached in earnest. As Chedae came to them, she glowed with a similar energy to that which had infused themselves and their items. As the last energy faded from her, she transformed. No more was she the color-changing donkey that had journeyed with them from the start. Her true form was revealed, a young platinum-scaled Dragon. Zenthai had a daughter and hid her away on Azimuth so that if he were slain, Zenethia could continue. Esturk was defeated once more, but Psaro still threatened the world. With the armies he had gathered he could still bring about the end of the kingdoms. The armies they had contacted were gathering in Branca to prepare for battle, and the Heroes would go to aid them. Returning to Leo’s ship, they sailed towards the Endor port and marched quickly towards Branca, the Kingdom of the South.Towards Parthenia and Psaro
King Alphonse Brancana had arranged a war council for the leaders to discuss their strategy against Psaro. The Heroes attended and provided what information they could about Psaro and his plans. The armies set out for the eastern coast to board the gathered vessels, but they did not yet know what they were getting into. The Heroes scouted ahead using a Wind Walk spell to see what defenses Parthenia had. They found where the enemy fleet was holding and went to turn back, however Petra split from the party. Without the means to end the spell and not endanger all of them, they had no way to prevent Petra from leaving them as she headed towards the beasts. Thinking themselves betrayed, the party returned towards the gathering forces. Leo’s ship was still in Endor, so they joined the forces on Branca’s flagship, the Occidentalis, with King Brancana. Paired with them was the elven warship, the Effervescent. Chedae took to the skies and the fleet set sail and headed towards Parthenia. In the Parthenian Sea, the allied fleet met the bulk of Psaro’s navy at the Battle of the Bay of Shipwrecks. The Heroes fought their way to victory and into the Parthenian Bay, and Petra aboard the Falcon rejoined them, guiding the Burland fleet to aid them. Breaking through, the Falcon and the Occidentalis landed on the shores of the Iron Marshes, and they made for the ruins of the city of Gardenbur. In the ruins of Gardenbur, they rested in a dilapidated temple. Inside, a spirit assaulted the party and King Brancana was wounded, and the darkness leached into the wound. The spirit was banished, but the King could no longer continue with them. King Brancana ordered the Heroes to head to Psaro's northern fortress, the Citadel of Bronze. On 3 Janafen 4A 997, the Zenethian Heroes entered the Citadel of Bronze and traveresed through the trapped halls to the throne room. Psaro congratulated them and welcomed them before him. In the rafters of the room were the taken friends of the Zenethian Children, chained and rigged to fall to their death at Psaro’s whim. Psaro offered them their friends and their lives. All he asked for was their blood so he could perfect his use of the Power of Evolution. They refused. With a snap, Psaro summoned music and his minotaur general, Black Phillip, and drew his sword. Of the friends of the Children, only Cher and Gertrude were rescued. Black Phillip initially defeated Johanna, but she was revived by Leo and Black Phillip was slain by Johanna. Psaro forced into an incomplete evolution, and with arrow and spell and blade, the Heroes pummeled damage into Psaro, and the Manslayer was killed. With Psaro gone, the magic that surrounded Parthenia destabilized and great shards of the anti-magic barrier began falling from the sky. The Citadel of Bronze shuddered and crumbled around them. Johanna used her weapon and cut the head from the slain Black Phillip, claiming it as her trophy, and the Heroes made their escape. They found the allied armies had won the battle in the Iron Marshes. Though there were fatalities and injuries, with Chedae present and with the Zenethian Heroes the victors against both Esturk and Psaro, the world was saved once more. They eventually returned to Endor, where they found that Trip had recovered, and they introduced her to Chedae. The Heroes worked to aid the recovery and rebuilding of the displaced and wounded, and with the aid of Chedae in her material form, they accomplished great things at the end of the Age. On 31 Jeran 4A 997, Chedae travelled to Hometown with the Zenethian Heroes. She said her goodbyes to each of them and ascended to Zenethia, succeeding her father as the next Dragon Deity of Zenethia and starting the Fifth Age.The Fifth Age: The Age of Beginnings
Johanna returned to Endor and continued her service as a Shieldmaiden of the king, training and influencing the Endorian army for years to come. During this time, she created Chedae's Tear. Many years later in 5A 029, a group of warriors from the far Medal Island arrived in Endor, led by a man named Reinhart. During the course of their stay, and at the urging of the High King, Reinhart and Johanna battled in the Endor Tournaments, with the match coming to a draw. This encounter is detailed in stories in Endor, primarily in The Fate of Johanna. In early 5A 030, she would die shortly after giving birth to her daughter Eramine, and High King Thorik Oathenhammer would create a great burial vault in the Mausoleum of Dwarf Lords in her honor. The Zenethian Greatsword would be buried with her, and the King would take possession of Chedae's Tear.Relationships
Zenethian Children
Johanna swore her service to the Zenethian Children and their allies and joined them for the rest of their journey together. She was a loyal ally and strong, frontline fighter. Johanna considered the other Zenethian Heroes her friends.High King Thorik Oathenhammer
Johanna was appointed a Champion of the Endor Tournaments and given the title Shieldmaiden under High King Thorik Oathenhammer. She was a trusted advisor and trainer of warriors in the Kingdom of Endor for many years, and it was said that Endor was the only place Johanna felt truly at home. High King Thorik's trust in her was enough that when Johanna asked a special construction be made to safeguard the Zenethian Greatsword after her death, the High King swore it would be done.Eramine, daughter of Johanna
In 5A 030, Johanna died in childbirth, giving birth to her daughter. Johanna survived long enough to name her daughter Eramine.Character Information
Legacy
- "The Story of the Zenethian Heroes" tells of the adventure across Azimuth the Heroes took at the end of the Fourth Age.
- The holiday Heroes Banquet celebrates the Zenethian Heroes and their contributions to the Tarterian War, the Manslayer War, and their continued effects on the world.
- The story of the Zenethian Heroes and the ascension of Chedae, The Heaven's Light are depicted in the stained glass histories on display in Endor's Temple to Zenethia.
- In Endor, the Zenethian Greatsword is also known by the name "Johanna's Bane".
- The story "The Fate of Johanna" tells of the meeting between Johanna and Reinhart, leading to the birth of Johanna's daughter. It is a popular tale in Endor, the First Mountain.
- The settlement Fort Johanna in the northern Kingdom of Endor is named in her honor.
- The Church of Zenethia in Porgorag contains statuary depictions of each of the Zenethian Heroes.
Notable Items
- Zenethian Greatsword: Johanna received the Zenethian Greatsword during the reforging of the Zenethian Items by Zenthai, The Dragon King, in the late Fourth Age, after which she continued to wield it.
- Chedae's Tear: When Chedae, The Heaven's Light, ascended to Zenethia, the Plane of Light, she left behind a number of platinum white opals. Johanna took one of these and crafted an item of holy significance.
- Head of Black Phillip: After the battle at the Citadel of Bronze, Johanna cut the head from Black Phillip, General of the Manslayer, and claimed it as a trophy. It became the symbol of her house.
2022 Character Art by J Pleshe
Character Type
Player Character Actor
L.M.
Descendant
Eramine, daughter of Johanna
Player Character Actor
L.M.
Current Status
Deceased
Species
Date of Birth
4A 968
Date of Death
5A 030
Circumstances of Death
Died in childbirth
Birthplace
Wild Lands
Place of Death
Children
Current Residence
Johanna's Tomb at the Mausoleum of Dwarf Lords
Gender
Female
Eyes
Green
Hair
Brown
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Fair
Height
6' 0"
Weight
180 lbs
Aligned Organization
Eramine, daughter of Johanna