User:Joshmaul/Areinnye Scourgebane

"'He once taught me that honor knows no faction differences, serves no one nation, and is not restricted to living souls. In this time of crisis, with the world tearing itself apart and Alliance and Horde now forming up for war, we can learn much from this lesson.'"
 * - General Areinnye Scourgebane, at the funeral of Saavedro of Stratholme

Lady Areinnye Ketiron, better known by her nom de guerre "Scourgebane", was the matriarch of the House of Ketiron (formerly the House of Whitehair) and ranger-general of the Ketiron House Guard. The daughter of Ordevaas Portalseeker, she became joint head-of-house with her husband, House Guard commander Taeril'hane Ketiron, following Ordevaas' death in Northrend. She was killed on Draenor by the insane gnome warlock Rakeri Sputterspark during the campaign against the Iron Horde.

Origins
Born in Suncrown Village nearly two centuries before the fall of Quel'Thalas, Areinnye Whitehair served briefly in the Ranger Corps of Silvermoon when it was commanded by Ranger General Sylvanas Windrunner, but hid in the ruins of Silvermoon after Sylvanas was killed and corrupted by Arthas. After the fall of Quel'Thalas, she joined the resistance led by the newly-minted Regent Lord of Quel'Thalas, Lor'themar Theron, while her father languished in Stormwind. Her father returned to Silvermoon six years later to train as a Blood Knight, the order of blood elf paladins that seemed dark and cruel compared to the paladin that her human friend - her father's fellow priest apprentice, Saavedro of Stratholme - became after the fall of Lordaeron.

When Lor'themar became Regent of Quel'Thalas and Halduron Brightwing was named Ranger General, Areinnye rejoined the Ranger Corps. Upon hearing that the blood elves had joined the Horde, Areinnye managed to send a message out to Saavedro at the ruined chapel of Light's Hope in the Eastern Plaguelands, on the southern border of Quel'Thalas. Saavedro was dismayed, but promised Areinnye as much support as he possibly could.

Early Training
Because her grandfather, Lord Kel'theris, was a friend of Lor'themar Theron, Areinnye undertook her early training in the capital, under the tutelage of the Regent himself. Over time, she became a master of the bow, and proficient in hand-to-hand combat.

Areinnye also learned how to tame animals exceptionally quickly. Her loyal lynx, who she named Máire, was found suffering from the plague in the Ghostlands. Areinnye cured her, and now she serves at the hunter's side. The two are considered inseparable.

While her cruel Blood Knight father ventured off through the Eastern Kingdoms as well as the wilds of Kalimdor, Areinnye remained in Quel'Thalas for much of her early training, and indeed for much of her life. Leaving Quel'Thalas the first time - travelling to the Undercity to deliver news to Sylvanas Windrunner - was an enlightening experience, though she has been quoted as saying "I had hoped that my first excursion into the 'big world' would have been less dead", referring to the fact that the Undercity is the Forsaken capital.

Scourgebane
Areinnye earned the honorific "Scourgebane" shortly after the defeat of Dar'Khan Drathir by herself, her father and her grandfather. It was said that as she emerged from the Tower of the Damned, she cut a swath through any Scourge in her path from Deatholme all the way to the gates of Silvermoon, her face a mask of pure rage as she went, slicing through them with sword and dagger. Lord Kel'theris believed that she would be of potential use when she became strong enough to brave the Greater Plaguelands between Tirisfal and Quel'Thalas, and later the battlefields of Northrend itself.

Enemy of the Corruptor
As time went by, Areinnye began to distance herself from her father, now a Blood Knight Master, and the insidious Corruptor that he served; she believed that people like Joshmaul were no better than the Scourge that had destroyed her people and the Legion that had spawned it. Realizing that her father and grandfather were both corrupted by the warlock, Areinnye publicly renounced her ancestry as a member of the House of Whitehair, causing a murmur of surprise to spread through Silvermoon society. To finalize it, she shot a poisoned arrow into the chest of her grandfather, Lord Kel'theris, as she left Quel'Thalas. Ordevaas and Joshmaul were outraged; the former because his daughter had betrayed him, and the latter because she had incapacitated one of his servants, his direct link to the Regent Lord of Quel'Thalas.

Areinnye escaped from Quel'Thalas and made her way into Lordaeron, into the town of Tarren Mill in the Hillsbrad Foothills. When the House of Whitehair later renounced Joshmaul and Kael'thas, she returned to service, her father and grandfather seeing the truth behind her accusations against Joshmaul. During the war in Northrend, Areinnye was appointed General of the House of Whitehair's Farstrider contingent by her father, now the family patriarch. This position made her second-in-command of the Whitehair House Guard and its commander, Master Taeril'hane Ketiron. Areinnye and Ketiron were eventually betrothed during the war in Northrend.

After the death of her father, Areinnye and Ketiron became joint heads of the House of Whitehair.