Aelindel Beltis

=Appearance=

(WiP)

=Brief History=

 Aelindel Beltis, née Varel, was born  some thirty years ago in the small town of Brill in Lordaeron and was the only daughter of a modest army officer. Her beginnings were humble but joyful. She was raised on her father’s family pumpkin farm by tutors mostly. Her father secured an education for her in the hope that she might someday join the priesthood. He believed that a good education would allow her to land on her feet, should anything happen to him. He was right on that account. He survived the invasion of Lordaeron by the Scourge only to die in the frozen wastes of Northrend.

 Aelindel realized quite early that the priesthood would not be her path. Her faith allowed her to channel the Light but not as a proficient healer. However, she could swing a mace and felt the Light could enhance her combat skills significantly. She began training as a paladin and had her first real taste of battle when Lordaeron fell to the Scourge. She fought alongside her countrymen in a desperate cause. At last, when the battle became hopeless, she fled through devastated lands with countless others to find refuge beyond the borders of her homeland.

 Several years went by before she found herself wandering in Elwynn Forest, homeless and without purpose. She heard chants coming from the abbey nestled in the Northshire woods. She stepped inside quietly and let the words soothe her. There she found some respite from the pain of the losses she suffered and the regrets that filled her heart. As a child, she was fascinated by the Light. She was mesmerized by the solemnity of its rituals. She spent many hours hidden in dark corners of chapels, listening to sermons and liturgies. Later, she saw the Light as a weapon, a force to vanquish her foes. She felt resentful of it. She projected her own failures onto it and shrouded it in rage. It took her a long time, and many trials of faith to understand that a closed heart cannot see the beauty of the Light, or feel the humility needed to wield a weapon in its name. Aelindel learned this truth in the Church that sheltered her and helped her find her way again.

=Personality=

(WiP)

Beliefs


 When she rejoined the Church of the Holy Light, Aelindel resumed her paladin training, squiring for Sir Kuth Anner. Her training was paved with many trials of faith and strength that allowed her to deepen her understanding of the Virtues and her belief in the Light. The journey that took Aelindel to knighthood was one of forgiveness. She learned to forgive those who wronged her but mostly to forgive herself for her own weaknesses and sins. She had to let go of much anger to see her path clearly. She now strives to live by the code of the Silver Hand and the Three Virtues in a spirit of clemency.

Quirks
(WiP)

Perpetual mourning
Aelindel impulsively married a young local farmer. She eloped with him against her father’s will. This caused much friction between father and daughter but she fancied herself in love and followed her heart. Aelindel’s husband died in Lordaeron during the invasion of the Scourge. They were helping to evacuate a small farmstead hit by the plague and he stayed behind trying to round up children who had found refuge in a barn. He was attacked and mortally wounded but the children escaped. He succumbed to his wounds later in Aelindel’s arms. She feels responsible for his death and has idealized his memory as a consequence of her pain.

Family ties
Aelindel believed herself to be the sole survivor of her family until she was contacted by a young priestess claiming to be her cousin. Sister Maverith, as it happened, was the daughter of her father’s younger sister. The woman had left Lordaeron after marrying a merchant from Kul Tiras and had seldom been in communication with her family back home. Maverith’s hopeful nature charmed the usually somber paladin. She feels protective of the priestess and treats her with the indulgence of an older sister, often dismissing her opinions as naive youthful fancies born of a sheltered existence.