#so it was a trap! the justicars with him figured it was to kill her right for taking his eye? at the border of skyrim? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

vcloudbreaker · 6 years ago

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Writing Challenge: How did your muse meet some of the people in their lives?

Original Prompt here: https://saephoraembersky-wra.tumblr.com/post/179339498313

When I first got tagged for this, I picked Lesti’s husband, Xaereth, for the first of three characters I figured I’d write this out for. (Post there still to come!) The list of other possibilities ended up consisting MOSTLY of Blood Knights. When I started considering which two were “most important” and “most developed Lesti” I got bad feels about it. Then Lesti decided to make it semi-relevant to current RP and grabbed the keyboard and this happened.

Lesti’s been around WRA for 5 years now, and in that time MANY of the Blood Knight characters on this realm have helped shaped her character. We didn’t always get along (might be fair to say I didn’t like some of you and you didn’t like me on an OOC level, ever) and things weren’t always great. Still, I want y’all to know that Lesti wouldn’t be who she is today without each and every one of you, and I want to thank everyone for all the awesome RP through the years. (even if lesti’s IC opinion still isn’t glowing)

Tagging every tumblr for everyone I can find, mentioned below -- feel free to do the prompt yourselves for the originally intended sensible amount of characters and tag some other folks. WRA isn’t a perfect home, but it’s home and all we’ve got is each other.

Tagged By: @adilynia (your tags are always awesome ilu)

Tagging for mentions and for the prompt: @housetyrellian for Arth and Jaira, @bloodhawkrising , @jaypyreanor , @zanpyreanor , @drimmari , @azkariel , @mourne , @solarine , @talaenwildthorn-blog , @shakesthesun , @inathia , @raynellalaria , @hylaudius , @analyse-bloodwing , @trollydruid , @sworntothesun , @valorandvictory , @seekingthedawn , @bamsilverheart , @denlandis @catraena-blazewing

He'd put her in bed.

Valestia stared through the curtains that separated their bedroom from the balcony and her husband's back. He'd removed his armor, at some point, but his clothes hung unfastened on his body, bedshirt ruffling in the early morning breeze. He stood arms behind his back, legs set apart; rigidity had long since settled into his shoulders.

She wanted nothing more than to go to him and ease it from him. It wasn't what she needed to do. She went silently, his cloak still gathered about her shoulders. It wouldn't buy her much time before his notice, but it would be enough.

Ladyqueen and Nana lay sprawled across the nursery floor, as was their wont. She stepped carefully between tiger and hound, passing them only because they were accustomed to her presence. Elendae’s nightgown wasn't fastened correctly, but she could hardly fault Xaereth for his valiant attempt. Smiling fondly, she reached in and lifted the toddler from her cradle, hoisting her up against her shoulder before making her way downstairs.

The girl was awake by the time they came to the kitchen and dining, and Lesti picked her way across the floor to set her in a chair with a few rolls of harvest spice apple-pumpkin fruit leather and a glass of sweetened goat's milk.

“Shh, darling,” she instructed gently, brushing aside soft curls to press a kiss to the child's brow.

That done, she turned her attention to the first part of her task. Unlimbered of her platemail armor, the currents of creation flowed unhindered through her veins. Shards of clay and glass and bent scraps of metal floated free of the floor, churning like a slow cyclone overhead until they came to rest atop one of the tables. The tablecloth fluttered, wrapping snugly around them.

She stared several long moments at the heaping bundle ready to spill off one side of the table or another. The image of the precariously confined disaster was not lost on her. At least it was for the moment contained.

Candles next. She dug out every box she had of every shape. She needed as many, she imagined. They were piled haphazardly atop the table in front of Elendae in short order. She climbed up on top of it, after, letting Xaereth’s cloak slip to pool about her as she knelt there. She gathered up a candle, snapped her fingers to light it.

It was Xaereth, who had taught her to look at the Blood Knight Order as anything other than an abomination. It was through him she began to truly get to know them, one by one. Beginning with…

“Lilendae,” she whispered hoarsely, causing Elendae to look up in confusion. She was Xaereth’s student, taken under his wing when they were in Venris Cinderblood’s guard, together. They had grown so close he had adopted the young Adept. They had all been, terribly close, until she disappeared. It was a loss that still haunted them both.

“I pray...that somewhere...out there...the Light guides you home.”

She tipped the candle to one side, let the wax pool on the table, used it to anchor the candle upright. Another candle, next.

“Jidai.”

She had known him through Lilendae. They two had been... close. Fond of one another, if she recalled correctly. She remembered him as a cheerful, upbeat sort.

“I pray...that you have grown strong in the Light, and that you are happy, with someone. She would want that.”

“Justicar Centari.”

He was a friend of her mother’s. Prominent, by her telling, but as oft delinquent as inspiring. He was impossibly jovial and carefree in his connection to the Light.

“I pray one day you blind us all with true Radiance.”

“Justicar Sunfury.”

Her father’s best friend, before her father had turned on Venris Cinderblood. Exian Sunfury had a resoundingly intimidating reputation, but by the time she had met him, the jaded Champion had lost his fiery convictions and was little more than a lamentor of glories lost.

“I pray… you walk into a fate you can accept with a glad heart.”

“Vemair…”

She shook. This was the first.

Anger can only fuel a flame for so long.

But Drimmari Dra’zar had no idea how long her flames could burn.

Vemair had kidnapped her sister, Laryana, for Venris Cinderblood, twice, to bait her father into traps intended to kill him. She HATED the Knight-Master. She could still put a hole in his chest without a twinge of guilt.

“I pray...”

That the Light has more mercy than I will.

“I pray…”

One Order, one body, one mission, one heart.

Aeliana…

“I pray that hatred releases your heart- and that I might be free of hating you.”

It felt hollow. It tasted of ash. Still, at least it was said. She had to say it, if she couldn’t yet think or believe it. She at least had to say it.

“Aeliana.”

Aeliana Malevus. The name still wrenched her heart. She met the Knight Master when the other woman got between her and Lucius Bloodraven, during a gathering in the Hall. It was nearly a bloodbath. She still believed that only Aeliana’s love for every knight in the room had spared them a fate to sully the entire hall.

They were instant and fast friends. She was the first Valestia had called “Sister.” She might have loved her more than those born to her. Aeliana spoke with her on the Light late hours into the night, conspired with her to heal the Order of its festering wounds, introduced her to dancing…

Aeliana, like Lilendae, had disappeared. She had been speaking of a covert mission, at the time.

“I pray you’re well and happy, and that one day I’ll manage to live up to your example-- sister.”

“-Lucius.-”

She could not keep the weight from her voice. There was too long and conflicted a history between her and Lord Bloodraven. She met him when he called conference in the Hall of Blood. It was the first of several he would stage in his vain attempts to wrest control of the Order. They began at one another’s throats, climbing to a conflict that ended nearly in blood before their war grew cold and civil. Her cursed scrupulous nature had even see her free him from behind bars for a crime of which he was accused-- framed, she’d discovered. He had claimed to turn a new leaf, after that, but she watched him hurt those who loved him and abandon those who cast their hopes on him, one after the other.

“I pray you found a true path to redemption.”

She would not be holding her breath, for that. But Lucius Bloodraven had consequently brought many knights of the Hall into her life.

“Master Alah’zaram.”

Another zealot who had stood alongside her and Aeliana, during their initial conflict with Lucius. Few knights had inspired her so, before or since. He was unwavering in his convictions, determined in his leadership. He had helped her and others who joined the Order after the Sunwell’s rebirth to settle into the ranks and take heart in their differences. She owed him a great deal, however much she had to admit his uncompromising nature did not always do her favors, in example.

That nature had taken him from them, too.

“I pray you’ve found a brotherhood and purpose that does not disappoint you.”

Her mind spun, calling back the events of the previous year. She looked on the Knight Master’s example, and saw her own actions in new, ugly light.

“Arthamir,” she hissed quickly, soldiering on before she lost her nerve for more introspection.

It was the night the Hall had nearly massacred itself, five years ago, now. Arthamir was on the opposite side of the room, then. He was an officer, if not second in command, to Lucius Bloodraven. But Arthamir had a level head, too level to follow Lucius down his destructive spiral for long. He was always proactive in the community and in the Order, almost always present. It was a horrible to watch him dance the line between soldier and politician, especially as honest a man as he was-- as he could be, for a politician. She found him the most agreeable officer to deal with, when she had to, and mutual respect had grown between them as they both worked in their own ways for the good of the order. The Champion was now the only officer she would address by his right rank.

“I pray your life is both long and satisfied-- I doubt you can see such a fate for yourself. And I pray the Light keeps you safe. I don’t know what I’d do without your guidance, sometimes, old man.”

She gave the flame of the candle a long look before nestling it amongst the growing cluster in the center of the table.

“Aervin.”

Arthamir’s wife. They had met few times, over the years. Aervin kept largely to their family holdings, especially since she had started producing heirs to Arthamir’s house. It was just as well. They seldom got along. Aervin was one of the few knights Lesti had ACTUALLY come to blows with, over the years. Still…

“I hope your children lead long and -happy- lives, Lady Tyrellian. May the Light bless them and the lands their inherit.”

She smiled as she set the candle, then sighed as she plucked and lit the next.

“Jaira…”

Arthamir’s daughter, taken in much the same way Xaereth had taken in his Lilendae. She had probably first met her while hosting other knights for dinner in the Fairbreeze in. She got to know her as a student under her instruction. Jaira was a fine study and a fine knight, when she was not testing her limits.

“I pray your heart finds contentment in your service to your people and your family, Jaira.” She said it, and wished it, earnestly.

“Jadoth.”

She met him perhaps the same night she met Jaira. Learning of his constantly precarious position in the Order, and seeing how desperately he seemed to need it, she had made it her mission to help. He only needed someone to believe in him. She had believed that for a long time; and believed in him through all the wrongs committed against him, all the wrongs against their realm and their world that chipped away at his heart, and all the wrongs he had himself committed.

One mistake. She had made only ONE mistake, but it was enough to earn his ire, and at last she understood. She learned, as others would have to, for themselves, what others had tried for years to make her see. She could not help him. It didn't stop her from wishing, every time she saw him, that she could.

“I pray that one day, you learn to -truly- let the Light fill the endless vacuum in your heart.”

She couldn't think of one without the other.

“Jayir.”

Jay Pyreanor was at the time Jadoth’s best friend. Another of her students. A better study but too easily influenced to think of himself as an outsider and misbehave by his friend. Jayir had been ever-present but avoidant, and she feared she had never put enough effort into understanding him with Jadoth absorbing her focus.

“I pray the Light has given you confidence your gifts and abilities, and in yourself.”

“Zan.”

They were too alike, she and Rerservist Zandrae Pyreanor- Champion, when someone else needed him to be. He was uncle or cousin to Jayir- she distractedly wondered if she’d ever bothered to ask- and often in the orbit of observing or aiding in her lessons with the Initiates and Adepts.

He had a gentle hand with the students but was outspoken towards officers- like she was. He could spend hours patiently listening- like she could. He could flare in righteous indignation and charge blind and furious to the defense of others or his own convictions- like she could. He could condemn and spurn, when those convictions were set- like she could.

They had inevitably gone up and down a rollercoaster of good times and bad between them, their convictions and inclinations to take “mother bear” stands in the face of what they perceived to be injustice led them to sometimes crash headlong against one another like Alterac rams.

He was, she was sure, still offended on Jadoth’s behalf.

“I pray the Light grants us both more patience, wisdom, and understanding; with each other, those around us, and ourselves.”

She needed those things, probably more than he did, at the moment. She had constantly told herself as much, over the years, unless she was angry. A stubborn and purposeful misstep- that was when she most needed them.

She closed her eyes a few moments, let the perpetual storm pounding in her head wash over her, mind and soul. Now was as good a time as any.

“Dr-mari…”

Not Dra’zar. Not today.

He had wanted to HELP. She was coming off too many bad experiences with the other officers when they met. From the beginning, she had gotten off on the wrong foot with him.

He was patient, and not rebuffed. He learned her troubles and reasons, and she learned his. They were quickly friends. He was always available, when she needed him. She had on turn helped him save his child.

He had a soft spot for children. She looked over her shoulder at the once-more slumbering toddler. He had loved Elendae from the start-- not that there was anyone who seemed immune to the child’s contagious charms-- and the more she grew, the more she seemed to love him back. It was a more potent rebuff of Valestia’s temper than any the rest.

The candle snapped. She gave a start. Even the soft click of the wax giving was loud in the still morning. Light, but she was still angry. She started to set the broken pieces aside for another, but the flame yet flickering caught her eye. She found herself instead rolling the wax between her hands, softening it between the warmth of Light-blessed palms until it melted enough to come back together, if imperfectly. She nestled it next to Jadoth’s before it could take anymore punishment.

“Mother Moon,” she breathed with solemn desperation. “Grant us your grace.”

She fought the compulsion to strategize in her next choice, but chose him to avoid thinking on it further.

“Azkariel.”

She stared through the flame on the candle she lit for him, at Drimmari’s beyond.

Forgive me for heaping his faults on your shoulders.

Azkariel was exactly what she thought she needed at the time she met him. Someone who didn't need to be taught to handle himself on the battlefield. A veteran of the Northern War. A solid set of shoulders on which to lay their missions during the war against the Legion. It was too bad he thought as much of himself.

Azkariel was, she learned, impatient and power hungry and resentful of others’ recognition. More and more she got the sense that he thought he could do her job better than she could. She would not give him the chance.

But you did. I was like that, once. I pray you have been better repaid for it than I have over the years.

“I pray that the Light teaches you humility and the value in SERVICE.”

It was not criticism. She let him poison her heart with his own resentment enough to know that he would never be happy until he could change.

“Caci…”

Azkariel’s “student”. Lover, it turned out. She had done her best to receive and instruct the girl as if she were there for the right reasons. She believed she had a good heart. She regretted letting her go, most of all.

“I pray you have found someone to make your talents shine.”

“Terrestre.”

He had found them in the wilds, during the Legion’s invasions. He had heard word of them in the vicinity, and was determined to make himself useful. He was not particularly personable, and she was sure in hindsight that he deserved more notice than she had given him.

“I pray your valiance found good application. Lights grace and safe travels, Blood Knight.”

“Mourne.”

She had known him only the five years she'd known most the Order, but it felt like she'd known the Champion all her life. She couldn't even recall the exact moment she'd first seen him- though she had the strangest image in her mind that he'd been wearing a pink gown.

He was almost immediately one of her best friends. It seemed like they went everywhere and did everything together. Others had assumed they were married more than once- to both their horror.

They had grown apart, during the Legion’s invasions. It was her fault. She knew that. She would mend it.

“I pray you and Zozha are blessed in your union.”

“Solarine...Talaen, Lacryma.”

She lit and nestled two candles, held a third.

They were close to Mourne. Like Mourne and like her, they were priests before they were Blood Knights-- Shadow priests. They were a loose sort of circle, they five, in her mind. They knew one another, as others did not. They sensed things, when others did not. They could call on one another, when they could call on no one else. She did not often know where they all were, anymore, but she had a strange sort of constant confidence in them.

“I pray we all maintain The Balance.”

“Julian.”

Lucius had pulled Champion Julian Sunrest into her life. She could hardly say she thought much of his conduct or views, but battle against the powers of the Void had forged their relationship, and there were few Champions of the Order Valestia respected more for living up to their rank on the field. He would always be brother to her, whether or not she was always happy with the fact. There was only…

“I pray the Light keeps you on the right side of The War.”

“Nightsorrow,”

She didn't know the Knightlord outside of a few interactions, but few in the Order had inspired more confidence in herself. Nightsorrow saw progress in her. He had -threatened- to promote her, more than once.

He had seen little of her, but she suspected he knew her. The easy-going officer had a keen way of making her practice intense introspection with the lightest comments. She knew that even if she never saw him again, she would have much to credit him with, throughout her life.

“I pray the Light long continues to work through you to inspire others.”

“Forgefury.”

Her voice didn't shake. It was, perhaps, the first time she could say as much. The first night she met the Knight Lord, he was threatening to roll heads, and she had put herself in his path. She still felt the chill of that moment sometimes, and knew well what force had passed her by.

It hadn't taken long, however, to understand him. Veteran of the order. Jaded by the fate of their people. A survivor, desperate not to see the Order’s successors inherit any weakness. She hoped she had convinced him of the tenacity in the newer knights’ own brand of strength.

“I pray the Light heals your scars.”

“Ina’thia.”

They were alike in ways she and Zandrae were not. Looking at Knight-Lord Ina’thia Dawnblade was like looking at a prophecy incarnate. The mirror image was to be anticipated and feared.

Ina’thia was scrupulous. She had known her from the start. They two were sometimes nearly friends, sharing meals and speaking for hours together- and sometimes nearly nemeses, standing on opposite sides of disagreements that threatened violence. They usually tried to avoid both.

The two danced around the middle when it came to interacting with each other, keeping as close to a curt working relationship as possible as often as possible.

I wish I could trust you.

…

But I -will not BE you.-

“I pray you find true happiness. Someday.”

“A’laria.”

They called her Champion, sometimes, captain others. Whatever her actual title, Valestia had always almost exclusively known Raynell A’laria as “champion” of Ina’thia’s cause. Wherever the Knight-Lord appeared, Raynell always seemed to be in close proximity, if not at her heels.

Unlike the careful dance between her and Ina’thia, Valestia and Raynell had always had a relationship of casual but open rancor. A’laria was disdainful of the newer rank and file knights, sometimes threatening, sometimes more than threatening.

There was no faith in that one- lost, broken, or otherwise. There was no grim protectiveness some of the older knights like Xaereth, Drimmari, and Hylaudius exhibited. There was only vengeance. Valestia couldn't say she minded that A’laria’s focus was usually on shadowing Ina’thia.

“I pray the Light touches your life and your heart.”

“Dorennen,”

Another of Ina'thia's Phoenix Guard, Hylaudius Dorennen had been a fixture -- almost literally-- at the door of the Hall, since Valestia had been there. Not like the slackers or the goofs, or those who were looking to be available for even the most trivial of matters, like herself. Dorennen had always been there, to act when it -mattered.-

On hand for anything from cats up trees to trauma healing, in was inevitable that Valestia found herself often interacting with the Knight Master. He was seldom pleasant or agreeable, but he was honest with his evaluations. He'd come to remind her of her own father, in his conduct and service to his people.

He was gone. Lost in the war against the Legion.

“I pray… we who succeed you see the value of the dedication those like you gave us all in your service.”

“Ana.”

Analyse Emberbloom was Ina'thia's knight on one hand, led astray by Bloodraven on the other. Somehow between the two and the trouble that brought her, she and Lesti had become fast friends, if briefly.

Ana had seemingly withdrawn from the Order and indeed the public after a personal tragedy. She was well enough perhaps last they spoke, but Valestia knew how easily knights found a brave face.

“I pray the Light gives you comfort, sister.”

“Ele’nath.”

Taneisha Ele’nath had started out taking an interest in Valestia’s healing instruction for her students. The sister knight had come to learn and assist by turns, and to work alongside her when actual need arose.

She'd asked Valestia to become her teacher, once upon a time.

She hadn't seen her, since Draenor. She hoped fervently that she was alright.

“I pray the Light continues to guide your heart and your healing hands.”

Ele’nath had been close, if briefly, to one of her students. Valestia swallowed a lump in her throat.

“Farstrider.”

Ratheras Farstrider, a.k.a. Cascade Lightstrider. Xaereth often told her she belittled the progress he’d made, towards the end, when she called him by his born and inconveniently unoriginal surname. She couldn't help it. She still heard herself scream his name in agitation every time she thought of him.

A grin came unbidden to lift the corners of her lips.

She and Mourne had taken some of the students to Tanaris for “social skills” training. Laughable to some of the officers, she was sure, but to her mind you couldn't make a real defender of the people out of someone who was not for all intents and purposes, one of them. They had met Farstrider there.

He was a bumbling, naked drunk who accosted her and Jaira, of all people. Mourne had sent them away, in a rare show of seriousness and his temper, to leave him to deal with the bum. She had not expected him to turn up with the elf at the Hall of Blood.

Ratheras Farstrider was a former Knight Master who had fallen into despondence after losing the squad under the command of his Champion teacher to the Champion’s overconfidence. Mourne had convinced him to try and redeem himself and resume his service as an initiate. He asked Lesti to let him participate in the students’ lessons.

She had quickly found pity and understanding for his predicament, and soon asked Mourne to give him to her as her student. Farstrider had taken it too quickly and too thoroughly to heart. He was brash, defiant, and often delinquent, but he was thoroughly hers.

He was the only reason she had survived the initial invasion of Draenor, and for several months afterwards. The horrible fate that had befallen him when they returned home- when they should have been safe- continued to haunt her.

“I-I…” tears slid slowly down her face. “I pray… I live up to the faith you placed in me, someday.”

“Sillienth…”

WHY did the name even come to mind? Valestia's pulse pounded in her ears, and it seemed as if she could see her blood coursing in her vision, behind her eyes. Her tears tried in the face of hot fury, fresh as the first day.

Traitor…

Sillienth Goldenmist was one of the first knights Valestia met, and a close friend of her adopted daughter, Naatsu. Both elves had treated her as their mother, and Valestia had loved them both as a mother might. But in the end, Sillienth had literally betrayed Thalassian, Horde forces to an Alliance ambush. There had been casualties. Xaereth was supposed to have been there. If Valestia hadn't…

She didn't even WANT to wish it, she wasn't ready to let it go, herself, yet.

“Light forgive you.” she choked out.

“Althrin,”

Althrin Santhil. She had not said the name, in some time. He was one of her first friends in the Order, and they had quickly worked together on several matters.

But then, his pursuit of Lucius Bloodraven's corrupt conduct, he'd been awarded the rank of Champion. She saw him change, immediately. She could still hear her own voice in her ears.

“This is what you wanted- all along! This is ALL it was about! I hope you enjoy the new company you keep, -Champion.-”

She did not think she had ever spoken to him again, after that. Her eyes strayed past Althrin's candle to Drimmari's.

I don't want this, again.

“I wish I had given you more time...patience. I pray the Light and your station lead you to great things in service to our people.”

“Nestarion,”

More of the same.

WHY do I DO this?

She had been convinced Nestarion Sunsworn was good for the Order, when they first met. She had been ready to jump to his aid, any time there was the slightest need- even if sometimes she'd been as much trouble as help to him.

He had disappointed her expectations. She didn't even remember how it had happened, now. She had not extended him the forgiveness he had extended her for her own mistakes. She didn't even remember if she'd had the decency to tell him she was angry. The cold shoulder was her go to, after all.

I'll do better than this.

Now, all she hoped was that wherever he was, he was safe.

“You went through...so much. I pray that you'll have more happiness and less hardship in the future, than you did, then.”

“Arai. Thyrus.”

The brothers Sunshield. She had not known them well. Arai was secluding to Pandaria by the time she met him, and Thyrus…

He had managed, however brief their interactions, to impact her.

“I read your report. As far as I'm concerned, YOU'RE as MUCH to blame for this, as HE is! I'd roll your head, were it up to me.”

It had made her re-examine the matter that had been at hand, again and again, until she was satisfied it was resolved in an unsatisfactory but correct way; and it had made her that much more thorough in her considerations, over the years- however short sighted they might still be. At least she was never satisfied with them, easily, anymore.

“I pray the Light and your families serve and guide your noble hearts and strong hands well.

“Dawnsword.”

He was positively contagious. He didn't seem to hold anyone -save the Alliance, of late- in contempt. He was bright, faithful, unstoppable.

Like so many knights, she had met him before the Hall. She recalled she'd overheard him defending his faith to another knight. They had connected instantly, and spent many hours on free nights discussing the Order, the Light, and the world's troubles. He seemed to rely on her consul, at times. She was the one inspired by him.

“I pray you and those who succeed US, and those who come AFTER YOU, are continually brighter a Light for our people and those who come after.”

“Rilserath. Latheri.”

Rilserath had come to her after Draenor, robbed of his Master on another world in another dimension. He was a good and dedicated study, a fine combatant, and possessed of a compassionate heart. She could not have asked for better, at her side from that moment until after Argus. She wasn't sure she'd ever told him that he was her pride and joy of a student. If she hadn't, it was because she credited his previous master with saving her any hard work.

Latheri was his student. He'd picked her up between the Isles and Argus, and the Initiate had been forged in Felfire and endless battle, on the Legion homeworld. She was already, Valestia suspected, more technically skilled than her teacher.

She had let the two of them have time, afterwards. In the face of the ever increasing conflict over the past couple months however - Light, had it only been THAT long?- she could not help but think it was well past time to recall them.

“May the Light preserve us, and guide us in its wisdom as we hold one another up, shoulder to shoulder.”

They were with her, but there were three she missed keenly.

“Bamerin.”

Prodigy. Bamerin was everything she had ever wanted in a student. She had taken that opportunity, she feared, to drive him too hard; and ultimately away to his own counsel.

"I pray the Light has taught you better than I managed to, Silverheart."

“Dwin'arnith.”

With the threat of the Legion looming, she had pushed them all too hard.

Denlandis Dwin'arnith was headstrong, from the start. He reminded her of Jaira, and herself. He took what he needed but accepted only his own judgement. He never understood her explanations, and she hadn't the patience then to make sure they were clear. She suspected she had let him go to his doom.

“I pray our mutual impatience did not leave you long-wounded-- and that ... you have found solace for your losses, at last.”

She-

“Would you like some privacy for this, love?’

Reflexively, started to gather the cloak up around her, in the split second before she realized the voice of course belonged to the garment's owner. Xaereth stood there when she turned her head, looking at her with understandable confusion.

Don't mind me, just setting up a shrine on top of the kitchen table.

She shook her head.

“I only had Catraena left.”

Dear, sweet Catraena. As Xaereth gathered up Elendae and settled into the chair behind her, Valestia settled back into her contemplation. It was Catraena who had delivered Elendae. She was previously a priestess who, like her, had come to the Order to do -more-. Like her, she was too easily touched, too easily wounded. But Valestia loved the Order, and she was sure that in time Catraena would too.

Perhaps she would have, if in her frenzy to confront the demons Valestia had not turned her away at her first doubt. It galled her on one hand. On the other, she HAD been too great a liability to take on the field.

“Catraena. I only pray you FOUND someone with the patience to help you through your doubts. You deserved better than you thought of yourself."

She had dreams, prayers; not just for herself, but for all these knights. This was the why. This was what she needed to remember.

#Prompt #long prompt is long #IC #RP #WRA #WOW #Valestia Cloudbreaker #Blood Knights

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amassingeffect · 8 years ago

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30 Day Shepard Challenge - Day 10

Squadmates [Mass Effect 2]. Describe Shepard’s relationship with their companions, and their decisions during their loyalty missions.

Jacob?

Miranda?

Mordin?

Garrus?

Jack?

Grunt?

Tali?

Thane?

Samara?

Legion [if activated. If not, why?]?

Kasumi [if obtained]?

Zaeed [if obtained]?

Kelly [yes she counts]?

Jacob - Both of them being professional and very much to the point with each other, Jacob still showed reluctance when asking Elentari to investigate the Hugo Gernsback. When they arrived on the planet and fought their way through, she paid attention to Jacob’s reactions. By the time they found Captain Ronald Taylor, Jacob’s disgust was evident. When Jacob revealed that he already considered his father dead, Elentari took the most expedient path to solving the problem: she let the hunters have Ronald Taylor.

Miranda: Cool and distant at first, it took a long while for friendship to develop between Elentari and Miranda. Both saw themselves as doing the right thing for certain reasons, and Elentari harboured mistrust for Cerberus still. The seeds of the friendship started during Miranda’s relocation of her sister Oriana. While on the elevator up, Elentari gently tried to point out that Niket was more than likely the source of betrayal. It wasn’t that she wanted to upset Miranda, but more the fact that Miranda was so in denial about the obvious. So when it was finally confirmed and they found him, Elentari saw no reason to step in when Miranda shot him. With Oriana safely relocated, Elentari urged Miranda to at least talk to her and not to remain so distant.

Mordin: Elentari is very fond of him and appreciative of his blunt, straightforward manner, even if it left her a little chagrined some times. She convinced him to save Maleon’s data; the damage was already done and if it was useful, it could help in the future to cure the genophage. She saw no point in throwing away information that so many had willingly died to provide, though the method was barbaric. Elentari also stopped him from killing Maleon as she knew he was trying to make amends over his part in inflicting the modified genophage. Killing Maleon wouldn’t have helped Mordin with that.

Garrus: He and Elentari are very close and intimate, especially after the incidents on Omega and on Horizon. It became commonplace for Elentari to visit Garrus in the main battery as he installed and calibrated the new Thanix cannons. Their relationship turned romantic during their time aboard the SR-2 together. She helped him to track down Sidonis on the Citadel. She did understand his anger towards Sidonis; when they got to the Citadel, she kept Sidonis talking long enough and then stepped to the side.

Jack: They’re amicable enough, since Elentari doesn’t bother Jack too much in her preferred spot down in Engineering. When Jack asked for Elentari’s help in blowing up the old Cerberus base on Pragia, there wasn’t even a discussion of why or are you sure; Elentari simply told Jack to give her the co-ordinates. After finally fighting their way through the decrepit facility, they encountered Aresh. After seeing Jack so torn, she decided to urge Jack to spare him, figuring if Jack changed her mind, they could track him down later.

Grunt: Elentari was surprised to realise how close she is to Grunt, more along the lines of parent and child. When she took Grunt to Tuchanka for his Rite of Passage, she did wonder if Garrus was right: maybe lap dances at Omega were the way to go. She was glad that Wrex allowed Grunt to go through the Rite and headbutted Uvenk when he protested to the shaman. Grunt successfully completed his Rite of Passage, even managing to slay a thresher maw as well as killing Uvenk who ambushed them after the Rite of Passage. Elentari bought him a new shotgun and a ton of ryncol to celebrate.

Tali: Elentari considers Tali to be her sister. When Tali came back on the SR-2, if Elentari wasn’t in the main battery, chances were good she was visiting Tali down in Engineering and catching up. When the Admiralty board accused Tali of treason, Elentari immediately had Joker plot a course to the quarian fleet’s location. She gave the Admirals a piece of her mind for springing information on Tali in such a fashion. Before departing for the Alarei, she talked to them all and quickly realised that Tali really had nothing to do with this nonsense. After clearing the Alarei of geth, per Tali’s heartfelt request she didn’t reveal the depth of treason that Tali’s father reached. Instead, she twisted the trial back on the Admirals, exposing their true motives, and yelling at them some more for daring to question Tali’s loyalty to the fleet after everything she did.

Thane: Elentari visited Thane during her weekly inspections to see if he needed anything. It turned into long philosophical conversatiions about the self, their work as well as comparatives between drell and human culture. Elentari frankly admitted that the time factor with Thane did make her more inclined to openness with him. When Thane came to her with news that Kolyat had taken a hit job, they immediately went to the Citadel to stop him; she had an idea of how badly things could go. Thane was trained for this whereas his son was not. After the shortest interrogation in the galaxy, they got the target’s name and managed to stop Kolyat. Elentari intervened personally, asking Bailey to keep him around, to do community service instead of going to jail.

Samara: They occassional have chats in the observation lounge and Elentari gave meditating a shot under Samara’s guidance. One of the first things Elentari did after Samara swore her Oath of Service was to read over as much of the justicar code as she could. It took some doing to track it down, but she enjoys Samara’s company very much, considers her a valued squad member and has no desire to conflict with her Code. Elentari knows who would win in that fight. Tracking down Morinth on Omega and having it end in the showdown wasn’t anything she expected. Helping Samara had been an easy decision. Elentari wasn’t about to run the risk of having Morinth turn on her at some point and make a run for it whereas Samara was bound to her by the Oath of Service. After that mission, Elentari left Samara alone for awhile to grieve until Samara indicated she was ready for company again.

Legion: Always curious about the geth, Elentari decided to reactive Legion for the simple fact that it defended her against Husks and had welded N7 armour on for repairs. Such things were not the norm behaviour for geth she had encountered so far. She was surprised to learn that Legion was a gestalt platform comprised of 1183 programs. She enjoyed talking to Legion, even if the conversation goes in circles sometimes and is learning much of geth and the quarians. When Legion approached her for help with the heretics and the virus, Elentari had no problems with assisting. She was more surprised when Legion left the decision up to her. She chose to overwrite the heretics, to bring them back to the consensus; using Legion’s own logic, she figured strengthening the whole against the Reapers was a much better choice; this way they would know what they were up against and have some knowledge of Reaper patterns and behaviours and could establish possible counters.

Kasumi: Elentari and Kasumi developed a friendship over a love of books, booze and memories, old and faded or sharp and new. During the heist on Bekenstein, Elentari did wonder at just how easily she fit into the room. When they were on their way back to the SR-2, Elentari wasn’t too sure what to tell Kasumi about the greybox; she finally said that if she was willing to live with the consequences of keeping it, then she should. With all her scars and tattoos gone, she found she did enjoy the dress Kasumi got for her, and every so often, they window shop on extranet sites.

Zaeed: Elentari is more than willing to listen to Zaeed’s tall tales, winnowing bits of information from them. If she brings good booze, he tends to break out the more bigger stories that almost border on ludicrous. On Zorya, she saw enough viciousness in Vido to want him dead. With no idea of how long it would take to save the trapped workers, she had their team press on to catch Vido and let Zaeed get his revenge.

Kelly: Elentari doesn’t trust Kelly very much, even more so when Kelly claims she was handpicked by The Illusive Man himself. She feels like Kelly was placed there at The Illusive Man’s behest to try and find out more about her. Most of their sparse conversationscenter around work and Elentari handles all her own correspondences.

#mass effect #femshep #elentari shepard #el shepard #30 day shepard challenge

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anthai-of-stormwind · 7 years ago

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[Character Profile] Anthai of Stormwind

Anthai of Stormwind is a mercenary mage and former member of the Templars of the Rose. She also served in Operation Shieldwall during the Pandarian Expedition. She fought the Iron Horde on the alternate Draenor, spent some time there after Archimonde's defeat, and returned to Azeroth to fight the Legion invasion. HISTORY Anthai was born and raised in Stormwind, about seven years prior to the Opening Of the Dark Portal. She is the only child of John and Margaret Taylor. Most of her acquaintances know that her parents were killed by Orcs during the First War. What few people know, and Anthai doesn't talk about, is that she was partially responsible for their deaths. As a pair of Orc warriors crashed into their home and began to slaughter her parents, Anthai instinctively used her latent magic for the first time in a massive flamestrike. It killed the Orcs, but also cut off their main escape from the now-burning building. Her parents were dying from their wounds, but still managed the strength to help push Anthai through a small window. To this day, Anthai believes there would have been a sliver of a chance they could have survived had the fire and smoke not overcome them. After the war, Anthai was taken in by Matron Nightingale at the Stormwind Orphanage. She displayed a frightening natural affinity for the arcane arts during her schooling, and was sent to Dalaran to hone her abilities. While actual Arcane magics were too mathematical for her to really grasp and she never did quite master the path of Frost, Fire was the arena in which Anthai shone. It made a sick sort of sense to her - her world had died in fire, so harnessing it would be her way of regaining a sense of control. Due to her guilt over her part in her parents' death, she eschewed her family name and went simply by Anthai.

THE SECOND WAR When the Orcs came through the Dark Portal once again, Anthai was furious and wanted to join her fellow magi at Nethergarde Keep, but was refused as she was only barely a teenager. A burning rage grew within her, fed by guilt and anger and helplessness. It might have grown out of control had it not been for the kindness of her teacher, an older woman named Leigh Brooks, who also had lost relatives in Stormwind and felt for this angry girl. Leigh took Anthai under her wing and became her counselor, mentor, closest friend and de facto mother figure.

THE THIRD WAR Under Leigh's tutelage and care, Anthai grew into an exceptionally powerful fire mage, although she continued to hold a deep-seated hatred for the Orcish race in her heart. In her mid-twenties, Anthai developed a romantic relationship with one of her classmates, a High Elf woman named Karan. Over time, Karan and Anthai fell deeply in love with one another. Unfortunately, Karan's parents refused to accept their daughter's sexual orientation, and forced her to return home to Quel'Thalas. Anthai was brokenhearted and decided it was time to leave Dalaran. It was around this time that the Scourge came to Lordaeron, and Archmage Antonidas' star pupil Jaina Proudmoore was urging people across the sea to Kalimdor. Anthai joined her, but Leigh stayed behind, claiming to be too old to uproot herself. The timing of Anthai's departure was fortuitous, as Dalaran was destroyed shortly thereafter by Archimonde. Anthai wept and raged upon hearing the news, feeling that she could have protected Leigh had she only stayed in the city. She initially admired Jaina for her strength, poise and commitment to her duty, but when Jaina urged her people to ally with the Orcs against Archimonde, it was too much for Anthai. She refused and sought refuge among the Night Elves, who were none too pleased with mages, but shared a similar hatred for Orcs. After Archimonde's defeat, the Night Elves rather coldly suggested that Anthai go with the rest of her kind to Theramore. While she was none too pleased with Jaina's attachment to Thrall, Anthai had nowhere else to go for the time being, and so she lived in Theramore for a while.

WORLD OF WARCRAFT/THE BURNING CRUSADE/WRATH OF THE LICH KING/CATACLYSM Anthai finally returned to Stormwind shortly after King Varian Wrynn's disappearance and served her home as a mage-for-hire, eager to fight the enemies of the Alliance in any capacity. When the Cataclysm hit and Deathwing attacked Stormwind, it reawakened the horror and anger Anthai had felt as a child, only this time she was able to fight back. She battled the Twilight's Hammer cult and assisted other adventurers at the Siege Of Wyrmrest Temple. Deathwing fell, and Anthai returned to Stormwind, defending it against pockets of Blackrock Orc assaults. No one would touch her city ever again.

MISTS OF PANDARIA When Garrosh Hellscream obliterated Theramore, Anthai was incensed, and not a little terrified that this new mana bomb technology would eventually be used against Stormwind. She joined up with Sky-Captain Rogers aboard the Skyfire and was one of the first to make landfall on Pandaria. While at first darkly gleeful at her chance for revenge against the Orcs, Anthai was brought up short by the presence of the Sha. Her anger would overwhelm her, and she sought advice from the local Pandaren on reining in her hate. Her bloodthirst held somewhat in check, Anthai nevertheless joined Operation Shieldwall as soon as King Varian arrived. She was a force to be reckoned with, but although she came to Pandaria with revenge in her heart, the Pandaren's kindness, patience and discipline won her over, and she felt very much at home in this new land, considering staying after this war was over. It was Garrosh Hellscream's destruction of the Vale Of Eternal Blossoms which was the last straw for her. Not since the First War had she been so personally, deeply aggrieved. Word reached her about a group named the Templars Of the Rose, who had been based in Theramore and were fighting their own crusade against Hellscream. She met with Nyres Treestalker and Justicar Arialynn Dawnfield, and the Templars accepted Anthai into their ranks just in time to lay siege to Orgrimmar.

WARLORDS OF DRAENOR Garrosh's trial after everything he'd done seemed a farce to Anthai, and when he escaped to Draenor to found the Iron Horde, Anthai wasted no time in joining the Black Watch (the Templars' elite fighting force) on that strange other world. The Black Watch helped Anthai refine her abilities and sharpen her combat skills under the tutelage of Marshal Jarrick Mason and a fellow mage, Sumeri Jordan. Anthai became fast friends with Sumeri, who enjoyed the back-and-forth pun wars they would get into as well as having fun attempting to cast the other's spells. Anthai and Sumeri would refer to themselves as the "fire and ice team" of the Black Watch, and they frequently fought side-by-side as such. Shortly after settling into the Templars' garrison on Draenor, Anthai's impetuous and overzealous nature got the better of her. She struck out on her own to Nagrand on a "scouting mission," secretly hoping she would find out where Garrosh was so she could kill him once and for all. Anthai was near Highmaul territory when she was taken by surprise by half a dozen ogre warriors and mages. She held out as long as she could, but for some reason her magic was not as potent on Draenor as on Azeroth. She was about to be overcome when she was saved by a paladin named Lauren Kensington. Lauren brought her back to the garrison and the Templars, where she was swiftly reprimanded by Justicar Dawnfield and removed from the Black Watch. Nevertheless, Anthai was grateful to Lauren for saving her life, and jokingly claimed her as her own personal paladin, her "Anthadin," if you will. While Lauren replaced her in the Black Watch, Anthai concentrated on healing and trying to regain her strength. Draenor's ley lines were not kind to her power, although Sumeri grew stronger with every passing day. Ultimately, Anthai chose to remain on Draenor after the assault on Hellfire Citadel. She shared a moment with Lauren the night before, but the paladin politely rebuffed her advances. During her time on Draenor, Anthai studied ways to get her powers back up to par. She was initially going to assist the Draenei in cleaning up the tatters of the Iron Horde, but she was disgusted by the Orc/Draenei truce.

LEGION One day, Exarch Yrel came to her and showed her a vision of the Burning Legion's return to Azeroth, as well as a weapon that would greatly amplify her abilities. Anthai teleported back to Dalaran, and assisted a group of Blood Elves in retrieving Felo'melorn, the legendary blade wielded by Anasterian Sunstrider. In gratitude, the sin'dorei rewarded her with a newly crafted runeblade of her own. As she was about to leave Icecrown Citadel, Anthai heard a commotion and ended up saving Lauren Kensington's life, as well as a dwarven friend of Lauren's. Upon their return to Dalaran, Anthai and Lauren filled each other in on what they'd missed, and prepared to return to the Templars to warn them of the Legion invasion. However, they were too late by moments - the invasion began, and Anthai and Lauren swiftly teleported to Westguard Keep, hoping they were still in time to make a difference. During her time fighting against the Legion, she began to establish a close friendship with Captain Victor Blackwald. With Sumeri pulling away from everyone due to something dark infecting her magic, Anthai found herself rather lonely. She found in Victor a confidante with an irrepressible rakishness that amused her, and the two became fast friends. Around the time of the Templars' assault on the Nighthold, the Withered telemancer Oculeth inadvertantly discorporealized Anthai during what should have been a simple teleportation. As a result, she ended up in a bodiless state for months, trapped inside the arcane itself. Shortly after freeing herself, Anthai met up with several other Templars at Greywatch in Stormheim for a round of well-earned drinks and birthday cake. Sumeri, notably, was absent, and Anthai stuck close to Victor as well as the paladin from alt-Draenor, Keleosha. Anthai made a few passes at Keleosha, but she seemed oblivious to her flirtations. Victor made a lascivious remark to Anthai about wishing he was a woman, and decided to play with a small mystic toy which gave him the appearance of a female Sin'dorei for a short time. Anthai was shocked to find that the Blood Elf version of Victor was the spitting image of her long-lost love from Old Dalaran, Karan. Anthai became furious with Victor for taunting her with Karan’s image, despite Victor having had no idea what Karan had looked like. She lost her temper and injured Victor, shocking her into sudden sobriety. She fled Greywatch in shame and did not return. Anthai disappeared shortly thereafter for several weeks. Disgusted and furious with herself for hurting Victor, she wrote him a letter - delivered by Ambassador Khazarath Redbraid of the Ebon Blade - which stated she was leaving the Templars for good and needed to find her true path, something which had eluded her most of her life. Anthai is now hurling herself into the battle to retake the Broken Shore, hoping to find her purpose in the shadow of the Tomb Of Sargeras. PERSONALITY AND ABILITIES Anthai has, appropriately enough, a fiery personality. She tends to feel things very deeply, whether it be out of love or hate. Anthai forms very deep bonds with her friends, but a nearly out of control hatred for her enemies. Her extreme prejudice against Orcs eventually led to her near-death experience in Nagrand. She is an incorrigible punster and loves to drink and flirt, but when "on duty" she is all business, considering herself a weapon for others to fire. She follows orders in battle, but when not on the field she is headstrong and impulsive. She is unskilled in the school of Arcane magic and is slightly passable with Frost, but it's always been her affinity with Fire that has served Anthai well. Its pure destructive force allows her to channel the darker side of her nature while simultaneously tempering it with the discipline her art requires.

#world of warcraft #rp #anthai #character profile

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