𝓢𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓸𝓶𝓪 𝓢𝓮𝓷
Giving Tree Cub ✽ November 2022
Sangoma Sen lives alone in a cave overlooking the sea. The entrance is adorned with chimes made of driftwood and animal bones. They rattle over your shoulders as you step inside. You find her lying elegantly in the centre, staring at the entrance as if she was expecting you. "Welcome," she says in a lightly accented voice. "What can Sangoma Sen do for you?"
Sen's strange accent and unusual garments make it clear that she's not from the Acropolis. She was found washed up on the beach as an adolescent. She had no memory of how she'd ended up there, or where she'd come from before that.
Anais, the young scavenger who found her, brought her in to the Sanctuary, hoping Chryseis and Marie could help her.
That night, while Sen lay in her makeshift nest, something strange happened. Gold light streamed out of her eyes like fire from the mouth of a cave. Her whiskers quivered like a huntress sensing the prickle of prey moving through the grass. When she opened her mouth, smoke billowed out, and the words she spoke seemed to come from a multitude of voices:
"The hunter-queen breathes light like the sun, and your kingdom grows around her. But all fires burn out eventually. Beware the long winter, Lady Banquo."
That night, on the other side of the Acropolis, the elderly huntress Sloe gave birth to a cub with piebald markings, like fallen snow across her back.
Marie and Chryseis were deeply shaken by Sen's words, and in their panic, they brought her to the Philosopher Dawn. Dawn, too, was perplexed by Sen's strange talents. After consulting with Banquo, they decided to bring her to Sangoma Tefnut to seek her help. Recognising Sen's gift of communing with the spirits of the dead, Tefnut took her under her wing and trained her. Now Sen works as a Sangoma for the pride, practising small-time divination and performing rituals for interesting pridemates.
The spirits of the ancestors bless you with perfect fur!
You find Sen carefully watching the ducks in the water. You ask her what she's doing. She tells you that she hunts the best if she knows the behavior of her prey. Smart...but couldn't she take a break? It's been hours!
When you come to say hello, Sangoma Sen runs to you, making sure you look your best today with a few licks on your cheek.
