Server:Moon Guard US/Raelindra

Character Stats
Name: Dame Raelindra 'Rae' Hopewell

Title: Honor Hold Defender; Shattered Sun Vindicator; Northrend Shieldmaiden

Age: Early twenties

Hair Color: Blonde

Eye Color: Blue-grey

Skin Color: Pale

Height: Just a hair under 6'0"

Weight: Fourteen stone

Marital Status: Single

Mother: Mireska Hopewell (deceased; a spirit)

Father: Reynar Hopewell (deceased)

Siblings: None

Appearance
Raelindra is a strapping young woman, quite tall and muscular for a human female. She proudly wears the insignia of Honor Hold and the Shattered Sun, as well as a surprising number of decorations for her young age; however, nearly all of them are of Outland or Quel'danas origin. She bears herself with all the gravitas expected of a Paladin, yet the feathers twined in her unruly blonde hair and the mischievous gleam in her blue-grey eyes suggest a somewhat wilder streak beneath all the careful civility.

Personality
Only a casual observer would mistake Raelindra for the quiet type. She does have her moments of contemplation but at heart she is a wild and oftentimes boisterous woman-- in her words, a fighter, not a diplomat. Even the concept of peace is alien to her, as she has grown up surrounded by war on all sides for twenty-plus years and knows nothing else. As someone who has grown up extremely fast she unthinkingly shoulders responsibilities that most others her age would balk at. However, in spite of the fact that she has much more experience of war than most of her age mates planetside, she usually has the good sense to know when to bow to the wisdom of those who have been fighting longer than she has-- and, in the case of her fellow Honor Hold defenders, that is almost everyone.

Having been raised quite literally on the edge of oblivion, she is accustomed to having very little room for error and thus has a terrible perfectionistic streak. She is extremely harsh both on herself and on others, and this coupled with her overall disdain for weakness can make her very difficult to deal with. This often leads her to overlook strengths that are not so obvious, and this has more than once had her eating dirt. She is also not above making life hell for those she finds unworthy of respect, in the name of forcing them to grow a backbone-- perhaps it is her own strange brand of compassion, not unlike tempering steel to make it stronger.

Background
Raelindra was born in Honor Hold to scribe Mireska Hopewell, who was unknowingly pregnant at the time of the Dark Portal's opening, and Kul Tirasi cartographer Reynar Hopewell, both members of the Expeditionary Force under Turalyon's command. Although she is far too young to actually remember it she bears the imprint of Draenor's destruction deep within her psyche, where it has probably marked her in ways yet to be made manifest. She grew up completely and utterly cut off from Azeroth at large and constantly surrounded by war on all sides; as such, she matured extremely quickly, especially when both Reynar and Mireska disappeared at roughly the same time as Alleria and Turalyon. (Although Reynar was later confirmed dead, Mireska's disappearance remains a mystery: although she, too, is presumed dead, nothing of her was ever recovered.) Even as a small child she proved to be very strong of stomach, and was helping out the field medics with their preparations as soon as they would allow her. At first these were only small things, such as helping to put together needed supplies for those going out to the field or keeping the wounded company as they recovered, but she proved to be a quick study and soon began to learn first aid proper.

When Raelindra wasn't helping out the medics she spent a good deal of time with the Wildhammer Dwarves of the Hold, many of whom had been Mireska's friends; Rae was fascinated by their gryphons and always eager to learn more. She learned of medicine from a slightly different perspective, as gryphons could be casualties of war as well, and as much as the Dwarves were willing to teach a human orphan of flying at such a young age. However, in spite of these things it was the Paladins who most captured her attention, and she knew exactly what she wanted very early on: to become one of them. As a very physically strong child, and a focused and faithful one at that, Rae seemed an ideal candidate, and the Paladins seemed only too glad to oblige her. She quickly learned what they had to teach her, and in a few years' time she went on to study with the Aldor of Shattrath City as the Draenei had knowledge of the Light that humanity lacked.

Rae quickly proved herself equal to the task, impressing her Draenei teachers with her insatiable curiosity and drive to learn. Although she could never quite hope to equal their breadth of knowledge given her short human lifespan she nevertheless proved her worth quickly and found herself out in the field at an age during which her Azeroth-bound counterparts would still be mere squires, or at least kept well back from the battlefield. It never did occur to Rae to question these things, however, and she was soon riding patrols, aerial or otherwise, and out in the field of battle like any other soldier.

With this came firsthand knowledge of the rigors of battle, and the lengths to which people would go to find comfort afterward. Rae was not at all shy about the latter, and although she found that she preferred other women, she didn't much mind men, either. While most of these were spur of the moment encounters there were a couple that ended up developing into deeper relationships. The most significant of these was with a Draenei priestess named Minraatha, who had something of a fascination with humans. What became of that relationship is not something Raelindra generally talks about, primarily in the interest of moving forward with her life.

It wasn't until people came through the re-opened Dark Portal that it even occurred to her to think of her life as other than 'normal'. That event, of course, drew an awkward combination of ire and thankfulness from her. On the one hand, Rae agreed with the Magus Filinthus in that it was absolute stupidity to undo the work wrought by Alleria, Turalyon and their followers in closing the thing in the first place, but on the other hand there was no telling how much longer Honor Hold and its allies would have lasted without outside support.

Rae eventually found her way onto Azeroth, having been much too busy with Hellfire Peninsula patrols and other such things until months after the fact, when orders from the Aldor took her to Quel'Danas where she was of great help to the Shattered Sun Offensive, earning their highest accolades. In large part thanks to this involvement she heard about the Azure Order-- also very active with the Offensive-- and, finding their ideals to be quite in line with her own, she joined them.

Unfortunately, the adjustment proved a bit more difficult than she thought, as the boundary between military and civilian seemed, to her, ill defined at best. She blundered her way through her first few months with the Order until news of an impending expedition to Northrend came and on the heels of that a Scourge invasion of Stormwind, giving her much needed focus. Where before she had been somewhat clueless on the subject of the Scourge she learned all about it very quickly with this firsthand exposure, and was thus primed for Northrend when go time came.

With this, however, came the unexpected: a rash of Death Knights, broken free of the Lich King, descended upon Stormwind with pleas to be allowed to serve the Alliance once more. Rae was justifiably suspicious and sometimes outright hostile until a chance encounter with one named Aerngrim Skaelbjorn, who mistook her for her mother; her initial suspicions gave way to curiosity and resulted in a lengthy conversation during which Rae found out that Mireska had, in fact, come from Northrend and had never told anybody about her origin. Quite a few surprising details about other things came up as well, and Rae decided that, while Death Knights were far from trustworthy, some of them, at least, might be worth reaching out to. Unlike Warlocks, who could choose to renounce the Fel, a Death Knight had no choice in what they were. She met other Death Knights who also expressed a desire for atonement, and when the time came for the Order to discuss them, Rae advocated allowing them-- albeit with a very strict evaluation process. She rather expected to be shot down in flames, but surprisingly enough, others agreed, and this was the stance the Order took.

The next time she met Aerngrim she informed him of such; with the common link of Mireska in their respective histories they struck up an odd sort of friendship and decided to help each other find their mutual roots in Northrend. Before they could really make plans for such, though, both were called on what is best termed a vision quest and were gone for several months.

As of quite recently Raelindra has returned, minus Aerngrim and bearing strange knowledge that even the Order's mages are at a loss to understand...

Goals and Motivations
Ensure the survival of those she grew up with in Honor Hold.

Having discovered her mother's fate and people in Northrend, Raelindra is a little unsure of where to go next-- however, Mireska's spirit does have some knowledge to pass on, so Raelindra sees little recourse other than to learn what she can and hope that the knowledge does not prove to be her death in the end.

Ensure the demise of those who have been terrorizing the Order.

Relationships
Although Raelindra was rather awkward with most other members of the Order at first, she has since warmed up to them. She feels a particularly close kinship with Ashantae Bitingrock and Ashrinn Pinecroft, both survivors in their own ways-- although the latter would never admit to such out loud.

Curiously enough, one of her closest friends is a Death Knight-- Aerngrim Skaelbjorn. Their relationship is quite intense, but seemingly impossible to fully characterize in words; neither can put a finger on what exactly brings them together (although shared heritage helps) but they are both incredibly protective of each other.

Idiosyncrasies
Fastidious about maintaining her equipment, and considered something of a neat freak in general.

Devotes an almost absurd amount of time to caring for her prized snowy gryphon. She loves nothing more than being up in the air-- this has prompted others to jokingly refer to her as an honorary Wildhammer.

Is trying, with varying degrees of success or failure, to learn the languages of the Sporeloks, Arakkoa and the Ethereals and whatever other languages pique her interest. (So far her knowledge consists almost exclusively of swear words and 'Where can I get my armor fixed?') She does, however, know enough of the Draenei language to at least get by.

As cool and professional an exterior as she might put up, Raelindra is still but a child when it comes to exploring Azeroth. She explores everything with unabated glee, fascinated by things that most Azerothians find completely mundane.

As of recently, seems to get nervous when alone with most men.

Public Knowledge and Rumors
Has only set foot on Azeroth within the past year or two, and was thus largely unknown except to those who had been through the Dark Portal since it reopened and those who had been involved with the Shattered Sun Offensive. However, she got very closely involved with the Argent Crusade following the expedition to Northrend, so her name has spread somewhat.

Was very active with the Shattered Sun Offensive from its inception onward; in spite of having some trouble getting along with Blood Elves, though, she quickly rose to prominence and earned the Offensive's highest accolades.

Expeditionary Force members recall Reynar and Mireska being reliable, if odd folks. Mireska in particular possessed a great deal of knowledge about ley lines for someone who was obviously no mage, and was known to study the mystical arts practiced by some of the Wildhammer Dwarves.

Is known to have... flexible gender preferences.

Has quite recently returned from Northrend, bearing strange knowledge.