Antigone Varietas

Antigone is a Warlock and one of the leaders of Ordo Complector. She is 23 years old.
==Research==
As one of the Lorekeepers of Ordo Complector, Antigone heads a research group. Her own interest lies specifically in the art of demonology, although her team also has an alleged focus in the Silithid menace, although no study has been done in that area yet. Antigone spends her own time working out new and better ways to gain control of demons, as well as figuring out methods to aid her own demons. She also enjoys writing essays detailing her own views and theories regarding her work as a warlock; Antigone believes that a scholarly approach to her field will help de-mystify her art so that others can be more accepting of Shadow.
==Appearance==
Antigone, although of an average height, holds herself stiffly and with an air of superiority that tends to make her seem taller than she actually is. She is thin, almost to an unhealthy degree, and her shoulder length black hair hangs free most of the time. Her pupils are flatly black and the whites of her eyes are also edged with black.
When doing work in the field, Antigone wears high quality robes and, usually, her Ordo Complector tabard as well. When not at work, she favors simple black pants and white shirts, or robes of the same basic colors. She makes many of her own clothes.
Antigone has no scars, although there are faint dark patches in the center of the palms of her hands.
==Personality==
Antigone is the antithesis of a warm and friendly person. Outside of an incredibly small circle of friends, she is known to be thoroughly bitchy, rude and often dismissive. When meeting a new person, Antigone automatically assumes they are an idiot and only through consistent proof otherwise will she gradually change her opinion. Antigone doesn't like people. Despite this innate dislike of most people, Antigone is willing to assist and help those in her guild.
To those who know her well -- this number being around five -- she has a wickedly dry sense of humor and a nice smile. She blushes easily when asked about Mardus, with whom she lives. 
Antigone is very protective of her demons and they of her. She treats them well, or at least better than they would find from other warlocks, and in turn they respect her and follow her orders.
==History==
===From a broken home to a twisted guardian===
Antigone was infamous from a very early age, even if she didn't know it at the time. Born of an unintentionally incestuous marriage -- her father discovered that his wife, Antigone's mother, was his mother a few years too late -- the name Varietas became analogus to scandal and deceit. After her parents found out the truth, Antigone's father abruptly killed himself and her mother ran away in horror. Antigone's uncle, Kantor Varietas, brought the two year old Antigone into his house and raised her as his own, shielding her from the vicious rumors circulating as best as he could. Ann, as she was called then, had a happy childhood, running around with her four cousins, helping to shear sheep and feed chickens, learning to bake, repair and live on a farm. Antigone was prepared to spend the rest of her life on the small farm in Elwynn.
This plan abruptly changed, though, one day when Kantor brought his sister-niece into Goldshire with him on a few errands. As she played with some of the town children, one of the boys saw fit to regale Antigone with twisted stories of her parents, now nine years absent. Overcome with shock and refusing to believe the child, Antigone lashed out, suddenly using power she had never dreamt of. Shadow blasted the area around the children, leaving Antigone in the middle, blissfully asleep and unaware of the Fel fire circling her hands.
Despite his misgivings, Kantor knew he had to get rid of Antigone. He was a devout follower of the Light and he believed with all his heart that those who deal with Shadow are condemned from the moment they touch it. Just a few hours later, he gave all responsibility of the girl to one of Stormwind's most powerful warlocks: Gakin Darkbinder. The man, dark not only in name and skin, but also in soul and personality, was thrilled at the chance to mold such a promising child and readily took on the task.
For the next nine years, Antigone lived with Gakin, under his tutelage and, later, in his bed. He was a good teacher, although at times he verbally lashed out at the girl when she didn't succeed as adeptly as he would like. Learning quickly, Antigone worked hard to become at least just as powerful as Gakin, if not more so. Gakin trained her in various fields, as he himself was something of a jack of all trades. She learned not only the basics of demonology and those spells of affliction and destruction, but Antigone also studied necromancy and other dark arts. During this time, Antigone's relationship with Gakin changed and deepened. Some of Gakin's peers scolded him for taking the girl into his bed, but the older warlock smirked and assured them it was her own choice. It had been, certainly, but it was a choice helped heavily by wine. Antigone believed that he truly loved her and was thrilled to find herself falling in love with the older man, as well.
===Moving out of Stormwind and into the Retribution===
Just three years later, when Antigone turned twenty, though, she decided to head out from the confines of Stormwind and learn what she could while doing fieldwork. Gakin opposed the idea, believing there was more than enough to learn and do without leaving the safety of the city. When Antigone refused to bow to his wishes, instead leaving the city and starting work in her birthplace of Elwynn Forest, Gakin took the first steps of shutting the younger warlock out of his life. Without bothering at all to hide it, he took on new, younger and prettier warlock apprentices, parading them in front of Antigone with no shame.
In response, Antigone threw herself into her work outside of Stormwind. During one long day of work in Westfall, she met a duo around her age: a brother and sister, a priest and a mage. Marris and Kitra happily worked with Antigone, providing the warlock with her first non warlock or demon friends since she was a child. Bonding quickly with the other two, Antigone soon joined their organization: the Retribution of Arathor. Gakin saw this as the ultimate betrayal and soon refused to talk to Antigone at all, even to train her. The fact that Antigone was regularly working with two handsome young men -- Marris and, another newcomer to the Retribution, Mardus -- didn't help matters.
Soon after this, amidst Antigone's growth as a warlock and as a young woman (shown both in her success at summoning and enslaving a Succubus, and her developing feelings for the priest Marris), Antigone went through a major loss. She suddenly found herself unable to summon her Voidwalker, Graz'nuz, who had been her closest companion since first summoning him when she was 16. Unable to figure out what was going on, Antigone went out on a limb and asked for the assistance of Ravine, another warlock in the Retribution. Ravine and Mardus both offered as much help as they could, and eventually Ravine and Antigone took part in a ritual they devised, which was meant to recreate and strengthen the bond between Antigone and her Voidwalker. Things didn't go according to plan, though, when a rogue Voidwalker was summoned, instead, and started pumping Antigone full of pure Shadow. Finally, through blasts of power from Ravine and Antigone's succubus, Graz'nuz was restored to Antigone. The end result, though, was that Antigone now had a festering infection of pure Shadow inside of her; while this allowed her to connect to the Nether easier, giving extra strength to her spells, it also handicapped her in that light – both physical and the Light used in healing spells – pained her when it was too strong, and at times she coughed up pure Shadow. Antigone never discovered why it was she wasn’t able to summon Graz’nuz for so long; however, Antigone’s Imp, Karnip, holds suspicions that Gakin himself had something to do with it.
Through this painful time for Antigone, a constant source of reassurance came in the form of a friendly warrior named Mardus. The two started working together in the Stranglethorn Vale and soon were rather inseparable. Neither one was very good at expressing their feelings; Antigone especially felt reticent about developing anything with the threatening presence of Gakin hanging over her head. Eventually, though, the two confessed to one another that they had feelings for each other. Both were awkward, but it was generally adorable.
Since then, until rather recently, Antigone grew in power as she worked with the Retribution, learning to summon and control more demons, and learning to work with Shadow and Fire in new and exciting ways. She cut herself off even more from Gakin, instead training in Ironforge with a respected warlock named Alexander Calder. While she knew she would never be free of the older warlock, Antigone was intent on making a name for herself so that she would not always be known as Gakin’s apprentice. Alongside Mardus, she went through many trials, from dealing with Necromancers – which is how Mardus lost an eye and gained his own minor Shadow infection – to losing her warrior for four months. Only recently was she reunited with Mardus, which is something all who know her should be happy of; when he was gone, Antigone was even more angry and prone to violence than she normally is.
===Creating her own path===
When Mardus returned, though, and Antigone was able to look around herself with a sense of self not wholly focused on finding him again, the warlock realized that her home in the Retribution had vanished. During the past four months, as she worked toward saving Mardus, she hadn’t consciously realized how disconnected she was from the rest of the guild. Finally becoming aware of the rather constant slurs and discrimination her demon was fielding – Antigone had given over her guildstone to her Felguard, as she herself did not wish to talk to her guildmates more than necessary – and realizing that despite her own struggles over the past few months, almost no guildmates had offered even the slightest word or two of worry for Mardus, Antigone decided to leave the Retribution.
When Sarriel Lightchaser, who had already employed Mardus and Antigone in the past, contacted the warlock about Ordo Complector, Antigone realized it was time for a new path, and she accepted the elf’s offer of leadership. She believes that through the Order she might gain more power, but also learn how to work that power in a way beneficial to the Alliance. Antigone is on the search for answers, while being well aware that there are many times where you, yourself, are the answer you seek.
Since joining the Order, Antigone has been promoted to Sarriel's second in the guild. Antigone is very proud of this accomplishment. In addition to this increase in responsiblity and power within the guild, Antigone has also taken on a few apprentices: Gloerius Windham and Tabasa Felsworn. In general, these new authority positions Antigone has found herself in have caused the woman to mellow some, and she has discovered she enjoys teaching and coaching others. Since accepting both of these apprentices late last year, due to various reasons, both have failed.
She and Mardus are now engaged, although they have not formally announced the news. He proposed to her in Nagrand in the middle of January.
==Demons==
Antigone has put most of her energy into researching demonology and, because of all her effort, is known to be a quite accomplished demonologist. She believes that the better one's demons are treated, the better they will obey their Mistress. Antigone despises warlocks who mistreat their demons and will not hesitate to express such feelings. While she considers her demons to be part of her family and, indeed, would trust them much further than she'd trust the average mortal, she recognizes that not all share her open-minded view on demons and generally respects the constraints put on her by society. Thus, she never summons demons while in Darnassus and usually leaves her demons at the door to buildings, despite the consequent amusement she would gain from introducing her minions to the innkeeper.
*Karnip
An Imp, Karnip was the first demon Antigone enslaved to her will. She doesn't bring him into the material plane often. They do not have a close bond, although he serves her in whatever way she asks. He prefers to do behind-the-scene work, supporting his Mistress from the Nether.
*Graz'nuz
Graz'nuz, the Voidwalker, was arguably Antigone's first friend since she left her uncle's farm. A fiercesome looking creature, Antigone first learned to summon and control the Voidwalker when she was sixteen, on her birthday. Since then, in her mind, her birthday is more important because it's the anniversary of when she first met Graz'nuz. Graz'nuz is remarkably friendly to Antigone's allies, as he's known to congenially bow and seem to smile (although he has no mouth) especially to her female friends. At times he asks his Mistress to convey rather flirtatious remarks to some of her compatriots, which she does grudgingly. The Voidwalker is not always so friendly, though, as he will not hesitate to strike down anyone who dares attack his Mistress, either in battle or conversation. This fiercely protective side of him has shown through even more since he was separated from Antigone by an unseen force late last year.
*Helriel
Antigone first learned to control her Succubus, Helriel, in the midst of her struggles summoning Graz'nuz. Because of this, she was forced to depend on the succubus much more than a warlock would normally need to. During this span of time, Helriel and Antigone got along only hesitantly. The warlock was repeatedly embarrassed by the Succubus's overt displays of sexuality, while Helriel got no small amusement out of joking with Antigone -- especially about the human's growing crush on Mardus. Eventually, though, the demon and warlock came to an understanding. They work well together now, with the Succubus never second-guessing her Mistress's orders. While still wildly sensual and enthusiastic about all things with muscles, Helriel can be a calming, comforting presence for her Mistress. She would probably describe herself as Antigone's surrogate older sister, but Antigone wouldn't agree.
*Fzuuphom
One of Antigone's most fearsome demons, because of its innate ability to eat magic and rend casters useless, Fzuuphom the Felhunter is a snarling mass of instable mana. At least.. Sometimes. Antigone rarely finds herself in a situation where Fzuuphom's unique abilities are called upon, and the demon has comfortably settled into his role as the family pet. The warlock sometimes reflects upon the fact that the Felhunter even seems to prefer Mardus over her, perhaps because the man never shies away from rubbing the Felhunter's stomach or playing fetch. Fzuuphom is only this familiar, though, with Antigone and Mardus; if around anyone else, the demon growls and sometimes has to be held back from preemptively protecting Antigone.
*Jhuudhun
After struggling for many weeks to learn to summon an Infernal, Antigone thought to give herself an easier project by discovering how to summon and control a Felguard. Despite the lack of generally known information on this ritual, the warlock had a relatively easy time designing the summoning circle and planning out the reagents. She enjoyed the work, seeing it as a practical way to prove to her trainers how far she had come in the art of demonology. The ritual went over well, although it drained her of more energy than she had planned.
Jhuudhun was the result of the ritual. While perhaps not precisely what Antigone was hoping for, the Felguard is nothing if not a killing machine and wholly capable on the battle field. Off of it, though.. The demon is remarkably dimwitted and easily amused; he can often be seen trying to carve his name into whatever is around him, be it stone, lava or flesh. Near the end of her membership in the Retribution of Arathor, Antigone had taken to giving her guildstone over to her Felguard for safe keeping, as she felt no need to keep in constant touch with her guildmates. Since becoming a Lorekeeper of the Ordo Complector, though, Antigone has regained control of her guildstone.
*Xaphan
Antigone's Felsteed is a fierce creature. He's relatively young and doesn't appreciate being enslaved by Antigone. Despite this, he gives her respect and does his best to keep her safe whilst she is on his back. He does not care for any other mortals in any way, though.
*Hera
Hera, Antigone's Dreadsteed, is extremely strong and enjoys wreaking havoc in battle. Out of it, though, she prefers to not be bothered by anyone except Antigone, who the demon appreciates because of the warlock's attentive currying and feeding of raw meat. When Antigone first learned to summon and control the Dreadsteed, Hera was exceedingly timid outside of battle and would shy away from anyone who came near her. Now, she's more at home on the mortal plane and is only seen to be skittish around certain individuals.
==Trivia==
*Antigone's name is from the Greek play of the same name. Her family history is very loosely based upon that of the title character of the Grecian play.
*Antigone's last name means "Variety" and is a subtle pun on the fact that her DNA doesn't have much.
*While Antigone is not a large animal lover, she does have a small white cat that she tends to dote on. Named Dinosaur (a joke, since Mardus notoriously hates dinosaurs), the cat has full reign of Antigone and Mardus's home in Darnassus. The cat was taken care of by Saelienne, the innkeeper in Darnassus, during Mardus and Antigone's absence from the city.
*Fletcher, Antigone's ebon Gryphon, is the warlock's first non-demonic mount since she was a child. When she first bought him she was extremely uncomfortable riding him, as with a demonic mount she could speak to the demon and have a mindlink which not only allowed her to not worry about directing the creature, but also gave her the added advantage of instinctively knowing when and how to shift her weight. Fletch, though, requires the warlock's constant attention and care. In her work with the Skyguard, Antigone has been forced to get used to flying in tense circumstances with her gryphon, though, and is continually feeling more at ease in the sky.
*Antigone's birthday is February 8th.