The mining town's people once made a modest income harvesting precious resources from the surrounding land, but, by the time Ha lei was born in her hometown, the lands were exhausted, marking the start of the town's decline in both wealth and population. While her parents toiled the day away in the mines, she and her twin brother would go out to the outskirts to play and explore, building rocky snowmen and hiding in the dry grass field. Lack of rain and moisture often left the vegetation parched, leaving the thorny and less leafy kinds to decorate the area. Clouds of dust from the mines billowed through the town almost as often as their fluffier counterparts drifted lazily past in the sky above. The environment contributed to the close-knitness of the townspeople as they bemoaned to each other about the high burden of respiratory and skin conditions in their community.
The modest size of the town meant they could keep their friends close, and their enemies even closer. Ha lei's short-tempered brother would easily flare up when the neighbourhood bullies would start to pester them, and this would often result in a fist fight. Wanting to be the responsible sibling who did the right thing, she would act as backup of course, throwing back well-worded insults at the rival pack. Unfortunately, her brother frequently lost. She would give supportive comments after the battle like "You lasted half a minute longer today!". Of course, this meant they were frequent visitors of the local doctor, a middle-aged magic-user who knew everyone in the town due to his occupation. He skillfully weaved the arcane art into his healing practices, and very much impressed Ha lei who was intrigued with being able to cure ailments and alleviate pain using this intangible, unseeable power. When she asked if she could become a doctor like him, he would chuckle and say she was too fiery to be a healer. As the doctor tended to her brother, or any other family member she brought with her (her grandparents were frequent visitors too), he let her look through his numerous books, of which her favourite was the withered clasped tome filled with years of various spells. She would watch as some mere words and gestures could seemingly undo any injury a mean bully could inflict, any cough and wheeze this dusty dry environment could cause, any unfixable problem just fixed. This precipitated her first feelings of wanting to obtain this power that was arcane magic.
Sometimes the progression of a condition was inevitable and a patient could not be helped. The town's nature meant all those worsening morbidities and early death were unavoidable. Or so it seemed. In fact, the town doctor had far inadequate medical training to deal with the many complex ailments presented by the townspeople. He shouldn't have held the job, but resorted to lies and tricks to keep his living. He used the power of illusions and enchantments to 'treat' what he didn't know how to treat or make it seem like they were getting something something at least mildly effective. Some were given no more than placebos. When the townspeople found out this had been going on for years, they all together flared up in a rage and went to storm the offender's house. It was so sudden, Ha lei barely had time to process what was going on. She knew the doctor was out and ran to tell him. She followed behind him as he appeared to rush off in a panic. By the time she arrived, the mob had set alight the first flames, lighting up the darkening evening sky, and turning on the doctor as he appeared on the scene. She knew why he ran back to the house, so she slipped into the burning house and grabbed his old spellbook and staff out of the crackling grey haze before clambering out again, hacking but alive.
In the end, the town beat the doctor up good, but he was also alive, and unendingly remorseful for his actions as it began to all weight down on him. As the authorities were called in to take him away, Ha lei, standing by the sidelines, came up the offer him his book and staff, but he refused it. He told her to teach herself, work hard, and use the knowledge she would gain to do good, not go down the wrong path as he did. Despite all his doings, she felt sad that somehow a choice to misuse knowledge would lead to a devasting, crashing end such as this. She kept the book and staff close, silently vowing that should she ever be blessed with such power she would use to improve the world not break it.
It took a while to find a replacement; people didn't want to work in a dying, isolated town such as this. Meanwhile, her grandfather died of his conditions, and Ha lei moved out of town with her brother and grandmother. It was easy; many youths were escaping the ageing place in search of a better future, and she was distant from her parents, having been brought up largely by her grandparents. At their new town, a larger, more bustling place, she secured an apprenticeship with an arcane scholar who she impressed with her ability to understand and learn quickly. He invited her and her brother to come to a grand city he knew of, one of excellent standing in regards to scholarship and the art of magic. There they could further their learning and grow as young wizards. So, they left that town not too long after they moved in, and began to travel from town to town, village to village, until they reached their new home - Lumivaara*.
She refashioned her arcane focus to look refreshed and less withered, and got herself a new proper spellbook, where she wrote her notes about spells and other things she learnt with a focus on abjuration, her chosen field of interest. She then put them to practical use upon going on investigations as part of the local authorities. She had helped solve a murder for a family who was grieving, and she knew that in order to solve more cases in the future, she would need authority, not just tenacity and skill. With some persistence, she was accepted as an assistant investigator, and began her career in solving crime.
However, as much as she met like-minded people who strove for justice, there were others who used their abilities to thieve and scam - for what reason? Why did people continue to choose the wrong path? Clearly, they had to be helped, there had to be some good that was lost in these souls. Even when the Surge* blessed the land's citizens with new powers, it only seemed that the crime got worse as people chose to use their newfound abilities for wrong-doing. One day, she joined her brother's archaeology team out on an expedition to explore some lesser known ruins, but were ambushed by a rival team intent on smiting other teams to hoard all the discoveries and research to themselves. As a fight broke out, magic missiles and conjured fireballs flying in either direction, Ha lei realised there was no holding back. She had wanted to use what she had learnt to heal and repair, not fight each other. But there would always be others who use their power for violence and force, and there was simply no stopping them. She would have to, in turn, use her powers actively against them in order to prevail and restore harmony. With a firm incantation, she release her shield and flamed the enemies with a burning wave of her determination.
She now continues to work as an investigator, fighting those who disrupt the livelihood of other people and trying to help others turn their lives around. She feels fortunate to have had mentoring, good upbringing, loving grandparents and brother, and she wishes she can extend what she was granted to her to help pull others out of misery and darkness.
*For context: Lumivaara is a large city known for having a large population of adventurers and scholars. The Surge was a sudden surge of magic that swept through the land five years ago, endowing some people with magical abilities which they never had before.