History
Susan was born in London, England, but moved to NY when she was sixteen, after the divorce, to live with her father. He had taken a job working for the United Nations and while she resisted the sudden change at first, eventually it seemed like the lesser of two evils when her mother took up a journalism career that would take her globehopping. Susan still wanted to be settled, and if the US was where it had to be, so be it. She went to college at St. Mary's and spent two summers interning with the Maryland Archaeological Conservation labs. Subsequently she took a job with the Smithsonian working with conservation of artifacts and exhibits.
A little restless, she tells herself it's because she misses England and that a good job, friends in the area is every reason in the world to stay where she is. Has become known as something of the Queen of Death in the labs for her skill with preserving and conserving human remains, and finding DNA in some funerary artifacts. Not much of a dating history, though she feels her biological clock starting to tick, she just isn't sure she's met the right guy, although that certainty seems to be growing.
She was working in the lab one day when a man came in, seemingly just to watch her work. After a few days of this and barely any conversation she discovered that he was a translator sent to help with some of the texts they were preserving. They struck up a friendship over several lunches, which turned into dates, which turned into a hesitant and slightly quirky relationship. Neither of them were inclined to small talk or traditional romance. Both of them shared a love of history and archaeology. After a while Alec, the man in question, was as much a part of Susan's life as the museums and her work. A life that was disrupted when he abruptly took off for parts unknown.
When he returned just as abruptly it seemed as though the only thing strange in her life that she would have to contend with was his strange habits of coming and going. Unfortunately it was about then that the fugue episodes started, and shortly thereafter, the collection of children right out of Children of the Damned all claiming that she was a long-dead goddess…
Mythology
The Egyptian cat-headed goddess, Bastet was strictly a solar deity until the arrival of Greek influence on Egyptian society, when she became a lunar goddess due to the Greeks associating her with their Artemis. Dating from the 2nd Dynasty (roughly 2890-2686 BCE), Bastet was originally portrayed as either a wild desert cat or as a lioness, and only became associated with the domesticated feline around 1000 BCE. She was commonly paired with Sakhmet, the lion-headed goddess of Memphis, Wadjet, and Hathor. Bastet was the "Daughter of Ra", a designation that placed her in the same ranks as such goddesses as Maat and Tefnut. Additionally, Bastet was one of the "Eyes of Ra", the title of an "avenger" god who is sent out specifically to lay waste to the enemies of Egypt and her gods.
The cult of Bastet was centered in Bubastis (located in the delta region, near modern- day Zagazig) from at least the 4th Dynasty. In the Late Period Bubastis was the capital of Egypt for a dynasty, and a few kings took her name into their royal titles. Bubastis was made famous by the traveler Herodotus in the 4th century BCE, when he described in his annals one of the festivals that takes place in honor of Bastet. Excavations in the ruins of Tell-Basta (the former Bubastis) have yielded many discoveries, including a graveyard with mummified holy cats.
Because the Greeks equated Bastet with Diana and Artemis and Horus with Apollo, Bastet became adopted into the Osiris-Isis myth as their daughter (this association, however, was never made previous to the arrival of Hellenistic influence on Egypt). She is stated to be the mother of the lion-headed god Mihos (who was also worshipped in Bubastis, along with Thoth). She is depicted most commonly as a woman with the head of a domesticated or wild cat or lion, or as a cat itself.
Society
Aleksander 'Alec' Crane She and Alec get along well together, although their relationship has been on again off again. Despite neither of them being particularly experienced or adept at relationships she somehow manages to be the more competent of the two; acknowledging this, she is loving and tolerant of his quirks, never seeing them as faults. She hasn't yet said it in out-loud words, but she does love him very much.
David Matheson A charming young lawyer she chanced to meet in a bar at lunch, she nonetheless has the feeling he is a little too slick for her good. She likes him, but doesn't trust him. She also refuses to tell him about the erotic dreams she had shortly after their meeting, which featured the both of them in several scenarios, all of them one form of conflict or another. They had a second meeting which featured both of them being cryptic and slightly possessed. They have yet to meet a third time.
Seth Mallory The part of her that is the Goddess recognizes Set, and fears him as much as she is angry at him. It hasn't turned to hate yet, but it may. The part of her that is Susan still remembers only the one meeting in the subway, where he assaulted her and threw her in the path of an oncoming train only to play her rescuer moments later. Neither part is friendly towards him.
