Heena/Lore
Profile[edit]
Appearance[edit]
Heena has dark, short hair, red eyes and wears Eastern-styled clothing. Like Karakuri, she is a living puppet or automaton. As such, she is capable of replacing her forearms with retractable blades.
Personality[edit]
Heena is often cold with a melancholy attitude. As a living puppet, whose creators were killed, and spent much of her time in a dungeon, she feels like she is a weapon without purpose.
Story[edit]
Tales from the East. Return of the Goddess of Time. Volume 3: The Twist[edit]
While Aldo and company are trapped in the Land of Ro: Dungeon Ruins, they come across a cell that seems to have been occupied by a woman. They come across a woman who identifies herself only as "Puppet Princess." She reveals that she was once imprisoned in this cell. Riica reveals to the group that she has no vital signs, and the group begins to understand that she is a puppet who was given life. She remembers her origin: she was created by an old demon couple, in the image of their adopted daughter who died of illness. The puppeteer believes it is the last puppet he will ever make, due to the rumors that their home of Ro will soon be attacked by the armies of Shin and Mi. This turns out to be true, as their house and village is burned to the ground by invading armies.
Later, Aldo and company are attacked by a Karakuri War Demon, the prison's guard. The Puppet Princess appears and tries to dissuade the War Demon from attacking Aldo. She tells him that the Land of Ro is no more, and he does not have to carry out his duty. The War Demon refuses, and Aldo defeats the War Demon in battle. With his final breath, War Demon tells Puppet Princess that they have no free will, just the illusion of it.
Once they've escaped the dungeon, Helena expresses some concern about whether or not they can trust a karukiri. The Puppet Princess explains the rest of her origin story: the invading soldiers dispose of the puppet maker and attempt to ransack their house. They find only what they think is a useless puppet, which then comes to life and slays them all. She mourns her creators, her parents, and is taken prisoner. She is able to escape easily, however.
Tsukiha speculates that in the midst of the invasion, a spirit descended into the puppet, giving it life. The puppeteers of Ro were renowned for their ability to breathe life into their creations. The earliest memory she has is a voice calling out to her: "Heena... you must live, Heena..." Although she has no memories of being a human, Tsukiha believes that one day she will recover her past and that the soul that entered the puppet was meant for her. The group decides that "Heena" will be her name.
Quest 1: Made for the People[edit]
In Unigan, Aldo is hungry and asks Heena if she would join him for a meal. Heena explains that, as a living puppet, she does not feel hunger. A man overhears their conversation and urges them to follow him to a spot in the Serena Coast. There, they find the man has discovered a deactivated Golem. He asks Aldo and Heena to help him restore it so that it can be used to defend the castle town of Unigan. Heena says that it can be done with a powerful source of Prisma. The two go off to fetch prisma from the Moonlight Forest.
Upon delivering the prisma, the man reveals that his true plan is to get revenge on his personal enemies. Aldo and Heena attempt to dissuade him, but the man insists that the only purpose of machines is killing and destruction. He sets the Golem to attack Aldo and Heena. Heena absorbs several blows from the Golem and refuses to fight back. Instead, she urges the Golem to find its own purpose and not allow itself to be a killing tool.
The Golem hesitates and stops fighting. Without a weapon at his disposal, the man is taken to face the knights of Miglance Castle. When faced with the question of what to do with the Golem, Heena and Aldo advise the knights to employ the Golem as a castle protector. "There is no crueler fate for a machine than to live and die useless. To serve no purpose," says Heena. The knights agree to keep the Golem around. Afterwards, Aldo tells Heena to promise she will not put herself in harm's way again. Even if she cannot feel pain, she can still be destroyed. Heena agrees and the two go out to finally have a meal.
Quest 2: A Doll to be Loved[edit]
Heena finds that her arm requires repair. She tells Aldo the repair requires a material, gelatin, as an adhesive. Although it is common for carpenters in Garulea, Aldo suggests they ask a blacksmith in nearby Baruoki. There, the blacksmith says he can provide a glue that is even better than gelatin. However, he needs bambookra grass from the Karek Swampland to make it, and it has been in short supply lately. Aldo and Heena agree to go harvest some, when a rambunctious young girl bursts in and demands to join. Aldo and Heena refuse to let her tag along because its too dangerous.
Once in the Karek Swampland, they find that the grass has been eaten by monsters with sharp teeth. They also discover the young girl has followed them against their wishes. The young girl desperately needs it so the blacksmith can make enough glue to repair her beloved toy doll. Rather than accompany her all the way back to Baruoki, Aldo decides they will just protect her while they get the grass. Heena is adamantly against this. The young girl tries to hug Heena, but she refuses to let her get close.
The group runs into a pack of sauhaugin that have been eating the grass. They are attacked, but manage to fend them off. When more surprise them and put the girl in danger, Heena unleashes a chained morningstar from her arm and dispatches the monsters. Terrified, the little girl runs away from Heena. Heena expresses regret that her body was made for war, and so children are not safe around her.
Back in Baruoki, they have enough grass for just one bottle of glue. Heena insists that it go to the little girl. The little girl, in turn, insists that it go toward Heena's repair. The little girl reveals that although she was inititally scared of Heena, she is also excited by her and her power. "At first I was like me scare pls no. But then when I saw her take out those monsters? I was like, yas queen spike the house down boots," she says. Relieved, Heena and the little girl spend the rest of the day playing together.
Quest 3: Leading the Machines[edit]
In Izana, Heena and Aldo hear two demons are attacking the town. When they get there, Heena recognizes that these are not true demons, but puppets like her. The demon puppets retreat with Aldo and Heena tailing them. They find that the two demon puppets are reporting to their master -- a human woman who reveals herself to be the original Heena, the Machinist's Daughter. She tells them that she did, in fact, survive her illness and that a traveling salesman took her in and raised her. She is now using the last of her parents creations, these demon puppets, to seek revenge on the lands of Mi and Shin. She urges Heena to join her.
For a moment, Heena considers that she has no right to interfere with the real Heena's plans as she is merely her replacement. Aldo gives her a pep talk and urges her to reconsider. Although the puppets are strong, they will surely be crushed by the armies of Mi and Shin, and only innocent people will suffer. They go to confront the Machinist's Daughter. She sets the demon puppets to attack them, but they are quickly defeated.
The Machinist's Daughter then reveals her true plans: she wanted the demon puppets to be destroyed because she wants to be the only machine deserving of their love. She is, in fact, not the real Heena, but another puppet that was created to be the real Heena's babysitter. When the real Heena died, she went out on her own to find another family, but could not when the Land of Ro was destroyed. As a result she wandered as a machine without purpose. She even refused to do maintenance on herself, and is found to be in bad shape.
Heena refuses to let the Machinist's Daughter die. Because she requires a purpose in order to live, Heena insists that she go on living as her older sister. The Machinist's Daughter smiles, accepts, but then dies. Heartbroken, Heena decides her mission in life is to find other wayward machines and help them find new purpose. She continues to travel with Aldo in order to find them.