Nissandei

Behind every great healer is a tragedy that fuels their desire to save life, stop destruction, and make the world a better place. Nissandei is no exception to this and while she now uses her talents for healing, this was not always the case. Behind her rough grunts and distant gaze is a dark history that she rarely discusses: her guilt for the total loss of her adopted home and her dear twin sister. Born into an Avian Tribe in the ancient Maternia Jungle, Nissandei was the elder of her and her twin sister Niya. Her early days were spent playing in the lush green of the jungle, learning about the plants and animals that filled it with such magic. Yet disease is no stranger to the heat of Maternia and it was not long before her parents were both struck down by sickness. Nissandei and her sister were left to fend for themselves until they were taken in by an order of monks. Here, they studied the ways of their ancestors, learned about the lost civilization of the Avians, and worshipped the great god of birds Wakinya. Amid the glistening verdant trees and birdsong, Nissandei grew into a woman determined to learn more about the Avians and their ways, until rumors of a lingering menace began to spread in the settlements to the east. Nissandei went with the order's warrior monks on patrol and found a gang of Scalekin bandits looting the temples of the Avian Tribes. This was inexperienced Nissandei's chance to prove herself and her knowledge of Avian magic. As the monks threw themselves into battle, Nissandei used a spell she had learned but did not appreciate its full power. It spread a gas shadow of death over the jungle and killed the Scalekin bandits, but also many Avians as the gas seeped through the trees. Nissandei fled with several other survivors, protected by the magic of their chief, back to their village where they found the gas had killed many there. She frantically searched for Niya and found her dead underneath a tree whose leaves had turned black from the poison. The chief ordered the settlement scorched and abandoned. Unable to forgive herself, Nissandei left and took an oath never to harm again and to protect the jungle for the sacrilege she had unleashed. Living now as a hermit healer, she protects and heals whatever she can in the jungle, yet while she may be a great healer, she can never heal the pain that drives her.