+ helpful | humble | pacifist +

◦ bitter | submissive | repentant ◦

- surly | unperceptive | guilty -

“UNPLEASANT” comes to mind when first talking about Lethe. On a good day, she’s quiet and cold, avoiding people and brushing off attempts at socializing. But generally she’s rude, snippy, and gruff. Most of the things out of her mouth are complaints, or at least displeased grunts. She doesn’t really get along with people and doesn’t really want to.

Of course, that’s just socializing. If you need Lethe to do something, to be around, to help, she’s… actually quite reliable! She hates taking the lead and prefers other people to tell her what to do, and has a little bit of an eagerness to please (even if she won’t admit it). Yeah, she’ll jump on the chance to help out, but she’ll pretend she hates it and grumble the whole time. But you won’t find anyone more dependable.

For all her gruffness and scary muscles, Lethe is actually a pacifist. This stems from a deep sense of guilt that has consumed her life. Her past actions and being manipulated into hurting those around her… into being turned into little more than a weapon, well, it’s left its mark. She’s sworn never to let herself become that again. So she’s sheathed her claws against her fellow cat and refuses to fight.

Deep down, Lethe just wants to belong. She wants a home where she can feel useful and loved, people who understand and care for her. But that’s been overshadowed by her remorse – she let her desire to fit in overtake her loyalty to her loved ones. She’s hurt people. People important to her. How can she live with herself? She’d determined to try to redeem herself in some way, to fix more in the world than she broke. If that means following some weird cats to save the world with magic or whatever, fine. Maybe being a grunt for a good cause will make a difference.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: death and violence, murder, but no detailed gore

NOBODY KNOWS where Lethe came from, nor her sister, Asphodel. Were they even related? It doesn’t matter. All either of them knew was that they were together, they always had been, and always would be.

They spent the majority of their childhood wandering together through vast empty stretches of land. They scraped by to survive, hunting and even stealing when necessary. Sometimes you had to do bad things if it meant surviving, they said. Only a little bad. That’s how they survived. Those were hard days, but they were joyful days, spent in each other’s company and living for themselves. Asphodel’s bright boldness evened out Lethe’s subdued anger. Lethe followed her sister’s lead, even as she grew much bigger.

Eventually, as they passed into adulthood, they realized that wandering might not be viable. More and more they ran into other cats or colonies they had to fight or steal from to get by. How long could they survive on their own? Eventually they came across a large colony who called themselves “The Bones” (really encouraging) that was looking for new members. As young, strong cats, they were welcomed.

At first the Bones seemed alright, having a pretty solid territory and dens in some large caves that protected them. Everyone was kind to the sisters. For a while. Soon it became clear that the Bones was no paradise. The colony was ruled by a tight inner circle of the strongest, smartest, and those they picked. Those outside it were required to give up some of their food to the inner circle, leaving them hungry.

However, the inner circle took a shine to Lethe! She was big and she didn’t think much for herself. A couple of the inner circle invited her in for a trial run, pampering her but also using them as her muscle. Lethe thought this was great! As a bonus, her sister was exempt from the food tax. And there were all these cats who loved her!

Asphodel didn’t agree. She had a bad feeling about this whole thing, and often argued with Lethe over it. Their relationship grew strained, which drove Lethe more into the arms of the inner circle. But those cats were beginning to use Lethe… they had her assist in tracking down cats who ran and “dealing” with them, or punishing those who didn’t pay their tax. Lethe became their weapon, an extension to enforce their will. She ignored any doubt she had. Do what is necessary to survive, even if it is bad. And they were so nice to her! They loved her! How could that be wrong?

Things escalated. The inner circle noted Asphodel’s distrust and attempts to pull Lethe away. They saw her as a threat to their new attack dog. So, as a final test of Lethe’s loyalty, they arrange a fight to the death between the sisters. If Lethe really cared about the Bones, she’d be willing to get rid of this dissenter. Asphodel begged Lethe to give up and run away with her. But Lethe had seen what happened to those who ran – she’d killed them herself, buried their bodies. There was no choice. Against everything she wanted, Lethe fought… and killed. Asphodel laid dead before her. The inner circle of the Bones welcomed her.

Lethe became subdued, even depressed. Yet she stayed with the Bones. If she didn’t, what would Asphodel’s death be for? Though she had all the perks of the inner circle, it meant nothing. She went through her days robotically, doing whatever they asked of her. She mourned her sister and cursed herself for ever coming here. But she belonged somewhere. She couldn’t give that up.

Then the unimaginable happened. A distant storm gathered and everyone took to the den caves for shelter. But the storm fell to the ground. It crept along like a mist, like water. It slid into the cave without issue. Rain fell upward into the ceiling. Lightning reached from the ground. Cats panicked.

In the chaos, a bolt of ground lightning reached out. It struck Lethe.

The Bones fled. Lethe watched, barely conscious, as the inner circle left her behind. For everything she’d done, for all the blood she’d spilled, they’d just left her to die. The storm consumed her and her vision faded.

When she came to, she was not alone. An elder from the Bones, too weak to leave the caves, had nursed her back to health. The storm had left little damage to the caves besides some rain puddles, but the colony had fled out of superstition. He’d chosen to take care of her, despite her role as the inner circle’s attack dog.

As she recovered, she reconsidered her life. The group she’d fought and killed for, given everything for, betrayed her sister for… had abandoned her. Everything she’d done had been for nothing. And yet this old tom had opted to save her. Did that mean there was hope for her yet? How?

Once she was better, he kicked her out. He told her to stop sulking and do something with her life. Lethe took this to mean she should seek redemption, to make up for all the pain she’d caused. So she took to wandering again, alone and hunting to get by.

One hunting session she ran afoul of another lone cat, who attacked her for her food. In the scrap, she nearly killed the cat. This terrified her. Was she so far gone that she couldn’t hold herself back from murder? From then on, she swore never to use her claws against another cat. She devoted herself to pacifism against her fellow cat (she had to, of course, hunt, but that was different. Right?). That was the only way to make sure she never fell into the same darkness as before.

As she wandered, she began to hear rumblings of a strange group. The Holocene, and their goal to save the world with magic. It sounded bizarre, but… she’d seen strange things, hadn’t she? Her scar was proof of them. And it was a way to help redeem herself, so she set out in their direction.

Along the way she came across the youth Aldine, and kept an eye on them to make sure they didn’t die before reaching the Holocene.

SUMMARY

-Lethe grows up wandering with her adopted sister, Asphodel

-When they’re young adults, they join a colony known as the -Bones, run by a cruel inner circle of the strongest.

-The inner circle pulls Lethe in with affection and then uses her to kill dissenters and otherwise terrorize the colony.

-Asphodel dislikes this. The inner circle have her and Lethe fight to the death. Lethe wins.

-Lethe is upset but stays with the inner circle for lack of anything better to do

-An upside-down storm comes into the colony’s cave and causes panic. Lethe is hit by upside-down lightning.

-The inner circle flees and leaves Lethe for dead. She recovers with the help of an eldery cat left behind.

-She wanders again but loses control and almost kills a cat, then swears to become a pacifist

-Hears about the Holocene and joins a group of (PC) cats heading for them.

A STORM that stuck to the ground and moved upside down. It went inside a cave housing a colony of cats. Clouds crept along the ground. It rained upward and gathered at the roof of the cave, and lightning struck from the ground upward. Then the storm dissipated and any rainwater that was still on the ceiling fell back to the ground, drenching the cave and causing minor flooding.

A summary of events for your character during Round 1 and its interim.

Can you feel the repeating change?

It comes to pass again.

Do not be long now...

. . .

. . .