Kariel, Oracle of Korada's page

Kariel was a rare Aasimar birth - a child directly descended from an ancestor in the celestial realms, and gifted with a connection to the gods that few mortals could ever match. Her heritage was immediately obvious; as if the full head of pink hair wasn't enough, there were two tiny wings sticking out of her back. Such births have usually been seen as good fortune for entire nations or even entire worlds, and Kariel's parents hoped that her presence was the start of the gods favoring the world and allowing stability in prophecy once more. Gathering what money they had, her parents sent a messenger off to the closest major temple (about a week away) in the hope of spreading the good news and giving their child to the church. They were entirely correct about what the church would do... but the messenger talked a little too freely.

Three days before the delegation from the church arrived, Kariel's house was attacked and her parents were killed. The culprits were a group of cultists who thought that her birth could be twisted for their own ends, and their intent was to pervert the baby's essence and consecrate her to their dark master. What none of them realized was that a certain Empyreal Lord already had his eyes set on the child, and her curse had begun to go wild along the way. Falling trees, distracting noises... it was hitting hard just then, and the commotion was enough to get the attention of someone else, who just happened to have caught a glimpse of the cultists as they fled towards their base.

Once they'd reached it, however, Kariel was not exactly safe. The cultists still didn't realize that a divine being had already marked her, and went about their business with merciless precision. Her still-tiny left wing and right arm were chopped off and burned as an offering, starting the long ritual that would twist the child into an abomination. The whole event probably would have succeeded if the base hadn't been raided... by a whole group of bandits. Magic was already a very valuable commodity, and the one who'd seen the cultists go past was part of a group that hunted for children to sell to the empire. The cultists possesses more fanaticism than actual power or ability, and the experienced killers had very little difficulty eliminating them. Kariel was rescued before the ritual was complete and ultimately managed to avoid the planned desecration, but most of the problems were only just beginning...

The bandits had no magical healer of their own, but several members had some basic experience with normal healing techniques, and they managed to stop the bleeding from her severed limbs. Thus began a surprisingly long chain of sales where Kariel was shipped all over the place and generally treated like a commodity instead of a person. The fact that she grew slowly (as was normal for her kind) made it all the easier for them.

After decades of being sold all over the place, those involved with her particular circumstances were used to her good behavior - and utterly failed to realize what was going on inside of her mind. While not exactly a genius, Kariel was far from stupid, and had spent ages observing her surroundings, observing others, and generally figuring things out. It didn't hurt that she'd actually been sold outside of the human-dominated lands for awhile, and realized that things could be different. The feelings grew and grew until, at last, she couldn't take it anymore.

She was sick and tired of being treated like an object. She had only one arm, which meant she often needed help for basic tasks (or at least had to do them very slowly), her one wing seriously unbalanced her, and not once had any of those involved with her perpetual enslavement seemed to consider her at all worthwhile as a person. She had been patient for literally decades, following along obediently and trying her best to be good, and all it had brought her was misery. She was about to start cursing the gods and begging them to simply finish her off when one of the spirits that was haunting her just happened to knock a small, silver disc off of a shelf in her current confinement chamber. Morbidly curious, Kariel moved over to pick it up... and for the first time in her life felt a strong connection to the gods. More specifically, she realized, it was a connection to Korada, the Empyreal Lord of forgiveness and peace.

Through this brush with the divine, Kariel realized that all the pain and suffering she'd gone through over the decades still wasn't enough to demand vengeance. If she truly wanted to be good, then she had to set aside such urges and forgive them. They did not deserve it, but they would receive it anyway. Crying, Kariel fell to her knees and clutched the divine focus with her one arm, begging for the Empyreal Lord's help in forgiving the wrongs done to her.

Korada, who had been watching over her the whole time, gave it. Kariel had been utterly sincere about wanting to be better than she had been, and the favor of the celestial being was soon manifested as her missing arm and wing were restored. Not to the way they should have been, but with replacements that were clearly artificial yet somehow behaved exactly like flesh would have, right down to their weight and dexterity. This was Kariel's reminder from her deity, an everlasting mark to help her remember what forgiveness was about.

It was just after the replacement limbs had appeared that the door to her room burst open, and her latest owner waddled into the room, intending to put her divine essence to good use. He'd been expecting a broken, obedient servant. What he saw instead was a girl newly restored, surrounded by a nimbus of celestial radiance. The guards were terrified, but her owner was even more so, falling backwards and trying desperately to pedal away from her as she slowly walked towards him. When he hit a wall and could retreat no further, he simply lay there, slack-jawed as Kariel approached.

She looked at him for a moment, then gently knelt down and placed a hand on his shoulder, speaking a few soothing words. Kariel stood up a moment later and made her way to the entrance of the estate. Seeing the changes in her, nobody had the nerve to try and stop her. She was, at last, free from her long captivity... and had set aside the grudges. The past was awful, but it no longer mattered. She had a future to look forward to, and that was precisely what she was going to do.

The first people to see her after her escape were, somewhat understandably, a bit slack-jawed when she simply walked up to their cart and asked if they knew how to get to a city. Kariel had always possessed a lot of natural charm, but with Korada's acceptance had come her powers in full, and she now had far more magic to choose from. She had truly become an Oracle, and her adventure was only just getting started.

Now, Kariel has come to Riddleport to research a strange blot in the sky, determine how much of a threat it might be, and spread the teachings of Korada. More than anything else, she hopes to offer shelter and comfort to those who are tired of their wicked ways and have begun to seek redemption. Of course, it's not always easy being an attractive woman in a city like this one... but a surprising amount of misfortune seems to strike those who stand against her, and her obvious affiliation with the gods has encouraged hoodlums to keep their distance lest they bring down significantly more divine wrath upon themselves.