Aviana

Aviana was a winged demigoddess and mistress of the Mother Tree, G'Hanir. She was killed in the War of the Ancients but was resurrected during Ragnaros' siege on Mount Hyjal.

Gift of Demigod status
Long ago, Aviana was a normal raven until she was chosen by Elune to deliver messages from the moon goddess to her son, the demigod Cenarius. Soon she was carrying messages among many of the powers of the ancient world; each power granted the raven new abilities required to carry out her duties until she eventually became an equal among them.

Well of Eternity
As the kaldorei gathered at the Well of Eternity, Aviana took the form of a night elf and joined their studies of magic. When Queen Azshara built her temple and gathered together her chosen servants to revel in their arcane power, Aviana realized the corrupting influence of magic and returned to Elune’s side.

War of the Ancients


During the War of the Ancients, Aviana would occasionally take mortal form and guide groups of endangered humans or night elves away from the doomguard. However, most of the time she flew high above the land gathering information for Cenarius on the movements of the Burning Legion.

During this conflict Aviana was knocked from the sky. Rhonin witnessed her lifeless body fall when a large group of demons attacked her. The doomguard surrounded her and pierced her body with their spears. When Aviana was killed, her realm tree G'Hanir died.

The first druids found her body among the carnage, and bore it up her, to the highest mountain. She was laid to rest just outside the Shrine of Aviana, within a circle of sacred stones.

Emerald Dream
For ten thousand years Aviana drifted formless in the Emerald Dream while the mortal races continued to worship her; the Druids of the Talon in particular focused their worship around her and learned to take the forms of raven and crows. Her children, the harpies, descended into violence and barbaric behaviour, and eventually forsook their parent for other, darker masters, or struck out on their own. Some worshippers believed Aviana to have survived her death at the hands of demons, and others claimed to have actually had contact with her. However this is unlikely unless it was through the Emerald Dream.

Word of Warcraft
Relics of Aviana have been stored in sealed reliquaries in the Stormrage Barrow Dens in Moonglade. Clintar Dreamwalker, the current guardian of the relics, retrieves them for the fight against the forces invading the Emerald Dream.

Cataclysm
Ten thousand years after her death, Deathwing the Destroyer returned to Azeroth from Deepholme. Under his command the fire elementals of Ragnaros marched upon Mount Hyjal, to make way for the Firelord himself to set fire to the World Tree Nordrassil. During their siege Adventurers were called from across Azeroth to assist in the mountain's defense. One of the tasks assigned to them was to assist in the resurrection of the demigods, one of whom was Aviana. Besides resurrecting her, Adventurers were also assigned to destroy her fallen children, the harpies, who were attacking their mother's shrine. When all was done however the might Demigod of the Sky was reborn and Aviana returned to the world to help repel the invading Fire Elementals and to send Ragnaros back to the Firelands.

Appearance
Aviana takes the appearance of a large harpy with white feathers covering her body, with gold-coloured arms and legs. She wears a gold outfit covering only her groin and breasts, as well as a gold headdress and necklace. The necklace bears a sapphire at its center.

Combat
Aviana prefers to keep her distance from combat, acting primarily as an observer or messenger. When drawn into battle, she will strike from a distance for as long as possible using her magic and her longbow before changing into raven form to charge and claw opponents while trying to make her way to freedom.

Quotes
First vision of Aviana after using the Sacred Nectar A Mysterious Wing Spirit appears above the circle, hazy and indistinct.
 * say

After being freed
 * I am the mistress of the skies, and they who threaten my children shall suffer.

Speculation
In the War of the Ancients Trilogy by writer Richard A. Knaak, it is hinted that some night elves were altered and became forest guardians. Some fans speculate that night elves who venerated Aviana may be the harpies. The death of Aviana during the War would have left them without their matriarch, and could explain their now brutal nature (although Aviana herself also hinted to having these streaks).

The relationship between Aviana and the dragons is also touched upon in the book. Aviana calls Krasus one of hers. She reacts to the name of Alexstrasza in a motherly fashion. It is not clear if the dragons are descended from her or if she is commenting on the fact that dragons are creatures of the sky. G'Hanir was also where dragons would go to at the end of their life.

Shadows & Light was published during the same period of time as the War of the Ancients trilogy and the same month as The Demon Soul in October 2004. It might be possible that Aviana died in the new timeline of the war. This is supported when Alexstrasza mentions that G'Hanir died with its mistress. On the other hand, Shadows & Light states that an Eternal may not truly be killed. Even if an Eternal was to die, they may be able to regenerate. It is also possible that it may simply have been a continuity mistake.''