Seynoosh

The town of Seynoosh is old. Very old. Siphins love this place that is known as the birthplace of the Siphin. They can remember the catastrophe, although there is no physical of visual reference anymore. The story is known and passed on generation after generation, and it is not sure what did happen. Dark and hard times after the catastrophe have resulted in a loss of many stories and details.

If you ask for the story, they will tell you about  Bastet, the Heroic deeds of Bastet, Warrior of Black & Gold. How it all started is, however, not a great tale. In short, the story is something like this: On a late summer day, the Siphins are enjoying the Howling Festival, a festival of courting, romance, dance, and music. It is the feast that allows new relations to be forged. Bastet, so they say, was the queen of the day, her fur blackish blue and groomed into a bright and shiny coat. Her head showed a white lining that made all the male Siphin turn their heads, here smell was arousing to the male Siphin and her tail was just... a gift of the Gods!

The evening set in, and the Siphins prepare for the last part of the evening. The males stand in several rows and start their dance, slowly. Their tails moving in excitement. They stretch their paws up in the air. What then happens is something no one could have anticipated. Violently the ground shakes... The sky lights up with bright streaks of light. What looks like balls of fire pass over their heads and slam into mountainside far to the south. More balls of fire pass, the ground shaking violently. Several dancers lose their balance in the chaos.
Bastet looks around and sees several Siphin running away. New violent shakes followed by loud roars of thunder would have scared even the bravest. Suddenly it falls silent. As quickly as it started, it seemed to end.

Several minutes pass and Bastet stands up. She just thinks it is all over when a sudden and very nearby explosion knocks her off her feet, flinging her through the air. With a painful smack, she slams into the wall that surrounds the well. She plummets into the well for several meters and shrieks as she suddenly is surrounded by the ice-cold water. Gasping for air she tries to get hold of the wall. getting to the point of panic she scratches with her sharp claws to find ridges. As her claws find scratches and crevices she climbs up. A few times she almost blacks out, but she manages to hold on. Her climbing skills help her and finally, she is able to stick her head out of the well. As she puts her paws up the ledge she shrieks. again in pain. The stone is hot. She now notices her burning throat, heavily breathing. quickly she climbs out. Her footwear helps a little against the hot rock.

In shock, she looks around... The town... totally devastated. No house, no lair, nothing stands. Everything was blasted apart. Around her hundreds of dead Siphin, when she takes a closer look it shows her that most of them burned to a crisp in an instant by what she guesses a wave of superheated air from -she assumes- one of the fiery balls in the sky.
This part of history is told and written down. The dark ages that follow the catastrophe tell a story of great pain and sorrow. Not just this town is eradicated, but many places are now devastated, burning, and unrecognizable. The Venusian High Plateau is burning after a few impacts. Later we will learn that just a few Siphin survived.

Bastet will have her own adventures after this devastating meteorite storm, but that's another tale.

some stats: 1087 Siphin survived. thirty-five of them pregnant. seventy-four children survive the catastrophe as they are sick and not on the surface.
The settlement they need to rebuild is created around the well and Bastet takes the lead in coordinating, pointing out what and where actions need to be taken.
note 1: History is unclear about the reason why Bastet left Seynoosh or why there is a statue with her image. 
note 2: Bastet is known on earth as the Egyptian Goddess.