Starsha Chracco

The life of Starsha Chracco has been one of great joy, sorrow, and suspicion. Born is the great city of Shard, Starsha is only child of Tem de'Chracco, a once respected Moon Mage of the House of the Waxen Moons, and Lakana Artaine, a strong and beautiful young Empath of the House of the Rowan Branch. Starsha's birth was heralded with great joy, for both the de'Chracco and Artaine families had a rich and proud history of leadership, intellectual prowess, and strong magical ability.

Members of both the House of the Waxen Moons and the House of the Rowan Branch hoped to groom Starsha for potential leadership when it came time for her to choose her place in Elothean society. There were even whispered rumors of a potential arranged marriage into the exclusive and powerful House of the Glittering Diadem.

As Starsha grew older it became apparent that the expectations of both Houses were to be fulfilled. With her pale, yet bright, silver eyes and long black hair, the often-rambunctious child could win over even the gruffest of hearts. At the tender age of five, she was already beginning to show a very high affinity for magic, and she excelled in scholarly pursuits even by Elothean standards. However it seems that those two houses were not the only ones with high expectations for the young girl...

One day, when Starsha was eight years old, she was playing with dolls in front of her family's home as her mother watched to make sure she stayed out of trouble. Suddenly a gray-eyed, black-haired Elothean gentleman approached Lakana and began talking with her. No one is quite sure what transpired between the two, but witnesses to the event say that whatever the gentleman said to Lakana caused her to turn sickly pale, grab her child and run inside their home. From that day forward Tem and Lakana refused to let Starsha out of their sight for even the briefest of moments and rarely even took the child out of the house. The pale-eyed Elothean would visit the de'Chracco residence several times, but each time Lakana would refuse to let him in the door. Tem de'Chracco's behavior also became strange. He would disappear for days at a time, and was seen frequently talking to Halfling traders.

Approximately two months after the strange man's first visit, while Tem was off on one of his many strange visits, the home of the de'Chracco family caught fire. After the blaze subsided, the charred remains of Lakana Artaine were found in the destroyed dwelling, but Starsha was nowhere to be found. When Tem returned home he immediately went into a state of shock at what had happened to his family. As he collapsed into his grief he kept repeating the words "My Lakana, they my have taken you but now they shall never have our daughter." Many say that the death of his wife and the disappearance of his daughter caused Tem to go mad, for his mind was certainly never the same after the incident. There was a great search conducted all over the Ilithi province in an attempt to find the missing Starsha. She was never found and was presumed dead. The fire itself was deemed an accident. The House of the Waxen Moons and the House of the Rowan Branch grieved the losses terribly.

Nineteen years passed, and the de'Chracco tragedy was all but forgotten when travelers reported to the Houses that they had seen a kind, young Elothean cleric by the name of Starsha Chracco who had claimed that she was the daughter of Tem de'Chracco and Lakana Artaine. The Houses immediately sent representatives to fetch the girl so that they could ascertain if the story was true. Starsha Chracco pleasantly accompanied the representatives back to Shard and willingly explained her story to the leaders of the Houses.

Starsha explained that her father, fearing that the strange man intended to do her harm, had arranged that she would be smuggled out of Shard by a family of Halfling traders. The traders were to take care of her until her father and mother were able to slip away from the city unnoticed as well. When the traders learned of what had happened to Tem and Lakana, they allowed Starsha to remain with them until she was old enough to take care of herself. She spent many happy years amongst Halflings, during which time she acquired her strong worship of Glythtide and a fondness for taffleberry tarts. She had never attempted to contact either of the Houses, because she believed that as long as she remained an outsider to Elothean society she and her father would be spared any more harm.

After much more questioning, the House leaders became satisfied that she was indeed the daughter of Tem de'Chracco. However when they attempted to reunite Tem and Starsha, Tem took one look at the girl and went into hysterical ravings about trickery, one minute saying that the girl was is daughter, another saying that she was not, all the while screaming about the Melyo Rensh'a. This was attributed to his madness, and Starsha expressed great sadness that she could not be truly reunited with her family. After formally recognizing Starsha Chracco as the long lost daughter of Tem de'Chracco and Lakana Artaine, as well as her decision to remain a houseless Elothean, she was allowed to return to the Crossing to continue her work.

To this day, Starsha Chracco continues to do good deeds as both a Cleric a Mentor. While remaining intensely private, she has devoted her life to helping those in need, attempting to keep peace in the Realms, and causing joy and merriment wherever and whenever possible. But is she all that she seems? Was Starsha kidnapped and trained by the infamous Melyo Rensh'a to carry out some secret political agenda? Is she a clever impostor, impersonating the daughter of Tem de'Chracco for reasons unknown? Or is she simply a senka'i neir and a loyal Cleric of Glythtide as she claims? Only Starsha knows for sure.

Last Revised: 06/16/03