Scarlet Drakesward

If I am the fire, then I am the flame.

*"In rare circumstances, we find ourselves staring down forbidden threats from mortal-kind's forgotten antiquity."*

*"What mortal-kind knows about runes is often speculation. A diligent scholar would note somatic components, symbols, sigils, runes, emblazoned upon titan-touched locations, the platforms of the Emerald Dream, the Vault of the Wardens.  Enochian symbols, used by the Shadowmoon, the Lich King. The Futhark runes, used by the Bonespeakers, Iron Dwarves. The runes of the Old Gods, used only in the horrific visions of drowning in the deep. Ancient worshippers of Elune utilized a runic vortex to destroy their enemies. The scourge uses runes to control plague dissemination, the Mogu utilized runes directly of the titans themselves, and the Highborne of Nar'thalas were renowned for their knowledge of runes."*

A warrior-mage turned traveling Runemaster after years of meticulous work and study, her heart is set to wonder and unearth mysteries both ancient and forgotten.

## Scarlet Drakesward

### Affiliation

Stormwind, Darnassus, Ironforge, The Explorer's League, The Kirin Tor

## Description

At first glance, the face of the woman before you seems ageless, neither old nor young, though in its soft lines is written the memory of many things both glad and sorrowful. Her hair was dark as the shadows of ravens in twilight, her eyes were blue as a clear afternoon sky, and in them was a light like the light of stars that seemed to flash and glitter with savage laughter.

> A tall woman with average shoulders and a fierce, dark face. All her movements are large and seemingly well-balanced, like those of a wild animal preying. Her armor set is chain and fur; light enough to feel the pressure of the wind on her many carbon-ink runes etched just beneath the dermis.
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> The chainmail is made from several separate pieces which are layered on top of each other. It covers everything from the neck down and ending at the groin. The chainmail, arms, and plated cuisses are a bright blaze of orange and red metal. The upper arms are protected by chainmail rerebraces which sit perfectly under the shoulder-pads. The lower arms are covered by vambraces which have layers matching the chain under-armor above- and a layer of fur to seal out the chill along the edge of the gauntlet. Her shoulder-pads are lesser, in that they are only there for a cloak to pin to- her status as a near-rogue combatant requires a dexterous upper-half and often runes exposed to the open-air.
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## Personality

Scarlet wears several scars- but maintains a rather smooth complexion with deep red eyes, deep red hair, and red lipstick to match her dark gaze. Her look has been called hawkish, her smiles are more like smirks- she is more than a little nervous in large social gatherings- and less than comfortable taking charity.

Her existence is one that is monk-like and she has spent a decade in nigh-hermitage. Now amongst others she might have as little to say as a red smirk and a hawkish gaze. But her determination is akin to a burning fist more literally than metaphorically.

## Background

> *"In rare circumstances, we find ourselves staring down forbidden threats from mortal-kind's forgotten antiquity."*
> *"What mortal-kind knows about runes is often speculation. A diligent scholar would note somatic components, symbols, sigils, runes, emblazoned upon titan-touched locations, the platforms of the Emerald Dream, the Vault of the Wardens.  Enochian symbols, used by the Shadowmoon, the Lich King. The Futhark runes, used by the Bonespeakers, Iron Dwarves. The runes of the Old Gods, used only in the horrific visions of drowning in the deep. Ancient worshippers of Elune utilized a runic vortex to destroy their enemies. The scourge uses runes to control plague dissemination, the Mogu utilized runes directly of the titans themselves, and the Highborne of Nar'thalas were renowned for their knowledge of runes."*
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>

### The Study of Runes

Scarlet Drakeward closes the history book and atlas accompaniment. Through study here in Kalimdor- where the heritage of Runic magic began and was refounded amongst the Tauren, Scarlet found her imagination captured by a journey unfolding before her across continents and eras far-flung, ancient, and forgotten.

Her own entity quickened, and crossed through a liminal bridge unto the breadth of Krasus' Landing, in the Kirin Tor's Dalaran. Her study of rune-heraldry and the foundation of her knowledge had to be built before she could understand where Azeroth draws its vitality, and its from that understanding that she could learn just what and why ley-lines and their patterns and convergences were so important- and why and how to detect them. A massive undertaking, and one that was wrought from the greatest concentration of knowledge she was aware of- from there within the libraries of the Kirin Tor, in pursuit of Arcane here in the heart of the purple city.

There in the libraries of Dalaran did her academic interest pique. Pursuing her aspirations with nothing but a hunch gathered from an ancient tome brought to the newly-grown Teldrassil by a Kaldorei in pursuit of the legacy of Ravencrest. From there to this library. Ley Lines and their Nexus in the most basic of terms. She spent every single golden piece to her name- and ended up eating scraps or helping with grunt disenchantment work to get by when she wasn't studying the raw, magical cords of power that crossed the land.

On a canvas it seemed like lines were drawn without form or purpose, but several books of research of those with the power and awareness to detect deeper and less prominent lines caused patterns to emerge, atlases to conceptualize- and she knew it would cost her a journey to the location to pinpoint and understand. The nexuses and convergence of ley-crossing concentrated power at certain places- and the power always seemed to be somewhere on the wheel of light and dark- though it made itself known in different forms, and the land was different in these places due to the convergence and nexuses thereunder.

The study was as though she had to become a collegiate academic, an atomistic foundation allowed her to cast out the world as a whole and see what the parts themselves were made of. Introspection allowed her to cast out her beliefs on how she thought the world worked without the newly-minted understanding of the strings hiding in the depths. She cast out the whole of Azeroth, and by understanding the pieces she rebuilt the tapestry of her understanding from strings better left to fray. What she knew of power both Might and Magic had been rewritten. She found the sources of ley walkers, and mages studying the persistent agency of hyperagonal media- the threads that connect the liminal bridges and allow transliminal passage. She had to find these nexuses and convergences and witness their powers in manifest- and as her journey had begun in Dalaran just a couple years before after her coming of age- it was time to leave with her newly acquired knowledge.

### Runic Pilgrimage

Visiting sites firstly unguided, she found at these convergence a mechanic that would allow one to cultivate a working knowledge of their source magic- when you drew upon the actual convergence- how the undercurrents and power cords crossed. But she needed help to visit the others. Reading and trekking for years wasn't enough without an experienced guide. Scarlet had learned in Teldrassil at the beginning of her journey that the Tauren had rediscovered these ancient runes- and the only other people that had been able to connect with them and learn their ways were the dwarves. It was very, very far from her goal, however, and for now she set out alone.

Some of her smooth youthful features became lines on her face in her older countenance. The weight of her trials and travels weighed upon her- and a questioning gaze became her normal intuitive glare as if she was talking through her senses. Her chainmail had given way to more cloth and leather due to the heavy load of books she had to carry when she went from location to location. At first, a regular mage like any other- and then a militiawoman when the scourge set upon their homes before the taking of the Frozen Throne, and now she was something else altogether, more monk-like and wearing her experience without questioning the metaphorical badges it left upon her flesh, hints of the past and wars cosmically recent and mentally far, far gone.

Scarlet wandered for a while. In her travels, quiet ruins whispered of times that the present had closed its eyes upon. Study of these places left her with more questions than answers, until she finally sought the dwarves. She learned through historical record that the Dwarves, members of Jaina Proudmoore's expeditionary force that came to Kalimdor, had shared with the Tauren knowledge and were imparted with the knowledge she sought.  It was finally time to seek the dwarves in their capital. She found more knowledge of her seeking in the third year of her journey, in the stewardship of the Explorers' League in the Hall of Explorers in Ironforge.

### The Explorers League

Like scarlet lifeblood, Scarlet found new reason to travel with the league. She found a gray-eyed dwarf who had studied the runes- showed him her studied, maps and atlases, and he let himself be known to her as a journeyman Runemaster himself. So her decision was made to travel with the league to convergences new and old- with the dwarves- to learn the ways she had been studying for so long. Travel from site-to-site, reading powers written in patterns. Six years since the start of her journey in Teldrassil- she had visited the likes of Dalaran, many ancient sites in Kalimdor, the Eastern Kingdoms, and Northrend. A dungeoneer and more experienced fighter- she now knew how to wrap her mind around these mysterious cords of power, and even how to scribe them to call upon their power far away from the convergence. Her drawing of the runes began- but there were many. The runes lied within families, and there were many more families. Calling upon many seemed to be above the reach of many of the dwarves she traveled with- and like them she focused on only a few patterns.

Trial and error, many, many error commenced. Learning her first rune in the bone-pocked land of Desolace, the pattern for healing drawn upon her cheek in black ink, she had actually managed to draw forth the power from the rune.

Trial and error, cause and effect, without so much need for her mentor after a bit more trial- and six years on the road after four years of study, a decade gone and a whole new life sought- Scarlet found herself with an existence far different than that of a wandering hedge mage- carbon-inked, complicated patterns drawn on her skin that speak of places- and patterns- driven and created by this ley under-architecture

## Abilities

**Runemastery:** Scarlet is etched with magical runes that enhance her body and provide her with supernatural abilities.

* **Mark of Healing:** Scarlet can summon the magic of the light to heal an ally or harm an undead for a fair amount. This tattoo is permanent on her skin and will not fade.
* **Mark of Striking:** This mark amplifies Scarlet's strikes with elemental energy, of which she made the choice of fire. This tattoo is permanent on her skin as well, and will not fade.
* **Mark of the Dragon:** Scarlet can activate this rune to ignite her breath and breathe fire. This tattoo is permanent on her skin, and will not fade.
 ***Credit to Rensir for the Artwork.***