to be organized/rewritten later, but for now:

• on a tiny island not too far from golonzo, a draph couple accidentally has a child almost ten years after their first. lavana, despite being something of a surprise, is loved and cherished by her parents and her older sister.
• when she's very young, her parents die in a freak accident while they're away for work
• lavana's sister, nanala, takes up raising her, and relocates them from their nearby small nowheresville island to golonzo island so nanala can support them with her trade as a craftswoman by repairing airships
• young lavana is terrified the same thing that happened to their parents is going to happen to her sister and she's going to be left all alone; desperate for a way to feel confident in her sister's safety, she takes up fortune telling, and does a reading every morning to ensure her sister's safety
• even as she's older and setting up her own business reading fortunes of travelers coming in and out of golonzo for their own repairs, lavana keeps up the routine; she believes wholeheartedly in her fortunes and still worries about her sister
• one day she draws cards that tell her about an upcoming disaster and immediately runs off to her sister's workstation in a panic. nanala is at least marginally annoyed. turns out the reading wasn't entirely wrong—lavana, in the process of being unsuccessfully chased out of the workstation, notices a cat that's cozied itself up in the exposed gears of a ship to get away from the cold, and manages to scoop it up and away right before repairs begin and prevents it from getting crushed
• surprise! the cat is cronus, the Royal Cat Archbishop. he returns to lavana the next day with his entourage to express gratitude by bequeathing powers unto her. from that day on lavana is a nekomancer!
• for a couple of years this is a very casual arrangement; mostly she just has cats following her around and bringing her presents and talking to her, and in exchange she feeds them or helps them get around the island or does other little mundane chores for her. sometimes she reads their fortunes. it looks very silly but very cute to passersby
• anyway then cronus drops the bomb on her that he needs assistance going on an important journey to another island, and he'll need lavana's help. earlier that day lavana pulled a fortune about great journeys so she takes this task very seriously!!! but also has no idea how to go about it
• fortunately, in short order, she reads a fortune for valryn, who's present on golonzo to get his dinghy repaired. when he's incredibly gung-ho about the concept of the incredible adventure she's read for him, she manages to convince him to take her along.
• per cronus's advice, likely gained via cat intel from rhea, she enters a shady tavern and wins herself an airship in a game of cards. her opponent is cheating, but she's out here playing this like a fortune reading so none of his tactics work because she's pulling off plays that realistically make absolutely no sense.
• and so the adventure begins! well, first lavana has to talk to nanala, who is not happy about this. they get into a fight, but lavana leaves anyway.

• Arcane Magic: Lavana has a variety of magical abilities granted to her by her pact with Cronus and her affinity with the cats of the world in general. They include:
  • Lavana can talk with cats; they understand her when she speaks normal human language, and she understands their meowing in turn.
  • Spellcasting. A full list of spells can be seen on her character sheet, but some highlights include:
    • Eldritch Blast: An incredibly long range blast of arcane force magic to be used as projectile weapon.
    • Hex: A curse which inhibits the target's abilities and strengthens the force of her Eldritch Blast.
    • Invisibility: The ability to turn her or someone else invisible.
    • Hold Person: Immobilizes and silences a person, rendering them temporarily paralyzed. The magic conjures a chair for them to sit in and puts the shape of a cat in their lap.
    • Pass Without Trace: Makes Lavana and anyone she so chooses unable to be tracked except by magical means, as well as masking their presence to make sneaking easier.
  • If hit by an attack, Lavana can instantaneously create a sphere of darkness around herself and turn invisible for a short while as a reaction.
  • Lavana has been taught a magical dance by her cat companions. It provides various magical boosts to her allies if they can witness the dance, and she can also channel its magic into energy to lash out at a foe.
  • A magical affinity with moonlight, which strengthens her various spells and abilitles.
• Tarot Reading: While it is, in fact, just use of regular cards instead of true magic (despite what Lavana believes), she's a highly skilled tarot reader.
• Makeup: Her makeup game is powerful. She's able to do other people's makeup as well.

The Main Crew (Player Characters)

Valryn

Her ship's pilot. They met when Valryn came to Golonzo and got his fortune read by Lavana; when he expressed intense enthusiasm at the prediction of an upcoming adventure, Lavana, in need of a means to get off the island to assist Cronus's quest, convinced him with surprising ease to let her come along. Likely her best non-cat friend on the ship; Valryn is always kind to her and believes in her entirely, and Lavana is ever-appreciative of the encouragement.

Aya

A member of her ship's crew, met when Aya and Phanuel hired the crew of the Terranavis to escort them across the skies in search of Phanuel's missing boyfriend. Though Aya is silly and sometimes so foolish even Lavana can recognize it, Lavana considers her a hard worker, a fantastic source of positive energy, and a valuable crewmate.

Phanuel

A member of her ship's crew, met when Aya and Phanuel hired the crew of the Terranavis to escort them across the skies in search of Phanuel's missing boyfriend. Overwhelmed by Phanuel's tendency to do things like put anything he doesn't recognize in his mouth and throw himmself vaguely into danger basically all the time, she's more or less forgotten that he's basically an ancient messenger of the gods, and instead simply sees him as one of the rest of them—just, one of the rest of them who requires some extra, uh, handling.

NPC Crewmates

Cronus

The captain of her ship. Also a cat.

Norle

Her ship's quartermaster, met when their ship crash-landed on Nemrut Isle, and Norle joined them on their quest to figure out the source of the wild storms suddenly terrorizing the island. Lavana has not yet realized that Norle is essentially their babysitter. She considers him incredibly reliable after all the help he gave them when they first met, and trusts him completely.

Zagetch

Her ship's mechanic, and a fellow cat lover. The latter point was all these two especially needed to bond, and while Zagetch's tendency towards chaos and explosions stresses Lavana out terribly, he's a good person—all Lavana needed to see to prove that was how he treated her cats.

Carver

carver 🤝 lavana
general exhaustion

Emilora

pure, likes cats

Tandar

PLEASE SURVIVE

Shelly

she's cool

The rest of the cats

Though not individually involved enough to warrant their own headings, the cats who function as Cronus's attendants and follow Lavana around are deeply beloved by her, and she considers them an important part of her life. She happily assists them whenever they need, and will protect them whenever they may be in danger. In return, they serve as her magical familiars, able to be summoned to assist her at almost any time. The cats are:

• Rhea: Clever and underhanded. Sometimes condescending to Lavana, who never notices, for a laugh, but happily uses her tendency towards trickery to Lavana's advantage. Winning the airship in a card game was her idea and done with her assistance.
• Hyperion: Wise and warm. Loves to tell Lavana their many stories of the stars, and she always listens raptly. Their friendship is a quiet, understated one—the only time these words are true of anything of Lavana.
• Theia: Vain and charming. Admires Lavana's fashion style and confidence, and will concede that Lavana's beauty almost matches her own—or might, if Lavana weren't so unfortunate as to not be a cat. Taught Lavana her cute magic nekomancer dance to help her become even lovelier.
• Coeus: Serious and curious. Constantly asking Lavana about her human (well, Draph) experiences, and ends up frustrated when she can't answer. He upset her once with his intense demeanor, and felt so guilty about it that he has only ever treated her gently since.
• Phoebe: Whimsical and mysterious. Considers Lavana a sort of apprentice, though from a distance, and Lavana doesn't seem to realize it herself. With a secret knack for prophecy, Phoebe has taken an interest in Lavana's own innate skill, and likes to perch in places where she can watch Lavana tell her fortunes.
• Crius: Brash and stubborn. Showed Lavana their soft side once, and has come to regret it ever since. Now she's so fond and doting! Undeterred by their grouchy exterior, Lavana positively showers Crius with affection. They act like they don't like it, but they'd defend and die for her.
• Themis: Pragmatic and stern. The easiest cat to scoop up. Despite Themis's high position in cat society, she positively melts when it comes to Lavana, and loses all dignity in favor of scritches, pets, and attention.

Others

Nanala

Her older sister, by about ten years. Raised Lavana after their parents died when Lavana was very young. The two are opposites, with Nanala being stern and practical to the point of humorlessness, but love each other deeply despite their differences. Even so, Nanala has a tough time expressing it, which is one contributing factor to their current rough patch: the inciting incident was Lavana's choice to go skyfaring with a bunch of cats, but really, this is the boiling over of feelings originating from Nanala's difficulties in dropping everything to raise Lavana, Lavana's frustration with Nanala's dismissal of her fortune telling and passions, and conversations about their parents' deaths left unhad. Their love for each other will certainly overcome this, but it's going to take more time and work than any conflict they've had before.

Mana Dodona

bitchhhh

• Lavana relies heavily on her fortune telling cards in the day to day. She asks them about decisions before she makes them, and does small readings before heading into big situations to see how they'll go. Every morning, she does a reading to ask about her sister's safety, and has done so since she was very young.
• Lavana genuinely has Generalized Anxiety Disorder, which causes her to catastrophize and to generally just be worried about everything all of the time. It's never been properly addressed, but we don't have modern mental health care either so whatcha gonna do.
  • That said, her fortune telling is mostly a positive coping mechanism for her; it gives her some feeling of control because she believes so sincerely in being able to predict outcomes through it.
• She's pretty garbage at braiding hair. Her sister is much better at it, having learned at young Lavana's request even though she sees no reason to use the skill on herself.
• She doesn't know the specifics of her parents' death, beyond that it was an accident. She asked her sister once as a teenager, and Nanala just looked so sad and anxious when she said she'd tell her when she was older that Lavana never brought it up again.
• She owns more than a few decks of tarot cards: a few are exclusively for business purposes (customers are encouraged to choose the deck that calls to them), some she has to perform readings for friends (again, letting them choose their favorites when she can), and one she keeps on her at all times to make decisions for herself. She uses it to perform her daily reading for her sister's safety, ask questions in the day-to-day, and—rarely—perform full readings she considers to have particular importance.
• Having had to cook for herself from a young age while Nanala was at work, Lavana's become a skilled chef.

• Fortune telling cards. It's basically just a deck of tarot cards. She owns a few, but has one that remains on her person at all times.
• Cat treats. Lavana always has a supply on her person.
• Erra's core. The core of a primal beast of plague that never wanted to hurt anyone. Until she passes, she'll protect it. It stays in the bag that keeps her favorite deck of tarot cards.