Halinine Mechastaff

Halinine “Hal” Mechastaff is a Gnomish engineer and mage. His surname came from his old creation of his Mechastaff, which has been altered or improved over the years, but hasn’t seen much use aside from mechanical work.

Halinine was born on April 10, 585 K.C..

Appearance
Hal is about the average height of a gnome, and most of his body is physically unremarkable for his race. His hair is a noticeable green, dyed for the sake of “fashion”, and generally styled in relatively odd ways, such as an absurdly large handlebar mustache and hair swept up to a point.

For attire, Hal looks similar to most engineers with a dark leather vest and a red shirt underneath. He wears a belt at all times that holds several things, ranging from a spanner for impromptu work to a Gnomish army knife. He may occasionally wear a pair of simple goggles.

Personality
Hal has ranging attitudes, though his most dominant is a pleasant one. He frequently aims to please others and puts on his own happy outlook on matters. He is like any other person, of course, able to vary in emotions. However, he works to maintain an uplifting attitude for those around him.

His goal is to be able to lead others, so he sees it as his duty to be an inspiration to those who follow or respect him.

The Start of Things
Halinine was born to Sproodle Springvalve and Hini Tinywatch in the city of Gnomeregan. Hini and Sproodle were both magi to an extent, so it wasn’t difficult for Halinine’s magical capabilities to soon surface into light. While he wasn’t the prodigy some magicians would hope their children to be, he was certainly bright enough to grasp the notion of magic from his parents. He was still a bit young for magical education, so it was put off for a time in favor of personal tutoring in the greatest profession among Gnomes: Engineering.

The first thing Halinine was exposed to in particular was Sproodle’s old invention of a valve that worked with a set of springs operating under air pressure. The thing was actually used in bellows to allow springs to operate the device, using air to push out the springs, and removing the pressure to allow the bellows to contract.

Halinine was incredibly interested in the device. After Sproodle’s details on how his invention worked and how it was used, Halinine found himself wanting to do exactly what his father did, which was to build and invent. Despite his young age, he often tried to draw up “schematics” for his ideas, though he could never clearly think out the engineering to go into the process.

As Halinine grew up with the knowledge being taught by his parents, Hini soon came to suggest, if reluctantly, sending her son to Dalaran at his age of nine. Sproodle wondered for a moment if it would be more ideal to teach Halinine at his home still, but the latter agreed to stay in Dalaran to be taught in magic for a time.

At some point, Halinine was accepted as an apprentice to Archmage Kane Harris of Dalaran. He was found to be exceptional in Abjuration and Evocation more than anything else, and adequate in Conjuration, but everything else proved to be less than suited for his abilities.

When the Second War began to loom, Halinine was already worried about Stormwind’s fall due to its relatively close distance to Gnomeregan. His Archmage master helped send a notification to his parents back in Gnomeregan to be sure that they were safe, and Halinine was happy when he got a reply, though not so much when it turned out that they wanted him to return to Gnomeregan again, once news got out of the Orcish Horde coming for northern Lordaeron.

While Halinine would’ve loved the chance to see his parents back in Gnomeregan again, but he wondered as to whether or not he should focus on his magical studies. His Archmage teacher suggested that he return to Hini and Sproodle. Even if it meant putting a halt to his magical education, it would be better for Halinine to be with his family and to continue learning, rather than be a somewhat inexperienced mage in what was to be the Second War.

Before Halinine was to leave, Kane observed his apprentice’s work and studies and suggested that Halinine should be considered a full mage. The topic was questionable, but it was ultimately decided that Halinine could be considered a mage in his own right.

Having emerged from apprenticeship, Halinine eagerly returned home to Gnomeregan. He was welcomed home by friends and family alike, and as the Second War came to close, and Stormwind underwent construction, Halinine soon took to his education in engineering and went to the Gnomeregan Institute of Tinkering. He graduated in 613 K.C. as a certified engineer. His parents intended to throw a celebration for his graduation before things got out of hand.

Fall of Gnomeregan
It had been revealed that Gnomeregan was under attack by troggs, a savage and primitive race of cave dwelling creatures. When troggs attacked Halinine and his family, all three of them used the magical abilities they had to fight back. However, the overwhelming number of troggs led Sproodle to proclaim that he would lead the troggs elsewhere to a more ideal location and freeze them all alive.

Hini and Halinine fled from Gnomeregan, and they were both fortunate to be one of the few Gnomes to escape the city before the sudden eruption of radiation that killed so many civilians. Hini and Halinine both mourned the fact that Sproodle was still in Gnomeregan, and either fell to the troggs or was suffering from the radiation.

Shortly after the fall of Gnomeregan, matters worsened when Halinine received a notice from “Theramore”. According to the letter provided to him, a friend of Kane Harris had remembered Halinine as Harris’ favorite apprentice, and sent a letter reporting the latter’s demise. Apparently, Kane had died in Dalaran when the Scourge invaded the city, shortly before the city was crushed by the magic of a large demon.

Halinine was depressed by the thought of losing his old teacher and his father in one swoop. Hini made an effort to cheer her son up, but little brought the Gnome out of his state. However, he was reminded of the fact that Sproodle was not confirmed to be deceased, and it was quite possible that he was simply inside Gnomeregan, affected by the radiation. Renewed by this, he and Hini both turned to their knowledge of engineering to develop means to retake Gnomeregan and, hopefully, find Sproodle.

Operation: Gnomeregan
Years passed as Halinine tried to help the cause of Gnomeregan. From gathering materials for the Alliance’s war efforts against the Horde to building machinery, he contributed everything he could, but he didn’t make much of a name for himself. However, as those mentioned years passed, the time soon came for the Gnomes to retake their city.

Halinine was one of the first to jump up at the chance to take back his home, and so were a great number of his people. His mother, Hini, was already at work helping with the engineers and the other magi. Inspired by Hini’s diligent work, Halinine offered his own assistance in the labor as an engineer.

Halinine’s tasks mainly revolved around construction. He built a number of sentry bots, some weaponry, and even helped build gyrocopters. However, when the time came to assault Gnomeregan, Halinine had to stay back in order to help cover what was taken back by the Operation.

In the end, the Operation was mostly successful and New Tinkertown was founded as a result. Hini made her home in New Tinkertown as she joined S.A.F.E. and Halinine returned to the original Tinkertown to continue his work.

Inventions
Halinine isn’t the most well known when it comes down to inventions, but he did create his unique Mechastaff, which earned him his current surname. He doesn’t carry it around in public, but when he’s working on engineering or going into battle, for whatever reason, one will see him with it.