Franziska

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Alliance Franziska Shadowstar
FranziskaCloseUp.png
Player Rokhjin
Title <Sentinel of Darnassus and Head Councilor of Dorini Thera>
Gender Female
Race Kaldorei
Class Runemaster
Age 321
Height 1m83
Weight 91kg
Eyes Mismatched silver.
Hair Purple
Affilliation(s) Dorini Thera, Sentinels, Darnassus
Occupation Sentinel
Relative(s) Keira Shadowstar(Sibling), Merin Shadowstar(Sibling)
Mentor(s) Redith Stormrunner
Student(s) None
Companion(s) Redith Stormrunner
Alignment Lawful Neutral
Status Alive


Skills and Abilities

Kaldorei Engineering: From early life, the Elf has been working on machinery, such as the Elven Glaive Throwers. This makes her a good example of an Elven Engineer.

Sentinel: Franziska's military strategy and combat skills are all learned from the Sentinels. She knows how to remain undetected in Kaldorei lands, and the bow is one of her favourite weapons. Despite having switched specialties, the Elf still keeps her bow with her in order to hunt. Even with her new skills, Franziska still uses most of her abilities as she used to, keeping runes out of the equation as much as possible.

Pattern of Shielding: On her belly, the Runemaster bears the Pattern of Shielding. A rune which, when activated, creates a protective ward on the caster. Though this stops incoming attacks from damaging her, it renders the Elf incapable of attack, any assault causing the effect to cease.

Pattern of Runic Resilience: A rune on her hip, this pattern makes the Runemaster's skin almost as tough as stone. Though the Elf is not slowed by the effect, the armour her skin provides seems to pulse irregularly with the whims of the magic causing it, occasionally leaving gaps in her defence. This effect is worsened by movement of the joints.

Pattern of Frost: When activated, the caster becomes resistant to cold. Though cold can still harm her, the resistance is more effective against spells casted against her. The effect of the pattern does not extend to anything the Runemaster may be carrying on her person.

Pattern of Fire: When activated, the caster becomes resistant to heat. Though heat can still harm her, the resistance is more effective against spells casted against her. The effect of the pattern does not extend to anything the Runemaster may be carrying on her person.

Pattern of Striking: The caster's hand-to-hand attacks become quite strong, capable of real damage to even armoured foes.

Appearance

Usual Garments/Armor: Usually dressed in light leathers or cloth, the Elf sometimes forgoes a top entirely, light blue runes adorning a lot of her light blue skin. She does own, and sometimes wears, a set of plate armour though, seeing as she doesn't need armour to fight anymore, this is purely for official business and formal occasions as she's hampered in her abilities in the heavy suit.

Other: Franziska looks like she's had an average Sentinel's life. Though smaller than most of her peers, the Elf appears to have managed to dodge or parry most blows as she only carries relatively minor scars on her skin. Her runes are tattooed on her skin in light blue ink, nearly matching the colour of her skin.

Personality

Having grown up rather traditionally, Franziska has a strong dislike for most outsiders and will attack them without a second thought if given a chance. Whereas she may tolerate one's presence in a town, in the wilds of her home the Elf can become a danger to the unwitting wanderer. Despite her racism, she has a strong attachment to the Kaldorei people and, if given a choice between endangering the life of a brother or sister or letting an outsider walk, she will always choose the life of her fellow Elf. When it comes to friends, Franziska does her best to be the best she can be towards them though she is not afraid of opening her mouth if she believes she, or someone close to her, is being wronged by them.

History

Despite her young age, Franziska has lived a full life. She was born into the family of a Sentinel and her Druid mate, during one of the short whiles where her father had woken from the Emerald Dream. Though her parents weren't quite a millennium old at the time and her birth was not planned, Franziska always had a welcome home in the depths of Ashenvale forest.

As the young Kaldorei got older, she'd started learning from her mother how to fight with the signature weapon of the Sentinels, the moonglaive. A difficult weapon to master but, slowly, the child seemed to manage, only occasionally cutting herself as she swung the weapon against her target. Due to her father being a Druid, she rarely saw the man but, when her father did wake, Franziska took a break from the fight in order to spend time with the man. During these sparse times, the youngster heard fantastical tales of the Emerald Dream and of the natural world. Despite her mother's best intents to turn Franziska into more of a lady, these tales prompted the youngster to find her own adventures out in the wild, sneaking out during the day, once her mother was surely asleep.

Obviously, her parents also taught her about the Goddess Elune. Teachings that would stick with the Elf for centuries to come. When she was not training, adventuring -or at least spending time in the forest-, or sleeping, Franziska prayed to Elune. She even looked at joining the Priestesses at some point, though she was never one to wear dresses. However, as their was a great honour in becoming a Priestess, Franziska was unsure and so she prayed. Whether it was her time alone or actual divine intervention, the young Elf soon came to a decision.

It was only a few more years after that Franziska shared her intents with her mother to join the Sentinels. Her mother, as was expected, was proud of her and, when she told Franziska's father, the man took her aside for a moment. "Your mother and I are both proud of your choice, little one." He told her as he messed up her hair. "We both know you'll do great things one day. Just remember, while our people are always in need of more soldiers, think of all the things I have taught you as well."

Franziska took her father's advice to heart as she set out to start her basic training. Even as she had a bunk at the barracks, the Elf never truly stopped sneaking out to spend the day in the wilderness. In a way, the experience shaped her and her ability to survive in the wilds with nothing to assist her. As it seemed, her superiours had little issue with it as the Elf was always well rested when evening fell and it was time to begin her training once more. Throughout her basic training, her locker stayed near empty and her bunk was always made.

During her basic training, the young Franziska also came into contact with engineering. From other Elves, mostly male craftsman, she learned the proper way to maintain and even repair her people's glaive throwers. Often, they'd also teach the young Elf how to build entirely new things and Franziska learned all of these things eagerly.

As all things do, even this chapter of Franziska's life ended and only a few years later it was time for her to do her duty. A duty which she sacredly upheld as the centuries slowly passed her by. Nearly three centuries later, she first heard the rumours. Initially only from her sisters-in-arms but soon enough word came down from above; outsiders had found their way onto Kalimdor and, now as it seemed, they had invaded southern Ashenvale and were desecrating the ancient trees that grew there.

The Elven military was readied soon enough and outposts were already being set up around the enemy camp. As Franziska scouted ahead with several of her sisters, she got her first look at the enemy. A hideous beast with green skin and ragged black hair. It seemed to be alone so the Elf lifted up her bow to attack the Goddess-damned creature yet, as she did so, one of the other Elf's pushed her weapon back down. "We are here to scout." She whispered harshly. "We'll have our chance at glory soon enough." Franziska nodded and turned to find the greenskin looking in their direction. It seemed to shudder for a moment before quickly making his way back to what could only be the Orc camp.

Despite their best efforts, the greenskins managed to run over the Elven defenses. Even as they incurred the wrath of Cenarius, it seemed as though nothing could stop them. Sisters that had stood by the demi-god had said the greenskins were corrupted by demonic magic and it seemed to be the only explanation for their loss. Despite this setback, Franziska was certain they could stand against this new threat. After all, her people had fought back much worse enemies and lived. The Burning Legion, the Quiraji... All had been defeated before and yet the Elven people were still here.

The Legion, however, had not been quite as defeaten as was hoped. Though she mostly stayed to her own camps, news soon reached them of something much darker stirring in the forests. Demons, according to most. It didn't take long for Franziska to be called back into action, much like many of her sisters. The Druids had been awoken and a plan had been set into motion. The Kaldorei would stand with the intruders to fight back the Legion at the top of Mount Hyjal.

Franziska saw many of her friends die at the top of that mountain. Skilled warriors, all. Much more skilled than Franziska anyway, and yet Sentinel Shadowstar survived the onslaught. During the fighting, Franziska had sustained a wound to her eye, courtesy of a Demonic blade, but it was a small price to pay for the continued survival of her people. Archimonde, the filthy Eredar, had been destroyed and, though Nordrassil was damaged, the World Tree would heal in time. It seemed to her that she had earned a rest, though the Orcs seemed to disagree with that as they refused to pull back from Ashenvale. Instead they continued their efforts at the lumber camp, despite having more wood than they could ever use, and kept the Kaldorei people in a constant state of war.

The Elf had received a promotion after the Third War and, though she didn't agree with it, the Elves had entered a shaky alliance with the outsiders across the ocean. Thankfully, Franziska had been allowed to stay in Ashenvale, even as some of her people were ushered across the ocean to the ruins of Lordaeron. She wasn't sure why they were there, especially with the Orcs so close to home but it wasn't her place to judge and so she did her duty; Keeping an eye on the greenskins and making sure her own were kept safe.

A tentative peace fell across Ashenvale but it was not to last for Franziska and several of her sisters. Despite the best efforts of some outsider organization called 'The Argent Dawn', the Scourge of Lordaeron still ran rampant in Lordaeron and, in order to bolster their fighting force, Franziska and several other Sentinels were sent in as auxiliaries. They spent a good while there until something of true importance happened. Clearly visible during the night, a glow had started appearing to the east of the Dawn's chapel. Scarlet Crusade territory but still worth checking out and so, together with various other Kaldorei and even some people of the Dawn, Franziska was sent to investigate. What they found was unlike anything they'd expected.

As the group came upon this strange glow in the night, the site seemed almost abandoned. At least, until they neared the source. As they came close, undead poured from a nearby cave, some corpses bursting up from a thin layer of dirt. Though they fought valiantly, the group was easily wiped out with little casualties on the Scourge's side. It wasn't long until the necropolis Acherus burst forth from its portal and, with it, the corpses the undead had amassed were transported up to be raised.

However, in a corner, hidden by dust and debris, they appeared to have forgotten one of the attackers. A rather small Elf had appeared to escape the death rained on her group of companions and, as the Scourge retreated to set up proper defences, the Elf woke and made her escape. Though gravely wounded, Franziska did indeed manage to make her way back to Light's Hope Chapel where she was healed of her wounds, gaining her a somewhat disfigured right eye, its glow eerily dissimilar from her left.

Franziska remained at Light's Hope for a while longer as she healed. Being of no more use to the Dawn, however, the recovering Elf was soon sent south with a caravan where she could continue recovering in the safer lands of Stormwind where she met a Kaldorei named Sylvandre Cloudtear. The first Kaldorei she befriended outside of her own lands. It was also during this time that the now believed dead Elf came into contact with Gnomes and their rather peculier way of building machinery. Though not too fond of the little humanoids, the experience reignited Franziska's interest in all things engineering. Most of the Gnomish teachings would be near useless. However, the Elf soon remembered all the things she had been taught in her early days and used this new knowledge to augment her own abilities in engineering.

Franziska stayed with the humans for a while, helping Sylvandre and her group of people in assisting the humans against corruption. But, as she soon realized, this wasn't where she was supposed to be. She'd long since removed the heavy, human-crafted plate armour for something more traditional and, eventually, she decided to return to Kalimdor. To see whether her people would accept her once again after the fact that they likely assumed her dead. As she stepped off the boat, she seemed to shrink a little, looking up at the new World Tree, to where the city of Darnassus was. She stepped through the teleportation tree and, cautiously, made her way to the commanders of the Sentinels. Harsh words were spoken, from both of them, but the Elf was allowed into Ashenvale once more. Not owning much more than what she carried on her, Franziska's travels led to her home. Her parents had likely moved after the war and she didn't know where to start looking for them so, instead, she focused on her work. She eventually regained her rank with the Sentinels as the people started trusting her more and, more importantly, the Kaldorei she spoke with regularly started seeing her as herself again, despite everything.

She met a lot of Elves during that time. Some of them disappeared into their own duties but others went on to become close friends. Tikar Wildseer, Corchel Duskthorn, Kalah and Anthrion Ironraven, and others. Her duties also led her to the Ashwatch Vigil, a military group set up by Anthrion to protect the Elven lands from intruders and, more importantly, to protect the Elven people. As she and Kalah spent time together, Franziska learned more and more of the other soldier. Why she became a soldier, where she was from... Things like that. Yet her interest in the Elf grew and she found herself wanting to spend more time with her, growing close to her sister-in-arms. Through various adventures the two found themselves in, Franziska soon realized she had started developing feelings for her. She decided not to tell her as she was certain Kalah would not take to the news too well. Not to mention she deserved more than what Franziska had to offer. Yet things never go as planned and she was soon forced to tell Kalah what she felt, unwilling to lie to the soldier.

Despite the expected eventual "No." the two remained friends, to the relief of Franziska, and the both of them were soon pulled back into the war effort against the Orcs as they'd grown more reckless during the time Franziska was gone. She was at least glad to be back in her own lands and so Franziska took to her duty like a fish takes to water.

As one year drew to a close and another year had started, the Orc-Kaldorei "war" had become more and more dangerous and, around february, she'd heard of the news that Kalah, her best friend, had gotten herself wounded and was at the Silverwing Outpost. Even with ever important duties, Franziska set out to visit as soon as she was able. The two spent some time together before Franziska's duties sent her away again.

Earthquakes and elemental incursions increased across the known world. An issue that didn't strike nearly as near to home as the Orcs did. The greenskins had finally pressed the attack and, even as the world tore itself apart, the beasts managed to bludgeon their way into the forest as they started the war all over again, overrunning and killing the defenders of Silverwind Refuge. The Horde had also attacked Astranaar, Maestra's Post and Raynewood Retreat although, luckily, they met with less success in those areas.

With the Ashwatch Vigil and its allies, Franziska went on to fight the Horde invaders with some success as it turned out. Gathering the Kaldorei's allies, they beat the Orcs back up the ramp to Hellscream's Watch, leaving only the Zoram Strand in the west. Even Astranaar was somewhat safe as eyes on the Orcish camp to the north were frequent and the town's defenses bolstered.

In more recent times, however, a call had come from the north. The Twilight Cultists were growing increasingly bold in Darkshore and were in dire need of attack. With the Ashwatch Vigil disbanded, Franziska had created her own order; Nature's Vengeance, Dorini Thera. It was with them that they answered the call to protect the lands north of Ashenvale. Succesful in their attacks, the Kaldorei had found evidence of a coming assault on Lor'danel, prompting the members of Dorini Thera to remain in Darkshore for the time being.

It was during this time Franziska had met a Runemistress by the name of Redith Stormrunner, growing close to the woman in due time and standing at her side during the defence of the nearby town. It was there, outside the town, that Franziska saw the power of runemastery at work, providing weapons to the unarmed and protection to the unarmoured. After the battle, she approached the woman and asked her to train the Sentinel in the same arts to which Redith agreed gladly.

Now, Franziska has returned to Ashenvale, seeking to rid it of Orcs and other malignant outlanders. Though she bears few runes on her skin, the young Kaldorei is still quite formidable, seeing as she complements her new abilities with her old ones.