Shakiena Stillwater

**Nation**
 **Born**
 **Titles**
 **Beliefs**
 **House**
 **Relatives**
* Shi'leyne Shal'assan; Mother (deceased)
* Nyassa Ebonwind; Wife (Alive)
* Alairius Ebonwind-Shal'assan; Son (Alive)

**Shakiena Auvelia Shal'assan (Stillwater)** is a former Archmage of the Kirin Tor and inheritor to the ancient Highborne holdings of North and South Shal'assan in the heart of Northrend in Crystalsong- as well a ruler of the largely elven Barony of Ren'belore in the Blasted Lands of the Eastern Kingdoms. She works as an enchanter, and currently utilizes her talents to aid the Lords and Ladies of the Duchy of Eastburg under direction by their Court Mage Sir Jie Meng (albeit in an unofficial capacity at present).

She came in to this line of work through her relationship with Lady Nyassa Ebonwind; Countess of Ebonlight, whom Shakiena wed- and through whom she is being granted the Barony of Ren'belore.

## Personality

Shakiena is a publicly quiet and reserved woman who rarely speaks out of turn or even at any other point in conversation unless she herself is spoken to. Privately and in the company of those she holds close she is anything but quiet and reserved, dominating and driving conversations and inspiring her friends up to ridiculous and unexpected (and in some cases unbecoming!) activities. In spite of her history as a disciplined city guard of Dalaran and (later) soldier for the Violet Eye during the Nexus War, Shakiena has a tendency towards being adoringly soft and mischievous- ESPECIALLY towards her significant others (as Lady Ebonwind herself can attest).

## Description

Compared to the average Quel'dorei woman Shakiena stands at an above average height at six-foot one inches with pearly white shoulder length hair and slightly longer than average elven ears... a gift from the Highborne half of her heritage in addition to her above average stature. As far as mages and spellblades go Shakiena is exceptionally well built in terms of musculature and athleticism, having focused on her physical aptitudes throughout most of her life before finally following in the footsteps of her esteemed mage parentage. As is typical for elves of a higher caste Shakiena too is prone to small acts of vanity, with the most egregious being the application of makeup or illusion to give her freckles the appearance of being purple.

However, Shakiena doesn't only wear the uniform. Since meeting Lady Nyassa Ebonwind the arcanist has more than tripled her selection of dresses and casual outfits, sometimes sporting said dresses when tending to formal obligations for the Duchy with her beloved. In these instances the Dame-Archon allows herself to be seen as something other than a dutiful mage wearing the tabard bearing the sigil and seal of Shal'assan.

## Biography

Shakiena Stillwater was born in the year 468 by King's Calendar reckoning on December 24th to Alairius and Shi'leyne Stillwater in the magocracy of Dalaran. As with all elf-kind, the future Dame-Archon had a long path ahead of her wrought with all the expected highs and lows- and many unexpected.

To start, Shakiena's father was one of the last surviving Shandaral Highborne- a part of ancient Night Elven society located in the frozen reaches of Northrend in the forest of Moonsong (later renamed to Crystalsong). Her mother was an agent of the Convocation of Silvermoon sent to Dalaran to aid in the creations of the first laws of magic. The two met, the two fell in love, and after multiple centuries of trying they had their miracle child: Shakiena Stillwater. For just about the entirety of her life Shakiena was raised in the confines of the Violet City, only ever seeing Quel'thalas as a distant and storied land told through pictures and spoken tales in children's books.

It wasn't until Shakiena entered adulthood that she finally started treading the path of a mage, taking quickly to the arts of the arcane as was expected of the progeny of Highborne and High Elven sorcerers. She was an unruly young elf, however. Consistently getting in to trouble and needing to be bailed out frequently by her mother and her position among the hierarchy of Dalaran's elite- that nepotism landing her work as a guardian of Dalaran. This line of work would be hers for many decades, though that would all change eventually.

Shakiena lived through many notable events in Dalaran's modern history, but the most affecting were the destruction at the hands of the demon lord Archimonde and Dalaran's rebuilding and subsequent moving to Northrend for the Nexus War.

The Nexus War... never had Shakiena been tested so harshly as she was during her time in Coldarra. Shakiena was exceptionally suited to a single grim task: dispatching fellow mages, to which there were many traitors to Dalaran who were swayed by the Mad Aspect's promises of power- putting many former colleagues, friends, and students on the business end of her runic blades. Near the end of the war when Azeroth's heroes and the Wyrmrest Accord confronted Malygos, Shakiena and her unit of spellblades were tasked with the near suicidal gambit of distracting whatever Blues remained near the Eye of Eternity and the Nexus to buy much needed time to accomplish their dire mission. At one point during the chaos of their mission Shakiena was cornered by one of the last remaining mage hunters and their reptilian mount, almost fatally wounding her in the process.

Fortunately, but... mostly unfortunately Shakiena was paralyzed rather than killed. Her spine broken and rendering her stuck in a hospital bed- even having to be so when she and the fabled few survivors of her party were dubbed honorably as Knight-Archons of Dalaran. The war in Northrend for Shakiena was over, but not for those who survived and wished to see the conflict with the Lich King through to the end. None of them would survive to hear of the Lich King's defeat atop Icecrown Citadel, and since then Shakiena has lived with the unreasonable guilt for not being able to do something- **anything** -to keep her friends alive. Thus Shakiena would survive in agony as her parents sought out the finest healers and medical professionals the world had to offer to eventually save the last Knight-Archon from a miserable bedridden existence.

Her recovery was slow, long enough that she was idle in Dalaran through the entirety of the events of the Shattering and Deathwing's return- not returning to active duty until the months leading up to the War in Pandaria. It was during this time that another turning point in the life of the last Knight-Archon took an unexpected turn. Shakiena had grown to appreciate and even love the neutral state of the Kirin Tor during the campaigns in Northrend, having made many friends across both factions which allowed her to learn more about the High Elven half of her lineage through the Sin'dorei among the Sunreaver faction.

So it was an untimely and unfortunate surprise when the Silver Covenant and the guardianship of Dalaran sought to oust the Sin'dorei from the Violet City for the actions of a few in the heist of the Divine Bell. Shakiena was conflicted between following orders to remove uncooperative Sunreavers and policing those among the Silver Covenant who took advantage of the circumstances to exact petty vengeance on their political rivals. She loved faces on both sides, and had even been married to a Silver Covenant ranger at the time! Her choice would be her undoing- choosing to defend a surrendering family of Sin'dorei being unduly harassed by a pair of Quel'dorei swordsmen. The resulting scuffles ended in Shakiena's arrest by none other than her beloved ranger. Needless to say that that marriage- like many before for Shakiena- was doomed.

Thus was Shakiena arrested, and thus was she ousted from the Kirin Tor. Stripped of her titles and what was left of her good name, her heroics during the Nexus War all but forgotten by most among her former colleagues. No longer welcome in Dalaran, Shakiena would move on to live in Crystalsong where after the war in Northrend her father staked his claim in his ancestral home and rebuilt both North and South Shal'assan- the latter of which was given to the former Knight-Archon during her imposed exile.

It wouldn't be until the Legion's return that Shakiena was called back home, and who was she not to answer the call? Their world was under calamitous threat. The Sunreavers were admitted back among the ranks of the Kirin Tor and Lady Jaina Proudmoore in turn made her departure from the Council of Six. Titles restored, Shakiena took to her new tasks with vigor, eager to prove herself to those uneasy to see her return under the banner of the Violet Eye and Tirisgarde.

It was during the campaign on Argus that another turning point came for the Knight-Archon of Dalaran, on Eredath. Throughout her years growing up in Dalaran she learned to abhor the magics of fel, void, and necromancy, but she'd only ever encountered fel and necromancy. Eredath was her first experience with void magics, seeing it first hand by void enthralled krokul. Shakiena became obsessed, an obsession fueled furthermore by the revelation of Alleria Windrunner's expedition through the Seat of the Triumvirate and what befell- or rather **empowered** her there. This curiosity would be the end of the chapter in her life as an honorable member of the Kirin Tor.

The rest of her story is now modern history. She took no part in the Fourth War as she took that time to adjust to her new existence among the Ren'dorei, not returning to anything resembling a normal life until after N'zoth's defeat in Ny'alotha. It was a short lived peace for the House of Shal'assan.

Two weeks prior to the sky's shattering over Icecrown the most monumental tragedy befell the Knight-Archon and her family. Adherents of the Cult of the Damned marched on Shal'assan while on an unholy pilgrimage to Icecrown Glacier. Few survived, with Shakiena's mother and father counting among those who fell in the razing. Ever since then Shal'assan has been under the claw and foot of rampaging remnants of cultist and Scourge alike.

After the fall of Shal'assan Shakiena had nowhere else to go. Dalaran no longer welcomed her, and the only other home she had was ashen ruins. Stormwind was and is her home now, which brings us to today...

Shakiena has since reclaimed her family's ancestral home of Shal'assan (ie. "The Still Waters") in Crystalsong Forest.

## House

Shakiena Stillwater is all that remains of the ancient Highborne House of Shal'assan, and still intends to reclaim those distant northern shores along the Rivulet and Mirror of Twilight. The House of Shal'assan hails back to the years of Queen Azshara's reign, where even a young Alairius Shal'assan served the monarch through his legendary enchanting prowess. All of this legacy now rests on the shoulders of the former Knight-Archon.