Nastassia

Nastassia is a young woman who tends to the upkeep of the Shrine of Compassion in Ultima VII.

Biography
Nastassia's great-great grandmother Ariana, only a child during the time of the gargoyle wars, met with the Avatar during the hero's adventures in Ultima VI, giving the champion the Rune of Compassion with which she had been entrusted. This meeting made a profound impact on the girl, and thereafter she pledged that her descendants should hold dear the Shrine of Compassion. Her son Mikhail, a mayor of Cove in his time, and her granddaughter Magda, who commissioned the Lover's Walk, both honored this tradition, as did Magda's child Nadia.

Nadia, however, was destined for a tragic end. After her husband Julius seemingly abandoned her, leaving her with child, the woman fell into a deep depression. During her difficult labor, she heard word that her former beloved had been killed by a wild beast in Yew, and filled with despair, Nadia ran with her newborn child, Nastassia, to the Shrine, where she committed suicide.

Nastassia grew up as an orphan, haunted by the burden of her mother's death and the shame of her father's apparent abandonment. Should the Avatar have met her in Ultima VII, she proved hesitant to mention the circumstances of her obsessive devotion to the Shrine. It was only after hearing her story in verse from the bard, De Maria, that the hero could coax out of the sorrowful woman the reasons for her sadness. Once asked directly about the deaths of her parents, Nastassia admitted that she hoped her dedication to the Shrine might someday bring her mother's soul peace, and asked the Avatar to bring her stories of her father should the hero ever have occasion to travel to Yew.

If the Avatar committed to this errand, Nastassia would be elated, and if the hero was male, she would kiss him suddenly. This first kiss could be requited several times, if the adventurer so chose, and such an Avatar might begin a blossoming romance with the young woman. After journeying to Yew and discovering that Julius died in the defense of the peaceful tree-dwelling emps, the hero could further alleviate the pain of Nastassia's grief, unburdening her heart with news that her father died a hero. She would thereafter tell the Avatar that he might come live with her and share in her life should he ever grow weary of adventuring, and asked her beloved to keep her in his thoughts.

Later, Nastassia, roused from her seclusion, helped to lead the clean-up efforts of Lock Lake during the Reconstruction that followed the Fellowship's dismantling. The lake had long been afflicted by runoff from the Britannian Mining Company's Minoc branch, and while legislation was passed to prohibit further dumping, the waters of the once pristine body of water were quite polluted.

It is unknown if the Avatar continued a relationship with Nastassia, although the hero was ultimately fated never to see her again after leaving Britannia for the Serpent Isle.

Trivia

 * According to technical documents for Ultima VII, Nastassia is modelled on German actress Nastassja Kinski. Her portrait also appears to have been based in part on that of Katrina in Ultima VI.
 * Should a female Avatar undertake Nastassia's quest, no romance ensues, with Nastassia instead telling the hero that they share a strong bond—like sisters.