Berdande began her life as the daughter of an IceWalker chieftain. Her mother died in childbirth, leaving the chieftain with an infant daughter as his only heir. Determined to prove herself deserving to lead her tribe the young girl trained passionately in both matters of tribal custom and battle. She remained nameless until the age of 6 where she was given the name Omusa ("misses with arrows"). The name stayed with her, though her skill in archery soon became unmatched in her tribe. At 15 Omusa would have been married to a local chieftain’s son. However, her father would do whatever the girl wanted and Omusa had no interest in marriage. Instead she spent her time training for the hunt, bartering with local tribes and raiding the hapless village here and there. She was adored by her tribe. She was fair and honest & never afraid of even the lowliest work.

At 19 she lead the ritual hunt. As a member of the Elk tribes her prey was the eldest elk in the arctic forests, reserved for the ritual hunt. Her hunting pack stalked the animal for 2 days when they were attacked by a bear, twisted by the Wyld, the bear seemed more than a match for her well-armed pack. She decided to draw the bear away to give her tribe mates a chance at survival. Omusa’s arrow pierced the beast between its eyes. What would have been a fatal blow to any normal bear only angered the crazed beast. Omusa had no chance for a second shot, the bear charged at an unnatural speed, she ran, praying to the elk spirit to bless her with it’s speed. The elk spirit answered & she ran through the night as though she herself embodied the animal’s grace. She was only blessed with speed however & her body betrayed her, collapsing with exhaustion. She felt so embarrassed, killed by a Wyld beast, she felt she could do much better than this, if she were to die, she prayed she would not travel to the afterworld of her ancestors, she would be too ashamed to face them. She had only enough time to regain her breath before the bear caught up with her, raising up on it’s back paws. Not knowing what else to do she shot again at the beast, cursing in frustration "Know when you are defeated fool!" Piercing the great beast through the chest, it fell back on all fours and roared. For a moment Omusa felt she had a chance at not dying this day. It was then that the bear lunged forward knocking her to the ground, she heard the snap of her bow under the monster’s weight, then it mauled her with its warped claws. Omusa nearly fainted, overcome with pain, sickened by the sensation of her hot blood spilling over her, she screamed like a child. Blinded by the blood in her eyes she felt for the arrow in the beast’s chest. If this moment was her last moment in Creation she was talking this freak with her. It was at this moment Luna chose her. The strength was hers, yet it was nothing she had known before. Screaming in rage Omusa rammed the arrow further into the bear’s chest, until her small fists had been forced into the wound as well. The beast made a sound so deep and monstrous Omusa would never forget or be able to describe. It fell still, smothering her. Omusa stayed this way for a while, though she could not breathe, she expected this would now be the moment where she died, but she didn’t and the pain was only becoming more intense as her heart slowed. Crawling out from under the bear, she felt a fleeting sensation of freedom before losing consciousness.

She awoke to the smell of her own blood and the sound of crickets chirping and singing. The song was a distant memory, a memory from within the womb; it was the sound of her mother singing. Omusa forced her eyes open toward the sound. There had never been a moment where she has missed her mother, never a moment where she had wondered what she might have looked like. Omusa knows this woman is her mother, Omusa knows this woman is her god, Luna. Somehow she finds the strength to raise herself up on her hands and knees, she crawls toward the smiling woman. Suddenly the woman is gone, in her place the entrance to a burrow. Omusa can barely fit, at the end of the burrow a sleeping cat bear and her two cubs. Again Omusa is sure she will die, but she thanks Luna’s benevolence for allowing her to die warm. Again Omusa doesn’t die, her will to survive unfaltering. The mother cat bear brings Omusa food and she feels herself growing strong. She emerges from the burrow reborn. She can sense the night, the scents, the sounds, the blood that beats through each creature’s heart. One night she is taken by the bloodlust and kills the mother cat bear, having no choice but to taste it’s heart’s blood. It is ecstasy, it is who she is, the huntress. At once she feels herself become her kill, her bloody hands becoming paws. There is such clarity and wonder. Being something else and being herself and then (and this is the only time she will ever feel it) the guilt. Is this what she is? This is how she has repaid her nursemaid, her friend. Omusa wants to run; yet she knows her responsibility. Months pass, she stays in this form and raises the cubs until they can venture on their own. Then she returns to human form. Omusa does not yet think of returning to her tribe. She wanders north into the Wyld.

It is in the Wyld she hears a new song, unquestionably beautiful but also painful. She follows it, at the edge of an abyss, where color becomes light she finds a man, also beautiful beyond reason. Omusa panics, she can sense he is not of Creation and yet she is drawn to him. Her strength fails her and she falls into his open arms. "Do you know what you are little bear?" the striking young man asks her. Omusa looks up into his limitless eyes, "Do you know what I am?" she replies. He laughs; its unnatural lilt almost brings her to her senses. "I know what you are and what you will become. Come with me and I will take you to my palace, I will give you anything you desire." Deep within Omusa her reason is a terrified animal and yet she simply cannot draw herself from his embrace. She must make a choice, she knows he does not lie and yet she fears what will become of her if she lingers too long in the Wyld. "I am sorry," Omusa whispers, "you know this is not my path." She pulls away and he releases her. He smiles at her, for a moment he seems almost human, his voice is distant as if he is moving away, though he stands before her and she can feel his breath, "You aren’t being as much fun as I’d hoped, we have nothing but time here. Though I can’t promise I will wait for you." Suddenly she is back in Creation, human, unharmed, still terrified. Before her stands a woman, beautiful and feral, looking quite surprised to see her. A moment passes between the two and the woman turns away, Omusa instinctively knows to follow her. This is the time when Omusa came to learn she was a Lunar Exalt and was trained in the ways of her kind by No-Moon elder Seven Devil Clever. Later she learned that she had encountered one of the Fair Folk in the Wyld. Seven Devil Clever’s advice on the subject being: "He might have taken you to his wondrous palace to live forever as his Exalted queen, where you would have known all there is to know of pleasure and fulfillment, or he might have hollowed you out and kept you as a rug, it’s best you didn’t chance it." Omusa never speaks of her training or of her trails that lead her to be marked as a No-Moon. Instead choosing to let the moonsilver tattoos on her body relate that tale to other Lunars alone.

How Berdande earned her name:

For a long time following her Exaltation Berdande was known by her given name, Omusa. Even following her trials fellow Lunars would continue to call her by this name, finding it humorous. It was finally decided that she could choose her own name by going on a hallucinogenic quest in the Wyld. By going on this vision quest she would be able to touch past, present and future and would emerge with a clear understanding of what she was meant to be called, or she would go insane. Standing at the end of Creation, Omusa was greeted by the same fae whom she had met in the North following her time in the wilderness; he offered to take her with him once again. Omusa smiled warmly and kissed and embraced him explaining that she must return to Creation to fulfill her destiny. The fae agreed but gave her the name Berdande (goddess of the present time) as a gift, requiring her that she must see him again.