Casylia

Casylia is the Guild Master of the Order of the Beast, and the Governor of the Holy City of Annebury.

Her actions serve a singular desire for influence, wealth, and power in the service of her and her loved ones alone. As a result, she has made herself known for her honesty, loyalty, and almost complete lack of ethics. Since her rise to Guild Master, she's gained a reputation as a ruthless and ferocious combatant, and has led the Order in many campaigns, acting as a staunch antagonist to the New Horde.

## ***Appearance***

Casylia is a Lightforged Draenei. She is eight feet and four inches tall, and has pale white skin. Her hooves are well cared for and kept clean. Her hair is a near-ivory white, feathered in the front while it cascades down her back and shoulders. Her eyes glow in gold color, as is typical of the Lightforged. Under the armor she is usually in, she is quite muscular, from wearing plate and carrying huge weapons all the time. Her body is marked with plated gold sigils of holy power, and holy runes line her body, glowing with the Light. Atop her head stands her sigil-permanently glowing as a sign of her attunement with holy magic.

As time has passed, Casylia has shown more signs of age, even after she was Lightforged. Over a decade on Azeroth has left its mark upon her. A few more wrinkles upon her, and the occasional crack or scar, one prominent one near the base of her right horn. Another large scar, surrounded by cracks in her skin, rests above her stomach, though it is more faded than the others.

## ***Personality***

Casylia appears to be a warm and confident draenei - if a bit air-headed and unfocused at times. She is affectionate to her comrades and can be a bit absent-minded at times. Her faith in the Light and in her loved ones is a focal point to her personality, and she makes a point to ensure that it always shines through. Those who she associates with will find she is flirtatious, humorous, and kind-hearted to them.

Inwardly, however, she has a particularly ruthless brand of cunning within. With little regard for free will and individuality, beyond those who she deems worthy of her care and protection, she is a fearsome opponent. She is driven by a singular desire, to gain and exert control over others by any means necessary, stemming from a belief that it will keep her and her loved ones safe.

However, her machinations and scheming eventually came to fruition - only for it to fail by the hand of the very people she sought to have benefit most. At her lowest point, and her least deserving of it, she was offered mercy by those who she'd harmed. A chance to make her wrongs right, and to help build the world she truly desired together with them. She is working to be better, to do better, in order to move past the wrongs committed both by and toward her - so that she may be the friend and leader her loved ones deserve.

## ***The Origin*** (Pre-WoW)

Casylia was born on Argus many ages ago, in the time of the Eredar of Argus. Born as the youngest child of a prominent magus by the name of Val'hazra and a skilled smith by the name of Ter'vor, she spent most of her early years with her two brothers, in the Conservatory of the Arcane in Eredath. As the youngest child and only daughter of the family, her mother Val'Hazra was strict upon the young Casylia, and sought to have her take her place as a pre-eminent magi in the inner circle of Kil'jaeden.

Casylia, per her mother's direction, began to study in the Conservatory of the Arcane under the tutelage of some of the Eredar peoples' finest sorcerers. Despite the acumen of her teachers, she failed most of her studies as a magi - to the admonishment and disgust of her mother. When it became clear that Casylia would not be a suitable successor for the elder magi, she was disowned in all senses but outright. While allowed to remain in her family, she was mostly left to fend for herself. As a result, she became a guardian and hired defender for other families within Kil'jaeden's inner circle. Technology became her greatest passion, and allowed her to work both her mind and her body while studying ways to make life better for her fellow Eredar.

She had always had the gift of the Light - but had never bothered to learn more about this gift, as she had failed in her magical studies under the Conservatory. Despite her failures in the Conservatory, it was there that she met what would become her long-time friend Avelphina, and they would make frequent trips into ancient ruins, seeking knowledge and long-forgotten technology. Life was idyllic on Argus, even if family life was not ideal - spending time defending others, while taking free time to tinker with fantastic machines alongside her friend.

## ***The Exodus of the Draenei*** (Pre-WoW)

One fateful day, the Burning Legion came to Argus. Their master, Sargeras, offered a deal to the leaders of the Eredar that they could not refuse, bringing them into the fold in exchange for loyalty and power. Prophet Velen, the most knowledgable of the eredar's Triumvirate, was visited by a holy Naaru - who warned him of the coming catastrophe, and guided him to take who he could and leave the soon-to-be tainted world. While the rest of her family was either corrupted or killed in the arrival of the Legion, Casylia was able to escape from the carnage in Eredath with Avelphina and her family, leaving Argus altogether among the small number of Draenei, or Exiled Ones.

Like the rest of the Draenei people, she was gifted with blessings from the Naaru, granting her immortal life. Thus, she spent much of the long journey of her people learning to utilize the gifts and blessings of the Light properly, working her body and mind to become sharpened like a blade. Fighting the Legion and even one of her own brothers on many worlds, she mastered engineering and became skilled with the shield. However, the constant warfare and death around her people made her withdraw inward, becoming an antisocial sort.

Her time on Draenor was spent in Nagrand, at least until the orcs were corrupted by the fel. They raided the city of Shattrath - and as a last ditch effort for their people to survive, many of the Draenei remained behind in Shattrath. They sought to hold the line, and take as many orcs with them as possible while their "sacrifice" would give the orcs a false assumption - that they had succeeded in wiping them out for good. She was not among those who opted to stay behind, but Avelphina was. Casylia, upon becoming aware of what was happening, turned around from her post and charged back into Shattrath to rescue her friend - she failed, and the pair were trapped under rubble, in a shield of ice and Light, for days. When silence descended upon the city, the pair broke out from under the rubble - only to find the once-glorious city devastated. They began a long journey back to the rest of their people in Teldredor, and eventually reconvened with the remaining untainted survivors of the attack. She made her way to Tempest Keep with the rest of her people, and helped fight to take control of the Exodar, from the incursion of Blood Elves.

## ***A Brave New World*** (WoW - The Burning Crusade)

Upon their crash landing to Azeroth, she would spend most of the time after their landing, working to ensure the survival of the landing Draenei, staying aboard the Exodar until the year 618 K.C. Here, she worked as a healer and assisted in some of the early repairs made to the Exodar. She failed to save many, but her skill in healing had been refined over thousands of years - and so, just as many were saved as well.

Once the Exodar was at least semi-livable, she began to venture outside of Azuremyst, exploring Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. While the stated aim was to get a lay of the land for her people, in reality she just wanted to scope out any ancient ruins or technological finds - as she was always want to do. She made money buying and selling ores to both her people and to the Alliance, and working odd-jobs such as guarding travelling caravans or hauling ship-parts.

She rarely ventured into Outland during this timeframe, as the mass murder of her people was still fresh in her mind. The Path of Glory - even to this day - remains an example to Casylia of why the Orcish people as a whole not only can never be trusted, but in her mind must be eradicated at all costs. When she did make her way out to Outland, she mainly used this opportunity to expand her ore trading work on Azeroth.

Casylia was in Gadgetzan when the Scourge attacked Stormwind, and upon hearing of the attack she made a hasty return to the city proper - after all, a plague was something that was within her means to handle as a paladin of the Light. She did what she could for those who were afflicted on the way there, but the experience highlighted the danger that the undead posed.

## ***Here to Help*** (WoW - Wrath of the Lich King)

Upon returning to Stormwind shortly after the attack on the city by the Scourge, she noticed how much harm the attack had done. Especially to the local guard regiment, who already had to deal with the undead prior to the attack! She opted to join the Stormwind Guard's Special Forces regiment, led by Adroby Relindor. She had arrived at a complicated and chaotic time in the Guard's history, where crime was rampant on the city streets.

With a majority of the Alliance's forces devoted to the war against the Lich King, it was up to the Guard to keep the peace. During her time in the guard, Casylia worked hard with the Guard to clean up the city streets, as well as deal with threats to the Alliance in the Blasted Lands! After marrying her partner at the time, she retired from the Guard. Feeling that most of the criminal threat had been dealt with at this point, she turned her attention to the wars on foreign soil - both against the Horde, and the Scourge.

She called upon many of her kindred to form an order known as the Remnants of Argus, to fight in against the Horde and the Scourge, and led it until its disbanding after the Cataclysm, due to a myriad of reasons related to internal disagreement. It served in combat against many groups of the Horde's forces, such as the Hawktotem Tribe, and COBRA when it was a part of AEGIS.

## ***The Roar of Beasts and Blood*** (WoW - Cataclysm)

During the Cataclysm, Casylia was unemployed and stir-wild. She briefly worked for the news group known as the Underfoot Express. However, she quickly joined the Order of the Beast, invited by her life-mate and led by her dear friend Kamara Eskevaldi, to find work on the warfront. She worked as a healer in the Order, to fight against both the Horde and the Twilight Cultists.

After the disappearance and supposed death of Xnuna - her lifemate - by members of the other faction, the paladin's ire was completely focused on the Horde. She led a number of her Order's independent operations against them, and quickly rose up the ranks, serving as Kamara's right-hand woman. Acting as their lead healer, she participated with the Order of the Beast in the campaigns in the Barrens and Theramore. It was here that she established herself as not only one of the Order's finest healers, but one of their representatives to the rest of the Alliance, acting as the Order's emissary and "face" whenever needed.

## ***Into the Fires of War*** (WoW - Mists of Pandaria)

The Order of the Beast was among the first Alliance orders to land in Pandaria - but in the fighting, they were split apart, the airship they were aboard being destroyed in the initial siege. Casylia wandered along the northern coast, in the hills and steppes of Kun-Lai. In doing so, she encountered an apparition of her deceased mate. The apparition was no more than a projection in her mind, as she fell under the control of the Sha of Hatred, expanding and invoking her hatred for the Horde and those who would give them any leeway.

Even after reuniting with the rest of her order in the Valley of the Four Winds, the hatred and corruption of the Sha festered within her, causing her to commit cruel and terrible actions against the Horde, and even a few of the local Pandaren who were giving quarter to them. Eventually, her corruption caused her to turn on even her own guild, under the belief that they could not do what "needed" to be done, and she had to be restrained. The Order worked to find a means to purge the Sha's corruption from within her, not wanting to slay one of their own. They eventually found such a means, and liberated her from the corruptive grasp of the Sha.

However, her connection to the Holy Light was severely weakened by the dark magic that she had allowed to control her, and she went out into Pandaria to look for a means to reignite her inner holy power. She trained with many monks in Townlong Steppes, under the tutelage of the Celestial, Niuzao. She eventually finished her training, and regained control of her darker emotions. In doing so, she re-connected with the Light, as well.

In her first order of business upon returning to her guild, was to commission and build a ship for the Alliance's assault on Orgrimmar. She and a dwarven engineer by the name of Throvin worked tirelessly to build a submarine the likes of which was unrivaled amongst the Alliance's navy - at least in their eyes. The product of their work, the Ironsong, has seen battle for the Order in the sea ever since!

At the siege of Orgrimmar, she was knocked from a tall tower, by a large proto-drake. Landing on a large stone and damaging her skull and back on impact, she was knocked into a coma for the remainder of the battle, and for months afterward. Through scrying and healing magic, she was eventually awoken - to a world after war. Peace-time had returned to Azeroth, and thankfully nothing could possibly -

## ***A Long and Familiar Way From Home*** (WoW - Warlords of Draenor)

When the portal opened up to an alternate Draenor, there was no other that was more experienced with that world, among the ranks of the Order. Casylia led the charge, taking a small task force with her while the main force stayed on Azeroth - just in case the Horde became aggressive once more. The Order established a garrison in Shadowmoon Valley, and once the portals were working, were able to transport forces to and from Draenor proper.

In addition, she led strikes on a cabal of Sargerei that had been discovered, led by her own alternate counterpart. After a number of battles, only one Casylia remained - the one from the main universe had lived a life of war, after all. Her and her guild had faced far crazier things than the Sargerei. Even when the Legion arrived on Draenor, the Order of the Beast fought it tooth and nail.

She led the Order of the Beast's forces on Draenor, until the very end of the campaign. However, with the threat of the Iron Horde extinguished, and the Horde still recovering from their loss in the war - now in a peace agreement with the Alliance, the Order was no longer needed, and was disbanded. Casylia briefly joined Te Amun, an order of fellow Draenei. However, she could not quite find her place within Te Amun, and left to indulge a few person ambitions, solo. Besides, it wasn't like anything could possibly interrupt a peace this well-establ-

## ***The Defense of Azeroth*** (WoW - Legion)

Casylia was the first of the Order of the Beast to come into contact with the invasion forces of the Burning Legion. She encountered an invasion force in the Hinterlands, driving off the demons with the aid of Xnuna and her friend Avelphina. However the tides turned, when Caelxis - Casylia's eldest brother - entered the fray and defeated the trio handily, nearly slaying the paladin on the spot. The Legion's invasions prompted Casylia to re-call the Order of the Beast, back to Aerie Peak. When the Order was assembled once more, they made their way onto the Broken Shore. Their first order of business was to head to Val'sharah - Casylia's dreams had pointed her toward the Emerald Nightmare, and a weapon that supposedly laid within it. This was a trap - the minions of the Nightmare using Casylia's connection to the Sha - and thus, the Old Gods - to lure her and the Order into a trap, the guild defeating the minions of the Nightmare and fighting them off after nearly losing their minds.

The Order then turned its attention to Suramar. The ancient capital of the Night Elven Empire was being used as a base for the Legion's forces, and with the aid of a pair of other orders, the Greyshields and the Tempest-Born Company, the Order's alliance dealt blow after blow to the Legion's infrastructure within Suramar, and supported the rebels. Their efforts along with the many efforts of the Alliance and the Horde drove the Legion out of Suramar, and back to the Broken Shore.

Once on the Broken Shore, the Order aided the Armies of Legionfall in driving the Legion off of the Broken Shore, and off of Azeroth. In the meantime, the Order also did battle against Caelxis and his allies, defeating powerful Eredar sorcerers - one by one. Until only Cael himself remained. However, another battle began before they could confront Caelxis.

## ***Homeward Bound, One Last Time*** (WoW - Legion)

The planet of Argus appeared before the people of Azeroth, while the guild was fighting the Legion in the Tomb of Sargeras. This was not the Argus of her youth - fel-scarred, damaged beyond repair, glowing green like a fel-irradiated lightbulb. The sight of it broke Casylia's spirit - ending her twenty-five thousand year quest to return home, in failure. Her home was gone, and yet there was still work to be done.

With a bit of convincing, Casylia led the charge to her home world. Her and her comrades destroyed Legion strongholds all over Argus, the Order assaulting Caelxis' own holdings in Eredath. They fought hard and valiantly, driving their way into Cael's fortress and facing him head-on in battle. A hard-fought victory, but the Eredar lord had been defeated. Now, the Order would also assist in the Army of the Light's assault on Antorus, and were able to only watch from the sideline, as Sargeras sunk his blade into Azeroth. They -just- managed to escape Argus before the portals closed, every member of the Order making it out safe and sound.

## ***The Fourth War Against the Horde*** (WoW - Battle for Azeroth)

With Argus twenty-five thousand years away once more, and the Legion that desecrated her home defeated once and for all, Casylia's primary goal - her driving purpose, had been fulfilled. She began to train with the Army of the Light, who offered her a chance to undergo the rite to become a Lightforged. In the time before she undertook the trial, she spent much of her time in-between training sessions meditating on what the Light had in store for her, as well as what she desired of the many years to come.

She came to a singular conclusion - if Argus was no longer to be her home, she would find and build a new one on Azeroth. The planet was the closest thing to her brilliant homeworld, and to her had the potential to become even greater than the Argus that was. With that renewed purpose and vigor, she underwent the trial with Kamara at her side. Due to her exposure and tenuous connection to the Old Gods, the trial was dangerous, and the pair nearly lost their lives. However, the experienced veterans succeeded in driving out the darkness, and Casylia was reborn in the Light, now Lightforged.

And just in time, too. In a mere two weeks, word had begun to surface of the Horde's mining operation near Silithus. Casylia took notice of the operation and led a group of her Order's finest to investigate the region. The Order of the Beast would take part in a number of small strikes upon Horde lesser defended shipping groups - after all, the Azerite was better in the Alliance's hands, than theirs. As Azerite veins began to pop up in places around Silithus, it became clear that this wasn't an isolated issue. The unimaginably potent mineral was appearing all over Azeroth - and the Alliance needed to be the ones in control of it. At the very least, she did.

To that end, she directed the Order of the Beast toward supporting Alliance efforts throughout Azeroth, to weaken the Horde and break their shipments of Azerite wherever they could. Casylia personally led the Order in support of Commanders Arthur Langley and Alverdo Blackmoore in the Alliance Intervention in Eastweald ensuring that the Alliance drove the Horde back into Tirisfal, and gained control of the Azerite that cropped up in the region. The Order additionally participated in the defense of Ashenvale, and while the Alliance was able to hold the Horde back temporarily,

Darkshore and Ashenvale were both lost, with Teldrassil being burned to the ground. As the closest Alliance settlement to Lordaeron proper, Aerie Peak was attacked by agents of the Horde when the war broke out, and the Order of the Beast was able to repel them - with some casualties. However, they were able to recover in time to join the main siege of Lordaeron, and the battle that followed.

Following the outbreak of war, the Order of the Beast launched an effort to support the Alliance's efforts on Kul Tiras and Zandalar. And while Commander Eskevaldi led the efforts on the Kul Tiran front, Casylia led a force into Zandalar, building a small port to smuggle Azerite from, nearby Shatterstone Harbor. Working with some of the local Sethrak, the Order launched small strikes on the Zandalari, and incursions into the swamp of Nazmir, to investigate a titan facility that was reportedly there.
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The continent of Zandalar became the staging ground of an intense conflict between the factions, mere months later. The Alliance launched a grand invasion of Zandalar, starting in the desert of Vol'dun, then entering the swamps of Nazmir, and culminating in an assault upon Zuldazar and the capital city of Dazar'alor. Casylia and the Order of the Beast led the Alliance's siege battalions in their confrontations with the Horde's siege machines, in Vol'dun and Zuldazar. And when the battle for Dazar'alor came, Casylia was among the members of the Alliance who made it a point to loot the Zandalari treasury - for the sake of the war effort, of course. The Order of the Beast became flush with wealth and newly acquired machinery, saved for future use. In the wake of this victory, where Casylia had led the Order's operations, she was made Guild Master - having proven her ability to lead them in battle.

Following the victory at Dazar'alor, the Order supported Stromgarde in an offensive assault led by Garen Lionblood into Hillsbrad, to capture Durnholde Keep. This was a success, driving the Horde into an even worse position in the area - but Casylia and the Order had to immediately drive down through Dun Morogh, down to Blackrock Mountain, where the Horde were supporting Iron Horde and Dark Horde forces, to take Blackrock from the Dark Iron Dwarves completely. Unfortunately, the siege battery was nearly unusable in the mountain, and while the Alliance fought bravely in the mountain, they were pushed from the central column by the Horde. While the Dark Irons weren't completely dislodged, the Horde had taken a firm grip on Blackrock Mountain.

Using this advantage, the Horde launched a follow-up assault on the high seas, in Vashj'ir. The Order's flagship, the Ironsong, joined the main fleet to repel the invading force. Above the surface, the Alliance's fleet was sacked, leading to the capture of the main atoll - they were only saved by the brave intervention of one Mandel Foster. However, their position was dire. So, it was up to the Order and the Pride of Gnomeregan to dislodge the Horde's fleet from below the waves while a covert team led by the Duskfall Collective dealt with the undead kraken known as Von Squeezy. The two-pronged operation was a success, and the Alliance was able to force the Horde fleet into a dire position, with enemies below and all around them. Before the Alliance could capitalize on this victory however, cultists of the Old Gods summoned an ancient abomination, known as L'Ghorek, to assault both factions. The Horde and Alliance forces united to defeat the creature - begrudgingly, in Casylia's case.

The Horde was dislodged by the beast from their position on the atoll, which led to them assaulting Menethil Harbor. Notably, the Order and Casylia were absent from this battle. In reality, the Ironsong was below the waves of the battle-site in Vashj'ir, scouring the shipwrecks and dragging them from the depths. These parts would be used to build a ship of the Order's own, alas, it would never see deployment in the war that it was built for.

It wasn't long after that, when she got involved in a regional conflict, involving a group of Horde soldiers known as the Shock Collective in the forests of Silverpine. They were attempting to set up a base of operations in the region, and were being assailed by Naga and Twilight forces. She was forced to fight off both the Naga, and then the Shock Collective, in a battle that cost the paladin her right eye - and nearly her life - against the Collective's leader, Sholasik.

She hunted him and his Collective down to Uldum, and engaged their leader in another one-on-one battle. However, the group was ambushed by a powerful Twilight sorcerer, and they elected to pause their battle to defeat the corrupted human. For their work, Casylia opted to spare the severely weakened Shock Collective - only taking one of Sholasik's eyes to settle their score.

Shortly after this occurred, the Alliance was lured into a trap by the Horde on the seas, and crashed into Nazjatar. At the same time, gnomish historians and engineers found the ancient lost city of Mechagon - home to the mechagnomes. Strangely, Casylia was not present in the battle for Nazjatar, and was only rarely seen on Mechagon, alone. Scouring the island for technology and schematics. She, nor the Order of the Beast, were present when Saurfang's rebellion and the Alliance's supporting force arrived at the gates of Orgrimmar - nor when the peace was declared between the two factions.

## ***A Sea of Water Lilies : Awakening*** (WoW - Battle for Azeroth)

While she herself briefly joined the Citrine Eagle, she had also sent her Order of the Beast on a covert mission, one that they had been holding off on for some time. Their founder, Kamara Eskevaldi, had vanished - abducted by Horde operatives, during the war. A ransom had been scheduled to be paid - but the ship carrying her was destroyed at sea. Now it was up to a crack team of the Order's finest, to track her down and bring her home.

While the Order rode off onto the seas in search for the guild's founder, who had been missing for some time now., Casylia was brought to a conflict in Uldum. As part of her deployment with the Citrine Eagle, she withdrew one of the Order's siege machines from Aerie Peak to serve as a point for mobile operations. In doing so, she assisted with the Alliance's medical teams in investigating the condition of one Isira Lure'mil. She had taken quite a number of notes on the matter, studying her condition in great depth and learning that she was being mutated by the vile Aqir. With the help of the druid Raelor and the paladin Aelenicus, Isira's condition was brought under control - however, the Alliance and Horde's coalition was driven from Uldum by the forces of the resurgent Old God, N'Zoth.

While the rest of the coalition went to Pandaria to fend off the Old God's attempt to capture the Engine of Nalak'sha, Casylia made preparations to return to Uldum with a party of some she could trust, so that they could meet with the deployed Order team and work in the region to dislodge the Old God's forces. She assembled a team made of consisting of Avelphina, Naza Varyn, and Jennifer Thornefield, and set out on the Order's submersible flagship, the Ironsong. While it was still somewhat damaged from the war, it was the best that they could do with, for the time being. They took the Ironsong up to the Borean Tundra, where they intended to trek to Sholazar and use the Waygate there to teleport to Un'goro, and then go from there straight back to Uldum, to rendezvous with the Order. The increased undead activity in the northern lands gave them trouble, as did minions of the Old Gods, but they managed to arrive in Uldum with all of the party's members alive. They even picked up one Brie Shadowflame along the way!

Once reunited, the Order of the Beast began their work on dislodging the Old God's presence in Uldum. After a series of long and hard-fought battles, where the guild nearly lost their lives on a couple of occasions, they were victorious. The details of this affair are shrouded in mystery, and some scant few rumors say that it was the Order themselves who - with a stroke of luck, planning, and cunning, felled N'Zoth once and for all. The veracity of these rumors is highly debatable, and really cannot be taken too seriously. After the Old God had been slain, she and the Order of the Beast returned to the Hinterlands - taking a relic she found in Uldum with her - and returned to a semi-reclusive occupation, quietly recruiting new adventurers who needed work after the war into the Order. Change was coming, and it could even be felt upon the wind.

## ***A Sea of Water Lilies : Metamorphosis*** (WoW - Shadowlands)

As the peace between the Alliance and Horde began to set in, and the terrors nearly brought upon the world by the Old God N'Zoth became semi-distant memories, Casylia spent the few months of peace looking inward. The time spent with her guild - really, her found family as far as she was concerned - in Uldum helped ease her mind after the divorce from her life-mate and the unsatisfactory end to the war. Yet, she knew that this time of peace was not to last. The Order of the Beast began to investigate reports of plagued grain and increased sightings of undead - but they were sporadic, and there were few leads on the potential source. To ramp up these efforts Casylia called for a guild meeting, both to celebrate the guild's successes in Uldum and to plan their next moves - both against this strange phenomenon and against the Horde - together.

An advance party was sent to the ruins of Jintha'alor before the guild meeting, to investigate rumors of strange happenings in the area. The long-abandoned ruin had been the site of many battles between the Order of the Best and the local troll tribes - last they'd been, the trollish skeletons littered the stone halls. So when the corpses of the many defeated trolls had completely vanished, there was cause for alarm. The Order of the Beast quickly learned the cause - as not too long after the advance party returned, a swath of skeletal trolls began to assail Aerie Peak. The Order held the line - but once the individuals who coordinated the attack made themselves known, the tide began to turn against them.

The Order and Wildhammers agreed to close the gate to Aerie Peak - if nothing else, to buy them time while the undead would have to pass through. However before she could head in with the rest, Casylia and her shield were pierced by a magical lance, hurled by the leader of the enemy undead. Her immortal soul was dragged into the weapon, and as the gate closed, she was taken with it into a previously unknown realm - the Shadowlands.

Suffering immense indignity and torment in a space known as the Maw, Casylia languished within the structure known as Torghast, the Tower of the Damned. A near-impregnable fortress of Death's making, few souls escaped that vile place. However, when the covenants siege Torghast, they were not alone. The Order of the Beast entered that baleful tower and rescued Casylia, before she was turned into a light-wielding agent of Death itself. Yet, the soul of a Prime Naaru - those first naaru, forged at the dawn of creation - reached out to her. The pawns of the Jailer in Torghast were looking to turn this last shard of the Naaru into a vile weapon - much like they were trying to do to Casylia herself. Reaching out for the shard, Casylia bonded with this small piece of the Naaru.

With their leader in tow, the Order of the Beast departed Torghast, following a new enemy deep into the Shadowlands. Eventually, they defeated this enemy as well, and returned to Azeroth triumphant. Yet, Azeroth was not without her own troubles...

## ***Civil War*** (WoW - Shadowlands)

The Order of the Beast returned to find Azeroth had not stayed still in their absence. The effects of what happened at Icecrown continued to ripple across the planet, as the swelling tide of undeath threatened most major settlements. The capital cities had been cleansed of the undead, as had many surrounding settlements, but many more were still under threat. Furthermore, there were reports that relations between the Horde and Alliance had begun to fray, unresolved tensions from the last war continuing to bubble to the surface. With that in mind, Casylia and her guildmates jumped into action - setting out to Kalimdor to help confront the multifarious threats to the Alliance. The Order and its leader split up, Casylia joining the Alliance in the Barrens to help quell an uprising in Northwatch Hold (and fight off the Horde if they became a threat) while the Beasts deployed to Desolace to secure a powerful artifact. While both parties were successful in their ventures, the rebellion at Northwatch Hold set the stage for a far more explosive conflict, centered at the heart of the Alliance.

While Casylia had been gone, a number of problems had begun to ferment in the kingdom of Stormwind. Historically, the commoners had always been treated pretty poorly - aid often being denied to territories outside of Elwynn due to the improper rationing of resources. However the return of the Scourge made that problem even more strenuous, and when coupled with the disappearance of the current king for a second time within a single century, caused unrest within the kingdom. During the last king's absence, the House of Nobles had almost universally failed in its duties to the kingdom, failing to govern it properly. Suffice to say, another such situation was not something that the commoners of the kingdom were going to put up with again. Thus, people began to push for the establishment of a House of Commons - a ruling body alongside the House of Nobles, that would be made up of common people who were elected into the positions for their merits. This would ensure that power would be able to be held by representatives of peoples from all walks of life, not just the nobility. This movement would fail, and combined with the rise of a claimant to the crown, the people of the kingdom of Stormwind had enough. A civil war broke out between the Loyalists, individuals who remained loyal to the House of Nobles and Lord Commander Turalyon, and the Rebellion which was comprised of both individuals who supported the claimant Darian Colfax, as well as supporters of the Defias and champions of commoners' rights.

Casylia and the Order of the Beast were deployed into the conflict, and split once again. Casylia joined the Loyalist cause, while the Order of the Beast worked throughout the region to help people who were caught up in the crossfire of the conflict, as well as help quell other threats that would seek to use a civil war for their own vile ends. Unbeknownst to the other members of the Loyalist cause, Casylia took on a moniker of "C.C," and sent a servant into the rebel encampment. Through her servant, she would provide information, arms, and supplies to the rebellion's forces while continuing to sell arms and supplies to the Loyalist cause as well. This would continue until the passage of the House of Commons, which would see Casylia end all private support to the rebellion - the writing was on the wall after all, and she wasn't about to be on a losing side. The Arbiter took part in most of the war's battles, either as a healer or as a frontline fighter, most notably being one of the three heroes of the Kingdom to slay the black dragon, Ivion.

She would seek to be made baroness of the territory she had obtained during the war, a port territory known as Annebury. As one would expect, her bid failed, and in order to protect the city from its northern neighbors, she gave the deed to the church while seeking out any remaining descendants of the territory's founder, Anne Turner. As luck would have it, one such man had fought during the Civil War, and had fallen - but left one son behind. Travelling back home to the north, Casylia sought out this man - one Colin Lambholdt - and would convince him to return to assume the title of ruler of Annebury. In return for her support and guidance, she would be made the port city's governor, securing the port for the Order of the Beast while securing her own safety in what she perceived as a conflict to come.

## ***A Sea of Water Lilies - Emergence*** (Timeskip)

A dissipating thought, more akin to a beautiful daydream than to a memory that could last a lifetime. Eventually, a self-realization that something is wrong rolls in, and yet the refusal to accept that fact brings forth further horrors. Eventually, one experiences the last coherent memories before confusion fully rolls in, and the grey mists form and fade away, giving way to terror.

Enlightenment ~~achieved~~ rejected.

## ***A Sea of Water Lilies - Actualization*** (Timeskip)

The Sea of Water Lilies is without description.

## *Forward, to a New Tomorrow* (WoW - Dragonflight)

Having suffered a defeat at the apex of her power and scheming, Casylia was left humbled - offered mercy by those she had harmed and given another chance to make things right, Casylia decided to follow through on that word. Putting her ambition to rest, she begins a quest of self-reflection and evolution, to move beyond the past and become the leader that her loved ones deserve. One that they can be proud to stand beside.

With that in mind, Casylia developed her skills in subtlety. Over the three years of relative peace, she became rather adept at the art of subterfuge, and eventually found herself looking for work within the Kingdom outside of her governor-ship. With that in mind, she reached out to SI:7 to be inducted into their organization, so that she could better protect Stormwind and her people. Whether this bid was successful or not is unknown to most.