Tepaste

SPOILER WARNING! This article (all of it) contains manga-only information. Please be careful if you haven't read the manga. Proceed with extreme caution!

Information

Relationships

Image Gallery

Tepaste
Japanese	テパステ
Rōmaji	Tepasute
Profile
Gender	Female
Species	Human
Status	Alive
Occupation	Delver
Class	Unknown
General Information
Manga Debut	Side Story Chapter 4

“	Oh, mine? Tepaste! Nice to meet ya! Though, I doubt I'll ever see ya again!	”
—Tepaste, to Yelme

Tepaste (テパステ, Tepasute) is a young woman with a connection to the Black Whistle Delver, Cravagli, and is involved in taking an illegal "Last Dive" with him. She belongs to the group called Under Nest.

Appearance

Tepaste has a slender and short physique. She has short hair, which has an abyssal twist in it, a sign of having been heavily affected by the Abyss' Curse. A large, curved scar marks the bottom-left section of her abdomen. She wears overall-like pants, with many pockets, that go over into a short overcoat vest with soft fur padding on the inside. Underneath, she wears a leather harness that holds six hidden throwing knives; she also has an open V-cut between her vest and pants showing the bare upper section of her abdomen and edge of her breasts. Her expression is usually cheerful with a smile or mischievous grin.

Personality

Tepaste typically keeps a playful, cheerful attitude. She is also shown to have a sharp mind and the ability to pick up on details of other people; as such, she has gained much information about currently active Delvers.

History

Early Life

In the past, Tepaste had been put forward as a "Priestess applicant" against her will while still being a child. While being transported down deep into the Abyss by a group calling themselves "Under Nation", they were stopped by a group of Delvers and subsequently attacked by an Orb Piercer. Pieruzo, a Delver looking for the candidate of The Priestess, distracted Tepaste from the Orb Piercer to save her and instructed her to stay inside a Forgetter so that she may survive any attacks. At some point after being thrashed around by the Orb Piercer, the Forgetter was opened by Cravagli, who heard about Pieruzo's quest, to find a beaten-up Tepaste inside.

Pre-Orth Arc

While Cravagli is shown eating many bowls of the same dish, Hamoroge Bowl, in the Tumble Tavern, Tepaste asks him if he doesn't get tired of it, to which Cravagli states he has a soft spot for this dish.

Tepaste also asks him if he would like a quickie with her after having finished eating, which Cravagli declines, stating it would be bad for his "mojo." This leads to Tepaste ordering a bowl for herself and shortly afterwards noting the presence of Umbra Hands in the pub to Cravagli.

As Cravagli takes a glance, the presence of the Umbra Hands, the Subterranean Bandits, and Hablog is shown. Cravagli wonders if a "Shroud" is also among them, to which Tepaste points out Gallice is sitting at the leftmost chair. Gallice notices their observing of them, which prompts Cravagli to greet them with his personal greeting, "Dyaho-de," to disarm the situation.

Then, he notes being impressed that Tepaste was able to notice them without their masks, to which she replies that the way they walk and their voices are all distinct. Tepaste then shifts the conversation to them now having quite the mess on their hands with the one left behind in the 2^nd Layer. Cravagli replies to it that there is no way it could have been hidden, and from the looks of it, several First-Grade Artifacts were visible; plus, they fear they most likely will be found out on their next delve.

Tepaste wonders in return if the "Priestess" is alright, to which Cravagli replies that they will try to get more information later. Cravagli also asks about any words from the others, to which he is informed all they have to go on are the contents of a letter, and is also asked if he thinks it might be a "Nest."

Hablog overhears this conversation and wonders if they are talking about the big joint delving project that is coming up. As the conversation progresses, Tepaste wonders if any of the White Whistles will take part in the big delve, to which Cravagli tells her that no mention of Special Grade Artifacts was made. He adds that Hablog will be in charge of this delve, as he has a knack for it due to being broad-minded, and on these big delves even sworn enemies work together.

The conversation is interrupted by Yelme, who comes over and tells Tepaste this tavern is no place for non-Delvers. He notes that the abyssal twist in her hair suggests her having dived pretty deep into the Abyss, as this is a sign of having been affected by the curse. As such, he questions her in a manner suggesting he is suspicious of her, whether or not she is just hiding her whistle and if she could just show it. Tepaste teasingly replies she shouldn't just show it here but wouldn't mind even if it's in front of many people. As she leans in, she also notes that Yelme has had four prior criminal offenses and teasingly states how it would be a shame if he were to get banned from delving for another or even demoted to a lower whistle rank again. She also highlights being aware of his group affiliation as a Subterranean Bandit. This then leads to her trying to stab Yelme's hand with a metallic claw on her hand, which he avoids, but he is hit by a chin jab from her and stomped on the foot while avoiding the claw.

As he staggers over, Cravagli catches him and places him on his lap. He tells Yelme a proper greeting is important, as it is the basis for communication. As the Hamoroge Bowl ordered by Tepaste arrives, Cravagli feeds it to Yelme while elaborating on the dish and noting it works well against tipsiness from drinking too much, as it is clear Yelme had been drinking.

As he feeds it to Yelme, Yelme asks for Tepaste's name, to which she energetically replies but also notes she doesn't think they will meet again.

As Cravagli and Tepaste make their way through Orth after having left the pub, they note that the people they saw at it will be part of the big delving expedition, and Cravagli notes his desire to depart before things get complicated, and thus they will leave via the abandoned factory route into the Abyss by sunrise for their illegal "Last Dive." He then notices that a few things are missing from his pockets, and it is revealed Yelme picked his pocket while Cravagli fed him.

Curse Fleet Arc

After a skip in time, a badly hurt Cravagli in the 6^th Layer is shown. He takes note of having no more feeling in his hand, his left leg being broken and him not being able to feel his toes, and his rib cage being busted. He is then contacted by Tepaste via a Communication Device, and, upon asking if she is alright, she tells him she made it out without any serious injuries thanks to him and asks whether he'd be able to make it to her location.

Cravagli tells her he busted his leg; Tepaste notices she still has his rope, realizing he will most likely not make it back. Cravagli tells her to go on ahead, as their "pursuer" is most likely still coming after her.

Tepaste remarks, in a bittersweet fashion, that Cravagli prayed so hard for their success, yet they had no luck. To this Cravagli responds he doesn't really rely on luck, and his prayer is just a mental ritual to get prepared as a little game of his. He further tells her that if one doesn't keep a lighthearted mood, the mind gets stiff and brittle, and to save the hardheaded, brittle attitude for when things get tough. Tepaste teary-eyed replies she will do just that, knowing that she most likely won't see Cravagli again. As their communicators get out of range, Cravagli tells her they will meet up in the "nest."

The scene shifts back to Tepaste, who is running through the 6^th Layer while worrying about Cravagli. But this is quickly interrupted by their pursuer, a member of Hail Hex, Nishagora, catching up with her and threatening to torture her for information, as she suspects Tepaste to be one of the "Shrine Maiden's underlings."

A short exchange between the two follows in which Tepaste tries to attack Nishagora with a kunai-like relic, which is blocked, and begins charging up a gun-like relic while informing Nishagora that she won't be able to talk if the torture includes breaking her jaw, to which Nishagora simply replies after a short moment of thinking that she will just have her write it down then.

After Riko's group had triggered a trap set by Hail Hex, Faputa takes notice of two presences stacked on top of each other approaching. Shortly after, Nishagora and Tepaste emerge from a section. In a brief moment of all characters taking note of each other, Nishagora notices Riko's whistle and gets enraged by assuming Riko's group must be underlings of the "Shrine Maiden."

Tepaste tries to disarm the situation by noting she has no idea who these children are, but by Riko stating she is Lyza's daughter, Nishagora becomes angry again, as she knows Lyza's daughter was stillborn. Only with further explanation and mention of the Curse-Warding Box does she calm down and begin to note names of people she is reminded of by Riko's circumstances before becoming lost in thought.

After becoming active again, she decides to take Riko's Party to her boss if they want to follow her and Tepaste. Upon the reveal that her boss is a White Whistle Delver, Riko immediately wants to tag along, and the rest of the group follows. Before they start following Nishagora, Nanachi thinks of what possibly led to the reaction Nishagora had after seeing Riko's white whistle. After some thinking, involving how all revealed White Whistles apart from Riko's are relatively known in shape to an extent, only Riko's whistle has an origin of taking its form that Nanachi assumes only Riko's group, and possibly Bondrewd by peering into Nanachi's vision, knows about.

As such, Nanachi theorizes they are possibly looking for a white whistle of a never-before-seen shape, with even its name being unknown.

As the group travels, Riko and co. theorize about the Shrine Maiden, as it is something mentioned in Orth's fairy tales and in The Song of Hariyomari. During their further travel, Nishagora also asks them if they believe in souls, to which Nanachi states she wants to believe in the existence of souls. Faputa, however, flat out confirms the existence of souls and states even layered creatures like Nishagora and Tepaste have them.

Soon after, the group arrives at the outpost of Hail Hex in the 6^th Layer.

As they enter it, they are greeted by a member of Hail Hex who welcomes them. Inside the outpost, Nanachi marvels at the amount of equipment, and shortly afterwards they are addressed by the boss of Hail Hex, who is cooking food in a big pot. As the conversation progresses, this boss tells them that the goal of Hail Hex is to reach the deepest depths of the Abyss and asks what Riko's goal is.

As Riko counts in her mind the many goals she and her group still have, she says there's quite a lot. After hearing that, the boss of Hail Hex introduces the Curse Fleet Delver Troupe, Hail Hex, and afterwards herself as captain of it, Srajo. She praises Riko and shows recognition as a White Whistle. However, she also notes that they will have to put Riko through her paces first.

While Srajo puts them to the test with a fight against Nishagora, Tepaste, being held by the other member of Hail Hex, calls out to everyone that the water for the bath is now ready. Srajo proclaims that the test is now over and they must take the children into the bath. Nishagora asks Reg if they should go in together.

Reg and Tepaste are asked by Srajo to bathe Sherumi and Menae; Tepaste instructs them to take off their "Works," and afterwards asks Reg how he obtained the Gentle Knock. He reveals that it was taken from a body with a big crest. They're interrupted by the screams of Sherumi and Menae, and Tepaste takes Sherumi out of the bath and chides her.

After sharing a meal, both teams prepare to set out on a temporary joint expedition until they can find a place to base in the 7^th Layer.

As both groups move forward, Tepaste tries to ask Nanachi about Cravagli's possessions but is interrupted by Nishagora. Nanachi gathers that she may be asking about the "Mythographer." After that, they are stopped by their senses being negated and are suddenly attacked by a creature. Nanachi moves in to protect against an attack on Sherumi and Menae, and Reg extends his arm in an attempt to save Nanachi.

As Reg latches onto the assailant, Nishagora and Tepaste fasten him to a nearby rock formation. Srajo fires a Popple Gun into the haze to reveal the Mysterious Beast, which had ambushed the group. Faputa and Yataramar pursue, the latter revealing a transformation triggered by Srajo's White Whistle.

Faputa distracts the creature while Yataramar attempts to secure and then free Nanachi. A combined attack from a released Sherumi & Menae is able to injure the monstrous arm holding onto Nanachi, and Srajo severs it with another strike from the Popple Gun. Yataramar uncovers Nanachi, revealing grievous wounds.

Abilities

Combat Skills

Tepaste has been shown to possess high-level physical, combat, and delving skills. In her short skirmish with Yelme, she nearly stabs him with a clawed hand, along with a precise chin strike and foot stomp, causing him to stagger and fall with a bad concussion. She is also shown to have proficiency with combat Artifacts, as seen during a confrontation with Nishagora.

Trivia

• She has the habit of sticking her tongue out.
• She has inverted nipples.

Other Languages

Language	Official Name
English	Tepaste
Japanese	テパステ Tepasute
French	Tepasté
Russian	Тэпастэ Tepaste