Melura

Information

Player: Ronin

Character Full Name: Melura Nath'alanar

Character In-Game Name: Melura

Nickname(s): Mel

Association(s): Silvermoon, Blood Knights, Horde

Race: Sin'dorei

Class: Paladin

Age: 144

Sex: Female

Hair: Dark blue-black

Eyes: Fel-Green

Weight: 113 lbs

Height: 5'7"

Appearance

Being a Blood Knight that often takes far-ventured assignments, Mel enjoys light plate armor usually. She has two sets, one that bares a close resemblance to traditional Blood Knight wear, and another that's more traditional. Each allows much freedom of movement, however, while still providing some measure of traditional protection. She's not opposed to more casual garb, however, having an impressive outfit for formal wear. When alone or in friendly company, she might also be seen with an un-tucked shirt and pants, seeming no more ordinary than any other person.

Other: She has very little in the way of scars or blemishes. She has a strong form, a woman used to physical activity on a regular basis. Her muscles are clearly defined, if fitting for her fairly small frame, and she seems to have an easy grace about her movements.

Personality

Strong and proud, Mel is the type of person to face any challenge before her without batting an eye. She thinks very much of herself and her abilities, often proclaiming to be the best at this or that when in friendly company, though she usually has the wisdom to keep such remarks concentrated on subjects she truly is proficient in. She eagerly seeks challenges for herself, but is always somewhat reserved, as a person who appears highly outgoing, yet always hides their deeper facets from the world.

Mel believes strongly in the power of the Light, but always does what she can by her own power without invoking it, feeling that to use mystical forces of any kind for frivolous means, especially Holy powers, is an insult to such devices. She feels a very similar sense of loyalty to her people, believing them to be far stronger than they're given credit for by the other races. She's even been known to grow quite defensive and hostile when disdainful remarks are made about Blood Elves in her hearing, though her reaction can also perhaps be attributed to her natural fiery nature.

Mel has a fairly neutral perspective of the other races, save perhaps Forsaken and Kaldorei. The former she feels a strong sense of connection with, as both her people and theirs (who are also, in part, hers) have been forced to survive so much pain and struggle. The Night Elves, however, she holds a particular level of racism towards, feeling that 'their poor choices are largely to blame for the strife the world suffers today'. She's unlikely to ever really accept their kind, though it's not unfathomable to believe she'd work with an individual of the race, or give them the benefit of the doubt, if they proved themselves in her eyes.

Her prejudices also extend, if very subtly, to most of her fellow Blood Knights. She sees those that drained the Naaru for their powers as false and corrupt, working with them only because they aid her people. While she would rarely admit it, she places almost as little trust in her brethren as she does the Farstriders (who she dislikes for an entirely different reason), seeing both as mere tools, means to an end both.

History

Melura's early life was spent as a Priestess of the Light and historian. In those days, she believed unflinchingly that the Light could aid anyone and everyone far beyond any other means, while alternatively gaining a disdain for more natural practices, particularly frowning on the Farstriders. Both things arose from her studies of her people's history, where she learned of the Sundering and the ancestor's banishment from their homelands. While she knew nothing of Kaldorei in specific then, she did know that the sect which sent her people away believed strongly in nature magics, forever pitting her against anything related to such. In those early years, she thought of the Light as an opposing force, though such were private musings, and devoted herself to it.

Years later, when the Orcs invaded the world and eventually sided with the Forest Trolls, Mel sought any means through which she could fight. It was not long until word came of a new order, that of the Silver Hand, designed of Light wielding warriors who could fight the menace with unparalleled strength (or so it was said). Her path laid so perfectly before her, Mel gave her farewell and headed south, for Lordaeron and the front beyond.

She had little luck finding anyone who could teach her until the battles ebbed, somewhat, and was unable to really participate in the wars. She still sought to learn as things cooled down, and by the time the Internment Camps were built and the Orcs placed within, she was well on her way to becoming a Paladin. She would master the art, at least to her liking, in the following years before returning to her homeland, to use her new found powers to fight enemies at the home front.

Years later, the undead threat, in the form of the mysterious 'Scourge' attacked the northern human lands. While only loosely associated, Mel still felt some loyalty to her fellow Knights, and chose to return to the south to aid them. The enemy's might proved more than she had bargained for, though, and her aid was hardly effective. More often than not, she was simply made to flee battlefields with the other soldiers, less they all be devoured. Discouraged by her failures and worried for her homeland, Mel returned to Quel'thalas to do what she could for her people.

The Scourge did come for her home, and against its might, she was just as ineffective as before. Instead of fighting in futility to die in a valiant and pointless manner, she dedicated her efforts to helping those of her people flee that were able, and ran with them. The ensuing loss of the Sunwell was an incredible wound, even to a Light user such as herself. She might have learned the ways of the Paladin from the Humans, but in the time she had been among her people after, she had become quite a bit more reliant on the well's energies than she could have suspected.

Her powers weakened severely, she was not totally useless, and so managed to join the contingent under Kael'thas as the "Blood Elves", seeking to lend what aid they could to the humans serving Lord Garithos. The demeaning orders were as difficult for her to endure as for any of her kind, but she accepted them as stoically as her brethren, too. Yet even as the racist human stacked one difficulty upon them after another, she did not lose heart as thoroughly as some of her kind, perhaps because of her lingering, if frail, connection to the Light, or her time spent with them before. Such was what gave her the strength to turn away after her kind joined with the Naga initially to fight the Scourge, narrowly escaping imprisonment with the others following Kael'thas.

Mel made a long journey back to Quel'thalas where her people struggled to survive while suffering their withdrawals. She felt empty, like the Light was draining from her a little more each day, and additionally worse because of her beloved Prince's actions with the Naga, who she felt were somehow insidious. She returned to her ragged people and immediately fell into the war-like role she'd been stuck in since this whole mess began, going to battle against the roaming hordes of Undead that polluted their land.

Time became irrelevant to her. All life was for her involved slaying and sleeping, with perhaps a bite of food forced down every so often. The uplifting of moods that came with Kael'thas emissary was bittersweet for her as the withdrawals tore at her. She learned, with her people, how to drain other sources of their energy, but was appalled by what was suggested. She refused to drain demons, at least at first, as the people around her grew stronger and began rebuilding their home. Yet alternative sources grew scarce quickly, and her options ran out.

Everything she was repelled the mere idea, yet her pain and her depression weighed on her constantly. Finally, Mel reached her hand out and drew from a Demon, crying out in mixed pleasure and agony. The pain stopped, yet an emptiness replaced it as the Light left her for her deplorable act. Afterwards, Mel did next to nothing for months on end besides sleep and pretend to do the same when awake.

Years slipped by all but unnoticed. Once the elves rejoined the world, though against the Alliance now, Mel forced herself to begin moving on. She spent months retraining her body, strengthening herself physically. She was contacted, however, to join a special group that was forming. Called the Blood Knights, these elite soldiers would bring the Sin'dorei back into the world with unparalleled strength, or so they claimed, with powers like those of the Paladins from before. After learning how they came to use these abilities, though, Mel refused to join them, knowing that anything gained by draining the life energies of another creature, especially an enslaved one, was wrong, as proven by the Light leaving her when she drained the Demon.

Hope would blossom for Mel, however, in the form of the Sunwell being rejuvenated. She was surprised at the cost, and ashamed. Kael'thas, morphed and twisted by the evils he sought to poison his people with, he stood between his people and their ultimate salvation. Mel was both glad and saddened to aid in his slaying, but always sure it was a worthy exchange.

She took much time to burn off the demonic energies she had absorbed from her body before she tried to reconnect with the Sunwell, seeing what she believed to be the proper path once more. Its energies filling her, she managed to bring the Light back into herself, channeling it once more.

Her soul clean, as she saw it, she saw the deprecated state her people were now in and knew she had to help. She spent a few weeks learning all the new information the world had to offer that she could, surprised to hear of the Kaldorei, her ancestors. While much had happened since her youth, some fires die more slowly than others, and she still felt a certain measure of animosity toward them, seeking battle against them whenever she was able.

Such feelings were of a secondary importance, though, for the Sin'dorei's needs were greater. She went to the Blood Knights, now that they were without the Naaru, offering to join them as they had offered before. They had a few reservations, considering her earlier refusal, but accepted her in the end. She played the role well and to this day seems a shining example of a their order, though she has little personal respect for those who stole their powers from the being of Light. She serves regardless, fearing the day her people may prove too weak to weather any more catastrophes.