Hester: Lightborn Grace
Designer's Reflection: Lightborn Grace
Obtained: Forgotten Golden Dynasty hell event
Rarity: UR
Attribute: Purple/Sexy
Awakened Suit: Shadowborn Favour
Story - transcripts from Designer's Reflection
Chapter 1 - Lion-Slaying Girl
Chapter 2 - Tribal Dispute
Chapter 3 - Silent Scream
Chapter 4 - Cesar's Legacy
Chapter 5 - Witness of History
Story - summarized
Hester and some other captives are thrown into an arena, where a hungry lion will hunt them down and eat them. By order of the tyrannic king Cesar, if any of the captives manages to slay the lion, they would be pardoned.
Wasting no time, Hester gets close and plunges a dagger into the lion. Only Cesar finds this amusing. He declares her his bride and moves her into his palace. She wants for nothing, but now she needs to figure out how to kill Cesar, as she is actually an envoy for the god Bastet. When Cesar conquered the Lost Sand Tribe, he destroyed anything relating to Bastet. His divine punishment would be death.
But as Hester gets closer to Cesar, she recognizes that his ideas aren't bad, per se, but they're extreme, working the citizens and slaves to death. He is much like Bastet or any other god: they all see humans as servants, just means to an end.
Cesar sees himself as above gods, not needing any of their divine permission or care. To him, gods are just fairy tales made up by people who can't handle reality.
Hester remembers that she is here to kill Cesar on behalf of Bastet, not fall for him. So, she makes efforts to help the people of Tumenis, providing food and jobs, undermining Cesar's power in the kingdom. As the queen, Hester needs to shift the balance of power before she can kill the lion-hearted king.
Connections
-Hester calls herself the princess of the Lost Sand Tribe. The Lost Sand Tribe was one of the three tribes that partook in the Hawk Hunting event in Vol. 2, Ch. 7, and it's also the tribe that the little girl Lygia belonged to during the Starsand Whispers event.
-According to Hester's other Reflection, Late-Night Tricks, Cesar was blessed with good health and a strong body by Bastet. Without her power, he would've died of childhood sickness and lost in several battles. So him destroying her temple is especially offensive.
Fun Facts
-Cesar is most likely based off the first Roman emperor Julius Caesar. He married the Egyptian queen Cleopatra as a power grab: her wealth would help him maintain power in Rome. And everything Caesar did was to push his influence and garner more power for himself.
-Whenever Cesar conquers a new land or tribe, he is quick to destroy their religious statues and places of worship. This was something else the Roman Empire did: if they could not incorporate local deities into their own pantheon (or they just didn't like it), they would quash that deity or ritual out of existence.
-Bastet is an Egyptian god with a cat or lion head. She presides over the sun, moon, fertility, home, protection, and the Eye of Ra. Bastet was known as both a motherly figure and a fierce avenger.
