Shantira

"At some point, we will falter. We will. It is mathematically irrefutable. We dream of the protoss empire standing for all of eternity. But we know—we know—that we cannot eliminate every hidden flaw. We have been considering how to deal with the consequences of individual disasters. We have not considered how to deal with the day when the Firstborn face extinction. Maybe it will come from us; maybe it will come from an enemy. But the day will come."

- Shantira

Shantira was a Grand Preserver that served on Aiur during the Protoss Empire. Along with her sisters, it was her job to record the memories of those protoss connected to the Khala and use that knowledge to help guide Protoss decisions. She was the youngest of her sisters, Rohana and Orlana.

History
Shantira was one of the Grand Preservers who bore witness to the tragedy that befell two protoss motherships as their khaydarin crystals failed and they were destroyed in a neutron star. She then sought to fix the flaw in the mothership design, but her sister Rohana wanted to eliminate any chance that a random disaster would destroy the Protoss Empire. Shantira was optimistic at the legacy they would leave should they succeed.

Shantira guided the Khalai Caste craftsman in the construction of a massive arkship, the Spear of Adun. She took pride in its design, and saw the first launch of the ship into orbit. The preservers then debated whether it would be right to create more arkships, with Shantira stating that too many would deplete the empire's resources. For years they deliberated on the question, with two more arkships being developed.

Shantira consulted with phase-smiths and their memories, but stated that she could not find the answer she was seeking, as if something was blocking her from the correct course. After months of debating, she stated they were approaching the question from the wrong way, trying to advert random disaster when the problem would be the empire itself, and that they had built the arkships too early as they would be used to win battles rather then to save the civilization. The three grand preservers presented their case to the Conclave, who decided the arkships should be buried for a time when they are needed. The grand preservers volunteered to be put into stasis at that time, with Shantira put into stasis aboard the Pride of Altaris .

During the zerg invasion of Aiur, the Pride of Altaris  was destroyed, and Shantira was killed in stasis.