Shira Tamako

  biography   A six-year-old Au Ra girl was found crying in the Dravanian Forelands. The Sharlayan Miqo'te scholar who chanced upon her deemed that she must have been one of the many refugees from Othard in the wake of Garlean occupation. The direction the young girl came was from Coerthas. For weeks she would not speak of what she witnessed. After the child regained her voice, she confirmed to her Miqo'te rescuer that she saw her family killed in front of her. Afterwards, the Miqo'te, Marya and her Au Ra partner, Tamachi, adopted her as they tried their best to rebuild their lives after the exodus of the Sharlayan colony. The family decided instead of journeying to Ishgard, they would settle in Tailfeather to avoid scorn from the Holy See.After being treated with love and care, the trauma of having witnessed her birth parents murdered faded into the recesses of Shira's memory. She adopted the surname "Tamako", a derivative of her mother's name, Tamachi, as they could not trace Shira's clan. Tamachi, having also been mixed Raen-Xaela and born in Hingashi, could not pass down the customs and beliefs of the Azim Steppe. Together they fumbled their way through their collective memory to carry on the traditions of their people.The Calamity separated Shira from her adoptive parents, yet it brought Ysayle into her life. A young Elezen woman nineteen summers old, Shira forged a bond akin to a first love with the rimed maiden three years afterwards. Ysayle confided in her visions of Hraesvelgr and Shiva. The young Shira felt unsure, not having fully attuned to the Echo's power, and feared its influence on Ysayle.Ysayle devoted herself to her mission and left Tailfeather, leaving suddenly and unexpectedly. She told Shira that she was free to choose her own path. For some time. Shira attempted to find clues of her parents' whereabouts in the Old World and found proof they survived the Calamity. She set across the Bloodbrine Sea to begin her journey in Vylbrand.