Lillian Smith

Lillian Agnes Smith (Born Lillian Black, 4 October, 18 L.C.) is a Gilnean Private First Class and conscript of the Stormwind Army. Having endured the countless calamities to befall Gilneas, Lillian is a reclusive survivor that does her utmost to stay out of trouble and control her worgen curse, inflicted upon her during the Fourth War.
Previously jailed in the Stockade for assault and battery in her worgen form that nearly killed her victim, she substituted her sentence with conscription into the Stormwind army, and has been delivered to the First Regiment to serve a different sentence. Having yet to be pardoned for her crime, she has since been transferred to the north.
== Personality and beliefs ==
Having witnessed her share of trials from an early age, Lillian is often averse to social contact and does her utmost to keep herself from any trouble. She rarely voices her discontent with anything or expresses frustration, instead opting to remove herself from a situation if it becomes stressful. In combat and on deployment, she was found to often be fidgety and fearful, displaying a certainly cowardly streak. However, time spent acclimating to the Regiment has helped combat become a grim, if necessary, routine that she faces with cold stoicism.
While she finds it difficult to trust others, she has been known to open up to people who prove they are not malicious to her. This has even revealed that Lillian is something of a patriot for her home kingdom, and still holds Gilnean pride close to her heart. However, she will often shut people out again out of safety, either her own or for theirs. Though she has an avoidant personality, her submissive nature also makes her keen to follow instructions to the letter.
Lillian joins many humans in her worship of the Holy Light. Though she does not practice it with great fervor, she does revere the Light and can sometimes be found keeping a quiet prayer to herself. Like many who hold the Virtues close, Lillian is not a cruel woman; rather, she tends to err on the side of generosity and compassion, and often feels regret in harming others in any fashion.
She is alleged to have something of a temper, supposedly attributed to her Curse. When pressed in any given circumstance, she may express exasperation or frustration, though this assumedly pales compared to her capacity for bloodlust and fury as a worgen. As a worgen, she has been observed as wild and reckless, and without apparent thought, as she seemingly gives in to bestial rage. She is aggressive to what draws her ire, but noted to have a sense of self-preservation that drives her to flee from overwhelming numbers rather than risk being trapped. Being left alone and without aggression from others seems to give her the time to restore her clarity and shift back into a human.
She seems to have a hidden sense of self-loathing that stems from her Curse and mistakes made because of it, typically manifesting as bouts of catatonic depression.
== Description ==
Lillian is a rather ordinary woman, her complexion pale after a life under Gilneas' endless rains, with dark, almost messy hair that she has kept trimmed to her shoulders. Her body is unassuming and unimpressive, a moderate height of 5'8" with a lithe build, almost always covered by articles of clothing over everything save her head and face. Her face in question is the picture of a person who fails to get her share of sleep, with visibly sunken and tired eyes that are almost always squinting as if she is still trying to process what goes on around her.
Her form as a worgen is a startling opposite to her meek appearance, towering at a dominating 8'1" with a body of muscle. Her hide is as black as her hair, with the sole contrast found in her eyes that glow a feral shine of yellow at all times, and elongated fangs that emerge from both her upper and lower jaws, crossing one another. As a worgen her body is nearly lacking in all human signs of femininity, with a broader and muscled form that lends an almost androgynous look to her.
== Equipment ==
As a forester of the Reconnaissance Corps, Lillian is primarily outfitted with armor and weaponry suiting her role as a ranged fighter and scout. She has been issued a set of studded leather armor and utilizes a Bridgeport rifle in all engagements.
== History ==
Lillian was born as an only child out of a harbor town known as Old Bay, near the Northern Headlands of Gilneas, to her parents Jeremiah and Abigail Black. Though her early years were largely unremarkable, her childhood was eventually uprooted by the Northgate Rebellion that divided many Gilnean citizens. Caught between a rebel mother and a loyalist father, Lillian was under great stress as her parents eventually separated entirely, leaving her with her father. Unable - or unwilling - to support his daughter as a single parent, Jeremiah left Lillian alone in the Gilneas market during a Hallow's End celebration.
After being taken in by the guard and delivered into temporary custody of an orphanage, Lillian was fortunate to be soon adopted by Adam and Zachariah Smith. As turbulent as her life had been, Lillian was able to enjoy relative comfort with her new family, bonding with their one year old mastiff, Zoe. This too, would be uprooted when Lillian was little over ten years old; the arrival of the worgen destroyed many Gilnean lives, and resulted in Zachariah being cursed by the worgen, and forcing Lillian and Zoe to escape together.
After surviving alone and being found by worgen hunters, Lillian was delivered to the rest of Gilneas' refugees and escorted through the chaos that was the Forsaken invasion and the Horde's war upon the collapsing kingdom. Narrowly surviving the Cataclysm and the exodus, Lillian joined all the other refugees aboard the Night Elf ships out of Gilneas and to Teldrassil. Life on Teldrassil never suited Lillian however, and after a short time attempting to fit in, she was already seeking a way out to live in Stormwind.
Roughly a decade has passed and Lillian, as a grown woman, had spent her years living alone in the wilds of Elwynn and around towns such as Goldshire. Having become accustomed to a lonely life, she has done her best to avoid finding any more trouble to plague her life. However, misadventures in the north resulted in her becoming cursed into one of the very worgen that she had survived so long against, and left her capacity for trust in others at an all time low.
Traveling with her friend, William Talbot, she has since been trying to live out a quiet existence as best as she can, with William serving as a guide through the confusion and rage of her Curse. In recent times, however, she has been deemed a criminal, found guilty of assault, battery, and the attempted murder of a civilian as a result of her being provoked into a worgen rage in the light of day within Stormwind City. Previously sentenced to ten years in the Stockade, she has begrudgingly chosen military conscription instead, and hopes to make it out with her life.
=== Post-Enlistment ===
Shortly after Lillian's enlistment, the First Regiment was deployed to confront the Royal Apothecary Society, Reformed (RASR) in Tirisfal. Lillian's first deployment was not without its rigors and stress, and though she did her utmost to remain unimposing and simply survive and follow orders, she caught the attention of some of her betters. Lieutenants Dawnblade and Tsinguan both took note of Lillian's fear and withdrawn state, and that ultimately she was holding back what might have been true potential. Tsinguan directly addressed her curse, however, having read through her enlistment, and offered counsel on taking steps to overcome her fear and her curse alike, so as to ultimately seize control of it.
Unfortunately, Lillian's control was indeed tested - and failed - when the final confrontation against the RASR drew out Lillian's rage and survival instinct. Out of sheer fury, Lillian lost control and assumed her worgen form to savagely assault what remained of the undead, before disengaging from the Regiment entirely. Instinct almost led her to escape the Regiment entirely until confronted by Captain Witherseed, who calmly and repeatedly instructed Lillian to shift back until eventually the scout could reassume control of herself.
Lillian lapsed into a brief depression due to her loss of control and outing herself as a worgen, prepared to receive the consternation of the Regiment and those she had just begun to consider friends. However, the sudden death of Lieutenant Tsinguan shook Lillian as it had shaken many, and a feeling of guilt and being indebted to the Lieutenant's prior counsel led her to the decision that she needed to begin to overcome her fear. Turning to Witherseed for advice and finding solace in the company of Stilltide and Finn, she has determined it best to put herself on a path to the Stormwind Inquisition and to take back some semblance of control in her life.
However, it was soon brought to Lillian's attention that her criminalized past in assaulting her victim meant she could never become a member of the Inquisition. For a time, Lillian was distraught and held herself wholly in contempt, returning once again to a withdrawn state of self-loathing. However, she was able to emerge from it with some clarity that she needed to take control of her curse before it could inevitably take control of her once again.
== Relationships ==
The First Regiment: On the whole, Lillian's relationship with the Regiment is strained by the circumstances in which she joined, via conscription. An unwilling member, she largely regards the Regiment with doubt and distrust. Those who attempt to reach out to her are typically pushed away or brushed off due to her fear of putting others she allows herself to care about in danger, and she makes an active effort to avoid those she entirely dislikes. It does not appear as though Lillian has any significant ambitions within or for the Regiment.
Robin Foy: As one of the original members of the First Regiment to know of Lillian's curse, Lillian approaches her with both hesitation and a modicum of openness. Due to Robin's extroverted nature, Lillian - an introvert by comparison - is able to gravitate towards the Paladin as an anchor for social matters. As compassionate as Foy is, she has been able to provide Lillian some comfort and solace on occasion when she needs it. However, she has since pushed the squire away, for lack of trust in her comrades.
Reginald Finn: A fellow recruit of the First Regiment, Reginald's openness and lack of malice at least earned Lillian's fondness. A feeling of friendship was more cemented after Reginald heard rumor of her involuntary transformation, and supported her rather than condemn her as a monster; however, after a forced transformation in Feralas, she once again doubted she could trust herself to keep her relationships safe, and has begun to push Reginald away, as she has with most of her friends.
Kazren Stilltide: First to identify Lillian's curse after he helped her keep her composure through a full moon and avoid succumbing to instinct through prayers and introspection of the Light. Sharing much in common, their troubled histories of parentage and their similar threats of inner rage have helped Kazren to become a comforting and friendly presence to Lillian. They have bonded a great deal since meeting, to the point of utmost trust in one another despite her fears.
Tsao Tsinguan: Though they were only acquaintances through the Regiment, as an officer to his soldiers, Tsao left a lasting impression on Lillian. Having left her words of counsel to overcome her fear of herself and the world, and perhaps even learn to accept her curse as part of her, the late Lieutenant has inspired Lillian to take control of her circumstances and become a better soldier.
== Trivia ==
* Lillian is noted to have a severely disrupted sleep schedule, which contributes to her often sleep-deprived appearance. Bunk-mates can find that she is often awake through the night, or turning in her sleep with distress.
* Similar to many Gilneans who have lived with and raised hounds, Lillian has a distinct fondness for dogs that work well to help her open up in social situations.
*Lillian is not open about her Curse. Therefore, knowledge of her Curse - without reasonable proof - is assumedly available only to those able to access records of her enlistment.
Category:Characters