Post by Vinar on Nov 29, 2010 2:24:39 GMT -5
Not long over some five and a half dozen years ago, a baby boy was born to the family of Azuredawn, parents Rolan and Alleya, in southern Quel'thalas, the land of eternal spring. The pair named this child, their first and only child, Vinar, and the boy was born little different than any other High Elven baby - well formed, brilliant blue eyes, and a tuft of black hair atop his head. His early childhood was spent in peace in Suncrown Village, primarily under the care and guidance of his mother, as his father served as one of the kingdom's Farstriders and guarded the borderlands as needed.
When Vinar came of age to begin formal training, his family moved their residence to be inside the main city of Silvermoon, where life continued on, with his days then being spent under the tutelage of rangers, for eventual induction into either the Farstriders or the kingdom's standard military. As the years progressed, and as his abilities showed his natural inclination toward swiftness, precision, and tactical forethought, the former seemed more likely than the later.
Little of note happened in the way of a personal life for him at this point and for some time afterward. Friends were found in the form of fellow students and of neighbors. No particular instructor formed anything in his eyes even coming close to that of what most would call a mentor, which was just as well - with the burning of the border lands by the orcs and their Amani troll allies in what would be called the Second War, the Quel'dorei threw the whole of their military might into retaliating against the Horde. Youths and other trainees such as Vinar were not sent to the front, of course, but the veterans who had been in charge of their training were, for the duration of the war and years after, replaced with novices (by High Elven standards) not far beyond the point of their new charges.
Still, life continued on. Vinar became adept at marksmanship and usage of daggers, for close-quarters combat, and at learning to connect with the land in such a way that he would be able to have an easy advantage over his opponents, should any future intruders attempt to strike against Quel'thalas. As a hobby designed to further his understanding of the nature that the rangers, and Farstriders in particular, held so close, the Quel'dorei youth began to dabble in the arts of herb handling and potion making. So far as he figured, being able to use the land for healing and medication in times of need, in addition to his training in depending on it for scouting, tracking, and camouflage, made perfect sense.
His training continued on, as did his life, smoothly. Although he wouldn't be making it into the Farstriders as soon as he came of age, he clearly had the potential and would make it into that upper echelon of the rangers in time.
That is, if there had been time. The Scourge outbreak occurred and was summarily considered a problem belonging to the humans until the entirety of the Scourge force, headed by the Death Knight Arthas, broke through the magical Elfgates guarding their lands and began to spread its blight over the land of Quel'thalas.
By the time the Scourge arrived at the city of Silvermoon, it was too late; still, the Quel'dorei fought back, as futile as it was. Vinar, too, struck out to defend the capital, but his resistance was short lived. A blast of necromantic energy aimed at the group he was fighting beside sent him flying into the rubble of a building, which was subsequently crushed even further, burying him in a mess of stones, furniture, and elaborate tapestry. The sounds of battle raged in his ears as he slowly drifted into the pain-numbing twilight of unconsciousness, and darkness smothered itself around him.
Some number of days later, Vinar was dug out by survivors and nourished to a conscious state. Life, as it was, had come to a stop. The capital was in ruins, the lands of the kingdom were tainted with the filth of the undead, the King and other leaders were slain, and his parents were no where to be found. Further, the Sunwell, the magical fount that was central to all High Elves' lives, even the rangers who drew little from it, was corrupted.
Time and events in the following months went both excruciatingly slow and evolved rapidly. Prince Kael'thas returned. The Sunwell was destroyed to contain the corruption. The Quel'dorei as a whole, including Vinar, suffered withdrawal as a result; to Vinar, it was as if the very air itself was altered in some way. Kael'thas declared his people to be the Sin'dorei and took the healthiest soldiers, rangers, and magisters with him to seek vengeance against the Scourge, and history continued as has been written in the history books.
Vinar took part in the usage of Fel magic as a fix to the addiction, but he drew on it no more than he had from the purer energies of the Sunwell. Still, the hue of his eyes changed from a brilliant blue to an emerald shade of green. As little development came from the front other than that the glorious Prince Sunstrider would restore their people, Vinar found himself drawing further and further away from any association to the government, including from the Farstriders.
While he still considered them to be the section of the government that best embodied the ideals of his people, he simply cared less about it. Why bother, really? Those who he had been close to were dead. The Scourge was still a presence in their lands and beyond. Their prince had surely abandoned them to pursue his own "promised land." What was the point in subscribing to the ideals of a group such as the Farstriders? To serve as an anchor in these trying and unsure times? Pointless.
He drew further into himself and started to care solely for himself, deciding that he could depend on no one else and that everyone else would do better to depend on themselves. It was a selfish rationale - one that defeated the sense of community he had been raised with and one that he embraced wholeheartedly for the time being. So far as he was concerned, a communal mind could be fostered again when he found a community worth the effort.
Marksmanship, for Vinar, was relegated to a practice hobby and he focused his training on stealth and close combat. Potion making gave way to alchemy studies and herb handling shifted to a specialization in poisons. Within half a year he was a regular practitioner of back-alley dealings and hush moneyed side-jobs. When he found himself bored with the city, he moved elsewhere and started a life of what would amount to being a mercenary for hire, taking jobs ranging from escorting a client, to being hired to kill said client, to being rehired to kill the contractor for the would-be murder of that same client, among other more mundane work such as artifact recovery.
His work and wanderings have led him all over, and have made him some connections worth keeping and others worth eventually killing, and he has yet to see a reason to stop this line of work.
Thus, for Vinar, life continues on.
When Vinar came of age to begin formal training, his family moved their residence to be inside the main city of Silvermoon, where life continued on, with his days then being spent under the tutelage of rangers, for eventual induction into either the Farstriders or the kingdom's standard military. As the years progressed, and as his abilities showed his natural inclination toward swiftness, precision, and tactical forethought, the former seemed more likely than the later.
Little of note happened in the way of a personal life for him at this point and for some time afterward. Friends were found in the form of fellow students and of neighbors. No particular instructor formed anything in his eyes even coming close to that of what most would call a mentor, which was just as well - with the burning of the border lands by the orcs and their Amani troll allies in what would be called the Second War, the Quel'dorei threw the whole of their military might into retaliating against the Horde. Youths and other trainees such as Vinar were not sent to the front, of course, but the veterans who had been in charge of their training were, for the duration of the war and years after, replaced with novices (by High Elven standards) not far beyond the point of their new charges.
Still, life continued on. Vinar became adept at marksmanship and usage of daggers, for close-quarters combat, and at learning to connect with the land in such a way that he would be able to have an easy advantage over his opponents, should any future intruders attempt to strike against Quel'thalas. As a hobby designed to further his understanding of the nature that the rangers, and Farstriders in particular, held so close, the Quel'dorei youth began to dabble in the arts of herb handling and potion making. So far as he figured, being able to use the land for healing and medication in times of need, in addition to his training in depending on it for scouting, tracking, and camouflage, made perfect sense.
His training continued on, as did his life, smoothly. Although he wouldn't be making it into the Farstriders as soon as he came of age, he clearly had the potential and would make it into that upper echelon of the rangers in time.
That is, if there had been time. The Scourge outbreak occurred and was summarily considered a problem belonging to the humans until the entirety of the Scourge force, headed by the Death Knight Arthas, broke through the magical Elfgates guarding their lands and began to spread its blight over the land of Quel'thalas.
By the time the Scourge arrived at the city of Silvermoon, it was too late; still, the Quel'dorei fought back, as futile as it was. Vinar, too, struck out to defend the capital, but his resistance was short lived. A blast of necromantic energy aimed at the group he was fighting beside sent him flying into the rubble of a building, which was subsequently crushed even further, burying him in a mess of stones, furniture, and elaborate tapestry. The sounds of battle raged in his ears as he slowly drifted into the pain-numbing twilight of unconsciousness, and darkness smothered itself around him.
Some number of days later, Vinar was dug out by survivors and nourished to a conscious state. Life, as it was, had come to a stop. The capital was in ruins, the lands of the kingdom were tainted with the filth of the undead, the King and other leaders were slain, and his parents were no where to be found. Further, the Sunwell, the magical fount that was central to all High Elves' lives, even the rangers who drew little from it, was corrupted.
Time and events in the following months went both excruciatingly slow and evolved rapidly. Prince Kael'thas returned. The Sunwell was destroyed to contain the corruption. The Quel'dorei as a whole, including Vinar, suffered withdrawal as a result; to Vinar, it was as if the very air itself was altered in some way. Kael'thas declared his people to be the Sin'dorei and took the healthiest soldiers, rangers, and magisters with him to seek vengeance against the Scourge, and history continued as has been written in the history books.
Vinar took part in the usage of Fel magic as a fix to the addiction, but he drew on it no more than he had from the purer energies of the Sunwell. Still, the hue of his eyes changed from a brilliant blue to an emerald shade of green. As little development came from the front other than that the glorious Prince Sunstrider would restore their people, Vinar found himself drawing further and further away from any association to the government, including from the Farstriders.
While he still considered them to be the section of the government that best embodied the ideals of his people, he simply cared less about it. Why bother, really? Those who he had been close to were dead. The Scourge was still a presence in their lands and beyond. Their prince had surely abandoned them to pursue his own "promised land." What was the point in subscribing to the ideals of a group such as the Farstriders? To serve as an anchor in these trying and unsure times? Pointless.
He drew further into himself and started to care solely for himself, deciding that he could depend on no one else and that everyone else would do better to depend on themselves. It was a selfish rationale - one that defeated the sense of community he had been raised with and one that he embraced wholeheartedly for the time being. So far as he was concerned, a communal mind could be fostered again when he found a community worth the effort.
Marksmanship, for Vinar, was relegated to a practice hobby and he focused his training on stealth and close combat. Potion making gave way to alchemy studies and herb handling shifted to a specialization in poisons. Within half a year he was a regular practitioner of back-alley dealings and hush moneyed side-jobs. When he found himself bored with the city, he moved elsewhere and started a life of what would amount to being a mercenary for hire, taking jobs ranging from escorting a client, to being hired to kill said client, to being rehired to kill the contractor for the would-be murder of that same client, among other more mundane work such as artifact recovery.
His work and wanderings have led him all over, and have made him some connections worth keeping and others worth eventually killing, and he has yet to see a reason to stop this line of work.
Thus, for Vinar, life continues on.
))
Founded April 26, 2005