Viranis Goldenmourn

Viranis Goldenmourn

**Viranis Goldenmourn** is a seasoned ranger of Silvermoon's elite Farstriders. Known for his efforts in reclaiming parts of the Blackened Woods of Quel'Thalas, Viranis has also spearheaded several attempts for elvish unity, most notable of which is the Dawnfury Accord. The Accord is a unified front of farstriders, blood knights, magisters and other capable elves on a mission to drive the enemies of the Sin'dorei from Quel'Thalas. Viranis seeks to adjourn this period of Sin'dorei weakness and restore Silvermoon to its former glory.

## Appearance

Tall and lithe with eyes like burning Fel, Viranis is not unlike much of his Thalassian ilk. He is crowned in a flowing sea of silver and a modest patch of similar hue sits upon his chin. A crescent shaped tattoo of Elvish runes curl around the corners of his eyes, the left marred in some measure by a notable burn. Old wounds aside, this elf stands nearly half a head taller than most of his compatriots, but his regular woodland stalking wouldn't have you believe it. That same stalking in the eternal springtime of Eversong has endowed the elf a bright ruddy complexion.

### Armor

In such dire times, Silvermoon's rangers must always be ready to defend the tumultuous realm. By this, Viranis has become well accustomed to his crimson and brown set of mail and leather. While not a bandit's hodge-podge assemblage, his gear is a great deal more neutral than the gaudy display of some within Silvermoon. Pragmatic, simple, yet still maintaining staple Thalassian intricacies. The set's jerkin is embossed with a dragonhawk, wings spread wide, while the crimson pauldrons bear the Icon of Blood.

When not dressed in his Farstrider garb, Viranis can be found in a smart outfit of crimson woolen trousers and a pressed silken shirt. Well-worn boots fit for woodland stalking and a cured-leather belt are typical accessories, as is the formal scimitar worn at his waist.

## Early Life

Viranis Goldenmourn was born to Ranger-Captain Alevian Goldenmourn and his second wife, Belarisa, a kind and gentle councilwoman from Tranquillien. His upbringing was typical to most elves of the southern woods. Viranis played beneath the golden boughs of eternal spring and idolized legendary rangers and magisters of years past.

### Upbringing

Viranis’ birth arrived with the first days of summer. It was met by a veritable fanfare and celebration for not only the delivery of a healthy male but also the survival of Belarisa. The elder Goldenmourn had lost both his first wife and son in childbirth, and as such, Viranis would be Alevian’s true firstborn and heir to his farstrider legacy.

Blessed Viranis was with two loving and ambitious parents, for as soon as the young elf could make a bowstring taught, he’d be brought upon the Farstrider’s Path. Ranger Elveras Fairmeadow, the boy's mentor was a strict yet good-hearted elf with an uncanny knack for disappearing. Fairmeadow instructed Viranis in the ways of archery and fletching, in land navigation and general reconnaissance, and when the young Goldenmourn reached his twentieth year, Ranger Fairmeadow insisted that he accompany him in his many travels. Despite the objections of Belarisa, the two would adventure through the numerous realms of the Eastern Kingdoms.

From the foothills of Eastweald to the monumental falls of the Stonewrought Dam, the two traveled. It became a practical test of all that the young Goldenmourn had learned, for as he returned to the Eternal City, Viranis was made an official ranger of the Farstriders.

## The Second War

Already a veteran farstrider at the outbreak of the Second War, Viranis was one of the first to encounter the Orcish Horde along Eversong’s southern border. During these initial skirmishes, the elf demonstrated his wartime prowess more distinctly, having drawn an Amani Warband deep into Eversong to annihilate them with a coordinated strike of Farstriders and Outrunners. Following this, Viranis became increasingly appalled at the lack of materiel support from the Silvermoon Convocation. He accompanied Ranger-Captain Alleria Windrunner back to Silvermoon to tell of the Horde’s advances and the terror wrought by them.

A week later, Viranis followed his fellow Farstriders south with renewed support from Silvermoon, but the emergence of dragons from the Orcs’ ranks nearly spelled the end of young Goldenmourn. The Orcish Dragonriders caught the elves off-guard and rained down flame and left naught but ash, pushing the Farstriders back north to Silvermoon. Even reinforcements from the Human Kingdoms could not relieve Silvermoon from their siege, and peculiarly, it was a fracture from within the Horde ranks that freed Silvermoon to strike back. Warchief Doomhammer led his forces south towards Lordaeron, and so the Farstriders stormed the Amani, dispatching them in the night and with a ferocious sense of vengeance.

That very vengeance gripped Viranis and brought him all the way south to the Burning Steppes, fighting alongside the forces of the Human Kingdoms and defeating the Horde at the foot of Blackrock Mountain. Viranis and the Farstriders later trekked back north to Silvermoon through the joyous din of victory. Goldenmourn was elevated to the rank of Lieutenant for his gallantry during the War.

## The Third War

Following his promotion, Lieutenant Goldenmourn was moved to command a squad of farstriders out of Tranquillien. The time spent after the Second War and before Arthas' Invasion was peaceable, albeit filled with its own ministerial tedium. Viranis found himself more and more attending to diplomatic matters with the Knights of Lordaeron rather than stalking the dense woodlands of Quel'thalas. During one of these missions into Lordaeron, Viranis first discovered the deadly force set to overtake the Northlands. Of course, the high elves thought little of it at first; that was until rumors of King Terenas' assassination.

### The Dead March Once More

In a stroke of cruel luck, Viranis was in Silvermoon when the Scourge began its assault on Ban'dinoriel. Only rumors reached the High Home of the elves, and it was through whispers between magisters and magistrixes that the Lieutenant learned of his squad's untimely end. As Arthas marched onwards it would soon be the untimely end of all that Viranis knew. Once the Scourge reached Tranquillien, and panic began to run rife in Silvermoon, did Viranis make for the countryside. With him a small band of rangers hoping to at least delay the Dark Prince.

The advance of death was inexorable and Viranis' party moving with all haste met the forces of the Scourge just south of the Elrendar Falls. He soon realized, as much of Silvermoon's elite had, that Arthas managed to break through the entirety of Ban'dinoriel. In grief-stricken realization, Lieutenant Goldenmourn and his entourage fled to the relatively defensible Falthrien Academy. The farstrider was lost in rage and fear with naught but his bow and arrow to halt the Scourge. Luckily for Viranis, the Scourge never did reach Sunstrider Isle, rather marching undeviatingly towards the Sunwell.

### Children of the Blood

Viranis spent the next month upon Sunstrider Isle, wracked with immeasurable guilt for his perceived failure of duty to Silvermoon. From the spires of Falthrien Academy, the farstrider witnessed the blinding eruption of the Sunwell and fell deeper into the mire of self-loathing and dread which gripped him. Eventually, his entourage of rangers left him to seek out survivors in Silvermoon, leaving the despondent ranger to wander the secluded isle. No longer did the elf feel within his very being the powers of the Sunwell; instead, a harrowing emptiness and void gnawing at him.

Captain Goldenmourn would have likely succumbed to the elements had he not be woken from his morose slumber by the arrival of Lieutenant Fairmeadow, Viranis' old mentor. Fairmeadow coaxed him back to Silvermoon, where Viranis was told of the Sun Prince's gift. Many verdant green crystals with furrows oozing dark magics and cursed burning eyes bore deep into elves' depraved souls. Within the Eternal City's confines, the magisters instructed Viranis how to siphon Fel magic from demons and demonic fonts. Viranis felt disgusted with this new source but drank from its magic, albeit hesitantly. There the Captain also learned of the new name bestowed upon his sickly people: Sin'dorei, Children of the Blood.