Malaar

Name
Malaar Darkthorn, in honour of his tribe, the Darkthorn tribe.

Also known as Mal or 'The Earth Binder'

Physical Traits
At a glance, Malaar is what most would call an average Tauren. His lightly coloured body is both large and muscular, and his long braided hair is well kept. His horns, though not quite as large as others, are always kept in good condition. A closer inspection, however, reveals certain unique qualities about him. He always walks with purpose, and his voice seems to have a calming effect on most forms of live. Another unusual fact is that his grey eyes always have dark marks below them, owing to his insomnia.

His affinity as a druid also shows itself quite clearly. His body is covered in tribal markings, sybolic to his path in life, and plants seem more active around him. Also, insects such as butterflies tend to land on him. Malaar doesn't seem to mind them. In fact, he seems to enjoy their company, often having wordless conversations with them. What most people do not know, however, is that his affinity for nature is deeper than many would guess. He has even allowed a group of insects to use his body as a living hive, carving out a network of tunnels throughout his entire body. In exchange for potection from predators and a supply of food, they keep Malaar's insides in working order, warn him of nearby danger and even swarm his enemies, burying under their skin.

Race and Class
Tauren Druid

Fighting Style
Like many druids, Malaar has access to the primal forces of nature. Rather than using this to transform himself into various animals, he instead uses this power in a similar manor to shamans, calling on the spirits of nature to aid and protect him in battle. This can range from entangling attackers with vines to summoning treants. Also, his natural strength and tough body means that he is no less dangerous in melee combat, though he prefers to stay at range. To further increase his abilities, he also wields a mace for melee combat and a book with numerous druid rituals and spells.

Occupation
He is quite skilled at herbalism, as are most other Tauren. He has also shown the potential to become a great scribe. To this end, Malaar himself has taken it upon himself to document the many forms of plant and insect life on Azeroth, writing about their behaviour, growth cycle, and how they affect one another.

Family
His original family, as well as the rest of his tribe, were brutally slaughtered by Centaur bandits. His adopted mother still live in Thunder Bluff, currently running the inn there.

Background
Once, during the time when the Tauren were still a purely nomadic people, there was a tribe known as Darkthorn. A peaceful people, they forever wandered the plains, doing all they could to avoid the local centaur. Their good luck at keeping out of their enemies’ way had held up remarkably well, but one night it finally ran out. They were ambushed by a centaur war band. The centaurs were ruthless, and soon the entire Darkthorn tribe was decimated. By a lucky coincidence, another tribe was in the area. They had heard the battle and had come to aid their brethren. Although there were unable to save the Darkthorn from extinction, they were able to defeat the centaurs. While burying the dead, one tribeswoman found a small baby, wrapped in cloth and hidden away inside a hollow tree. Realising that the boy’s family were the ones being buried, she took him in as her own. That boy was named Malaar Darkthorn.

As Malaar grew up, he found himself apart from the other Tauren. While they would go out and play amongst themselves, he was often found sitting alone under a tree. Every attempt made to help him make friends ended up with Malaar leaving the other children to sit by one of the nearby trees. Deciding that he was just beinbg antisocial, the tribesmen often found simple tasks for him to do. After a while, they began to notice that, unless someone was there to supervise him, he would often stop what he was doing to sit by a tree once more. They scolded him many times for being lazy, but no matter how hard the punishment, he would always return to his trees. Eventually the tribe’s elder decided to find out the cause for this. So one day, he sat down beside Malaar and asked him why he did what he did. He was surprised to hear that Malaar claimed that just being near the trees comforted him. He even said he could sometimes hear the trees whisper to him. After hearing this, the elder decided to begin instructing Malaar in the ways of the druid. The rest of the tribe was quite surprised to hear this, and even more so when they saw how quickly young Malaar changed from a seemingly lazy boy to a determined man. Many years later, his basic training was complete, and the last of the Darkthorn tribe stepped out into the world.

Faith
Like most Tauren, Malaar is a very spiritual being. He feels a deep connection to the spirits of the world, especially those of nature due to his role as a druid. He also worships the demigod Cenarius as the patron deity of all druids.

Relations
Like all druids, Malaar deeply cares for the land, as well as all living creatures. In fact, he can get quite angry at those who are willing to destroy them for the sake of profit or ego. It is for that reason that he avoids having to work with the selfish goblins above all others. He also hates the centaur's with a vengance, manily due to what happened to his tribe.

Another group he has misgivings about is the Forsaken. While he does not hate them, nor does he hold any grudges against them, he finds them unnatural in the worst way. The power of druids comes from nature, which is created through the perfect balance of primal forces, such as order and chaos. Two of the most important of these powers are life and death. While the Forsaken are living creatures, they are also technically dead at the same time, a feat with the laws of nature states should be impossible.

Personal Notes
Malaar suffers from insomnia. This is because of an event that happened many years ago, before he finished his training as basic training as a druid. When druids sleep, they enter the Emerald Dream, a place where shows what the world might look like without sentient beings such as humans or night elves. One night, Malaar became ensnared by the Emerald Nightmare, a moving area of the dream that corrupts everything within its borders. For many days, his spirit was held captive within the dream, while his living body had to be tended to by his kin. It is only due to the efforts of the tribe's elder that he was able to escape his nightmares. Since that day, he has feared sleeping, for he knows that every time he closes his eyes, he could once again fall victim to his darkest dreams.

Current Status
Malaar is currently taking aiding the horde in the northan barrens