Grenalin

Information

Player: Zenethen

Character Full Name: Grenalin Coldwind

Character In-Game Name: Grenalin

Nickname(s): Some friends call him 'Gren', his children sometimes call him 'Pappy Coldwind'.

Association(s): Ironforge

Race: Bronzebeard Dwarf

Class: Priest

Age: 287

Sex: Male

Hair: Naturally Brown, has turned completely White with age.

Eyes: Light Blue

Weight: 201 lbs

Height: 4'10" (Scale: 1.0)

Alignment: Lawful Good

Skills and Abilities: Grenalin is chiefly an explorer, so he has a wary eye, and can spot things easily and effectively. His powers as a Paladin have dwindled as his new beliefs have sent him more down the path of the priest. While he still has some martial training, he no longer wears armor out of conscious choice and seeks healing and help for the poor and sick.

Appearance

Usual Garments/Armor: He usually wears a grey robe which covers his arms, legs, and chest. He pairs this with a pair of grey boots and a grey hat which he wears a lot. He also now has braces along his arms to allow his arms, which are quite disabled now, some basic motion and capability of lifting.

Personality: Grenalin is a kind dwarf, he loves to have friends and his surviving children over for meals and for stories. His stories usually consist of him sitting in his old rocking chair and speaking from a meditative state of memory. He is always willing to give to the needing, and is a stout dwarf when in battle, always ready to put himself in front of a blow heading for an ally to take it in their stead... Although, his dwarven shortness doesn't help much with that.

History

Grenalin Coldwind was born in a quaint little home in Ironforge, to the Ironforge Dwarf lovers, Faltarn and Rhonda Coldwind. He shared the home with his older brother, Derin, his two older sisters, Helga and Velga, and twenty years later, his younger twin brothers, Dalin and Galin. His beginning life was rather simple, not much occurred in his childhood. The royal carriage of Modimus Anvilmar was constantly flying by, as the Coldwind Home was near to the throne room of Ironforge.

Years passed and Grenalin came of age to join the Ironforge Army. And just in time, as well, as the War of the Three Hammers began when Anvilmar passed away. Grenalin's mother and father were assassinated as targets in a Dark Iron upstart, which was later impeded as both the Dark Iron Clan and the Wildhammer Clan were exiled from Ironforge. In vengeance for the attack on their family, Grenalin and his older brother and sisters joined the fight under Madoran Bronzebeard, King of the Bronzebeard Clan.

The Dark Iron Clan later assaulted both the Bronzebeard Clan in Ironforge, and the Wildhammer Clan in their capital city, Grim Batol, which was the worst mistake of their lives, as both Clans rose as victors, and the King of the Wildhammer Clan, Khardros Wildhammer, even succeeded in slaying Modgud, the wife of the Dark Iron Emperor Thaurissan. Both of the Dwarven Clans rallied their armies for an assault on the citadel of Thaurissan, amidst the Redridge Mountains. Along the way, the Wildhammer Clan and the Bronzebeard Clan met in an empty field, where Grenalin claims both armies looked at each other, then their brethren beside them, then back across the field, and then both armies charged. As the armies slowly neared each other, the charges slowed, and the two Clans enjoyed friendly handshakes, greetings, and mugs of ale aside campfires.

On the next morning, the Bronzebeard and Wildhammer Clans gathered before the hills of Thaurissan and began their charge, only for Grenalin to find that the place they were to attack was now consumed by a bright flash from a field far away, as a spire of molten rock shot upwards from the ground, hardening and forming what today is Blackrock Mountain. The explosion ravaged the lands around, and the Allied Dwarves stared in wonder at the ruins of their enemies. They came to the decision, and so did Grenalin, that the explosion had wiped out so many of them already, so the attack would be of barely any use, so the Allied Clans gave their farewells to their brethren and went back to their Capitals.

Grenalin celebrated along with his brothers and sisters in Ironforge, as many peaceful years went by for the Dwarves of the Bronzebeard Clan. During the eerie, mostly unrecorded time between the War of the Three Hammers and the news of the First War, Grenalin became a Priest, and joined his younger brothers in their expedition company. His older brother fell in battle against an assault force of Kobolds that were to attack Thelsamar, and his two sisters fell in battle while hunting down the remaining Kobolds of that assault force. Grief struck the Coldwind brothers as they grieved for their brother and sisters, but slowly they began to overcome their grief, and aspire as explorers and archaeologists of the new Coldwind Expeditions.

Many years of relative peace followed, during which Grenalin had four sons and two daughters with his wife, then word came from the south. The Kingdom of Stormwind had been destroyed by the Orcish Horde. Grenalin and his younger brothers took up their arms as they prepared for the Orcish armies that were reported to be moving North. Two years of an eerie silence passed by, and then, the drums were heard in the deep. Drums of War. The Dwarven Defenders of Ironforge rallied together in a hopeful stand against the Orcish Horde now advancing across their frozen lands. As the gates of Ironforge closed, Grenalin, Dalin, and their expedition's members followed them into the upper depths of Ironforge, reaching the top of the mountain range and making their way through a pass, rounding along the base of the peaks and coming out just in sight of Menethil Harbor. Using this pass, they got to Menethil Harbor before the Horde did and made sail to Hillsbrad, where they decided they would better aid the fight against the orcs.

The Dwarven brothers landed on the shores of Hillsbrad and approached their new home for the time. Word came from the Southeast of the defeat at Stromgarde, and the defeat at Dun Algaz. To this news especially the brothers grieved, for their brother Galin was one of the defenders of Dun Algaz. The Dwarven brothers quickly joined the fight with the Alliance as they made hopeful defense after hopeful defense, until finally Grenalin and Dalin were sent to Elven lands, to answer a plea for aid. They charged alongside their human allies and succeeded in defending the now burnt forests of the Elves, and then turned back towards Lordaeron. They marched forward and aided the Alliance in their vengeance against the treacherous nation of Alterac. Afterwards, they hurried to Lordaeron City, where they aided their human allies in the final stand against the Horde. Much to their surprise, the siege went in their favor, and the Alliance drove the Horde southward again, now driven by a holy vigor. Familiar lands passed by them as the brothers Grenalin and Dalin were reunited with friends from Ironforge and Grim Batol as both Dwarven Clans joined the Alliance in the push south.

Grenalin and Dalin stared now upon the burnt plains that had been scarred so long ago, what once was the fertile hills of the Redridge Mountains, was now the rocky fields of the Searing Gorge and the Burning Steppes. Grenalin and Dalin fought on towards Blackrock Spire, the accursed, unnatural mountain that had risen with the bright flash so long ago. Word spread across the battlefield of the death of Anduin Lothar, but the soldiers did not despair, rather, their morale grew, and their strength outmatched even the fierce Horde. Grenalin and Dalin shouted dwarven cries of War as the Alliance chased the Horde all the way back to the accursed plain from which they came, the fields of the Blasted Lands, where the Dark Portal rested. Grenalin gave a brisk salute to his brave little brother as Dalin joined the Alliance attackers in the charge into Draenor. Grenalin himself was earlier promised training as a Paladin by a human friend in Lordaeron. He gave his little brother a hug, a warm pat on the shoulder, and a soft kiss on the forehead as the Alliance charged through the Portal.

Grenalin returned to Lordaeron, where he trained to become a Paladin. The Alliance Expedition was never heard from, and it was on one day that the Dark Portal simply closed in on itself. The entire stretch of land in which the Alliance lied fell to silence as grief struck the nations. Grenalin fell to his knee's upon hearing the news and cried tears of utter grief as he solemnly prayed for his little brothers safety, in whatever blessed land he went to. Grenalin finished his training as a Paladin and found he had no more cause to return to his homeland, so he decided to stay in Lordaeron with his human friends and allies. It was after a short break of peace that word of the Scourge came. Grenalin joined his human allies in the fight against the new forces of the Undead, as Lordaeron raged in utter war once more.

Grenalin travelled towards Stratholme, where he encountered a man and his two daughters. Smoke rose from the direction of the nearby city, and Grenalin cursed in dwarven tongues, so to keep the little girls ears pure for as long as possible. The man pleaded that they were not among the plagued, and Grenalin believed him, as he was a stout-hearted man, and a proud father, constantly keeping watch over his daughters. Grenalin uttered a short sigh as he decided to lead these three to the only safe place he could think of; Ironforge. A long and perilous journey began as they hiked through Lordaeronian Forests, wary of the undead forces creeping nearby. It was one of the nights of this journey that Grenalin would never forget.

Grenalin woke to cries of help as he looked about the camp, to find that the man and his daughters were missing. Grenalin rushed through the woods, hammer in hand, as he came to a clearing. The man was making a brave stand against a Ghoul to protect his daughters. The man, however, was not a fighter, and so he fell quickly, but he held long enough for Grenalin to charge and slay the Ghoul with a swift swing of his hammer. The two little girls grasped the corpse of their mangled father and cried as Grenalin did the best he could to comfort them. A day passed, and then Grenalin gave the man the best burial he could give. A hole in the ground with a slab of bark as a gravestone, with the words carved ‘Here lies a proud father who gave his life for the safety of his daughters'.

Grenalin and the girls trekked through the forests and later encountered an un-plagued couple of refugees, a man and his wife. The man and wife heard the tale of the girls and their father, and so they adopted the two girls as their own, as the woman was found earlier to be infertile. It was a long, slightly un-eventful trek through more forests as Grenalin led the four south, where they then laid their eyes upon the familiar sight of the gates of Dun Algaz. They treaded further into the deeps of Khaz Modan and then found themselves back in the city of Ironforge. Grenalin was welcomed back by his sons and daughters, but grievous news came with the welcome. Grenalin's wife, Aileen, had fallen ill and died from an incurable disease a few years ago, and Grenalin's two eldest sons had fallen in battle against the remnants of the Horde in Khaz Modan.

Grenalin grieved, although he also enjoyed his time with his new human friends, and his remaining children. The news poured in at an alarming rate as Lordaeron ultimately fell to the Scourge, followed soon after by Quel'thalas, and then news came of the Battle in Kalimdor, where the demon lord Archimonde was slain at Mount Hyjal, thanks to an Alliance of the races. Grenalin finally laid his two handed hammer onto a weapon stand in his home, and he continued to enjoy the years of peace. One day, nearly five years ago, Grenalin came upon a dusty letter addressed to the Coldwind Expeditions, and he suddenly remembered his business that he had started with his brothers long ago. He vowed to make the Expeditions into a successful business, in memory of his fallen brothers and sisters. He used what money he had left to hire a crew of mercenary guards and hired muscle for the business.

After a short time in the expeditionary business, Grenalin was for an unknown reason taken captive by a group led by a woman named Faceless. He was placed, alongside some forty others, in a complex within an active volcanic area. While the events of the week he spent in there are hazy, Grenalin remembers one thing; he found out from a Draenei there that his brother, Dalin, was indeed alive and in Outland. Grenalin, an old dwarf, was lit with life again in the wake of his coming search. However, when the events in the complex came to a close in a battle against Faceless and her group of thugs, Grenalin died in the final battle.

Grenalin’s body was carried out by his dear friend, Cristovao di Silvio, and in the halls of the Exodar, he was resurrected some weeks later. Due to dying in a volcanic area, his breath was ragged because of ash filling his lungs in his final moments. His arms were disabled beyond easy repair from the battle against Faceless, and his legs were weak. Grenalin’s strength and breath recovered over time, but the priests that he saw about his arms said that in the time it would take for his arms to fully heal, he would long be dead from old age. The old dwarf, disheartened, made a pilgrimage to Shattrath City, bringing his expedition with him.

While Brek Copperbeard, his right hand in his expedition, searched for his brother Dalin, Grenalin pondered on his new life. Unable to wield a hammer or properly wear armor ever again, his days as a paladin were over. He sought the advice of one of the Naaru within the Terrace of Light, and was given nothing but words that made him once again sit and think. Grenalin now realized how he would further serve his people and his faith; as a priest again, a pilgrim to heal and bless the sick and the poor. He returned to his people in Ironforge, vigorously studying and planning a great path of pilgrimage that would allow him to find his true use to both the Light and the dwarves of Ironforge.

He stopped his studies only for one matter; the return of his brother, Dalin Coldwind. His little brother, the only left of all his brothers and sisters, was welcomed with the strongest grip that the elder and injured Grenalin could offer. Dalin, still being relatively young, decided his duty was better to his people in the field. And so, Grenalin made Dalin swear to return home so that they may someday recollect each other, and bid his little brother farewell once more. Grenalin returned to his studies and planning, where he remains today.