User:Narquelie/Narquelie Lucien

Early Life
Narquelie Lucien was born Narquelie Fairwind in the City of Andorhal in the year the Dark Portal first opened. One of her earliest memories was of the vast refugee caravans passing through the streets on their way to Capital City. Though utterly defeated and leagues from home, the scant few surviving members of the Holy Order of Northshire Clerics remained proud and unwavering, giving hope to those they accompanied. While the memory has largely faded to her now, it was the sight of the Clerics which first sparked an interest in the Light.

Still too young to fully understand, the Second War and expedition to Draenor largely passed her by.

From the age she could hold a wooden sword, Narquelie sparred daily. What started off as a game with her friends soon created a desire to progress further. From the age of fourteen she earned her place as a squire to Sir Earel Greythorn of Brill, and by the age of twenty had completed her training as a Knight of the Silver Hand. Mere months after her initiation ceremony, she travelled to the city of Stratholme with Uther’s party and bore witness to the trial of Tirion Fordring. Whilst not daring to disobey the Lightbringer, she secretly questioned the guilty verdict, as in her mind Fordring had only acted in accordance with the Tenets.

The Fall of Lordaeron
For five years she enjoyed peace, serving her Order and her people with pride. As higher taxes took their toll on the Alliance of Lordaeron, bickering between nations increased. More and more often, the Order was called in to mediate disputes between quarrelling Lords and Barons. Narquelie earned the respect of her fellow knights through her fair judgement and patient manner, and in time took a squire of her own; Rosa.

Four months into Rosa’s training, Narquelie’s world was thrown into turmoil, and it forever changed her. While rumours of Arthas Menethil’s actions at Stratholme had been rife, the betrayal of the crown prince shook Lordaeron to its core. News of their beloved king’s murder travelled quickly, reaching the two women where they trained in the hills near Darrowshire. Racing to Andorhal, the two arrived too late; finding the city in ruins, the Lightbringer dead, and no sign of the traitor or Narquelie’s family. Counting her parents among the dead, she gathered the scattered remnants of the City Guard and ordered them to head for the old Monastery in the Tirisfal Glades.

The Scarlet Crusade
Word had spread that a group of high-ranking officers was gathering together the survivors in a resistance movement to retake Lordaeron. Quickly appointed as a Scarlet Commander, Narquelie joined the forces assigned to retake Stratholme, taking Rosa with her. For three years they fought in the burning streets, but the Scourge forces were innumerable and in truth it was all they could do to hold the line. Fairwind worked closely with one of the few Blood Elf paladins, and indeed one of the few Blood Elves in the Crusade.

Scarlet Commander Daenarys Andilien was a vicious foe, and fearsome combatant. For better or worse, Narquelie had changed too. With her patience gone, and every day a battle for survival, the frenzy of the Crusade had begun to take hold. It was 28 years after the opening of the Dark Portal when events conspired to set her back on the true path of the Light.

Following weeks of defensive action, the two Commanders and their forces had cut a swath through the undead ranks and retaken Alonsus Chapel. In the aftermath of the battle Rosa, now a fully fledged Knight-Crusader, spotted a hunched figure in tattered clothing huddled at the chapel’s rear. Narquelie, busy organising the crusaders into defensive positions for the inevitable counterattack, remained oblivious to the man. As Rosa approached she realised with creeping horror that she was looking at the reanimated body of her own father. His mind had not succumbed to the will of the Scourge and he knelt before her, pleading mercy.

The two had caught the attention of Andilien, however, and her command was simple: “Purge it.” Refusing, Rosa lifted her shield and stood defiantly against the Elf. Andilien's eyes narrowed: "Then you carry their taint." The sounds of battle drew Narquelie’s attention, and she turned to see Rosa’s body falling limp next to her father’s. It was in that moment, staring into her friend’s lifeless eyes, that she first saw the Crusade for what it truly was. Crying out, she knelt by Rosa's body, murmuring a prayer for her. Andilien ordered her men to attack, deeming Narquelie tainted as well.

Fairwind's eyes burned with righteous fury, and her visage was terrible to behold. She raised her greatsword in a high guard and beckoned them to come. Her weapon glowed with a blinding white light, and Andilien's forces dared not approach. Retreating, the two Commanders were ultimately left alone in the square. Years of fighting alongside the Elf turned now to her advantage. Setting aside the greatsword, Narquelie took up her sword and shield to better counter the Elf's deft attacks. Andilien fought with a fury close to matching Fairwind's own. The Elf's years of experience showed, and she slowly pushed Narquelie back against the chapel wall. The vicious blows cast the sword and shield from her hands. "Know that I will burn your body. You will not rise to serve them," Andilien said.

"Spare me your so-called mercy." Ducking the strike aimed at her throat, Fairwind pulled a small dagger hidden at her belt and slashed across the Elf's face, spinning behind her as she brought it back up to her throat. Blood trickled across Narquelie's hand from the Elf's ruined eye, as she muttered in Andilien's ear. "I will not grant you the peace of death. You slaughter the innocent, just as they do. Live, and know what you have become." Watching her former comrade retreat from the square, Narquelie set about laying Rosa to rest within the chapel. Emerging, she saw that the Scourge had used the time to regroup. Cutting a path to the Eastwall Gate, she fled the City.

Rhaegar and the Pillar of Faith
For months she wandered the wilds fighting the Scourge where she found them, brooding on her actions. Eventually, she passed over the Alterac Mountains and found her way to the town of Southshore, where she took passage on a ship to Booty Bay. It was in the buccaneers’ town that she first met the wandering knight Rhaegar. Spending only a brief time together scouting the city of the Gurubashi trolls, it was enough to restore her faith in the Light.

As she continued on her travels, Rhaegar sent one of his most trusted knights to the wayward crusader. It was in the Gadgetzan tavern where Narquelie first met Eccerion Lucien, and joined the Pillar of Faith. The Pillars were an order of militant paladins and priests, devoted to the service of the Light. In the following months it was revealed that Rhaegar was in fact possessed by a ‘sparkle.’ Following the reopening of the Dark Portal, it seems in hindsight likely that this was a lost, juvenile Naaru. With the sparkle’s departure, Rhaegar retired to Theramore and Cardinal Greymane took command of the Pillars, heralding in a new age of the Order. It was during this time that Narquelie and Eccerion were married in the forest of Ashenvale

Politics eventually interfered, and the senior Bishops disbanded the Pillars, for fear that a militant wing of the Church may ‘look bad.’ What the real reason was the knights may never know. Following this Narquelie returned to Tyr’s Hand, telling the inhabitants of the free lands to the south, and secretly urging many of them to follow her.

The Ember Throne
With a force of some thirty crusaders, Lucien rode to the Deadwind Pass. Some say she sought to plunder the riches of Karazhan, but others who know her better are convinced she had received word of some new threat to Duskwood whilst she was in the north. Ambushed in the rocky passes by unknown forces, the crusaders were slaughtered. Only Narquelie and one other, Ekkaia Swanhaven, survived. While the bodies of the fallen were burned, there are those who claim to hear the cries of their spirits in the Pass to this day.

Meanwhile, Cardinal had reformed many of the former Pillars under the banner of the Ember Throne, an organisation serving as agents of King Anduin both within Stormwind and without. Following the events of Deadwind, it took little persuasion for Narquelie to rejoin her former comrades, bringing Ekkaia with her. Answering to the mysterious “Eidolon”, the Embers took on a series of tasks of increasing moral ambiguity. Narquelie began to question their cause, leading her to lose favour with many of the Exarchs, and especially with Greymane himself.

Ultimately, Greymane disappeared, replaced by Exarch Krale Fitzchaden. It was then that murders began to happen more frequently around Stormwind, and slowly fingers began to be pointed at the Embers. It was with the murder of the priestess Innocence, however, that matters truly came to a head. Following this, with the death of Krale and the disappearance of Cardinal, the time of the Embers was over and its members scattered to the corners of Azeroth.

The Argent Champion
Narquelie found herself fighting with the Argent Dawn, and in the heavy losses suffered during the reopening of the Dark Portal, she was promoted to a Knight-Commander of the Argent Vanguard. Helping to hold the lines of the defence, she eventually led her men through the Portal helping to resecure the fortress of Honour Hold against the increased Legion assault. It was during this time that she served with Furau Dea’Lanor, Lothadar the Draenei, and the former Pillar, Caradon Majore.

Ultimately betrayed by Dea’Lanor who joined the Outlanders, Lucien’s forces were recalled to Lordaeron as the Scourge renewed their assault from Naxxramas. Soon after this, Narquelie disappeared for several months. Her whereabouts during this time is unknown, and she refuses to discuss the matter further.

Returning to Stormwind, Lucien rejoined the forces of the Silver Hand commanded by her younger sister-in-law Avari. It was a matter of weeks until the Northrend Offensive was launched, and Narquelie was on the front lines as a Captain of the Argent Crusade. In her mind, defeating the Scourge in Northrend is the first step on the road to a truly free Lordaeron.

She remains wary of their new Ebon Blade allies but trusts Fordring’s judgement in the matter, remembering his actions in Stratholme and the cost he bore. Initially inspired by the return of King Varian, she has become disillusioned with his leadership. Having fought side by side with Horde against the Legion, she sees the war against the Scourge as far more important than fighting the Horde, despite their betrayal at the Wrathgate. She now fights in defence of the Argent Vanguard camp in Icecrown.

Personality
Once a calm, patient woman, the fall of Lordaeron and the loss of Rosa took its toll on her. Described by many as zealous, Narquelie has often struggled in the past to tame her temper. Mellowed by her campaign in Outland, thesedays Narquelie has regained elements of her old composure and is in general more at peace with herself. However, when those close to her are threatened, or she is under intense pressure, Lucien still struggles to rein in her crusader's zeal.