The Diviner

The Diviner has always been in tune with the ebb and flows of Life; the strength which drives the world, the power which fills every living being. She sees it in the form of occasional auras; the glow of life itself. Even as a young child, she could feel the pain and inflictions of others; as she matured, she learned she could not only see and hear Life, but manipulate it as well. Deftly as a seamstress would patch up a dress, the Diviner quickly learned how to heal and soothe the wounds of others. People would come to her remote village from leagues away to visit "the little girl who was touched by the Phoenix."

Rumor has it that as she lay in her crib, the Phoenix itself blessed this girl; and in fact the Diviner's earliest memory is of a giant bird casting a feather at her, and as she reached to catch it, it passed through her to her heart.....

And so the little girl could in fact heal. But that was only the beginning.

As she performed her chores on a hot summer's day, weeding the humble garden her family tended with her brothers, she fell upon soft soil in a stupor; so totally taken by an image that it knocked her off her feet. She saw with frightning alacrity her own father clutching his heart in anguish as he fell to kitchen floor; yet no one around her saw her image. They were looking at her strangely, and asking her if she felt ok.

As her brothers reached her, her mother called out from the kitchen window that something was wrong with Pa, and to come in at once! But it was too late - Pa was struck dead with a heart attack not five minutes pasts; and the Diviner's fainting spell was forgotten by the family.

As the Diviner struggled to heal her dead father, she cried loudly in fustration as his limp form lay motionless on the floor. After some time, her mother lay a conforting arm about her shoulders, and explained that when something dies, it cannot be brought back to life with it's soul. Death cannot be healed.

This had a profound effect on the Diviner; why can't even Death be healed? It became her lifelong quest, to heal, and to someday make Death reversable.....

Years past, the Diviner grew into a woman studying in the Shrine of Isis, a temple dedicated to Life magic, the Diviner's natural talent. While studying, she beheld her second Divination.....

.... In the cold and uninhabitable mountains a great wind arose; a wind foul with the stench of death. This wind grew into a gale which spread down the mountain into the valleys below, diluting in strength, but dangerous regardless. At the source of this evil wind a great voice shook the walls of the mountain with deep, sinister laughter. A great evil has been awakened .....

It is my time to rise, let the champion of Life beware, for I have awakened

.... A second vision; a great horned skull devouring a bird, laughing and growing stronger with each bite.

I shall consume you, I will smite Life from this land

.... A third vision; a great army marching south from the Dragon's Spine.

I am not alone

..... A fourth vision, nothing but gore as nearly a hundred people are torn apart limb from limb while the golden altar of a Phoenix is smashed.

We strike; where is your champion? Will no one stand before me?

The Diviner awoke in a cold sweat; within the hour she learns of a horrible massacre in Illhaven of a temple full of Druids; preparing for the rebirth of the mighty Phoenix. Without word to anyone, the Diviner gathers her things and takes the next caravan to Illhaven. Without a doubt, the Phoenix is under attack; and someone must protect the life-giving Phoenix at all costs.... and maybe she is the Champion of Life.