Isterion Sunwarden

Character name: Isterion Sunbinder
Alias: n/a
Gender: Male
Age: At least 500, but he can be much older as he clearly cannot remember specific numbers anymore, nor can anyone he knows.  
Race: Sin'dorei (Originally Quel'dorei)
Class: Originally a Paladin, recently became a Blood Knight only to once again attempt to walk the righteous path of the Light.

Birth region: Kingdom of Quel'Thalas
Specific area/town: Eversong Woods, Silvermoon City
Family:
      ▪ Mother: Lithalle, Magister
      ▪ Father: Tanarus, Magister
      ▪ Brother: Arnatheas, Blood Knight; Traitor; Presumed dead
      ▪ Sister: Verine, Arcanist; Killed during the Third War
      ▪ Wife: Rumors of her existance reached only few ears and no name is known nor her fate.
Known friends or enemies:
      ▪ Friends:
             ▪ Blood Knight Order
             ▪ Shattered Sun Offensive
             ▪ The Scryers
      ▪ Enemies:
             ▪ Some of the Forsaken who took part in re-plauging some of the lands and creatures in order to win their battles,
                and those who practiced mass murder and raising undead with the help of Val'kyr.  
Description:
      Isterion is a tall person with well built, slim body that most of the time is covered by the heavy battle armor and the tabard of the Blood Knight order. What is visible is his nearly pale skin and long, blond hair that falls on his pauldrons. Of course as in case of any Blood Elf his eyes glow with the green, fel energy. He still looks just half his age despite revealed some of the sharp facial features, and most likely thanks to his healing abilities his skin, at least the visible parts are free of any scars. He never smiles, he always wears truly serious facial expression that sometimes is switching between anger and annoyance.
Personality:
      Bloody history of him and his kind as well as the most recent twisted turn of events in his life made him the person he is today. And what he is is certainly a mistrustful person, very proud, somewhat ruthless, strict, harsh and demanding. He is a man of few words, rarely speaks to anyone but his superiors and subortinates. The time he doesn't spend on fighting on the front lines and training his troops he spend on self-improvement. Few things that did not change during his long life is his pride, his sense of honor, and most importantly his loyalty toward his people. Now while he is trying to walk the path of the Light as he once did as a Paladin and his intentions truly are pure, his actions shows that there is still some of the cold darkness within his heart. He surely is never going to be the same person he was before the war.   
History:
      There is not much known about Isterion's childhood, truly there is known little next to nothing. His parents, both of them were and still are fine Magisters using their knowledge and wisdom to support their people and their leaders. Isterion's story really starts when he still was a High Elf, and he and his brother Arnatheas joined the Church of The Light only to later become the Paladins. Their youth was well spent on training and self-improvement, there was no sign of competing between them, no struggle, they walked the path of the Light together, fighting arm to arm, never separating, always protecting each other. Both of them became kind and caring Elves, serving the Light and protecting the life by fighting the evil that was invading the Azeroth while their younger sister walked the path of their parents learning the secrets of Arcane Magic.

      Wars that came changed everything, especially the Third War which seemed like an unending horror. Isterion and his brother stood among their bretherin in the first line of defence fighting the scourge when Arthas invaded the kingdom of Quel'Thalas. Army of the undead marched upon the corpses of the elves they killed only to kill dozens more, and no matter how many of these undead were slain, they were still coming in numbers that were easily crushing city defences. During the fight cold and fear have struck the hearts of High Elves Paladins, while more of their kin were slain during this incursion, these that still stood and fought back were slowly loosing their inner strenght as the Light was fading. Isterion at certain moment have fallen on his knee feeling as all the warmth from his heart is fading, when he looked around he have seen only death and darkness, countless of High Elves lives have been lost and he was surrounded by their corpses as well as the very few who still had strenght to fight. A scream of female have reached his ears, it was voice he knew well, he looked around and he noticed his sister fighting the undead marching towards her, only couple of mages assisted her where she stood and Isterion knew well she won't stand for long, he gave Arnatheas a hand signal and both have began the race for her life, but when they went trough few dozens of undead warriors a ball of lighting have appeared out of nowhere causing a great explosion where Verine, their little sister stood creating a blast wave that pushed both heroes back stunning them for a short moment. When they stood up and the smoke was gone the only thing there was left was a pile of bones in the middle of a crater. The pain in Isterion's heart was incredible, much worse the physical pain from the wounds he received, he and Arnatheas continued fight with great fury and anger, decimating the undead units coming their way. At some point they attempted to save some of the fallen Elves that still had a chance to live, as soon as they pulled some of them back they were called back by their commanders, they had to fall back to the Sunwell as this was Arthas primary target. Some of the remaining forces joined the defence of the Sunwell where Arthas attempted to resurrect a powerful necromancer. Combined efforts of the High Elves troops didn't matter, Arthas have corrupted the Sunwell and achieved victory in bringing back to life the necromancer Kel'thuzad as an undead Lich. After that battle only small part of the Elven population have survived, the city was destroyed and the Sunwell, the source of their energy as well, and that was not over of the horror the High Elves had to go trough.

      Soon after corruption of the Sunwell many of High Elves fell ill due to their addiction of magic. Isterion's parents fell ill as well and it was up to him and his brother to help the survivors. In meantime the people of Quel'dorei were renamed to Sin'dorei, the Blood Elves, the name was to honor all the fallen, all the blood that was spilled during Arthas incursion. Now prince Kael'thas have decided to leave and look for a way to heal his people, Arnatheas joined him along with many Blood Elves and it was the first time Sunwarden brothers have separated, but at the time both of them believed it was for the best. Isterion even in his condition when he no longer held the power of the Light still continued to guard the city and help all the wounded and ill Elves that needed that help.

      Isterion's efforts and his role in the defence of the Sunwell was noted, and when the time came when prince Kael'thas delivered a new source of magic and the chance for the former paladins to reclaim the light, he was one of the first chosen to do so. A Naaru that was captured and imprisoned was the source of the light, and after Lady Liadrin's success in making a link with the creature and trough it channeling the light it was a time for others to do so as well, that was the beginning of the Blood Knight order. While in the channeling the Light from the Naaru was no warmth and no joy, there certainly was a power, a power they needed at these hard times. Many Elves were against it as it all as against everything they believed in, but there was no other way at the time and action had to be taken. Isterion reborn as a Blood Knight was soon sent on the missions the clean the woods of the undead that were roaming on the Death Scar. With his next achievements he soon earned enough trust of Lady Liadrin to lead a small squad for missions further into dark areas corrupted by the scourge. After creating not-so-wanted alliance with the Forsaken, the undead that were no longer under Arthas control and creating a Tranquillien settlement in the Ghostlands Isterion was one of the 'agents' sent to push the scourge back to the Deatholme. Soon they learned that the traitor responsible for weakening the Sunwell defences was in the Deatholme fortress and they were sent to kill him. Doing so did not grant any victory at all, but that certainly weakened the remaining undead forces.

      After next victories in fighting with the scourge he advanced even further in the ranks of the order, his skills were needed not only on the field but also to train new Blood Knights, as efficient and strong as he was he surely was capable of handling that task, that was Lady Liadrin's opinion. He took the role of the trainer and he since then he spent most of the time in the Silvermoon. With the progression of rebuilding the city and the society of the Blood Elves came another 'good' news, becoming a part of the Horde was not accepted so lightly, but it was needed by them and by the Blood Elves and considering the betrayal of the Humans it was the only logical movement. Isterion had no say in these matters, and even if he did, he probably would do the same since at such hard times this nation needed some allies. Between training new troops he was finding a way to visit his parents, who after recovery have continued helping in rebuilding the city. He still had his little sister dying before his eyes and he sworn to take revenge, but it wasn't the time yet, there was much to be done.

      Not much time has passed until another danger have came to the doorstep of Quel'Thalas, this time it was the Kael'thas himself, who came in only to take the Naaru from his people and use it for his own purposes. With him Isterion's brother came, blindly loyal to his prince did not listen to the voice of reason. Isterion was bursting with anger, he expected a lot but not a betrayal from the man who was supposed to be savior of his people. Now Kael'thas mad in his lust for power he couldn't even fully control and allied with the demons had to be stopped.

      After departing with Lady Liadrin and the rest of the Blood Knight forces to the Outland and visiting the Shattrath where she learned about the prophecy, she renounced her loyalty to the House of Sunstrider among with the rest of Blood Knights and she pledged her loyalty to the Shattered Sun Offensive. These combined forces were ready to end Kael'thas madness.

      Isterion with his troops have travelled trough the Outland facing demon forces and Blood Elves still loyal to Kael'thas. With great regret he ended the lives of those who blindly followed that madman as they refused to turn back on him. So many minds were twisted by the Kael'thas madness, Isterion hoped his brother have came to realize what is happening, he couldn't think of other scenario, it would be too painful. There was no time to think about such things, with the Sha'tar and the Scryers a final charge on the Kael'thas forces have began, in his stronghold, the Tempest a great battle have took place, and in one of the wings  Isterion found his brother, who still loyal to the cause of the treacherous prince refused to surrender, he gave Isterion no choice but to fight. While the rest was marching towards the Kael'thas, Isterion fought his brother and tried to reason with him. No word would change his mind, but Isterion have disarmed Arnatheas and gave him a chance to surrender, instead he grabbed a vial with some kind of magic fluid and threw it on the ground, crashing and releasing a power that pushed Isterion back giving Arnatheas chance to escape. He had no time to follow him, he had to rejoin Blood Elves futher in the stronghold where they faced Kael'thas himself. The fight was rough, Isterion was badly wounded, but among other heroes he ensured that victory will be theirs.

      After that victory Isterion advanced to the rank of the Master and remained in the Outland with Lady Liadrin where he continued the crusade against the Burning Legion. World torn apart and constantly at war, there was a lot of work to do and Isterion with his troops ensured victory in several regions, but the end of this war was still for him and many others just a dream, a dream that had to be put aside by Isterion because Kael'thas was raised by their demon allies and he invaded Sunwell in attempt to summon Kil'jaeden to Azeroth. The final battle concluded on the Isle of Quel'danas where many lives have been lost, many heroes have fallen or been greatly injured and all that would be for nothing if not for M'uru, the captured Naaru who sacrificed himself in order to prevent Kil'jaeden from entering the Azeroth and more than that to restore Sunwell energy as well as fill Blood Knights with the Light once again showing them the truth they were unable to see before. Isterion held great regret for his actions during the dark times when he channeled the Light from the captured Naaru, he knew he won't be the same as he was before these dark times, but he knew that he has to try be better. After the victory in the Sunwell plateau that was ensured by him and many other heroes he was finally promoted by Lady Liadrin to Knight-Lord and knowing that there is no time to rest he soon returned to the Outland once again.

      Many months later he was called back to the Silvermoon, therefore he brought his troops back home to only face a grim news that boiled his blood when he was listening. Lich King was awoken and he was dispatched to the Northend where he was to find out what is happening out there and help stationing there troops, he didn't held high regard for Forsaken and Orcs he had to work with there, but the goal was too important to ignore the call, so he departed there and supported Horde army. Unfortunately finding out what king of measures Forsaken have taken have not pleased him at all, he supported them as he could be he couldn't accept all the corruption and destruction they were causing with their disgusting, unholy experiments. After some time and learning what Lich King is doing on these lands - or to better put it - to these lands he turned his attention the the Icecrown Citadel where he moved with his forces. They have set up a camp at the borders of the Icecrown where they remained for the few days. On the second day they realized someone is observing them so they doubled the troops on patrol. On the third day few of the soldiers went missing, after some searching a blood was found, Isterion realized that someone have either taken them or murdered them, either way they couldn't stay there anymore, it was already a nightfall but they couldn't wait, he ordered his troops to move out immedietaly. While attempting to cross a small ravine they were ambushed by undead and death knights, they were slaughtering Isterion's soldiers, even seeing that he could escape he did not want to leave his man, he grabbed his sword and attempted to fight back, unfortunately there were too many of them, very soon the last of his man dropped dead and Isterion was surrounded, he knew the death was drawing near but then he heard a voice commanding to stop and leave him alive, voice was oddly familiar but he couldn't believe it until he saw it, from behind the troops appeared a death knight on the horse slowly moving towards Isterion, he stood ready to fight but then he looked at the face of the person on the horse and he was shocked, his brother, Arnatheas was the death knight on the horse who commanded these undead troops, he ordered to take Isterion alive and when he tried to fight back he was knocked out and dragged somewhere.

      Arnatheas kept Isterion in the dark depths of the Icecrown Citadel, if it was at the command of Lich King of his own doing, that was a mystery that was never revealed. He tortured him for months, fed him with only water and some scraps of bread probably just to keep him alive weakened but for unknown reason. Isterion troughout this time looked in the Arnatheas eyes and he knew well that he was no brother of his, it was a mindless, risen abomination supposed to look like him, at least that's what he believed. Isterion lost track of time after long months sitting locked in the cage but Arnatheas had no intention of letting him go. Arnatheas was not saying much, he just came and either fed Isterion or beat him until he bled. Long time has passed, but everything changed after some rumbling from upstairs, suddenly it felt like whole citadel was falling apart, after that Arnatheas have not came down to his cage again. Isterion presumed that he either died or left, but he couldn't even free himself to see what happened there. He homed that someone will rescue him now, but each passing day took some of that hope from him, more and more as days turned into weeks and weeks into months. He survived so long eating critters such as rats and drinking water sprinkling from the ceiling. After that long time he started to hear voices in his head, he was loosing his mind. Isterion was trying to ignore these voices but after a while they were his only companions. Was it madness hitting into his head or some kind of corruption from the water or the meat of the critters he ate, he couldn't tell, but he certainly didn't want to die in there so he kept on eating whatever creature came near his cage. Isterion was getting weak, he could barely move, he barely seen, the end was indeed drawing near as the darkness was slowly covering his eyes, putting him to sleep. After countless days in hope that someone might rescue him he finally lost hope, he gave in and he closed his eyes, it was time to die, or was it not?

      He woke up for a moment just to see being carried by a flying creature, but he could barely see and he could not talk, suddenly he lost consciousness again. He woke up again laying on some bed made out of wood and linen cloth, he was still unable to see clearly, but he could see figure of some person and he could hear a female voice comforting him, telling him to rest. He was falling asleep and waking up several times a day and during these short moments the she person fed Isterion and gave him water. Next few weeks passed like that until he regained enough strenght to actually see and move, then he could see where he was, and he was at some small wooden house in unknown location and a Blood Elf female standing next to the window. For some reason he was still unable to speak at all, female have explained to Isterion that he was affected by the poisoned water and meat, which apparently was as the whole citadel corrupted. Isterion while able to move had problems with walking, but he was quickly regaining his strenght with the help of a friend that didn't even tell her name. She often spoke to him, telling him many stories but rarely revealing anything about herself. Isterion grown very fond of her, and once he regained ability to speak he asked her many questions and the answers amazed him. She was a dragon, she pulled him from the depths of the Icecrown Citadel though she didn't explain how exactly how she found him. And still she remained nameless as she didn't want to reveal her name, she only told Isterion that he needs to regain his strenght and return to his people where he is needed, she also told him about the Cataclysm he was not aware of and assured that Blood Elves have survived. When he was in nearly full strenght he have been walking out of the house to train, he wanted to be fully prepared before he was going to return to Quel'Thalas. After next couple of weeks Isterion felt ready enough for travel, his nameless dragon friend took him back to Eastern Kingdoms and she left him near Silvermoon City, though she promised him that she will visit him someday and reveal her name.

      Once he came home he found out that his parents departed to Dalaran, which ironically was located now in Northend from where he returned, but he was glad they were safe. Many have forgotten Isterion's face, only warm welcoming he got was from Blood Knight order, who welcomed him as a brother and a hero. They told Isterion about everything that happened since he was gone, they provided him with everything he needed to resume training. In meantime he travelled troughout the Eastern Kingdoms providing helping hand wherever it was needed, he also witnessed doings of Dark Lady who used Val'kyr to raise the dead to serve her, and this was something he could not accept as it was nearly the same strategy the Lich King used, no argument he used could convinced her that it's not right and she is no different than the Lich King himself. Even as she respected Isterion for his service and good work done under her command he was forced to leave as he simply couldn't stand her unholy practice. After travelling back trough the Dark Portal to Outland, he went to the Shattrath City where Lady Liadrin was residing, he once again pledged his service to her and the Scryers, and to his surprise she have not forgotten what he have done for the Blood Elves and whole Azeroth, and seeing that he is again in full strenght, changed and reborn, after giving him a chance to prove his worth and loyalty again she granted him a honor of serving on his old position of Knight-Lord of the Blood Knight order. Since then he proudly performs his duty as a Blood Knight once again serving as a protector of his people.
Things you may know about this character:
      ▪ He fought in defence of the Sunwell during incursion of Arthas and his undead forces.
      ▪ He also fought in the battle with Kil'jaeden and witnessed first hand the sacrifice of M'uru.
      ▪ He does not smile at all.
      ▪ He was presumed dead for over a year.
      ▪ He was a Knight-Lord of the Blood Knight Order before disappearance, he reclaimed his position upon returning to active duty.
Things you may not know about this character:
      ▪ Isterion holds many dark, aweful and painful secrets that he shares with noone and never will.
Possible crime record: None