Vyerni

Information

Player: hiddengecko

Character Full Name: Vyerni

Character In-Game Name: Vyerni

Nickname(s): -

Association(s): The Alliance/Largely neutral

Race: Draenei

Class: Runemaster (Enhancement Shaman)

Age: 2,126

Sex: Female

Hair: Silver

Eyes: Silver

Weight: 269 lbs

Height: 6'10

Appearance

Like most Draenei, Vyerni is a tall glass of water indeed. Her muscles are toned with the lean strength of a traveler; while they are undoubtedly quite clearly defined, she is possessed more of a subtle stamina than of overt bulk. Her stride is long and betrays a degree of measured confidence. She carries herself with a certain easy grace better accustomed to a battlefield than a ballroom. Her eyes are large, almost childlike in all but expression: Behind the youthful curiosity and wonder there is a keen, attentive air of intelligence.

Tattoos blanket her skin, runes, glyphs and sigils a pale gray against her white complexion. They cover her head to toe, etched into even her horns; only her face and throat remain completely bare. Despite their practical purpose, thought has obviously been given to appearances: They are arranged to fit together beautifully, each complimenting its respective part of the body with an artistic flair. On each knuckle, on the back and palms of her hands, scrolling up her arms, about her shoulders, and down her torso, waist, and legs; most find themselves displayed with more than a hint of open pride.

Her clothing is typically simple, but in a fashion that betrays a pride in the appearance of her body rather than wealth or fashion; they are often cut in such a manner to display her favorite markings, or to draw attention to curves or musculature without sacrificing comfort or practicality. Jewelry, if she wears it, is simple and usually made from uncut stones or crystals, or various objects one might find in nature.

Personality

Alignment: Neutral Good

Vyerni is a quite intelligent woman, even if she does not always choose to act it. Despite sporadically assuming a front of shallow absurdity, she is observant, cunning, and often tremendously quick-witted. Those unfamiliar with the woman might very well think her cocky, and her air of breezy arrogance and barbed tongue might certainly make it appear so. However, she is wiser than she often chooses to act--and less so than she would like to be.

Possessed of a dry, biting humor, Vyerni prods incessantly at friends and enemies alike, and most in between if only for the sake of being thorough. Her sarcasm with the former goes only until signs of offense are shown, however; even only slightly plausible hurts are met with apologies until her fears of injuring a loved one are adequately allayed.

Her respect is an odd and occasionally fickle thing: Intellect she values above all else, although a capable sense of humor will undoubtedly do in a pinch--or, failing that, simply being amusing without being an embarrassment. While she is decidedly willing to reconsider her first impressions, those who fail to secure her esteem are often mocked with markedly less kindness, or met with indifference and apathy. Those who do attain her respect, however, earn her nearly unfaltering loyalty (if friends) and her equally-unfaltering fascination (if anything else.)

The races of Azeroth fascinate her, by and large. She has seen patterns in nature for millennia, and applies the same pattern to the peoples she encounters. And, as she emulates some of the workings of the natural order, she tries to emulate the better qualities of other races: Dwarves, with their love of life and steadfast strength, humans for their resourcefulness and pure cocky tenacity, Kaldorei for their wisdom and love of nature, Gnomes for their creativity and ingenuity, Sin’dorei for their will to survive, Tauren for their faithfulness and closeness to earth. Orcs and Trolls she sees few good features in, though it would shame her to admit her bias against them, and the Forsaken she pities greatly.

Vyerni has no moral qualms with violence, should it become necessary, but she is slow to anger and prefers to avoid killing when possible and not imprudent. Those she defeats she will often heal, so they wake refreshed and free of bruises even after being beaten senseless. She will often flee from conflict, if possible, even if she feels assured of her victory: better her pride is injured than another person. Exceptions are made, naturally, if she feels that action is needed to keep herself or someone else safe, but she is often clever enough to resolve a potentially violent situation with it becoming necessary.

History

Born on one of the innumerable transitory planets during the egress of Argus, Vyerni has had from the earliest sentient moments of her youth had a fascination with the nature of things. 'Why?' was a question that oft escaped her lips to either the amused pride or immense vexation of her elders; she often found herself passed between teachers with 'potential' cited as the reason, although 'utter befuddlement' would perhaps be more accurate.

It was, at least for the earliest centuries of her life, expected that Vyerni would pursue the path of an Arcanist: She certainly had both the intellect and self-assured willpower to be such. However, it was not to be. While an eager and undoubtedly capable student, Vyerni's interests were often far too wide and far too little focused to guide her down any serious scholarly path. She learned rapidly, and forgot everything that failed to hold her interest; she lacked both the humility and patience to pursue priesthood, and the resignation and zeal to become a Paladin. The Harbingers were far too somber and bent on honor, she complained, and their methods were impractically risky and required thick-skulled resolve rather than quick thought and skill.

With the religious and military paths unpalatable to her, Vyerni turned to that of the hunter-- either by the process of elimination, or because she perceived an entirely valid excuse to be outdoors and be appreciated rather than scolded. She was a healthy young woman, particularly for one of the many younglings born and raised on Oshu'gun, and took to her chosen line of pursuit admirably. She was reasonably proficient with all manner of ranged weaponry, quite competent at tracking and quite utterly incredible at scouting. She ran fast, thought fast, and hid fast; her restless intellect and gave her a natural talent for mapping new areas with unflinching accuracy. Long days and hours outdoors either tempered her impatience or taught her to cope with it--she became surprisingly well-read in her admittedly ample free time.

Decades slipped by, and decades into centuries. Every time the Exiles left a planet behind them, Vyerni felt a sense of deep loss at all she would never again see, and everything left unexplored. The excitement of being bound for yet another unexplored sphere new dulled the edge of the pain somewhat, but was a far cry from alleviating it fully. Despite her frustration at never having enough time with each individual ecology, Vyerni learned much in the passing time. She tracked, hunted, killed, and ate every variety of beast conceivable, catalogued flora and fauna alike as best she could with the time she had, explored every environment comprehensible.

The huntress began to notice patterns in each environment she encountered, an odd form of repetition linked with each climate and habitation. While she dismissed this at the time as simple correlation, the wonder remained with her.

However, it did not last forever. Gradually, Oshu'gun's power faded with that of the naaru within it, and after countless centuries of flight from the omnicidal wrath of the Burning Legion the dimensional vessel came to its final resting place. A temperate planet, inhabited by occupants both peaceful and primitive, and adversaries violent and savage, the Exiles named it Draenor . Vyerni, while initially terrified of the undeniable certainty of the coming demonic onslaught, involved herself with colonization of their new home. Years went by, and the Draenei shifted from their derelict ship to the surrounding fields of Nagrand. The Orcs, much to Vyerni's bemused fascination, began to revere the forsaken ship in their shamanistic religion. She studied their tribes from afar, going so far as to learn the language of a people she viewed as little more than children.

Draenor was peaceful for a time, and the Exiles' apprehension waned into complacent contentment. Vyerni was no exception; the huntress dearly enjoyed her prolonged opportunity to study and learn whatever she could about her surroundings. She drew, she wrote, she diagramed and postulated, she daydreamed and she read. Her wanderlust finally sated, Vyerni was content at last, despite the ever-present worry at the corner of her mind. Inwardly, she was certain the Draenei were living on borrowed time.

Decades passed, and the inevitable occurred. The Orcs' fall was gradual, progressing unnoticed at first until it was far too late for prevention. They swept through the outlying settlements of Vyerni's people, slaughtering with indiscriminate, savage brutality. The Draenei fled for their fortress city, but it was all but a futile gesture; they were severely outnumbered. A great sacrifice was made and countless lives lost, and Vyerni fled like so many others to the caves beneath Zangarmarsh. She had always been good at staying hidden and staying ahead, and it saved her life: Those of her friends and loved ones that had not stayed in Shattrath died in her wake, her guilty flight a sad necessity in her eyes. She hid in the marshes with the tattered remnants of her race, plagued by fear, loneliness, and a shaming feeling of utter impotency in the face of the Legion's magic as she watched her beloved refuge torn apart beneath her.

Vyerni departed the ruined Draenor in sadness and despair, mourning the loss of her friends, loved ones, and home. Their arrival upon Azeroth was unceremonious and violent, the Exodar embedding itself into the surface of the planet thanks to the sabotage of the Sin'dorei in the employ of Kael'thas. Badly injured, Vyerni lapsed in and out of both consciousness and coherence for weeks after their landing. She recovered to find herself a resident of a diverse and flourishing planet--a planet which stood as a bulwark against the might of the Legion, uncompromisingly resolute. Her interest piqued yet again, and her relational and familial attachments severed, the huntress took to traveling almost without delay. She immersed herself in the common language of their new neighbors, learning it with the same stunning alacrity that had confounded her teachers so long ago.

A sojourner in the human city of Stormwind, Vyerni regarded the humans as a youthful and amusing race, capable of astounding adaptability despite their truly insufferable ignorance. It was during this period that she encountered Seidr Stonecrusher. A wanderer himself, he was the quintessential son of earth in nearly every way imaginable. He loved his ale strong, his women curvy, and his shirt anywhere but on his person. Something of a scholar himself, the man was better-read and a great deal wiser than his behavior demonstrated, and every bit an affable fellow. What interested Vyerni, however, were his tattoos. They covered very nearly every inch of the man, complex symbols and scrollwork covering his skin from head to toe--each oddly familiar, in a way. Upon approaching the man, she learned he was a Scribe, a student of the natural spells inherent in the paths of the ley. He gave her a brief explanation of runic lore and its relation to nature. Taken by the elegant simplicity of the technique, Vyerni begged the man to take her with him and explain further. He was intrigued by the alien and willing to teach, and so accepted.

She was taught of the methods of the Shu'halo and their strong connection to the Earthmother, of the research of the dwarves and of the locations of ley patterns, the strange runic art of the northern giants and the relation of inscription to enchanting. She learned much of the geography and environment of Azeroth, traveling between the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, and later even venturing into the frozen wastes of Northrend. A small taste of the power of the arcane, yet freedom from its arrogant hubris and slow corruption; it had the wholesomeness of the elements, yet not forced her to play no party to the fickle infighting of the spirits. Patterns, symbols, ancient lore and artwork: her calling had been found. She wandered the ley paths of Azeroth, recording, memorizing, learning every pattern in the most precise detail as each was inscribed upon her body.

As her travels continued, she rode wars like a wave, skirting conflict and avoiding sides when possible. Yet death still followed her; The Dwarf was claimed in the frozen wastes of Northrend, his life ending upon the runeblade of one of the Lich King's innumerable fallen. Once again, Vyerni preserved herself, fleeing the Death Knight and his ghouls and forced to abandon the corpse of her teacher. Swearing to return, she approached the Tauren for guidance. While kept largely to neutral outposts, she made good progress, and soon completed the better part of her study. With her pilgrimages completed, she was inscribed in full at last; her initiation was complete.

She returned to Northrend as promised, hunting down the Death Knight responsible for the death and desecration of The Dwarf. She bode her time cautiously, then took advantage of his arrogant complacency, striking down both him and the reanimated corpse of her master when the opportunity presented itself. The Dwarf's remains she gave a pyre; she offered a prayer for the man whom she had counted a friend.

As abruptly as she had come, she vanished yet again, returning at last to the ruined Exodar to rest.

Of course, Vyerni always had been a restless one.