Marianna

Information

Player: Rosencrat

Character Full Name: Marianna Echart Bisen

Character In-Game Name: Marianna

Nickname(s): Lady, Margery

Association(s): The Burning Legion

Race: Human

Class: Fel-Sworn (Warlock)

Age: 57

Sex: Female

Hair: Slightly graying, she keeps her hair long and allows it to curl naturally.

Eyes: Dark Brown

Weight: 143 lb

Height: 5’10”

Appearance

Preferring to dispose of her feminine past, Marianna adopted a utilitarian approach to dressing herself. She wears loose clothes, especially comfortable shirts and pants.

In combat situations or when she needs to strike an impression on the lesser minded, Marianna prefers a loose, personally created set of robes. The robes are made of gold, red and green gems. They are designed to be exceedingly gaudy and impressive.

Out of combat and beyond situations where she must maintain her disguise, Marianna wears simple tunics and pants, elegant but not overly elaborate. She loathes skirts and other such ‘femenine’ things.

Personality

Age can dull even the hardest of stone. In her youth Marianna was a cold, callous and unforgiving woman, absorbed in proving her superiority by vulgar and violent demonstrations of power. Now cresting sixty, she has abandoned the idea of needing to prove herself to anyone. She is self-confident and sure of herself, secure in her belief that she is superior to everything and everyone.

The elderly woman still exhibits some of the more reprehensible aspects of her youth, however. She is an a-typical narcissist who seeks to empower herself and will violently protect her image if challenged. She continuously hunts for more power to better herself and increase her influence. She relishes pain and misery and has little compassion for those who are ‘below her,’ loosely defined title that encompasses anyone that she deems her inferior.

History

Marianna was conceived, to both her father and mother's chagrin, on a wintery day two decades before the opening of the Dark Portal. Her mother was a farmer's daughter, a youth of only nineteen who worked in Alterac as a bread seller and who moonlighted as a barnyard whore. Her father was Joseph Bisen, the patriarch of the Bisen Family and, despite his numerous accomplishments as an Alterac Noble, was forgetful of prophylactics when tipsy.

Marianna's birth was hidden from Joseph, who would surely have put the bastard child to death through some esoteric way. For three years the child was raised in secret, the mother claiming it was a ‘gift’ from a heretofore unmentioned sweetheart who was currently off on a sailing expedition.

On the girl's third birthday another Alterac family, the Hollyrocks, offered to purchase the child from the maiden for a handful of gold. Her mother worked for them as a scullery maid and, when the child's presence was known, they made their interests visible. The woman, finding her retirement plan to be too much of a hassle to maintain, gladly accepted the offer.

In that same week the Hollyrocks swept the child away to be raised in their manor, Kelyrock. The Hollyrocks were a new family, their patriarch having attained their modest wealth and name after a distinguished military record. The family rented the hall from another noble family, taking it on as their stately home as they strove to amass a name for themselves. While the family had two sons to carry on their name, they were bereft of a daughter to use for political marriages. The child, whom they later named Margery Hollyrock, was the solution to that problem.

From three to fifteen Margery's childhood was filled with the same dull brand of excitement and culture that came with her new, modest status. The girl was given over to a series of tutors and educators, who vested in her all the modesty and delicate arts a nobleman's daughter was expected to attain. While she took to her studies with a slight interest her real attention was given to her brother's studies. While her tutors tried to invest in her a love of needlework and cooking, her mind was in the library studying tomes on arcane and the occult.

In her early twenties, the Alliance invaded the city. After hearing of the betrayal of the Alterac leadership, the armies of the Alliance of Lordaeron marched on the capital city and raised it. The Hollyrocks, a military family with some distinction in the Alliance, were relatively unmolested in their flight from the city. They found asylum at the manor of the Shepfield family, a noble family who lived in a private vale in the Arathi Highlands.

Within the relative safety of the Shepfield Estate, the Hollyrocks settled in and began to lead a somewhat normal life. Three years passed before the family, having overstayed their welcome, ventured out to settle in greener pastures.

Margery Hollyrock, now Margery Shepfield, remained behind.

Attempting to solidify their position and establish a permanent residency, the Hollyrocks attempted to buy into the Shepfield family. The Shepfields, descendants of noted land owners, had but a single unmarried son seven years Margery's senior, Richard. The man, a dark, brooding mage, had taken a liking to the strong-willed and masculine girl and, after a brief courtship, the two had been wed. The marriage had secured another few months of relative safety for the Hollrocks, a tenuous peace that fell apart when the Hollyrock's patriarch was accused of propositioning Lord Shepfield's wife in the tool shed. The family was sent away summarily. Margery did not see them off.

Margery enjoyed her husband, Richard, and the life he had laid out for her in the manor. Shortly after their marriage the Lady Shepfield, Richard's mother, passed away. The father, now a widower at 60, moved away to Dalaran to enjoy his retirement. The manor and its wealth were left to the new couple, who spent it on the modest pleasures and entertainment that their new station demanded.

The manor and its inhabitants remained safe for a pleasant enough period of time. Marianna gave birth to two children within the first five years. The highland that they lived in was a fragile place and, very quickly, began to fall into the hands of chaotic elements. To ensure their continued safety and security, the Shepfields began to pay modest royalties and protection money to the local Syndicate. In exchange for such protection they became unwitting supporters of the evil that was beginning to spread through the land.

As the years drew on Richard began to spend more and more time associating with the less savory elements of Arathi. A troubled man in his own rights and jealous of his older brother's successes, he was slowly seduced by the promises of power and influence that their warlocks fed him. The realm of Arcane that he had spent so long cultivating began to lose its appeal for him and, bit by bit, he began to delve into Fel.

Bit by bit Margery's motherly affection began to wear thin. While she had successfully guided the infants from infancy to their teenage years she felt distant from what she had been when she first arrived at the manor. Every day her desire for arcane and power twisted in her, the memories of her childhood’s wishes starting to re-form.

When Richard's activities with Fel were discovered by his wife she silently settled in and began to assist him. Sickened with herself for allowing herself to be seduced by childrearing and marriage, the easy power and influence that Fel offered fed the dark, vile part of the woman's spirit and she fell back into arcane study. The manor, once vibrant, began to descend into darkness, every hall and chamber suffused with the couple's corruption.

For five years this continued unabated, the couple's involvement with the Syndicate and its shadowy Argus Wake warlocks growing closer and closer. The two descended into the esoteric arts and they became warlocks, shedding their title as mages for favor of Fel-fire and demons. Softened by birth and opulence, the woman’s weight began to melt away as she forgave food and sleep for study.

By the time a Stormwind courier arrived at the manor's doorstop the two had begun to allow warlocks to live and study in their home. The man delivered the letter and fled in horror.

Margery’s true father, Joseph Bisen, had followed her childhood with some interest. She was, by all right, his eldest daughter and heir apparent in the event of his death. His interest waned when a son and two more daughters were given to him, but a file on her whereabouts and true heritage remained. The letter contained information on her heritage and the paperwork needed to claim her modest inheritance.

This created problems in the already troubled family. Incursions by the Horde and Alliance in Arathi had put a heavy dent in the activities of Argus Wake and the Syndicate. Richard, heavily entrenched and seduced by the prospects of what they could offer, wanted to give all of his wife's money over to the groups in the hope of winning more power and influence for himself. Margery, fascinated by the idea of having property and wealth of her own, was horrified at the prospect of abandoning this new-found power and chance for self-determination.

To correct this problem, Marianna sought outside help. Relying on guidance from the warlocks that the family had sheltered in their home, the budding arcanist performed a ritual to summon a demon. In exchange for removing her husband and giving her the guidance to become more powerful, the mother of two swore loyalty to the demon and allegiance to the Burning Legion.

For over two decades she served beneath the tothrozim, perfecting her powers and command over Fel. During the Siege on Icecrown and those running up to the Cataclysm, Marianna also worked to solidify her new house and title. A series of egotistical moves, however, destroyed the woman’s illusion of power and drove her into hiding.

During the years running up to the present day, Marianna fled to the Outlands. There she worked to help train other Warlocks, passing on her demonic-taught skills into others in exchange for their service to the Legion. With the world of Azeroth calming, however, she has begun to return towards her homeland in the hopes of seducing others into a life of warlockry and service to the Legion.

Skills and Abilities

As a Fel-sworn, Marianna was trained by a demon. On top of her study of esoteric fel use, her consumption of fel blood has given her an increased reserved of energy to draw upon when casting spells.

Marianna’s greatest skills and passions rest in Affliction. She prefers crafting magical diseases, curses and other things to weaken and destroy targets. She has, on numerous occasions, used her abilities to create cursed objects and magical plagues. She prefers to use Affliction in combat over Destruction.

As a side-effect of her training as a Fel Sworn she has a powerful command over Demonology. Beyond having the ability to infuse herself with Fel Energy to become a demon for a short time, Marianna is also able to summon and bind high level demons to her person.

Outside of her combat abilities, Marianna is also an accomplished enchanter and prefers to carve runs and symbols of fel power into items to grant them magical powers.