Luther Goodwin

Chapter 2 First appears in:

Vincent Lichter

Having welcomed the Lichter family into the LYS, Luther saw a lot of potential in their young son, Vincent, who revelled in the praise. Years later, when Vincent’s questionable Diving program was shuttered by Luther it placed the wedge that would divide the society and breed hatred between the two men. &nbsp;Neither would be who they are without the other.

Luther may be one of the last cowboys to roam the dusty heartland of America. He is also a proud Quaestor, reminding himself every day like a mantra to continue fighting for its continued heritage. Welcomed as a small child he was raised by the Lakota people where he grew a deep love and respect for the ground beneath his feet, the stars within the sky, and the energy that flowed between the two.As the prairies fell further and further to the churn of "progress", Luther sought others that believed as he did, that our past must not be railroaded over – that knowledge was at risk of being wiped from the earth – that our humanity was at risk. &nbsp;As he searched for like- minded individuals he was welcomed into a small gathering, a handful who sought the same end goals as he but who also believed there was more than just our realm hanging in the balance. &nbsp;Luther, ever the outsider, felt like he had found his people, and together they would form The Leap Year Society, dedicating their lives towards preserving the knowledge they knew of, discovering what has been lost, and seeking the knowledge of tomorrow. This new mission in life brought Luther from the brink of despair after having suffered great personal loss. However, if he ever feels down, it only takes two shots of whiskey and his signature folksy sarcasm to steer this cowboy back on the right trail.

Four years after &lt;sp&gt;witnessing her mentor swallowed whole by a sandstorm in Richat, a jaded and reclusive Haroona learns that those responsible, the Ascendants, have landed in her hometown of Chamiri, India. With suppressed emotions rising to the surface, Haroona quickly hits the streets to track down their leader, Vincent Lichter, and make him pay for the loss of Reika.&lt;/sp&gt;

Chamiri: Hostile Takeover

While on a small boat called the Mukti, he makes himself Haroona's cordial companion for the rest of her journey. At first, this encounter seems &lt;sp&gt;to have occurred by happenstance, but Luther had planned it this way all along.&lt;/sp&gt;

While crossing the river in pursuit &lt;sp&gt;of Vincent, Haroona meets a lone American gunslinger named Luther Goodwin. &nbsp;While their intentions vary, they both seek a major Ascendant camp deep in the jungle. Ever the loner, Haroona reluctantly agrees to work with Luther as he seems to know his way around the mysterious Ascendants. &lt;/sp&gt;She helps him procure &lt;sp&gt;Vincent’s prized airship, the Morning Star, on their way to locating the man himself, but just before they make their escape from the camp Haroona’s journal is confiscated by Mila Savić, an ex-confidant of Luther &lt;/sp&gt;who has become a bitter rival. &nbsp;

Suknasari Forest: Unlikely Companions

Chapter 3

&lt;sp&gt;Luther and Haroona collaborate in stealing Vincent’s prized airship, the Morning Star.&lt;/sp&gt; But before they do, Luther runs into &lt;sp&gt;Mila Savić, an ex-confidant and friend of his who has now become a bitter Ascendant rival.&lt;/sp&gt;

Once aboard the Morning Star, &lt;sp&gt;Luther reveals himself as a member of the Leap Year Society, and that their meeting in the jungle was no accident. Before processing this, Haroona is introduced to Buchra Ilunga, another society member informing them the Ascendants are in search of a special amulet believed to be in Haroona’s old village in Northern India.&lt;/sp&gt; How they know who Haroona is and what she might have concerns her but not as concerning as learning that &lt;sp&gt;four years ago her mentor did not perish in the desert. Reika is alive?! Moreover, the LYS need Haroona’s help in finding her but first they need the amulet.&lt;/sp&gt;

The Morning Star: More Than Meets the Eye

Chapter 4

Aboard the airship, &lt;sp&gt;Luther reveals himself as a member of the Leap Year Society and introduces Haroona to Buchra Ilunga. Lastly, he reveals that Haroona’s mentor did not perish in the desert four years ago: In fact, Reika might be alive somewhere.&lt;/sp&gt;

After their daring escape, the Morning Star is in hot pursuit by enemy fighter planes. Narrowly surviving the attack, a patient Haroona lets her guard down in the lounge as &lt;sp&gt;Luther and Buchra describe Seshin, a malevolent being of sorts, supposedly imprisoned deep within the Fold. Vincent’s goal is to unleash this being upon the world. Meanwhile, &nbsp;Haroona’s only chance of finding Reika is to pick up her trail in Sintra, Portugal.&lt;/sp&gt;

The Morning Star: He Found Something

Chapter 6

After narrowly surviving an &lt;sp&gt;Ascendant aerial attack, Luther and Buchra explain the existence of a being living in the Deep Fold named Seshin. Also, in order to track down Reika, Luther suggests they fly to Sintra, Portugal.&lt;/sp&gt;

Landing near Dasuden, an ancient Sahin ruin stripped and peeled back by years of relentless excavation, Haroona, Luther and Buchra quickly traverse &lt;sp&gt; the Ascendant dig site on the way to its underground gateway. &nbsp;Before they can advance, Mila appears, severely wounding Luther before Haroona defeats her for the last time. Unable to continue, Luther urges the women to complete the mission – nothing could be of more importance than stopping Vincent and Reika. Leaving Luther behind, Haroona and Buchra enter the Oculus, an imposing underground gateway into the Richat Sanctuary.&lt;/sp&gt;

Dasuden: Blood and Vengeance

Chapter 11

Luther is &lt;sp&gt;dealt a violent and severe blow by Mila which forces him to give up the pursuit for Vincent. Lying down to nurse his grave wound, he encourages Haroona and Buchra to go on without him.&lt;/sp&gt;

Colleagues sometimes tease Buchra for preferring the company of contraptions and technical manuals rather than flesh and blood. After all, people are awkward and last she checked, LYS machinery doesn’t require insipid chitchat. Back in Paris, it was her Ethiopian mother who exposed her to the sciences at an early age. She remembered clipping articles of Madame Marie Curie from every newspaper she could get her hands on. Applying her unmatched work ethic to a meticulous education, she easily became the youngest woman in France ever to complete a dual degree in engineering and classical mechanics.Buchra feels indebted to Luther for having arranged their meeting in Casablanca many years back. An offer to join the Leap Year Society was apparent: Which other promising genius could produce such fresh theories to complement the society’s own understanding of the Fold? Not all post-graduates stand for hours in the Moroccan desert at night, transfixed by the complexities of space using their custom-made Cassegrain telescope. Much like the Sahin of antiquity, Buchra believes in a cosmic order to the universe; the prospect of finding such a phenomenon makes her heart beat quicker! &nbsp;

Buchra Ilunga

Luther works closely with Buchra for what they consider as possibly the "final LYS mission" in hunting for Vincent and the Ascendants in order to stop whatever twisted plans he has conceived of.The pair compliment one another, compensating for each other's strengths and weaknesses. But the most important aspect is the undying respect and admiration they for one another. For it was Luther who first realized potential in Buchra at a young age.

Infinitus. That’s the motto inscribed on the Leap Year Society’s circular seal. It means boundless, unending—like the quest for knowledge. For well over a century, the LYS has been on that journey, uncovering forgotten parts of history and pushing the limits of scientific inquiry to understand humanity’s role in the cosmos. &nbsp; &nbsp;The LYS is founded in New York City on February 29, 1888, welcoming people of all nations and creeds to join its search. The only requirements for membership are the thirst for knowledge and a willingness to believe in the Unknown. But for decades, the Society itself remains veiled in secrecy, visible only to those who know where to look.&nbsp;

The Leap Year Society

Raised on the American plains, Luther had seen horrors committed by the US Army in the name of Manifest Destiny. As one of the LYS’s co-founders, he envisioned a peaceful society that could use their collective knowledge to foster a more harmonious world; they could help make atrocity a thing of the past! But things didn’t quite work out as imagined.

Mila Savić has devoted her life to valor, ever seeking the duty that is so high and righteous she’ll never need to fight for another.Her father, a career soldier, raised his daughter as a warrior. Values of discipline and duty were instilled early, and by age 7, Mila was training in combat.Young Mila displayed a voracious appetite for knowledge. She pored over the great works of strategy and the philosophy of war. In the evenings, the Savićs would bond over chess. When she came of age, to her father’s immense pride, Mila enlisted in the Serbian military.During a covert mission against the Ottomans, Mila's cover was nearly blown during the illicit sale of a valuable artifact. Inexplicably, an enemy agent intervened to save her ruse. He later introduced himself as Luther. Undercover himself, he proposed a partnership, and together they secured their respective objectives. Luther was impressed with Mila's brilliant, creative mind, and they bonded over a shared love of learning. It was this, he'd later tell her, that drove him to fight for her induction into the Leap Year Society.Mila’s intelligence and ambition made her an invaluable asset to the LYS, though her passion often put her at odds with the stoicism of the LYS brass, leaving her feeling like a misfit. Knowing this, and needing someone he could trust to be his eyes inside the operation, Luther encouraged her to work with Vincent Lichter, whose youth and idealism paralleled her own, in his new Diver training and Fold exploration program. She became close with Vincent, and her support for releasing Seshin earned her Luther's ire. Angered and hurt by the disdain of her comrade in arms, Mila buried herself in her work with Vincent. Vincent wanted his project to run with military efficiency and discipline, and Mila had the experience and leadership needed to make that happen. In the Great Divide, Mila committed herself fully to the Ascendant cause, coming to hold the liberation of Seshin as her highest duty.

Mila Savic

The next generation needs to be nurtured by the present one, as is the case with Quaestors. &nbsp;While Luther shared his knowledge with the eager Mila she never expected that one day they would be at odds with each other. &nbsp; &lt;sp&gt;Answering the call of the Ascendants, Mila broke from her former mentor who holds the grudge of betrayal and continues to feel entitled to a reason why.&lt;/sp&gt;

Media Gallery

Haroona

Gunner

Azad Jayed

Seeker

Gearhead

The Cambrian Device

Shade Bracers

Umbric Abilities

Echoes

Tuning

Tree of Life

Dasuden, Richat Structure, Northwest Africa

Reithden, Central Africa

The Morning Star

Peshanden: Demons Below

The Morning Star: Reclaiming The Bridge

Unknown 9: Awakening

Have you seen an unkillable man? Lord, I’ve seen him ride/ Hammer-back'd revolver, Lakota warriors at his side.