User:Joshmaul/Lazhna Trueflight

"'My brother died to the treachery of the dark priest, Lord Ketiron; if he is your enemy, then I am your ally.'"
 * - Lazhna Trueflight, to General Taeril'hane Ketiron

Lazhna Trueflight is a pandaren hunter from the Wandering Isle who follows the path of Huojin, the pandaren philosophy that believes in quick, direct action - differing from her Tushui-oriented elder brother, the monk Yatiri Stormwatcher. Both siblings, formerly united in a common cause, became enemies on opposite sides of a great war; however, after her brother was killed by the resurrected shadow priest Sekhesmet of Stratholme, she pledged herself to the House of Ketiron, and became a member of its House Guard.

Biography
Lazhna was born about four decades prior to her joining the Horde, to a family of farmers on the Wandering Isle. Taking more after her mother in both coloration and temperment, Lazhna delighted in the thrill of fighting and disliked being made to wait. As her brother had in his teen years, Lazhna journeyed from her home in Dai-Lo to the Shang Xi Training Grounds to take up her calling. While Yatiri decided to train as a monk, Lazhna favored the path of the hunter and used a long-ranged weapon to her benefit. A small turtle served as her companion throughout her training, at Shang Xi's academy and throughout the rest of the Isle. In her early 20s, she had an on-and-off relationship with one of her old neighbors, a farmer named Chaoyen Greenacre, which resulted in a daughter, Chaiya. Chaiya was raised almost entirely by her father, while her mother focused on training; later, Chaoyen explained to Chaiya that Lazhna had been "bitten by the exploration bug".

Like her brother, Lazhna trained extensively under Master Shang, honing her adherence to Huojin, which often led to joking banter between her and her contemplative elder brother. Aysa Cloudsinger had come to the fore as the representative (of a sort) of the Tushui adherents, while the brash Ji Firepaw embodied the path of Huojin. Lazhna worked alongside Ji for some time as they protected the Isle from virmen scavengers and hozen thieves and desecrators.

Though they differed greatly on matters of philosophy, Yatiri and Lazhna worked tirelessly together to protect their homes in their own ways, in the spirit of friendly sibling rivalry. But the arrival of the first outsiders on the Wandering Isle since it left mythical Pandaria many thousands of years before would change their lives forever...

War Comes to Shen-zin Su
The Isle's elders, including the ailing Master Shang (who went to his well-deserved rest not long after in the Wood of Staves), knew that Shen-zin Su was in pain, and his course was starting to drift towards the Maelstrom in the center of the Great Sea. The great turtle told Aysa and Ji that a "thorn" in his side was causing him great pain, and the two differing pandaren swore to alleviate that pain by any means they could. Yatiri and Lazhna boarded a hot-air balloon and travelled to the site themselves.

The "thorn" was the wreck of the Alliance gunship Skyseeker, carrying Horde prisoners from the recent conflict in Pandaria before it crashed. By the time the "thorn" was removed and the wound to Shen-zin Su healed, battle lines were drawn between those pandaren favoring one side or the other. Yatiri, the more patient and studious of the two, left with Aysa and her Tushui adepts to join the Alliance in the city of Stormwind. Lazhna, already acquainted with Ji and the Huojin, left with him for Orgrimmar, the capital of the Horde. It was not until she had arrived that she realized the consequences of that choice...

Separated - Briefly, Then Permanently
Lazhna listened as Garrosh Hellscream, the Warchief of the Horde, gave a gruff welcome to Ji and the other Huojin who had arrived to join the Horde, hearing what he demanded of those who served him. At first impressed with the Warchief and his sense of honor, Lazhna's first impressions turned to horror when Garrosh stated bluntly that all of their kin who had left with Aysa were now their enemies, and that there would be no tolerance for anyone who remained in contact with their friends on the "other side". However, as Garrosh became increasingly paranoid and hostile to all non-orcs in his Horde while the war in Pandaria raged, Lazhna escaped to Stormwind to find sanctuary. She met with Genevra Stoneheardt, Yatiri's patroness in the Alliance, and later with Yatiri himself.

It would be the last time she saw her brother; she heard rumors later that he became ensorcelled by the evil gnome warlock Rakeri Sputterspark. Before she could find a way to help him, word came of his death at Sorrow Hill in northern Lordaeron, at the hands of the resurrected dark priest Sekhesmet, who had been raised by Rakeri with the intention of destroying his enemies in the Alliance (which was not to be; Sekhesmet had his own agenda). Both Sekhesmet and Rakeri roamed free after their crimes...

Employed by House Ketiron


Enraged and grief-stricken, Lazhna returned to Orgrimmar following the overthrow of Garrosh, where she met one of the warriors who had participated in that battle - a blood elf nobleman and paladin named Taeril'hane Ketiron. Ketiron was a bitter enemy of both Sekhesmet and Rakeri, and also violated Garrosh's orders against "friends on the other side" during the Pandaria campaign by maintaining ties to his ally Genevra. Months later, Ketiron was granted the rank of general by his leader, Regent Lord Lor'themar Theron, and instructed to incorporate his House Guard into a small army intended to fight against the invasion of the "Iron Horde". Needing able-bodied folk to serve, Ketiron and his wife, Areinnye, offered Lazhna a place in the House Guard, and Lazhna accepted.

Upon travelling through the Dark Portal to Draenor, Ketiron established his outpost at Saavedar, and Lazhna offered her expertise with beasts to his cause - specifically, the domestication of native animals to use for mounts for Ketiron's army.