From the journal of Ardebast Raconteur:
Many moons ago, when I was barely older than a pup, I met Gordon. Gordon was a great bear and an even greater friend. He shared my love of stories and for a time we travelled together in search of the great ones. In time though, Gordon settled down in Calix’s Cross. There he got married and raised a family. I would make it a point to stop at Gordon’s whenever I passed through the Cross to see how he was doing. He’s gone now but his children remain, Logar and Nektara. Logar is a good fur, strong and loyal, but it’s his sister, Nektara, that I see big things for.
Nektara, is short for a bear. Her brother calls her Half, “because she’s half the bear she should be.” Only Logar can get away with calling her that though. Though she may be small in stature, she is immensely cunning and sharp of wit and will not hesitate to call upon her wits to cut a detractor down to size.
In addition to her intelligence, Nektara is also musically gifted. For as long as I can remember, she has always had her flute and the songs she plays on it are hauntingly beautiful.
The last I heard, Nektara was preparing to apply to the Academy. Given her natural gifts, I would expect that she will quickly accepted.
Carja’s Notes:
Nektara first appears in the first of a series of birthday stories I wrote for my friends. Her name originates from my poor auditory senses: When I was watching the Ewoks cartoon in French, I misheard the character Latara’s name as Nektara. I may have heard wrong, but I liked the name anyway, so I decided to use it myself. Nektara’s small size is a nod to her Ewok roots.
I wanted Nektara to be a musician because the friend I wrote the story for is passionate about music. I chose the flute specifically because that’s the instrument that Latara played in the cartoon.
In the Funnies, Nektara naturally develops into the straight man to Todrick’s over the top character. I don’t see that relationship changing any time soon.