Big Hat, like many Leshy, was not born, but instead found her spirit drawn to a particular vessel. This vessel was a mold growing in an old, decrepit, abandoned house on the outskirts of Nantambu, on a pile of old, open books that years ago had a strange and now unknown substance spill upon them.
Big Hat awoke to this old, disheveled house and was immediately enthralled by its mysteries. Books scattered on desks, floors, stored in book cases, and even a few on the bed. So many strange symbols. Odd vials of alchemical concoctions that have long expired. And amid it all, an old shriveled staff.
Big Hat spent the first year of her new life studying every square inch of the home and of what tomes that were still legible, while using the rest as sustenance.
Early on she discovered that she wasn't the only one living in the house. Rats and other vermin had made this rotting corpse of a house their home, but also a very small black cat with beautiful green eyes. This cat instantly gained the attention of Big Hat, and when Big Hat wasn't studying halcyon magic, she was taking care of this critter that she had come to call Small Cat.
After about a year, Big Hat had learned all she could from her home and hungered for more knowledge. Luckily she didn't have to go far as the Magaambya was relatively close. There she studied for years, reaching the rank of Attendant, upgrading her beloved staff, and making Small Cat into a proper familiar.
But her hunger was not sated. Thankfully, the Magaambya rewards curiosity and when Big Hat heard word of a portal to a brand new unknown world, she didn't hesitate to make the journey.