User Profile

Character Name: Ashera
Character Series: Fire Emblem 10: Radiant Dawn
Age: Unknown. Appears to be anywhere from her late twenties to early forties.
Background: Tellius is a land divided in two: the human beorc, and the half-animal laguz. These two races have been in conflict for time innumerable; no one is entirely sure where their racial prejudices began, and for what purpose.

Well, almost no one.

Though they number few, there are those who remember a time when two species were one, when a goddess walked the land and healed the hearts of the weakened. In Begnion and most other nations, this goddess is known as Ashera. Said to be slumbering at the top of the Tower of Guidance in the center of Begnion's capital city Sienne, she watches over the land with boundless love (for beorc) and trust (for beorc).

No one has ever wondered how exactly a goddess who is asleep is supposed to watch over anything. At least, no one who had a strong connection to their neck, strong enough to not want it cut off.

The truth of the matter, known only to the aforementioned few, is that Ashera is not the creator of Tellius. That title, if it belongs to anyone, belongs to Ashunera: a fair maiden who arrived in the land seven centuries ago and met the Zunanma, the ancestor race of the beorc and laguz. They revered her as a goddess, and she took advantage of the fact to guide them into a mighty empire.

As time passed, evolutionary forces were at work. The Zunanma, heretofore exhibiting both laguz and beorc characteristics, descended into two separate species: Ashunera named them the "laguz", children of strength, and "beorc", children of wisdom. The laguz lived longer, were physically stronger, and could transform into beasts, while the beorc were granted the mighty power of magic and the knowledge of civilization (metal-working, etc).

And then they started killing each other.

Ashunera panicked. As her attempts to placate the two warring species grew more desperate, so did her emotions run wild, and without meaning to she drowned half of Tellius under the ocean, in a terrible event known as the Great Flood. The goddess' guilt was so great that it tore her in two: her raging emotions manifested themselves as the Goddess of Chaos, Yune, while her sense of duty and knowledge became the Goddess of Order, Chaos.

Even after the destruction caused by the Flood, Yune was in a rampage. To defeat her unchecked emotions, Ashera summoned the four legendary heroes from each race to her side: Deghinsea of the dragon laguz tribe, Soan of the beast tribe, Lehran of the bird laguz tribe, and the beorc swordswoman Altina. Together the five battled Yune and, victorious, sealed her into Lehran's Medallion.

And yet, even after all the death, all the destruction, still the laguz and beorc fought. Ashera, having lost the love she once held in her heart for her beloved children, decided the best thing to do would be to wipe Tellius of all life and begin anew. The kind words of Lehran changed her mind, however: she decided instead to slumber for one thousand years, and if the two races had learned peace by then, she would spare their lives.

Lehran's Medallion became a central part of the goddess' decision. When Yune awoke, so would Ashera. If war ever broke out so violently that Yune was awakened, Ashera would destroy the continent without a single glance back. If Yune were to be awakened by the Galdr of Release, however, it would mean that at least some mortals were trying to prevent the conflict, and Ashera would be forced to consult with Yune before beginning her genocide.

Tellius descended, if not into peace, then at least into a general malaise. Deghinsea took it upon himself to spread the myth that a dark god was sealed inside Lehran's Medallion, and that war of a certain calibur would cause untold destruction across Tellius. Lehran, having fallen in love with Altina, fathered her child and lost his status as a laguz. He retreated to Goldoa, where he lived for six hundred and seventy years.

The "peace" came to an end when Lehran became fed up with the trade of laguz as slaves by high-ranking beorc in Begnion. Angered with Deghinsea for refusing to fight, he changed his name to Sephiran and became a senator himself in Begnion. He convinced the Apostle, Misaha, to reveal her Brand to the world: an action that backfired when the rest of the senate decided to assassinate the "filthy half-breed" and blame it on the heron laguz of Serenes. Misaha was well-loved, and the enraged citizens of Begnion descended on the peaceful herons in a rage. Serenes was burned to the ground, and nearly all of the herons were slaughtered.

This was the final straw for Sephiran. Though it was he who originally convinced Ashera to spare their lives, his compassion finally ran out, and he decided to awaken the goddess and destroy Tellius. With the aid of the Mad King, Ashnard, he propagated a massive war across Tellius- a war that was finally ended by the beorc hero Ike before it was too late. Three years later Sephiran tried again, and this time it was nearly a success: the heroes of the war were forced to sing the Galdr of Release before the chaos awoke Yune anyway.

The third option of the pact had been chosen, but Ashera failed to uphold her end of the deal. During her slumber, she had resolved that Yune was a weakness, and refused to trust her judgement: she turned the vast majority of Tellius' citizens to stone, sparing only those soldiers willing to swear themselves loyal to her. Those who were strong enough to resist her attack formed themselves into an army, and marched on Begnion to stop her and free their imprisoned countrymen.

Ashera's Disciples of Order clashed with the armies again and again, but in the end Ike and Yune were able to enter the tower and fight their way past both Ashera's minions, Deghinsea, and Sephiran himself. The heroes clashed with Ashera and finally brought the Goddess of Order down, merging her with Yune once more.

Or at least, they would have had she not mysteriously disappeared right after being defeated...

Personality: Haughty, bossy, imperialistic. Ashera's used to having people bow and scrape to her, and doesn't exactly enjoy being forced to live as an ordinary mortal (she doesn't remember being a goddess, but she still feels slighted somehow).

Despite supposedly not having any emotions, Ashera has begun to develop true feelings of her own- further exemplifying the degree of separation between herself and Yune. Without her fellow goddess around, she is swiftly becoming her own entity, and as such is starting to feel her own emotions.

She's lost most of her power and is essentially an ordinary human woman now, albeit one who stands seven feet tall and manages to echo every word she speaks.

To be perfectly frank, Ashera is, well, kind of a bitch. Although she doesn't remember that she's a goddess, she does know that she's a lot more important than whatever rabble is currently occupying Memento. She comes off as cold and robotic, a literally holier-than-thou paragon of virtue.

However, the loss of her godhood has had a greater deal of impact on Ashera than she would prefer to let on. For the first time, well, ever, she's being forced to stoop to the level of an ordinary mortal woman, and is discovering all of the emotions that a goddess never feels. Confusion. Anger. And, if she recovers enough memory, perhaps even guilt. The effect, combined with her memory loss, is highly disorienting, and part of Ashera's snobby attitude is her attempt to hide the depth of the weakness and vulnerability she is experiencing.

Though she will never admit it, she is extraordinarily lonely.

As a former goddess of order incarnate, she despises loud noise, random events, and general chaos, so it's pretty obvious how she feels about being dropped into Memento. Ashera's idea of a wild night involves inviting people to her room for a massive prayer session (to whom, she isn't sure, but something about prayer just makes her happy). She is extremely straight-laced and proper but is secretly interested in perusing all the mortal pleasures she has yet to experience in her long, lonely lifetime.

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