User:Montagg/Nariana




 * To see Nariana on the Armory, click here.

The blood elf warlock Nariana is the only known mortal to have successfully reversed her own undeath. As a young woman, she left her home of Quel'Thalas and traveled to Lordaeron to serve the Church of the Light. While studying there, she fell to the plague during Arthas' invasion, transforming her into an undead. Freed from the Lich King's grasp, she traveled to Kalimdor in search of a way to reverse her plight. There she found an orc warlock named Thrainar. Thrainar promised to help her find a way to save her from undeath if she would in turn help him find the last spellbook of Medivh so he could defeat the Lich King forever.

Early Life
During her adolescent years, Nariana showed an indomitable interest in elementals. The mages of Quel'Thalas only used their power to impress and rarely faced the difficulty and dangers of summoning, so she often snuck aboard the caravans to Dalaran in order to see the land's most talented mages summon elementals and bind them to the mortal plane. She wondered where these ethereal beings came from and how something so powerful could be controlled so easily. When she came of age, she told her family she wished to attend the Arcane University in Dalaran. However, her staunchly devout parents insisted she become a priestess. Unable to dissuade her parents from their decision, the crushed elf girl traveled to the Cathedral of the Light in Lordaeron to study the ways of the righteous.

Although her first year was rigorous, Nariana soon grew to like the holy corridors of the church in Lordaeron. They gave her a peace she had never felt in the oppressive halls of Quel'Thalas. The girl once fascinated by elementals soon found herself entranced by more otherwordly beings. She read heavily on Celestials and Hopes, the spiritual guardians of Paladins. At the time, women could not enter the monastical Paladin order, so she confined herself to research only. Though never making contact with these angelic beings, she became one of the foremost experts on Celestials and Celestial-worshiping cults in Lordearon. She found a what she believed was an active Celestial cult around the villages of Lordaeron that involved blood sacrifice and promises of everlasting life from an unknown, shadowy "king."

No sooner had she discovered this cult than it burst into action. Not a Celestial cult at all, it began spreading a mysterious plague through the provinces. It was not long before the undead Scourge came to Lordaeron, aided by the spread of this plague of undeath. Nariana traveled to the ruined villages and helped heal the people as they suffered from the plague. However, soon she too contracted the chilling disease. Over time her body grew cold and numb. By the time the Death Knight Arthas had murdered his father King Terenas and claimed lordship over Lordaeron, Nariana had succumbed to the plague and in death became a mindless minion of the Lich King.

Shadow's Embrace
Nariana awoke some time later -- months, years maybe -- in a field of blighted land surrounded by other villagers, priests, and soldiers she had known for years... But they were all undead. The Lich King's power over them had faltered. She did not know how much time had passed since her death or what horrible deeds she had committed in the Lich King's name, but finally her will was her own. After mastering her undead form, she wandered the world searching for a way to reverse her undead state and regain her former power. The Light had forsaken her, so she turned from its ways. No longer the quiet elf maiden entranced by fleeting elementals, she dove headfirst into the dark demonic arts. She studied the life of Medivh and taught herself how to summon demons and bend them to her will.

The magic addiction that plagued her people after the destruction of the Sunwell tore at her even in death. She traveled to distant lands searching for sources of mana to feed her addiction. As she traveled west, she came to the lands of Kalimdor and there met an ancient orc warlock, a witness to Gul'dan's death in the Tomb of Sargeras, named Thrainar the Soulshaper. So powerful was the warlock that his nightmares produced living creatures that tormented him. Nariana destroyed the creatures and freed him from his nightmare, and in return he revealed to her a great secret. He told her of a cure for her disease, a way to reverse the plague of undeath and be reborn again as a high elf. However, she would be forever bound to the demonic power that would transfer her soul from one body to another. In return, he said, she would help him seek out the last surviving spellbook of Medivh so the two of them could use its great power to take control of a portion of the Legion and decisively defeat the Lich King. Nariana agreed.

A Dark Pact
The two traveled back to the Eastern Kingdoms. As they traveled, Thrainar taught Nariana how to forge two souls into one. He had studied the Lich King's melding with Arthas and knew much of how two souls could be joined, and he knew how souls could be discarded. When they found her a host, she would siphon the soul from the body and bind her own in its place. But not, he said, before finding Medivh's spellbook.

Her knowledge of Lordaeron helped as they searched for the book. Although the lich Kel'Thuzad was the last known owner of the book, rumor spoke of a high elf sorceress called Faeror who had stumbled upon the book after fleeing the fall of Dalaran. With the destruction of the Sunwell and the loss of her magical abilities, Faeror had sworn off magic and vowed to guard the book so that no further harm could come from it. Instead of magic, she honed her body and communed with the spirits of the Light as she fought her magical addiction, and over the years she had grown quite powerful.

Over the years that she spent with Thrainar searching, Nariana became far more withdrawn and stoical. She had grown used to the lethargy of her undead form. Now she wore only a scowl instead of a smile and, like Thrainar, had little patience for the failings of others. Thrainar had taught her that controlling demons was as simple as controlling anything else. It required skill, but it also required a will to power. One could bend the will of any other by simply having a stronger one.

Nariana and Thrainar approached the cave in the Eastern Plaguelands where Faeror lived. There they confronted her. The battle was brilliant but arduous, but at a critical moment Thrainar turned on Nariana and tried to take the book for himself. He attempted to use her as fodder for Faeror's attacks, but Nariana had known Thrainar long enough to recognize his ruthlessness. She expertly froze both her attackers in place, binding their minds so that their arms and legs would not respond. In retaliation, she stole Thrainar's soul and bound it to one of Faeror's pigs. She scorched it until it ran toward the mouth of the cave and threw itself over the cliff outside. Finally, she turned to Faeror and the book of spells. Using the last of her power, Nariana reached deep into Faeror and grasped her soul, pulling it loose from the body and discarding it into the nether. She then steeled her will and channeled her own soul into the lifeless body.

In the darkness, Nariana awoke. She was cold and shivered, something she had not done in many years. A lifeless undead body lay at her feet. She cowered back, frightened, angry, frustrated -- so many years of discarded emotions assaulting her mind at once. For two days she cowered in darkness, drifting in and out of consciousness. Finally, she left the cave and went down to the water nearby that flowed from the north, from Quel'Thalas. She looked into the stream and saw a beautiful elven face, red hair, and glowing green eyes. She smiled.

As the sun rose over the plagued lands of Lordaeron, Nariana traveled north toward Quel'Thalas holding the last spellbook of Medivh under her arm.

In-game biography
I started Nariana as an undead warlock on a friend's account to pass the time and as a way of learning the warlock class. I liked it so much that I decided to one day roll a blood elf warlock. As I leveled Nariana, I gathered money and equipment that would one day be transfered to the yet un-created character.

The undead Nariana reached level 60 2007-01-08. I handed her off to a friend on 2007-01-12. I started the new blood elf on 2007-01-19.

Nariana invaded Outland and reached 60 on the same day, 2007-02-26 and reached 70 some time after.

History

 * First breath on 2007-01-19.
 * First death at 9. Second death at 18.
 * First blood elf in the guild in contested territory.
 * First PvP-related death at 25.
 * First PvP kill at 33 against a ?? level player.
 * Purchased chocobo on 2007-02-03.
 * Went from the tail end of 57 to 60 in one day in Outland with the help of friends on 2007-02-26.

Name source

 * [[Image:Icon-warning-22x22.png]] Note: The following has nothing to do with World of Warcraft or the Warcraft universe.

Nariana's name came from a fantasy story that I'm working on. The character leads a group of elves who have broken away from their conservative peers to create a city where they might use their knowledge of magic to further their endeavors. Their extensive use of magic and technology is unparalelled by other groups, especially in the techno-capital city of Tyron. Nariana holds sway over her followers through expert use of her words and body, being both an object of desire and veneration to her subjects.