Aldraen Miller

This is an Alter-Ego Alt of Kaliv.

Name
Full name: Aldraen Miller

Race and Class
IC: Human Explorer

OOC: Lv 85 Human Rogue

Guild
IC, Aldraen is a member of the Explorer's Guild.

OOC, he is currently a member of The Lore Keepers, but it has nothing to do with his life IC. So far, at least.

Physical Traits
Aldraen isnt very muscular, but his active work and training in the field has given him a fit body. His hair has a blonde, quite bleak tone and is fairly long, reaching his shoulders. It could become something beautiful if he ever took the time to care for it, which he doesnt (except the most basic). Thus, his hair is very tangled and dirty most of the time. The face is quite standard for a human. The cheek bones are smoothly drawn, giving the face a gentle look. His eyes are bright green, and Aldraen's mouth usually carries a smile. His body has several scars from experienced fights and battles. Two on his on his left arm, one on his right shoulder, two small scars on his right thigh and one quite long scar that goes along his back verticaly.

He prefers to wear his leisure clothes most of the time. They are made out of woolen cloth, colored white and purple, and look like a dwarven cut. They are, in fact, dwarven-made. Aldraen wears them mostly out of comfor and old habits. He has lately been wearing his other set of clothing, his working clothes, more and more. He usually doesnt like wearing them. This is because they are made for protection in battle, and have been put to the test many times. As Aldraen isnt fond of bloodshed, he dislikes the association his working clothes carry with them. They are made out of tough brown leather and fur. The set is made for being practical in all situations in the field, like fighting, crawling through ruins and trudging trough harsh environments. Clothes other than the ones designed for the purpose would quickly be worn out.

Personality
Aldraen is friendly to those around him. He dislikes big crowds of people though, instead prefering meeting friends in smaller meetings or on two. As he has been on a traveling foot for most of his life in remote corners of the world, he has very few real friends. To compensate, he treats the ones he has as good as he can.

He is an oldfashioned gentleman, being polite and respectful to those around him. He treats women better than men, but not for an underlying agenda, but for their gender.

He is quite intelligent and learned, so he prefers the company of those who shares it. If talking to someone who isn't as well-versed in the history and lore of the world, he often corrects wrong facts said and takes on the role of teacher, unintended.

If a person acts in a way that Aldraen doesn't like, he can go quite cold against said person. Even worse, if the person follows the ways of something Aldraen despises (for instance, a criminal, a necromancer or alike), it can be very hard to redeem himself in Aldraen's eyes.

Fighting Skills
One of Aldraen's biggest dislikings is to fight and kill, but his work as an Explorer brings him to many hostile environments. Thus, he is very much able to defend himself. Aldraen mainly fights using daggers. His pair of knives are crafted using Northrend ores, by a blacksmith in Valgarde. Aldraen is also quite skilled at fighting with swords. His fighting style with swords are one very similar to fencing, but heavily influenced by several dwarven styles of combat. This is because he picked up training himself for survival during the time in Ironforge during the First War.

Occupation
OOC: Skinner (Max Skill) and Leatherworker (430 Skill, skilling it up is a bitch).

IC: Explorer of the Explorer's League

Family
Mother: Sarah Tanner, alive and living in Searing Gorge.

Father: John Miller, dead.

A couple of uncles and other distant relatives, but Aldraen doesn't know of their existence.

Time Previous the First War
Aldraen was born in the summertime in Eastvale Logging Camp, Elwynn Forest. He was named after his great grandfather (father's side, and it was his father's decision). As he grew older, his father wanted him to follow in his footsteps an learn to hunt, and Aldraen did as he was told him to out his respect for his father. His father had a tough drinking habit (not as heavy as a drunkard habit though). Whenever he went to the bottle he'd go bitter and angry, which often went out over Aldraen and his mother. Aldraen was fond of his father though the habit of drinking. As Aldraen went along with his father, training his aim with the bow, he could never enjoy the thrill of the hunt or the kill. To put his thoughts in other ways than hunting, he focused his energy on his other interests, which was reading anything he could get his hands on, and learning anything he would be taught. As he grew older, he joined his father on the hunting trips as a real hunter, despite how much he hated it. After half-a-year as a hunter, his father died in a hunting accident. Aldraen grieved for his father, but it was more for the loss of his only father than for the loss of his fatherly idol. He didn't shed a tear.

With his father dead, Aldraen didnt have to remain hunter. He left the group and instead started working in the local sawmill for a living. He was captivated by a girl who used to be around the mill. Over the time of a few months, Aldraen developed a subtle crush on her. He found out it was the daughter of the foreman and that she was named Ciwen Renn, but he never told her anything due to shyness and bad self-esteem. He settled with watching her from a distance. Ciwen had a talent for Arcane magic, so her parents financed her education in Stormwind to allow her to hone her skills in the rare subject. She moved out of the the Eastvale Camp to the big city, and began her study as an apprentice of the Art.

Aldraen kept on his work at the mill, hoping to perhaps tell Ciwen when she came back to visit the family. About a month later though, she was robbed and killed by a band of thugs at nighttime (the event can be read in An End To Things). When word reached Aldraen, he spiraled into a mournful depression that lasted for a quite long time. He wouldnt listen to those around him and his days passed in monotomy, untill the day he emerged out of his saddened state and pulled himself together again. He decided that he couldnt stay around in the Logging Camp anymore, that it was simply a too small piece of the world to house what he sought, and if to follow his passion for knowledge, he'd have to take his leave. He took farewell of his mother and traveled to Stormwind City in order to follow his dreams to see the world. In Stormwind, Aldraen got a work as assistant for a mage and handled his tomes and volumes, a job Aldraen enjoyed very much. Through it, he earned enough money for a living. He buried himself in work to keep thoughts away from Ciwen. In the city he also befriended a dwarven member of the Explorer's League, named Desin Deepiron. This sparked the young man's interest in the organization that what it stood for. After about a year's time in Stormwind, Aldraen accompanied Desin to Ironforge. There, his friend recommended him to be recruited into the League. Aldraen then faced the standard tests and trials along with a group of other picked recruits. He passed the trial and became a Prospector of the League.

Wartimes
It was around this time the First War started as the orcs came through the Dark Portal. Aldraen was safe from tragedies and bloodshed of the war up in Ironforge. Being no fighter, he didnt volounteer to join the forces battling, and being up in Ironforge, he wasnt drawn in. He picked up training his swordarm in case Ironforge would be besieged. His friend Desin directed him to the dwarven battlemasters who taught him some techniques in addition his Aldraen's existing skills in fencing. As the Second War erupted, the Ironforge dwarves joined the Alliance along with the gnomes and thus sent their forces to bolster those of the humans'. As the Horde assault started, the dwarven and gnomish forces were outnumbered and defeated, and then sealed themselves off inside Ironforge. Aldraen spent the time of the Second War inside Ironforge, protected from the orcish army. He used the time aiding refugees, studying and reading as much as he possibly could from the library of the Explorer's League.

Years of Journeying
At the end of the war, Aldraen didn't return to Stormwind. In the aftermatch, he commenced his career as a Prospector. The following years Aldraen spent with work inside the organization. Slowly but steadily he rose through ranks with his passion for his work and an interest for everything between heaven and earth, going from Prospector to Journeyman, and after that, becoming a full-fledged Explorer. He took advantage of the financial support his rank offered him, to travel to excavate and explore the world. When the ancient titan vault of Uldaman was found by the Explorer's League in the desert of the Badlands, Aldraen traveled there. He spent weeks with his collegues, unearthing new rooms and interesting findings within the sealed halls. That was untill a team of diggers burst through the wall into a cave chamber, and the troggs poured out in larger and larger numbers, other rooms of troggs bursting open from the inside. The Explorer's fought as hard as they could, Aldraen included, but they were forced inte retreat and evacuated the digsites (This can be read in Vicious Secrets). As the troggs were left alone, they turned to digging tunnels, a project that later lead to the invasion of Gnomeregan. It wasnt long after the evacuation that the Dark Iron dwarves took interest in Uldaman, and moved into the area. Pushing back the troggs enough to continue excavation of the outer parts, the picked up where the Explorers had stopped.

As the Dark Irons had now taken over, the Explorers couldnt even think of retaking it without a superiour military force, which Ironforge couldnt and wouldnt send. Thus, the Uldaman projects were closed down. Aldraen picked up with other areas to conduct his research on as he realised Uldaman wasnt going to be retaken anytime soon. He never stopped longing for the day he could pick up the work though. Aldraen journeyed for a long time, visiting the Swamp of Sorrows, Stranglethorn Vale and several other areas of interest. Under this period, Aldraen also opened a shop of his own in the Mage District, wto which he would send interesting items he found on his travels, but that werent of historical value and interest for the Explorer's League. He also hired a shopkeeper to care for the little store in has absence during travels and expeditions. The shop was named Ancient Curios.

When the Dark Portal was re-opened and the expeditions were sent to Outlands, Aldraen stayed in Azeroth, letting his other collegues travel to the shattered realm. Himself, he didnt want to explore the old homeworld of the orcs, for some reason nobody except Aldraen knows of. Instead, he spent much time on studying dwarven legends and folklore, and traveling to draw the white parts on the world maps. He used a few months to explore new islands in the Great Sea, but focused most time and attention on mainland.

Expedition to Northrend
((This is where I started RPing using Aldraen))

As the expeditions to Northrend started to be planned, Aldraen grew almost ecstatic over the plentiful oportunities that awaited in the roof of the world. Helping in planing the Explorer's League expedition, he also hoped to perhaps meet his large hero, Brann Branzebeard. He had worked with the dwarf once and idolized the man.

Going by boat to the coasts of the Howling Fjords, Aldraen lived in the town of Valgarde and did his work from there. He was recovering old vrykul tomes, tablets and artifacts that he studies and sent back to the Ironforge for deeper research. One day, after around 2 months time in Valgarde, Aldraen met a Draenei Mage named Kenelas. He helped her to fill a few gaps in dwarven history, and they became friends. Aldraen accompanied Kenelas on a couple of missions she was assigned around the fjord, fighting vrykul that were raiding Valgarde. Aldraen also organized an expedition into the vrykul stronghold, Utgarde Keep.

Aldraen then took Kenelas around the fjord to show her the different excavations that were going on, and later on traveled north alongside her, into the Grizzly Hills. He started to feel that the draenei woman had a soft spot in his heart, something he hadnt felt for a long time. They parted way at a hunting lodge, Aldraen traveling further north to join the more adventurous Exlorer team that went the deepest into the continent. This took him to the Storm Peaks, where not many projects had started up yet, but efforts had been more focused on the diplomatic relation with the Frostborn dwarves. It was during the travel north that he also visited Dalaran for the first time.

Recieving a letter from Kenelas, Aldraen took a short time off from his work to journey back to Ironforge to meet his friend. To combine work with pleasure, he accompanied one of his shipments of salvaged items back to Ironforge to keep it safe at the same time. When arriving in Ironforge he met up with Kenelas and partook in a meeting of her newly formed guild, The Lore Keepers. The following day, his friend told him she had been tricked by a troll (who turned out to be Scourge affliated) in the Grizzly Hills, named Drakuru, and showed him a scar on the palm of her hand where she had cut herself to form a blood pact. This shocked Aldraen, who then journeyed with her back to Northrend and aided her in bringing Drakuru to justice. Standing by below Drakuru's necropolis while Kenelas was on an infiltration mission on behalf of the Ebon Blade, he then joined her in the battle against the treacherous Drakkari troll. As Drakuru saw his defeat nearing, he summoned the Lich King, who proceeded to kill off his lieutenant for his failure and then, amazingly, spare Kenelas and Aldraen.

The two then fled the area, venturing to a place Kenelas believed was safe from the Lich King's minions, Sholazar Basin. Aldraen started to feel slightly ill by then, as a wound on his right arm began getting infected. He had been bitten by an ambushing ghoul back in Zul'Drak, and the diseases of the undead had began taking its hold. Not knowing that the wound was quite dire, Aldraen ignored it.

It was during the few days in the Basin that Aldraen finally confessed to himself that he liked Kenelas very, very much. He couldnt bring himself to tell her anything, as he thought she must see him as a child when comparing ages, and that she already had a mate.

After about 3 days in Sholazar, the two of them ventured to the Storm Peaks, as Aldraen wanted his friend to see the lands that promised so much for the Explorers. Soon after arriving in Frosthold, though, Aldraen's infection took hold of him. He caught bad coughing attacks, severe stomach pains and high fever as his ghoul fever bloomed out. Kenelas took him with her as she conjured a portal to Shattrath, and brought him with her to her home to care for him and get help from the Aldor priests.

After a two weeks of sickness, Aldraen started to recover thanks to Kenelas's care, the help from the High Priestess Ishanah and a combination of herbal potions and brewages. Kenelas then started helping him on the path to become normal again.

A week after recovering from his illness, Aldraen accompanied Kenelas to try and track down a unique, missing book. It lead them to Nagrand, as the book had last been seen in the hands of a draenei there. It appeared that an eredar had siezed the book and was using it for enslaving souls at the Auchindoun. Aldraen and Kenelas decided to put a stop to it, and had to drink a potion brewed by the draenei they'd tracked down, to be able to counter the eredar's force of souls. They shared it, as Aldraen couldnt bear letting Kenelas take on the full power of the curse. It gave them the ability to sense the dead.

After that, they set off to the Auchindoun and managed to defeat the arch-demon. They also ventured into the Auchenite Crypts on Kenelas's will, and purged it of its taint.

Spending another short time in Shattrath City (which is when the story Distractions takes place), Aldraen kept on with planning for an expedition to Uldaman. Another Lore Keeper, Frant, arrived in Shattrath and wanted to aid Kene and Ald in the operation to retake Uldaman. The discussion didn't end well, though, for when Frant told him that he could summon a legion of undead to serve, Ald grew furious. It ended with a heated discussion between Kenelas and Aldraen towards Frant over necromancy.

Shortly afterwards, Aldraen and Kenelas set off towards Ironforge, and traveled to Uldaman to execute Aldraen's plan. The expedition went as it was supposed to and the two penetrated into the innermost sanctum of Uldaman. They found out that dwarves were the Titan's creations and related to earthen and troggs, and uncovered the Discs of Norgannon, that they brought back to Ironforge.

After a few days there, Aldraen gained enough courage to tell Kenelas he loved her, and was on the verge of killing himself afterwards. After it ended well, Kenelas told him she wanted to love him back, but wanted time to think and went back to Shattrath soon after. Aldraen came there two days later, and there met Talluuni, Kenelas's earlier mate who had gone missing. They had a heated argument over her before Kenelas intervened.

A few days after it happened, Kenelas told Aldraen that she had changed her mind and that a relation between them would never work. She then left for her homeland in Farahlon after telling him she needed to be with dranei, that she had a duty towards her race

Aldraen returned to Stormwind afterwards, heartbroken and bitter. He had accepted it quickly, but saw it as a sign he was never meant for love and would instead dedicate his life to uncovering the secrets of the past.

Criminal Record
Aldraen hasn't commited very much crime in his life, but he has been arrested for assault once and taken in for a bar fight.

Notes and Extra Information

 * Aldraen is very cautious when it comes to alcohol, knowing what it did to his father. When drinking though, for company's sake, he prefers wine.


 * His work is the passion of his life. He almost never takes any time off from his work in archeology. In the subject, his favorite areas are Titan, Night Elven and Troll history, in that order. One of his biggest dreams is to unveil the full story of the Makers.


 * Aldraen is a very fast learned at most things, and he has an interest in languages. He can speak quite good Dwarvish, a few phrases in Darnassian and has taken interest in trying to learn Titan.


 * He fiercely hates criminality and criminals. This is because it was a simple group of thugs who killed his love, Ciwenn.


 * Aldraen isn't very fearful, much because of his way to try and approach things with logic. He has fears just as everyone else, though. He is terrified of the thought of losing the ones who he hold dear, and is scared of the thought of his own death. If he could decide, he would want to live forever.


 * After drinking a special potion in Nagrand in order to help his friend Kenelas battle a soulraising eredar, Aldraen has the ability to sense the dead. If he had drunk the whole potion, he would have been able to fully see the dead, but as Kenelas took the other half, his new power is limited to sensing the spirits at some locations and at times having visions of those who haven't passed on to the afterlife.


 * Aldraen has a very good memory.


 * He is very ticklish, but only in a very rare spot. He is only ticklish in the back of his knees. He is also a little ticklish on the stomach, but he is very skilled at keeping a straight face in that case.


 * He drinks swiftthistle tea very much to keep himself alert. At times, he has been at work for days on end without resting, using the mixture as only sustenance.

Current Status
Active and around in the world. Recently departed from Shattrath.

Influences
Aldraen was influences for several directions. Mostly from the patriarch of adventorous archeology, Indiana Jones. Some inspiration was also taken from, for instance, Nicolas Cage's role in National Treasure, Ben Gates.