Esther Russett II

## Delineation

Esther Russett II, more commonly known by her false name Eastella Mariah, was a cultist and soon cult leader. She was the confirmed cause of the Slaughter Festival. Esther also caused rampant riots within the countryside she hurt, until her sister killed her in her hometown.

## Origin

### Nationality

Esther is within the purely English Russett bloodline. She had no marriages and thus didn’t do anything to the bloodline. She also originated from Lambeth like many other relatives in the 1800s.

### Name

Esther was named after Layne’s mother. This is because Layne still cared and honoured his mother despite her hatred against him and how she had abandoned him for no good reason. This also carried into Esther II, making her just as deplorable and cruel.

## Physical Description

Esther was described to be quite full and like an hourglass, something she inherited from her father, who was known to be attractive. Esther, however, gained no attention herself, as Janeth Leigh, her sister, would take it instead (credited to her being gifted at the piano).

Esther usually wore grey clothing, piled on more grey clothing. She was quite plain and did not care, as she had worse plans.

## Lore

### Childhood

Esther’s childhood is mostly irrelevant. She had no emotions during her entire childhood and yet was not apathetic or outright terrible. She held nothing against Janeth, Leigh, or her parents.

### Adolescent Fall from Grace

As Esther reached her adolescence, she began to become bitter. She was approximately thirteen when her father passed away at a young age because of his illness, and thus she was once determined to become a doctor. However, due to the time she was in, she never gained the chance, and her sister Janeth’s intelligence only grew against hers. Esther had finally begun to feel emotions, but they were incredibly negative and often lead to petty bickering between herself and Janeth. Leigh, their brother, did not lift a finger. Their mother did, but her efforts were futile, as Esther never cared enough to listen.

### Joining Mariah’s Sisterhood

Esther had reached a strongly-held group of women who had terrifyingly twisted views on the world. Esther, unsurprisingly, agreed with their every motive, no matter how perilous it was. These unkind ladies took a liking to Esther simply because she agreed with them, so they had decided to invite her into their “group”.

Upon further inspection, any normal woman in the nineteenth century would’ve realised that this so-called “group” was simply a cult disguised as a social circle of lunatic females, but considering Esther’s role as one of them, she accepted them hastily.

#### Janeth Rivalry Discontinuation

Esther ceased fighting her sister after realising her new but secretly costly opportunities in the cult. Janeth would quickly take note of this, but did not care to tell it off to her mother. She didn’t truly know or understand Esther’s motives, so she did not bother to rat her out. Janeth also concluded that since her mother was rapidly aging by now, pestering her with Esther’s peculiarities was to be idiotic and annoying.

#### Slaughter Festival

In 1843, Esther contacted the countryside where her father used to go to. She had persuaded the villagers and rurally-living outcasts that she was there to help and also spread Jesus’ good news. However, Esther clearly lied as she did not pull out a Bible, but instead a rusted knife and began to murder every civilian who tried to flee, two by two,

Esther successfully fled the scene. Her friends in Mariah’s Sisterhood praised her greatly, as they too, were disgusted by the people of the English countryside. Esther and the cult had no genuine reason to hate these people, but the act of violence was committed anyways. Esther had also enjoyed 1843 as the new cult leader after the assassination of Lora Benton, the former leader. Lora had allegedly been caught groping a laddie in Lambeth and was subsequently shot and killed by his soldier father.

Esther was now known as Eastella Mariah, a title only to the cult.

### Demise

Esther, or Eastella, was murdered by Janeth Leigh Russett, her own sister, after her bother Leigh reported Esther’s doings.

Leigh had been a lucky lad, a nosy one at that, who happened to watch Eastella Mariah’s second massacre against an innocent rural family. It appeared to him that there was a loose madwoman with a hatred against rural people, and he would be fast in telling it off to local militants and others. Janeth caught the wind quite exactly, and she did not tolerate it. She also realised Esther was missing.