User:Joshmaul/Marennia Sputterspark

"'I had hoped never to see anyone like you again. But at least I know I will still be here when you're nothing more than dust.'"
 * - Marennia Sputterspark, to Captain Englebert Blunderwitz

Marennia Sputterspark is a former captain in the Gnomeregan militia who suffered a mental breakdown and disappeared without a trace - until she was found on the island of Mechagon, having been "upgraded" into a perfect synthesis of gnome and gears. Although somewhat hostile to certain elements in the Alliance, Marennia has reluctantly returned to the fold upon Mechagon's unification with Gnomeregan, and has begun an arms manufacturing firm in Mechagon City with her recently-resurrected elder brother, Professor Rakeri Sputterspark.

Biography
Born in Gnomeregan six decades prior to the First War, Marennia chose to train as a fighter rather than as an engineer (though she does have some technical expertise in engineering). At the age of twenty, she joined the militia forces of Gnomeregan, and was stationed as a guard within the halls of Gnomeregan itself. Years later, Marennia and Rakeri witnessed the siege of Ironforge by the Bleeding Hollow clan during the Second War, in which both siblings made a minor contribution as the gnomes stood with their dwarven allies in Ironforge as members of the Alliance of Lordaeron.

When Sicco Thermaplugg, Mekkatorque's most trusted advisor, irradiated Gnomeregan in an effort to discredit Mekkatorque, Marennia and her brother were among those who relocated to Tinker Town in Ironforge. Sticking to "what she knew", and remaining on call in the event Mekkatorque prepared a plan to retake Gnomeregan, Marennia remained as part of the gnomish guard in Tinker Town while Rakeri served in the Alliance military as a combat engineer - a path that eventually took him to Northrend, where he was "decursed" by Gearmaster Mechazod, a Titan construct discovered wedged in an oil pipeline at the Fizzcrank Airstrip in the Borean Tundra. When Rakeri returned, "recursed" as a flesh and blood gnome, Marennia could see that he had been altered dramatically - the recursive formula he had taken had also contained demon's blood, and he used it to empower himself as he decided to become a warlock.

Escape from Gnomeregan - Again!
Troubled by her brother's demonic corruption, Marennia regularly travelled to Stormwind. It was there that she met Genevra Stoneheardt, a high priestess of the Cathedral; from that point onward, Marennia began to develop a surprising piety in the lead-up to Mekkatorque's grand attack against Thermaplugg and his leper forces. Given a new sense of purpose, Marennia joined Mekkatorque's forces in the march on Gnomeregan, where she was separated from the main force and irradiated when Thermaplugg set off his Irradiator 3000.

Despite her fears that she would become one of the leper gnomes that had wandered Gnomeregan since Thermaplugg's betrayal, Marennia was rescued early on by the Survivor Assistance Facilitation Expedition (S.A.F.E.), sent by Mekkatorque to locate survivors of the offensive and cleanse them of the radiation poisoning before returning them to New Tinkertown, the main base of operations set right outside the gates of Gnomeregan itself. Once she had her turn through the Sanitron 500, Marennia was brought to the surface and returned to duty in the militia, with the rank of Lieutenant for her bravery in Operation: Gnomeregan. Eventually, she would be dispatched to assist both her own people and their dwarven allies across Dun Morogh and into the remnants of Loch Modan. She would see her first real taste of Alliance service when she was called up into Lordaeron, to assist in the efforts to restore the Western Plaguelands.

Andorhal and Its Aftermath


The death knight Thassarian, a veteran of Northrend, was tasked by the Alliance to lead an offensive in the destroyed city of Andorhal, ground zero for the plague of undeath orchestrated by the Scourge. As a warrior with some combat experience, Marennia volunteered to serve with the militia that was raised among the settlers from the south who worked the restored farmlands, and adopted the battle armor worn by those forces in honor of those she served with. Though suspicious of the death knight at first - especially in light of his secret pact with his opposite number, the blood elf Koltira Deathweaver - Marennia grew to respect Thassarian as a conscientious and capable commander. Like many others in the Alliance, she developed a disgust towards her Forsaken foes based on the vile tactics they used, tactics that could very well have been (and indeed, in some cases, were) used by the Scourge itself.

Following the fall of Andorhal to Sylvanas and her val'kyr, Marennia and some of the survivors fled to Hearthglen, the headquarters of the Argent Crusade. From there, she went on her own and travelled eastward, to Light's Hope Chapel, the shrine of the original Argent Dawn. There, she undertook the trials to become a member of the Argent Crusade, and fought against Scourge remnants. For her efforts in Andorhal, she would be promoted to the rank of Captain in the Gnomeregan militia.

Voyage of Rediscovery


Though estranged from her brother Rakeri, who was thoroughly corrupted by the fel taint within him, Marennia still hoped to one day reconcile with him, an effort she found increasingly difficult as his crimes began to stack up. Ultimately, matters came to a head on Draenor when Rakeri slew the blood elf Farstrider Areinnye Scourgebane, the wife of General Taeril'hane Ketiron, a friend of Genevra. Ketiron soon took his vengeance on Rakeri, ending his life. Despite everything he had done, Rakeri had still been her brother - and Marennia at last gave in to a mad rage, lashing out at Genevra, Ketiron, and anyone associated with them. She abandoned her Militia company and went off into the wilds on her own. Concerned that Marennia's rage could cause greater trouble, Gnomeregan dispatched Captain Englebert Blunderwitz to take over Marennia's old company and to track her down. Though he kept his eyes and ears open for even the slightest inkling of information (whenever he was not occupied by the conflict with the Burning Legion and its allies in the Broken Isles), Blunderwitz did not hear any sign of her whatsoever for years, something he considered ominous. Unbeknownst to him, however, his path would soon intersect with hers in the most surprising of circumstances.

Just as the campaign on Draenor was wrapping up, Marennia experienced something she could only describe as a vision, guiding her to a strange island of machines - later found to be somewhere off the coast of Drustvar in Kul Tiras. It was the island of Mechagon, settled by the last crowned king of the gnomes centuries before, in a quest to return to the Titanforged perfection of their mechagnome forebears. She saw that these mechagnomes were quite different from the ones she had encountered in Northrend - the ones that had "decursed" Rakeri, and driven him eventually to his madness and death - and realized that fate had meant for her to be here, so that she could remake herself into something better. Marennia managed to earn her place among the gnomes of Mechagon, and underwent considerable reconstruction to better strive towards the perfection of the machine. However, she did not wish for complete mechanization; like many in Mechagon, she believed that there was a necessary balance between gnome and machine that made them what they were. Thus, when King Mechagon's plan to use the Mechoriginator to mechanize all Titan-descended life on Azeroth (and wipe out the remainder) was revealed, Marennia joined the Rustbolt Resistance under the leadership of Prince Erazmin. Exposure to the elements caused her "upgrades" to take on a "properly rusty color for Rustbolt", as she put it.

The World Pours In
Much to her disgust, however, both the Alliance and the Horde arrived on Mechagon in the form of Tinkmaster Overspark, the goblin engineer Gazlowe, and their respective crews, who offered their services to Prince Erazmin. Among those caught up in the conflict was Captain Blunderwitz, who - much to his shock - had recognized Marennia the moment he saw her, the first day he arrived on the island. Backed up by their outside allies, the Rustbolt Resistance slew King Mechagon and ended his mad scheme. With that done, Marennia felt that outsiders should be banished from Mechagon; however, she was all but certain that Erazmin would eventually choose to "reunite" his people with Gnomeregan, an impression reinforced when Captain Blunderwitz sought her out afterward. She could see his desire for that outcome, and reluctantly admitted that it would probably come to pass, which would return her to the Alliance and the trouble she had left behind. She bluntly told him that she had hoped never to see him or anyone like him again, but took some solace in the fact that, thanks to her machine augmentations, she would likely outlive him by a considerable margin, before brusquely turning away from him.

Seething with anger, Marennia began to plan for how to deal with any "annoyances" she would endure once Mechagon was admitted into the Alliance...