Hythal

Information

Player: Rigley

Character Full Name: Hythal Shadowglen

Character In-Game Name: Hythal

Nickname(s): n/a

Association(s): Darnassus, Alliance Military, The Watchers, Darnassian Sentinels

Race: Night Elf

Class: Warrior

Age: 11,420

Sex: Female

Hair: White, draping down her back.

Eyes: Glowing silver

Weight: 210

Height: 6'9"

Apperance

Hythal is almost always seen wearing the trappings of a Warden, albeit with some pieces removed and replaced with standard issue equipment. Still present is a bladed cloak and a round glaive, though. She bears blade-like markings over her eyes.

Other: Has quite a few scars from battle, but nothing more than the standard fare for a warrior of such a span of activity.

Personality

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Hythal is a fierce supporter of Kal'dorei ideals and traditions. She has a will of iron only bent by her most trusted of allies, and a staunch view against Orcs and the Horde in general (though her ire is tempered towards the Tauren for obvious reasons). Shadowglen is a tactician and a plotter, and will rarely strike before assessing a situation. Even so she has an intense protective nature for other Kal'dorei-- especially sentinels or other warriors-- and will fight tooth and nail to assist them if they are in danger in almost any situation, thought through or not. While her rage is often quickly gained it is slow to be shown through her actions, usually escaping in spiteful quips or more subtle motions.

There is a softer side to the former commander, but it is one she seldom shows in public. She is greatly supportive of her allies, and will pledge her assistance to a friend in need of aid in a heartbeat. In terms of further relationships she tends to be very cold, though, and often refuses to acknowledge any such advances.

History

Hythal Shadowglen was born into something of an awkward family by the current standards, but one which was common during the Kal'dorei's past. Her father was absent, a druid committed to the dream, and her mother a strict and mirthless warrior. She was brought up under her mother's hawk-like gaze, taught from the moment she could hold a glaive how she was to wield both the iron blades and her body as a weapon against an enemy. She had little time for pleasantries or time for her own interests-- everything was in devotion to the blade and her people. While some might view such an upbringing in a negative light, it wasn't for her mother's failure to try otherwise. Her mother was a warrior born of a lineage of soldiers, and was brought up in much the way she raised her own child. There wasn't a lack of understanding, just a repetition of the familiar-- despite the shortcomings Hythal grew into a well rounded young woman, and joined into battle alongside her mother as soon as she was of age.

Serving alongside the rest of the Kal'dorei military Hythal was exposed to conflict countless times. The pair of mother and daughter were inseparable on the battlefield, and strangely enough found more kinship in battle than they had ever found during Hythal's childhood. They were women raised for battle and the defense of their people, and it was something they both understood and valued. When the War of the Ancients came, though, things changed.

It was a time of great change for the world and for her people, and she saw many fall in the wake of the enemy. Death was something known to her-- many times she had brushed close to it in the heat of battle. Never before had death been so apparent to her than when her mother passed in the heat of the raging conflict, slain by a demon's blade. While she did grieve, there was a certain detachment which resonated in her; that this had been expected, or was simply a normal occurrence. She left the battlefield for a time once the war was over, seeking to dwell on these thoughts in the presence of her father's barrow den.

Hythal returned with renewed vigor after her reprieve, seeking to bring retribution for her slain mother through a legacy. She was fast to bring herself into the fold of the newly forming Watchers and their Sentinels. While she did serve alongside the other jailors of the Barrow Deeps of Mount Hyjal, drawn out for the War of the Shifting Sands once before being committed back to the Watcher's task. She stayed alongside this company for a long span of years, up until news of the Orcs and their affront on Ashenvale came to light. Unable to stand idle while the conflict brewed she took up arms against the invaders, leaving her post in the Barrow Deeps and rejoining the brunt of the Kal'dorei army.

What would come to be known as the Third War wrought havoc upon the Kal'dorei's lands. Hythal witnessed the rampage of the orcs and then the legion first hand, and in their struggle against them became an entrenched soldier of the Kal'dorei army. As the war drew on she even gained rank, commanding a force of Sentinels in the wake of the demonic armies. She became a tactician moreso than a fighter in some regards, masterfully orchestrating the movements of her soldiers poor engagements and often resorting to quick and powerful strikes of guerrilla warfare. She boasted a high rate of survival by the end of the war, and despite her hardened exterior held a great deal of pride and care for her unit of soldiers. She almost regarded herself as a motherly figure to them, and in coming battles after Hyjal would demand her soldiers by name if units were to be reassigned.

Among them was one in specific, named Therandes Forestcaller. A Kal'dorei of some age, he had changed from his life as a smith once the call for new recruits became necessary during the war; despite a contrasting viewpoints on matters of the new races mobilizing around their lands Forestcaller had something of an appeal to Hythal; perhaps because of his relatively tempered viewpoint on the world. He was a voice of reason and emotion to Hythal's cold anger at these strangers, and over time became her right hand in her branch of Sentinels and her mate. Her meeting with Therandes and their relationship during the war became something of an escape from the deepening troubles of their people.

With the fall of Hyjal came another great change in the lives of the Kal'dorei, though. There were new forces in the world, and amongst them they would be easily overwhelmed. Though Hythal was hesitant to support the joining of her people with the Human Alliance she tentatively took part in the pleasantries. She was off put by the strangers and their allies, but would pledge herself to them before she would see her people join with the Horde. Despite this she refused to leave Kalimdor even when their ships began to charter for these new lands beyond the sea, remaining in the land of her ancestors; Stonetalon in specific, where her father's barrow den had been. He had awoken since the Third War and never made contact with her; she assumed him to likely be dead. Nonetheless it was as close to her family's roots as she could manage, and in recent times had been the target of the expanding Orcish nation.

Alongside her came her ranks of Sentinels, and in the mountains of Stonetalon they resided in their reclusive ways once more. They occasionally warred with the Horde, but as time went on they found themselves in an uneasy truce with Sunrock Retreat, not far down the mountainside. It was during this time that Hythal's life expanded outside of war and pursuit of the wicked, as she found that adventurous men and woman from the Alliance often tracked the foes which arose before word even reached the peak they resided on. She was free to live without constant battle, and from here pursued her relationship with Therandes and her kinship with her Sentinels unabated, growing a deep connection to the land and those she protected there. Despite her mate's questioning she always refused the idea of starting a family, or leaving their posts; she had a duty to fulfill, and there would always be time for their pursuits of family and romance later.

Or at least, that seemed like it would be the case. A few bursts of aggression in the Stonetalon Mountains gave way to a slew of bloodshed between the Horde and the Alliance, both sides spurred on by hatred for one another and careless injustices committed on either side. As the battle grew more and more there came protests from each side; most affecting were the concerns voiced from Therandes himself, who viewed some of the Warden's retaliations to be much too vicious. As it turned out, he was correct. While at first the Stonetalon Sentinels ran rampant down from the peak, the Horde reacted in similar force, and soon a great surge of enemy troops met their comparatively out-manned unit. The Stonetalon Sentinels and the rest of the army accompanying them were sent up, up-- until finally they stood at the peak, the time of equal negotiation long past.

Despite this the Sentinels fought on, now all but abandoned as the rest of the military prepared the peak's defenses. Hythal found herself at an impasse, unable to find relief in either option presented to her unit now; to negotiate and bend fully to the will of the Horde, or to fight in futility. Her pride swelled, and her anger became her sole voice, though-- in the final battle she cast forth all her effort, and found only defeat as her reward. In the wake of the Horde's onslaught her Sentinels were reduced to only a handful of soldiers, and amongst the fallen lay Therandes as well. Wrought with grief at the fall of her soldiers, friends, and husband Hythal drew the conflict to a close, negotiating the surrender of Stonetalon Peak alongside other delegates of the region.

In the end, everything crumbled around the warden. She was forcibly removed by the terms of the victors from her home of Stonetalon, and though trailed by the hesitant remains of her unit she was summoned to Darnassus and stripped of her command for her actions in the Stonetalon conflict. Her Sentinels were disbanded and she herself given the ultimatum of rejoining as a soldier, or leaving to her own devices. In the end she left, unable to face the humiliation of her defeat amongst her people.

Hythal sunk into obscurity after, and has not formally served alongside the Darnassian army since then. She has as of late retreated from Night Elven lands, distraught by her losses and seeking to flee any connection that might tether her to them for the time being. She has taken to the role of an adventurer, seeking out the foes of the Alliance as she once did as a Warden, though now without merit nor assistance save the company of another mercenary now and then. Besides this she has found herself in deep reflection, attempting to seclude herself from the rest of civilization at times in search of answers as to her current predicament of life.

Skills and Abilities

Hythal has the training of a Warden, and thus has all the skills of one involving Blink and heightened speed and agility. She also has mastered a good deal of subtlety in her movements and intentions, and years of war have made her a difficult person to interpret at a glance.