Noh

The following article is a /tg/ related story or fanfic. Should you continue, expect to find tl;dr and an occasional amount of awesome.

Noh is an adorable young girl with a magical rapier and chainmail shirt. The character originates from a story from a DM about how his players approached a puzzling challenge in a rather unorthodox manner, and found so much resonance with /tg/ that much drawfaggotry was inspired and many fa/tg/uys include references to or variations on the character in their own games. She is named for one of her catchphrases, which is simply "No."

The Story of Noh

My group was in a dungeon where, unbeknownst to them, they were being tested by the spiritual forces that resided within, in order to see if they were worthy of... bla bla bla, the same old shtick.

They find a secret door, and inside is a pedestal with a highly ornate and obviously magical rapier (which two of the characters used), resting upon a similarly ornate/magical chain shirt that the two other characters used.

Next to them, a young girl, with a blank expression, simply requests, "Please do not take these items." Of course, my players didn't want to pass up such great items, but they knew that something bad would happen if they just took them, they decided they needed more information before they could make a desiscion. Pretty standard method of action. And, the only way they could get more information was from the girl.

I didn't want to spoil everything, and more importantly I wanted this to just be a short test so we could go on to the next part. Also, since she was just the physical manifestation of a minor spiritual entity, she didn't need to do any more than fufill her task as a test giver. So, I decided she would be like a NPC from a videogame. She would only respond with "No" or, if a negative answer would confuse the players or the players decided to get crafty and ask something like "Can we NOT take these items?", she would simply reply "Please do not take these items."

The conversation was pretty much:
P1: Can you tell us about these items?
DM: No.
P2: Can we ask your name?"
DM: No.
P1: What are you doing here?
DM: No.
P3: Are these items important to you?
DM: Please do not take these items.

The players kept at it for a few minutes, until the bard decided to use a perform check to "Awaken her dormant soul etc." and rolled a 19. As such, I decided I might as well say that she shed a single tear.

At this point, my players could no longer stand it. And they ended up doing something I was completely unprepared for.

One of them scooped her up, put her on his shoulder, and decided they were going to take her. They quickly began to argue as to which one of them was going to carry her, completely ignoring the amazing magical items less than an arm's reach away, and talking about how she was the cutest thing in the entire world. They decided to name her "Noh", since it was what she replied when asked her name.

They then carried her through the dungeon, risking themselves many times in order to keep/protect her. After the third time she slowly walked back towards the items when she was left alone during a battle (accompanied each time with each player screaming her name), they decided to go back, put the items on her, and then continue carrying her around.

I had added this whole test as a bit of a side thing, and didn't know what to do. At the completion of the whole thing, their reward was to have a spirit bound to one of their magic items, corresponding with what virtues they exhibited the most through out the dungeon. As a bit of a side bonus (since she was practically a construct anyway), I decided that a spirit would also be bound to Noh, but the complete binding would take some time, and that the players would be able to take her out of the dungeon. My players were so happy, and they concluded that along with the rest of the adventure (which they seemed to enjoy), this was the best session they've had in years.

I feel bad.

Good End:

Sunlight filtering through a canopy of leaves, a young girl resting beneath the trees.

She just lay there thinking... thinking. Another new experience. She had more thoughts in her head now than she’d ever imagined before... mostly because she didn’t have much of one up until now, she thought. So many things to see, to think about, to experience.. it was almost overwhelming at times. This must be the way they feel all the time! she thought. All these thoughts, ideas, decisions- and she knew she barely understood anything yet! Having a self is more difficult than she thought... or would have thought, she guessed, if she did any thinking back then.

It was so... different. For so long, all she knew was one room, a pedestal, two items. Her purpose was to be a test, nothing more. She fulfilled her function with no concept of time, no idea of want, not a thought, not a care, not a need; a construct like her had no need of such things.

So then, why?

She was barely aware when it happened, as she was taken away. The feeling of strong arms lifting her, carrying her. The familiar pedestal and its contents dwindling away in the dark. She had struggled weakly, then; her nature forebid her from leaving her charge, her purpose. But then, they took her back, gave her the items- her own charge! Gave them to her!-and took her, and them, along. For the first time, in her whole existence, she felt something, a sense of shock, mixed with fear, mixed with wonder.

Since then, things were... different. There must be another word, she decided, but she must not know it yet. So much happened, and in such a short time. Time. Another new concept. Every day, she understood something more. Suddenly, there was more than a dark room, a single task; suddenly she was more than a test, more than a simple construct. They freed her from her duty, gave her things to call her own.

She even had a name...

It was all so confusing. She had learned so much, in the past few months, but still understood so little. What was she to do? Her purpose was already gone, the items taken from their resting place, even if she was the one who took them. Now, she could think, could feel, but for what? For-

“Noh! Hey, Noh!”

Noh looked up, across the clearing, to where the rest of them stood. A small group, ragged adventurers all of them, packing up gear into well-used packs. To some, they would be an unwelcome or unpleasant sight, but to Noh, they seemed to be the smartest and the strongest and the bravest...

“Come on, Noh, break’s over, we’re moving on!” one of them called.

Noh jumped to her feet. Thinking was nice, she decided, but you can’t just sit and think forever. After all, there are plenty of places yet to see, things yet to learn, new things to think about. So, with a small smile on her face, she ran over to join the group, to join her....her...

Family?

Yes. That was the word, she thought. Family. Another new thing she’d gained since that day. Perhaps there was a better word, she thought, to describe her feeling, but for now, as she joined them once again, that was enough.

Bad End:

And as the pain in his body escalates, he turns to his 'daughter'... the little girl with a blank stare whom he just saved from certain death.

Noh looks at the wounded warrior, curious and seemingly looking for an emotion. The warrior coughs up blood, further increasing the party's anxiety as they look upon him.

"Noh... I'm so glad you're safe. Do not cry for me, for this is another facet of life you must learn." He reels in agony as he speaks. "Before I go, I want you to know that I, no WE love you. You are our daughter, our family."

Noh's gaze pierces the warrior deeply, taking him great amounts of strength to hold his tears back. "Alas... this is the end. Noh... can you smile for me...?"

The little girl looks around, confused and troubled. She then looks straight at the poor warrior and says

"Please don't take the items."

He then died painfully.