1. Firstly, give me a time line chronicling your character's life from childhood to present day. (40 years post-Patternfall)

Tameetha comes from the township of Philos in the country of Merik on the planet of A'Rith - the Shadow itself has no name that she is aware of. The Shadow is pre-industrial in technology level having mainly an agrarian/trading culture - about on the level of Revolutionary War America. The magic level is low as well with some professional witches selling minor charms and curses but no heavy military or governmental magic use. A witch or warlock would be on the same level as any other craftsman - say a silversmith or a cartwright.

The planet has been on roughly the same technological and magical level for the last hundred years. There has been no developement of gun-powder or ritualized sorcery or steam/water powered factories. The population has been slowly expanding and there are occasional wars of conquest but nothing that involves the whole planet.

Socially, the Shadow is kind of backward. There is open slavery but the wanton abuse of slaves or servants is frowned upon. Slaves are typically convicted criminals or prisoners of war - however the children of slaves are also slaves. Indentured servants abound as well. Most of the Shadow's governments are patariarchal but the easy availability of birth control via the witches/warlocks means that women are in a slightly better position than their Earth counterparts were. It is not unusual to find women in positions of authority or expertise but it is not extremely common either. Once a woman does have children, she is expected to direct her energies to their raising and can return to her professional life when the children are adults.

Religon is extremely varied on A'Rith - going from the fanatically monotheistic to the fanatically pan-theistic to passively pagan and everything in between. So far none of the major religons has gained more than a fifteenth of the population. So while there are (and will continue to be) bloody wars based on religon - so far no one faith has come to dominate in a world-wide perception of religon.

Merik is mid-sized country with an enlightened monarchy giving recommendations to a ruling House of Lords. It has engaged in neither aggressive nor defensive military actions for the last 59 years. Merik's geography is centralized on the shore of a large inland salt water lake. It's major economic threads are food crops such as rice and corn which it trades across the lake for furnished value-added items. Merik is not very forested but some low foothills and a bordering range of mountains provide enough hardwood to keep a small fleet of merchant ships operational. The weather is temperate and mild.

Philos is a small township near the base of this range of mountains, the Lashans. It contains a saw-mill as well as a watermill and is of modest prosperity. The streets are paved with mountain stone and homes are built of wood or stone as needed.

Tameetha Ro'erk was a foundling. She spent her younger days in the Philos Home for Unwanted Children. Records were kept strictly confidential and Tameetha has never discovered how she came to be at the Home or indeed, at what age. Her earliest memories are of the Home's dormitories and the Nurses therein.

The Home was not an overly harsh environ but neither was it a terribly nurturing one. The Nurses could be good, bad or indifferent but their work was basically their work. The body of children at the Home changed constantly as did the staff so Tameetha made no real permanent relationships during her tenure there. Thus, Tameetha grew up without many of the normal socializing influences that being in a "family" would bring.

She responded to this lack of nuture by becoming somewhat distant and solitary. When Tameetha did feel emotions, they were often not appropriate to her circumstances and she withdrew even further from her peers. It also did not take her long to learn that the Nurses and her fellow children would become distressed if she appeared too strong or too smart. She began to take refuge in what books were available at the Home and at the township's library. Among her favorites were treatises of conquest and war journals. These, to Tameetha, made sense where so much else in the world did not. So even as a small child, Tameetha was already hiding her nature and feeling alienated. By the time, Tameetha was eight, she was known for being "strange."

As Tameetha approached Change of Life, it was deemed time that she begin paying back the township for the money that it had invested in her upbringing. This was standard policy for unadopted children of adolescent age. Tameetha was indentured to one of the local witches as she was too “unusual” for some of the other indentureships.

The witch, Dame Ro’erk, was a competent craftperson of middle age. While Tameetha did not show any interest in apprenticing in witchcraft, she was good at cleaning the cages and grinding the poltices. During this time, Tameetha kept to herself and completely failed to bond with any of the other servants or bondspersons of Dame Ro-erk’s staff. However, Tameetha did come to appreciate some of the animals kept in the shop.

When Tameetha’s period of indentureship ended seven years later, Dame Ro’erk hired her on as a bondswoman and gave her the name of Ro’erk. Tameetha continued to read during her indentureship and afterward, using her knowledge to plumb the Dame’s ledgers on obscure and wonderful creatures. She became fascinated with the thought of other creature’s senses - bats’ radar, dogs’ senses of smell, wyverns’ heat sense, whales’ sonar, etc.

Dame Ro’erk’s husband also kept a large library which included many military treatises. It amused him to lend these to Tameetha. Occasionally, the two would discuss the various works. Tameetha’s insights could lead to long debates with Master Ro’erk but it was never something that he took very seriously. He did not believe that Tameetha did either, but she did.

As Tameetha approached her twenties, she began having a series of disturbing dreams - nightmares about a glowing maze. Accompanying these dreams was a series of illnesses with no discernible cause. The dreams increased in intensity and frequency until they began to have a negative impact on Tameetha’s work. When confronted by Dame Ro’erk, Tameetha agreed to allow the witch to do a “seeking” to attempt to discover the cause of the dreams. Tameetha woke from the “seeking” to find her bags packed and Dame Ro’erk asking her firmly to leave the household. No explanation was given.

Tameetha was completely adrift. She wandered from small job to small job with the nightmares becoming more and more difficult to live with. Eventually, she left Philos for a coastal town where she hoped that her reputation for “strangeness” would not hinder her.

The first night on the road, the dream of the glowing maze returned with great force. This time, in the “dream”, Tameetha confronted the maze and walked it to its center. When she woke the next morning, it was to a clear mind full of possibilities.

Tameetha left the road and hiked into the woods. Eventually, she settled in a small clearing far up in the Lashans. Slowly, Tameetha learned that she could have anything she wanted just by “wishing” for it. Her wishes were fairly modest though and, primary among them, to be left alone. Tameetha began to study the pattern in her mind as well as the wildlife surrounding her wilderness home. Their struggles to survive reminded her of many of the lessons in warcraft she had learned from her various readings. And she refined many of her theories and opinions based on what she saw around her in nature.

Tameetha became particularly interested in Black Hunter Spiders. These spiders were a form of giant web-building insects that lived in the hills around the Lashan Mountains - giant here meaning about one - two feet in body length. They were no real threat to something man-sized but were very dangerous to small mammals and birds. The fact that they were web-builders was what stuck primarily in Tameetha’s mind.

When a sudden escape from a small landslide alerted Tameetha to the possibility of shape change, she switched her studies to that. Slowly and laboriously, Tameetha became a fairly accomplished shape shifter. But the shapes she chose were not those of other humans, but of the animals surrounding her. The occasional loss of “self-hood” did not frighten her - much. She did not terribly enjoy being human or Tameetha anyway.

When Tameetha finally achieved the Black Hunter Spider form, she considered herself ready. Choosing a large cave in the Lashans, Tameetha shifted into spider form and began to weave the pattern in her mind into her web - the great pattern of Amber. So great was her desire to express that which has haunted her, that currently Tameetha is “stuck” in the spider form with no memory of her humanity. Only the burning desire to complete the web and the pattern.

2. What does your character do to pass the time? What keeps him/her from being bored when s/he is not defending Amber from the forces of Chaos or your lunatic Uncles/Aunts?

Before Tameetha began the Web, she kept from being bored by observing the animals, insects, fishes, and birds around herself. Mostly with an eye to sharing their shapes and learning their skills. (She's dismissed the idea of plant shape-shifting early on as RILLY stupid and dangerous.)

3. What are your character's long term goals? What does s/he want out of life? What legacy does s/he want to leave behind?

Tameetha doesn't think much about the future. Carpe diem and all that. What she wants out of life is LIVE it, enjoy it, be passionate about it. Since she is more than a bit of a misanthrope, she achieves this most often when she is alone. She enjoys pushing her personal envelope in terms of skills, abilities and knowledges. She's very much an explorer type - she just doesn't know how to "walk in shadow" yet.

As far as legacies go, Tameetha is convinced that she is a "monster" of the old troll-under-the-bridge variety. She can be very brutal because of that self-image. Really, she thinks of herself as a "Grendel" type. But she knows that she doesn't exist just to scare others or to end up on the wrong end of someone's lance. So, therefore, monsters must serve some other purpose, she just hasn't discovered it yet.

4. What would your character's epitaph read?

"Valourously fought, Nobly died." ('Course that's way, way in the future, right? Right??)

5. Play Devil's Advocate. Describe what personal traits your character has that you (the player) would find annoying. What are good reasons for others to dislike/hate him or her?

Extreme lack of patience - Rather cold personality - Can be extremely brutal and violent.

Tameetha is very abrupt and rude. She is also convinced of the superiority of her thought processes and her nature - ie she's arrogant.

6. What was your characters first, or most memorable, love affair? How would s/he describe a perfect date?

Hasn't had one. Still a virgin and completely uninterested in changing that. Tameetha enjoys more of the thrill-seeking type of adrenaline rush - as opposed to the hormone-flood rush.

Perfect date? Hmmm-m, does she get to eat him afterward? (Just kidding - really!)

No, the perfect date would be a trip of wonder and discovery in the company of a trusted friend. ("A whole new world - - " strains from Aladdin fill the air.)

7. How would your character describe the perfect death?

Violent. Surrounded by immense heaps of the enemy killed with her own hands. Defending something worthwhile successfully.

8. What's your character's favorite Ice Cream flavor?

Ice cream comes in flavors? No seriously, she probably enjoys tarter flavors like Lime Ice or Lemon Sherbert. I think actual ice cream would be too sweet and cloying for her.

9. Describe your character's bedroom.

Currently, Tameetha's bedroom is a small cave near the bottom of the Web. Before that, it would have been an area screened off of an extremely open-space oriented house. Large glass windows would look out over the forest and mountains. A large four poster bed with feather mattress and linen sheets would be against one wall. Colors would be dark earth tones - deep browns and forest greens. The room would be pretty empty of ornamentation - no trophies or weapons. Certainly, there would be nothing "girlish." One large wardrobe of dark wood would contain all of her clothing. An immense stone fireplace would be freestanding opposite the bed. I imagine the whole place to have kind of a log cabin feel - rough unfinished timbers, oil lamps, hardwood floors, etc.

And finally...

10. What would offend you (the player) if it were included as part of the game? ((e.g. romantic/sexual interludes, --I don't mean graphic, explicit, 'blow-by- blow' (sorry) descriptions, but rather courtship, flirting, dialogue, etc.-- graphic violence (e.g. describing how the severed arm twitches, etc.) or anything else))

Have no problem whatsoever with sex or violence of any level. (Thought "Fist of the North Star" was hysterical.) However, I do have a problem with women being exploited or abused. Harem scenes, slave markets, bondage dens - this type of thing doesn't sit well with me. There are other ways to prove villany or decadence.

I have no problem with "working girls" or "bawdy houses", just don't like the abusive stuff.