Sphinx is a fairly large calico with striking blue eyes. With that exception, however, she is distinguished from the other cats in Postmaster's employ mostly by the quality of the bell hanging from her collar, which is a polished gold rather than any species of brass or silver.
As the actual mind behind the logistics of the post, Sphinx often appears harried, constantly distracted either by the questions and demands of staff or by her own frenzied thoughts. On the worst days, this manifests as a tired, haggard look seldom seen on cats in public, though she takes great pains to remain immaculately clean throughout.
Certain exigencies of business require humanoid shape, and each of Postmaster's cats has a preferred form to be given in those situations. Sphinx's is that of a blonde Aelven girl, slender enough to comfortably navigate the labyrinth of passages in the back of the office. In truth, it has been so long since she has worn human form that she hardly remembers what she actually looked like.
Sphinx seems in a state of almost constant distraction, trying to tackle too many things at all times. As de facto boss of the other cats, she is willing to provide the stern discipline in which Postmaster shows little interest, but she does so sparingly- after all, there is little enough to gain from piling more suffering onto the hardworking staff. In general, she prefers to interact with others only to the extent needed to ascertain their business and how best to fill it, then move on to other work.
Sphinx does not enjoy idle chatter, and will throw 'mmm's and 'uh-huhs' into the middle of others' speech to signal her waning interest in their tales. She tends to focus on problem-solving to the exclusion of all else, and is actively annoyed by discussion meant simply to bond. This tends to make her especially snippy with Postmaster, who enjoys devising long and aggravating metaphors for the explicit purpose of riling his second.
Unlike some of Postmaster's other employees, Sphinx has no particular dreams of returning home; her employment was much more voluntary than most. Somewhat ambitious despite herself, she hopes to someday win a magic of her own and become as powerful and accomplished as some of the great people to whom she delivers. Postmaster subtly encourages this, even going so far as to occasionally refer to her as an 'apprentice', but there's no safe money bet on if or when a lazy immortal cat will decide to make good on such promises.
Born to poor parents within one of the settlements on the outskirts of the great forest, Sphinx was once known as Adelaide von'Elke. Although she was deemed too large to be pretty, Adelaide was a hard worker, and that was much more important in the estimation of the poor Fælnir. She married young and had two children by a man she loved, and the combination of that happy dynamic and her own quick and pragmatic thinking should have meant that she would live a life of as much success and joy as a human can within the pall of the dark woods.
Sadly, it was not to be. Adelaide's husband was taken young, having fallen afoul of some creature or spirit on a woodland excursion. None of his companions survived to bring the news; it was simply endless nights of worry, declining into positive dread. To this day, she knows not exactly how he passed- and she speaks little of it, too, for what would be the use?
If that tragedy had to be met with silence, however, the next could not pass uncontested. After her husband's passing, she sought for a new suitor. There were some men who were interested, especially for the holdings of her late husband, but the one who eventually took the most interest had a different quarry in mind. With a small gang of other men, he drugged and stabbed Adelaide and stole her children, intending to barter them off, and leaving the woman for dead. As she lay dying, she cried out to the uncaring gods for succor for her children- but it was no god of the forest which answered.
Instead, the darkness took human shape and, grinning, proposed a game.
The Rakshasa (as she would later learn he was) offered her a simple deal- he would staunch her bleeding and return life to her dying form. If she could find and kill each of the men who had broken into her home within three nights, her children would be returned to her unharmed, and her would-be murderer given to her to do with as she would- otherwise, she would die. Seeing no downside, Adelaide took the deal and, to the Rakshasa's delight, killed each of the men who had attacked her in turn. The strange spirit honored his bargain; the next night, she found her children returned to their beds, and their captor delivered to her door with every limb broken. She took his life without additional drama.
Unfortunately, while the men she'd killed might have been villains, they were not simply bandits. The entire town took up arms, seeking the murderer, and Adelaide knew her capture was inevitable. Desperate to escape, she asked the Rakshasa for aid once more, accepting his offer of 'employment' without limitation, and found herself transfigured into a cat for her troubles.
