User:Joshmaul/Linavil Shadowsun

"'Your decision is too little, too late. But at least you have seen the truth at last, given that your master has perished in the flames of our victory. Be content that I spare your life, but the exile will remain. However, if you should prove to be more...allegiant to the cause of victory against the Scourge rather than victory against Saavedro, I may consider speaking to Lor'themar on your behalf...'"
 * - Master Ordevaas Portalseeker, to Linavil Shadowsun

Lady Linavil Shadowsun, apprentice of Joshmaul the Corruptor, is a creature of profound contradiction. Prior to Joshmaul entering Quel'Thalas, she and her family were loyal servants of the House of Whitehair, and remained so when they swore allegiance to Joshmaul. When the House of Whitehair rescinded its allegiance to the Corruptor, Linavil and her family formally left the House of Whitehair and joined with Joshmaul.

But now Joshmaul's war is turning quite badly for him, and now Linavil has once again switched allegiances - to her family, and to herself.

Biography


Linavil Shadowsun was born fifty years before the reopening of the Dark Portal in the town of Goldenmist, in what is now the Ghostlands. She was the second of two daughters to Tor'kaeris Shadowsun and his wife Aleccia; her mother died giving birth to her, and her elder sister, Erennia, fell during the Third War. Her family was indentured into the service of the House of Whitehair - her father was the House chamberlain - and as such she served as an assistant to Lord Kel'theris, the family patriarch. Kel'theris and his son Ordevaas trusted Linavil implicitly, and sent her on missions of great importance. When Quel'Thalas fell, Linavil was in the town of Southshore on a mission for her master. She then met Kel'theris in Dalaran, where she remained alongside Prince Kael'thas until her master returned to Quel'Thalas.

Almost a year after Quel'Thalas officially became part of the Horde, Linavil was taken to Shattrath City by one of the House of Whitehair's bodyguards, where she was taken before Ordevaas, now a Master in the Blood Knight Order. Standing at Ordevaas' side was his own lord, a powerful orcish warlock who called himself Joshmaul. Ordevaas knew that Linavil possessed great potential in sorcery - not the powers of the mage that Kel'theris wielded, but rather in the powers of the shadow possessed by the Corruptor. Ordevaas gave Linavil an option: Continue in her current role as a servant of the House of Whitehair, or become Joshmaul's apprentice and do greater things - for herself, for the House of Whitehair, and for Quel'Thalas. Linavil, eager to discover the power that the Corruptor wielded, readily agreed to be trained by the master warlock. Her father, distressed, disowned his daughter, though he remained under suspicion for some time afterwards (so much so, in fact, that Kel'theris eventually sent him to his death in the battlefields of Northrend).

The Training Begins
Joshmaul and Linavil travelled to Quel'Thalas, to the Sunstrider Isle. There, Joshmaul instructed her in the basics of warlock magic, and was surprised to see that the young blood elf had an affinity for the dark powers. Aided by Summoner Teli'Larien, the warlock trainer of Sunstrider Isle, Joshmaul taught Linavil how to power a shadow bolt, how to immolate her foes, how to weaken their attacks, and also how to control her first minion, the imp.

Her lust for power continued unabated even when her former masters, the House of Whitehair, turned against Joshmaul for perceived "crimes" against them - lying about his allegiance to Kael'thas. Linavil, who learned the truth from Joshmaul upon her apprenticeship, decided to remain under the Corruptor's tutelage. She followed Joshmaul in many of his pursuits: Seeking artifacts, slaying innocents and the only path she has ever questioned (if only because of the barbarity of many who follow it): piracy. She was the embodiment of Joshmaul's will, connected to him via long-range telepathy; if he was in the north giving orders to his followers in the south, Linavil would relay it. And so, when he became a Bloodsail admiral and made his way to Northrend, she accompanied him - including during the near-miss onboard the Vengeful Spirit caused by her master's nemesis, Saavedro of Stratholme.

Formally Renounced Loyalties
Though Linavil's loyalties had shifted to Joshmaul, the family patriarch, Tor'kaeris, remained loyal to the House of Whitehair. Kel'theris, however, was always suspicious of him despite his servility. During a particularly heated argument during which time he was advocating breaking off ties to the Forsaken for their actions during the Battle of the Wrath Gate, Tor'kaeris was sent to the front lines in Borean Tundra by an incensed Kel'theris, with a personal note to Varok Saurfang - the chief strategist - that he was to be placed right at the forefront where he would die immediately upon entering combat (as Tor'kaeris was not a warrior, but rather a petty bureaucrat). His letter to Saurfang denounced the House of Shadowsun - even the now-deceased Erennia, who had died during the defense of Quel'Thalas - as traitors, and commented that sending Tor'kaeris to the front "would allow him to die with some semblance of dignity". Tor'kaeris was killed during his first engagement by a nerubian infiltrator.

Upon receiving word of her father's death, Linavil was despondent and listless until she had a chance encounter during a (secret) trip to Silvermoon...her elder sister, very much alive, or so she had thought. She then realized that her sister was a death knight, and that she had indeed died nearly a decade before.

Meeting with Erennia in a house on Murder Row, Linavil appraised her of what had happened, how Kel'theris had turned his back on them and sent their father to his death in Northrend. Erennia, with Linavil's support, formally claimed her status as head of the House of Shadowsun - as was her right, being the elder sibling - and then formally declared all ties between her family and the House of Whitehair severed, declaring vendetta against the Whitehairs, and Kel'theris in particular, for their crimes against their family. Due to the discovery of the alliance between Joshmaul and Artimus Devaneaux with the intent of assassinating Saavedro of Stratholme, the House of Shadowsun was exiled from Quel'Thalas, and death sentences from both the Regent and the House of Whitehair were issued against both Erennia and Linavil.

Abandoning the Corruptor
At first skeptical of Joshmaul's army being able to defeat the comibined forces of Taeril'hane Ketiron and Oren Tanis, Linavil was swayed by Joshmaul's calm faith in his army's ability to win. But that faith quickly died as Joshmaul's flying battleship, the Vengeful Spirit, was crippled by goblin explosives and Joshmaul's guards were defeated by Artimus and his lieutenants. Before the Vengeful Spirit was completely obliterated by a second series of bombs, Linavil escaped the vessel, leaving her master behind to perish in the flames...or so she thought.

With her sister, Erennia, killed by Artimus during his own flight from the Vengeful Spirit, Linavil quickly assumed her mantle as head of what remained of the House of Shadowsun. Her House Guard, part of Joshmaul's army, had been almost completely annihilated, and the survivors were quickly arrested and sent to the Violet Hold.

Quotes
Ordevaas: What you are about to do is take a path that is often considered to be evil by the more misguided members of society. Some would say you sell your soul to demons to gain such power. Linavil: The humans have a saying: "Better the devil you know..." Ordevaas: There, you see, Lord Joshmaul? No problem.

"Only a fool ignores power absolute when it's given to you on a silver platter." - on becoming Joshmaul's apprentice

About Linavil's apprenticeship:
 * The Corruptor had become endeared to Silvermoon and to its citizens. He decided early on that if he were to train an apprentice, it would be a blood elf. Enter Linavil Shadowsun, a former servitor of the House of Whitehair. The warlock's lieutenant, Master Ordevaas Portalseeker, offered the young lass a choice: Continue in the drudgery of the indentured servant, or become part of their people's future - being taught in the ways of power as only a master could. It was no surprise to anyone what choice she made.
 * - Sekhesmet of Stratholme, Corruptor: The Life and Times of Joshmaul the Warlock

To Linavil on becoming Joshmaul's apprentice:
 * Your family has served mine loyally for generations. Now I am offering you the chance to free yourself from the drudgery of doing menial tasks without question...and submit to the authority of my master. I have had my eye on you for a long time, Linavil, and you possess a great talent for sorcery. Not the arts that they taught to my father in Dalaran, but rather the darker arts that my lord specializes in. He would be willing to take you, if you are willing to learn.
 * - Ordevaas Portalseeker