Aldrannath

This character does not yet exist; the profile is here for improvement and discussion before being completed.

Name

Aldrannath. He has never used a family name, and never adopted any of the other names he has been given.

Observable Traits

Aldrannath looks almost as old as he is, with wrinkled skin and long, wispy white hair. He is much declined from his former self, stiffer and slower than his heyday as a warrior. However, he is still very powerfully built, strong as a bear and tough as oak.

He speaks regular Darnassian with a rather stilted and archaic pronunciation; it is in fact very different from his native dialect. When agitated, his dialect breaks through, making his grammar seem rather odd. He speaks Common confidently but inaccurately.

Race and Class

Kaldorei, Druid of the Wild. Often regarded as a Druid of the Claw, but has always in fact been equally comfortable in tree and bird forms.

Guild

The Cenarion Guardians.

Occupation

None at present.

Family

Kaldorei relatives are probably all dead. He had relationships with both female and male Kaldorei long, long ago, but these are now mostly forgotten. He has never fathered Kaldorei children - perhaps his female partners found him too unreliable to make a suitable father.

Background

Aldrannath was born about three centuries before the Sundering, among a remote rural community of Kaldorei in the mountains between what is now Feralas, Silithus and Un'Goro Crater. His people lived on the very fringe of the Azsharan Empire, more or less autonomously, and in a state of constant low-level war with the Trolls of the Empire of Zul'Farrak. They spoke their own dialect of Darnassian, which was almost incomprehensible to outsiders, and were regarded by their more sophisticated brethren of the Empire as barbaric throwbacks, and did indeed preserve many primitive Kaldorei customs that dated back many millennia, which Queen Azshara had long tried to stamp out.

Like many of his people, Aldrannath trained as a warrior from an early age, and grew up taking the harsh paramilitary discipline of his people for granted. He grew strong and swift, and gained respect as a vigorous young berserker, so when a unit of Guardians visited his people, they accepted him as a recruit. He fought with courage and distinction alongside his fellow Guardians after the Sundering, and was eventually granted the rank of Guardian at the end of the War.

After the War of the Ancients ended, he took great interest in the "new" craft of Druidism, and eventually became a Druid at the age of several centuries, under the tutelage of one of Malfurion's elder disciples. He became a Druid of the Wild, practising shapeshifting into multiple forms at a time when this was rather unusual. He continued to serve with distinction as a Guardian, but took long absences from service, spending many centuries in the Emerald Dream, growing among the trees of Moonglade, or living as a bear back in his homeland. As a consequence he never served as an officer, although he led small groups of his fellow Guardians in a number of missions.

After several centuries in the Emerald Dream, Aldrannath gained a close affinity for that realm and its laws. Because of this, and his rather unusual status as a Druid of the Wild, a few daring or eccentric younger Druids sought him out as teacher; it is possible that some of these students are still alive. He entered the Long Vigil with his fellow Druids; he may have awoken occasionally during the following four millennia, but does not appear to have done anything of note at these times, and has no clear memory of them.

Aldrannath awoke to fight with great distinction in the War of the Shifting Sands, as a warrior in the front line alongside his fellow Guardians. He was struck down in battle by the dark magic of the Qiraji; he barely survived, and was taken to Moonglade, where he took root and slept for many more centuries. He slept through the Third War and did not fight at Mt. Hyjal. He recently awoke, more or less recovered at last, but greatly declined from his former powers.

Personal Notes

An old, old Druid, once mighty but now merely powerful, somewhat respected for his antiquity and military record, but never quite trusted due to his rather unpredictable and irascible nature. He can be by turns charmingly eccentric and alarmingly brutal.

Although he has lived for several millennia, he has spent a very large proportion of his life either Dreaming, or as a tree or a bear, and his memories of the remainder are sketchy and uncertain. He is not particularly familiar or content with modern Kaldorei society, and is somewhat nostalgic for the days of his youth among the primitive Kaldorei of the mountains. He is comfortable with Dragons, having served them in the past, both in the War of the Ancients and the War of the Shifting Sands; perhaps their presence helps to clear his mind. He regards Trolls as mortal enemies, and his first meeting with Draenei is unlikely to go well. He has no experience whatsoever of the other races, and will probably behave very oddly towards them.

Aldrannath is a little confused; he has spent most of his long, long life in the Emerald Dream, and has a tendency to mix up the Dream with the waking world. His memories of the centuries before the Long Vigil are somewhat muddled; he has memories of things that never happened, or that happened only in the Dream, and some actual events of his life have got lost in the confusion. As such he can be astonished or alarmed by events other Kaldorei might find unremarkable; this can sometimes lead to sudden and dramatic outbursts of violence. He also enjoys telling tall tales to gullible youngsters, so although he is fond of reminiscing about his glorious past, it is difficult to be certain which stories are true.

Rumours and Reputation

• The information given here is known to a number of older Druids of the Cenarion Circle; none of it is secret, so Kaldorei who care to make the effort will have no difficulty in finding out all about Aldrannath - or at least, as much as he himself can remember. Aldrannath has no particular secrets, except of course the deeper mysteries of the Druidic craft.
• Aldrannath was never well-known or respected in wider Kaldorei society, but Druids old enough to remember the time before the Long Vigil may well know of him by reputation, or even have met him, as may some of those who fought in the War of the Shifting Sands. Guardians from these times may have known him personally.
• He was best known among Guardians of his times as a powerful bear-warrior.
• He was known among Druids before the Long Vigil as an eccentric but powerful Dreamer. Malfurion is said to have remarked: "That one has his mind in the Dream."
• Aldrannath has always been generally regarded as mad and unpredictable; he has on occasion been used to frighten local children.
• Until recently, he was numbered among the many fallen heroes of the Guardians.
• Some old rumours state that he is an ancestor of the Ironfur bears of Feralas. Aldrannath is aware of this rumour, and has no idea whether it is true.

Current Status

Not yet active. Probably just awakening from his deep slumber in Moonglade.