Nuni

**Nuni** is a polar bear. She was a high-ranking general for the natural side during the Age of War, leading a major stronghold, and was a formidable warrior. She died on the final day of the Great Battle.

## Appearance

Nuni is a large polar bear. Her fur is varying shades of light blue-gray. Her nose, paw pads, and eye markings are darker blue. Her left ear is scarred and torn. The fur on her face and shoulders are stained with enemy blood in a warpaint-like pattern.

## Personality

Nuni is unemotional and gruff. She is a strong fighter, and she kills magical soldiers mercilessly. She takes no joy in battle, simply seeing it as something she must do. She is fueled by a deep sense of loyalty to her companions, as well as a desire to avenge her murdered child.

## History

### Early Life & Battles

Nuni was born on Summer 29, y2264, about halfway through the Age of War. She grew up in a family of warriors, and began battle training at a young age. She was eager to join the war force herself, to prove her merit to a community where strength in battle defined a creature's worth.

She fought in her first battle in y2271, when she was seven years old. Despite her training, experience was not on her side, and she found herself lost and overwhelmed. During the battle, she received a strong blow to the left side of her head, disorienting her further and permanently shredding her ear. A fellow natural soldier came to her aid to defend her from the enemy, but was killed in the ensuing fight. Nuni, frightened and ashamed, retreated to the natural stronghold where she had grown up. It took several seasons for her head injury to heal fully, and she became permanently deaf in her left ear.

### Love & Loss

Nuni did not stray far from the stronghold for the next few years, still reeling from her disastrous first battle, and blaming herself for her fellow soldier's death. She did what she could to help the war effort from within the camp, gathering food and assisting the injured. During those years, she became closer to one of the medics, a grizzly bear named Bakar. They eventually became partners, and in y2276, they had a child together, a son which they named Viku.

In y2278, the stronghold in which Nuni lived was raided by magical soldiers. She was out of the camp at the time, gathering food; by the time she heard the news and rushed back to the stronghold, the magical creatures had been driven back out, but dozens of natural creatures lay dead. Among them was Viku, barely a year and a half old. Destroyed by grief, she remained with his body for the rest of the day and then overnight. In the morning, she cut all ties with Bakar, rejoined the natural army, and set off with the next group heading to battle. She made her first kill in that fight, taking down a young arctic gryphon without even a moment's hesitation.

### The Heart of a Warrior

Over the next few years, she would become one of her stronghold's best warriors, participating in every battle she possibly could. She began staining her fur with the blood of the enemies she killed, marking her face and shoulders like war paint, in order to appear even more intimidating to the magical creatures she faced off against. In y2286, the commander of the stronghold was slain in battle, and Nuni was chosen to replace him as the new commander.

In y2296, the Gryphon Mother was reincarnated inside the stronghold, in the form of a deer. Recognizing her as a powerful symbol for the magical side, Nuni chose not to kill her immediately, but locked her up in a small cage and hung it in the center of the camp, where she was given just enough food and water to keep her alive. Just one day before the Mother reached one year of age, at which point she would have regained all her power and her magic, Nuni released her from the cage and executed her, effortlessly snapping her neck. It served as a powerful moment for the natural side of the war, proving their strength and inspiring their soldiers.

### The Great Battle

Nuni continued to fight for more than a decade. In y2310, when she was 46 years old, the Age of War came to a tipping point. The more powerful warriors of both the natural and magical side came together to fight like they had never fought before, and thus, the Great Battle had begun. The battle lasted twelve days; over the course of that time, hundreds of lives were lost, on both sides. On the morning of the twelfth day, Nuni arose early, relishing a rare quiet moment before the battle resumed in earnest. She set off with her patrol soon after, throwing herself back into the thick of things.

In the early afternoon of Winter 59, y2310, she found herself in one-on-one combat against a fire phoenix. It should have been an easy victory for Nuni, but she was ragged and wounded from the day-after-day battle. A moment's loss of concentration was all it took. The phoenix surrounded her in flames and sunk his talons into the back of her neck, which was enough to finally take down the powerful warrior.

The Great Battle ended just hours later with the surrender of the natural side, bringing the Age of War to an end.

## Relationships

### Viku

Viku is Nuni's son. After her disastrous first battle, Nuni began to believe she wasn't good for anything. When Viku was born, she felt as though she had a reason to live again. Although she was never soft or overly gentle with him, she loved him fiercely, and would die for him without hesitation. When Viku died, Nuni considered it yet another personal failure of her own. She vowed to spend the rest of her life trying to wipe out the magical species entirely.

### Bakar

Bakar was one of the medics in the stronghold at the time Nuni sustained her head injury. Over the seasons that it took for her to heal, the two spent much time together, and even after she was healed they felt drawn to each other. They were partners for four years, from y2274 to y2278. After the death of their son, Nuni wanted nothing to do with him; as he had been in the camp during the attack, she believed he could have done something to protect Viku.

### The Gryphon Mother

As the source of all magic on the planet, the Mother is considered by most natural soldiers to be their greatest enemy, and Nuni is no exception. Although she rarely took joy in battles or killing, seeing them as a necessary evil for the good of Ankou, Nuni did delight in capturing and killing the Mother during the year she was in the stronghold.