#shariadune

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barbie elf

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I finally did the 6 character inspiration sheet for Shetolae!

This took me, um, a formidable and possibly shameful amount of time (4 hours) because I opened it up and ... immediately forgot every character that has EVER inspired Shetolae. Anyways! It was worth the struggle. It really captures her vibe :)

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Sej'dreath...

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Rhy'alorn....

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The creepy sisters...

Aj'ylei, Sej'dreath, and Illmanai

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Morshalos...

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Sej'dreath...

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Shetolae...

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Aj or Aj’ylei (pronounced Azsh-yis-lay or Aye-yih-lay) (I just call her Azsh for short lol) is the eldest sibling (and daughter!) of the Shari’adune family. She is cold, calculating, and uncaring for most except herself & sometimes 2/3 of her younger sisters (Sej and Ilma).

Aj’ylei bore the brunt of the horrible treatment her siblings received from their father, Aj’rieth, and unfortunately she also bears his name. Opposite of Highborne tradition (headcanon incoming!) Aj’ylei was named for her father, instead of after her mother which was traditional in Highborne society (headcanon!). As a young woman in highborne society, Aj’ylei was expected to learn the arcane, master the arcane, and pursue a suitable marriage match to further the arcane power line + chase higher social status. Without the potent will for the arcane, nor the looks of Azshara (which were lusted after by the highborne (HC!)) Aj’ylei was deemed a failure by her father and sent away.

In the post-sundering world, Aj’ylei works with her two younger sisters, Sej’dreath and in a triad I call “the creepy sisters” to torture hubris filled hb that remain from the shadows of the astral realm. Aj is rarely on Azeroth anymore.

Her design is meant to reflect a softer yet more modest, subdued version of a priestess. She covers herself in long lines and a high neckline to maintain modest and, in some cases, anonymity. It is rare to see her without her large cape and hood, and especially rare to see her hair at all. Perhaps, that is a result of the failure of her genetics! Why would she display her not-Azshara white hair & not-Azshara-gold eyes?? Best to cover her shame!!

Anyways!! That’s a little (or a lot) about Aj’ylei and her whole deal.

Aj'ylei...

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bit of background on this piece is that sej’dreath, the most death, destruction, killing machine astral knight ended up in ardenweald by mistake and became a sort of princess to the fae that live there. She became their flowery warrior for a time. 

And then she was finally able to return to azeroth and for a moment was back to her black/grey astral silvery plate getup -- back to the usual of terrorizing elves and the like for their transgressions. And then she was discovered by a hulking, haunted Keeper of the Grove whose aim is to make sure those who have gone astray pay their dues. And now she is clothed again in flowery, druid like regalia while serving him and paying her debts to, basically, death.

weird summary but! that’s the bit around this outfit :) 

Sej'dreath...

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Rhy’alorn!!

He is the second child, first son of the Shari’adune family. He was named after his mother (Rhylanai), against highborne tradition. (I headcanon that highborne named their first born after the mother in reverence of the ultimate mother, Azshara, and also matrilineal society. HC!) But, due to being disappointed with the results of their first born child (Aj’ylei), she was named for her father, and their mother’s name was reserved for Rhy’alorn.

His upbringing was similar to that of Aj’ylei’s. He was an elder child, forced to endure the cruel treatment and traumatic abuse at the hands of his father, Aj’rieth who did anything for further his socio-political machinations. After a harrowing experience with Aj’ylei, under the vision of their father, Rhy’alorn swiftly fled the family estate (at that time, near modern-day Dawncleft) and went to Kel’delar to train in the military. 

He remained there, undisturbed, until the Sundering. Notably, his younger brother Morshalos, who narrowly escaped the same abuse from their father, joined him in military training ~150 years later (a short time for our beloved long life elves).

The way he survived the Sundering is unknown (I haven’t written it, lol)!

Now, MANY moons later, he is akin to a Hedge Knight. He travels around making small coin going on various adventures, quests, and tasks for others. He is a very solitary man. Notably, he has not spoken or seen any of this siblings since prior to the Sundering. I think he prefers it that way. He wishes for nothing but to forget his childhood, his home, and where he came from. :^ )

His design however, is reminiscent of his heritage. Perhaps, to say it is inescapable for him! His armor is ornate, embellished dark silver and gold. It references similar designs we’ve seen in other kaldorei areas (notably being referenced specifically from the legion plate sets!). His tabard, most importantly, bears the sigil of a snake: maw open and ready to bite. This harkens back to Shari’adune sigil: a single snake coiling around a mirror. Instead of bearing the (shameful, to him) sigil of a long dead and better forgotten house, he bears his own that still resembles the original. But now, he is a lone snake with no mirror, no body, only his mind readied to bite. 

Interesting, no? :)

anyways, if anyone wants to meet Rhy’alorn and talk to the sad man, lmk! I do actually roleplay him publicly (in Stormwind!) sometimes. :)



Rhy'alorn....

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This! Is how Sej’dreath usually appears. In a long dark cloak, silver and grey plate with curved lines and runic details. Like a true Highborne knight but with a deathly, celestial twist!

I love my dark death knight pink haired lady. She’s so sad 🥰🥲

More about Sej though. Sej’dreath (pronounced Shay-dree-ath or SEJ for short) is the third child and second daughter in the Shari’adune family. She is the saddest of the bunch, if you can believe it! She displays as a very outwardly apathetic woman, only really laughing or showing positive emotion around her younger sister Illmanai. She shares a childhood fondness for her younger brother Morshalos, who she named, but has not seen him since shortly after the Sundering.

In the years prior to the Sundering, Sej’dreath had joined Aj’ylei in Sargeron to train as a priestess and become a near-protege to her elder sister. However, during an extended sabbatical of Aj’ylei, Sej’dreath found promise in combat skills and heavier armor: forging herself into a sturdier warrior and less of a priestess.

Sej’dreath’s tragedy lies in that her older sister Aj’ylei, always her fathers daughter (power hungry and malicious), forced Sej’dreath to both take blame of the murder of their uncle (sorry deep oc lore happening) and carry his enchanted skull around (now, for eternity). Shortly after such an event, Aj’ylei forced Sej’dreath to wash her face with the Cup of Elune and become a sort of spirit seer. Essentially, making sure Sej’dreath would see and feel the spirits of the many people Aj’ylei had (and would go on to) kill.

TL;DR: mean older sister forced younger sister to take the blame and made sure she never be free of it in any way shape or form, turning said younger sister into a sad, sad woman who is quiet apart from when she’s in combat🌙

Sej'dreath...

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Morshalos!! Going to add a blurb from Sej’dreath’s perspective on Morshalos. It’s loose and written awhile ago, but I like it still.

...And then, your family has another baby: a boy. "Morshalos," you suggest as a name. A sad name from a sad child. Your mother and father accept it, and he is your baby brother. You love him, you are told you will be with him when you are older. Then, you age, he ages: and you are together. For a short time, though, not too long. And then, you are sent away to meet your eldest sister. You don't know why, and you miss your dearest brother. You never see him again. Years pass, the wheel turns, and the continent shatters. Death finds you, and somehow, Morshalos does too. He carries you from your broken grave.

Time passes again. You lose one another to the gruesome solitude of perpetual self-hatred. You think: there is no light in this world other than him. My brother I named. 

Will you find him again?

The relationship between Sej’dreath and Morshalos is really interesting to me to write as there is both this forced aspect (from Aj’rieth, their father) and also a deep love and friendship between them. Sej’dreath adores Morshalos, and to our understanding, he adored her. They were kin and not just by blood. And it’s bittersweet in the way that they become separated, they experience more trauma when separated, and then reunite just for a short time during the Sundering. And then??? who knows?? (I do).

On Morshalos specifically- fun fact, he was the first sibling I made for Shetolae. It was early on in her tenure as an OC (is that stupid to say? tenure??) and I was still playing her as a hunter. She named her pets after things that she’d lost: Eldre’thalas, Darnassus, and Morshalos (a green hippogryph). And then I made a demon hunter and then the entire family exploded in my head, and here we are. 5 siblings deep LOL. BUT THIS IS ABOUT MORSHALOS.

He is the fourth child in the family, between Sej’dreath and Ill’manai. He is, the second youngest in the ‘first family’. (There is a significant amount of time between the birth of Ilma and Shet-- so much so that everyone was an adult by the time Shet was born. That type of vibe). After watching his elder brother, Rhyalorn, experience significant trauma at the hands of his father and eldest sister Aj’ylei, and then having to experience similar things himself, Morshalos fled the family house (~maybe 2.5k years before the sundering, lol so short right?) and went to Kal’delar to train in the Imperial (?) military, alongside his brother.

He remained there until the Sundering, become adept in combat as a dualist (idk? a person who uses 2 blades instead of one?). Once the Sundering began to quake, Morshalos rushed across the shaking world and to Tel’anor, where he knew Sej’dreath had found her tenure as a priestess. Somehow, he called Sej’dreath out of an early, Sundering-created (?) grave, and saved her from an eternal death. Or, is it, that he welcomed her to an eternity of death? Who knows (I, also, do not know as their writer).

Anyways! I may write more on this later, or actually talk about his design. For now, this is what I have to offer and Morshalos Shari’adune. :)

Morshalos...