Valia

Uncle: Alcarious Crowngarde

Cousins:

Tarathar Crowngarde

Delia Crowngarde

## Background

### A Bastard Daughter

The product of the long standing love affair between Valcor Crowngarde and Mariah, Valia was born in Westfall but was moved by her mother to Booty Bay before she could grow old enough to remember it. It would be many years before she visited her birthplace.

### A Happy Childhood

She lived alone with her mother, in a city full of pirates, thieves, and general scum, yet the young girl was happy growing up. She made friends with goblin children, she studied the fascinating subjects her mother taught her, most of them related to the Church and the Light, and she was well cared for.

At a young age she began to show proficiency with the Light, at age three the barely walking toddler had cried when her kitten had injured her leg, reaching out and unintentionally using the Light to heal it. This quickly caught Mariah's attention, as showing the Light at such a young age, while not unheard of, was very rare.

### Once A Teenager

As she slowly began to mature, Valia was more reliably able to practice and preach the Holy Light, starting to take care of her mother more than her mother was taking care of her, and providing the same healing services to Booty Bay that Mariah had before her. Even though she was only age 14, she managed to keep her mother and herself taken care of as she continued learning.

It was only then that Mariah revealed her parentage and their story. Valia learned of Valcor, her father, who had once been a paragon of virtue and a powerful Paladin. She learned of how he had fought alongside his brother with the Scarlet Crusade, before travelling to Stormwind to reunite with Mariah. She learned that she was the product of an affair, that her father had no knowledge of her existence, and worse still, that he had fallen and risen as a Death Knight.

She took this knowledge with a heavy heart, but the Light comforted her. Faith was her greatest strength, even when her mother passed she knew she would go on.

### The Light Unbridled

Valia travelled north, but it was only then that she truly discovered just how much the Light was with her. The sheer scale of her affinity with the Light matched history's greatest priests and paladins, perhaps even surpassed them, the raw holy essence flowing through her being closely. These capabilities made her hesitant, at first, for she had shared her Mother's beliefs of using the Light only for healing.

It wasn't until she arrived in Westfall, planning to visit her birthplace, that she realized she could be something greater. In a small incident, two members of the Defias held her and a random traveller up on the road, intending to rob them. Valia tried and failed to convince them away from their life of crime, flinching back as one of the thieves prepared to strike her down, only to find her hand outstretching suddenly. She watched in awe as a beam of iridescent Light shot from her palm and into the thief's chest, yet rather than damage him, the thief found himself on his knees crying in grief, confessing his sins and repenting. Taken aback, Valia understood, with reluctance, that she was powerful.

## Legion

### The Legion's Return

The Burning Legion's return brought horror back into the homes of Azeroth, just as Valia arrived in Stormwind she witnessed the chaos firsthand. Citizens scared, the occasional demonic attack, the rapid marshalling of armies. Her first visit was the Cathedral district, of which she had learned much of but had never seen for herself. Finding High Priestess Laurena, she presented herself truthfully, only leaving out details of her heritage.

Laurena and the rest of the Church were at awe at just how affixed the Light seemed to be with the young woman, the gentle glow that came off Valia when she stood beneath the Cathedral's altar truly shocking them. It was seen as a sign by many. Just as the Legion returned, a young priestess of incredible ability presented herself. Though she had initially wanted to seek out her uncle and meet him, she could not turn away from the conflict.

In a mostly unprecedented move, the Church ordained her as a Priestess due to the extensive teaching she had received from her Mother, despite having never served formally in a chapter. Joining the Conclave, Valia was a battlefield healer for much of the conflict with the Legion, though her status as an objector prevented her from taking part in some of the more dire battles. The Church was reluctant to let the young Priestess join the more dire skirmishes as, if she would not use the Light to protect herself, the chances she would be killed were too large.

## Modern

When the Legion was defeated, Valia returned to Stormwind and refused to take part in the war with the Horde, instead she was readying herself. Saving up supplies and giving goodbyes, Valia was planning to leave Stormwind and travel north, to meet her family. The youngest member of the Crowngarde family, Valia was only twenty years old, with half a lifetime of worry about what her Uncle and Cousins would think of her. Beyond that, she knew her father yet roamed Azeroth as a Death Knight, terrified with the concept of such a devout Paladin having fallen.
She hoped that, with her family, she could find a place of belonging before finding and confronting her father.