Bastet

**Bastet**, more commonly referred to as Bast, is the **Egyptian goddess** of felines, lights and femininity. Despite being a younger, third-generation god, Bast has always held high esteem among the Netjer, serving as Ra's "Second Eye" for many centuries. Like the rest of the Netjer, she was supposedly created by **"Mother"**.

## History

### The First Days

Bast awoke during the Third Generation of gods, during the third cycle, which was of course near the end of the First Days. She was found by Nut in the body of a young girl. Bast joined the pantheon but did not serve her current function as a warrior goddess for some time. At this point, she was simply a goddess of cats.

Her one major contribution during this age was fighting Sobek to a standstill in defense of a group of children Sobek was going to eat during one of his wild-phases. Ra then promoted Bast to his Second Eye, serving a function of scout and spy for the sun god.

### Golden Age & Set's Rebellion

Bast, along with the other gods, ruled over humans in the Nile Valley and her consort was appointed as Khonsu. Bast became fond of the humans, especially children, and her cult became surprisingly popular. As Bast was the servant of Ra, cats became holy figures throughout ancient Egypt.

Bast was a proponent of teaching the humans about the knowledge of the gods, but Ra refused, due to the structure of *ma'at*.

After a few cycles, Set became bitter and disillusioned with life as gods and called for a party to honor Osiris. Set betrayed Osiris, beginning Set's Rebellion and the Netjer Civil War. Bast and Khonsu stood by Ra.

Bast was a prominent figure in the Civil War, participating in the most battles second only to Horus. She served as scout and spy, noting enemy movements and relaying the information back to Ra using her cats. Bast fought a number of fierce enemies during this time but her great enemy became the Jackal goddess **Anput**. After several battles, the psychotic Anput nearly killed Khonsu to spite Bast, who literally caught and brutally killed Anput in return. This would cement a long and bitter rivalry between the two goddesses.

After many, many years of war, Isis returned with a resurrected Osiris, who had become a god of death. This turned the tide, allowing them to overpower and capture Set and what remained of his Fallen.

### Apophis

During the reign of Apophis, Bast watched over the human communities, tearing apart any titanspawn who dared come near them. She did not teach the humans anything, but her gentle nature and authority over cats earned her a special place in the hearts of the people.

When Set and his Fallen joined forces with Ra's forces, Bast did not object as she understood the basic necessity of needing every warrior they could to face the Sun-Eater. While she served faithfully and fought with distinction, in the end, Bast was killed before the Final Battle with Apophis when Anput betrayed her and cut off her hand before kicking her into a pit of jackal/scorpion-hybrid-monsters.

Because of this, she was not present for the end of the Reign of Apophis, nor did she witness the mass betrayal of the gods at the hands of the Netjer. Because of this, Bast has never quite harbored the same kind of resentment as the rest of the pantheon.

In the cycles that lay between, Bast fulfilled her service to Ra as his Second Eye. She continually found herself clashing with Anput and she proved her skill and courage time and time again. But she didn't find fulfillment in that. Every cycle, she wanted to be a goddess of peace more and more, and to bear a child, which Ra would not allow (as her being pregnant would seriously hamper her duties as his Second Eye).

### Last Cycle

The previous cycle found the Netjer Awaken in Paris, France. Bast found herself in the vessel of a Brothel Matron. Her girls all swore their service to Bast and served as skilled informants and, ultimately, spies in service to the Queen of Cats.

When World War I broke out--a war between the Olympians and the Asgardians--the Netjer allied with the Olympians. Bast was forced to leave her girls in Paris and go out to the front lines, where she served as an intelligence gatherer and guerilla fighter.

Bast was present for **The Battle of the Somme** along with the vast majority of her fellow Netjer. On the field of battle, Bast was ambushed by Vidar. The two fought to a brutal, bloody standstill that was cut short when Ra was killed by Odin, Thor, Tyr and Ran. Bast lost her power and was killed by Vidar shortly after.

### Modern Cycle

The Modern Cycle began on April 23, 2017. Bast awoke in the body of a high school junior in Studio City, a suburb of Los Angeles, California. Bast waited for the signal from Ra to convene, but the signal never came. Bast slowly started to adapt to her vessel's life while wondering if, maybe, Ra wasn't going to come.

## Personality

Bast has a lot in common with the cats she is said to preside over; she is playful and aloof, loyal and fickle. Although loving and playful, she has shown to have a more serious, type-A side to her that surfaces in the face of danger.

While Bast has loyally served the pantheon since her first Awakening, she has no love for the glory of war or battle. As a goddess of femininity, she prefers to nurture and protect. Her drive for combat only truly surfaces when she is in defense of something or someone she cares about.

She is very protective, some might say borderline overprotective, especially of children, her boyfriend and her consort. She has a fierce temper, not hesitating to shred a target with her enchanted claws if threatened or insulted.

In the modern day, Bast is sweet, studious and eager to please, Bast comes across to most humans as more wholesome than apple pie. This belies her extremely competitive, sometimes petty, personality. She finds her natural domains perfectly compliment her mortal life as a high school cheerleader and she would rather keep up pretenses as a mortal than join the Old War.

## Powers and Abilities

Bast is an Egyptain goddess. As such, she possesses the following abilities:

* **Ageless Memory:** She requires the use of a vessel in order to physically interact with humans while on Earth, but her essence "burns hotter" than other gods and is so powerful that it permanently damages the vessel. She has more clear and structured memories of her past incarnations than other pantheons.
* **Ambrosia & Nectar:** Consumption of Nectar & Ambrosia (which has many names throughout the pantheons) greatly accelerates Bast's healing factor, even capable of bringing her back from the brink of death when injured by magic, Celestial weapons or foul Titan magic. Too much is dangerous, however, and she must be careful when consuming it.
* **Auras:** Bast's aura constantly draws cats--stray and otherwise--wherever she happens to be. All cats--from house cats to lions and tigers--are calmed in her presence. Humans tend to find themselves easily distracted and nap-happy when she's around for too long. She is also capable of bending and redirecting light, making the room lighter or dimmer.
* **Claws and Fangs:** Bast can grow claws and fangs, which are enchanted and allow her to cut through almost anything, even the super-humanly dense flesh of war gods.
* **Combat Intuition:** As the Second Eye of Ra, Bast is an extremely skilled fighter, specializing in the use of twin knives. She is not the strongest combatant, but she is fast and employs a lot of agility in her fighting style.
* **Divine Physiology:** Like all gods, Bast never tires and is immune to all mundane disease. She has dramatically increased strength, able to lift weight far exceeding what most people of her height and weight could possibly hope to lift. Her senses and especially her reflexes are enhanced to well-beyond superhuman levels.
* **Domains:** As the goddess of silence and cats, Bast is a veritable ninja and a master of all cats. She has absolute divine authority over all varieties of cats and felines, even big cats, will listen to her words and carry out her commands. She can also sense and summon cats telepathically. This ability affects any cat within about 1 miles.
	+ **Divine Stealth:** As a goddess of cats, Bast is supremely stealthy, able to move past the perception of even other gods.
	+ **Sense Sharing:** Bast is capable of looking through the eyes, seeing and hearing everything any cat she can sense does.
	+ **Sunlight:** Bast can bend light in various ways, becoming invisible or bending light to shoot a rainbow-colored beams.
	+ **Transformation:** Bast possesses the ability to transform between human form and that of a large, black cat.

* **Dream Walking:** All gods possess a unique relationship to dreams. All gods have a limited capacity for prophetic ability in dreams and all gods are capable of dream walking, or interacting with the dreams of others, to a limited extent.
* **Electronic Manipulation:** A god often interferes with certain electrical appliances or systems when using their powers. Bast does not display this effect as often and actually seems to be much more comfortable with technology than the other Netjer.
* **Immortality:** A god ages much more slowly than a human; left to their own devices, some gods have lived a few centuries and only appear to have aged a decade or so. If killed by any means other than what it takes to put one down for good (see Weaknesses, below), they will come back to life within 24 hours.
* **Invulnerability:** A god is much tougher than a human and can withstand a greater degree of punishment. Gods can take the amount of pain and injury that would cripple or kill a mortal human and walk it off. They are superhuman in their ability to shrug off damage and evade harm.
* **Native Tongue:** Bast is capable speaking both Arabic and several dialects of Egyptian. She can also speak basic Spanish, because of her vessel.
* **Regeneration:** If Bast's body is damaged, it will repair itself almost instantly unless the wound is caused by celestial weaponry or particularly powerful magic.
* **Reincarnation:** If killed, Bast's essence is not destroyed (unless it is **Scattered**, see below) and the goddess will return to the Outer Planes, where it will remain dormant until the start of the next Divine Cycle.
* **Spellcasting Ability:** Bast is able to cast some spells, and while she is more skilled than most humans, she is not anywhere near as skilled or powerful as gods of magic, such as Isis.
* **Supernatural Perception:** Gods are able to see almost all supernatural activity around them.
* **Worship Empowerment:** As long as a god's domain exists, a god can usually continue existing. Worship is the lifeblood that keeps them strong; a god can exist without being actively worshiped, but they will not be anywhere near as strong. A lack of worship might cause a god to no longer reincarnate during the next Cycle. Moreover, when a mortal performs an act of worship in the presence of a god, the god will get a boost of energy that is described as being a thousand times stronger than caffeine. The more profound the act of worship, or the more costly the sacrifice on the human's part, the more energy can be harvested from the act.

## Weaknesses

Bast possesses all of the normal weaknesses of a god, with the following notable features:

* **Bans:** Bast has several notable bans and glyphs that can be used to summon, bind or harm Bast specifically. She cannot physically cross running water, unless she is in a boat, or uses a bridge, etc; when submerged in running water, such as a river, she will be stuck there, unable to remove herself by her own power.
* **Connection to Ra:** The Netjer do not have a Sacred Tree like most Pantheons. Instead, their power is tied to Ra himself. If Ra is killed, their power fades and they become mortal again.
* **Sycamore Stakes:** Bast can be neutralized with a stake made of sycamore that has been held over a fire.

## Lore

In the mythology, Bast was a personal servant and champion of Ra along with Sekhmet. As daughter of Ra, she was believed to use the sun's power to make crops grow, so they prayed to her for good harvest.

She was a goddess of music and dance, as well as joy and love. Bast also guarded the household of ancient Egyptians.

## Trivia

* Despite being a warrior goddess, she is not a god of war and seems to enjoy being popular girly for a change.
* Has a soft spot for kids and will go out of her way to help a child if she finds one in need.
* Likes art, clothing and jewelry with pictures of cats, as well as anything leopard or tiger print.