Nephthys Nightshade

By --Thunder Bolt--

• July 30, 2013




Age: 14 - 18, depending on the RP

Gender: Female

Species: Pegasus

Cutie Mark: Nephthys' cutie mark is a pony skull that, on closer inspection, appears to be elaborately carved. In the bat pony city of Evernight, when a pony dies, their corpse is placed in a crypt in the Necropolis, where scavenger insects and other small creatures from the deep-cave ecosystem are allowed to feed on it while it decomposes. Six months later, the skull is brought to a Skull-Carver, who has spent the intervening time talking with the family and friends of the deceased, helping them through their grieving process and hearing their stories about the deceased. The carver then spends the next six months carving the skull with magical sigils and images or symbols pointing to key moments of the deceased's life. On their first Deathday, the skull is publicly presented in a funeral procession that is at once sad and joyful, a celebration of their life and death. The skull is then placed in a shrine carved from the living rock of the Pillars of Memory, a "forest" of joined stalagtite-stalagmite pillars that is sacred to the bat ponies. Family members are expected to regularly bring offerings of perfume, chocolate, and other sensory treats, as well as stories of how the family is getting along. The Skull-Carver or a specialist medium might also be asked to allow the revered ancestors to speak through them. Skull-Carvers also have a prominent role in dealing with curses, hauntings, and other "issues" between the living and the dead. It is a highly-regarded profession in Evernight.

Personality: Nightshade is driven and ambitious. Whatever she sets out to do, she pours her whole self into, sometimes pushing herself too hard or unintentionally stepping on hooves in the pursuit of her goals. She cares deeply for her Swarm and her friends, even though restlessness and impatience can make her seem to pull away. She can be proud at times, though it manifests as a taciturn aloofness rather than boasting and show-off displays. Underneath that exterior though, she is fiery and passionate.

Backstory: Nephthys Nightshade was born into the Starchaser Swarm, a clan of bat ponies living in city of Evernight, deep within the Caverns of Amun-Ta, "the Hidden Land." She was given "Nightshade" as her birth-name by her biological parents, and raised by the Swarm as a whole with their other foals. Once she had completed her basic education, it was time for her to begin her Moon Flight, a young bat pony's quest to discover her or his true self and become Marked.<br /><br />Nightshade poured herself into the task with drive and determination, resolved to "make her Mark" (the bat pony idiom, intended to convey the connotation of self-creation along with that of having an effect on society) and begin her life's profession *right away.* She tried one thing after another, pushing herself to develop as much skill as she could. She enjoyed poetry, and flying sports, singing and ceremony, but no Mark. Impatience and frustration grew.<br /><br />It came to her in a moment of serendipity. Uoset Shadowveil, one of her friends, had lost her pet bat during a nightly Flight. Night after night she searched for him, to no avail. Then one day, she found a bat skeleton wearing the leg-ring she'd made for him. The skeleton had a broken wing, and was lying in a pile in a cleft in the limestone, where he had died trying to crawl back into the cave, to Uoset. In tears, she buried the bones except for the leg-ring and the skull, which she carried back with her.<br /><br />Nightshade found her crying, and tried to console her by talking about the good times and love that she and Fleudermaus had shared together. To relieve her friend's guilt, she reminded her that Fleudermaus died trying to get back to her because he knew that he was loved. That she did not find him, nor he her, was no one's fault.<br /><br />Uoset wanted his skull carved, but she was afraid to approach the Skull-Carver. "I will do it," Nightshade said. She had already tried studying the Skull-Carver's art during her Moon Flight, but it was the one vocation she didn't put her heart into. One did not become a Skull-Carver upon receiving the Mark. It took *years* of apprenticeship under a master before one would be allowed to set tools to the skull of somepony's loved one, and Nightshade was anxious to "make her Mark" in the world as soon as possible.<br /><br />But for Fleudermaus and her friend, she poured herself into the task. Skull-Candy, the master Skull-Carver gave her the occasional knowing look when she came back to his workshop to "innocently" ask him questions about symbolism, sigils, or bone-carving technique, but he taught her what she wanted to know.<br /><br />Finally, her work was complete, and she presented Uoset with the delicately-carved skull of her beloved pet. Uoset burst out with tears of bittersweet joy and gratitude. As she hugged her friend, Nightshade's cutie mark appeared.<br /><br />"But...no...I *can't* be a Skull-Carver! That takes *forever!* Nightshade protested. Now *she* was the one afraid to approach Skull-Candy. With her friend's encouragement, she finally did. Skull-Candy asked to see "what she's been working on these last few weeks." Presented with Fleudermaus' skull, Skull-Candy performed the proper rituals, and told Uoset to keep it with her so that one day Fleudermaus could accompany her on her own journey to the Pillars of Memory. He then gave Nightshade her Life-Name, "Nepththys," and took her as an apprentice.<br /><br />Nightshade poured herself into her studies with her characteristic drive and determination, but there was always a part of her that struggled, that wanted to pull away from the Skull-Carver's life, or press Skull-Candy to just hurry UP already, and let her get started. <br /><br />When she was old enough, Skull-Candy presented her with an adventurer's saddlebags and gear for her birthday. "But...what...are you sending me away? I'll try harder, I promise!" Nightshade said. Skull-Candy shook his head.<br /><br />"You cannot be ready to guide spirits and the loved ones they leave behind through the journey of death until you have truly experienced life. You must know its joys and sorrows, loves and losses for yourself, or you are in no position to accompany others through the paths of grief. It is life itself that pulls you away from me. Go now, follow its lead, until it pulls you back."<br /><br />And so, Nephthys Nightshade set out in search of adventure, in search of life.