Ashiya

Ashiya’s Story

Ashiya Sharr’s-daughter was training to be a bard like her father, under the guidance of her Elethay priestess mother. That is, until the family was captured and slaughtered by a necromancer. Since Ashiya had not shown signs of being a shapeshifter at that time, the necromancer put her in a cell until she did change, and planned on sacrificing her later. Fortunately she was rescued by a group of Valarians before that happened and tutored as a Nightwitch. Now she hunts necromancers and warpspawn and protects shapeshifters and the natural order of the world.

Ashiya is not a front line fighter. Her job is keeping the front line fighters healthy and guarding their backs so they can do their jobs. That does not mean she does not have a bite of her own: her unassuming and unkempt ebony bow is in perfect condition, and is quite capable of dealing with underlings and apprentices, leaving the major opponents to her companions. And woe to the necromancer or warpspawn who looks into her cold silver-gray eyes.

Ashiya instead excels at putting a crimp on necromancer’s plots in other and more subtle ways than fighting. She is a diplomat and an infiltration and espionage specialist. She has infiltrated necromancer strongholds, rescued shapeshifters, charmed nobles, and restored a king to his throne. She is also a “first contact” specialist when dealing with newly changed shapeshifters.

Ashiya is the epitome of a Nightwitch: shadowy, quiet, and mysterious; slow to anger but deadly in her rage. She inherited her mother’s beauty and her father’s charm; when she cloaks herself in a Nightwitch’s mystery, she is a darkly sensual figure of the night. She smiles rarely and laughs almost not at all, intently watching the world with her pale silver-gray gaze from the shadows of her hooded cloak and deciding how best to handle whatever situation she is in.

Ashiya has one secret: she is a Living Ancestor. When on a mission to investigate a dragonstorm with a large group of Valarians, and after the two most experienced Valarians left ( Robert Smith in error, Sherry in stupidity ), a host of warpspawn descended from the storm to attack the rest of the Valarians. As the most experienced Valarian and most powerful Witch present, it fell to Ashiya to hold a Storm Shield to protect the rest of the Valarians until help could return, when she could have run. That decision saved many of the Valarians she protected at the cost of her own life. Robert Smith and Sherry researched the ancient and lost Living Ancestor ritual and they paid the price for their mistakes to restore Ashiya. Now she exists in a half-life state between life and death as a Living Ancestor. As such, she is more vulnerable than a living person to spirit magic and has only a limited number of mortal years left to her. Ashiya does not share this secret lightly: only her most trusted companions know it, and all who do know her secret are bound by the most strictest and holiest oaths not to reveal her secret to anyone.

Ashiya wants to continue the fight against necromancers past her mortal lifetime, with the hopes and expectation of being a Spirit Mentor when she dies.