Velyndra Meroe

Velyndra Meroe is a half-elf Cleric who has served the Argent Crusade since their inception, and has dutifully devoted herself to causes of the Light for a majority of her life. Being born into unfortunate circumstances and being raised alone by her mother has allowed her to see all walks of life, and she only wishes to see the best of everyone, offering her services to heal and treat the injured, both on and off the battlefield.

## Description

Velyndra, from a glance, looks almost human-like in appearance, standing at an average 5'8". Her body is slim but shapely - being a person that remains in-shape but does not practice much physical strength. Her skin is pale and bright, but with a healthy pink glow to it.

However, while in disguise she may be able to pretend to be human, what betrays her heritage is the elven ear-tips that peek out from the wheat coloured curls of hair that adorn her head. On closer inspection, there's a distinctive softening to her features that comes from being a half-elf, with a more rounded jaw, a petite nose, narrow, plump lips and few wrinkles despite closing in on what a human would call 'middle-aged'. Her silver-grey eyes also emit a faint white glow, one that isn't noticeable in light but would be seen in darkness.

Velyndra tends to dress modestly, not having many pieces of clothing that would count as 'fancy' aside from her old priestly vestments. Most of the time, she's seen dressed for action, in leather and chain armor in order to protect herself whilst out on the battlefield. In her downtime, though, she tends to prefer light and loose clothes, with some embellishments but not enough to make herself seem overstated.

## Personality

The first thing people tend to notice when speaking to Velyndra is her politeness - She tends to greet people she is unfamiliar with with 'Sir' or 'Miss', wishing to give everyone a chance at respect and fair acknowledgement. While she isn't the most talkative individual, she definitely likes to go out of her way to make sure everyone feels welcome and heard.

Another key thing many people will note is her kindness. Velyndra ascribes wholly to the three Virtues of the Light - Respect, Tenacity and Compassion - and she tries to apply them to people regardless of their race or station. This means she tries to give everyone a chance, even if she personally finds it difficult to relate (Some like the Forsaken especially make it rather hard to). She recognises and knows that this may open herself up to being taken advantage of, but in her eyes, as a healer and tender, it is a sacrifice she may have to take in order to conduct her duty to an acceptable manner following the Virtues.

## Background

### Early Childhood

Velyndra was born late one September evening within the slums of Dalaran's Underbelly, 9 years before the Human Kingdoms would have any idea what 'The Horde' was. Her birth was an accident, but one her Mother always told her was blessed and fortuitous regardless of circumstance. She spent most of her young childhood here, having to live with the poor, destitute and often also the unsavoury, with her mother having little but a cubbyhole to her name in order to raise her in. Regardless of their station, her mother was a busy woman, often carrying young Velyndra with her as she either worked in the Legerdemain Lounge as a cleaner, or otherwise went around the slums trying to help her fellow destitutes whilst skirting around ( or otherwise trying to pay off ) the corrupt guards that would often move through looking for protection money. Thus, from a young age, Velyndra learned much of compassion from her mother.

She grew there, often finding solace with the other poor children there, many of which were in not much better situations than herself and thus looked past her odd heritage. Some would tease her for it, but both her and her Mother's kindness went a long way in helping bring the others around to protect her. She never received a formal education, but was instead taught by her mother the basics of reading and writing. Katlynn also taught her about the Church of the Light, often taking her to a small congregation that would gather in a makeshift chapel in the sewers. She'd always tell her daughter about the virtues of being kind to one another, because 'one might never know what the other person's going through'.

Velyndra wouldn't often make it to the surface of Dalaran, often only coming up with her mother, either to accompany her while she worked cleaning the Legerdemain late at night or to otherwise run errands up above. Often when at the Legerdemain she'd see the drunken patrons both inside and out, not understanding why they would become like this. When she asked her mother, Katlynn would just tell her that 'everyone has their own problems, and it wasn't their place to judge'. The young half-elf thought that they needed help, and albeit shy, sometimes she would try to ask if they were okay. Naturally, the responses were varied, with elves often telling her to 'begone, halfbreed', others either being rude, jovial or calling her a 'good kid' depending on their mood for the night.

One night, Velyndra asked her mother what the elves meant by 'halfbreed', and asked if it had something to do with her pointy ears. Katlynn told her to pay those people no mind, as they were narrow minded, and that she'd explain what it meant when she was older. She also told her to leave the elves alone unless they were nice to her.

Thus Velyndra grew up. As she got older, she'd be able to help her mother out with cleaning the Lounge, being able to earn them a little more money with which to live off of. Occasionally, Katlynn would take her to the stalls on the surface, to buy her sweet treats as a reward for being good. She didn't quite understand why it happened so rarely since the stalls always seemed so abundant with supplies, but she appreciated the treats regardless. She'd also take after her mother in different ways, trying to help out the children of the Underbelly and mediate fights whenever they inevitably occurred. She wasn't always successful, of course, but even when she failed and a bully won, taking hard-earned treats or toys from another child, her mother would say she was 'proud of her'.

### Coming of Age

One day, when Velyndra had not long become a teenager, a small congregation of priests from the Church visited the Underbelly. They had heard about the destitution of the area and wished to help by giving out food and supplies. Unfortunately, the corrupt guards soon showed up and demanded a payment for 'disturbing the peace', as by that point they had gathered a sizeable crowd. The Priests, being good men, refused to pay the racket and insisted they were simply passing through. Velyndra, who had over time, grown to respect the virtues she had heard so much about, was eager to try and assist in any way she could, pulling one of the priests to the side and offering to distribute the supplies to the needy without arousing the attention of the guards. While the Priests were wary at first, one felt the sincerity behind her offer and convinced the others to allow her to perform the task. She was mostly successful, but was caught before she could drop off the final group of supplies by the guards, with them confiscating the goods as 'contraband'. Mildly deflated, she returned to the priests to tell them what happened, but instead of being admonished, they thanked her for her generosity and goodwill, suggesting that she would make a good priestess with her compassion. After that, they left, not wishing to cause any more trouble.

She'd ask her mother about becoming a priestess one day, and what she thought of it, and she readily agreed, although she warned Velyndra that it would be a long journey, since there were no large churches on that side of Lordamere Lake, and it was not a journey that someone as young as her should be making alone. She'd have to wait until the age of 16 before Katlynn would permit her to go. But, in secret, her mother would have been putting aside what little money she would make cleaning the Lounge to save so that Velyndra could have a safe journey, often going without food for a day or two. Velyndra would notice that her mother would begin to grow even gaunter, but when she asked, her mother would always dismiss her concerns, saying that she was fine.

It wasn't too long before that decision was made for them, though, as during this time, rumors would circulate of a barbaric Horde gathering in the south, ransacking the kingdom of Stormwind and causing many refugees to flee north. Indeed, some of those refugees found their way into Dalaran itself, some few being able to settle in to a cushy lifestyle amongst the magocratic elite with connections, whilst others had to hole in, not being able to afford the expensive apartments that the Kirin Tor offered and often being scorned by the people above. Velyndra, as was almost second nature to her at that point, helped where she could to get people settled in to new places in the Underbelly. But it was only a few scant years until the threat came to them. While Horde catapults and felfire raged above, some tried to sneak in through the Underbelly itself, but were often repelled by the wily people, coming together in a time of need to fend off invaders. The priests she had met before also returned, trying to help with the swathes of injured that would inevitably result from the skirmishes in the sewer tunnels. Unfortunately, despite everything, many were killed, and some were even kidnapped, never to be seen again by Alteraci agents working alongside the Horde.

Velyndra did what she could, trying to help the priests maintain what scant supplies they had whilst learning on the go about treating wounds to help them in their duty. Soon enough, the sewers ran red with blood, but eventually the tide was slowed, and eventually stopped, with Magi from above coming through to route out the Orcish Horde for good, ending their siege upon the Kingdom of Dalaran. As soon as the Magi arrived, they disappeared back above, leaving Velyndra and the Priests alone. Again, they extended their suggestion, but this time with an offer - come with them to the Monastery of the Light in the Tirisfal Glades and they would vouch for her to become a Priestess. It was an offer that Velyndra couldn't turn down, and she took it to her mother. Despite her earlier reluctance to let her leave before becoming 16, she eventually relented, giving her the savings she had gathered in secret and bidding her a safe journey.

With that, Velyndra left the walls of Dalaran, travelling northwards to the Capitol City and the Monastery to begin her formal training.

### Priesthood

Velyndra settled into the role of a Neophyte within the Monastery with much ease. She had already learned the basics of the Virtues, and had practiced much of it even without her necessarily realising in her youth, so she was quick to adapt, quickly rising to the rank of Acolyte. The first time she was able to call upon the Light was a moment of wonder to her, a feedback loop of positive emotion and energy that inspired her even further to learn more of the Light. She also got much practice with medical skill, often joining the priests to help patch up the Paladins of the Silver Hand that would return, first from excursions against the Horde, and after from rounding up the broken remnants of it after the Horde fell apart following their ill-fated rampage throughout Lordaeron. While her practice of the arts themselves was progressing rapidly along with her growing faith in the Light, her studies of scripture struggled due to her limited ability to read and write, often having trouble with more complex words and often having to cross reference or ask her fellow priests what they meant. It didn't deter her, however, spending many years up late within the Archives when permitted, although she was only granted access to those books deemed suitable for her to study.

She also took up letter writing at this time in order to further refine her literary knowledge, often writing to her mother back home. The two would keep in touch this way, with Velyndra letting her mother know of her progress as a priestess, and Katlynn telling her of how the Underbelly was recovering and doing while she was gone. She'd keep the letters her mother sent back as some of her only possessions beyond what she needed to perform her priestly duties, making sure they were stored away safe and dry.

After some years, Velyndra was deemed worthy of joining the Priesthood fully, showing her devotion to the Virtues of the Light and finally being ordained as a Priestess of the Church. She was reassigned to Light's Hope Chapel in Eastweald, and her duties would be to travel to the villages in the area, making sure to tend to the ails of the villagers along with her compatriots. It was something that would keep her busy and satisfied, although secretly she longed to return home as she knew those within Dalaran's depths suffered even more than the simple folk out there. Nevertheless, she held her tongue, knowing that she was still learning, and that she knew that she wouldn't be able to do much on her own. She continued to write to her mother, and would even send supplies and money when she could, wanting to help as much as she could.

One day, however, many years later, she and her companions travelled to a remote village in the Northlands on a routine visit, only to find the vile stench of death and decay, the villagers all bedridden with a mysterious plague. Horrified, the group tried their best to tend to the plagued, but it was for naught, and they all died within the day. The priests took precaution, burying the bodies and changing into clean clothes so as to not carry the Plague with them, returning to the Chapel to report their findings. Since the village was remote, it was deemed not much of a concern at the time. But when other groups returned, reporting of similar scenes within other distant holdings. With the threat of a region-wide plague becoming a concern, a messenger was sent, although whether they made it, Velyndra never knew, for the next few years, all she would know is survival.

### The Plague of Undeath

Quickly, the mysterious plague swept through the Northlands, and some Priests would never return from their assignments. Others were asked to recall and report, only to return also plagued, and having to be quarantined. What came after shocked everyone, with their recently buried corpses digging themselves out of the ground to attack them all. These few poor souls were quickly exorcised, but it soon dawned that the problem could be even worse than any of them had first realised. They enacted strict quarantine for any new arrivals, and food was rationed in order to make sure they were all safe. Soon enough, reports of a massive undead army sweeping through the lands arrived, and with it, refugees, straining the Chapel's resources even further. They were relieved when a group of Paladins, calling themselves the Argent Dawn arrived, but their relief was short lived, as after them came a giant army of the Scourge, battering on their defenses and killing many innocent practitioners of the Light. However, against all odds, they held.

Velyndra, inspired by the actions of the Argent Dawn and wishing to do more, joined up with them and began to aid their cause as they ran guerilla operations within what they all now dubbed the 'Plaguelands'. Velyndra was no combatant, but she quickly had to learn to become one, putting aside the priestly vestments and staff instead for leather, chain and a mace. Although she never felt good about fighting, she knew she had no choice. She did what she could, applying her knowledge of healing within the field to patch up her comrades where she could and mitigate the losses the Dawn suffered whilst trying to wrest control of the Plaguelands back from the Scourge.

It was not long before the Scourge, and indeed the Lich King himself had eyes upon Light's Hope again, and with reports of the Scourge gathering a large army not far from the area, the Dawn pulled back their forces, all meeting to defend one of the last 'true' bastions of the Light within the land. Velyndra did what she could, but the Death Knights they faced were quick killers, quickly decimating a third of their forces and leaving Velyndra with little to heal, and with a dwindling hope that any of them would make it out alive. It was then that Tirion Fordring arrived, purging a majority of the undead, only to have the Lich King himself arrive to meet him. However, when Darion gave Fordring the Ashbringer, purifying the once corrupt blade and routing what little undead was left, Velyndra's immense relief brought her resolve back, leading her and her comrades to willingly join the newly formed Argent Crusade.

Despite this, Velyndra did not follow the bulk of the Crusade north to Northrend. Instead, she knew her duty would be to remain at home, to help re-consolidate and recoup what little land they had left to rebuild on. After all, the noble soldiers would need a home to return to once their war against the Lich King was over.

It was a long year, with Velyndra and the few remaining members of the Crusade trying to help where they could in the Plaguelands. They made connections with the Cenarion Circle and Earthen Ring, helping them to purify parts of the western reaches. They also gathered what supplies they could, rescuing the few refugees that would've been left and helping them resettle in lands the Crusade had reclaimed. They even managed to re-garrison Hearthglen, which had not long been abandoned after the Scarlet armies, having left there to aid the rest of their comrades at the Scarlet Enclave, never returned. So it was with a warm heart that when reports of the Crusade's victory - with the combined forces of the Argent Crusade, the Ebon Blade, the Horde and Alliance - came back they prepared to welcome their comrades home with open arms. Although their job was not done yet.