Ligeia - Priest of the Forsaken

Laurel · **Posted:** Fri May 16, 2014 4:05 pm

((I wrote this many years ago as a bio for my Forsaken priest Ligeia. The name came from a book by Laurell K Hamilton but I later found it is the name of a poem by Poe. Of course I had a banner

))

Darkness, blackness, a seething weight of nothingness and then light. That is all I recall of my rebirth into this undeath and I have a gratitude for that lack of knowledge that words can never express. A gratitude that is heightened and strengthened every time I face or see one of the mindless scourge. One hears others talk of the light and its blessings, their understanding of this light is not as mine. My light had a face, blurred and indistinct but still a face and I searched for that face, the face of a lady, the face of my saviour, for although I did not and do not remember that time spent in mindless oblivion, I am as sure that she saved me as I am that the sun will rise in the morning. Saved me, restored my free will, and gave me back control of my actions, and, though my existence is still not as the living, it is once again MY life to be spent as I choose.

Once I had awoken in the crypt and made my way disorientated and weak, so desperately weak, into the settlement of Deathknell there to hear of Sylvanus, there was no other choice for me but to spend my freedom, my life in her service. The debates I have had over whether such service means I am truly free, I will leave for another time, this first record is to be of the beginning of my journey and I do not wish to get ahead of myself.

*An inkblot marks the place where a pen obviously rested for a while*

Surveying the place, a simple gathering of only a few houses around a graveyard, I saw that it was filled with others like myself. Some of these undead had a sense of permanence about them; others had the same wide-eyed startled look I felt sure I wore myself. I do not lie when I say I had no memories then of before the moment the light released me from darkness, and so everything around me seemed fresh and new which, considering the decrepitude of the place, was amusing as I now reflect on it. A male by the entrance to the crypt had sent me to talk to someone in the main hall. Finding the person was easy enough, he was pointed out to me quickly. With a little nervousness I approached, he spoke to me without kindness or anger; I suppose many passed before him such as I, newborn into the Forsaken, for that is what I discovered was our name. I had no true understanding of the distinction between Forsaken and Scourge at that time, but I clung to that name eagerly. Strangely when asked, my own name fell from my lips without a thought. How odd that despite remembering nothing else I could recall my name.

*A rendering of the name appears made with a flowing hand and ornate lettering*

So I knew who I was and had begun to understand what I was, what I needed was a reason, a why I was. Talking to the male, he offered tasks and training in the hamlet. Eagerly I accepted. I was so pathetically weak that I would be of no use to anyone let alone to my saviour the Dark Lady. Curious that she should be so named when her coming to me had been in light but still, serve her I would and that meant growing in strength and talent. It seemed natural to me to call upon magics when faced with a foe and they called me a priest. Very well, I decided, I should become the greatest priest I could, one who could call down retribution on my enemies and blessing on my friends.

Laurel · **Posted:** Fri May 16, 2014 4:18 pm

Stepping through the fence surrounding Deathknell was like stepping into a different world, the inhabitants of which had only one desire and that was to end my undeath. To the South were Scourge and I watched in horror their mindless wanderings, listened sickened to their moans and groans. It seemed a mercy to me to put them out of their misery and hatred grew in my heart towards those who had perpetrated this monstrosity.

To the East were the living, the Scarlet Crusade, a group whose only aim was to eradicate me and my kind, my response was to share that desire and turn it back upon them, they say every action has an equal and opposite reaction, well I was determined that my vengeance would become theirs.

As if that were enough it seemed as if nature itself wished to destroy me, beasts large and small, winged and legged attacked me on all sides.

My path was set. Looking back if things had been different there at the very beginning perhaps I should be different also. Then again maybe not. Perhaps something is twisted and torn inside when one is ripped from life and made into a puppet, something that is rarely restored even when one is delivered to one's right mind. Whichever, I was cursed, some might say though I would now disagree, with undeath and I dealt with what I faced in the only way I could. My time in Deathknell moulded and set me on this path.

Though I have returned there only once, a tale I will tell later, still it remains my first home but quickly. so quickly I outgrew it. The leaders recognised this and sent me on and out to the town of Brill with documents and messages to deliver. I tarried a little I confess, reluctant to leave this place that was all I knew but the desire in me to serve and grow stronger pressed me on and my feet followed the path North and out of the valley.

Laurel · **Posted:** Fri May 16, 2014 4:21 pm

And so the path led me to Brill. Nothing I found along the way persuaded me that my choices were wrong, rather they confirmed my initial impression that, apart from my own kind, the world sought my extinction.

I found much work for my hands and magic in Brill, many many tasks that helped me train and hone my skills for the future. I found one other thing. Something I had neither sought for nor expected ever to find. A sister: Valde. I saw her and though I had no memories of my past somehow I knew her and she me. It seemed she had been free a little longer than I and had begun to work with demons. I could see the benefits as we began to work together but truly, the sight of these creatures, even under her control, made my flesh crawl.

Some of the tasks I was assigned involved eradicating the scourge that infested the mill nearby Brill. As I slew one, a letter dropped from its body and on picking it up, I saw it was unsealed and addressed to an Yvette. To my shame I read the letter and its contents horrified me. Somewhere perhaps there still existed one who had known… and loved… this creature whose existence I had just ended. Fury at the machinations of those who had spread the plague filled me reinforcing my intent to have revenge upon them. How many others, free only by the Lady’s hand, still wandered, remembering those who had fallen to its vileness? Perhaps I built barricades within my mind to ensure that I should never recall any who I had lost, and only in my darkest dreams did I even consider that there had been others of my family besides Valde. I found the female Yvette in the Inn in Brill, she was both relieved and horrified by the letter and I endured the tale she told me resisting the urge to flee from the emotion she displayed. I left her holding the letter and to this day avoid even meeting her eye.

Valde and I continued to train, sometimes together and at others apart. I found the Forsaken were part of a larger alliance called the Horde. It seemed strange that we should be allied with the living, these trolls, tauren and orcs tolerating our existence when all else wished us gone, but if the Lady wished it so then I accepted. More and more the tasks I faced were too difficult for me alone and I found comrades along the way of both the undead and the living. Some were competent enough to be remembered while others quickly forgotten. Unlike Valde, I was most comfortable with my own kind and it was a relief to me when I met in Ashenvale a Forsaken warrior and mage.

*another doodle interrupts the text formed of interlinked circles and letters*

I found a kinship with them and we trained for many seasons. Sadly, as Valde, they are gone now to what fate I know not.

*the writing ends with a scored full stop as if done in anger*

I will not bore any who might read this, including myself, with a blow-by-blow account of my training. I remember it clearly each step and progression along the way. Suffice it to say I seemed to travel the length and breadth of Azeroth: from the rolling plains of Arathi to the steaming jungles of Stranglethorne, from the arid deserts of Tanaris to the ravaged reaches of Felwood. I fought mortals, elves, ogres and such creatures as were beyond my former imaginings honing and training my skills and strategies. I was pleased by my progress yet something was missing.

I observed those around me, silently and intently and often I found a purpose in them that even surpassed my own. My companions, before they vanished, were a beginning but, when Valde met and subsequently formed a tie with a guild, I began to realise what is was I longed for family – not in the flesh and blood sense but something to which I could belong. To have those who had concern for my wellbeing and for whom I could in turn have concern. I scrutinised this Unforgiven guild Valde had joined, there were Forsaken among them but to my consternation they also numbered the living in their ranks. During my training, as I have already said I had worked alongside such beings and developed a healthy respect for them and their abilities but to bind myself to them? No, I had a fundamental belief that ultimately we would be at odds, divided as we were by the line of undeath. So these Unforgiven were not for me but still I looked for more.

Laurel · **Posted:** Fri May 16, 2014 4:23 pm

I heard tell of groups composed only of my own kind and my heart quickened; perhaps here I would find what I sought. Valde introduced me to the Lady Meren, a Priest like myself, she spoke of one such guild that might be interested in me and I in them and so my fate was sealed. On a dimming eve, I returned to Brill and entered the Gallows' End. There seated and secretive I found the one I would come to know as the Mortifera, Whisperblade. Nervously but with anticipation I sat and talked with him. I was subjected to an intense and searching scrutiny and confess I returned the favour though perhaps more discretely. If I were to commit myself to this guild then I wanted to be sure. I was. Every word he spoke made me more and more certain that these were Forsaken I could work with and trust. They were as committed to the Lady and her cause as I was, seeking to serve her in every way they could no matter the cost. Perhaps at last I had found a home with these Infinitas Fedilitas, and so when invited I agreed and it was done. I was part of something bigger than just myself, of course I was merely on the fringes of their organisation but I would strive with all my heart and strength to serve as well as I could.

And so I did, silently for the most part, rarely speaking unless spoken to, I observed and learned, continuing to develop and hone my skills through the many, many tasks I was presented with. Finally I was called upon to serve my new family when one had a task to slay a so called spider god in the Hinterlands, the trolls there, as all trolls, worshipped a strange array of deities and one such was a spider of such immense size that it would require several to slay it. I went, heart pounding, to aid. The Baron, the shadowy elusive but awe-inspiring figure who led us, would be there and I was eager to prove myself worthy of my place. Truth was I had taken the courage to ask him for an interview that we were in the middle of when the call came. I had been asking him about the roots of our guild, its name and origins, His tale was tragic, as indeed were all those of the Forsaken but to be even more truthful I was interested in his tale particularly as something about him impressed me in a way I had not felt before. We travelled to the Hinterlands and made our way to the temple of this ‘god’ who fell swiftly before us. A task for the Apothecary in Tarren Mill meant that I had to leave swiftly but I felt my first service had been fulfilled adequately.

Life, or rather undeath, continued and a little while later I found myself working with the Grand Vizier, Mortifera and Lady Meren, tasked to cleanse some scourge in the Western Plaguelands the latter two had kindly offered to help us. It felt odd to be returning to a place so close to where I had lived but nothing, NOTHING, prepared me for what I faced when we reached there.

Forum rules

Ligeia - Priest of the Forsaken

Who is online