Formerly "Starlight"
Origin: Unknown
Archetype: (as Starlight) Blaster (?); (as mutate) Unknown
Power Sets/Powers: Unknown. The name "Starlight" implies some energy-based
powers. After suffering exposure to the Lost, a mutagen has been introduced to Price's bloodstream that may have increased
her strength and durability.
Levels: Unknown
Current Whereabouts: Unknown, but presumably institutionalized.
Group Affiliation: Unknown, although she does have contacts within the
Dawn Patrol.
Benefits/Rewards
·None known at this time. If Price can be found (and is in a lucid state),
she may offer some information about or missions relating to the Lost.
History
Prior to the Rikti Invasion, social worker Shannon Price was better known as
Starlight, a "minor hero" with possible ties to the Dawn Patrol. When the Rikti attacked, Starlight fought with distinction,
helping to defend Paragon City from the
alien onslaught. After the war, the long-time advocate for the homeless retired her superhero identity in order to focus "all
of her energies on trying to make Paragon City
a safer, healthier place for its poorest citizens."
During her adventuring days, Price had explored portions of Paragon
City's labyrinthine subway and sewer systems, which had long been a refuge for
the homeless, various villain groups, and society's outcasts. As Price increased her volunteer work, she realized that people
were disappearing in the underground for weeks at a time. When they reappeared, they had clearly been altered somehow. A few
had even resorted to committing violent crimes.
Price's investigation eventually revealed "a new underworld order, a troupe
of the touched," known as the Lost. Price once again donned her costume and, with the aid of her friend Quint "The Fist" Velasquez
from the Dawn Patrol, ventured into the sewers in search of the Lost and their victims. Unfortunately, both Price and Velasquez
vanished. The Dawn Patrol scoured the sewers, but found nothing.
Three months later, Price reappeared, crawling through a manhole to escape
the sewers. She was seriously injured and mentally unstable. Tests revealed a mysterious mutagen in her blood, which investigators
had also detected in captured members of the Lost. Although Price's body began to recover, she never regained her sanity.
At her most lucid, she described the Lost as "a loosely organized confederation of the mentally ill, street people, and anyone
else who has become desperate enough to find their way underground. The group has a transforming effect upon it members, not
only by providing leadership and a purpose, but by actually changing their bodies. This was obviously the work of the mutagen
found in Price's blood stream, although how exactly it got there is unclear." She also described the Lost's leaders as gods
and demons, but could provide no clear direction to the Lost's hidden lair.
By all accounts, Price is still insane from her underground ordeal. It is likely
that she is being cared for by the Dawn Patrol or another similar organization. Whether or not the Lost's mutagen altered
her former powers is not known.
While Price survived her encounter with the Lost, Quint Velasquez was not so
fortunate. Recently, the Dawn Patrol headquarters was attacked by a monstrous member of the Lost. After that creature was
killed, a thorough analysis of its horribly mutated DNA, dental patterns, and fingerprints revealed that the monster was,
in fact, once Velasquez.
