I have a prelimiary background for Myna Basi, also known as Moth. Let me know if this is the kind of thing you're looking for Phoenix, as I'm very willing to edit and adapt as necessary. [sblock]Appearance: Myna Basi might have the appearance, at first glance, of being a contradiction. She is not particularly tall or short, but quite heavily-muscled for a normal woman. Her skin is a deep nut brown, but her eyes are pale gray. Her hair, though long, is as white as an old woman’s which sometimes gives people the impression she is far older than she really is. Though time in the sun has given her creases at the corners of her eyes, she is barely past her second decade.
Background: Myna was born the daughter of a falconer who often trained falcons and falconers to serve the rich of Metropolis. Though she had spent much of her life helping her aged father in taming and training bird and human alike, it was unlikely that she was going to be able to follow her own path until her father either died or gave up his business. She never really consciously wished for her father’s death, though she often dreamed of the ability to make her own choices.
Most people in Metropolis learned at least a little self-defense, but Myna far outstripped the lessons her parents gave her. She had a natural aptitude for the martial arts, and desired greatly to learn more, but her own duties prevented her from seeking formal training. She pestered her uncles and aunts, her neighbors, their neighbors, their neighbors’ neighbors, until she had gotten all she could from as far as she dared travel. She daydreamed about joining one of the roving bands of fighters that did daring deeds for bright gold, or even becoming the champion of her little corner of the city.
Her mother had died in childbirth, attempting to give her father a son, when Myna was ten. From then on the twolived on their own, the sole occupants of a rare rooftop apartment. When Myna was thirteen, her father fell to his death from their aerie. Myna had been daydreaming again, and she only noticed her father was gone when she turned. He had fallen without a sound. Saddened and heartbroken, and feeling guilty because of her secret wish, Myna burned her father’s body, gathered the remaining wealth they had accumulated, and set out without a word to anyone.
She spent the next few months traveling across Metroplis, attempting to find forgetfulness, or at least an acceptance within herself. This oftentimes resulted in rather reckless and self-destructive behavior, such as getting into fights or riling up people far more powerful or stronger than her. She gained a lot of scars, and escaped a couple bad situations. The few times when her relatives caught up with her, their sympathy fell on deaf ears, and she refused their care and concern.
She had an epiphany one quite summer’s night, as she slept in a tiny cell of a room with just a single candle for company. She watched a moth circle the candleflame, darting around it, seeming to challenge it, daring itself to see how close it would get. Eventually it got too close to the flames and burned, and she watched in fascinated horror as it flew on burning wings, spiraling to the ground and dying. Somehow she knew that the moth was herself, and she was very close to burning. From that night onward, her hair turned white.
Myna knew she could no longer simply wander and brood, for she was a young woman with a future ahead of her. She couldn’t let her sadness and guilt over her father’s death lead her into her own. Taking herself to the nearest weapons’ master, Myna presented herself for training. She told him to call her Moth. [/sblock]
