Miras Vara was a 24th century Cardassian woman who studied agriculture at the Cardassian Science Ministry. On a trip to the Obsidian Order's storehouses to obtain Bajoran soil samples for her project, she was directed to a Bajoran religious artifact that had the encrusted samples she required: an Orb. With no prior knowledge as to the nature of the Orb, Vara had an overwhelming response to it and shortly thereafter began to research into the Oralian Way, whose tenets and customs she had previously had almost no knowledge of. She returned to encounter the Orb again, this time experiencing a powerful vision in which she met with generations of women who had taken the name "Astraea" and served as guides of their Way. She came to understand that she was to become the new Astraea and lead a rev