Arineme

A stoic, no-nonsense paladin with a questionable past, Arineme Serisfal works as an agent of the Argent Dawn. Little else is known about her, except by those she personally trusts.

And she doesn't trust many.

Information

Player: Seraphim

Character Full Name: Arineme Lora Serisfal

Character In-Game Name: Arineme (Pronounced "Arena-May")

Nickname(s): Ari, May (Mostly a childhood nickname)

Association(s): The Alliance, The Argent Dawn, formerly the Scarlet Crusade

Race: Human

Class: Paladin

Skills and Abilities: Arineme is a skilled fighter with a sword and shield whether on foot or horseback, but her ability to channel the Light fluctuates depending on her emotional state.

Age: 26

Sex: Female

Hair: Coppery Red

Eyes: Blue

Weight: 162 lbs.

Height/Scale: 5'10"/1.02

Appearance

Usual Garments/Armor: Arineme wears a suit of old, heavy, well-used armor. The plates are dark gray with bronze accents. If she is ever seen in anything else it is a similarly worn pair of slacks and a shirt. Suffice it to say she almost never takes off the aforementioned platemail. Apart from these simple, unadorned pieces, she also wears a dark cloak and tabard at all times. In the past this surcoat bore the colors of the Argent Dawn, but a new crest adorns the garment as of late. She carries a standard issue shortsword and a fairly large shield with an imposing metal spike at its center.

Other: Arineme spent most of her adult life training to ignore her emotions. As such she can be difficult to read at times, though when her passions arise they burn brightly and violently.

Personality

Arineme is stoic, quiet, and may seem standoffish at first. She tends to be blunt in conversation, sparing the feelings of others only when she deems it to be absolutely necessary. Her attitude is militaristic, strict, and paranoid, though her brothers and sisters at arms have likely seen the woman's more jovial side. It's just very well-hidden behind that thorny barricade.

Arineme was extremely devoted to both the Church of the Light and the Argent Dawn during her time in Stormwind. She took her work for either cause very seriously and did an extensive amount of research before embarking on any assignment. Information is generally a valuable commodity for Arineme; she will listen in on conversations, read unsent letters, or even interrogate others simply to learn more about a topic. She despises secrets but will not become emotional over them, choosing instead to do whatever it takes to discover what is hidden from her.

Perhaps hypocritically, Arineme reveals almost nothing of her past to others if she can help it. Those she trusts are likely to know small details about her life. Others would be told her name and little else.

It is worth noting that the young woman has a soft spot for domesticated animals, particularly horses, dogs, and other species that would be found on a farm. Arineme spends much of her spare time tending to Vengeance, her cherished warhorse. She enjoys singing, and though she is untrained in music she can hold a pretty if unremarkable tune.

History

Arineme was born in the kingdom of Lordaeron, specifically on a small farmstead to the North of the capital city. She is the only child of Christine and Mitchell Serisfal and was thus expected from an early age to assist with the tending of crops. The family owned a small orchard of apples and also produced a crop of wheat. Apart from that they raised cows, chickens, and a single pig. As a girl Arineme enjoyed the task of tending to the animals far more than she did threshing or planting. In her spare time she sang and strolled through the nearby woods.

It was by chance that a young Arineme met Scibryn Flinn during one such walk. He was the son of a local paladin and lived closer to town, but often traveled to a clearing in the forest to paint the surrounding landscape. The two children became instant friends, claiming a brook in the wood as their special meeting spot.

Thus Arineme's early childhood passed in relative bliss. As she began to develop into a young woman, she traveled into town more frequently, riding atop one of her beloved horses. She would visit the local church, read of history and all its great heroes from the books in the town hall, and go on walks with her best friend. As Scibryn put away his brushes and canvas to take on the mantle of a paladin, her glances into his kind blue eyes only became more adoring.

Rumors about the childhood friends turned to visits between their parents, and there seemed to be no doubt in anyone's mind that the Serisfals would be gaining a son. Arineme secretly listened in on conversations pertaining to a wedding in the fall and dreamt of the event for nights on end.

Sadly, said plans were cut short as news of the Third War tore across Lordaeron. The Serisfal family was not content to wait for the plague to come to their home, however. The only time Arineme ever truly argued with her father was on the night that he instructed her to pack her belongings for the trip to Hearthglen. She refused to leave Scibryn behind to fend off the undead while she hid behind a wall with distant relatives. In the end, Mitchell Serisfal physically dragged his seventeen year old daughter from their farmhouse and rode to the East.

Over the course of the war, infected grain was sent to the town. The Serisfal family was lucky enough to have packed enough food from their farm to avoid consuming the deadly bread local bakers unknowingly created. When the undead did inevitably begin crawling out of homes, the Serisfals locked their doors and waited in the relative safety of a root cellar. Soon enough, Hearthglen was saved by Lordaeron's noble prince. Arineme and her family safely came up from the cellar and were present for the brief celebration commemorating Arthas, Uther, and the knights of the Silver Hand.

It wasn't long before things returned to normal, at least until news of the ongoing war reached the citizenry of Hearthglen. Despite early victories, it seemed the undead would become a greater threat than any had imagined. When news of the capital city's fall came to them, the Serisfal family was crushed. Arineme was hit particularly hard as she struggled to accept that her love was most likely dead along with the other paladins massacred by the traitor-prince.

The atmosphere in Hearthglen became increasingly dire; with the appearance of a group known as the Scarlet Crusade, however, there came new hope. Their members came to the fortified city, preaching of the strength of the Light and the blood of Lordaeron. They spoke of the need for absolute security against the plague. None of the inhabitants of the city could disagree with their words, Arineme included. She willingly volunteered to join the Crusade in the hopes of finding vengeance. It was then that she began her own training in channeling the power of the Light and started down the road of becoming a paladin.

Arineme was not talented with the holy power; something clearly stood between her and the Light from day one of her training. Her instructors, Scarlet paladins and inquisitors all, saw her emotions as a barrier to the tranquility and grace of the holy power. So she was trained to clear her mind and ignore the call of her heart. By the end of it Arineme was a serviceable paladin, but her demeanor had changed to one of complete stoicism. Her parents were worried for her seemingly nonexistent happiness, though they were supportive of her progress up the ranks of the Crusade.

In time Arineme became a full-fledged Crusader and was trained to assist as an Inquisitor as well. She quickly absorbed information pertaining to interrogation through the Light and drawing answers from those who were sworn to the Scourge. She traveled to Tyr's Hand to finish her training in that regard. There her life as a Scarlet would change completely.

Scibryn, having survived at the Scarlet Monastery during the war, was now a high-ranking member of the Crusade. He was stationed briefly in Tyr's Hand to give sermons on the Light, and so he was there when Arineme arrived. Upon seeing his face, Arineme's training flew from her and she nearly tackled the young man in her excitement.

The two were finally reunited after years of pain and uncertainty. Arineme and Scibryn spent hours together, relating their experiences and simply listening to one another speak. Their friendship was quickly revived, but when Arineme brought up the topic of their future together the Lightwielder was hesitant. Scibryn's dedication to the Crusade was unwavering. He felt that to continue with a marriage and all it entailed would be an unwise usage of resources. He went on to say that he did not want to bring children into a world that was still corrupted by the plague.

Given no other option, Arineme agreed and solemnly went back to her training. However, it was not long before events would cause her to spiral further away from the Scarlet cause.

On an uncomfortably warm summer night, a child was brought into Tyr's Hand. He was feverish with a crazed look in his eyes. The leadership of the Crusade had no question as to the method of treatment, and Arineme's trainers saw it as an excellent opportunity to test their squire's emotional control. Scibryn was present for the execution, watching with a hint of remorse as Arineme had no choice but to bring her sword upon a child's heart.

That morning she requested to be transferred back to Hearthglen. She barely spoke or ate during the three days it took her superiors to allow this temporary leave, and when she returned to the city that had been her home for so long she quietly retrieved her parents from their house. She requisitioned a horse for the purposes of going on patrol and fled with her family in tow.

The other Scarlets pursued the Serisfals across the Western Plaguelands, but due to unseasonably heavy rain they were unable to track her further East. The family's luck held out as they managed to avoid the undead long enough to reach Light's Hope Chapel. A group known as the Argent Dawn was in its early stages of formation, comprised of many who were once under the banner of the Scarlets. Arineme quickly pledged her service to the Dawn in exchange for a flight to Southshore for her parents.

With her family finally safe, Arineme devoted herself entirely to the Light and the Argent Dawn. She became skilled at gathering information for the two groups and made it a personal goal to save other Scarlet Crusaders from the madness thrust upon them. Her missions sent her as far South as Stormwind. Though unfamiliar with the kingdom, she wasted no time in learning of its geography and its strategic value to the overarching cause of humanity.

Years later, during an attack on The Bulwark by the Scarlet Crusade, Scibryn and a small group of crusaders were forced into the Plaguelands and subsequently left behind during the organization's shift to the Scarlet Onslaught. What followed was a harrowing trek to find their brothers and sisters in Northrend. Arineme did not hesitate to put herself in charge of a combined force of Alliance and Argent Dawn members who would work tirelessly to intercept these wayward crusaders. After a desperate chase and several close calls with the Forsaken, Arineme's forces met with Scibryn's. The two came face to face once more in the catacombs of a Scarlet cathedral, where it quickly became apparent that they had drifted too far apart in the years since their last meeting. Scibryn attacked her, and Arineme had no choice but to defend herself. Though it was her blade that found his heart, Arineme suffered a wound that would never heal.

She retreated to the Pig & Whistle in the years that followed, drinking herself into a stupor for as long as she could afford it. She might have died penniless in the streets of Stormwind were it not for an old friend from the Argent Crusade who finally brought her the grim news of Southshore's destruction. The flames of vengeance leapt up to fill the void in Arineme's heart, and on the day that Deathwing landed in Stormwind, she was flying North to begin her own personal tempest of fire and mayhem.