the odyessy of herr defiance.

  a brief introduction to hester atwell. 

hester europa atwell is the twenty seven year old teacher’s assistant of one of manhattan’s more affluent academies. however their name is more so shadowed by their religious fanatic father, leopold atwell.

leopold atwell was the head of a church, or religious faction, dedicated to ‘older gods’. not much is known of leopold’s own childhood or what could have possibly pushed his beliefs to fanaticism. he was, for all tense and purposes, an extremist. and a classic budding cult leader, utilizing teachings for personal gain.

during hester’s early adolescences, their parents separated wholly as a result of leopold’s extreme behavior and attachment to religion. 

at age sixteen, hester was kidnapped by their own father. it was debacle made possible after leopold had successfully induced his own wife into a coma, having dosed her food with poison over a course of six months.

it only took a week to recover hester from their father and he was promptly arrested. however, leopold would go on to not only be convicted for kidnapping, but additionally attempted murder of his ex-wife and poisoning of many others. he claimed to be a healer and a mouthpiece for gods.

hester’s mother recovered from her coma but is merely a shade of her former self. the damage from her husband’s sabotage left permanent damage to her brain, the most notable result was her loss of speech. 

in college, hester atwell would aimlessly attend classes, deciding to be a teacher,  until a sudden nervous breakdown. hester would have three more panic attacks until they were convinced to be hospitalized at a psychiatric for the unresolved trauma caused by their father. 

some years later, they appear to be carrying on as normal as one can. a close family friend managed to get them a teacher’s assistant job, despite their background of extensive hospital stay. it can be assumed the friend either somehow managed to omit this from hester’s application process, or doctored documents so it would not be shown.