Annia Lionstead

Theme Music (Composed by Elizabeth Connwell, aka Serana Dawnsinger)
Annia's Battle Theme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plx6nLuVNbc&t=125s&index=6&list=PLjNfyE2Ngkqk2T8M_239noVV0uGrITtdO

Annia + Serana Couple theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKlP5IKKsSA&list=PLjNfyE2Ngkqk2T8M_239noVV0uGrITtdO&index=1

Summery
Annia Lionstead was born in Stratholme thirty years prior to the Blood War. She has been through many trials throughout her life thus far, having been a victim to the Scourge rise in Stratholme and losing her mother in the culling. She found herself in the Scarlet Crusade and then recruited into the Alliance later on by her aunt Cathrine, slowly through all her training she came to become an adept with the holy light, a true paladin utilizing the Scarlet method. Currently she has risen to the rank of highlord through her years of military service, now leading her own order dedicated to the memory of Berwyn Lightstrider and those who served in the Second War to preserve the Alliance kingdoms against the Horde.

Physical Description
Annia is clad within armor forged of steel and bone. On the first layer is primordial saronite, mined from the Icecrown glacier and fitted to accommodate a living wearer. It is adorned with patterns of bones and skeletal figures, mostly to serve as a warning to the damned who would dare oppose her and her loved ones. Forged by Katsa, this armor has grown on Annia quite swiftly, and is now her official armaments. The metal boots covering her feet are high, ending with two glowing skulls stretched over her greaves. Her legplates are layered, with chains atop them to both hold forsaken in decoration purposes after a battle. Each layer builds up to more bulk as one would trail their eyes up the paladin, protecting her hips, thighs and groin but leaving her legs with enough freedom to move with only slight encumbrance. At the top of the layers are crimson-radiating markings on each side, to add to both color coordination and outlet for her magic.

By the time one would reach the top of her leg guards, they would notice the tabard of the Crimson Legion itself. The clothing being well kept, even over the years. Annia wore it with pride from the time she spent in the Scarlet Bastion serving under the Grand Crusader along with her fellow Legionares. It was trimmed with a vibrant gold and followed by the inner layers of deep red, leading up to the typical flame but much larger than that of the rank and file crusader. The white painted around its shape somewhat jaggedly.

When the eyes were on the belt, looking to the side they would see a black libram. On its cover is inscripted the scarlet Lordaeron 'L' which had become so widely recognized by both the living and damned of the fallen human nation. It was a libram of fervor, a very embodiment to Annia's passion for her goal against the Scourge, Forsaken and any else who would stand in the way of those she cares about. The libram too was held by chains off her clasp.

The waist ornament was a light shade of brown with black metallic trimming and reinforcement. When inspecting her gauntlets the first thing noticed would have to be the prominent stare of the two skulls. Each once were ghouls, the same ghouls that had killed her aunt, Thaela Lionstead. They were outlined with the very bony fingers, cut in to fit the dark leather and plate of the glove perfectly. On her arms was armor of the same pattern, reinforced with copper and under the trimming, truesilver chainmail. On her biceps was more heavy guards, to protect her sword-wielding muscle.

When one looks to her shoulders, they are resting gently near her face, held in by buckles to the armor. It is quite blatant the right shoulderplate had been through quite some damage, with a deep dent on a lower part of it. The left one on the other hand was in almost pristine conditions, bearing only a few scratches from a few damn geists that had gotten too close. The skulls forged within them, were coated with saronite, akin to the other bones across the armor. However, these ones were much larger, belonging to two wretched abomonations that played a hand in the slaughter of Annia and Katsa's mother. Katsa had saved them when she went to Stratholme seeking vengeance and forged them into the armor specifically as a reminder of why they fight the undead. The eyes glow brightly, infused with Annia's magic. Any undead would know to fear the woman while she stood decorated in such trophies against their species.

At her face, the onlooker would find a woman of elegant beauty. Despite all that had happened, all that she went through Annia always maintained the beautiful person she was. Maintaining her appearance and keeping a good hygiene reminded her of the simpler times, when one could walk in a forest without a weapon and not have to fear imminent death. It reminded her of her time as a training knight of the silver hand, and most importantly that reminder gave her comfort in the hellhole that had became of Lordaeron. Her mane of black hair was neatly combed, it was shiny and healthy complimenting her gentle facial features. Around her eyes is a subtle line of black to suit her hair, her lips are a full red, enhanced by her lipstick. She has a button nose and a heart shaped face. Her irises are golden, though usually gentle sometimes when she conduits the light they turn into a more radiant shade, filling in her orbs with a glorious golden blaze and illuminating her irises to an ethereal white. Her eyebrows are fine and slightly curved, showing great expression whenever she speaks. On her right ear are two piercings, one in the lobe and the other at the tip. This is to show that she has long since grown passed the innocent girl she once was, she was a woman and a strong one at that now. Someone who would make her stoic, strict paladin father proud. Annia was proud of herself as well.

Her blade was a peculiar one to put it lightly. Imbued with crimson-light magic, it glowed a strong crimson in her hands. It started with a carved bone-hilt all the way down to dark metal saronite which possessed a border from the hilt to the blade itself. The metalic blade began with saronite coated skulls, all expressing different emotions due to the method of which Annia had carved them. The first ones expressing fear, then afterwards the others rage. The embers in their eyes looked as if they peered into your very soul... it was disturbing at best. By the end of the skull pattern, it had returned back to the mortified state of expression across the skeletal heads. Finally ending with a spiked, jagged metal finish and a semi-circle, with spikes pointing forward. From the magic infused with the blade that led downward and made the greatsword seep with crimson-light was a skull floating just above the semi-circle base of which it was originally situated. The skull holds the very soul of Berwyn Lightstrider, a personal hero of Annia's father, Serana and eventually even her. The eyes have red which burns off like a never-ending flame. Perhaps it was Berwyn's soul crying out to slay more Horde... or crying out for the fact he could not do more for the Alliance. That much was impossible to tell.

Annia is a woman with quite noticeable curves, perhaps even a paragon of what other human women would strive to be. Though despite her flawless image, beneath her armor are the occasional imperfections on her skin. She is not a woman of vanity and so, she is not ashamed of her wounds. Instead seeing them as a symbol of the battles that she had not only participated in, but survived. Around her belly and torso were mostly faded scars from previous clawing that had managed to bypass her armor before she got her current attire. Almost impossible to notice unless one went out of their way to see it. On the back on her neck is another scar, from a skeleton that had managed to flank her during her days within the Scarlet Enclave. Every time Serana Dawnsinger had found a new wound, she generally tended to panic but Annia always assured her. On her upper right arm Annia has a scarlet rune burnt into her flesh, it is magically imbued with both void and light. When she is wielding the holy light, the rune glows purple to empower her light and aid in creating the crimson light which her order wields. When she is casting the void, the rune glows golden to protect her from the whispering madness of the void. The rune is in the shape of the holy church emblem, bearing the sanctimonious sigil. Annia bears it with pride, it poises her within the idea that she is on a task that is both spiritual and necessary.

She speaks with gestures that generally tend to signal her emotion. She speaks far more open when she is around those she trusts, but generally tends to close off her body around those she either disdains or distrusts. She walks as if she were a giant, feet stomping against the floor and sometimes vibrating the earth below her when wearing her saronite armor. Her voice is commanding and authoritative always, usually she speaks louder than most others. Her tone can range from lovingly sweet and gentle to overly harsh depending on what conversation she is having and just who she is speaking to.

Personality Traits
Annia can seem like quite the difficult person to have good relations with, however should you give her respect she shall offer it in turn. Though, if you are to insult her, her loved ones (Especially Serana and Katsa!) or the Scarlet Crusade as an order she will not hesitate hostilities. Despite all this deep down to those she cares about she is a kind hearted woman who has her people's best interests in mind, especially her beloved fiance. Regardless of all her years within the Alliance, her heavy-leaning scarlet beliefs regarding how Lordaeron should be dealt with makes her feel like an outsider within the mostly peace-vying Alliance. Her hatred towards the undead is indisputable and many have been captured by her and then brought in for interrogation during her scarlet days.Some of that mentality remains to this day that the undead should suffer. However her undead sister Katsa and a few other of the Alliance or Scarlet Onslaught alligned Death Knights have made her slightly more lineant towards some of the unliving, but those she tolerates are few and far between.

Childhood-Teenagehood
Annia was born in Stratholme nineteen years before Arthas commited the culling of the great city. She was a peculiar birth, being considered a male at first with a twin sister, though that was proven wrong by the time she was four years old. Annia's childhood was a tough one because she trained to become a soldier like her father, and later down the line a paladin. Her father, Veric trained her day in and day out, constantly trialing her in how strong she had gotten and teaching her new tactics every time she failed. The two would pretend fight in a field for hours on end, she was forced to walk back home herself to teach her the grueling travel that warfare has to offer. The bruises from the rough training were sometimes many but it was Annia's fanatical determination to become a true soldier of the light. When she was seventeen she had received a deep cut from falling on an extremely sharp object, the pain drove her into an angered state and through that she managed to channel the light for the first time, closing her wound. This light was different, however. It was a crimson red. Annia felt immortal walking back home, she had a smirk on her face and she was simply ready to continue her day as if nothing had happened.

On her ninteenth birthday her father had grown proud of his daughter's capabilities and hence decided it was time for a special gift. With his own hands he had forged the blade the day after he had started training Annia, waiting for the day she was worthy. The blade was one made for more practicality than beauty, and yet beauty it bore. A yellow gem was forged into the pummel, an azure symbol of Lordaeron on the blade and it was so well polished it could strike the heart of an orc easily should it get the chance. When Annia received it the smile on her face didn't seem to go away for hours, days even, and the feeling of satisfaction she gotten when tearing a training dummy apart was incomparable.

Katsa and Annia were like two peas in a pod during their childhood. They had both shared the same room, only the occasional bickering happened between them and yet even that was snuffed out swiftly. However, the entire family wasn't so close. Katsa and Veric were quite emotionally distant, the two constantly fighting which caused Katsa to favor their mother far more. Annia on the other hand had the same issue with their mother, hence favoring the Lionstead patriarch. Despite some of the voids between them, Annia's care for her family was unmatched and she would do anything in the world to both make them proud and be safe. When a man had decided to bully and intimidate Katsa, Annia was quick to punch him in the jaw, dislocating it in mere seconds. Though the snake had decided to twist the story, making Annia spend a week within a jail cell for her actions. Within the cell the punishment was cruel, not being allowed to eat for a week but what they hadn't accounted for was her crimson magic that had managed to sustain her during that time.

The Culling of Stratholme
By the time the week's sentence was over, rather than being released she heard screaming. She heard fires burning and she smelt rotting flesh.... what was ever happening? Suddenly a Quel'dorei paladin rushed into the prison and kicked the door down, grabbing Annia's hand he escorted her out of the city and all Annia was able to catch a glimpse off was a villager being eaten alive by some sort of abominable creature.

After a long two weeks of travelling by horse and avoiding all of the plague ridden towns, Annia had gotten a good idea of what was happening. This bastard scourge was ravaging her kingdom and yet alone.... she couldn't do anything about it. She was in such a weak state, frantically wondering if her family had made it out alive. The anxiety crept over her like a looming shroud and she started having nightmares, constantly.

Refuge and Joining the Scarlet Crusade
Her aunt Thaela took Annia in, giving her a place on a farm. Thaela's husband had a daughter before meeting, with her Annia had started a friendship with. The young farmer girl had once caught Annia without attire and her primal urges overgrew her, Annia too fancied the girl and the two engaged in a sexual relationship. This had managed to carry on for about a month until the husband of Annia's aunt caught the two together and immediately decided to banish Annia from the farm. Annia didn't object to this but Thaela did, though her words fell upon deaf ears and Annia made her way into homelessness.

Annia had sought shelter from what was going to be the 'Scarlet Monastery' and proceeded with her training in the light among the other paladins who resided there. Eventually Arthas was destined to sweep the plague over Tirisfal and the land was evacuated temporarily, Annia and a few other of her colleges had lived in a hidden cave while the ensuing scourge army wiped out most of the Tirisfal population. However when the chaos was over and the Silver Hand group took claim to the Monastery, Annia and the other Paladins went back to their former home and were among those indoctrinated into the 'Scarlet Crusade'. She eventually met Freddy Tygar. Freddy took Annia under his wing, replacing her father as her primary consultant for her training.

The Summertide Assaults
When the Summertide Assaults crashed over the Monastery, it was the first true test of Annia and all of the Scarlet Crusade's might. With blood curling battle cries and an unbridled sea of fanatical blades the war was brutal on both sides. The Scarlet Crusade lost many during the conflicts, including the High Abbott of the Monastery itself, but once they had discovered Diodor the Damned's plan they gained a massive advantage and pushed the Scourge back. Eventually it climaxed with the High Wizard of the crusade entering eternal conflict with the necromancer, Freddy for his efforts became a Battlemaster of the crusade while Annia was recognized as a true paladin and selected to become a Crimson Legionare.

Crimson Legion
After becoming a selected member of the Crimson Legion Annia was tasked with far more responsibility within the Scarlet Crusade. She was given a battalion of fellow paladins and the occasional archer or priest, her group was one tasked with slaying the Forsaken and sometimes bringing them back to the Monastery for torture. Annia, seeking to find an outlet for her frustration in not being able to find her family decided far more brutal methods against the undead than she was even instructed. Over time she became so feared that the Forsaken called her the 'Red death' or the 'Bearer of the end'. Even her own soldiers started to become uneasy in her presence, sometimes shaking when she looked them directly in the eyes with her fierce and piercing gaze. All of this however, all this rage had started to fade when she heard of her sister being alive and well, Annia personally journeyed to the Scarlet Enclave to greet Katsa. The two embracing each other, tears flowing. Annia spent a week within Katsa's home, the two speaking over all that had happened.

Reuniting with Katsa
All of this however, all this rage had started to fade when she heard of her sister being alive and well, Annia personally journeyed to the Scarlet Enclave to greet Katsa. The two embracing each other, tears flowing. Annia spent a week within Katsa's home, the two speaking over all that had happened. Annia learnt of her mother's death and although in sorrow, she shoved her feelings down and used it to fuel her rage against the undead more, as the crusade had taught her to do.

A New Task
After her week's leave from Scarlet military service, she had been called by her aunt Cathrine Lionstead to come to the Alliance kingdom of Stormwind. Annia agreed, and with the blessing of her superiors she set out to Stormwind to both train and indoctrinate more recruits from the Alliance into the Scarlet Crusade along Brother Crowley. Her old battalion were placed back into the Scarlet Monastery to serve as guards rather than field soldiers, something that many of them were glad about. Annia remained in Stormwind for quite some time and was rather impressed with how the kingdom of Stormwind was fairing after all that happened to them, she had hoped Lordaeron would be reborn like Stormwind had been. Eventually she gained news of Freddy dissaperaing within Silverpine while trying to look for Ranger-Captain Fellari Swiftarrow. For months she searched for Freddy but it was no use, hurt greatly this reminded her all too much of her missing father. But in the end, she had come to accept it and reluctantly she left Silverpine, every night she would pray to the light for Freddy to return.

Naxxaramas
Annia and her fresh recruits joined the Alliance efforts in securing the plaguewood so that the Argent Dawn could storm into Naxxaramas. She always seemed suspicious about aiding the Argent Dawn, but to slay the bastards who destroyed Stratholme she was willing to do almost anything. However after Naxxaramas was defeated and Darion retrieved the ashbringer, her suspcions turned into hatred once Darion used the ashbringer to slay his brother and Annia's former commander, Renult Mograine. She personally traveled to Light's Hope to demand justice for the Mograine son, but instead was met with a battle of undead at the chapel. She resolved that justice could wait and attacked the undead, up until they were overwhelmed with the numbers. After a few casualties she saw the waves of light crashing down and knew it a victory, to save the lives of her soldiers she retreated back to Tyr's Hand to inform the scarlets of what they had seen. Darion, now dead from his selfless sacrifice to save his father was resurrected into the Scourge's fold. Justice had been met, but at the cost of the scourge getting a new commander. After all of this, Annia was quite interested in the Ashbringer and what it could mean if recovered against the undead once more. Though she would never pick up the blade, she admired its strength greatly.

Vengeance Upon the Legion
When Bal'nazzar was revealed to have been the true leader of the crusade under the guise of Saiden Dathrohan, Annia swore vengeance upon the Legion for the manipulation and facade they had done to her brothers and sisters. Though none of this ever drove her as far to question the Scarlet Crusade's goals and intentions, she simply sought the Legion's death almost as much as the Scourge's. Thus, when the Dark Portal had been re opened and word spread about the Legion being beyond the great gateway, Annia and a few of her best trained paladins volunteered to help the Alliance in securing the Outlands and battling back the Legion. On her journeys she met a Kaldorei hunter who called himself 'Lonewolf'. She offered the man a place within the Scarlet Crusade after participating in many battles with him against the Legion, though he decided that he would think on it instead of outright joining. Annia fought with honor among the Alliance, even impressing the members of the blue faction, some even deciding to join the crusade, though others still thought of Annia with skepticism for her scarlet aligning. By the time she returned home, the Scarlet Crusade promoted her to Knight Captain for her efforts. She made her way back to Stormwind and planned to venture back to Tyr's Hand. Though before she could depart, news of a catastrophic failure on the crusade's part had her on a different mission.

Journey to Northrend
Archurus, the great necropolis flew over the massive scarlet bastion that was the enclave, churning out endless Legions of death knights. Over many decisive victories of the Scourge and their brilliant commanders, the Scarlet Crusade was given two choices. Stand and most likely die due to the division of their ranks, or journey to Northrend. Brigitte Abbendis chose the latter and with her soldiers became the Scarlet Onslaught, to which Annia thought was cowardly and shameful to those left behind in Tyr's hand. Her opinion was later reinforced by the fact that Katsa her sister had fallen in the conflict and was raised as a death knight. This time she didn't feel rage at her sister's death, she felt remorse for the soldiers lost there, she felt regret that she wasn't there for her sister and for a long time blamed herself, along with the Scarlet Onslaught. When the Scourgewar started, she joined the Alliance officially and instead of recruiting for the Crusade or the Onslaught, she went to Northrend to recruit crusaders into the Alliance.

Assisting the Scarlet Renegades
After the Scourgewar ended Annia decided to assist the Scarlet Renegades in taking the Monastery in the name of the Alliance. There she met with Freddy, who also had the same mindset, he was disgruntled with the Scarlet Crusade deciding to war with the Alliance. The two fought as one once more, like a father and his daughter against their own kind, convincing as many Scarlets as they could to come to the Alliance but killing the rest. After the bloody conflict and Joseph's office as the new leader of the Monastery, Annia decided to alter her father's blade that she had been wielding. Using her crimson magic she created something new, decorated with the skulls of Forsaken she had slain over the years. The blade called conviction, its power seeping with endless magic and crimson light.

Currently
Once her time in the Alliance-controlled Monastery was up she ventured back to Stormwind and started to fight in more Alliance conflicts, soon growing more and more loyal to her new faction. Though it angered her to see Sally Whitemane resurrect the Alliance-hating Scarlets and retake the Monastery, she was more or less focused solely on slaying the Horde. She thought to herself that her mission against the Horde was more important, but really she didn't want to go through the emotional damage of slaying her colleges once again. Though at first she fought the Horde only because the Alliance were their sole enemies, seeing the Horde and learning of what they did in the Second War along with what they were doing now caused her to make them her prime enemy with the Scourge gone and the Lich King 'dead'. She fought in the push to conquer Andorhal, observing that the Forsaken were practically the new Scourge. She fought in the Panderia war, seeing the brutality of the orcs and the traitor Sin'dorei. And now, she fights in the Blood War, determined not only to end the Forsaken but also to end the Horde as a whole. After the defeat the Alliance had at Lordaeron not only has it strengthened her resolve against the Horde, but it has reminded her that the Alliance is just as determined as the Scarlet Crusade to reconquer the city. By this point she has faith in the Wyrnn dynasty, and believes that Lordaeron will be theirs once more, just with the cost of more blood.

She too has founded an order with her fiance, Serana Dawnsinger based on the fallen legacy of a Stromric paladin who was fanatical against the Horde. The Order of Dawnshire, pulling in all the soldiers who would follow her and even Freddy himself. Currently she sets her eyes upon Dawn's Peak, hoping to reconquer it as a staging ground in Arathor for the Alliance. One day, she hopes that they can reclaim Lordaeron from the blight that had befell upon it.