Lunati is small mouse with blue speckled spots, white fur, and a pair of butterfly wings. She grew up on the mainland Isle of Zephyr, far below the floating islands of Nimbaterra. Her family belongs to a minor Noble house in the Courts of the Fae, with Lunati being first in line to become the next Baroness of her family's lands.

Growing up, her family ran her through many tutors, lectures, and classes in etiquette so she could learn to be a proper Baroness when the time came. She was taught the ways of intrigue, politics and how to avoid assassination attempts. Lunati's education consisted of extensive schooling and she remained diligent in all of her studies. She loved socializing and making new friends, but few stuck around for very long. While friends came and went, a white ermine named Cassandra remained by her side longer than anyone else. The two shared all the secrets and stories they had over the years and their bond grew stronger with each passing day.

Cassandra endured bullying and abuse from her peers over her appearance, hobbies and whatever else her assailants could find to humiliate her. Lunati, greatly troubled by this, would walk her friend home from school as often as she could. On the days she was absent, Cassandra had to fend for herself. Cassandra didn't want to fight, she just wanted to be on her way and arrive home safely.

Pressure mounted as family piled more and more responsibilities on Lunati, along with decisions affecting minor games between the Houses of the Fae. The stress from her noble duties bled into the rest of her life. She shared her stories with Cassandra, who grew protective as the years passed. Cassandra saw Lunati as her safety net, the only one who would never let harm come to her. She followed Lunati around like a little lost puppy.

Eventually, Lunati's family began introducing her to potential suitors. Her family wanted her to marry for useful political connections, to continue the family name and strengthen the bond between the House of the Fae and other nobility. A long trail of lords and ladies formed, trying to win Lunati's favor. She turned all of them down, having neither the patience nor desire for romance at this time. Nobody had any connection to her and any marriage with another noble would end up shallow and loveless. With all her free time swallowed by family obligations, dread began gnawing away at her. Lunati knew she would have to make a decision eventually.

Lunati was frustrated, unsure of what to do. In all of this horrible madness, she turned to her best friend. Cassandra, hurt that Lunati wasn't in her life as often as before, snapped at her. She was troubled enough by her own pain and felt as though Lunati had abandoned her. Cassandra could no longer sympathize with her friend. They never walked home anymore, they rarely talked, and Lunati was spending all of her time on this stupid courting. Cassandra told Lunati to stuff all of this noble nonsense, spend more time with her, because none of it mattered at the end of the day. They argued, and Lunati was driven to tears. Her heart broke as she was pushed away by her best friend.

Left isolated by her stress, Lunati became reclusive and stopped talking to family and friends entirely. Each day passed in silence. She spoke just enough to answer her teachers and finish her studies. Family continued to press her, until one day, after her studies were complete, she packed her belongings and left home late at night. On her travels, she wandered into a tavern on a whim and decided to stay the night.

In the beginning of time, there was a great war between three dieties. The goddess of wind, Aria, who rules over all the birds of the sky, the hermaphrodite goddess of shadow, Maura, who created cats and other nocturnal predators, and the jealous, chaotic god of the ninth moon, Sethos. Maura fell madly in love with Aria, who was so beautiful to Maura that she made a tiger with fur as soft and white as clouds. This would introduce the genes for white or snow tigers. Sethos saw this and grew mad with jealousy, as he had always desired Aria for himself. His rage was the catalyst for entropy, which would slowly tear the universe apart. As a final blow to Maura, Sethos put a curse on her children, that they would never be satisfied, and would be as jealous as he was. They fought to the death, warring for millenia, and as they evolved they became brutal and bloodthirsty, killing for pleasure.

Aria saw this darkness in Maura's children and rejected her love. The cats of the earth grew jealous of the birds, being able to take off and fly away from them. Maura's heart was broken by this outcome. She had no knowledge that this was the work of Sethos, and slowly went insane mulling over what had gone wrong.

In her despair, she caught Aria alone one evening while Aria was forming clouds to send down to earth. Maura, still mad with lust for Aria, forced herself onto the wind goddess. Aria was impregnated with Maura's child. This child was Eurus, the first gryphon, a hybrid of bird and cat, that would go on to rule the skies. The offspring of Eurus would be loyal allies in combat and sky transport. As a result, Gryphons are typically regarded as a force of goodness and truth. They are a seed of light that had sprouted from despair.

Meanwhile, on the Isle of Zephyr, a biochemist named Sky worked for years to conceive a child. He wanted his offspring to take over his life's work and eventually retire in comfort. Sky specialized in studying mutations, and a select few of his experiments morphed into attempts to produce offspring of his own.

Sky's first successful experiment resulted in the birth of Tacoma. With his genetic material and the ovum of a snow tiger, a viable fetus was produced and it grew. Sky's alterations caused a strange trait to develop in the fetus. DNA identical to that found in gryphons formed independendly in Tacoma's biological blueprint. The fetus grew small feathered wings, and a hidden ability that would not be realized for some years after her birth.

Sky was irritated with the results, and debated whether or not to terminate the project but by this point, Tacoma's development was nearly complete. Sky settled on raising her for a time to see if she could be of any aid to him. This, of course, did not happen. The fiery young tigress had her own desires and skills, and was fascinated more by the world around her than her father's studies. Her ability to shapeshift only further reminded Sky of his failure, and he locked her out of his life as soon as she was old enough to fend for herself.

Tacoma would go on to train herself in combat, the knowledge of natural medicine and biology. She can harness small amounts of elemental energy in her staff, the Starcaller. Tacoma has also had some sword training, but was never particularly adept at it.

As a young adult, Tacoma wandered into a nearby city to find company. There, she met the canine vigilante, Trixie. The two dated for a time, but parted ways after some moral conflicts surfaced. Tacoma, alone and confused, stumbled into a quiet tavern one night. Here, she met the noble mouse, Lunati. The two took immediate solace in each other's companionship. Lunati had just lost her childhood friend Cassandra and Tacoma still hurt from her falling out with Trixie. It became a nightly ritual for the two, meeting up at the tavern and enjoying long conversations about whatever came to mind. In time, they fell madly in love and were inseperable.

Lunati and Tacoma were eventually handfasted and made a life together on the Isle of Zephyr. They spent many peaceful years mastering spellcraft and combat training until the day a horrendous storm ravaged their home. Tacoma was injured when her leg was crushed by falling debris. While keeping Tacoma company and tending to her wounds, Lunati recalled a story she heard as a child about the fabled Isles of Nimbaterra, a series of small, remote islands in the sky. Despite the fresh injury, Tacoma decided to make the journey with Lunati to Nimbaterra at once. The life they had built together laid in ruins around them, and they had absolutely nowhere else to go.

Upon arrival they found many new forms of plant and animal life. Most abundant were the isle's native poppies, which grew like weeds on every isle. Desperate for relief from her painful injury, Tacoma researched the poppies and found they could be harvested for their pain-relieving opium. Tacoma used this medicine to keep her pain under control, but quickly grew dependent on opium. Long after her injury had healed, she struggled to stop taking it. This would complicate her life and strain relationships, but she would overcome it with time.

Meanwhile, as Tacoma recovered, Lunati organized transport to any other friends who had their homes devestated by the storm. Together, they would hire builders to establish new homes on this newly discovered island. A tavern was opened to offer refreshment to builders and laborers. This became "Cloud Nine," a peaceful haven to retire to after a long day's work. Under the guidance of its founders, Cloud Nine would bloom into a popular resort as many travellers came to indulge in good food, alcohol and opium tea from the native poppies.

Together, Lunati and Tacoma would maintain the isles, hiring guards and patrolling for thieves and pillagers. For a time, life was uneventful but this peace would be very short lived. Bouncer Blacktalon was terminated from Cloud Nine on allegations of murder and running an illegal gambling ring on the resort. In response, he formed the Cirrus Cartel, halting the export of opium and denying Lunati's childhood friend, Cassandra, much needed opium for her dying father. This kicked off the chain of events that led to Cassandra going mad, building Zengre and sending these constructs of war to ravage the Isles.

When she awoke she saw a familiar face looking down at her, that of her sister Cassandra.

"How did you get so big?", a small tinny voice came out of her throat, much more high pitched than expected.

"I'm sorry to tell you little sister, that you had a bit of an, accident. I wasn't able to recover most of you," a small pout on her lips passed for a brief moment, and then she continued with a grin, "You did make such a delightful test subject, you even came out fully sentient, at least you aren't a drooling mess."

In a moment of shock she looked down at herself, small paws and a small white ermine body greeted her. Slowly, she glanced up at her sister once more.

"What happened to the rest of me?!" she inquired, a small bit of shock creeping into her voice.

"Oh it's over there, I just used your soul."

She glanced in the direction her sister pointed, and she saw herself, her fur falling off and mottled. Her extremities were turned to a dark blistering black from the cold, and her mouth opened with a ricktus scream.

She balked at the gruesome sight, fear forming in her beady eyes, that glowed with an effervescent sky blue.

"I'm-I'm dead?!", she screamed.

"Not quite," Cassandra replied, with mirthful glee. "You wont die, you wont feel pain. You can exist happily forever as long as you keep yourself repaired. I do hope you paid attention as I led you around my shop, my dear little sister."

"I'm one of your little clockwork weasels?!", Cenia replied with a bit of terror slipping into her voice, the obvious nature of her predicament still sinking in.

"One of my Zengre, yes, although I made sure you were a lovely white matching your former self. It wouldn't do to make you a common brown," she spit out the last words with obvious contempt.

She continued with a slight glee, "Only the best for my little sister, you will help me get what I want, you will help me get revenge on that bitch that stole my love! She was supposed to be mine! She will be mine, and if anyone dies on the way, we can have fun with them still, their screams and pain will be so delightful,"she finished with a dreamy sigh.

Shaken, a tremble of fear in her voice, the tiny ermine replied, "You mean, I can't die again, the cold won't get me? I was lost, I should be dead! I am dead! It hurt and burned and then, it was warm and I fell asleep, I couldn't get out. I was too far from our base camp, and-and-a-" she stammers, and takes a deep breath, calming herself. "How long until you found me?"

"Only a few days before we found that awful frozen corpse in the snow, it took me a couple weeks to make sure I properly trapped your soul, and got you up and running again. You're just running off of a tiny crystal embedded inside of you. It wont break and you wont have to worry about that frail fleshy body again."

The thought sunk in slowly for Cenia as she looked down, and she began to cry.

In the following months, Cenia worked with Cassandra, learning to cope with her fate and how to take care of her new form. Over time Cenia started to build bigger bodies for herself, since she was sick and tired of being small, and for other sentient Zengre that came into the fold.

In turn, Cenia trained others to build small minions, massively accelerating their output.

Cassandra's army continued to grow, raising from merely a handful to dozens of sentient Zengre, and thousands of small woodland creatures.

While leading raids, Cenia gradually grew more and more reckless. Her former bodies laid shattered and broken, yet her small weasel-like mechanical form would crawl out and continue on. Death slowly lost its meaning to her. Anyone who died would simply be raised as a new minion.

"Nobody has to die any more," she thought. "Nobody needs to worry about being hurt. Injured flesh can merely be replaced with superior clockwork. With time, anyone who gave up their flesh could join them, and be free of pain and misery. They could live on with immortality, if they gave up their frail and weak bodies to join the Zengre."

She sat down on a heavy chair, her short dress lifting up over her thigh. She crossed a leg over her knee and opened a small trinket box containing several metal screws and gears. With long, razor sharp claws she delicately plucked out tiny bits that she would be needing for today's project and placed them gently on an oil-stained rag. Once all the required parts were collected, she closed the box and set it down on a shelf full of anatomical figures. Most of the shelves in her factory held creations of her's; slender musteline mechanicals with jointed limbs and mouths. Skulls and bones took up almost as much space on an adjacent shelf; these were trophies of her past victims. If they were of no use in her engineering projects, they could at least make fine decor. They served as reminders, that none would cross her without paying dearly.

As she worked diligently to assemble an assortment of metal parts, screams echoed in her mind. Screams of the ones held beneath her, flayed and shattered as they cried out for mercy. Screams of fear, of others who had caught her in the act and were then swiftly silenced by vice-like mitts, or wire, or a tool off her belt. Screams in her own bed, awakening from nightmares, searing hot pain across her flesh. Screams coming from her very mouth, held down by her hair and beaten into submission by peers larger than her. "Oh c'mon, you can take it," the voice echoed. "You're not fooling anyone, pretty thing." The screams all melded together like toxic waste stirring in her brain. She finished winding a small screw into the back of a mechanical creature that closely resembled a mink. When she was finished, she placed it upright on her workbench.

"You're here," she whispered, "As an extension of myself, my child..." her thoughts trailed off as her pale purple eyes traced the contours of her creation as though she was studying a painting. A horrid thought blew in and out of her mind in a flash, and as she composed herself again to speak, she lifted a red crystal out from the pouch on her belt. She raised it up to the mechanical, red light reflecting across the metallic surface. "You will serve me as your sisters have served me." Her voice was as soft and wispy as her figure, deceivingly slight. An overhead light flickered as she opened a small hatch on the mechanical's shoulder. She lowered the crystal into a precisely measured socket, closed it up and took a few steps back. "You are born into this foul world, an agent of entropy and a reminder to all that I... WILL NOT be betrayed EVER. AGAIN." With the flick of a switch, electricity surges through her construct. A ruby glow emanates from the eyes. Well-oiled joints flex, the mouth gapes. It rears up onto its sturdy spring-loaded tail and, with a pop it lurches upward, gnashing its serrated teeth at the air. Cassandra's eyes shimmer with delight as she studies her creation's movements. Steam seeps out of the nose as it flips and dances wildly, with an eerily fluid movement that is not often seen in mechanicals. She closes her hands together and observes, pleased with the day's work.

"Eight years ago, a then young adult Blacktalon first came to Nimbaterra. Biaggio (also known as Big) is a towering, muscular gryphon male with silvery-black plumage. Judgmental and sharp-tongued, he had a way of sorting folks out. Tacoma was pleased with his seemingly cool demeanor and no-nonsense attitude. After observing him for a month or two, she offered to hire him as a guard. He accepted gracefully and, for a couple years, Big was the best damn guard on the Isles. He went on to train the bulk of bouncers who worked the bar and stage areas of the Cloud Nine resort.

Big's charisma was hard to beat. In no time at all, he'd amassed his own fan club. But, for all his boasting about keeping out undesirables, Big invited just as many to celebrate with him at Cloud Nine. Anything good that happened during Big's time as a bouncer was credited to him, including work he took no part in. Tacoma and Lunati slaved tirelessly behind the scenes to construct new areas, plan events and manage finances, but patrons only saw Big, and Big ultimately received all of the praise.

With just as many enemies as friends, he knew how to get exactly what he wanted from both parties. Big earned a respectable sum of gold and used it to open a gambling ring on the Isles. While the gambling ring helped attract even more visitors to Cloud Nine, fights were quick to break out over accusations of cheating. Big started keeping a shit list with the names of everyone who'd ever crossed him or his crew.

Eventually, two wealthy patrons who had dealings with Big's clan went missing and suspicions arose throughout Nimbaterra. The patrons were never found, but their families hired an investigation on the Isles. This event further tarnished the resort's reputation as guests directed their hostility towards Cloud Nine Management. Tacoma and Lunati were finally receiving credit for something, and it wasn't good.

Tacoma was driven mad with stress over the ordeal and, after a long hearing from patrons and workers, came to the decision to revoke Big's Guardian title. Big was understandably upset but receeded from public sight to continue his gambling ring and assemble what would eventually become the Cirrus Cartel. Tacoma hired her own investigators to make dealings with the Cartel and hopefully gain insight into their affairs. Many more patrons went missing after the discovery of large drug quantities being smuggled out of Cloud Nine. Foul play was clearly afoot.

A high ranking Cartel member soon caught on to Tacoma's spies and threatened her. Aware that the death of owners or any high ranking officials would spell disaster for the Cartel, Big never ordered any violent acts against her. Threats were usually enough to keep her from retaliating. Fearing for her life and those dear to her, Tacoma chose to turn a blind eye to Big and the Cartel. She was deemed cowardly for not attempting to dismantle the Cartel, but, to protect those she cared for, there was no other option.

This internal conflict has caused a great political divide on the Isles of Nimbaterra. A surprising many side with Big and the Cartel for personal gains, and others out of fear. Tacoma's presence at Cloud Nine these days is scant. She continues to plan and build new areas with Lunati and their workers, but has become sheltered and alone in her anxiety."