Missa was born in (Hartopsian year) 1373 to Misala and Zharif and their five circle-mates. Missa has four older brothers, three older sisters, one younger brother, and three younger sisters, rounding the household children out at an even dozen.

When she was around four years old, her father took on an apprentice - an Outlander from Karandistahn by the name of Darin. Darin was fourteen or fifteen at the time, and Missa immediately "adopted" him. When Darin and Kevil became close friends, they adopted her in turn as a sort of favored pet or mascot.

Two years later, they left with Zoya on a quest to find and destroy the creature that had killed Zoya's master. They returned to Alanis regularly, however, and she was delighted to learn that Darin and Kevil had become lovers. Having learned from Darin early an appreciation for the hedonistic lifestyle, she frequently snuck into Darin's room in the mornings, wedging herself between them as they slept to avoid being called to do her chores.

When she learned Darin had been killed in the final battle of the quest, Missa was devastated. When Zoya and Kevil left soon thereafter, cleaving together in their own grief over Darin's death, she felt bereft. Recently apprenticed to her horse-raising parents, she threw herself into the work. She had always loved horses - she occasionally boasts that she has not gone more than two days without being ahorseback since she was five years old - but this added drive drove her through the ranks.

She achieved Journeyman-level accomplishment as both Trainer and Trader at the age of seventeen, adding the titles of Master Trainer to her name when she was twenty-two, and Master Trader at twenty-five. In the meantime, Kevil and Zoya had parted ways, and Kevil come home to Alanis.

She nursed a crush on the handsome bard for most of her adolescence, but could never quite shake the shadow of her previous, almost sisterly relationship with him, and the crush dissipated shortly after Kevil returned to Alanis for good. They resumed a friendship, this time as adults on more or less equal footing.

A gregarious and openly affectionate child, Missa changed little in personality as she reached maturity. Even Outlander visitors, often dubious and wary of Alani "loose" morals, were often charmed by her forthright, open-hearted nature. By the time she had acheived her first Mastery, she was well-known in the city for two things: her keen eye for spotting potential matches for her friends, and her "collection" of Outlander friends and lovers. (Not the least of these was the Master Ranger Diya-al'Ati, an Alani citizen by birth, half-Outlander blood making him one of Missa's more vibrantly-colored friends.)

When Kevil left in 1400 to find Zoya, and returned almost two years later with not only the mage, but his lover Loria in tow, Missa was charmed by the blue-eyed Outlander, and the two women quickly became friends.

Though she was disappointed to learn they were not moving back to Alanis for good, she came to the conclusion after they had left again that the couple was incomplete. She resolved that when they returned, she would contrive to introduce them to Diya... in her opinion, her most brilliant matchmaking scheme yet.