Astire, Radiant Battle Dancer

## History

The last daughter of a failing noble house with little to their name, Astire was taught only fragments of her heritage before the precarious scaffold in the slums upon which their house (such as it was) and the houses of a dozen others was built collapsed. For reasons none could explain, there was a blinding flash of light as the houses fell - Astire was the only survivor of the catastrophe, though even she did not escape unharmed. But when she woke, and realised what had befallen her parents and neighbours, her anger and rage and passion manifested itself into an arm of glowing golden light that seized her family's sword, and she fled.

She travelled for some months, turned aside again and again in her efforts to find sanctuary before finally arriving at Babel. There she was finally accepted into an orphanage - and very swiftly learned that in comparison to her own story, others had had it far worse. It was a humbling time, and a moment that she took to heart. And the woman who emerged from the orphanage almost ten years later had grown far more mature and kind. Though none too adept with mystical healing arts, she travelled around all the same, providing healing to those who - for whatever reason - were unwilling to receive it from mages, or those for whom visiting temples was somewhat infeasible. Perhaps unsurprisingly given her own history, she made a point of donating a significant proportion of the money she was given to orphanages and the like.

But for all her tender generosity and kindly demeanour, she never set her sword aside.

## Appearance

Astire appears as a relatively young, seemingly human woman at first glance until you notice the way her golden eyes reflect an implausible amount of light as though glowing with power, and the way her silvery-white hair flows and billows of its own accord. Her preferred attire is an ornate dancer's gown that lets her move freely while still accentuating her motions, a selection of discreet jewellery and mystical trinkets adorning her, and her ancestral sword sheathed at her side.

The most noticeable thing about her, though, is of course her glowing arm, a shimmering construct of pure light that seems as much a part of her as her remaining real arm, and which seems to be the source of much of her powers.

## Personality

Enthusiastic and excitable, Astire can come off as annoying at times, but she's got a more sensitive side to her that tends to endear her to those that interact with her to any extent.  She kinda wears her heart on her sleeve, and isn't very good at reading and interpreting the emotions of those who don't do the same. She's grown a little more confident as she's grown more experienced, holding herself to a higher standard of honour and courage...although - while she has no qualms about climbing, flying or jumping - the prospect of *falling* is one that will invariably elicit a little nervousness from her.

## Abilities

In combat, Astire specialises in quick, mobile attacks, flitting across the battlefield with an elegant grace, combining a variety of mystical and martial techniques into an unusual fighting style, capable of improvising a wide array of abilities. Her true focus, however, is in healing - not magical healing, but mundane healing applied with remarkable skill, slow but capable of healing wounds and ailments on a level to rival many mystical healers.

## Recent Adventures

Astire has gone through a lot in a short space of time. In the space of barely a year, she grew from being little more than an adventurer in name only, much of her time being spent as an apprentice healer more than anything else, to a full-fledged adventurer, with a not insignificant amount of stories to her name. Nowadays, she's unlocked more of her mystical potential as a being of light and positive energy, and has been on a number of adventures - and has the combat experience and magical power to show it. She took part extensively in the battles for the Ghostlands, and was at the final encounter with Princess Ephemera, but has undergone a variety of other exploits, including an encounter with a dungeon-sized mimic, various exploits in virtual reality, a clash with ghost pirates, and a journey into bitter cold to face off against the great wyrm Mimurlnir.