“You came here filled with hatred. You hold onto that hatred even now, clinging to it as a last semblance of safety. There was always something underneath, which we strove to bring out. That was not to be, but one day the cycle of hatred may end. You will find your peace, So Sweet.”
The Herbalist
Sweet is the pride’s healer, but being an herbalist is more than just being a healer. Learning the properties of plants allows you to affect the health of lions in negative ways as well as positive. Poisons are something she takes a strangely keen interest in. Her role encompasses fertility, easing illness, dressing wounds, poisons, and such things as gender and age changes.
Personality
Sweet has hated her pride since she came here, and she does everything she can to rebel against her king and elder pridemates. She never liked Boffo when he ruled the pride, but Monarch, obviously not interested in his pride at all, is so much worse. She hoards what little she has for herself, and judges others harshly for their shortcomings. Although she has a naturally fastidious and hard-working nature, she uses this only for her own gain. She works hard because she’s ridden with guilt over what happened to her mother, and is determined never to let anything like that happen again. She lashes out at those who try to show her kindness, and dedicates every waking moment to the study of herbs and how to prevent death. She was once fanatical about keeping the others healthy, but recently she has grown to truly hate them. She finds them ungrateful and hates Monarch for his cruelty and the way he's become such a monster.
Background
Sweet was just a little baby when she came here with her mother. Her mother was an herbalist and devotee of Ọsanyìn. They were fleeing from a horrible war that had killed Sweet’s father and siblings. Sweet was young and frightened, and her mother was overcome with grief at the loss of her pride. She made sure that Sweet made it to safety, but a few days later she poisoned herself. Sweet was cared for by the old broodmother, Limelight. Sweet was angry at the pride for not saving her mother, and angry at herself for not knowing enough about herbs to do something. She was raised to adulthood by the skittish Limelight, and it was easy to boss her surrogate mother around. Sweet spent most of the time she was meant to be training instead learning to heal and kill with herbs, determined not to let anyone get hurt again. The only lioness who could ever hold her attention was Velvet Moon. Though Sweet sulked, she would often linger near Velvet when she was divining and ask her questions about the orisha, mostly curious about Ọsanyìn. Her herbalismwas always vital to Velvet’s rituals, and so the two spend a lot of time together. Sweet stuck around, in the end, because of Velvet. As time went on, though, the lionesses could see Monarch become more and more cruel. They couldn't tell what it was, really, until the omens began showing themselves. That's when Monarch became truly evil. Sweet was already old then, and she had seen his full progress. She was determined that it was time to overthrow him. She went with this first to Velvet Moon. Velvet told her that she had only to wait, and destiny would fix things. Sweet thought this was ridiculous, and she told Velvet so, but Velvet insisted. Sweet was furious at Velvet, and she next asked Honeymilk. Honeymilk said she was far too old to be involved in such things now. Sweet didn't dare speak to any more lionesses about it, but when Honeymilk got sick, it became known that she and Sweet had had an altercation. Honeymilk died of her illness despite Velvet's best efforts. And every lioness in the pride believed it was Sweet who had done it. Sweet swore that if they would not listen, if they would not fight, then they would die. When one of Monarch's wives in their servant pride took up with a savage, Sweet convinced him to punish her by bringing their daughter here. And when that young cub came, Sweet took her as her apprentice. She told her that Monarch hated her, hated her mother, that the whole pride were tyrants. She taught young Wine what poisons to use to make lions ill, how to kill without it being traced back to her.
  
How do you feel about Monarch?
"There are things that make a king a king. A title is nothing more than that. Monarch is no king of mine, not such a cruel and heartless beast as him. I stay with this pride because I have little choice, but no lion here rules over me. I will destroy this pride, corrupt it from the inside out, just to get to Monarch."
Who is your favorite lion?
"I haven't yet met a lion that I truly liked. I once had a friend in Velvet Moon, or so I thought, but she turned out to be just like the others. Now my last hope for this pride is Wine and Roses."
Who is your least favorite lion?
"I hate very lion in this festering sore of a pride, every liar and every blind eye. I want them to rot, I want them to know what it's like to corrode slowly until they're nothing." |
