Kara Miharian

Art by TacticianKate

High Priestess **Kara Miharian** is one of the Miharian sisters. She is a skilled necromancer and has a skeletal right arm, black veins across her body, and a human spine she wields to cast her spells. She lives in Cloveway with her wife Jacqueline, where the two maintain a temple to the Raven Queen.

As an NPC, Kara is played by Joseph "JoCat" Catalanello.

The Spine of Death spellbooks contain pages from Kara's notebook, detailing her wartime research into necromancy. While Chandrelle Miharian initially accused her of being the Black-Veined Queen, the Spine of Death's leader, the Belkinus Necro Hunt party revealed this to be false.

## Life Before and the During the War

   Five years before the start of the war, Kara started to learn necromancy. She kept a notebook recording what she had learned. Her younger sister Abigail mistook it for her diary and scribbled notes and doodles throughout.

During the war Kara served the Kingdom of Belkinus by gathering military intelligence. She advocated for the use of undead soldiers rather than risking the living, but then-Viscount Orion felt the undead were too frail to fight effectively.

After the war, she was in charge of the study of necromancy for Belkinus until her sister Chandrelle was elected Viscount, banning the practice outright and shutting down her research. Kara took the news very poorly. She vanished for decades and continued her research in hiding, with the ultimate goal of learning the spell *true resurrection.*

At some point during her time in hiding Kara learned the unique ability to siphon necromantic power from others. It was often fatal or left the victim in a coma, though she was working on ways to bring stronger victims back from the brink. Siphoning also took a toll on Kara, who eventually lost her arm to the necromantic energy.

Kara knew Pierce Bloodstride early in his career, and taught him about siphoning. Though she saw what he could become, she did not dissuade him from his quest for more power. Nathaniel Gainsby holds Kara responsible for Bloodstride and the Spine of Death's rise.

Kara was also the inventor of the mute crystals that Chandrelle gave to the members of the Belkinus Necro Hunt party.

## Life in Cloveway

Kara eventually gave up on finding *true resurrection*, falling into a quiet life in Cloveway as their High Priestess and maintaining a temple to the Raven Queen. She married another elf named Jacqueline and often went on errands away from town, bringing back flowers for her garden. While Chandrelle stoked fears about the Black-Veined Queen, raiding parties from Belkinus often attacked Cloveway, which left Kara and her townsfolk distrustful and defensive.

During Belkinus Necro Hunt the party, following their orders from Chandrelle Miharian, tracked Kara to Cloveway with the intent of capturing her. They faced off in the temple, but eventually convinced her to stop fighting. She agreed to travel with the party to Belkinus Proper and try talking to Chandrelle about repairing the public image of necromancy in the Kingdom.

## Relationship with the Raven Queen

Although many followers of the Raven Queen believe her worship to be incompatible with necromancy, Kara takes a more nuanced view. She believes it is acceptable to use bodies as tools, likening it to making leather from cows' corpses. However, she will not attempt to bring souls back form the Raven Queen's stewardship, and has abandoned her pursuit of *true resurrection*. This interpretation of the Raven Queen's will has also shaped the governing principles of Cloveway.

Kara's relationship with the Raven Queen is close enough that she can channel the goddess through a brief ritual, allowing others to converse with her.

## Magical Ethics

Kara is aware of how people view necromancy but sees no ethical issue using dead bodies as tools. She takes a much greater issue with enchantment magic, which she sees as stealing time from living people. This divide has led to ongoing debates between Kara and Nathaniel Gainsby as the two have traveled together.

## Mechanics

Rather than dealing damage, the party ended their encounter with Kara through a series of cumulative Persuasion checks.