Valira

Information

Character Full Name: Valira Echart Ashbridge

Character In-Game Name: Valira

Nickname(s): Ms. Ashbridge

Association(s): Church of the Holy Light, Alliance, House Ashbridge

Race: Human

Class: Priest

Age: 34

Sex: Female

Hair: Black, short hair tied into a bun

Eyes: Blue

Weight: 146 lb

Height: 5'6" ft.

Appearance

Usual Garments/Armor: Valira uses her position as a Confessor as a weapon, and as such frequently wears the overly-adorned gold and black uniform when she has to engage in business or formal social occasions. When she needs a more comfortable and approachable look, she wears a simple black suit, minimally adorned.

Personality

Valira is a woman defined by her ambition, to the point that it has become the drive behind all of her actions. Her focus is locked squarely upon herself, with all her energies and work driven towards the elevation of her own position. She is a user, associating only with those who she believes can benefit her work. This personality quirk is born from the belief that she is naturally superior and deserves all of the things that she attains, scrupulously or not.

Despite this selfish personality, she remains outwardly bright and compassionate. This appearance of sympathy is subconsciously honest; Valira was raised to be a good person and truly believes that she is good, even as she steals, cheats and manipulates people. She is empathetic, listening to people's problems and offering assistance when she is able.

Alignment: Lawful Evil

History

Valira was born to the ex-paladin Lucius and priestess Lilith von Rosenstiel, two Light-fearing worshipers of a noted Stromgarde family. By the time the girl was born, a few years before the First War, the house's stature had since crumbled, and Valira was raised in a modest home pressed against the city's interior wall.

The family's fortune continued to sour, and by the time of the Second War the family had already begun discussing ways of foisting the eight year old Valira off into the hands of another. They could not afford to keep her, and the two had already begun making plans to join the war to help regain the honor of their crumbling family's name. Lilith and Lucius eventually settled on the priesthood, and Valira was sent at the age of nine to live in an Abbey located near what would eventually become Gallen's Fall.

Valira's upbringing in the Abbey allowed her to remain uninvoled with the fighting of the Second War. She was raised to follow a firm religious code, ingrained at an early age to follow the tenants of the Light and the proper actions that it represented. The abbey's isolation from the rest of the world was so complete that her only dalliance came in the form of an old artist who took up residency in the abbey's attic. Their friendship culminated in the young Valira, now thirteen, sitting as a model for the man's paintings.

It was one of these paintings that eventually fell into the hands of the Ashbridge family. The noble family was an eccentric group. The many branches of the nobility had long since fused to a single stem, with the only two remaining: the death-obsessed patriarch Alexander and the barren Comtesse Ashbridge. It was the latter who stumbled upon the portrait of the girl and became infatuated with her. Childless, Lady Ashbridge became obsessed with the girl and the idea of making her part of the family. Hunting her down, the woman convinced the Abbey to pass Valira into their care. Her parents were paid handsomely and, for the time, they were satisfied with the arrangement.

For the girl's remaining teen years she was sequestered away in the Ashbridge estate. The only blip came when they fled to a summer home in Stormwind proper to escape the Third War. It was in the city that Valira's education began. As the official end of the Ashbridge line, Valira's adopted father became morbid with the idea of his own mortality. His obsession with death tainted the family, and Valira's early adulthood was spent reading the obscure tomes and dark tracts of Shadow magic. A religious family, the obsession never grew to the logical next step of Necromancy. Yet the readings and her father's obsession with ancient Shadow relics left an imprint on the young priestess and she began to study Shadow-based faith magic in her own time.

At twenty eight Valira struck out on her own to practice her chosen profession. When the Argent Dawn rose to prominence the priestess returned to her trade, proving herself an adequate healer when she joined the Argents. By the time Valira had attained her Confessor cap she was stationed in Northrend, where she served in the tournament grounds. It was during her service that her adopted parents eventually passed away, leaving all of the lands and title under Valira's name.

When the Lich King fell she returned to Stormwind. Her years of work and patience culminated in her ultimate joy; she was a noble-woman, with property and privelege. Yet apathy began to set in, and as Valira settled in to enjoy her life's goal she grew increasingly despondent. By the time the Cataclysm ended she had fallen into obsessive drinking. Her bender culminated in a bout of self-destruction. Money was spent on gambling and risky ventures. Her home was sold to pay off debts. The entire brief episode ended with Valira penniless, stranded in Goldshire with only the family's name to her.

This fall proved to be just what Valira needed to draw her out of her slump. Left with nothing but an opportunity, Valira has decided to use this as a chance to return to her passion of social climbing and return the House to its former glory.

Skills and Abilities

Valira was trained as a Confessor and still practices the spells of her profession. She is particularly proficient in Shadow magic, though as a balanced priest she is also capable of healing and other Light spells.

Valira has taken up Engineering as a hobby, with a focus on gadgetry over weaponry. She has a particular fondness for working on clocks and other automated tinkerings.