To conclude this mini-series of posts, I'm following up with the last two of my WoW Classic toons that have a persistent narrative (and also two of the other three toons to make it to max level). For these two I kind of veered more into the fictional realm than a summary, because I felt these were best told that way.
Linnawyn Songshine, Knight of the Silver Hand:
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| The demons never knew what hit them... |
Linna is the third of the four Songshine children, and like her younger sister Cardwyn her life was changed the moment the Defias Brotherhood came to the family farm and demanded all of their metal. Unlike Card, however, she remained at the farm and soon volunteered to join the local patrols that the farmers of Eastern Elwynn organized to deal with the encroaching Defias threat. Daryn and Mona set aside land for weapons practice and the entire farm hastily constructed an extra building for barracks for the trainees. Calling themselves the Elwynn Rangers, Linna's father, Daryn, and a few other veterans of the Second War became the instructors for the patrols.
While Linna took her work with the Rangers seriously, something began nagging at her in the nights while she tried to rest. At first, she thought it was concern for her little sister, but as the days dragged on she began to feel that she should be doing more to help out. That worry only grew when her sister visited the farm on her way toward Lakeshire, following up on a lead as to the identity of the Defias' leadership, and she returned two days later, gravely injured from an ambush on the road by the Defias.
"There has to be more than this," she thought as she watched helplessly while Cardwyn was healed by a family friend and member of the Cenarion Circle.
When the Defias threat was finally broken Linna thought things would return to normal, but her concerns only worsened. It was then that she finally realized that what she felt wasn't concern, but a calling.
Linna resolved to take the Oaths and become a Knight of the Silver Hand, but she didn't know how.
She spoke with one of Cardwyn's friends, a Squire, who told her that since she's not nobility, she must have two valid sponsors who vouched for her standing. Those sponsors had to be accepted by the Knights as valid sponsors; preferably they were Knights themselves, as his own sponsors were, or they were people the Knights were familiar with and trusted their judgement.
Linna prevailed upon Cardwyn, fresh from the Defias campaign and hailed as the Hero of Westfall, to be one of her sponsors, and asked her old teacher, Evelyn Aldcock, to be the other.
Upon taking the Oaths, training with a squad in Northshire and Elwynn, and then performing mop-up duty in Westfall, Linna's first assignment was to investigate reports of the Scourge in Duskwood. She arrived in Darkshire to find herself swept up in a mystery surrounding a ghastly prediction of doom from the town's mystic, Madame Eva. Meanwhile, Darkshire was beset on all sides by the undead, mysterious dark riders from Deadwind Pass, and the wolfmen called Worgen. As Linnawyn strove to uphold her duty to Darkshire and keep the darkness at bay, she dove into the mystery of this "Stalvan" and why his name was divined by Madame Eva as the source of the encroaching doom. Linna finally figured out the true danger Stalvan posed and defeated him in single combat, ending his threat.
Yet it was the strange, undead creature Mor'ladim who provided Linna with the greatest gift of all. She put Mor'ladim --the twisted undead form of the Knight Morgan Ladimore-- to rest. Upon returning to Ladimore's grave with the ring his daughter wore, who bade Linna to bury it with his bones to give him some peace, the shade of Morgan Ladimore appeared to her and presented her with his blade, Archeus. "It was forged to do good," he told her, "and though I have proved myself unworthy to hold it, perhaps you will carry on the Light through it."
Linnawyn returned to Darkshire, her eyes filled with wonder, and presented the sword to Sarah Ladimore, Morgan's daughter. "He gave it to you," she told the Squire. "Go and do great things with it, Sir Knight."
Ever since, Archeus has been at Linna's side through the long campaigns against the Dark Iron dwarves and rallying the people of Azeroth against the Silithids. She joined the Argent Dawn and kept the supply lines open so that her sister Cardwyn's brigade could assault Kel'Thuzad's fortress of Naxxramas.
It was the opening of the Dark Portal that signaled Linnawyn's stepping out from her sister's shadow and becoming a hero in her own right. She travelled to Outland, assisted in the assault upon Hellfire Citadel and investigated the disturbances of the marshlands west of there, but it was her work in defeating the schemes of Kael'thas Sunstrider and Illidan for which she is most remembered.
Linna will tell you otherwise: her greatest accomplishment was the reuniting of a family once thought destroyed by the Scourge.
***
And finally, we come to Nevelanthana Dawnweaver. Of the bunch, she is the oldest in terms of when she was originally created, but the last to be created in Classic:
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At least the inn at Tarren Mill is good
for close-up screenshots. |
Neve and her younger brother Quintalan are the only Sindorei remaining from House Dawnweaver. The High Elves of Quel'Thalas had already absorbed a devastating attack by the Horde from the Second War and were slowly recovering when Arthas led the Scourge in an assault to take the power of the Sunwell and raise Kel'Thuzad. In those frantic weeks the Quel'Thalas Rangers were overwhelmed and their Ranger General, Silvanas Windrunner, was slain by Arthas, who raised her as yet another lieutenant in his army. The Dawnweavers defended Silvermoon City along with the rest of the Elven army, yet as the walls were breached they were separated. Neve and Quintalan joined a small group that fled to Sunstrider Isle, hoping to reunite with the rest of the house, yet the few refugees who trickled in only brought terrible news: their family was killed defending various parts of the city.
When the Scourge left Quel'thalas, the remaining Elves met with their Prince, Kael'Thas Sunstrider, who christened them Sindorei, the Blood Elves. Neve and Quintalan were too young to join what was left of the army of Sindorei and instead remained behind to learn and rebuild.
Neve returned home to Fairbreeze Village and became the apprentice of Magistrix Landra Dawnstrider, who herself was once an apprentice of one of Neve's aunts. Despite the omnipresent gloom of the Dead Scar, news from the Regent Lord of Quel'Thalas that their people had found a permanent home away from the Scourge in Outland was encouraging. Magistrix Landra refused to leave Fairbreeze, but encouraged her pupil to represent both her House and the village in all of her dealings with the outside world. "You are the head of House Dawnweaver," she told Neve, "and a Dawnweaver always takes her responsibilities seriously."
Neve traveled south to Tranquillien and became an instrumental part in defeating the Scourge in the Ghostlands. Due to her leadership and bravery in the face of the horrors out of Deatholme, she was selected by the Regent-Lord of Quel'Thalas to present the formal petition to join the Horde to the Banshee Queen of the Forsaken, Silvanas Windrunner.
The former Ranger-General did not know Neve personally, but she did know of the Dawnweavers. She spoke with Neve at length about the loyalty and dedication her House had to the Quel'Thalas Rangers in her past life, and the young Mage's heart swelled with pride. With a few words of encouragement and a separate written recommendation, Sylvanas sent Neve to Orgrimmar to tender the petition to the Warchief of the Horde, Thrall.
The Warchief was somewhat less receptive of the Blood Elves joining the Horde than Sylvanas, but he could find no fault in the petition itself. Surrounded by Orcs more than twice her mass, Nevelanthana remained impassive while she waited for Thrall's council to complete their debate.
"It is done," the Warchief finally announced. "The Sindorei shall join the Horde."
Flush with the success of her diplomacy, Neve returned home with the news. As a reward, the Regent-Lord sent Neve out to the Horde communities, as both an ambassador and a resource to assist their new allies as much as possible.
Neve travelled throughout Azeroth, staying true to her heritage as a Dawnweaver and supporting their new allies as she could. In time, Neve eventually received a summons to Orgrimmar. "You must go to the Outlands," one of the Warchief's advisors told her. "Both the Horde and the Alliance have a foothold in the lands beyond the Dark Portal, but our grip is tenuous. We need leadership there that you and your brother can provide."
Up until that moment, Outland had been a dream, just out of reach. And now it was within her grasp. Neve and Quintalan travelled to the Dark Portal and crossed over.
They stood on the steps, staring out into the hellscape before them, shocked. This was not the golden land promised the Sindorei.
"What other lies have we been told?" Neve asked her brother as they ate their first meal at Thrallmar. "Even with the Dead Scar, Eversong is much more beautiful than this."
Resolving to find the truth of things, Neve threw herself into the work. And as she soon discovered, the lies grew larger and larger until she wondered just what her people actually stood for. "I am a Dawnweaver," she told herself, "and a Dawnweaver finds the truth."
The moment she set foot in Shattrath City, Neve began to hear the rumors.
A Mage slew Kel'Thuzad in his fortress of Naxxramas. A Human Mage trained by a Queldorei.
And that Mage wore a distinctive tattoo on her shoulder: the sun's rays woven into cloth.
The Dawnweaver Crest! Uttering yet another Dawnweaver-ism under her breath, Neve pursued the rumors as to this mysterious Mage's whereabouts. She was in the south, in Nagrand, it was said. No, she was to the West, in the marsh. Or she was in the far North, in the mountains.
But it was in the crumbling wastes of the Netherstorm that Neve found what she most dreaded: that her people had been deceived, and that their Prince had joined with their ancient enemy, the Burning Legion. It was bad enough that Kael'thas Sunstrider would lead his forces against their new allies, but to betray everything that the Sindorei ever stood for was difficult to accept.
"I don't know how much more of this I can take, Quin," she admitted to her brother as they listened to the various factions argue in the crumbling ruin of what passed for an inn. "I need to believe in something, and it feels like everything has been stripped away. If I could only find this Mage, maybe knowing we're not alone would give me some faith to keep pushing on."
"Surely there aren't that many dark haired Human Mages out there with the crest on their shoulder," Quintalan replied. "Naxxramas or no."
"Excuse me," a new voice interrupted. A blonde human woman wearing the tabard of the Argent Dawn sat down next to them. "You were talking about a Mage and Naxxramas," she said in passable Thalassian. "You were looking for someone?"
"Yes," Neve said in a this-is-none-of-your-business tone of voice.
"I helped to keep the supply lines open during the assault on Naxxramas," the woman replied, ignoring the cold shoulder.
Neve and Quintalan looked at each other. "It's the best lead we've got so far," Quin shrugged.
"Very well," Neve sighed. "We've heard the rumors that a Mage slew Kel'Thuzad. A human Mage with dark hair."
The woman's eyes lit up. "Yes, the rumors are quite persistent, aren't they? But there were two women matching that description in that final assault."
"Two?" That thought had not occurred to Neve.
"Yes, although I don't know who actually dealt the final blow. I don't think either of them know, to be honest."
"Well, then..." Neve paused and sucked in her breath. "We've heard that... one of them was trained by a Queldorei."
The woman's eyes grew even brighter if that were possible. "Oh yes, that's true. I don't know about the other, but I definitely know one was apprenticed to a Queldorei."
Neve clutched at her brother's hand. "Do... do you know this Queldorei's name?"
"Elsharin Dawnweaver."
Closing her eyes, Neve began to cry. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "it's just been so long... Where can I find this Mage? I've looked all over Outland for her."
"Oh, that's because she's not in Outland."
"How do you know this?" Quintalan demanded.
"Because she's my sister, that's how," the woman grinned. "Linnawyn Songshine, Knight of the Silver Hand, at your service. My sister Cardwyn is back at home on the family farm, recovering from the Naxxramas campaign. Would you like to meet her?"
EtA: Corrected some grammar.
EtA: Can't believe I missed Elsharin's family name. Oops.
