The Queen of Cats.

Balkis was born to a single mother far from the tribes of her people. She left home at an early age, and, after a brief stint at being hungry, her innate agility and balance winning her a position as dancer and tightrope walker with a travelling circus where her story began.

Along with the Messiah of Hope to be and others, she was drawn into the battle against the forces of darkness, wielding the Frenzystarter, the Sword of Exhiliration. Several encounters with gods troubled her, causing her to question whether there was a place for the gods on Shem, and she eventually left on her own quest to find the answer. Eventually, she came to the conclusion that yes, there was a place, and what the party was doing was right and good.

Then she encountered the goddess of Darkness in the realm of Nightmare and realized that what the party was doing was not enough. She changed, devoting herself to seeking power, Gifts and abilities. The Messiah could handle Avagen, she wanted Deserel. If she could not destroy the goddess herself, she would arm and train the one who would.

Seeking the Sword of Life, she paired briefly with the Last Gaurdian, Ferali in his quest for the Sword of Death. When he fell to a Death Knight's curse, she took up his Sword, Bladefinder, the Sword of Swords, and completed the mission. Those two swords, together with the Ring of Life and the Kusari-Gama of Destruction, Blast, became the center of her personal armory.

She was joined shortly after by Ferali's successor, Django the Bard, who claimed Bladefinder as his own inheritance. He announced his intent to stick with her like glue when she promised it to him after Deserel's death. Eventually Balkis had her own little band, including the Sather, seeking Gifts and other sources of power.

She met the King of Dragons, Ernogemous and his charge, the prophesied hero, and with them led the forces of Hope against Deserel. While the Hero landed the final blow against the goddess, Balkis slew the Webweaver shortly after in his first attempt at ascension.

Battle done, Balkis traded the remains of her arsenal back to the gods, excepting the Sword of Death, the Ring of Life, and Blast, which she kept, and Bladefinder, which she returned to its rightful owner. Thousands of years later, she reclaimed Bladefinder when the Guardians were instrumental in the development and use of nuclear weapons.

With Deserel gone, Balkis turned to hunting other prey - Morags, and other beings of power and evil. Through the agest, she took on any number of personas, though she tended to keep ties to political and world powers, and remained fast friends with Ernogemous.

Notably, in the first Dark Ages, she posed as the Crimson Queen, a faceless Reever rumored to be the spawn of a demon and an evil fairy.

In the Age of Pride, she reclaimed Bladefinder after the Guardians were instrumental in the development and use of nuclear weapons, deeming the line to have become unworthy of the Sword of Swords, and used her prior access to the Sword of Freedom to release the gods once more, starting the Second War of the Gods.

In the Age of Enlightenment she led another party against the god of Hate, Egutu, slaying him herself with the Sword of Death.

In the Age of Miracles she realized that the world had moved past her, and removed the Ring of Life. Her sometimes-lover Jarikir brought her to be one of his consorts in the Summer Country rather than watch her age and die.

In the Age of Destruction, she served as the Bronccour's assassin.

On Second Shem, she discovered a prey more suitable than morags - Shadow-kin. Currently, she is seeking Demonslayer, a legendary Sword powerful enough to readily destroy these creatures. Her quest brought her to the Champion of War, Baeluhk Greniir, exiled to the far planes. Overwhelmed by grief at his banishment, he asked her to try to break the curse on Shem caused by the Father of War. So she returned home. She briefly aided in the Manifestation Wars, then moved back to Shem.

After several thousands of years, she finally succeeded in breaking the curse--after creating her own Empire to do so. She crafted a meritocracy named the Obusingye Empire, and ruled it until she finally managed 1000 years of peace despite the WAR GOD'S Curse. The Age of Empires ended, the Age of Decline began, and Balkis worked for another few hundred years finding a suitable steward to watch over her Empire while she sought out the Champion of War to finish her quest.

She found him united with his family, and it took more time to get him to leave them, but leave them he did--a promise is a promise, afterall--and she, him, his teal drake Moony, and Ernogemous traveled to the realm of Bran, where the bladecasters live. Two types of Brannish people dwell in Bran--bladecasters and artisans. The rest are the typical mix of races, but these two are unique to the realm and dominate it. The artisans are masters of any skills, and bladecasters masters of any weapons. One artisan is a follower of the White Light, the Brannish holy god, and a paladin thereof, as well as a master swordsmith, and he had crafted, after Ages of practice, the sword Shadowslayer, which he gave upon his death to Cailbrinn, the First Bladecaster.

Cailbrinn, having thousands of swords, placed this one in his vault and mostly forgot about it. When Balkis arrived with her allies, he made her the same offer he makes anyone: defeat him in a duel and any sword in his vault is theirs.

Baeluhk, whose presence was required to even get her into Bran, offered to fight the duel for her, but Balkis decline. Ernogemous, her oldest friend, offered as well, but she declined. The Sword would be hers.

In accordance with the rules, each combatant chose a practice sword. A circle was drawn in the sand, and the two faced off. Any abilities the fighter brought to the fight were allowed, but only sword-blows could win them the fight. Any strikes not caused by a sword-blow would disqualify the fighter.

Cailbrinn was impressive, unbeatable. Within seconds, he had knocked Balkis out of the fight--and out cold. She lie abed for three days, during which time both her companions (Moony didn't count) tried and failed against her wishes. Determined, after three days, Balkis recovered enough to begin working on a new plan. She left for a long time, wandering, seeking to improve her sword skill and planning other ways to win the Sword. She returned time and again, with offers and plans, each one failing--no trade, no altered duel, no theft-attempt worked. Finally, she did the last thing anyone would expect:

She, the woman who had broken the WAR GOD's Curse, companion of his disgraced Champion, went to the WAR GOD for a favor. She first came to him with the truth: a weapon of great power was going unused, and this was an affront to his being. The WAR GOD laughed and told her to leave.

Next, she came to him with an offer of exchange--she would find a Gift for him in exchange for the favor, but he refused. He had plenty of people to bring him Gifts.

Third, she offered something unexpected: to bring him back a wife. Intrigued, he agreed to give her the swordskill she needed for the duel, but added that if he did not have a wife within his own criteria by the end of the next Age (at this point the Age of Pillars), he would make her his slave for 1000 years. Disliking this intensely, but confident in her abilities, she accepted.

She returned to Bran and faced Cailbrinn once more, this time with the WAR GOD's own swordskill for the duration of the duel. She easily defeated Cailbrinn, and in doing so, earned the blade Shadowslayer. The weapon, a golden hilt with a blade of pure white light, made the beings of evil fear her even more, and it killed shadow-kin with a single blow in most cases.

She returned to Shem and its surrounding planes, in the year 1112 of the Age of Waves. She had til the year 5000 of the Age of Beasts to find the WAR GOD a wife, and she had evil to hunt...

Stats:

Pro: 20/29 (+3 - Cat's eye, +3 - Bracers, +3 - Pin)

->React: 23/32 (+3 - Cat's eye, +3 - Bracers, +3 - Pin)

->Unarmed: 22/31 (+3 - Cat's eye, +3 - Bracers, +3 - Pin)

->Sword: 22/36 (+3 - Cat's eye, +3 - Bracers, +3 - Pin, +5 ring)

->Kusarigama: 22/31 (+3 - Cat's eye, +3 - Bracers, +3 - Pin)

->Bow: 16

Str: 20/29 (+6 - Potable!, +3 - Bracers)

->Weight: 14

->Cause damage (claw): 49 (+20/+20 Dragon Blessing, +6 - Potable!, +3 - Bracers)

->Cause damage (Bladefinder Base): 42 (+ 13 - Sword, +6 - Potable!, +3 - Bracers)

->Toughness: 20/38 (+9 - Ash White Ash Blue Leather Armor, +6 - Potable!, +3 - Bracers)

Ath: 25/28 (+3 - Cat's Eye Pendant)

Awa: 21/31 (+7 - Thought, +3 Bracers)

->Perception: 24/34 (+7 - Thought, +3 Bracers)

->Destiny Sight: 25/35 (+7 - Thought, +3 Bracers)

->True Sight: 25/35 (+7 - Thought, +3 Bracers)

->Name Sense: 25/35 (+7 - Thought, +3 Bracers)

Wil: 23/29 (+6 - Potable!)

-> Resist Control: 25/31 (+6 - Potable!)

Rogue: 20/28 (+5 - Cloak, +3, Bracers)

-> Escape: 23/31 (+5 - Cloak, +3, Bracers)

-> Slight of Hand: 22/30 (+5 - Cloak, +3, Bracers)

-> Sneak/Hide: 22/30 (+5 - Cloak, +3, Bracers)

-> Fast Talk: 20/31 (+5 - Cloak, +3, Bracers, +3 Note)

-> Read People: 20/31 (+5 - Cloak, +3, Bracers, +3 Note)

-> Sense mystery: 25/33 (+5 - Cloak, +3, Bracers)

Faiths: (+7 - Bracelets)

Fauna: 25

Luck: 9

Dream: 9

Hope: 7

Knowledge: 7

Healing: 6

Dragon: 9

Death: 3

War: 7

Light: 6

Water: 6

Weather: 6

Music: 7

Creation: 7

Silence: 7

Truth: 6

Fate: 6

Vision: 6

Travel: 7

Change: 4

Balance: 3

Skills:

Lores:

Morag Lore 22

Echo Lore 17

Magic (Soul):

Meta: 20

Fauna: 19

Home: 15

War: 15

Dream: 17

Cosmos: 14

Moon: 14

Change: 19

Knowledge: 15

Celebration: 17

Healing: 15

Vision: 15

Sun: 14

Earth: 17

Luck: 16

Life: 16

Edges:

Night Vision, Luck, Ambidextrous, Dragon Friend, Faerie Friend

Powers:

Evolving Gift Lore

Cosmic Survival

Dream Walking

Water Breathing

Fire Form

Control Resistance

Name Sense

Awesome Presence (at will)

Creative Force (Greater, at will)

Teleport (at will)

Sense mysteries

Tiger's Strength

Quick Healing

Soul Magic

Detect Poison

True Sight

No Skill Erosion

Destiny Sight

Combat Analysis

Dragon Claw

Impervious Soul

Primary Items:

Magic:

Charm bracelets, each with a set of ancient silver holy symbols

Flute of Perfect Pitch

Durable Bow

Kusari Gama (Command and Bind)

Faery Necklace

Dragon King's Necklace

Eternal Chrysanthemum

Flag of The Crimson Queen - Jet black, burns on command

Newer Items:

Ash White Ash Blue Leather Armor (+9/+9)

Orang Pendak Cloak (+5 Rogue)

Cat's Eye Pendant (+3 Prowess, +3 Athleticism for felinians)

Swordsman's Championship Ring (+5 Sword skill)

Thought in a Bottle (+7 Awareness)

Ernie's Potent Potable (+6 Will power, +6 Strength)

Liar's Note (+3 Fast talk, +3 Read people)

Tara'hinian Bracers (+3 Strength, +3 Rogue, +3 Awareness, +3 Prowess)

Demonslayer Pin (+3 Prowess, Holy)

Gifts:

Sword of Swords ("Bladefinder") - Bound and Perma-mastered(+13/+13 in base form)

Shadowslayer (+30/+30 vs evil)

Ring of Longevity

Sword of Death (Instant Kill)

Kusari-Gama of Destruction ("Blast") (+12/+12 in base form)

Logs:

Balkis and the Thorn of Thorns

Note: the WAR GOD's criteria for a wife:

She must be from Shem or of its planar surrounds

She must be uncowed by his presence

She must be fecund

She must be unaligned to his enemies, of which there are many

She must be a natural creation

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[---Pages: Main | Characters | Regions | Keys | Outline---]

[---Character: Sidney Bronccour | Elliott Bumfuzzle | Balkis Windsong | Omar Windkin | Paralaxyl | Kateri Riverwalker | Takhuk Grendaar | Klaus Reidelene | Edela | Rakesh Aun | Blake Guidry | Lydia the Left Handed | Tahir Windkin | Rook Ap Hywel D' Asheria Theros Balthasar du Merukisi | Zada Soshi | Murakami Saito | Mora Lilac | Avagen | Saratan Anatul | Arizan Anatul | Sallanan Anatul | Ettuttu | Asprocious Caldonum | Virgil Simon | Faustus Simon | Theodore Salvatore | Rochar the Red | John Wilder | Dmitri Molotov | Ferali | Django the Bard | Kre'en Tann | Ashli Cohoe | Patrick Armour | Ernogemous | Hutyra | Camarian Illaria | Carnalia Alaine | Trevor Dworykin | Wort & Boyle | Chomalien Garandaar | Quothram Wayfoot | Garris ibn Tara'hin | Evernus Spire | Azoth Grendol | Amon Aluar | Vanhulle Dziuk | Gavin Escribar | Geoffrey Allut | Darwin Llanowar---]