User:Reign/Vanïtas

Vanïtas Renn, despite his status as a sane worgen, is not from Gilneas. Rather, he was born in Stormwind.

Personality
Vanïtas was a friendly child, but the ravages of the Second and Third Wars, and subsequently the worgen curse, have darkened his spirits. Should someone get Vanïtas to open up, not an easy task, they'd find within him still lies that cheerfulness. The warrior may be cruel to outsiders, but those in his circle of friends know that he can be a great man.

Vanïtas has a deep hatred for the Horde. He had been in the Eastern Kingdoms during the Third War, so was unaware of the orcs' redemption, and memories of the slaughter from the First and Second Wars are always fresh in his mind. The worgen especially finds himself hating the blood elves, seeing them as traitors to the Alliance they were once a part of.

History
Shortly before the First War, Vanïtas was born in Grand Hamlet and lived a happy life. When orcs attacked the town and the kingdom fell soon after, the toddler was among those refugees who escaped to Lordaeron, making land in Southshore. There he stayed for a few more years, until the Second War began.

Vanïtas desperately wanted to join in the war effort, but was still too young to become part of Lordaeron's army. The boy dedicated his life to the Light, hoping to become a member of the Knights of the Silver Hand upon adulthood. When orcs were round up into the internment camps following the war, Vanïtas held no pity for them. Indeed, because of Southshore's proximity to Durnholde Keep, he would often make trips to watch the orc gladiator there fight in the ring.

Time passed, and Vanïtas moved down to Stormwind City. He did not pay much attention to the rumors of walking dead in Lordaeron, but when the Third War officialy broke out upon prince Arthas Menethil slaying his father, marching on Quel'Thalas, and destroying Dalaran, the young man was among the first of the southern kingdom to take up arms; not as a paladin as he hoped, but a footsoldier in the combined Alliance army.

Vanïtas lived up to his family name, killing a fair number of the Legion's forces in the Eastern Kingdoms and earning himself command of a small group of soldiers. However, when his squad was attacked, Vanïtas's heroism crumbled.

They were stationed in Silverpine Forest when the assault came, not by demons or Scourge, but by vicious wolfmen. Two-thirds of the soldiers, from Lordareron and Stormwind alike, were slaughtered and the survivors brought to a keep overlooking the nearby Pyrewood Village. The men, Vanïtas at the front, came face-to-face with Arugal himself; the mage, wanting to add to his "children", had them drink the blood of the cursed wolfmen, and thus the small group of Third War soldiers became worgen. When Arugal was killed, Vanïtas regained his sense of self, but horrified at his monstrous form, retreated into the woods. In this self imposed exile, he mourned the loss of his soldiers-killed by the Horde warriors who slew Arugal during their march on Shadowfang Keep-until, three years later, he met with a night elf who was on her way to aid the people of Gilneas. Vanïtas learned how the people of the secluded human nation had also become victims of the worgen curse, but with kaldorei influence were rejoining the Alliance after leaving following the Second War. Moved by this, the soldier-turned-worgen returned to Stormwind.

Since returning, Vanïtas has become rather crestfallen at the loss of his boyhood homes, both Southshore and Grand Hamlet, which are now only ruins and the worgen-plagued town of Darkshire. But nonetheless, he stays loyal to the Alliance and the Light.