Layia

Information

Player: Talal

Character Full Name: Layia Stormheart

Character In-Game Name: Layia

Nickname(s): None

Association(s): Cenarion Circle, Darnassus.

Race: Night Elf

Class: Druid

Age: 8,114

Sex: Female

Hair: Long and untied, yet stays amazingly neat. It is purple in color.

Eyes: Bright yellow

Weight: 108kg

Height: 6'10”

Appearance

Usual Garments/Armor: Scrappy robes and ragged pieces crudely sewn together with what appears to be vines, leaves and feathers.

Personality

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Curious and ever eager to learn something new, Layia generally has a lighthearted personality, always focusing on the optimistic side of a situation. When loved ones or the natural world are threatened, however, Layia is all business. She is unaccepting of apologies, and will punish the one responsible.

She has a strength of spirit as well. Some might call it stubbornness, but wise ones would see it as incredible dedication to her work and her endurance to continue onward after so many obstacles.

History

Born during the long peaceful years after the Sundering of the World, Layia was a small miracle for her parents. Her mother, a sentinel of Ashenvale, had hopes she would follow in her footsteps, and become a protector of the forest herself one day.

Her father, however, did not share the thought.

Layia's father, a weapons and armor smith for the Sentinels, did not want his only daughter constantly away, fighting horrific creatures on the far borders of Elven lands. He wished his daughter to become a Priestess of Elune, a very distinguished position for a young female Kaldorei.

The argument lasted several years, Layia's parents constantly bickering over reasons why she should become a sentinel and why that idea was absurd. Eventually, Layia started wandering off when the arguments became heated, finding her own way in the world. She would explore the woods of the vale, observing the creatures and plants that inhabited the world, and asking questions of them, such as why they were as they are, who orchestrated the natural world, and where did they come from.

In her spare time she would read about the history of her people, and took note of the incredible hardships they had suffered over the last few thousand years. She learned of the War of the Ancients, and the Sundering that followed. Through learning these things, over the course of many years Layia reasoned that the only way to avoid these events again was to aid Cenarius and the Keepers of the world.

One morning she awoke, and realised that today was the day she makes the change.

When learning of Layia's intentions, as with everything her parents had separate reactions. Her mother, initially upset, came to be proud of her daughter's initiative and courage to seek out her own destiny. Her father, though, still believed she should remain home, and work to become a servant of the Moon Goddess. With her mother's blessing, she journeyed north to Nighthaven, where she wished to begin her training in the ways of a druid of the Circle.

When she arrived, however, it was said that a woman could not join the Circle, and would be better looking at joining the Sentinels or Priesthood. She did her best to prove to the druids she was as dedicated as any male to preserving nature, and that turning her away is turning away useful aid. Stubborn and locked in their ways, the druids continued to refuse. Layia, enraged, stormed away and left the vale behind her.

In her travels, Layia met a grizzly looking elf who spoke as if he were a druid, having much knowledge of the forests. Layia questioned this, and he revealed himself as a wild druid, whom did not believe in the rules of the Circle and preferred to do things his own way. Seeing her chance, Layia pushed him to train her in the druidic ways. He accepted, knowing that she would never learn if he did not teach her, as the Circle were too stubborn to accept a female.

She stayed with the druid for several years, travelling with him and learning to live off even the harshest environments.

After long years of training and study in the wilds, Layia had become a strong druid. She told her plan of returning to Nighthaven to the old elf, who cautioned her against it. However he also said he was the master of no one's destiny, least of all hers. She bid a fond farewell, and travelled home.

Heading straight to Nighthaven, Layia displayed her new abilities to a druid, who was widely impressed. The druid, still unsure of allowing a female into their ranks, agreed to complete her druidic training as part of the Circle, but also privately so as to avoid any outbursts from traditionalists. Ecstatic that her wish had finally come to fruition, she joined him in their training and learning. It wasn't long before a few of the male druids did warm up to her, accepting her as if she were any other male, though they kept her recruitment to themselves, not wanting to break tradition publicly.

After many centuries, the druids felt the pull of the Emerald Dream, where their spirits would wander for centuries, and gaining enlightenment in that strange plane. And so, Layia slept.

Since returning from the Dream, Layia has been travelling the lands of Kalimdor, continuing to learn from and protect the land that was her charge. She re-encountered the Shu'halo, whom shared some of their wisdom with her, and she stayed with them a while, helping to cleanse the plains of any corruption which dared to show itself.

Now, Layia spends most of her time in the south of Kalimdor, doing what she can for the world there.