3 years old
Female
Outlander
Commonwealth
Adventurer
Tall, dark, and handsome. Between her height, her athletic figure, angular features, and rough, roguish appearance, she appears rather masculine and is often mistaken for a strapping young man at first glance.
With her long, wiry legs, lean body, and deep chest, it is apparent Nyx is built more for more speed, agility, and acrobatics than for brute force and tanking, but the robust musculature of her neck and jaws grants her a bite which more than makes up for her lack of bulk. While lanky and slim, she certainly isn't lacking in muscle and her dense coat helps to fill her out a little more and makes her seem brawnier than she really is.
She carries herself very well — head always held high with an unwavering gaze and a stable stance, oozing confidence. She is a trained warrior coming from nobility — she was the diadochos of her home state, or the 'prince' as she typically translates it — and this proud background is apparent by her posture, demeanor, and the way she struts.
Every wolf of her noble lineage possesses fur of a deep midnight black, as if cloaked by the night itself, and Nyx is no exception to that rule. In fact, her pelt is especially Stygian, even among her relatives, and holds a cool, bluish undertone that's especially noticeable in the sunlight. It darkens further on her underside, legs, face, and ears, and some greys scantly mark her ruff, back, cheeks, tail, and thighs, with a lighter shade of grey highlighting the sides of her neck and the edge of her cape.
As suggested before, her fur is very thick, shaggy, and wild, especially in the wintertime. Her mane and cape are particularly pronounced with a ruffled appearance. Along her spine, the fur is especially unkempt, giving the appearance of always having her hackles raised. Despite the rough, messy appearance of her fur, it's actually quite well-kept and softer than one would expect.
In addition to being tall and fit, she is rather attractively featured, more handsome than beautiful. She has a chiseled profile and large, high-set ears similar to that of a bat. But what truly steals the show are her eyes — intensely silver like the full moon on the blackest night and lined by dark, lush lashes. They're distinctively sharp-edged, piercing like a knife, and always alert, watching, analyzing.
LANGUAGE & SPEECH: A native speaker of Greek, both modern and ancient (refers to the languages as Elliniká) — most of her speech is modern with some occasional archaic vocabulary, while the ancient speech is primarily reserved for rituals and prayer. Is fluent in English for she was tutored in it from a very young age. These things are expected of princes, of course.She speaks with a noticeable accent which brings a certain exotic purr and lilt to her words... it is most apparent on certain sounds: her Rs are rolled, her Bs soften to Vs, she struggles with the 'ch' and 'sh' sounds (which often end up turning into 'ts' and 'ss' respectively), as well as the “zh” and “j” sounds (pronounced “z” and “dz”).
Her voice is low with a smoky quality to it. She speaks calmly and clearly with little inflection, rarely raising her voice or getting too worked up. Speech is formal, refined and eloquent, almost a bit pendantic, but doesn't shy away from swearing.
(Brief note on language: Nyx pronounces the "eu" dipthong in Greek like "ef" — e.g. she would pronounce Zeus like "Zefs", and her clan's epithet is pronounced "Nyktereftis".)
Smoke
Gray
Extra Large
Tobacco, leather, clove, nutmeg, smoke.
Nyx is a very devoutly religious and spiritual woman. She believes in Gods, in fate, in the afterlife, and in the power of magick and will. There are a great many Gods she recognizes, as a Hellenic pagan, but her beliefs are atypical of most Hellenes, for she was born and raised in an Orphic cult.
Her beliefs may seem strange or downright fantastical to others, but Nyx is fully convicted in her beliefs, her faith unwavering.
She is nothing if not driven and determined. Nyx doesn't know what it means to give up, having had it drilled into her head from day one that a true wolf never backs down and never bends their knee, especially not a wolf of her pedigree. She'll be the first one to admit she's goddamn stubborn and almost too prideful for her own good, but giving in's never gotten her what she wanted. When she wants something, she'll chase it, and if she believes something, she'll fight for it, and you better not get in her way or she will do everything in her power to crush you.
Nyx can be ruthless, to say the least, typically regarding other creatures with a certain cold fascination, never minding death or violence, and having no issue with exerting force if she feels the urge. She doesn't typically go out of her way to terrorize and murder the weak, only because she hunts and fights for the challenge and glory while there is very little satisfaction to be had in killing some weakling that could have died just as easily by the elements.
However, if she is given a reason, she will not hesitate to dish out punishment and will do it with sadistic pleasure. She lives for a good rush and she finds it easily in battle. There is something terribly addicting about spilling blood and she thinks she is made for it, that it is her divine purpose to fight, hunt, and kill. After all, she is a hunter, a true predator, under the guidance of Artemis herself. Wolves like herself are made to fill the Underworld with souls. Who is she to deny her purpose?
And yet, she can prove herself much more soft-hearted than she typically lets on, when faced with the few things that earn her sympathy — for instance, she feels a natural protective urge towards other women and girls, and is much more likely to go out of her way to be kind towards them. Upon first meeting, Nyx has a calm, cool, confident way about her. Always relaxed, always in control, and often with a crooked smirk on her face. While smooth-speaking and eloquent with a great love for conversation, she has little interest in beating around the bush. She likes to cut straight through to the heart of the matter and delve deeper into much more stimulating subjects. There are so much more interesting things to talk about than the weather.
Talk to her about your dreams, your homeland, your culture, your politics. Talk to her about love, hate, religion, death, and what comes after. She always loves to listen and does so attentively, genuinely.
Perhaps one of her greatest assets is her intuition and observant nature. Nyx is always paying attention to her surroundings and has a keen eye for wolves in particular — she can read others like a book, noting each subtle shift in expression and demeanor. Combined with her strong instincts and analytical abilities, she sees right through the fronts wolves typically present.
While rather morally ambiguous, she adheres to a strict set of standards defined by the values of integrity, valor, tenacity, and loyalty. To those that manage to earn her confidence, she is a true ally and will loyally stand by them and take their side always. She champions the people she cares for and will do whatever it takes to see them safe and happy, sometimes even to her own detriment. If you can get underneath that thick, prickly armor, you'll come to find a sensitive, loving soul that is so vehemently passionate about the things which manage to light the fire in her. Not everything is worthy of such strong emotion, but when she finds something that captures her heart and soul, she dives in deep and engulfs herself in it.
Even when her passion is directed towards something positive, like a lover or the arts or the Gods or a good cause, she can easily drown in it, becoming obsessive and destructive both to herself and her surroundings. This aspect is multiplied when her obsessive tendencies are negatively focused, such as when she pursues vengeance. Nyx is a firm believer in serving justice against those who do wrong. She rarely forgives and never forgets — she doesn't expect perfection from others, but Nyx will not let anyone walk all over her without facing the consequences.
- Beauty in all forms — she loves beautiful women, the breathtaking views she finds out in the natural world, and the arts such as song, dance, poetry, and more. She has a particularly bad weakness when it comes to women. The pretty ones will easily have her on a leash, rousing those strong hedonistic tendencies of hers; and while the not-so-pretty ones won't have much power over her, she will still thirst for their attention, if only to feed her ego.
- Bad storms and fires; untamed representations of the chaos of nature and how these things should be respected.
- A good challenge; she specifically likes to hunt larger, more dangerous prey for the sheer sport of it.
- Glorious battles and how alive they make her feel.
- Blood, bones, gore, and death; there's something profoundly beautiful in mortality. It is not uncommon to see her simply sitting and watching a dead body as it gradually withers away, admiring and fascinated by the process.
- Nighttime. Nyx feels invigorated under the cloak of darkness, a sense of comfort and protection, and she associates the beautiful moon with the Goddess Artemis. Thus she is most active at night and in the few hours right before and after.
- Testing others, probing them for their weak points and figuring out just what makes them tick. Has a great love for psychoanalysis.
- Owls, ravens, crows, and serpents are the few animals to which she would never do harm. They are sacred animals of the Gods.
- Her favorite foods are mutton, the back and belly of a red deer, and fish.
- Hellas was a mountainous land, especially her home state of Orphne. As a result, she has a lot of fondness for high altitudes and rugged terrain.
DISLIKES
- Failure. She needs success and glory almost as much as she needs water and oxygen. Already, she's fallen so hard from grace. She has to do everything she can to redeem herself and cannot afford more loss.
- Weakness, in others and especially in herself. The weak are prey and worthy only of her disdain. She is most disgusted by her own moments of weakness, an affront to her pride and a disgrace to her proud bloodline.
- Boring wolves. To Nyx, a serious, taciturn wolf isn't necessarily a boring one — in fact, she quite likes these types of wolves, for they tend to let their actions do the talking. What makes a wolf boring is a lack of action, being too predictable, saying and doing nothing of value, to be all talk and no bite.
- A lack of conviction in what one does and believes. Wishy-washy types that can't seem to stick to anything.
- Authority figures, except in the rare instances where it is one that has earned her respect personally. While she will offer basic respect in another wolf's domain, she is not beholden to anyone's command. It's often she clashes with wolves in authority, as they typically expect obedience and submission, but Nyx submits to no one. She regards all wolves the same way, with her head high and looking them right in the eye. What can she say? It was how her mother raised her.
- Arrogance and self-righteousness. There is a word in Nyx's language, "hybris" — this is the one thing she cannot stand, especially when in defiance of the Gods.
- Hot weather. The summers back home were tolerable up in the mountains, but unbearable in the lowlands. She always preferred autumn and winter, though she is not well-accustomed to heavy snows and frigid temperatures.
- Liars, thieves, users, and cheaters, but only really when they try to pull one on her.
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Neutral.
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Scorpio Sun, Leo Rising, Leo Moon.
TEMPERAMENT: Choleric.
MYER-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR: INFJ.
PLAYLIST
Females
Undecided
- Born in a faraway land known as Hellas, a very mountainous territory close to the sea — though her home state was deep inland, in the mountains and woods, so she has never smelled the salty ocean breeze or felt white sand beneath her paws.
- Her state was known as Orphne, named in honor of the hero-poet Orpheus, from whom the royal clan (the Orpheides) claim descent. The hero was said to be the son of the god Apollon, and so his descendants too claim divine heritage. Demigods, they are said to be; paragons of arete, excellence and virtue. Each member of the clan had certain traits in common: their pelts were always black as night, their eyes always a shade of clear grey or blue (thought to be reflective of their divinity, for many of the Gods were described as having eyes this color), they always stood a bit taller than most wolves, and they were all considered beautiful and highly talented individuals.
- Naturally, they were followers of Orphism, the religious offshoot from Hellenism based upon the legends and teachings told by Orpheus. As a result, Nyx reveres all Hellenic gods but especially reveres Zagreus and his current incarnation Dionysos, regarding the two as one and believing him to embody the essence of life and lupine nature. Secondarily, she worships the twins Artemis and Apollon, Athena, and Phanes (the Orphic name for Eros), in rough order of priority.
- The basileus, or king, of Orphne at this time was Aidoneus. When his daughter, Nemesis, came of age, Aidoneus saw fit to arrange a mating for her. He selected the high-ranking hierophant Zelos Drakonides, who was the son of his trusted advisor. He saw Zelos as a strong, cunning, and handsome man worthy of their blood, and so Nemesis was made to bear a litter by him.
- That spring, she birthed a healthy litter of four: Rhadamanthys, Teuthras, Nikomachos, and Nyx. Nyx was the last born and the only daughter, and as a result she didn't receive much attention at birth. Her father passed right over her, caring only for his sons, never acknowledging her for even a moment, even if she was a strong and healthy cub. Aidoneus chose Rhadamanthys to be the diadochos, the heir after Nemesis.
- When Nyx was still very young, Nemesis challenged Aidoneus to a duel for the throne — it was shocking, but not something unheard of, and Aidoneus accepted the challenge. The fight took place at midnight before the entire pack. To her, in that battle, Aidoneus was not her father or mentor, but an obstacle standing in the way of her goals. To fulfill her destiny, she must slay him and slay him she did.
Nyx still recalls the sight of her mother with blood spilled down her face, teeth half-bared and stained red, breathing heavily and standing on top of her grandfather's body. She remembers the way she glared down at the crowd that looked on in stunned silence, before they began to hail her as their new ruler. Perhaps, if she were an outsider, she would have been met with more resistance, but as a member of clan Orpheides, it was her right to challenge her elder.
Shortly after that night, Nemesis took Nyx under her wing, deeming her the new diadochos and dedicating all her attention to her. She remained distant with her sons, for the most part.
- Nemesis provided Nyx with all the education and training she was given as a child and pushed her hard from an early age, teaching her the techniques to fight and hunt before her killing teeth had properly come in yet, and educating her in their religion and history as soon as she was old enough to grasp this knowledge. She was made to study and learn poetry and song to enrich her mind and heart, and tutored in English by the most fluent wolf in their state. Nyx took to it all very well, being such an eager child with a thirst for knowledge, though she couldn't stand English. But her mother forced her to learn, for it was necessary for a ruler to know these days.
- As Nyx spent the majority of her time with her mother and mentors, she had a rather distant relationship with her brothers and especially her father. Nyx still associated with and had some bond with Rhadamanthys, and the two would get along very well whenever they had the opportunity to spend time, but her relationship with Teuthras was always strained and she tended to pick on Nikomachos more than anything else (which was to Teuthras's ire, as he was always so protective of his weaker younger brother).
Zelos had no interest in Nyx from day one, for she was a daughter and thus unworthy of his time. Unfortunately, his patriarchal worldview was not at all unique to him, but something ingrained into their culture, as Nyx would grow to understand. So Nyx continued to have no association with Zelos and always held a resentment for him, and she knew her mother hated him too, very deeply, and would say he was an evil son of a bitch and to stay far away from him. She said he was the kind of man who may wear a smile and look friendly, but that one should never judge a mountain for its face. Look deeper and trust your instincts, Nemesis would advise.
Not one to doubt her mother's judgement and having felt the man's dark aura for herself, Nyx would avoid him.
- Nyx didn't have much of a normal childhood as a result. It was all work and very little play, which was maddening to the cub. As a result, she ended up finding a lot of her thrills and enjoyment out of learning to fight and hunt, the only real release she got to have, the only break she had from lessons on how to be a monarch and the legacies of all the wolves whose pawsteps she must follow and philosophy... she came to appreciate these lessons much more as she would grow.
But it all brought her extremely close to her mother, who she would spend the majority of her time with, who she would cuddle near during the nights, who would teach her so many things that stuck with her on a more personal level than tales of glory and conquest. Nemesis was the strongest wolf she knew with such a commanding presence. She was harsh yet calm and rational, a no-nonsense type of woman. While she was strict, she was always honest with Nyx and tried to be fair with her, and tried to show her love even if it did not come naturally to her. Nyx admired her more than anyone.
- At just six months, Nyx was already hunting with the help of her mother and packmates. Not long after her first hunt, Nemesis took her with her on a patrol, like she usually did. They happened upon a trespasser with malicious intent. Normally, Nemesis would dispatch them herself, but this time, she expected Nyx to join the fight. So she did.
It was the first time she tasted a wolf's blood that was not her own. They brought the wolf to his knees together, and Nemesis commanded her young daughter to finish him off. She hesitated at first, and hesitated again as she clamped her jaws around the wolf's throat, but she did it. She felt deeply disturbed when she looked to the body at her feet, hardly able to grasp what she had done, but her mother praised her for it and told her not to feel sorry for him. It was the natural consequence of his actions. His own foolishness, his own arrogance is what led him to his fate. It is their role to punish wolves like these, to hunt them and send them to the next life.
"If he was this weak, to die at the jaws of a cub, he was not meant for this world anyway," her mother had told her then.
- By the time most wolves were just beginning to hunt on their own, Nyx was already a scrappy young thing, capable of keeping up with the lower ranking hoplites in the army, and was regularly patrolling the territory. She learned more of the politics, the conflict her state has been in with the Pyrrhic Empire for the past few years now. The Empire had the aim of taking over Orphne, for the land was very secure and plentiful, with the mountains providing them with safety and high ground.
The rulers of Orphne were not ones to simply sit on the throne and do nothing. They were active leaders, who joined in the battles for their people and their state. So Nyx would fight, just like her mother would, and she learned very much about combat, how to command an army, how to strategize, and how to plan for the next battle, though the fighting tended to make her more violent than what the other cubs were used to.
- It was the beginning of Nyx's first winter. She was already taller than most of the other wolves, but still with the lanky figure of a youth, and already taken more life than the average wolf, who grew up not the successor to a wartorn land. She was still not quite yet an adolescent, but she was never a child anyway and could never remember a time she was truly innocent and carefree. She always lived in the shadow of her legacy, always needing to prepare for the day she would rule this state, always knowing that day could come at any time.
Late at night, she was with her mother, and her mother revealed to her a lot of hard truths about this world. "Do you remember your grandfather?" Nemesis had led with, knowing Nyx was very young still when he died. But Nyx remembered him well, for his death was one of the most vivid of her early memories. It was time now, for Nemesis to explain why her actions were necessary.
The more Nemesis spoke, the more Nyx was convinced it was the right thing to do, that it was what had to be done. Nemesis described his death as a necessary means to an end. This state needed change and reform and Nemesis knew exactly how things needed to change, how to break free from the chains imposed on her and her fellow woman, how to make things better. Nemesis did not hate Aidoneus, though the childhood he had given her was harder than anything Nyx had known and he never really did show his daughter love, but she admitted it was much easier to do what needed to be done, for it was he who set her up with Zelos while disregarding her protests and discomfort.
He believed and insisted she and Zelos would come to love each other, but that was never the case. Instead, Zelos forced himself on her during her first heat and she had no choice but to bear his cubs, when she had never wanted motherhood especially not at such a young age. This is why Nemesis hated him, and why she always warned Nyx to stay away. Aidoneus never came to know the truth and surely this was never what he wanted for his daughter, but... with the role he played in this, Nemesis couldn't trust that he'd believe her or defend her honor.
She never really loved or believed in her father the same after that, and so she could kill him with little remorse. The only reason she didn't take out Zelos too is because it's a lot harder to cover up two murders than one and the death of Aidoneus would benefit her more.
It was all so much to take in for the young Nyx and she almost couldn't believe it at first but Nemesis never once lied to her about anything. She was always so honest, brutally so, and never shielded her daughter from the harsh reality. That night, Nemesis had even told Nyx that one day, she may come to kill her too... it was unthinkable. Nyx could never imagine taking her own fangs to Nemesis with killing intent.
Is it true the ends justify the means? If Nemesis had never done this, Nyx can't imagine what her life would have been like, or a life where the women were only valued as wives and mothers and huntresses, with a few serving as priestesses of Artemis. The more Nyx thought about it, the more she decided her mother was right to do what she did, the more she adopted this mindset.
Nemesis told her that it was fate things worked out this way, anyway.
- It was a stormy summer, her first since reaching adulthood and showing herself to have grown into a fine successor to the throne. Just as it seemed Orphne would be able to fend off the Pyrrhic Empire and push them back for good, the Empire set up an ambush as Orphne launched its next assault, almost as if they knew they were coming, and sent their soldiers in to storm Orphne. Dozens of wolves were killed on each side, including Nyx's brother Nikomachos and her beloved mentor.
But the worst loss was the capture of her mother. Nemesis was defeated as she was swarmed by a quartet of warriors, including the general of the Pyrrhic army. They would not kill her on the spot, but subdue her and drag her away by force so that they could execute her before their Emperor. Just like that, Orphne was conquered, its proud dynasty taken down with Nyx utterly powerless to do anything about it.
- The land was quickly placed under new rule, and Orphne was no longer the state it once was. Nyx's people were subsumed into the rest of the Empire, no longer an independent domain. But as a state within the Empire, it needed rulership, someone to watch over the populace and report to those higher above. They selected Zelos, instead of bringing in one of their own — on the surface, it seemed like a logical choice, to put in charge a wolf the population already had faith in, but something seemed very, very wrong to Nyx, stirring a terrible feeling in her gut that she couldn't shake.
She knew he had something to do with her pack's downfall.
- Nyx confronted Zelos in the autumn with every intention of killing and overthrowing him and taking back rulership of the land that was supposed to be hers, acting on impulse and without much of a solid plan. She called him a traitor and he played dumb initially, but as she didn't relent, he admitted his hand in the final battle between Orphne and the Pyrrhic Empire.
In his eyes, the Empire was bound to wind this conflict eventually. They were bigger than Orphne and had more resources. Perhaps Orphne trained its warriors better, but their people did not have all of the backups and allies the Empire did. The difference was apparent just in the lifestyles wolves of each faction lived: every man in Orphne had to serve and fight, and now even the women fight, and sometimes even children. They had to train hard and brutally day in and day out and keep a constant, vigilant eye out, even the normal commoners.
But in the Empire, not every wolf had to fight and most lived peacefully, in fact. Some weren't even aware there was any fighting going on at all. With his role as a hierophant and a diplomat, he'd travel out and see these things and that was how he knew the Empire had a massive advantage. Perhaps Orphne could have fought them off long enough that the Empire decided it was no longer worth it, but he couldn't deny the likelihood of the Pyrrhic Empire taking over.
In that case, he might as well ensure a good place for himself and, by proxy, his sons. And so he cut a deal with the Empire. Information and assistance, in exchange for allowing him the role of Baron. Nyx would not hear any more of it and in a rage, launched herself at him, jaws aimed right for his face. She tore his muzzle wide open, the blood flowing out like a river, and so their violent struggle began. Zelos was old and past his prime and was not a warrior for years, while Nyx was young, strong, and forged in the flames of battle. He did not stand a chance, but the Pyrrhic Empire did not recognize the old ways.
She sat on the throne peacefully for just two weeks, gathered up her wolves and killed each one of the Empire's generals stationed in her land. However, she knew that would not be the end of it. Her reign came to a swift end when the Empire came to check on its new territory, for it was odd they'd received no messages over the past fortnight.
Orphne will not be conquered, she said, and its rule belongs to the Orpheides. This was her domain. Her birthright. They will not take away her people's freedom.
She and her wolves slaughtered most of those who'd come to check in, but a few escaped. They returned home and returned in a few days with a militia. Her forces were still weakened immensely from the recent war, and so they barely stood a chance. They captured Nyx, with intentions of putting her on trial.
However, she managed to escape before they could bring her to their capital.
- She'd lost it all. She was once a prince, then a queen, and now a complete and utter failure. Ashamed and sorrowful and left without purpose, she considered killing herself but could not bring herself to it, thinking it even more shameful and a coward's way to deal with the hand the Fates dealt to her. Such a thing was wrong to do, unless it was willed by the Gods.
So she turned away from the cliff's ledge and set out on her journey. There had to be some reason she was cast away like this. The Gods had to have had a plan for her. She just needs to figure out what it is.
Sired by Nemesis Orpheides, the dark, powerful, and ruthless queen whose footsteps she had hoped to follow, and Zelos Drakonides, a traitorous bastard unworthy of the title "father".
Was born with three brothers: Rhadamanthys, Teuthras, and Nikomachos.
Single.
Never.
Aidoneus Orpheides was her grandfather, the father of Nemesis.
