Iskula

Information

Player: Scout

Character Full Name: Iskul’aka

Character In-Game Name: Iskula

Nickname(s): Isky

Association(s): The Darkspear Tribe, Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff

Race: Troll

Class: Shaman

Age: 26

Sex: Female

Weight: 189 lbs

Height: 6' 8" (0.95 scale)

Alignment: Neutral Good

Appearance

Iskul’aka stands out as a shorter troll of slighter build, though she still matches or towers over many other races. She is fit, though not lacking in softness of her features that conceals stark definition of her bone structure. Her eyes are sunset orange, and her long hair vivid purple. She often keeps her hair styled in a traditional trollish braided crest, though she sometimes allows it to straighten out and lets it down.

In days past Iskul’aka could be seen wielding a battleaxe and shield, dressed in Darkspear mail kilt armor, but nowadays she prefers only to wear simple tribal robes, avoiding elaborate adornments.

Due to past mingling with races other than trolls, she has a fainter Zandali accent than most trolls.

Personality

Iskul’aka is a gentle soul, who prefers to avoid confrontation. Her past as a warrior once led her to a more resilient outlook, but she prefers to put that behind her in favor of a peaceful existence. She is a very shy individual, and finds it difficult to approach most people, though she feels more comfortable around tauren and orcs. However, she also has a lot of innate curiosity, and it often overcomes her caution.

Spirituality is a huge part of Iskul’aka’s existence, and she spends a lot of time in trances, communing with the elements and ancestors. She is more than happy to share this with those around her, serving as a pillar to support others--one of the few circumstances in which her shyness does not interfere. To those whom Iskul’aka is not afraid of, she gladly offers hospitality in whatever forms they may want or need, putting their needs before her own.

Iskul’aka’s self worth leaves something to be desired, from deep-set experiences rooted in her childhood as a woman in troll society. She has spent her whole life attempting to counteract this, but when faced with stalwart aggression or opposition, particularly from men, she finds it difficult to stand her ground, and often backs down even if she is in the right. Her desire to avoid confrontation only exasperates this.

Time among the spirits has left Iskul’aka with a great deal of absent-mindedness, as she often listens more to the spirits in her head than the sounds around her. To others, this often seems as though Iskul’aka’s concentration is very poor, but in truth, she is capable of a great deal of focus--her attention is just usually elsewhere.

History

Iskul’aka was born on the Broken Isles. She was sixteen years old when the Horde, led by Thrall, rescued the trolls on the islands from the sea witch and her murloc minions. The majority of the trolls were rescued safely, Iskul'aka with them. During the Third War, Iskul’aka traveled with the orcish caravans that traveled across the Barrens until a more permanent settlement could be established.

Her family settled in Orgrimmar when it was built. Following the example of the orcs, Iskul'aka's parents began her shamanistic training as soon as possible, perhaps with the hope that Iskul'aka would not continue the tradition of practicing voodoo. Iskul'aka caught a hold of the elements very quickly, pleasing her mentors greatly, as it showed that even a race so barbaric as the trolls could practice shamanism easily. It was not long before Iskul'aka could manipulate the spirits in many simple and more complex ways. She showed much promise.

After the dust had settled and tensions began to heighten again, Iskul’aka volunteered to join the ranks of the Horde’s armies, young and zealous with the ideals of the new, young nation. She was assigned to Splintertree Post as a scout. Over the course of her time on the front, however, she came to realize that her expectations of the Horde conflicted with the actions her comrades took in the field. The excessive deforestation of Ashenvale struck her as dishonorable, when everything she had heard from the Horde suggested that honor came above all.

As soon as she could, Iskul’aka departed from the military. Confused and conflicted, she traveled to Mulgore, seeking spiritual guidance from the tauren of Thunder Bluff. There, through quiet introspection and training under a new mentor, she enhanced her skills in the elements. She calmed herself and opened her mind to listening for the call of the spirits, staying there for several years.

Iskul'aka once again sought out a place in the Horde’s military ranks, but she requested a more defensive position than Ashenvale. Protection came to her more easily than the aggression she had witnessed before, and she found it much easier to reconcile it with her views of what the Horde needed.

It was in the wake of leaving her post for the second time that Iskul’aka entered her first period of spiritual guidance. She forsook the bonds of society and took to the wilds, pursuing the spirits in search of what knowledge they might be able to impart to her. Through this, she encountered elementals in their natural habitats, and attuned herself to them above and beyond how she had previously known to call them. While her aptitude extended to all elements, she particularly developed a potent bond with the spirits of air and water. She found it almost effortless to call upon lightning and wind, and to feel water’s cool embrace. Almost a year passed before she returned to society once more.

In Iskul’aka’s absence, the Scourge had risen again as a threat to the entirety of Azeroth, and so she found her skills in high demand. Particularly, an orc by the name of Rexx took a liking to her, and brought her under the wing of his clan, the Blackwolves. Iskul’aka gladly assisted them in the defense of the Barrens, keeping the Alliance from establishing a foothold that might threaten them in unstable times. In later years, she also found companionship among the Bloodsworn Honorguard, assisting them in Northrend; and with a death knight named Lok’magrosh.

With the Lich King defeated, Iskul’aka returned to a life more free of the horrors of war, more than willing to lay down her weapons for good to live a life of peace. She felt she had spilled too much blood, whatever cause it may have been for, and that troubled her enough that she desired life away from violence and conflict.

When the Shattering caused the world to split open, Iskul’aka once again returned to the wilds, in the hopes of taming the elementals that had gone berserk. However, the voices of the spirits in her mind were chaotic, and often conflicting. She had a difficult time filtering through all of them, and while she followed them where she could, she often found herself running into dead ends, or even wandering aimlessly. Additionally, her time isolated took its toll on her, and despite the difficulties of living in the wilderness, she dreaded the idea of returning to civilization.

Iskul’aka still wanders, searching for guidance from the spirits.

Skills and Abilities

Iskul’aka was once strong of both mind and body, but time away from war has left her physical strength lacking. Her endurance and spirit remain strong, however.

The majority of Iskul’aka’s skills lie in the calling of the elements of air and water, though she is capable of calling all four. She has deep intuition with the spirits, and finds calling them as natural to her as simply breathing. However, she lacks personal discipline and control in many senses. Her use of the elements, as a result, is very intense, but lacks the finer aspects of control that most shaman find necessary for true mastery of the spirits. Her favored forms of attack come in lightning, an indicator of her favor with the spirits of air.

Iskul’aka’s ancestral belief in the loa often blends with her shamanistic rituals, as for the vast majority of her childhood she grew up with the culture of the Darkspears all around her. Aspects of voodoo rituals bleed into many of her rites, if not the true intent. This gives her a more solid ground for the rituals she performs when she does not simply call on the elements, as she subconsciously falls into old habits that provide more definite structure to her magic.

Iskul'aka can speak Taur-ahe moderately well, due to her time living in Thunder Bluff.