Selena “Star” Cullen is a bit of a fruitcake. And that’s putting it mildly. She’s every stereotype of the crystal healing California hippy rolled into one. She believes in everything. Psychic powers, magic crystals, and ancient witch cults may be real in her world, but she finds ways to make even seasoned occultists roll their eyes in exasperation. The thing is… it all works for her. All of it. If she believes invisible gnomes are delivering healing potions under her pillow by the light of the full moon… that’s exactly what tends to happen. Sometimes that’s because she is genuinely magically potent. Sometimes that’s because folks like Ace and Blur tend to “help things along” at times to keep Star happy.
Star is a Cleric. Or maybe a Druid. Possibly even an odd form of Sorcerer – nobody is quite certain. She is clearly focused on healing, divination, and strengthening her team, but the actual source of her powers is difficult to discern as her personal “doctrine” conforms to no known religion. Most eventually look towards Selune – as her clergy contains its share of lunatics and Star definitely has an Astrological bent. But that’s simply conjecture as the Church of Selune certainly lays no claim to her.
Grim came to know Star when he, for once, underestimated an opponent and became seriously injured. As he was in bad repute with the local nobility and constabulary, the gang was having difficulty finding a healer both willing to tend to him and capable of addressing his serious injuries. Eventually they happened upon Star – who is willing to heal almost anybody if her stars tell her they are meant to be healed. Grim had little understanding of her mindset, but a great appreciation for her abilities as she had no difficulty returning him from the brink of death. She completely ignored all of his attempts to recruit her, until he insisted she consult her stars. Grim attempted to nudge the process in his favor, but she saw right through it. She also, however, determined that she was in fact fated to follow him. And she has ever since.
Star acts as one of the primary moral centers of the group. She is unfailingly kind, compassionate, and concerned with the plight of the poor and weak. And her willpower can match Grim himself once she sets herself to a mission. However she also *seriously* off-kilter, and just as likely to be incensed about the plight of the local garden gnome population as the local orphanage.
Like the rest of Grim’s Gang, she originated in a Wizardry 8 party.

In games Star is almost exclusively some variant of Cleric or Druid. Sometime with a dash of psychic. Her nebulous power source makes her relatively easy to adapt to any given setting.
The challenge in rendering her into a portrait is that AI often likes to render women as either elderly or young and hot – and she is neither. She’s not a frumpy old maid. She’s not overweight. But she is by no means a model either. I’ve had the best luck describing her as a 30s to 40s South Carolina woman – as the picture in my head has always had a southern bent. Her current queries start with the following baseline. Note that while the query says “modestly overweight, the pictures are not. But together with “plain” and “haggard” it helps counteract the tendency toward super-models.
“plain, mid-40s, caucasian, south carolina woman, cleric, haggard, stout, modestly overweight, stout, wearing a moon necklace, with a tattoo on her forehead, praying, brown eyes open, with a slight smile. Wearing plain leather armor. Short brown hair”


















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