Shinessa Duskrunner

"No, don't mind me. Pay no attention to the ominous, armoured, hooded Night Elf standing in the shadows over here" - Shinessa Duskrunner
Once a Night Elf Outrunner, Shinessa Duskrunner was slain by the Scourge, only to be revived as a Death Knight. Freed from the iron grip of the Lich King's will, she seeks vengeance for what was done to her.
==Appearance==
Shinessa could be best summarized as "just plain creepy". She rarely removes her hood, leaving her face mostly shadowed. Usually, all that can be seen of her facial features is the faint glow from her eyes - or her typically Kaldorei fangs when she grins, which she will do on occasion. Otherwise, she is rarely seen without the distinctive and ominous armor of a Death Knight, betraying very little of her character or nature. The fact that, as a Night Elf, she can effectively become invisible and, as such, there very well could be a heavily armored Death Knight brimming over with necrotic energy lurking in the room only makes her that much creepier.
If she does remove her hood, her nature becomes clear. Her skin is a pallid, lifeless grey and cold to the touch. Her hair is a ragged, strawlike mess that is an unnatural, light red color. Finally, rather then the normal soft silver of Kaldoeri eyes, they have an unearthly blue glow. Hiding her nature is impossible; she is clearly a Death Knight.
==Personality==
For the most part, Shinessa rarely speaks, seemingly content to ominously loom like some giant predatory bird. When she does choose to speak, its usually in short, clipped sentences, communicating what she wants as quickly and directly as possible. Her voice has an eerie, hollow air to it, which only makes her even more noticeable when she does speak. Even in battle, when slaughtering the minions of the Scourge, she doesn't say much at all.
Despite this, it is clear that she is driven by her desire for vengeance against the Scourge. She seeks to do battle with them in whatever way she can. Her desire to destroy them is one of the few things that can motivate her to speak out, calling for the utter destruction of the undead armies and the death of the Lich King. In battle against the undead legions, she is utterly merciless, doing whatever she feels is needed to destroy them. That she will throw herself into battle, becoming a furious engine of death and destruction without uttering a word, is just that extra bit more unerring.
==History==
===Origin===
Shinessa was born during the long vigil of the Night Elves, and raised in their world of perpetual twilight. The first millennium of her life was largely uneventful. As she grew, she demonstrated a degree of skill and stealth, becoming very adept at moving swiftly and silently through the Ashenvale forests. Determined to put her talents to good use, she became an outrunner, one of the scouts of the Sentinel army.
She first saw action in the War of the Shifting sands, supporting her comrades in arms by scouting the Silithid and Quiraj positions, providing them with the most accurate information possible. After the war, she returned to Ashenvale, but remained with the Sentinel forces.
During the third war, she again put her talents to use, observing both the Orcish and later the Legion forces as they moved through the forests. Witnessing first hand the damage dealt by their forces gave her a seething hatred of both the Orcs and the undead; one that was only amplified by the war’s outcome. While the Night Elves were victorious, their losses were severe.
===Vengeance===
Leaving her forest home in the aftermath of the war, Shinessa was amongst those who travelled to see the world they had hidden from for so long. However, her motivation was not just exploration, but vengeance; she sought a way to defeat those forces that had dared to invade the sanctity of her forest home. This lead her in two directions.
The first was Blackrock Spire, home of the Dark Horde. While not a part of the same Horde that had defiled Ashenvale, they were still controlled by the same demonic taint that had driven Grom Hellscream and his ilk. However, no matter how many of the Blackrock Orcs she slew, she knew that they were insufficient to fully repay what was done to her homeland.
This in turn lead her to the second; the Plaugelands, home of the Scourge. She gladly threw herself into battle with the undead legions, seeking to destroy them for what they had done. Unfortunately, this endeavour was far less successful then the former; while she did have some success against the Scourge, her efforts were ultimately thwarted. During an attack on the fortress of Scholomance, she was slain by the Scourge’s minions.
However, this was not the end.
===Rebirth===
Shinessa’s body was preserved by the Scourge and taken to the dread citadel of Acherus, hovering over the Eastern Plaguelands. There, she was resurrected by the Scourge’s agents, enthralled into their service. However, rather then being a common Ghoul or some other mindless undead, she was instead reborn as one of the new generation of Death Knights, pressed into the service of the Lich King. While a slave to his will, she was still a more then capable warrior, able to use the unholy powers at her command.
These abilities were used to their utmost during the assault on the Scarlet Enclave; Shinessa slew many crusaders without pity or mercy, gladly cutting them down as she had the Blackrock Orcs or the Scourge legions before her death. Her full awareness did not return to her, however, until the battle of Light’s Hope Chapel. The realisation of what she had become, along with what she had done and the Lich King’s further plans for her filled her with rage; she vowed, on that spot, to see the end of his reign, even if she had to slay him herself.
===Wanderer===
With her few allies from her past either dead or thinking her dead, and unwelcome by Kaldorei society due to her nature, Shinessa was forced to fend for herself. Already somewhat self-reliant, she took to travelling on her own, confronting whatever evils she may encounter with the abilities she was given by the Scourge. From time to time, she will make temporary allies, working with others as the situation demands, and then leaving them to move on to her next goal.
Regardless, there is one thing on her mind, one thing that drives her more then anything else. Arthas, the Lich king; her ultimate, and final target. She has vowed to destroy him, regardless of what it may cost her.
Category:Alliance
Category:Night Elf
Category:Death Knight