Tiragarde Keep: A determined woman of Alterac
From Create Your Own Story
Your life, when it began, was one of privilege; you had the good fortune to be born into one of the minor noble families of Alterac, the eldest of seven children. Groomed from birth to manage your family's estate and survive the political labyrinth of the Alliance, your education persisted throughout the First War, and you knew little of the terrible conflict raging to the south. Servants talked of seeing the last survivors of Stormwind fleeing the destroyed remnants of their city, but you were kept sheltered from it all by your tutor, Kessa, who was more of a mother to you than the woman who bore you. From Kessa you learned history, arithmetic, and rhetoric; she never did cave to your constant requests to learn swordplay.
When the Second War broke out, there was nothing Kessa could do to shield you from the general state of panic in the kingdom. You remember your parents meeting behind closed doors with many other nobles, always looking nervously over their shoulders and never taking any notice of you. Your tutor's lessons changed in tone; she told you repeatedly and strongly that the Alliance was going to win the war, and that the Horde was evil and would always be the enemy. One day, a visiting nobleman passed one of your lessons and heard Kessa telling you these things; the next day, your tutor vanished. You never saw her again, and your parents never explained what had happened.
Soon enough, you found out for yourself; a coalition of the nobles of Alterac, your parents included, officially left the Alliance and joined the Horde. Like many of the common people, you were shocked; unlike most of the common people, you were not won over by speeches about the inevitability of the Horde's victory. You remembered your lessons, and though you were still young, you knew that there would be terrible and lasting consequences for the traitor kingdom you inhabited. You were right. The neighboring kingdom of Stromgarde promptly invaded and crushed Alterac, forcing your parents and their co-conspirators to flee into the hills and remain in exile. They left you behind, and you had the good sense to keep your heritage hidden.
The war ended in an Alliance victory, and the ruler of Stromgarde was perfectly happy to keep Alterac as the newest province of his kingdom. Your survived by your wits, dodging bandits and bounty hunters alike, and eventually managed to get yourself enrolled in a prestigious military academy in the island kingdom of Kul Tiras. The night before your graduation, however, you were recognized, and a promising career as an officer ended before it could begin; no one wanted to serve under the progeny of hated traitors. You spent the Third War under house arrest while the courts decided what to do with you; ultimately, they sent you back to the military as a humble marine with a clear warning: desertion means execution.
You're certainly unhappy with the way things turned out; your one chance at a clean slate was stolen from you by simple bad luck, and now you're the least popular marine in the navy. Perhaps you're still there because you want to prove that you're not the same kind of person your parents were, or perhaps it's solely the threat of death that keeps you around. Either way, you're stuck here. You finally finish filling out your forms, doing your best to shut out the memories they summon up, and blow the ink dry. You ought to take them to your superior, the overbearing Sergeant Willins, but you feel a strong urge to find a sparring partner and prove your skill. You could always go to sleep, too; no one really wants to associate with you anyway.
Do you:
