[b]Name:[/b] Miraem Kastern (Mira)
[b]Race:[/b] human
[b]Age:[/b] 22
[b]Gender:[/b] female
[b]Alignment:[/b] lawful good
[b]Occupation:[/b] healer (and student)
[b]Height:[/b] 5'5"
[b]Weight:[/b] ~130lbs
[b]Continent:[/b] Lucerna

[b]Appearance:[/b] Miraem has very dark brown hair with a bit of wave and striking blue-gray eyes.  She is fair of face, with a lighter mid-range skin tone that darkens in summer and gains a few freckles across her cheeks.  She has two scars, one down the left side of her face and another across her left shoulder and down her upper arm.  She doesn’t like them, partially because she doesn’t like how they look, and partially because they can attract attention, but she’s learned to accept them.  She's on the short side, but quite curvy, though she wishes her bust was a bit larger.  She generally wears simple blouses and skirts with just a little bit of embroidery for decoration, though she will tie her skirt up if it makes what she's doing easier.  She's fond of bright colors and pretty things, though she doesn't often have the opportunity to wear either.

[b]Personality:[/b] Mira is studious, paying close attention in schooling, and often asking well-considered questions, both in class and elsewhere.  She soaks up knowledge about anything and everything, and is always eager to learn something new, or master a new skill.  She loves reading, especially outside.  If the weather isn’t nice enough to be outside, then a cozy window seat is the next best thing.  She’s caring and pretty friendly, willing to lend a hand where it’s needed.  She has a strong moral compass and does not waver if she believes something is right.  She is brutally honest, and her frank, blunt words can easily come across as unkind if not downright rude.  She tries to keep a level head even in difficult situations, though she cannot equal her mother’s serenity in the face of danger.  Still, she is determined and often quite intense.  She tends to be optimistic but sensible, confident in her abilities and secure in her identity.  She likes challenging herself, but more for the sense of accomplishment than out of any need to prove herself to others.

[b]History:[/b] From a very young age, Mira knew she wanted to follow in the footsteps of her mother and a number of other family members on her mother’s side, stretching back multiple generations, and become a healer and practitioner of light magic.  She had a strong affinity for the practice, both magical and mundane.  She took her studies in all subjects seriously, though she didn’t focus on them to the exclusion of everything else.  The girl spent time with cousins and the other village children, playing tag, trying to catch frogs and butterflies, climbing trees, and all the other things younglings love to do.  She was quite active, and between her wide-eyed, curious approach to the world and a clever and always-busy mind, she was a handful for any adult that looked after her.

At age age nine, a band of marauding lizardfolk attacked her rural town.  But among their number the raiders had a necromancer, who brought raised dead to bolster their numbers and take down a portion of the defenders to soften them up.  Mira and other women and children were sent to hide while the able fighters of the town tried to fend them off.   She and two of her cousins hid in a small closet, listening to the sounds of combat outside, but it wasn’t long before one of the lizardfolk sent gas canisters through the window and the fumes forced them outside.  A number of dead were lying around, the motionless forms of people she knew mixed with lizardmen, but the worst were the /other/ things there.  What seemed to be decaying bodies and even skeletons could be seen as well, some of them engaged in battle against the villagers, who were having a difficult time.

A rotting creature, too far gone to reliably tell what species it was beyond humanoid, turned to regard the three frightened children.  The monster’s face didn’t need to be clear for them to tell it was leering at them, a bloody sword gripped in what remained of each hand.  The eldest cousin shoved her brother and Miraem behind her, stuck as they were between it and the house, and she was cut down without hesitation.  Mira screamed in terror, a sound that turned to one of pain as the second sword opened a deep gash in her cheek and shoulder, not killing her only because she was already stumbling backwards.  She and the younger cousin were rescued by the timely arrival of Mira’s father, who used his warhammer to knock the undead creature back, away from the children.  He lost an arm for his troubles, but desperation is a powerful motivator, and he kept fighting.

The ones who ended up carrying the day, however, were the light mages.  Mira’s mother was no paladin, but the woman had learned a number of things from her own father, who was.  She’d seen that the fighters were losing against undead, and with calm determination she left her hiding spot. Using her magic to inspire courage in those around her, she gathered all the town’s mages.  Some she sent to healing the injured, others to shielding those still standing from arrows and curses.  The third group she brought to near the center of the fighting, and instructed them to gather power.  She drew upon their collected energy, and used it to cast the strongest version of banishment she knew, and with the undead destroyed, the townsfolk rallied and drove off the invaders.

Both Mira and her father recovered from their injuries.  Her father, now missing an arm, stepped down as a sergeant for the town guard and instead took to training young folk in basic fighting techniques.  Mira gained a scar, and a changed outlook in life.  The girl had been deeply hurt by the things she’d seen, and to this day undead scare her.  However she has decided, with her usual singleminded determination, that just healing people is not what she wants to do.  Inspired by the actions of both parents, as well as other villages, she also wanted to defend those who were unable to defend themselves.  She started splitting her attention between the healer’s craft and combat, specializing in staff and glaive.

As an older teen, she travelled to the City of Light, to further her studies.  A year and a half ago an elven musician turned up in the area she was staying.  She was fascinated by his stories of far-off people and places and vibrant personality, and the musician was quickly captivated by Mira’s intensity.  He often finds himself telling her more than he means to, particularly about himself.  Ironically, it was those glimpses of something more, particularly his intelligence, that made her like him as a person, and eventually allow him in her heart and in her bed.  She knows he will move on eventually, and while she’ll miss him she believes she’s strong enough to get over him.

[b]Weapon:[/b] glaive, though may use it with the protective covering on
[b]Talents:[/b] healing, staff/glaive combat, extensive vocabulary, excellent memory for minor details
[b]Inabilities:[/b] can’t tell right from left without thinking about it, sensitive to many stronger chemicals and can’t use them without protective gloves
[b]Fears:[/b] undead, small spaces, helplessness
[b]Strengths:[/b] intelligent, confident, superb healer, determined, studious, fair
[b]Weaknesses:[/b] often honest even when a lie might serve her better, stubborn, can be unreasonable and irrational when angered, loses her cool very quickly when it comes to necromancy and the undead, as well as raiders
[b]Powers:[/b] healing, shield/ward (physical or magical attacks/evil), morale buff/debuff
[b]Notable Items:[/b]  (solid bracelet -- open, no clasp.  Possibly more like an armband/armlet, but on the wrist.)

[b]Other:[/b]
~Wears a necklace with a simple clear crystal on a silver chain.  It’s an heirloom from her mother’s family, passed from parent to the most talented child who followed the healing profession.  If no child in a given generation takes the path of a healer, it is saved for the next.  The crystal is capable of storing magic power, and generally the wearer will charge it a little bit each day, unless it is already at max capacity.  This energy may be drawn on in times of need, but can only be used towards healing spells.
~Mira is intimidated by horses after falling off one and breaking her arm as a child.
~dislikes lizardfolk, though she doesn’t fear them nearly as much as undead
~She fears the undead, and loathes both them and necromancers.  If she could wipe them from existence, she would.  As it is, she’s determined to one day find the lizardfolk necromancer that attacked her hometown and make him pay.

[b]Notable Skills:[/b]
~fairly good cook
~Her family’s traditional healing brews and remedies do not taste foul, because “nobody would be willing to take them if they did.”
~reasonable singing voice, though it takes a lot of persuasion to get her to sing around anyone else
~well-educated, and well-read on a variety of subjects
~knows how to drive