Esther Bright

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Esther Bright
Esther Sprite.png
Former Grand Protector
Esther Bright is a human and former Grand Protector of the Terrene Protectorate who resigned her commission in order to pursue research involving the return of the universe's biggest threat, the Ruin. She acts as the main quest-giver and narrator of the game.

Personal Life

Esther was the former Grand Protector before Leda Portia. After resigning her commission, she followed her research regarding the Cultivator and the Ruin. It is unknown whether she is physically disabled, but she is only seen seated.

Esther is known for her dedication, not only for her research, but also her hobbies. She once attempted to catalogue all known bugs and insects in the universe.

Relationship to Asra Nox

Throughout the game, Esther is hinted to have connections to Asra Nox, the leader of the Occasus Cult.

Long ago, Esther found a little girl named Asra Nox, the sole survivor following the pillaging of a settlement by a group of raiders composed of Floran, Apex, and Avians. Knowing that Asra had nothing left, Esther decided to take her under her wing. Despite flourishing under Esther's care, what happened to her home never left Asra, leaving in her a deep hatred for alien races. After some time, Esther took Asra away from the Protectorate, presumably passing the torch of Grand Protector to Leda Portia, in order to pursue her research on the Ancients. Eventually, Esther's research took them to a remote star away from civilization, where she discovered ancient writings about "an archaic force of unspeakable might" bent on destroying all life - the Ruin. She decided to share this knowledge with Asra, in hopes of channeling her brilliance towards stopping the Ruin. Instead, the knowledge, sparked by Asra's deep-seated hatred for aliens, led her to believe that the Ruin was a 'cleansing force' that would destroy all 'inferior life' in the universe, leaving only humans. Esther's attempts to rectify this misunderstanding only angered Asra, leading to Asra's departure from Esther and the creation of the Occasus Cult, a human-supremacist group hell-bent on the release of the Ruin and the primary antagonists of the main story. It is possible this event left Esther hoverchair-bound, but it is just as likely Esther might have been born with her condition.

Encounters

Esther Bright is encountered at the Outpost. She is the first NPC that the player will meet who will introduce the story line for the six artifacts. The player initially picks up her signal via the ancient gateway on the planet that the player beams to when starting a new game. She is found in the Ark next to the Monolith Gate when the player eventually beams to the Outpost. She will guide the player in their retrieval of the six artifacts, in order to open the ark and battle the Ruin.

Codexes

Trivia

  • Esther's name establishes the convention of characters allied to the player having a name related to some kind of positive concept, with her first name of Esther meaning "star" and her last name, Bright, obviously relating to the concept of light.
  • Esther has a name drop in Wargroove as part of the ending to Nuru's arcade mode run, although while the canonicity of the arcade mode storylines is questionable, it does seem rather likely and plausible that Esther would remain in contact with the friends and allies she would make along the way, even after the player's victory over the ruin.
  • Esther is featured on the icon of the achievement titled "The Wanderer".
  • One notable if minor detail regarding Esther is that her scarf will change color each time the player encounters her.

Gallery