House of Dawnstrike

The House of Dawnstrike is one of the Great Houses of Quel’Thalas, the most prestigious and prominent families of the Elves. The Dawnstrikes are an ancient line, capable of tracing descent from before the Founding, and have counted amongst its members some of the finest Magisters and Farstriders in Elven history. Though once very large and wealthy, the Dawnstrikes have since fallen into hard times owing to the Scourge invasion and the subsequent division of Quel’dorei and Sin’dorei. Most of the survivors now call themselves Blood Elves, and have come together in an effort to consolidate what remains and rebuild the strength of their house under the new regime in Silvermoon.

Their sigil is a golden sun behind a white phoenix on a field of blue impaled by a blade of silver, while their words are “By wise counsel, make thy war” - a proverb that reminds its members that while strength wins battles, it is intellect and wisdom that wins wars; if their house is to survive and prosper, it will be through careful consideration and deliberation.

The Founding
The Dawnstrikes trace their line to Corellon Moonstrike, a Highborne mage that served at the court of Queen Azshara. Though a great mage of prodigious skill, Corellon’s true strength lay in his keen mind, capable of playing the political game with a deft hand. He was atypical in that while most Highborne chose to isolate themselves from the realm at large, Corellon took an active hand in the administration of the empire and concerned himself first and foremost with its preservation. Thus, when the true scope of the Legion’s mission became apparent, Corellon aligned himself with Dath’remar Sunstrider and made war against Azshara and the Legion. According to legend, when Corellon witnessed the death and destruction Sargeras brought to his beloved realm, he made a pact with the dark gods and sold his soul for the power to fight the Legion and save the empire, and as a result cursing himself and all of his blood. Whatever the truth, Corellon served with distinction in the War of the Ancients, his tactical and magical prowess proving a great boon to the defenders of Azeroth.

In the wake of the Sundering Corellon found himself in a dilemma. The destruction of the empire had left the Elves in disarray, and moreover they were divided amongst their opinions concerning the continued use of arcane magic. Having witnessed the Legion’s strength he opted to join those advocating its continued use, believing that it was Azeroth’s best chance of withstanding another invasion - and when that viewpoint lead to the exile of the Highborne from Kalimdor, Corellon willingly followed in the hope that under Dath’remar the Highborne might cultivate a second empire that would not repeat Azshara’s mistakes and act as a bulwark against the Legion, should it ever return. He changed his family name to Dawnstrike, symbolising the hope that after the dark night of the War of the Ancients and the Sundering he and his family would help lead the way to a new dawn.

Corellon and his family ventured across Azeroth for many years at the side of Dath’remar, enduring many hardships along the way. After many trials and an aborted settlement in the Tirisfal Glades, the Highborne - now Quel’dorei - settled in the lands that would become Quel’Thalas. Corellon and his family were given an expansive tract of land in western Quel’Thalas, where they raised the palatial fortress of Dawn’s Reach on an island off the coast to serve as their seat of power. Corellon did not live long after the Founding - after a few centuries he handed over the title of Patriarch of his house to his eldest son, Aldaron Dawnstrike, before he died peacefully in his sleep.

Lords of Dawn’s Reach
Over the next few millennia, the Dawnstrikes established themselves as one of the preeminent families of the realm, contributing no small amount of aid to the crown to help combat the chronic threat posed by the Amani trolls. They married into many of the other Houses to secure political alliances, Aldaron himself managing to wed Elena Sunstrider, the youngest daughter of Dath’remar. Owing to the need to stay close to the seat of Aldaron oversaw the construction of a palatial estate within Silvermoon where he and his immediate family would dwell, with the remainder of the House continuing to take residence in Dawn’s Reach. It was during this period that the Dawnstrikes gave rise to another of Quel’Thalas’ noble families; Gildor Dawnstrike, Aldaron’s younger brother, had a bastard child by his mistress Andriel Riversong whom he later married after divorcing his first wife Arielle Sunfury. Though Gildor was forced to relinquish his claim to House Dawnstrike’s property, his son Lorenath was ennobled and given a minor estate of his own in southern Quel’Thalas - thus, the house of Brightspear was founded.

Aldaron eventually passed his mantle to his eldest son, Caledor. While possessed of a keen mind like most of his family, Caledor lacked the necessary temper and patience to be an able statesman; something which posed a liability given the Great Houses’ incessant jockeying for power and prestige. While his younger brother Cirion might have made for a more suitable Patriarch, Cirion opted to take the Ranger-Lord Saeros Brightblade as his husband; for dynastic reasons, Aldaron chose Caledor who already had a wife and son. Nonetheless, Cirion remained invaluable to the House; his skill in statecraft dovetailed with Caledor’s powerful public personality, enhancing the Dawnstrikes’ position as one of the greatest Houses.

The Troll Wars
The name Dawnstrike achieved its greatest prestige during the Troll Wars, during which Quel’Thalas was greatly threatened by a resurgent Amani presence. By this time the mantle of Patriarch had passed to Caledor’s eldest son Andros Dawnstrike, a warmage of incredible skill and an even more able general. Andros opted to marshal the Elves of Dawn’s Reach to the defense of the realm, conscripting all able bodied males and females to the war effort. Those who could fight with spell and sword were put to the training yard and drilled, those who could not put their crafts to use building artillery, ships, and supplying his forces. Together with his siblings the Ranger-Lady Callista and the Dawn Priest Daeron, Andros led his Elves in a brutal campaign of reprisal against the trolls, helping to break the Siege of Silvermoon and scouring any Troll settlement he came across. Later, Andros was one of those lords who led his Elves in the final assault against Zul’Aman, crushing the Amani so utterly that it would take them centuries to recover. For his service, he became known as Andros the Slayer, and House Dawnstrike achieved great renown.

Behind the scenes, however, House Dawnstrike was in somewhat dire financial straits. Having depleted his family’s coffers and severely diminished his lands’ productive capacities, Andros was forced to spend most of his later years trying to rebuild the Dawnstrike finances. Most of the their lands were sold, limiting their sovereignty to Dawn’s Reach and the immediate hinterlands around it - a ploy which, in combination with several highly lucrative marriages through Callista’s three daughters, managed to stabilize the family’s income. Still, the once fabulously wealthy Dawnstrikes would remain diminished; and as their prestige became increasingly historical their political power began to decline also.

The Three Wars and the Scourge
Andros eventually died, passing the mantle to his eldest son Menethus Dawnstrike. An honorable and compassionate individual, Menethus was disenchanted by the intrigue of the royal court in Silvermoon and chose instead to focus on his profession, leaving the politicking to his younger brother Eriol Dawnstrike. As time passed, Eriol took over an increasing proportion of Menethus’ duties until he was Patriarch in all but name - his goal being to restore the Dawnstrikes to the privileged and powerful position they had once enjoyed. Eriol pursued this end ruthlessly; he pressed his brother into marriage with Elandra Sunstriker, one of the most eligible heiresses in Quel’Thalas, while he manipulated his own way to gain the hand of Amara Val’cari, a daughter of one of the greatest Houses of the day.

Eriol finally gained the title of Patriarch when Elandra, a Magistrix of some renown, was killed in a horrendous accident while conducting research. Menethus was permanently maimed trying to rescue her and, when that failed, preventing the accident from claiming more lives. Though he survived, he opted to retire from both the Magisterium and from governing his House, giving the mantle of Patriarch to Eriol instead - with the assurance that Menethus’ eldest son, Laeran Dawnstrike, would be his heir.

The new Patriarch’s penchant for manipulation was well known, and now that he was the head of House Dawnstrike Eriol gave no quarter in accomplishing his quest to restore his family to the highest echelons of Thalassian government; he manipulated the Magisterium into granting Menethus an exorbitant severance package and an even more exorbitant penchant as restitution for the accident, and he cowed their sister Alora into divorcing her husband to secure a more advantageous match with House Val’cari. This relentless pursuit of power drew him into conflict with Menethus, as he tried to push Menethus’ children Laeran, Lynore, and Erenion into politically lucrative positions and marriages while Menethus insisted his children should make their own choices. After a particularly heated argument over Laeran’s betrothal to the minor aristocrat Arella Riverwind, Eriol attempted to seize the family’s Silvermoon estate and exile Menethus to Dawn’s Reach - something which would have been successful had it not been for the intervention of House Sunstriker, who insisted that their blood relatives in Laeran and Lynore should remain in the city. This dispute caused a split within the House; Eriol eventually opted to build up an independent center of power, overseeing the construction of Dawnstrike Spire in central Eversong and drawing those members of the family that supported him there.

In this way, the seeds of tragedy were sown. When the Scourge invaded the Dawnstrike Spire lay directly in their path - it was razed to ashes, and all within were slaughtered. Though Eriol survived (as did his son Elandir, who was in Dalaran at the time) his wife and most of House Dawnstrike were slain. Those few that survived were mostly Menethus’ supporters in Dawn’s Reach, who managed to resist the initial invasion and weather the chaotic period that followed.

Present Day
With their numbers greatly diminished, House Dawnstrike suffered another blow - their rightful heir, Laeran Dawnstrike, chose to refuse to partake of fel magic and in so doing was exiled from Quel’Thalas. Menethus’ other son, Erenion, was nowhere to be found and presumed dead. Eriol and his two sons had followed Prince Kael’thas Sunstrider to Dalaran and then into Outland. In this power vacuum the next heir and leader of the house was unclear, and the Dawnstrikes could have collapsed into an anarchic state as did many of the surviving houses. Fortunately the elderly Magistrix Elleane Dawnstrike, cousin to Menethus and Eriol, opted to take the title of Matriarch Pro Tempore - acknowledging that the true heir was still alive and could return at any time. Elleane’s cunning and powerful personality has enabled her to bring order out of chaos, to structure the surviving members and ensure the Dawnstrike’s place in the new Sin’dorei government.