Description[]
Name: Lysfara Steelforge
Race: Human
Class: Paladin
Age: 20
Birthplace: Hillsbrad
Residence: Darnassus
Appearance[]
Lysfara is tall, with an athletic build honed from her training as a Paladin, and possessed of a confidence and grace that belies her rather tender age. Though formerly a soldier of the Scarlet Crusade, she dresses simply and modestly, accompanied by her infant daughter.
Background[]
A ward of the city of Stormwind, Lysfara was raised for two years in the orphanage before entering the Cathedral in the service of the Light, where she trained beneath Lord Shadowbreaker. Even if pressed -- or intoxicated -- she will not reveal much more detail than that, feeling that her life before her service is irrelevant.
Vengeance[]
When the Scourge descended on the gates of Stormwind, all available hands were called to defend. Though she was still for the most part untested, Lysfara was deemed fit to bear the title of Paladin and her training completed. She lent her aid as best she was able, fighting beside the veteran Paladins, many of whom she befriended. It was also during the Scourge's siege that she met Eldanesh, a Knight of the Scarlet Crusade.
Lacking leadership and guidance, Lysfara set out to aid the city to the best of her ability, but soon became frustrated that her rather traditional beliefs clashed with so many of the citizens'. Even those Paladins, whom she had fought beside during the invasion, showed alliances and attitudes that she found unacceptable; befriending Warlocks and Forsaken.
Seeking solace outside the chaotic streets of Stormwind, she met Brother Anton, the Emissary to the Scarlet Crusade in aptly-named Desolace. He offered her the chance she had been searching for; the opportunity to serve the Crusade.
Bearing her official letter of commendation, and her fervent enthusiasm, she returned to Stormwind where a chance meeting with Zanthius saw her official acceptance as an initiate of the Crusade, and the birth of the Stormwind chapter of the Order.
Over time, the small Stormwind outpost grew to a respectable troop of soldiers, drawn from the city as well as lands remote. Her diligence to duty and efforts to further the cause did not go un-noticed, and she was appointed to serve as Lieutenant, overseeing the branch's affairs in the Commander's absence.
Here she and her fellow soldiers warred against not only the threat of the Scourge, but their perceived threat to morality and good -- primarily in the form of Warlocks and the Night Elves that filled the streets of Stormwind.
... and Redemption[]
The Light's will is not always clear at first, and often happens when one least expects it.
For Lysfara, it would be set into motion by a chance meeting with a Night Elf named Devinicus. Though he avowed himself a devoted follower of the Light, she decried him as a heretic and a pretender. But their paths would cross many times on the steps of the Cathedral, and in time she began to accept the possibility that the Light had indeed called him to its path. Their wary friendship grew over time into something far deeper, in spite of the danger such a union posed to both -- Lysfara for her standing in the Crusade, and Devinicus for his life. On that autumn evening, she knew that one day her loyalties may be tested, but she did not fully comprehend the repercussions of the path that they had chosen. Concealing their affections from the public, the pair arranged to meet under the ruse that Devinicus was providing information on the doings of the other elves in the city.
When the elf asked for her hand, however, the truth was revealed, and the Crusade responded as Lysfara feared they would -- with hostility, anger, and a plot to kill Devinicus. When Dalin came forward with proof of the plot, Devinicus confronted the Crusaders, and in the escalation was attacked by Eldanesh, losing his right eye. In spite of this, and in spite of Lysfara's warnings, the elf still believed in the basic good nature of humankind -- and the Crusade -- and offered his aid to Eldanesh. The second attack was far more grave, and Lysfara was shattered to see the other Crusaders leaving her husband for dead on the cold stone floor. He recovered, but Lysfara's confidence and loyalty to the Crusade did not, though it would take some time for her to accept the choice.
Once the veil was removed from her eyes, she began to see the corruption and hypocrisy that loyalty had blinded her to before -- the very things that she'd heard a thousand times, but only now understood. Rumors of demons stirring would prove to be the strain that finally broke her ties with the Crusade; she returned from Nethergarde Keep with harrowing tales of the vast demon army who would shortly be unleashed into Azeroth, but the Crusade seemed to have little interest in going to fight. But she did, and she would, fighting to protect even those who did not deserve protecting, for the sake of all. Laying down her tabard and flaming sword, she joined Devinicus at the Dark Portal to fight back the demon armies as a templar of his newly-formed Order, the Sacred Path.
They were overjoyed to learn of the imminent arrival of their first child not long afterward, and Lysfara settled in the Exodar to prepare for the birth, while her husband continued his work in Outland.
Hope grew to worry, however, when her increasingly frantic letters went unanswered. As the child's arrival grew ever closer, she event sent a personal courier to search the vast realm for him, but her efforts were in vain. She gave birth quietly to her daughter Isandri ("Izzy"), assisted by the draenei anchorites, in the Exodar.
Days passed into weeks, and finally months. With no word from her husband, Lysfara took matters into her own hands, and sought work in the nearby elven city of Darnassus. An assistant to Ulthir in his alchemical studies, it was a far cry from a soldier of the Light, but it paid well enough and allowed her to continue her own alchemical experiments.
Though she enjoys the serenity and anonymity of Darnassus, and wishes her daughter to grow up knowing her own kind, she finds its elven residents cool and aloof. Lysfara makes frequent trips to visit the Exodar, only a short boat ride away, where her true heart lies -- with the Naaru.
Companions[]
Barbelo: A white Lordaeron stallion, he and Lysfara became fast friends during her stay at the Monastery. No longer able to afford his care, he was recently sold to the farm in Eastvale, where she hopes she might buy him again one day.
Uther: Purchased from an urchin in Stormwind, the little kitten is now a quite sizeable cat, and shares their small house in Darnassus.
Tichar: ("Walnut" in the Titan tongue) An orphaned Hippogriff that Devinicus rescued in Azshara, and sent back to Lysfara for care. Now half-grown, the yearling dwells in the boughs of Teldrassil, but often returns for food and care, still not entirely capable of living in the wild.