Saphra Emberstone

Character name: Saphra Emberstone
Nickname(s): Saph, Sap, Pooch
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Race: Worgen
Class: Destruction Warlock
Alignment: Neutral

Birth region: Gilneas
Specific area/town: Emberstone Village

Family:

• Alfred Emberstone (father, deceased)
  Saphra loved her father, but their relations were often strained. Though both she and her older sister, Annabelle, were tutored under Alfred, Saphra's slower pace resulted in her being quickly left behind. An explosive discharge of magic that severely damaged the family's enchanting and reagent shop spelled the end of Saphra's formal training, relegating her instead to carrying out the menial upkeep and stocking of the shop while Alfred focused his attention on Annabelle's education. Alfred's early death hit Saphra hard, and she laments being unable to ever prove herself to him.
  
• Annabelle Emberstone (sister)
  Saphra is highly envious of her sister, who was more appreciably able to learn from their father's teachings. Annabelle is intelligent, a skilled wizard, fully literate, and with a successful teaching career that leaves her as the best off of the family after the fall of Gilneas. Though Saphra tried to follow in Annabelle's footsteps, she lagged significantly behind and feels utterly inferior. Saphra's vagrant lifestyle since the fall has left the two separated, and they have only spoken a handful of times in the last few years. Saphra and Annabelle share more in common with each other than with their brother, Mikhael, especially in their hatred of the worgen curse.
  
• Mikhael Emberstone (brother)
  Relations between Saphra and Mikhael have always been distant. Saphra's devotion towards the Holy Light kept her from fully embracing the old ways and harvest traditions that Mikhael and their mother followed, and Saphra's attempting to study arcane magic with Annabelle under their father kept their paths divided. Neither Alfred nor Annabelle put much stock on the harvest traditions, and Saphra did not want to disappoint either of them by taking up the same "primitive" arts as Mikhael and their mother. The years following the worgen curse brought the two somewhat closer together when Saphra joined the Dreadhowl Pact alongside her brother, but Saphra's criminal involvement, which occasionally came to outright exploitation of Mikhael's finances (which were only slightly better than Saphra's), and her inability to embrace the curse as Mikhael did prevented the two from bonding significantly.
  

Known friends and enemies:

• Bob
  Bob was one of Saphra's few friends during her time with the Dreadhowl Pack. Bob's past experiences with the Forlorn Cartel endeared him to Saphra's plight, though Saphra was worried that his zeal in trying to protect her from them would cause more harm than good.
  
• Lorainne Gray
  Saphra met Lorainne during her time with the Dreadhowl Pact, and attached to her due to Lorainne's similar revulsion to the worgen curse. That Lorainne was wealthy likewise appealed to the cash-strapped and in-debt Saphra, who ended up pilfering a few things from Lorainne's home.
  
• Zalissa Timmens
  Saphra befriended Zalissa during her time in the Cartel, though it was a relationship with little depth spawned mostly from Saphra clinging to whatever companionship she could get from within the Cartel's ranks. Saphra's concern for Zalissa caused some hostility between Saphra and Zalissa's husband, Quinian, however.
  
• Arabella Greene
  
• Skarain Feirand
  

Description: Saphra is a small woman with a scruffy appearance that does little to flatter herself. She has somewhat dark skin, due to southern ancestry and commoner roots, which is poorly kept and covered with grime, while her clothes are likewise patched, faded, and stained. She has a gruesome bite scar from a feral worgen on her upper-left shoulder, a mangled ear caused by the fanged bite of a draenei that she had attempted to rob, and several scars on the palms of her hands. These scars include burns from poor control of her spells as well as poorly healed cuts from using blood magic. Her black hair is usually described as a mess; it is thick and coarse and comes down to just past her shoulders with some individual strands snaking off independently from the rest. Saphra usually keeps her hair loose, though she occasionally will tuck it back behind her somewhat large ears.

Saphra could be pretty if she cleaned herself up, though her curves are possibly better described as bony rather than slender. Her scrawny and sunken features give her somewhat prominent cheekbones and brow, and what little fat she has only thinly covers her hipbones, which can be seen poking out at her waist. She does have some lean muscle on her, toned from frequent walking and climbing which also contribute in giving her good lung capacity and endurance in spite of her size. She has a moderate bust for her weight.

Saphra has small, almond-shaped hazel eyes, framed by sloping eyebrows and dark circles above her cheeks. Her eyelids slouch down over her eyes which, along with frowny lips, contributes to giving her a weary, perhaps wistful, appearance despite her youth. Between Saphra's eyes sits a round nose, which tilts upwards at the tip.

Saphra is equally unkempt in worgen form, with tangled and messy dark fur. She has not been seen in worgen form since becoming a warlock, however, and professes to be human rather than worgen.

Saphra speaks softly, with a clear Gilnean accent.

Saphra's eyes have taken on a subtle green hue since she became a warlock, and they glow fiercely when she casts spells.

Saphra used to be commonly seen wearing a brewfest hat, but now invariably sports a dirty brown headband instead. It is likely that she lost the hat. She also regularly wears a plain leather belt, which carries several bulging bags to hold whatever interesting (or stolen) things she's decided to hoard for the moment.

Personality: Saphra is a quiet, shy girl raised to uphold courteous manners and a kind demeanor. Her youth was marked by insecurity due to an inability to match the expectations of the rest of her family, leading to a very negative self-image that causes her to view most other people as more capable than herself of shouldering life's responsibilities and burdens. She fears taking responsibility for herself and is poor at making positive decisions when left on her own. She desires instead to attach to others and rely on them for direction and security, but her meek and ingratiating behavior makes her easy to take advantage of and she is easily cowed by threats and intimidation.

Saphra typically stiffles her emotions in an attempt to uphold a gracious and inoffensive demeanor, but she has shown to hold strong opinions and feelings internally which she only rarely voices. This has at times given her a literally explosive temper, as the few times in which she overtly displayed her emotions were initially the only instances where she ever revealed any magical inclination. She once burned down half of her father's reagent stockroom after shouting frustrations over her magical inadequacies, an incident that only mortified her and caused her to withdraw further, thus further subduing her magical potential.

In public discourse, Saphra comes across as pleasant but quiet. She has indelible manners and rarely raises her voice, and she places high value on propriety in herself and others. This can make her detached in conversation and she struggles with making small-talk, preferring to only listen and leave conversation to those more socially capable than she is. Saphra is more likely to voice her opinions in private with friends and family, where she can occasionally come across as petty and spiteful.

Saphra's gentility can make her awkward around men, to whom she may be attracted to but unwilling to voice her interest for fear of seeming too forward. She often harbors deep crushes which are rarely realized beyond evasive leering and flustered stuttering.

Saphra appears slow and dullwitted at times, an opinion of herself that she shares, and is characterized by her poor decision-making abilities. This is in truth related more to her lacking capacity for independence and her poor impulse control than her intelligence. She has been commended for her ability to think on her feet and she is also mostly literate, though her limited opportunities for practice makes her read at a halting pace. Saphra is also quite curious about the world and its goings on, which results in her being something of an eavesdropper as well. She has gotten in trouble on several occasions for trespassing and spying, though she considers the knowledge gained worth the occasional discovery--during one meeting between Wild Tempest's command staff, Saphra was able to overhear plans to conduct random exams to insure soldiers had memorized the field manual, giving Saphra the forewarning to study in preparation.

Saphra hated being a worgen and her inability to ever truly come to terms with it limited the effect the Tal'doren ritual had on her. Having been feral for a longer time than many, Saphra maintained many subconscious behaviors after regaining her sanity even in human form such as reliance on olfactory senses and ear movement in conjunction with different emotional states. For Saphra, the worst of these was the natural worgen bloodthirst, of which the experience of it while she was feral left her traumatized for many years. A heightened emotional state, especially feeling threatened or while in the presence of blood, could trigger a relapse as it did when Saphra murdered a nobleman after being surrounded by his guards. For the first few years after the ritual Saphra completely refused to expose herself to any form of blood or gore due to the memories and emotions it stirred. Saphra has since managed to mostly recover from the trauma of her experience, though she is still disconcerted by the sight of blood and can descend into a panic if exposed to excessively violent circumstances. Her use of magic allows her to mostly sidestep this as she is able to assault foes from a distance and the fel energies she channels through her body heighten her aggressive feelings, but she is sickened by the charred remains left behind.

History: Saphra is the youngest Emberstone sibling. Unlike her siblings, she never really found a place within the family's magical background. She had a wild potential, but was incapable of learning how to control it and so quickly gave up on her studies. She was instead relegated to various less cerebral activities, helping at home and in the family shop with domestic chores.

Saphra was the first of the family to become a worgen and was feral for many weeks, an experience that left her traumatized of the curse. She would profess acceptance of her fate after being caught and put through the Tal'doren ritual, but she hated what she had become. The ritual only had a limited effect on her due to this regret, making it difficult for her to stay in human form and causing her to maintain some bestial mannerisms even in that form.

Saphra travelled to Stormwind after the loss of Gilneas to the Forsaken as she did not feel comfortable around the night elves of Kalimdor or the abundance of worgen in Darnassus, which still frightened her. She spent her first year in the region living in Westfall with other refugees and vagrants. She briefly involved herself as a bandit with the Defias Brotherhood due to her poor financial situation, but sold out her band after she was arrested by the Stormwind Guard. She then fled to Stormwind City, where she took out a large loan from the Forlorn Cartel so that she could pay off the Defias in the hope of avoiding retribution for her treachery. Saphra soon after joined the Dreadhowl Pack after learning that her brother was with them. Beyond giving her a place to stay, Saphra hoped that living among the pack would stem off the debt collectors and enemies and she had made since coming to Stormwind. She abused her months in the pack, taking several loans from Mikhael on false pretenses and stealing expensive gemstones from another packmate, who would blame the thievery on his brother. After the pack fell apart, Saphra was forced to join the Cartel in order to work off the remainder of her debt.

Some months later, Saphra was arrested for murder after a botched attempt to break into a noble's manor. She had lost control of her curse in fright after encountering the lord's militia and accidentally murdered the lord's son during her escape. Saphra was interned in the Stormwind Stockades after a quick trial. She was sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime, but she was able to secure her release several months later after volunteering for the Alliance's "Last Chance" program.

Saphra had no doubts as to the lethality of the program and expected conscripts like her to be used as cannon fodder. Though several of the commanders of the 157th "Wild Tempest" company, the unit to which Saphra was assigned, refused to view the conscripts as expendable, Saphra still sought to avoid putting herself in direct danger and was frequently disciplined for cowardice. This however saved her life during Wild Tempest's deployment to the northern kingdoms as Saphra was able to avoid the disastrous Forsaken ambush that resulted in the loss of the majority of the unit. Following the ambush, Saphra was able to rally with another Last Chance survivor for the journey back south. This other Last Chancer had been a Legion cultist before being conscripted, and they convinced Saphra to agree to a demonic pact in order to better their chances for survival. Included in the pact was great demonic power, but also a supposed cure to the worgen curse.

Saphra attempted to avoid returning to the Last Chance program when she arrived back in Stormwind, but she was eventually discovered and detained. She was then reassigned to the reformed Wild Tempest, where she participated in the unit's operations in Pandaria and during the siege of Orgrimmar. Following the siege, she was transferred to the Westfall Brigade for several months. She has since been given leave and placed on reserve status, to be recalled at the Alliance's discretion.

Things you may know about this character:

• Saphra is a worgen, but has not been seen in worgen form in over a year.
  
• Saphra is a known criminal, and is part of its Last Chance program. She is currently on reserve status.
  
• Saphra's status as a warlock is public knowledge and noted in her military personnel file. Her service permits her to legally use her magic in defense of the Alliance, but only when under military supervision.
  
• Saphra is a strong offensive caster, notable for her use of pure entropic fel fire instead of the elemental fire wielded by many other warlocks. She lacks knowledge or ability in most kinds of utility magic, however, limiting her usefulness outside of combat.
  
• Saphra enjoys knitting and weaving, though her lack of access to proper equipment limits the quality of what she can make. She previously sold cheap scarves, caps, blankets, and dolls when she was living on the streets, and she repairs her own clothing.
  
• Saphra professes belief in the Holy Light, despite her use of demon magic. Ironically, she is perhaps the most faithful Light-worshipper of her family.
  
• Saphra also maintains some basic harvest traditions, including belief in the influence of natural spirits over the earth and weather. She is more likely to blame poor weather or a bad harvest on angry spirits rather than any natural development.
  
• Due to being raised in Gilneas during its period of isolation, Saphra is very wary of non-human races. Though she has grown accepting of most of the Alliance races and elves of both factions after living in Stormwind, she considers most Horde and other races to be sapient creatures rather than persons. She is especially unnerved by orcs, undead, and worgen, due to their all having been direct menaces to Gilneas.
  
• Saphra carries a small Demon Warding Totem and wears a Talisman of True Treasure Tracking, despite the unclear benefit provided by either of these items.
  
• Saphra enjoys running and climbing.
  

Things you may not know about this character:

• Saphra had ties with the Gilnean underworld, before the fall of Gilneas. These ties were limited, and the fall of the kingdom splintered any connections she previously had.
  
• Saphra's warlock magic does not come from mastery and domination of demons. She has instead made a pact of servitude to a demon lord of the Burning Legion, in exchange for a "cure" to the worgen curse and magical power. This pact puts Saphra at the mercy of her master and the demons she cavorts with, and demands her service and the sacrifice of her blood, her soul, and the souls of others. Saphra usually avoids telling others about this deal, and never about the exact requirements placed on her.
  
• Saphra's curse is not actually cured, only suppressed by the power of her demonic overlords. Saphra is not aware of this, and believes the curse to actually be cured. An examination by skilled mages could reveal the curse's continued existence.
  
• Saphra did possess magical potential before her pact with demons, but lacked the emotional discipline to control it. She would have made a potent, if explosive, sorceress if she hadn't given up on magic. Her demonic pact taps in to and exaggerates this potential, allowing Saphra to channel pure fel directly from the Twisting Nether with control provided by her demon cohorts. This gives her extraordinarily destructive power, but it is rapidly corrupting her body and soul from the inside out.
  
• Saphra maintains a soulstone, constructed by her demon cohorts. She is not willing to trust her life to it, however.
  
• Saphra possesses a portal stone anchored to the Underforge.
  
• Saphra is afraid of felhounds, and dislikes summoning them or being around them. Felhounds, on the other hand, love being around Saphra--all that magical energy is a feast on legs.
  
• Saphra has a light case of agoraphobia.
  

Crime record: Shoplifting, robbery, burglary, resisting arrest, escaping detention, manslaughter, larceny.

Made some extensive updates.