Vala

Player Name: Emmara

Character Full Name: Vala

Character In-Game Name: Vala

Association(s): Alliance

Race: Draenei

Class: Paladin

Age: 2200

Sex: female

Hair: Light blue with just a hint of pale purple highlights

Eyes: [luminescient] light blue

Weight: 270

Height: 6'9"

Usual Garments/Armor: Her garments vary as much as her mood. Though usually her casual garments tend toward flirtatous and playful.

Alignment: Lawful good

Appearance: Vala's skin is very fair and holds a pale blue hue. Her hair is full and flowing, and she keeps it pulled back away from her face. Her light blue colored eyes show an undeniable sense of confidence. It is not uncommon to see her with a slight smirk that pulls the left side of her lips upward. She has three earrings that run up the back of her right ear. Another two earrings adorn her left ear. If her laugh is heard it is light and pitched toward a feminine tone. Her front and back are filled with a full body red tattoo motif, and red tattoos encircle her upper arms. Some portion of the tattoos are easily seen unless she wears anything but full coverage from her neck to her wrists to her waist.

Personality: She is confident and knows her own mind. She revels in individuality and not joining the crowd, unless it suits her mood. She was born into a family that the father was third generation of paladins. Her heart is in the right place, she helps the poor without a second thought and her faith in the Narru is unshakable. She disdains blood elves and orcs for ruining a perfectly good easy life. (Her personality has turned much darker based on events RP'd and described in the last two paragraphs of her history.)

History: After arriving on Draenor her parents were quick to establish themselves in the newly built village. They rebuilt their former lifestyle that Vala was accustomed to on the other planets. Alisona, Vala's mother, was a successful jeweler. She had inherited her parents jewelry business when they decided they no longer wanted to run it. Her father, Stanika, was a paladin. He faithfully served within the Hand of Argus, but he held himself to an additional code of ethics in order to join the brotherhood his grandfather founded, Union of Naaru's Grace. She had an older brother who died during his years of squire hood, Vala was no more than a toddler. She has no sentimental memories of him, only vague images of his presence in her younger years.

She was close to both her parents. It was unfortunate that her mother fell ill a few short years after arriving on Draenor. Her last few days were spent working on a project that she would not allow anyone to see until she was done. It was Vala's 1900th birthday, when her mother called her into the master bedroom. After wishing her a happy birthday, Alisona gave Vala a small box with a blue ribbon on it. She eagerly opened it and found a pendant made of black diamond. A rare and valuable gem, but not impossible for a jeweler to obtain. The pendant had been cut into the shape of the Naaru. Demonstrating a flare of her own for jewelry making, she wound the blue ribbon through the links on the chain of the silver necklace. Her mother laughed and smiled at her daughter's addition. Two weeks after Vala's birthday her mother passed away quietly in her sleep in the master bedroom. Though the chains have worn out and been changed, the pendant is always with Vala.

Vala and her father mourned in their own ways. He buried himself in his worship of the Light and his duties in the Union. He would spend time traveling to recruit young men and women that felt the call of a paladin's lifestyle. The brotherhood would train them hard and long, so they would be instilled with not only the ideology and skills of all Paladin's of the Hand of Argus but also in the additional ethics of the brotherhood. Priests in the Union proposed their own additions that they thought would display their appreciation of the Naaru's grace. Squires that were not perceived to be as strong in conviction as the members of the Union were sent to other paladin's outside of the brotherhood to finish their training. The squires were still brothers in arms since the Union paladins were Hand of Argus members.

Vala regained her interest in competition and combat. She would spar with anyone. It was never unusual for her to spend time around the paladin's when they trained, even before her mother fell ill. She would day dream about being in the armor, like Tala, one of the female paladins in the Union. On rainy days or slow days when nothing else was going on, she would spend time shopping for clothes and making jewelry. She had begun to mature as a female. Her interest to find a mate had been stunted by her grief for her mother's death. Her male childhood playmates' did not suffer from the same mental stigma as they matured. After several years of feeling lonely without her mother, the affection of the boys seemed to help fill that hole in her heart. She would laugh and tease them as she always had, but now she noticed that it seemed to earn her even more adulation from them. She felt no rush to limit herself to one male, when she could have the attention of many. If society was going to insist on her helping to proliferate their race, then she was going to look for a strong male paladin that would be able to protect her future children.

Unfortunately, Stanika was not responding so well to the loss of his wife. He was feeling his own mortality. His thoughts turned to family pride, it was a tradition in the Union that his family always guided and enforced the moral code that had earned the Union the respect of many paladins. His father, Marsent, had taken over leadership before the arrival on Draenor, and had been preparing Stanika to carry on the tradition. Who would Stanika train? His son was gone. One day he was walking home and saw Vala sparring in a field with a group of boys. He smiled to himself as she bested two of them before before falling to the grass with the third boy's wooden sword tucked under her arm as if she had been run through. A thought and a hope dawned on him. Vala was always hanging around the paladins. Would she be interested in being one?

That night at dinner he asked her probative questions to see if she was interested in becoming a paladin. As much as he wanted to make sure to continue his family's tradition, he also did not want to force Vala into a role she did not want. He never broached the subject that one day she might lead the Union. That night Vala went to bed with a smile. Two things had happened that day. She had gotten her first kiss from a boy and her dream of being a paladin was going to come true. That night she dreamed of riding into battle with shiny armor, a glowing hammer, and her husband by her side.

While her carefree attitude was a delight to her male friends, it was a challenge for her mentor in the guild. She was a quick study with her moves for battle but seemed reluctant to learn the history and traditions of being a Paladin. He was constantly baffled at why she wouldn't want to know more about the history, traditions and the ideology of all paladins, especially her own great-grandfather's belief that lead to the creation of the Union. She would nod and smile absently as her eyes would wander away to day dreams. It didn't matter if she couldn't remember all the dates and history of the Union and the names of the champions that it had helped produce. It wasn't like her grandfather and father would fail her from squire hood. How embarrassing would that be to have your own daughter fail out of the squire program and not be eligible to join the Union?

There were two things that all the paladins agreed on in hush tones. Vala's dedication and faith toward the Naaru was genuine and she was a brat. Her father would talk to her when he would overhear the veteran Paladins' remarks. Her grandfather and father would pray it was only a phase. Surely it was something most girls her age go through. They mistakenly believed she would settle down with age and the addition of paladin duties when she was knighted.

Vala continued to push the boundaries of the ethics and rules of the Union. She had received multiple piercings in each ear, an acceptable practice to any Draenei except those in the brotherhood. When her grandfather reprimanded her, she cried that it was so she could wear earrings her mother had made long ago. Her grandfather consulted with the priests. They grudgingly allowed her to be an exception to the no piercing rule under one condition. She would serve an extra day per week at the infirmary helping care for injured and sick Draenei. Without a hesitation she gladly accepted. She half-smiled to herself. It wasn't any burden to do what she loved.

Decades later Vala met a warrior that came through town. As she rode at the lead of the merchant caravan, Ondera was tall and had a commanding presence. Her arms were bared and had the most intricate tattoo work. Vala had always loved the look since she saw it on the natives of the prior planet. With no fear or trepidation she approached the warrior and began to question her about the tattoos. The female warrior was amused and took a liking to Vala's uninhibited behavior. She took Vala to the tattoo artist that traveled with the caravan. He was shunned by many Draenei for having learned the technique on one of the other planets. Many saw it as a primitive practice, but some Draenei shared his view that it was another form of art to be appreciated.

Tattoos were frowned upon by the paladins in the Union; they felt it was a sign of high reverence to an idea or object to permanently inscribe it on your body. It was their view that nothing should be held in higher reverence than the Naaru. Once the tattoos had healed and she saw how impressive they truly looked on her, she couldn't bear to hide them. After all, what was so wrong about tattoos? It didn't make her any less devoted to the Naaru or serving her people. Having reasoned out that there was nothing wrong with a tattoo she did not hide it at the Union's next group devotional. Her grandfather's eyes narrowed at the sight of the tattoos. He ordered her to two days of constant prayer without food or water. Vala took her penance without complaint; she still adored the tattoo art.

Her father woke her in the middle of the night one hot summer night. His tone was urgent as he told her to dress and meet him by the front door. The streets were bustling with paladins heading to the town meeting hall. He confided in her that rumors were confirmed that the orcs had attacked Draenei settlements nearest to them and were moving quickly en mass. Velen knew of the attacks and had sent out messengers to as many villages as possible. All members of the Hand of Argus and any other Draenei capable of wielding a weapon were to help slow the Orc assault as much as possible in order to give survivors time to reach Shattrath. She would be sworn in with the current squires that were ready to receive their Paladin hood. Vala's training was incomplete, but her father out of love and fear had gotten her grandfather to approve her early promotion to Paladin status. All squires trained by the Union received the blessing from priestly members. It was a matter of tradition and to build morale. He believed her chances of survival would increase if she was given the ceremonial blessing.

Things were chaotic, and it was hard to get any organization during the eight years of genocide. The orcs' fury was overwhelming. Vala learned that her survival was more luck than skill, though her skills grew quickly. It was a rainy day when a courier found a group of survivors being aided by members of the Union. The messenger was spreading the word that Velen was leading a band of survivors to the Zangarmarsh. They were too late to join the forces that were sent to defend Shattrath.

Twenty years passed, Vala grew bitter at the loss of her easy life. Her carefree smile turned into more of a smirk. Eventually, Velen made a public announcement of what his scryers had seen outside the marsh. They would raid the Exodar and use it to transport to a new home. The battle was a blur for Vala. It was her first encounter with blood elves. Her father and grandfather tried to keep her flanked so they could protect her as best they could. As the Draenei secured possession of the Exodar, the relief was short lived. More of the Union were lost to fatal injuries incurred by the crash landing, including Vala's father.

Vala did not deal with the loss of her father as well as she had adjusted to her mother's death. The first year in the new world, she raged against her loss of her former life and her father. Her hammer fell heavily onto anything that threatened the safety of the survivors. She returned to old habits and frivolities to make herself happy. She never failed to tithe but at the same time she always seemed to have the fanciest armor and best looking weapon. The paladins in the brotherhood had grown weary of her behavior. Her grandfather was busy recruiting more paladins and priests to his brotherhood. His vision was for the Union of the Naaru's Grace to be ambassadors of the Draenei in the new world. He called her to him one day. He needed her to explore as much of this new world as she could and send reports back to him about the location of orcs, blood elves, and anything else she found of importance. There was a part of him that was saddened to send his granddaughter away on a bogus mission, but she was just not appropriate to send on diplomatic missions. She was a poor representative of what he felt a true Draenei paladin should be. Part of him regretted letting his son talk him into promoting her prematurely.

While Vala was away on her 'mission' of exploration, Marsent had taken to sleeping walking and losing his train of thought while awake. The senior members were proud of Marsent's achievements, and plans were being made for who would lead when he is no longer able to lead. One thing was agreed among them...the brat paladin has to go....

One night, Marsent moved from his bed in an episode of sleep walking. He tumbled down the stairs and fell into a coma. The seniors immediately sent a squire to find Vala at her last known location, but they arrived back home two weeks too late. Her grandfather had passed away. Vala remained with the gathering of members after the funeral. After the veterans met with her and dismissed her from the Union, she wandered for days... lost in a haze. She was confused and alone....intermittent waves of bitterness flowed through her mind. This was all because of the orcs and the blood elves. Thoughts of vengeance twisted her mind. Anger twisted her perception of her faith. Her faith and her moral fiber continue to weaken.