Regina Kasteen

"What is built, endures. And what is loved, endures.""-- motto of the Kasteen family"Regina Kasteen is an engineer and member of the First Regiment.

History
Born the village of Pryze in the Redridge Mountains on May 17th, 9 L.C., Regina was the daughter of Gregor Kasteen and Elisabeth Cadence Kasteen. Their family owned a lumber mill in the Redridge timber country; Gregor was primarily responsible for its business operations, while Elisabeth looked after the machinery. Kasteen has four younger brothers: Peter, Rupert, Doran, and Lucas (deceased).

Childhood
As a child, Regina learned machinery working alongside her family, and took to it with a natural talent. Though quiet and bookish, she was by no means an asocial child, and her family were prominent in the local community.

When Regina was five, Gregor and a number of his friends pooled their resources and constructed a mill in Elwynn Forest, not far from Stormwind, to assist in the city's reconstruction following the Second War. For the next three years, Gregor commuted periodically between the two sites, often leaving Elisabeth and his trusted advisers to run the mill and take care of their family for extended periods.

In 17 L.C., the youngest child of the family, Lucas, died of a fever at just over a year old. Unwilling to face her grief alone, Elisabeth moved the rest of the family to Stormwind alongside her husband, leaving their mill at Pryze in the hands of family friends. From that point forward, Regina and her siblings grew up in the city, and she took to it immediately. Her fascination with the ongoing rebuilding and her talents at machinery made an apprenticeship in engineering an obvious choice as she grew older. But fate had different plans for the young human.

Watchman
Kasteen was 15 when the Stonemason Riots broke out in Stormwind. Through her father's ties to the construction industry, she knew many of the Stonemasons, and initially sympathized with their plight. However, the destruction of the riots showed her how even the most righteous cause could bring unintended misery. The young engineer was transformed, emerging with a newfound belief in the rule of law and society.

The following year, she volunteered to join the Stormwind City Watch, throwing herself into the physical and law training required of her. A bright pupil and adequate fighter, she served for four years as a street-level patrolwoman.

Eventually, her service earned her an appointment to a counter-smuggling detail, where her experience reading her fathers' ledgers came in handy deciphering the byzantine accounting practices of the city's black market. During this time, she took on the Elwynn wolf-hound Broklaw as a companion; he would go on to serve faithfully at her side for many years.

Soldier
Despite her success, Kasteen came under political attention in 31 L.C. when her unit stumbled on evidence that several Stormwind nobles were financing black-market trade. To escape the unwanted pressure, she arranged for a transfer into the Stormwind Army and was assigned to the First Regiment. After a brief orientation, she found herself accompanying the storied unit on its Invasion of Kalimdor.

Kasteen fought well in the initial battles of the campaign, and her combat and scouting abilities earned her a commission and, briefly, promotion to the rank of Corporal. However, she found herself chafing at the duties and restrictions of the military and not long after the conclusion of the campaign, took a leave of absence from the First.

Mercenary
Initially returning to the City Watch, Kasteen didn't wait for politics to catch up to her again. Seeking a way to serve her beloved city and Alliance without the stifling strictness of the Regiment, she fell in with a group of like-minded patriots under the banner of the Infallible Free Company.

As a member of the Infallible, Kasteen participated in a number of battles against the Horde over the course of the next year and drew close to her peers and the veteran leaders of the company. When it became clear that Horde troops were massing to invade Theramore Isle, the Infallible answered the call to protect it.

The Horde's mana bomb destroyed Theramore and wiped out most of the Infallible company in the process. Kasteen was one of relatively few survivors. Thanks to her closeness to their slain leadership, she was naturally among those the company looked to for guidance.

For the next year, the remnants of the Infallible rebuilt and struck out against the Horde, principally at the Isle of Thunder and the Siege of Orgrimmar. However, though they fought with fury and vengeance in their hearts, they were weak, disheartened, and poorly led. Fewer of the company survived each fight and their name faded from the Alliance's roll of honor, until, after the end of the Siege, it was formally disbanded.

Along with the many human, elven, and draenei casualties of the war, Kasteen was forced to put down her faithful companion Broklaw after injuries sustained in the siege.

Mechanic
Returning to Stormwind, disconsolate and alone, Kasteen set about applying herself once more to the city. Fixing on her past experience as a mechanic and mill worker, she studied the arts of military engineering and architecture, intending to find employment in the Royal Industries foundries or tankworks.

In November of 34 L.C., the Dark Portal opened once more and Alliance citizens were desperately needed to campaign on Draenor. Kasteen volunteered, putting her hard-earned expertise to work as a civilian contractor working for the Telaari Tankworks in Nagrand. She worked ferociously but, try as she might, could not escape the ghosts of her past.

Engineer
After several months of service, in March, 35 L.C., Kasteen returned to Stormwind for a brief vacation. During this time she encountered a patrol of First Regiment soldiers and, intrigued, learned that they were stationed in Westfall. Seeing the uniform of her one-time unit sparked something in her, and she set off to find their camp and introduce herself.

Though the faces in the Regiment had, of course, changed over the four years of her absence, Kasteen found herself welcomed nonetheless. Her expertise was particularly needed, as the Regiment had found itself largely bereft of trained engineers, and she transferred her contract with a minimum of difficulty. Throughout the campaign in Westfall, she served as acting chief engineer, logistics coordinator, and sometime combat medic according to the Regiment's needs.

As the Regiment began rebuilding after the bloody campaign, Kasteen took on responsibility for organizing the other engineers and training specialists and enlisted alike in the theory and practice of combat engineering. The subsequent campaign in Uldum was both harrowing and rewarding, for while the secrets beneath the sands sought to tear her down, she was raised to the position of Chief Engineer and placed at the Marshal's side.