User:Joshmaul/Mersadie Kittridge

}}

"'Death doesn't give a damn if you scream or not. It certainly didn't when it came for me...'"
 * - Admiral Mersadie Kittridge, Knight of the Ebon Blade

Mersadie Kittridge was an experienced sailor in the service of the Admiralty of Kul Tiras. A veteran of the Second War, she was the captain of the Iron Shrike, a Kul Tiran battleship serving as the flagship of the Alliance's Frostblade Flotilla, under the command of the death knight Admiral Eliphas Aximand. After the conclusion of the Fourth War, however, she would find her fortunes changed dramatically...

Biography
Born in Brennadam in Stormsong Valley, Mersadie Kittridge was the daughter of a shipbuilder - but from an early age, she became more interested in sailing the ships rather than building them, and enlisted in the Kul Tiran navy. During the Second War, the ship on which she served patrolled the Great Sea off Southshore, and she proved to be an expert with a rifle; she earned the nickname "Sureshot Sadie" after dismounting an orcish dragon-rider with a single shot. Upon returning home to Brennadam, she took up falconry as a hobby, and began working with gryphons from time to time as well. By the time of the Third War, she was first mate aboard a frigate, the Mist Hunter, which had served anti-pirate duty along that same coast, and aided Grand Admiral Daelin Proudmoore in the search for survivors when Lordaeron fell to the Scourge.

Like many Kul Tirans, Mersadie blamed Jaina Proudmoore for Daelin's eventual "murder" at Theramore, and also blamed the Alliance for not avenging it by wiping Orgrimmar off the map. When Kul Tiras seceded from the Alliance in protest, the Mist Hunter returned home, continuing its anti-pirate activities in local waters for years afterward. Badly damaged during the Cataclysm, the Mist Hunter was decommissioned and broken up, and Mersadie went home to Brennadam to tend her birds. She never expected Kul Tiras to ever become involved with the Alliance again until a task force led by Genn Greymane, the worgen king of Gilneas, arrived on the heels of Jaina's return to face the judgment of her homeland. Mersadie advocated Jaina's execution and the expulsion of Greymane's expedition, believing the best of the Alliance had died with Lordaeron, and their support for the "murderer" of Daelin Proudmoore was an insult to his memory. Witnessing their deeds, however, she changed her tune relatively quickly - especially after the Horde arrived in Kul Tiras and attacked her hometown. Taking up her rifle once more, she fought alongside the Alliance champions working at the behest of the Storm's Wake, led by the venerable tidesage Brother Pike.

After Kul Tiras formally rejoined the Alliance, Mersadie was asked to take command of a new ship - and not just for the Kul Tiran fleet. A request had come in from an Alliance privateer, the death knight Admiral Eliphas Aximand, for a Kul Tiran warship to be the flagship of his "Frostblade Flotilla". His previous flagship, the Stormwind-built battleship Springhawk, had been lost during the return voyage from Zandalar after the victorious campaign in Dazar'alor. The Admiralty directed Aximand to Mersadie, who was overseeing the final preparations of her new ship at the Stormsong yards before its formal christening and blessing by the Tidesages. She accepted Aximand's request to be captain of his flagship, provided the admiral would "let her BE the captain"; with some amusement, Aximand agreed. Taking into account the avian nature of his previous ship's name and her own work with birds, Mersadie christened her new ship the Iron Shrike.

Despite her doubts about helping the Horde in any way, Mersadie elected to follow Aximand's lead and brought support troops to join the combined siege of Orgrimmar to depose Sylvanas Windrunner. Yet after it was over, she was sickened when she witnessed the "High King" showing honor to an orc, and began to wonder if the Alliance's so-called "leaders" remembered what side they were supposed to be on. Then she began to wonder if the "friends" of Kul Tiras in the Alliance were actually friends after all... especially after a vicious sneak attack resulted in the destruction of the Iron Shrike, killing Admiral Aximand and nearly the entire crew.

As she lay mortally wounded on the shore, Mersadie saw strange figures looking down at her with glowing eyes. They were led by a pandaren, his face shrouded by a wide-brimmed hat and face-scarf, carrying an unholy scythe. He told her she "could be of use"... and that if she accepted theor offer, she would be able to avenge her crew, as well as continue to fight against Sylvanas and whatever plans she had for the future. She realized that this was a death knight from the Ebon Blade, having heard that they were "recruiting". Although repulsed at the idea of having her corpse violated, she desired vengeance - both for herself and her crew, and for the victims of Sylvanas' war - and thus said only two words before she died: "Do it."

When she regained consciousness, she was in Acherus, the Ebon Hold. The pandaren, Zhaoren Deathtide, explained what he had learned when he was brought back to life, and the choice he had made to embrace his unnatural power. He explained what his mentor, Sir Galen Tavener - killed in an ambush in Uldum - had taught him about why he was raising new champions. As a battle-hardened veteran, he explained, her skills would be useful for what was to come. He then handed her a weapon, and told her that her training was to begin. Going from sharpshooter to melee fighter was a challenge, but one Mersadie ultimately accepted - and overcame - with Zhaoren's aid.

Mersadie followed Zhaoren and senior knight instructor Nyssha Swiftblade into the tear in the sky above Icecrown Citadel, as part of the vanguard scouting ahead into the land of the dead before other champions of Azeroth followed. The journey eventually led her to Oribos, and from there to Maldraxxus. Although repulsed at first by the undead "monsters" of the Maldraxxi - they reminded her of the Forsaken - she was drawn to their creed of strength and the glory of battle, something she now felt compelled to admit she had sought in life, too.