Lepus

Lepus, or Binky to use her birth name, was a lunihop from the planet Crescentia, and an assistant field researcher with the Order of the Galactic Halo.

She first joined Galactic Halo’s ranks in search of sanctuary, fleeing the expanding menace of their rivals, the Order of the Event Horizon. The order, by then – after many long ages spent seeking the shattered remnants of their fallen goddess, Galaxy – was on its last legs, its ranks thinner than they had ever been before, its glory days well behind it. When Lepus joined the order, it was as a junior researcher. Thanks to her inquisitive mind and keen spirit, though, she was soon appointed to work directly under its then-leader, Cassiopeia.

Together with her leader and mentor, who would also become a close friend, Lepus delved deeply into the lost legends of the starsprites – the supposed favourite companions of Galaxy, who loved her like a mother and were the only ones to speak her language: Chime.

Unfortunately, Lepus’ story came to a sad end during an ill-fated expedition to Izelmyst, during which she and Cassiopeia rediscovered the long-forgotten Temple of the Chime, built long ago by the advanced sorcimur civilisation to house the Celestial Bells. Seeing her in the presence of a starsprite, with her physical description vaguely matching that of the one they sought, the Event Horizon cultists chasing the starsprite there mistook her for Kinoko. When she was unable to demonstrate any power over the starsprites, they tortured her to death.

Personality

Before joining the Order of the Galactic Halo, Binky (as Lepus was then known) was a shy and withdrawn girl possessed of a bright and curious mind. She always excelled in her studies, and she took a particularly keen interest in the study of languages. Alien cultures were also something she found deeply fascinating. However, socialising and making friends did not come easily to Binky, and she was teased often because of her inability to fit in with her peers. Thus, she buried herself in her studies, and found a certain sense of comfort and escapism in learning about faraway, alien worlds.

Even as the Order of the Event Horizon and the forces of darkness ravaged the galaxy, Binky’s own planet was something of a haven. Very little trouble had ever come to Crescentia, and it had almost nothing of interest to Event Horizon, making it about as safe as anywhere in the Milky Way could be – at least for then. As someone who took great interest in faraway worlds, however, Binky was horrified by what she saw happening elsewhere in the galaxy. She became convinced that it was only a matter of time until Event Horizon came for Crescentia, and tried her best to warn those around her, imploring them to look around them and to shore up their planetary defences.

When nobody listened to Binky – and worse, when she was mocked for worrying about things that were happening lightyears away – she decided that she didn’t have to stick around to be conquered and slain by Event Horizon just because everybody else seemed content to. She fled Crescentia, and sought out sanctuary from Event Horizon and the darkness they heralded. After some time spent on the run and off the grid, Binky’s hapless wandering led her to Starlight City: a world of refugees just like her, she felt, whose homes had been destroyed by the menace she feared. It was there, on Starlight City, that she first encountered the Order of the Galactic Halo.

Galactic Halo, at that time, was hanging on by a thread. For thousands of years their members had been hunted down by Event Horizon, and they were all but eradicated. Their leader in these final days was Cassiopeia, under whom they had dropped much of their former religious function, dedicating themselves to research and the retrieval of ancient lore. Nevertheless, they knew more about Event Horizon and the other forces of darkness than anybody, and they were able to offer Binky the sanctuary she had sought. She joined them in a junior researcher capacity, and took on the codename Lepus. She would go by Lepus for the rest of her life.

As a member of Galactic Halo, Lepus came out of her shell and developed into her own. She felt that she had found her people, and she felt understood and appreciated by them in a way that she had never felt understood or appreciated before. She excelled in her work, of course, and became the first in living memory to begin decoding the written form of Chime: the long-forgotten and little-preserved writing system used by the ancient sorcimur to communicate with the starsprites in their own language. With Galactic Halo, Lepus was happy, and although her work was risky and at times perilous, she had never felt more safe.

Eventually, she was appointed to work directly under Cassiopeia in the field. Together, the pair travelled to exotic faraway worlds in order to unravel the mysteries of Galaxy and her strange fate. Even though Cassiopeia was her superior – something Lepus took very seriously, always holding her master in the highest esteem and following her orders to the letter – the two also became firm friends, giving Lepus a taste of something she had never really experienced before.

In particular, Lepus was keenly fascinated in the foretelling of the prophesised Starcaller, or Star Guardian. As legend told it, the Starcaller would be one uniquely gifted in the ability to speak Chime as starsprites do, and like Galaxy herself did in life. Much of Lepus’ final days were spent investigating these legends, and she wondered often who they might be and what they might be like, longing to meet them.

Ultimately, even if Lepus was not always very brave, and even though she possessed absolutely nothing in the way of combat skills, she proved in the end that she was loyal and faithful above all else. Even as she was beaten and tortured to death by Event Horizon cultists, who had mistaken her for the Star Guardian after matching her physical description and witnessing her in the presence of the starsprites, she refused to divulge any of her research, and focused only on ensuring that what she knew would reach Cassiopeia.

Role in Star Heretic

Though Lepus is already deceased prior to the events of Star Heretic, her presence will be felt through Cassiopeia, who remains in mourning. Some of her research and private correspondence, as well as Cassiopeia’s journal entries, will be discoverable and readable.