Tiragarde Keep: A hearty woman of Stormwind
From Create Your Own Story
You were just an infant when the Orcish Horde sacked your home city of Stormwind, burning it to the ground; your family was lucky enough to escape north, into the kingdom of Lordaeron. Though war raged all around you as a child when the Horde attempted an invasion of your new home as well, you were kept well away from it; your father was a skilled blacksmith, and was considered much too valuable to risk anywhere near the front lines. Even so, you heard tales of the slaughter wrought by the savage invaders; close friends of yours lost siblings and parents to the brutal war, some for the second time. The mere mention of Orcs inspires great hatred in you to this day.
When the Second War ended at last, you and your family returned to the ruins of the city where you had been born and became some of the first to work on restoring it. It proved to be a long and difficult process; the Alliance had been shaken during the invasion, and many of the kingdoms that comprised it were now too wrapped up in their own concerns to contribute to the rebuilding of someone else's territory. You grew up working hard beside your parents, ferrying messages and later driving supply wagons between the various groups of workers. When the city was finally rebuilt, the Stonemasons' Guild demanded payment; given the amount of work they'd done, it was only fair. And yet the local nobles, greedy and petty, refused to pay.
The result was a terrible riot that threatened to tear down the city a second time; Varian Wrynn, the city's king, lost his queen, and you lost your father. Your mother, though strong, was never the same, and you were thrust into the difficult position of caring both for her and for your younger sister, Haylan. It was this responsibility that kept you out of the Third War; you were forced to depend on thirdhand reports about the fall of Lordaeron to the terrible Undead Scourge and the discovery of the continent of Kalimdor. Stormwind itself was never threatened, but you lost more good friends to war when the city dispatched troops to aid the other kingdoms of the Alliance.
The war drew to a close, and both survivors from Lordaeron and hardened veterans of those troops trickled into the city with such terrible tales that they rivaled the ones of your childhood. You heard that the hated Orcish Horde had been rebuilt and was strong upon the continent of Kalimdor, a dishonor to the many brave heroes who had died to prevent them from destroying the Alliance the first time around. Reports that they had helped Stormwind's troops fight demons were quickly dismissed; you knew the true nature of the Horde, and also that, without demons to fight, they would soon turn on anyone else who happened to be nearby.
Your mother recently passed away, and your sister came of age and went into training as a priestess. You, perhaps out of a desire to make up for lost opportunities, finally went into the military, training to become a marine in the seafaring kingdom of Kul Tiras. It's clearly the hand of fate that pits you against Orcs on your first assignment. 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 get a little practice. You could always go to sleep, too; the voyage has been long and arduous, and you want to be well-rested when you arrive.
Do you:
