Mazekenne Bal'annor

## Personality

Mazekenne is an eclectic bundle of emotions that she is far too ready to feel at any given time. As easy to anger as she is to laugh, one can never really be too certain which muse they'll encounter when interacting with the huntress.

A bit obsessive, once she sets her mind to something, or decides she wants it, she tends to focus every ounce of her energy into obtaining that goal or object. However, she hates feeling as if she's doing things out of order, which typically leads to her bouncing around from task to task with the appearance of one who has some sort of attention disorder.

Fiercely attached to her beasts, it is extremely rare to see her without them. Some might think the dependency unhealthy, but when your only friends are giant cats you just like hanging out with giant cats.

## General Information

### Married To:

Aeydark Bal'annor

Speaking of unhealthy, after a lifetime of solitude, Maze has only recently dared to rejoin society. Having been on her own for so long, she is rightfully starved for human interaction. She craves attention, affection, and tends to put too much of herself into a relationship before it is stable enough to hold the baggage she carries. Some might say she's in love with the idea of being in love, she claims she's just enjoying life.

## History

Mother: Adrielle Dawnstrider

Father: Mal'thas Dawnstrider

Mazekenne was born in Quel'thalas, and had the good fortune to enter the world with a certain amount of privilege at her disposal. Her mother, Adrielle Dawnstrider, was a respected mage. With her prestige added to that of Mal'thas's status as a Ranger, the Dawnstrider name was one that demanded respect within the jeweled city of Silvermoon.

From an early age, Maze understood the expectations placed on her by birthright. While she could do as she pleased to an extent, there was always the sensation of being watched, and being measured for worth. In those days, there was always something on the line; always something to be proven. For the most part, she was a tame and docile creature; though she was prone to her rages in those days even as she is at present. Maze knew she had to walk a certain way, talk a certain way; her behavior and actions reflected not only on her but on her family as a whole. "You are the future of our name, Mazekenne. Never let anyone see you stumble," Her mother would often say during their endless lessons. Above all others, Adrielle demanded nothing short of excellence from her daughter at all times.

Much of Mazekenne's time from adolescence to adulthood was spent under strict tutelage provided by individuals her mother saw as satisfactory. She spent hours upon hours learning history, arcane magics, etiquette, sewing, dancing, music, and a host of other tasks and skills viewed as necessary for a lady. When at last she was released from the drudgery of educational debate, Maze often sought the company of her father.

Mal Dawnstrider was a calm creature, resembling the nature of water in the way so much tended to roll off his shoulders. He understood that in the world things would be or they would not, and if there was something that could not be changed there was no sense in losing your head fretting about it. He was tame in the way a lion at rest is tame; his fangs were hidden by smiles, and his claws disguised in gentle touches. Perhaps it was for this that she felt so much more comfortable around her father than her mother. Perhaps it was for the fact that her father seemed to expect so much less of her in terms of behavior and education. Whatever the cause, time spent with her father often left Maze hungering for more; whereas time spent with her mother left her exhausted and moody.

If Adrielle's education was best suited for a stuffy room, then Mal'thas's tutelage was the polar opposite. Instead of focusing on things like keeping her silks pretty and maintaining her posture, Mal placed an emphasis on survival skills. Time spent with him involved learning practical things such as marksmanship, hunting and tracking, skinning and butchering wildlife for consumption and trade or use of their hide. He taught her to haggle with tradesmen, and how to walk silently through the wilds. He showed her how to befriend beasts, and how to charm a guardsman with a smile. Where Adrielle refined her, Mal gave purpose to that refinement.

Before she had even been born, Mazekenne's hand had been promised to a family of good renown within Silvermoon. Her intended went by the name of Erodin Lightspear, and was a prospect to follow his father's footsteps and become a Paladin. Already well on his way to knighthood by the time the two started inhabiting the same circles, he had charmed his way through the ranks and made short work of charming his way into Maze's heart. Naive, and thinking she was in love, everything seemed to be turning up peachy for the young spellbow.

That is, until it didn't.

Mazekenne never got the full story of what happened involving her mother, but she understood the impact of it entirely. One day Adrielle was a respected mage, earning them the status of nobility if not the actual title. The next, they were ghosts, barely spared a glance by their peers and followed by a tide of whispers and hushed rumors. Few kept up any friendships with the Dawnstrider family, and those that did only did so for the sake of Mal'thas's good standing as a Ranger. Things would never be the same after that shift.

Erodin maintained the betrothal to Maze, despite multiple people voicing their opinions against such a disadvantageous union. Though as time wore on, the Spellbow began to wonder if he did so out love, or out of something else; something darker. His affectionate nature and charming words turned to patronizing comments and manipulative acts. More and more, it seemed the male tried everything in his power to ensure the huntress remained squarely under his thumb and under his complete control. It took her far longer than it should have for the female to realize he had never truly loved her; he had simply loved the idea of her. But she wasn't an idea, and she wasn't a thing to be owned. She was as wild as the forests she ran through, and she would bend her knee to no male; especially one meant to stand beside her as an equal. The Spellbow called off the engagement soon after, and earned herself a powerful enemy in doing so.

Scorned by someone considered lesser than him, Erodin was enraged. Mazekenne was nothing compared to his titles and his status; how dare she besmirch his good name by having the audacity to stave off his advances. Especially when he had so generously extended a hand to her to pull her up from the place she and her family had fallen to. Maze would never regret that choice, though. She had seen her formerly betrothed for what he was; spiteful and controlling, and she would not be some pretty thing without a brain of her own. Still, Erodin demanded retribution, and when there was none to be found, he turned to revenge.

It wasn't difficult to convince Silvermoon that Adrielle had been practicing fel magic. A few Legion relics here, some staged remnants of rituals there; add in a dash of a few well placed rumors, and all of Quel'thalas was ready to run the family out of town. Despite their protests, despite their claims that none of it was true, the Dawnstrider house had lost all credibility and their words fell upon deaf ears. A few months into this disgraced new life, her parents considering leaving Quel'thalas for a time in the hopes that things would settle down, a certain visitor came to call.

It was Mazekenne that opened the door that night, hours after her parents had gone to bed, somehow knowing who she would find on the other side. She had taken him away from their front door, out into the dew covered grass, expecting him to try and demand some sort of penance, but never expecting the true weight of the words that would come. The conversation began in line with her assumptions, but the real kicker came when Erodin spoke, "All of this can go away... All you have to do is come back to me, and all of this stops..." She remembers well the ice that had come to her blood, quickly replaced by the surge of fire. Before she knew what had happened, arcane magic had consumed her, fueled by her rage. She sliced a hand through the air, and the magic answered; slicing through Erodin like a hot knife through butter. A second had passed since the uttering of his confession and his bribe, and a man laid dead in front of her.

Maze wasn't given any time to acknowledge what she had done before more men came slinking from the forests surrounding her family's home. She should have known Erodin wouldn't have come alone; he never did anything without an audience. She looked at them, and they at her. A heartbeat passed, and they fled. Well that wouldn't do... Wasting no time, Maze mounted a Hawkstrider, and took off in pursuit. They ran towards Silvermoon, as the huntress had known they would, and still imbued with the power of her birthright, Maze systematically tracked them and put them down. One. By. One.

The sun rose the next morning on four unmarked graves, far enough into the woods Maze was sure no one would find them any time soon. Returning to her home, exhausted and traumatized by her own actions, the Spellbow made a choice. She couldn't stay and risk being found out, not when her sin would come back on her family. So she did the one thing she thought she could do to keep her family safe... She left. As morning yawned light upon her family home - the house that had raised her - Mazekenne disappeared into the forest, taking only her bow and the armor her father had made for her. She would not return to Quel'thalas in that lifetime.

Mazekenne retreated to the one place she knew would hide her: the wilds. For generations she wandered up and down the Eastern Kingdoms, even trecking west to visit Kalimdor once or twice. Mostly, she avoided the Horde, for fear that any warrant for her arrest would have spread; instead keeping close to the humans that would come to recognize her face and know her as harmless enough. She watched Stormwind become the bustling city it is today as the years stretched into decades and then into centuries. When the Legion returned again, she rose to fight the threat, feeling obligated after the history of her kind.

It was in Krokunn that she discovered her children; her darling panthera. Claimed by the huntress as cubs, she raised them as her own, and would kill to see them protected and safe.

Only within the last couple of years has Mazekenne made her return to civilization, dancing along the fringes of Alliance society, keeping a low profile for the most part. Occassionally, she can be seen playing her harp for any who might stop to listen. Always is she accompanied by her children; twin shadows constantly on her heels.

## RP History

- 10/28 ((maze x xarethos)) meets an alluring musician who sparks her interest with his enchanting melodies. she doesn't catch his name, but the way he leaves her - anticipating everything that could be all from one touch - makes her eager to run into him again.

- 10/29 ((maze x ramona x dela'sara)) maze experiences a cafe and has the best apple pie of her life - discovers she LOVES sweets. the three women chat for a while before parting ways. dela and maze make plans to meet later on in the week to go clothes shopping for maze

((maze x alinara)) after a chance encounter, maze and ali become fast friends over their similar arts. ali is a poet and maze thinks she is an incredible wordsmith. ali shares a secret with maze; afterward they go to boralus for drinks but not before ali shows up a kaldorei female and wins a kiss from her. Afterwards, they go out for their drinks, during which Maze drinks far too much, and ends up spending the night at Ali's house. Ali leaves her a spare key to make sure Maze always has a place to go.

-11/2 ((maze x ramona)) the two happen to run into each other in SW, and have a pleasant chat about life. ramona encourages maze to continue putting herself out there, and mazekenne leaves the encounter feeling more confident and a bit more patient.

[blah time gap cause laziness]

Became engaged to Aeydark Bal'annor, and started the Bound by Honor guild with him.

9/19/22 ((maze x aey x scraz x arlien x lyn)) an effort is made to preserve Scraz's sanity by destroying his current body and entrapping the demons within it. Scraz's fate is assumed death.

9/30/22 ((BbH x DIS)) an alliance is struck between the friends by verbal oath. There is still paperwork to be filed, and signatures to be signed, but the alliance is as real now as ever.

10/1/22 ((maze x BbH)) takes an arrow to the ribs during an excursion to explore the Isle of Quel'ama further. Luckily, the wound is healed by the Commodore shortly after, but she is certainly sore afterward. She and Aey spend a romantic evening together back in Dawnstrider Landing rather than trying to make the trek home.

10/12/22 ((maze x aey x zariasona x draeath)) have a lovely dinner party during which maze gets to see zaria and drae officially become engaged! That is one wedding she has no intentions on missing!

10/22/22 ((maze x aey x friends)) gather to celebrate and rejoice at the wedding of maze and aey. she is eager for what the future holds, and desperately happy to at last be able to call him husband.

wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff

3/5/23 ((maze x aey)) are overjoyed by the birth of their first son! Adonis Bal'annor!