Verindyni

From CotH-Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search

Information

Player: Psycho.

Character Full Name: Verindyni. [Ver-in-dee-nye.]

Character In-Game Name: Verindyni.

Nickname(s): Crypt Guardian, Lorekeeper, Ritual.

Association(s): The Alliance, the Draenei, Auchenai pre-corruption.

Race: Draenei.

Class: Warrior. [Crypt Guardian IC.]

Age: 5690.

Sex: Male.

Hair: A dark purple held in a top-knot with two long loose strands that roll over his shoulders forward to cover a bit of his exposed chest, as well as the rest of it falling upon his back.

Eyes: The same glowing white as all Draenei, although his is a bit dimmed.

Weight: 190 kilograms.

Height: 2.30 meters.


Appearence

Usual Garments/Armor: Verindyni usually wears his old black armor, ritualistically made with many symbols and other religious icons upon it. His chest is constantly exposed. A few scrolls rest in thin strips of ancient paper that hangs from his shoulderpads and kilt, detailing prayers. Alongside this, a massive book rests strapped to his right hip- and opposite of it rest three folded up scrolls.

Other: Ritual scarring and tattoos run across Verindyni's body.


Personality

Alignment: Neutral good. (With the occasional slip into true Neutral.)

Verindyni is an odd soul. His general outwards expression seems cold and unmoving, without much shifting to hint of his inner thoughts. A philosophical man, he often ponders the nature of life and death as a hobby he performs on the side, having spent so much time spent in the limbo of the living in the dead. He's quite bi-polar, often switching between a brooding depression to a musing whimsical attitude, his emotions shift unstably and lean towards either way. Still unused to the outside world, Verindyni clings to many of his old teachings in the Auchenai and implants them in his day-to-day life. Though he would never force his beliefs unto someone else. At times, his actions derive him to be a bit of a social outcast from regular society, but the isolation has never proven to be too much a hindering to the already rather un-sociable man.

His views towards the world are rather dull and unshifted. He feels no special relation to his place in the Alliance, and views most the other races of his faction as simply odd- Or at certain cases, sadly short lived. He views the Gnomes and Dwarves with stark disinterest, having learned little of their culture. His relationship with the Night Elves borderlines at a curious interest and slight fear of their exotic savage nature. He views the humans as enigmatic and formless, quite disturbed by how wide and varied their culture is. And lastly, he views his own race with stark suspicion as he fears being accused of failing his duties within the Auchindoun.

The Horde on the other hand is viewed upon him by repressed stark hate. He views the Orcs responsible for the loss of his home, though his hatred is not blind towards them. He is aware of the Frostwolves, and sees them as allies, though with caution. The Trolls are mindless savages to his eyes, desecrating the dead for their disgusting habits. The Tauren piqued at his curiosity, leaving the Guardian unsure of their nature. The Forsaken are viewed by him as Anathema, disgusting and quite simply- a mistake. The Blood Elves are viewed with distant hatred, long faded and now just lingering as a cautionary reaction to the treacherous race.


History

Born upon the Oshu'gun's deck amid the flight of his people, Verindyni was given his name by the same Exarch which had announced his birth... Shortly after the passing of his mother. The young boy's father was long among the rows of the dead, having passed away shortly after the pregnancy of his mother, felled by a dreadful illness. Despite being orphaned and without parent, Verindyni was not unhappy. He was adopted by a kindly childless priestess which embraced him as her own. She taught him from a young age of the wonders of the Naaru, and of the many worlds and beautiful things that their people have sought and seen. The Priestess named Muluu had raised Verindyni properly. A happy child and generally joyous, Verindyni wasn't troubled or problematic, and had always aided his adoptive mother. There was no grand reveal, no great breaking. Verindyni knew from an early age that he was adopted- and he has come to a healthy acceptance of his fate.

From an early age, Verindyni was led into a religious lifestyle, one which he had gladly accepted. He would pray daily besides the slowly aging Priestess, and learned of the ceremonies and rituals to a much deeper extent that children of his age had learned. He grew into a habit of heavy reading, and spending much of his day either buried within a book or aiding his adoptive parent in her duties. And so, Verindyni grew each day. He grew up to be a fine young man at his early days, polite and charming. He even began training as for Priesthood beneath his adoptive mother, starting to practice the rituals of the Light and the Naaru. And so, the days passed, as did months.

Years came to pass, and Verindyni came to be a fine man of religion. He could not wield the Naaru's powers as his mother did, or at all for that matter, but he was happy. He felt the warm embrace of the Naaru at every word of chanted prayer, and the life that seemed to just flood at every word. He had learned and grown to love each chanted syllable, each song and every hymn, having began studying deeper and deeper into the studies of the Naaru. He remembered every word, every page and every book by heart by the time he had read them, such was his dedication and ambition to learn more.

And so, the man learned and grew to be a fine adult. Years passed, and he was still unable to grasp or use the powers of the Naaru. Each failure simply drove him to push harder and harder, studying off into the nights into the sacred writings of his people, much to Muluu's slight concern. And one faithful day, the ship plunged from the heavens... Crashing upon a foreign strange world, Verindyni was upon the front location of the ship as it crashed into the earth. It was only by a miracle that he did survive... But it was not to his luck. Awakening in the smoldering ruins, Verindyni found his body battered and broken, and his form surrounded by the fallen dead members of his people- his adoptive mother among one of them. Torn and stricken with grief and horror at the horrendous bloody sight of the death around him, Verindyni fell into catatonic mental shock, his mind blocking out the memories by simply forcing the Draenei to pass out from the traumatic stress of the picture. By the time he awoke, he was graced by a beautiful blue sky, and a rich lush grassland that seemed to mock the death of those he knew in the crash with their liveliness.

It was by miracle that he survived, the nurses would tell the bedbound man. For two straight weeks, he lay still and bed-bound, injured and bruised. Two weeks to stew and bubble in his own thoughts. The mental wounds closed and re-opened again and again, and the bound Verindyni would often awake yelling in fright past sleepless nightmare haunted nights. He hated himself. He took full blame for what had happened- and most of all, he felt guilty. Guilty for his survival, while a woman like Muluu had to perish, or those around him. He thought himself useless, miserable. It was at the end of those two weeks that Verindyni attempted to end his life by tossing his body off a cliff. But his nerve, his gull, were found lacking. It was not the will to live that saved Verindyni from himself, but his cowardice. Loathsome and miserable, he spent many days beneath the watchful eyes of the Anchorites, as he sought help and aid for himself. Seeking respite, he buried himself once more into his religious study, spending many days and nights to his own delving on the words of the holy Naaru.

But no longer could he find the same solace, the same warmth and ease he had once found within the writings was gone. His faith had taken a great blow. And his lifestyle shifted accordingly. Easing at his studies of the religious, he began seeking his spirit through the physical. Beginning to train his body with grueling training, it was not long before the thin lanky man had gained a considerable mass that was more fitting to warrior. He trained against the other men of his kind, and against himself. The physical training offered him some peace of mind from his anguish, and so he began settling on the studies of the spirit and body without religion. For a short year or so, he even wished to attempt his luck at medicine, but soon found himself lacking the stomach to aid the wounded.

Doing his part for the betterment of his people, Verindyni became a hunter to help the others bring food and furs. He found himself at favor with an ax and with its style. Focusing on one swift blow to bring down his prey with the others. It was upon returning from the grasslands that the young man caught upon Brown creatures that stood upon both their feet meeting with the Elder of the settlement he lived in. There were no words exchanged by the two, simply crude hand gestures and the simplest of sounds grunted out to be as clear as they could be.

Orcs, the creatures were called. And with time passing, he had learned to admire their ability as hunters, and their spiritual psyche. They learned a common language in which they could communicate, and Verindyni found himself enthralled and fascinated by the habitual rituals of the strange creatures. The Anguish had passed for a sense of wonderment for the new world, and as well as affection. Verindyni fell hooves over head for one of the women of his settlement, Avixia, a local priestess whom aided the Anchorite elder. Courting and wooing at Avixia, his affections were returned, and the two happily spent their days together. It was with the rumors of a grand city being built at the glowing bogs of the Orcish named Terrokar forest, that the two lovers traveled with a stream of others to help those who were in need. Helping the workers and hunters, the priests and doctors, Avixia and Verindyni watched together as the grand city of Shattrath was built. And it was with great joy that they declared it one of the great temple cities on their new home- Draenor. Shelter.

It was with even greater joy that Avixia informed her beloved that she was with child. At the news, Verindyni held no time to waste as he asked Avixia to share the rest of his life with him. And it was a joyous day which she accepted- and an even more joyful moment as the great Anchorite announced them mated, their spirits tied to one another for the rest of time. Time had passed, and Verindyni and Avixia were blessed with a healthy beautiful daughter, whom they named Amulvia, in hints of Muluu's memory. Amulvia was an adventurous child as she grew, proving to be quite a bundle of energetic joy. And Avixia and Verindyani were happy.

Several years had passed, and Amulvia grew up to be as adventurous and energetic a child as ever, and Avixia and Verindyni did not wish her to change. And then, upon a faithful's winter day, Amulvia left to play amid the forests of Terrokar alongside her parents. It was a slip of consciousness, a moment's distraction which led the two parents to lose track of their child. Amulvia had vanished, and night was approaching closely. The two frantic parents soon set out to search for their child. They searched, long past sunset, calling out frantically and frightened for their lost child. And it was by the dawn of morning that they did find her. Battered, bruised, her body face-first into a small cold river. It wasn't by the swoop of fate, or the cruel hand of the Eradar... It was simply chance. The child have knocked herself outcold upon her running, and drowned to death in the lake. Swooping the remains of their child from the icy cold grip of the water, the parents did weep. The child of their heart, their greatest joy, was gone. And it seems the world had turned gray from that day.

The two retreated to the silence of their home after burying their offspring in the northern lands to Shattrath, in a place that would one day come to be known as the Bone Wastes. Alone and distant, Avixia and Verindyni could find no more happiness besides the moments of solace from one another. And just as they came to the city together, they left. The moved to the Northern crypts that were still being formed around the body of D'ore. There they pleaded to be allowed to stay- in search of sanctuary from the outside world and their sorrow. And their request was granted. And so, with a silent peer backwards to the solemn hill where they buried their beloved child, the mated two entered into the darkness of the Auchenai crypts...

Inside, the two were separated and brought with groups of initiates of the matching sex, separated within the dark crypts. It was there that Verindyni undertook the secret rituals of the Auchindoun. At first, they scarred his body with a bone dagger, to draw his blood and prepare a strange vile potion from it. The first test was passed as he had showed no fear of the pain of the dagger. For the next test, an hour afterwards, he was given a bowl of the mixture, still drawing upon the color of his still warm blood. He drank from it, and was silently led into a dark empty chamber of stone, where he sat for hours. He could not see, but he could hear. Voices, distant and woeful. He could not understand what they said, but each word send a churning knot in his gut and a pain that he could not soak no matter how hard he tried. After four hours of torture, Verindyni was wrecked and in sweat as the narcotic potion found its way out of his system... And he was returned to the main chamber, where the number of Acolytes had lessened considerably. He was told that he had passed the second test- and that the dead had accepted his presence among them. Resting, the man wondered worriedly of his mate...

Awakening the next day after a dreamless sleep, Verindyni began his practice with the other men... Within the dark depths of the crypt, he was told how to use the ceremonial blade of the Auchidoun Tombstone, and he found it to his liking. He practiced and learned of the line between life and death, and how those who lived within the crypts walked at the thin line of the living and the dead. He began seeing things. At first, shadows. But as days passed, their forms clarified. They became luminescent, and pale. Their once faceless heads took features, and they all wandered aimlessly, always at the edges of the room. The spirits of the dead. Feeling himself humbled and truly pathetic at the presence of the spirits, Verindyni had taken an oath of silent watch, to never interfere with the souls of the dead. For that was not his fate. His was to be a silent watcher.

Days became months. And months became a year. The Darkness became a light. Food has lost its' flavor. And the feeling of cold stone became akin to that of a warm embrace. Names had been slowly forgotten by the man, and at days he even forgot his own. Silence was the only thing spoken between the Acolytes. And when things looked their bleakest, the small group of men were informed. They were now family. Released into the great city-like depths of the Auchenai, old friends and lovers met anew. And among them, Verindyni and Avixia. It was a heartfelt reunion. The two embraced silently, and spoke soft words to one another.

And thus, their new lives began.

What had once been a strange and almost terrifying lifestyle became the norm for the two. They spent days apart in the darkness, tending to their duties. And each with their own fervent service. Verindyni showed his skill and willingness to learn, and Avixia had shown her own desires of improvement. And as their souls were bound as mates, so did their progression followed one another. After several years, Verindyni had found himself as a Guardian of the very crypt in which the Naaru D'ore rest within, and a keeper of ancient lore from the Auchidoun's records. Avixia had become a respected Death Priestess for the people of the underground crypt. Given their tattoos of ground bones and ancient secrets, the two were marked as per their rank.

The years passed. The crypts were ever silent, besides the woeful weepings of the lost restless spirits that revealed themselves. Winds of something foul drifted above from the upper world... The Orcs maddening, and a council rising... But the Auchindoun was not stirred. Nor did it move. And one day, the very ground roared in agony. The Orcs had finally performed their dark rituals. The planet was torn asunder, and the Auchidoun had suffered a great blow. Separated from his loved one, Verindyni fell into hiding with the few Guardians of D'ore's crypt as he saw the Shadow Council make settling and defile his once beloved home. The Orcs were different... More brutal, and dark than the last he's seen them. Stalking from the darkness, Verindyni fell back deeper into the crypts with his fellow Guardians, where they stood a vigil. Food was scarce, and not a word was exchanged as the few remaining Guardians made their hold, awaiting the Orcish attack...

Only none came. The Orcs had summoned the horrible creature who's name Verindyni and his brothers knew nothing of. But each day had forced their tensity to rise. The air was poisonous to the mind, and little to the knowledge of the Guardians, the corruption of the rebuilding D'ore had sank in their hearts. It was on a faithful day that Verindyni awoke to the sounds of battle. Grabbing at his weapon and ceremonial armor, he rushed to the scene where he had found most his brothers murdered or dying, against the dead Orcish attackers ahead of them... And leading them, a familiar woman. Avixia stood quiet.

She urged him to let the Orcs do as they pleased. She told him they could make things right. It was then she revealed at the small child at her side... Their daughter, pale and rotten, brought back by some unholy magic. A sickening parody of what that was once.

With heavy heart and spirit torn, Verindyni left the crypt that night. The woman he had loved died. He had disposed of her body. And the child of their heart, he could not. Even her body, he dared not touch. He left her within the crypt. Up his emerging from the crypt, Verindyni could not recognize the scarred shattered world around him. Torn and beaten. The land dead and gray, covered with the bones of thousands of not hundreds of thousands. Traveling alone within the bone wastes, Verindyni found himself a lone wanderer for the time to come. The land was scarred, and he was too afraid to speak to not the deformed grotesque Orcs, nor to his own hiding scattered people. He saw the ruins of Shattrath from a great distance, and a sorrow heavy filled his heart.

He remained in the shadows of the bogs, helping his people from the sidelines and unseen. He brought food and herbs he could find to the camps in silence before he left unnoticed. During the time of the Tempest Keep and the Exodar's disaster, he stayed behind within the shattered world of Draenor, helping silently to the fight of his people to reclaim at their great temple city. And the events of the Alliance and the Horde arriving to the once shattered world passed in a glimpse above the distant Verindyni, whom remained silent and nigh unaware of the world around him. Dealing with the loss of his home within the Crypts, Verindyni traveled among his kin to Azeroth in search of a new start.

What he had found there did not help. Two factions torn by war and a world that was just as broken as Draenor. Spending a short while in the forests of the Night Elves, where he had learned of their culture, Verindyni soon left North as the rumors of the struggle of the Scourge arose to his ears. He had heard of the rumored Undead, but he never once did see the loathsome creature. Out of loyalty to his old habits of the Auchindoun, he traveled to Northrend to aid the struggles of the Argent Crusade against the Lich King. There he was confronted with the awful creatures, fighting side by side with the members of all the races. It was there he saw the short glances of the other cultures to come to the understanding that he truly did not belong in this strange world.

Traveling to Draenor once more, Verindyni now wanders aimless in attempts to recover some of the lost names and histories of his people.


Skills and Abilities

Honor the dead - Undergoing the secret rituals and ceremonies of the Auchenai crypts, Verindyni posses the ability to see the spirits of the dead which still roam this earth. But unlike a Spiritwalker, he posses no power to interfere or communicate with them. Simply watch.

Remember the fallen - At his service as a guardian of the Auchenai, Verindyni was entrusted with knowledge of many of the fallen members of his kind and the nature of their demise.

Executioner's blow - While still trained in combat, Verindyni is practiced in the nature of battle which emphasizes a single blow to take down a foe. His training allows him to find the weak spots in most armor, and trade one devastating blow that would seal the fate of battle.


Weaknesses:

Darksight - Having spent so many of his years within the crypts of the Auchenai, Verindyni's eyes are especially sensitive to bright lights, and such would easily dazzle and blind him if used against him.

Mild corruption - While still managing to keep most his sanity intact in his flight from the Auchenai, Verindyni was not spared the corrupting touch of shadow. Healing with any holy energy upon his body is not as effective as most, and far more tedious care is required to better heal any injuries he might suffer.

Whispers from beyond the grave - While still mostly sane, Verindyni still suffers a mild mental trauma of his experience with the spirits of the dead. Insanity is in no way a boon. Much often, he sees himself meet his demise or some other dark scenario which leaves him quite frozen and unable to properly defend himself. (The way this will be determined is by a simple roll of 4. 1 being the worst result, 4 being the optimal, and 2 and 3 being the middle grounds.)