Mailinya Ina Shadowstrider

A Quel'Dorei who studied the old ways of the Druid Magi, and now is a part of The Cenarion Circle as their only High Elf member.
She spent much of her time on the guild The Thousand Eyes, but now she's mostly occupied in The Emerald Dream looking to find a solution to cleanse it.
==Name ==
Mailinya was first named Mailinya Ina Firewing, born in the house of Firewings.She rarely uses her middlename when introducing herself. When Mailinya married, she took the name Shadowstrider as her surname. She sees herself and her children as the last of the Shadowstrider house.Her pet name is Mai.
==Appearance==
With the help of her husband who passed away Mailinya can now call herself a true Quel'dorei, but the only thing showing this is her one bright blue eye. The other she lost in an assassination attempt on Verdauga Whitecloud and she now wears an eyepatch.
Her hair is long and black as the night sky and often full of dirt.
Although she spends most of her time outdoor her skin is pale but with freckles upon the cheeks. Among the freckles is several tiny scars that looks abit like whiskers.
Mai has short sharp teeth and shows them often in a grin or snarl.
As any other Elf she is rather slim but strong and agile.
In her right ear she still wears a Firewing Signet, a golden band with red and green gems. Under her shirt she hides a necklace with a teardrop shaped pearl in, which she was given by her husband as a sign of her being a Quel'dorei. These are the only jewels she would wear, as she stopped wearing her engagement rings from her previous marriage.
===Armor===
On any other day, Mai would wear leather or mail that allows greater movement. She will always wear a tabard with a big eye in the middle, the tabard of The Thousand Eyes. 
For gatherings or other events she will be seen in a typical Druidic garment. 
===Weapons===
She rarely wears any weapons inside cities apart from the longbow Rhok'delar on her back. A Spirit Beast named Mu'sha will come to her if she should need any backup.
Outside of cities and sanctuaries she will wear a sword, axe or polearm.
==Class ==
Quel'dorei Druid (Blood Elf - Hunter)
Since her early years she trained as a Hunter, taming wild beasts as her companions, something she never put aside. She will always have a pet nearby to help her. Her strength is in Bows, but she is not bad with a Sword or an Axe either, although she would rarely weild one. From her training as a Druid she is able to heal herself for a small amount. In return for the powers the nature grants her, she usually spends much time in restoring the nature and it's balance.
==Factions==
As a Quel'Dorei she has chosen to follow The Horde, even though most of them are on The Alliance. A long time ago she and her husband swore to the Warchief to always serve him. She has never failed this.
*Timbermaw Hold
*Cenarion Circle
*Cenarion Expedition
*The Dark Rangers, Lady Sylvanas
*Shattered Sun Offensive
*Wyrmrest Accord
==Occupation ==
===Druidism===
Ever since Mai started studying Druidism, she spend alot of her time on this. She put her life and feelings into this subject and wouldn't have it any other way. She even let her two youngest children follow in her footsteps, and they study in Moonglade with the Druids.
Her first tutor was the Druid Verdauga Whitecloud and he led her before The Cenarion Circle who were late to accept her. They put her on alot of tasks and send her to aid the Expedition in Outlands. Finally when they had accepted her there, she returned to Moonglade where they allowed her to use these half selftaught skills.
As any other Druid she has been sent to The Emerald Dream to help the situation there. The problem there has caught Mais interest and she works hard both inside and outside of it to find a solution.
===Professions===
Herbalism
From a young age Mai has always enjoyed the nature. She was trained by the Herbalist Komin Winterhoof in how and where to find herbs and how to distinguish one from another. She often sells the herbs she doesn't need herself. 
She always smells of the pure Purple Lotus.
Alchemy
As she picked more and more herbs, she found a way to use them in another way than just for decoration. She started brewing potions and elixirs and later she mastered flaskmaking and transmuting. She is now an Elixir Master.
She will always carry different potions and elixirs on her to benefit in battle.
Cooking
After the death of her beloved husband Zil'Qanaz she learned how to cook for her children. Now she masters it very well. Mostly her dishes is made up of fish or purely vegetables.
==Family ==
*Mailinnia Firewing - Older twinsister.
*Zil'Qanaz Shadowstrider - Husband (deceased)
*Imithriel - Oldest daughter.
*Adrastos and Elina - Twin children of hers. (Adrastos the oldest).
*It is believed that both of Mailinyas parents are still alive.
==Pets and Mounts==
Mai could call herself a collector on the subject of beasts. Of pets she tames only the strongest and most intelligent of that race, and should one of the companions show any sudden weakness or sign of unwillingly company, she would set the beast free. A special gift she has is to talk to her companions or feel how they feel on herself.
The same can be said about her mounts and this is just a short list of hers.
===Pets===
* The first loyal beast of Mailinyas was Kaliz (Bangalash), but he was cursed and could not be ressurected after a bloody fight against the Hexer Zhida. Mai named her next beast after her previous loyal one.
*Today a Spirit Beast (Gondria) follow her everywhere she goes. Little is known about the creature, but it only shows itself to people it trusts or if Mai is in danger. The Druids of Cenarion have tried to examine it, and have concluded the beast carries a spirit of a fallen which explains its high intelligence. Her name is Mu'sha, named after The Moon in Taurahe.
* Milwraeth - Translates to 'Colourful' in Druidic. A big wolf from the snowy regions of Northrend, whos pelt seem to change colour in different light.
===Mounts===
* Snowhide - A big white kodo named after Mais first secret love. Although only used in and around Thunder Bluff, she shares a strong bond to this animal as it seems like the only way to speak to her old friend again.
* Inkle - An angry black wolf.
* Brownie - A brown bear, specially for cold Northrend adventures.
She was given a red drake by the red flight.
==Guild==
Mailinya joined with the mercenary guild, Swamprat Mercenaries, to access the halls of Icecrown Citadel due to rumours of a green dragon held captured there.
==Background ==
===Early Years===
Mailinya was born in Quel'thalas in it's brighter times, before the Scourge Invasion. Although she remembers near nothing from this time, this is where she lived in the first years of her life and played around with her twinsister, Ira.
Born into the big and noble family of Firewing, she never missed anything and was almost treated like a princess. Her father was a wealthy ambassador after having served in the Troll Wars, which he unfortunately had to withdraw from due to an injury in his leg. Unable to walk, his life had been saved by the young Prince Kael'thas whom he would forever be in debt to.
As the Prince moved to Outland to get closer to the Burning Legion, so did the Firewings. Mai and Ira was promised a great new life with alot more land of their own. But instead it became a fight for survival.
Still very young the twins were given tutors to begin their training in dark magic. With both Horde and Alliance assaults every other day, it was needed that everyone could fight for themselves. The first and most basic the girls was taught was how to spend their mana in the most practical way and how to regenerate it quickly. The rumour spread fast that Ira had an incredible talent. Mai who had none at all was slowly forgotten by everyone else than her loving sister.
Mailinya was tired of trying to learn something which to her seemed impossible. The fel made her feel sick, or was it the harassment and torturing of creatures found in the nature? How could she ever make herself kill an innocent creature just to get the same attention as her sister? Instead she hid from her teachers to play in the nature with animals and plants.
Finally the twins and a couple of other Firewing-kids was to be sent to Silvermoon City to finish their training. (There was an old law that made it illegal to harm any child, no matter race or appearance, inside the City.) This was the first good news Mai had ever heard, and she was eager to go. At last she could be free from her family and their cruelty. For now.
But the sight and behavior that met her in the former Quel'thalas almost made her wish she hadn't taken the journey there. The country had clearly been marked by the Scourge Invasions, and even though the City was under heavy restoration and was in alot better state than anywhere else nearby, the looks that met them there could have scared a dead man. The Firewings sure wasn't as wealthy as they once were, but the same could be said about everyone else, and when the young girls wearing old - but delicately fine - dresses and jewelery entered the City, they were not mistaken to be just anyone. Mai was not slow to change the long silken robes and heavy earrings to a more normal and neutral look.
Ira was immediately accepted as apprentice to the High Warlock Alamma and cared mostly for her training and further education, leaving Mai more or less to herself. So Mai, wandering about on her own, overheard talk at the inn about a place of peace and free of Elves. This caught her interest and she listened intensely to the two Trolls´ stories.
Apparently Kalimdor was the home of old tribes with their roots still deep in ancient ways and a Horde who cared for the nature. This is when she decided to run away. She did not belong here, and she never had.
===Life in the Eyes===
The leader of this tribe was the Arch Druid Verdauga Whitecloud, and after weeks and letters of begging for his help, he finally gave in. Years later she discovered that it was his brother Eyes who had insisted on giving her a chance.
The big Tauren made his way to the Eastern Kingdoms to help her get away. It was a long and tense trip for her and it was not until they reached The Barrens and Verdauga showed her the first sign pointing towards Crossroads, she realized that she was safe.
"This is where the lands of the Tauren begins. These are the signs of my people. Remember them well, you will be safe here." The friendly Tauren pointed to the totem-like sign where strange letters of a foreign tongue were painted on. She had hugged herself close in to the furry friend. He showed her a love she had never recieved before, and he didn't ask for anything in return.
The Druid took her all the way to Mulgore and Thunder Bluff where she was introduced to this new culture, which she could now call her home. She was happy with it, and started helping the Tauren every time she could.
Soon after she met her brothers and sisters of the Eyes, and she felt home immediately. The regular meetings and trials was the bright moments during her training.
Meanwhile she slowly lost her strength and energy due to her fel addiction and Verdauga decided to help Mai out of it. He ordered daily trips to the nearest Moonwell, where the neutral energies cleansed and strengthened her. But the effect only worked for a short time and when it wore out, she would be even more tired and wasted. It was clearly not the way to go, and Verdauga tried using his Moonfire and Starfire on her. These natural magics also seemed to help, but at the same time it hurt her alot.
During her trips to the Moonwells she often was acompanied by the Savagekin Snowhide. Slowly they fell secretely in love. It had been clear to Mai ever since she got to know Verdauga, that he was against mixing races and getting mutant children probably more than anything else. ´Half one race, half another, never a whole person´.
When the Savagekin went missing from one day to the next, Mai found herself pregnant with his child. Desperate and having no one else to get help from, she told Verdauga about the child and begged for his help. The help he gave swiftly, beating her up until he was sure she would lose the child. And lose it she did.
Snowhide they never heard from again.
After a long time in bed, Mai could finally get up and out again. This she would never forget, and she would make sure he'd feel that. By coincidence she bumped into the High Elf Zil'Qanaz Shadowstrider who appearantly knew the old Druid. He would get rid of Verdauga for the small sum of money she could offer. She was later happy that this attempt failed.
But she had made a new friend and he was, unlike any of the other of her friends, much like herself. A true Quel'Dorei and, in her eyes, a noble man. She spend much time with him and he showed her how she should meditate to get the addiction fully under her own control. He also taught her the old High Elven language.
Secret mails and presents from her sister started to find their way to the still young Elf. Every time she recieved one, she hid somewhere for days in fear. Fear that her sister had finished her Warlock training and returned to Firewing Point to report Mai missing. Fear that armies or assassins was on their way to bring her back, dead or alive. Mai wasn't much of a fighter and realized that she would never be able to protect herself. Therefor she asked her new best friend for help. The lonely Elf couldn't do anything but help her. He even came up with the idea of marriage to change her surname.
A cold autumn evening Zil'Qanaz wed the two of them by the so often visited Moonwell in Ashenvale. From that moment she didn't hear from her sister or any other relatives for a long time.
Getting to know her new husband better, she saw him as an old lonely man who once had lost everything. She surprised him with the news of being with his child, and this woke him up and made him happier. Even though Mai still was young, she was glad to make this man, she owed so much, happy. And she could not have forseen any problems with the child.
Meanwhile Verdauga seemed to have forgiven her as she married and in his eyes 'settled down' with a man of her own race. He even convinced her to start studying Druidism with himself as her tutor.
===Druidism and the Cenarion Circle===
Still pregnant with the evidence of her achievement of getting rid of her addiction she started her studying. She had Verdauga to show and teach her about most of the Druidic skills he knew, but more than half of them she wasn't able to use for herself. She studied hard, reading every single old book about the subject she could find. 
The Cenarion Circle heard of this and send her a letter to tell her that she was under no conditions allowed to use these half homemade spells. They required that she would make her way to Moonglade to talk about it as soon as possible.
When she turned up in Moonglade, she was sent to Outlands to aid the field organisation Cenarion Expedition. Here she worked hard to please the Druids. To be allowed the use of these spells, she had to earn one of the Expeditions tabards. This turned out to be hard work, as these Druids certainly are more stubborn than just that.
Around this time, halfway through her work, she had to go home as it was time for her child to come out. She got to somewhere in the middle of The Barrens before she had to give up going any further. Luckily her husband got to her in time and helped with the birth in the middle of nowhere.
Their firstborn was a girl, and Zil'Qanaz picked her name. Imithriel. The name was a picture of her Mai, it translates ´Once corrupt, now clean´ in High Elven. The girl looked so much like Zil, and it had been a long time since he had last been that happy.
As soon as Mai was ready to travel again she headed back to Outlands. She wanted to finish her work. She wanted to earn the tabard and she wanted to be allowed her new skills. She wanted this more than anything. In her rush and eagerness she more or less forgot about her husband and baby.
When Mai finally got the tabard she for so long had been wanting, there were only Druids to congratulate her. And when she showed the tabard to the Cenarion Circle in Moonglade, they send her on another mission. She was furious that they hadn't kept their promise. But even more than before she wanted the permission to use the spells and skills and she saw, she was forced to do as they asked of her.
Zil'Qanaz happily took care of the little one, and when he had work to do himself he let a friend of his, a Troll named Iml'ijin, take care of her. The young girl looked more and more like her father, even in her interests for sneaking and stealing or ´borrowing´ as she called it. The only big difference between the two of them was the fact that Imithriel would never forgive her mother for being such a bad one. The little girl grew a strong hate to her mother for the pain she caused Imi and Zil.
Finally Mailinya finished her work with the Circle and was given the title ´Guardian of Cenarion´. She could now call herself a true Druid and was allowed to use her spells. And with this achievement she went home to her family.
Imithriel was now stuck with her hated mother, but to Zil and Mai it was a fantastic time as they were finally all three of them together again. Mai even found herself with pregnant again, this time with twins.
===The Fall===
The result of Mailinyas pregnancy was the boy Adrastos and the girl Elina. There were something special about the two of them though. Adrastos never learned how to speak and Elina never took her first step. Instead he would carry his sister around, while she spoke for both of them. Mai let them stay in Moonglade while things were going on quicker around them. She was requested in Northrend and so was Zil'Qanaz. The Druids agreed to look after the young ones and slowly when they were ready, let them study Druidism like their mother.
Mailinya started her work in the Borean Thundra to aid the Druids there. But after only a few weeks she got bad news from home. Imithriel had turned to the Lich King as a Death Knight. This was unbearable news for the young mother, but she knew that Zil would be even deeper hurt by this news.
She tried to get in contact with her husband but in vain. She knew he was somewhere in Northrend, or was he? A darkness filled her and threatened to swallow her heart. Finally she recieved a letter:
´Mailinya, if you read this letter I cannot say it to you personally.
I am being hunted, and I will die soon because of this hunt. 
It pains me dearly to say that there is not much I can do to soothe your pain.
I will greatly miss you, my love, and I want you to try and find me. 
If I am dead, I wish for you to burry me.
The necklace I had I give to you.
<A necklace with a small teardropshaped pearl looking like her own is attatched to the letter>´
After reading this through a hundred times, she could still not understand it. It was as if it was written in a language she didn't understand. Or else she didn't want to understand. But inside she knew it was right. She knew he was dead.
It took Mailinya a long time to let go of her husband. For months she didn't eat properly and she didn't sleep half as much as she should. Every day she spend looking at the busy heroes storming around her. How she wish she could just forget and be one of them.
She could slowly put the pain and sorrow out of her head as she swore alligiance with the Dark Lady and her Dark Rangers. It was hard and troublesome work, tracking and scouting, but as long as she could get abit happy again, even just for a short time, then it was all of the trouble worth.
When the Death Knights launched their attack on Undercity, Mai was in the middle of it to defend the city. Among the other Dark Rangers she fought to hold the scourge back. But the truth was, she had never felt so frightened before. The fear of being turned into one of them petrified her.
Shortly after this failed attempt to secure Undercity, Mai was informed that her daughter had been freed by the chains of the Lich King and a sir Ashblood was asking for her hand. Knowing her daughter, Mai wouldn't accept this though. She told him that her daughter could never be trusted and that she most likely was just trying to get whatever she could out of him.
Not long after he attacked her in Undercity. The Dark Rangers found her naked and near death in the Sewers. The Dark Lady saw Mailinya would pass away soon and got her escorted to Moonglade where she knew Mai had some family.
===The Emerald Dream===
In Moonglade the Druids tended to her wounds and healed her slowly. It took her months to wake up fully and ask for her children. The twins were safe, and Mai slept a week more.
When Mai was finally able to, she thanked the Druids for saving her life. It had been hard work for them and they knew exactly what price she should pay for it. To their big surprise she agreed.
The following weeks she spend on training and learning about the Emerald Dream. The Druids didn't want to send her in there unprepared afterall. When she was ready and eager to go, they let her enter the Dream under their constant surveillance.
Mailinya did not return from the Dream for a long period though. It took so long before they heard from her, that the nervousity awoke in the Druids envolved in this project. But Mai contacted one of them in a dream and told the Druid that she was fine, just getting used to the new plane.
The corruption, constantly growing, inside the Dream was a devastating sight. She saw this with her own eyes and like a vision she now know, it is her call to find a way to cleanse it.
==Quotes==
"I am the voice of water's call, the summer leaves refuse to fall. The grace of autumn and the spring, the chilling embrace winter brings." - Moonglade. Mailinyas first words in Druidic.
==Trivia==
Rumours you might have heard about her:
* She's a former Firewing and a traitor.
* She was infatuated with Verdauga.
* She was one of the Elders of Mulgore.
* She never sets foot in Silvermoon City.
* She has secretely replaced the lost eye with a new one. Which kind of eye is different from mouth to mouth.
* She is currently seeing a paladin named Forhope.
==Personal Notes==
In July 09 I changed her name to Devyn to take a break from RP'ing and try out serious raiding. As I quickly started to miss Mai, I changed her name back as soon as possible. These 3 months she spend IC as half dead and in The Emerald Dream.
Category:Horde
Category:High Elf
Category:The Thousand Eyes
Category:Druid Magi
Category:Female
Category:Archive
Category:Hunter