Grace Ishida

Grace Ishida is one of the Signature Characters from Orpheus, as well as a Storyteller character.

Born to prosperous parents who worked as business executives, Grace is half-Japanese and was raised in both Tokyo and San Francisco. However, her strong dreamer's attitude caused several conflicts with her parents, especially after she told them of her desire to become an artist. When she was 16, she ran away from home after her parents threatened her with boarding school.

She ended up on the streets, somewhere in the United States. She battled for her life, prostituting herself when it became necessary for survival. Eventually, she tried pigment, a new street drug, and ended up severely addicted to it. Her art seemed to acquire new layers of meaning, as if her willpower had directed itself directly onto the canvas. Even more startling (and intriguing) was the voice she heard coming over a static-y satellite TV channel at midnight. She became obsessed with the voice, using pigment to hear it again and again.

Eventually, Grace found her way into a street rescue program run by Terrel and Squib. The program helped her fight her addiction, but the meditation they taught her also resulted in her projecting for the first time. Terrel and Squib snapped her up and trained her as a skimmer. They were especially intrigued by her Shade, which demonstrated new abilities none of them had ever seen before.

While training, she found the source of her mysterious voice: Terrence Green, the ghost behind Radio Free Death. Green had reason to believe that Terrel and Squib played a large part in the creation and distribution of pigment, and told his fears to Grace. Attempts at investigation resulted in several Spectral attacks. Terrel and Squib also found out and sent their own agents after the two.

Grace's primary purpose in life is to uncover the truth about Terrel and Squib, the pigment, and everything else that has struck her as suspicious since her defection. She acts as a support for Green, and does much of the legwork to search for information that Radio Free Death turns into broadcasts. She has also dedicated herself to helping street kids like herself, and keep them away from pigment.