Malal "Malaise" Devendon

Malaise is a "first generation" Forsaken, and a dangerous one at that. While many would see to drive and inspire her fellow Forsaken to grow in personal power through her actions and spreading of the Cult of Forgotten Shadow's ways, Malal takes on a much more "extremist" approach to showing the world the power of the Cult: even to the point that some may even consider her an enemy of the Forsaken. Much like her namesake, she's most well known for the use of sicknesses--both the mind-based ones inflicted by the Shadow, as well as the poisons which coat daggers and other weapons--to harm her enemies.

=Description= &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;

Through religious use of preservation techniques, consuming the fresh flesh of her enemies, or perhaps through more obscure and dubious means...Malaise normally does not carry much of a decayed state. There are two areas of note, however: first the entirety of her left hand has been stripped of flesh and muscle; leaving only bone. It has been charred, as if burned by fire.

The second would be the skinless state of her lower jaw and nose, showing bone, sharpened teeth, and cartilage. For some reason--whether voluntarily keeping these areas untouched or not--this damage is not repaired fully by healing, or she simply hasn't visited the flesh-crafters for them yet.

High cheekbones, the shape of her ghostlit eyes, and the general lithe body shape indicate one whom has descended from the desert lands of southern Kalimdor.

Like many of her kind, each of her fingertips is sharpened to razor points as to easily rend the flesh from her enemies. Each nail is shaped somewhat differently, as though they may be able to work as a sub-par set of lockpicks as well as "knives" to cut the steaks of her meals.

Armor
Malaise wears a cloak which covers her body, held together in the front with a brooch that depicts the Cult of Forgotten Shadow's symbol upon it. This brooch acts as a tool as well; a few weapons have been built into it, and the clasp itself ends in a sharp point.

Under the concealing cloak, the woman is fond of wearing a mixture of cloth and leather; aerodynamic and light robes that cling close to the body and allow for deft, quiet, and precise movements.

There are also many vials and tools upon the plethora of belts on her body, including a field surgical kit and basic supplies to tend to injured undead. They are meticulously well kept and sterilized (as best as they can be), so that they may be used on the living.

Last--but not least--the woman wears a fel-steel necklace under her cloak, yet outside of her robes. A shadow-infused gem--radiating a dark, spiritual energy--dangles from the end of it.

Arms
Malaise rarely leaves "home"--or, rather, the closest thing to home--without a plethora of quiet-and-quick weapons such as daggers, tools for surviving the wilderness, and many different poisons and potions.

Perhaps the weapon she holds most dear to her is the sniper rifle that is often holstered in a scabbard across her shoulder. The rifle has even lovingly been named "Worgenswoe" : more than likely a nod to her hobby of hunting the "beasts". =History= &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;

==== Where it all began: ==== If the records are correct, the woman's parents were Lordaeronians born-and-true; traveling historians, archaeologists, or something similar who had worked on gathering information for the Kingdom to house in it's various schools and museums.

While on more dangerous trips, her parents--funded by the government for turning in contributions--would allow Malal to not just have room and board at the nearby schooling facilities while they were gone, but teach her in the ways of the arcane. Malal showed the most aptitude for the spells based in the illusion school of magic.

==== Freshly (Un)Dead: ==== Whether Malal had done as her parents had and become an archaeologist, or continue her studies at the universities.... her personal journals have her finding the time to visit her parents in Andorhal, regardless.

Of course, the one time she wanted to visit them, the Scourge did as well. Malal soon found herself waking up again, when she shouldn' t have woken up again at all.

Battered and broken and without remembering how she had become in such a state, Malal found it hard to keep one incessant voice from resounding in her head: The Lich King's. The memories from that time are hazy; perhaps she figured the memories would have been best left forgotten. "All that is important," she often says in regards to these times, "...is that I had the will to break free from that iced grasp."

==== Cultist (of the Forgotten Shadow): ==== Malal was eager to aid her new "brothers-and-sisters in bile" to claim their lands, but--having no memory of her life--she did not know where her skills lay. She was lost and feeling alone. The Cult of Forgotten Shadow were quick and hospitable enough to ease her worries and cares, while still retaining their ambition and ruthless qualities that Malal views so highly in the Forsaken even to this day. They urged her that this was a new life and a chance to make herself better than what she had been; to not care about her life and focus on the now. It was in agreement, that with a new life should come a new name. So she bore the name "Malaise"--not knowing how closely this resembled her name in life--and almost instantaneously routed her efforts to becoming a strong-minded woman of faith like the ones whom had inspired her to continue the fight of existing.

The Cult had found that Malal not only had unwavering faith and--perhaps as a nod to the intellectual nature she bore in life--the ability to learn things quickly. She also had a knack for being quiet; perhaps it had been unconsciously retained from life? The upper echelons of the branch she had worked for--a particularly ruthless one, who had zero tolerance for the "weakness" portrayed by acts of kindness without something from the other party being given in return--knew that once her religious training was over, she was going to be trained for something more: becoming a Lightslayer. The concept of Lightslayers was still in it's infant stages, but it had been far enough along that they had become less like knights; more like assassins and relic hunters.

Malaise shined in her studies, albeit she lacked a little in actual combat. While faithful and sneaky, it would only get her so far in the long run. Things would not hold up if she was caught in her skulking about in enemy territory or if she had to engage in combat; two things which were inevitable. She was sent to a military branch of the Forsaken named "The Shadarim" to continue training; this time more in the ways of combat.

==== The Shadarim, Cataclysm, and War on Gilneas: ==== Malaise continued her religious studies and was excited about her transfer. The Shadarim were considered another "ruthless" branch of the Forsaken in comparison to their peers with no pity for those who could not hold their own in combat or follow orders; a perfect place for someone such as her whom was used to brutal and rigorous training. When placed there, Malaise's job was to act as the spiritual guidance leader on their journeys and battles, to be the spiritual counselor to their weary and troubled members, and (of course) to act and fight as one of their military. They gave her no latitude or easier work just because of her religious background.

Malaise went on patrols, went through rigorous training regimens, and the like; she found herself working best with daggers, spears, and polearms. Then it culminated in one moment.... the reason they had been training and preparing so hard, was because of the War on Gilneas.

The Forsaken had their losses and victories, but the ending of the war ultimately ended with the ending of "The Shadarim". She found the papers of their disbanding in the mail, and believed their breaking up to be her fault. A few of her comrades had gathered, and one in her congregation gave her a present to commemorate her time and effort in the war: a large Gilnean messenger raven, that had been killed, raised, and altered with the ingenuity and technology that only a Forsaken mind could muster. Funnily enough, the raven was a project commissioned and built by the members of Branch 27-B; the very group she would find herself employed under later in unlife.

=== Call of the Void: === Malal gathered the allies and friends she could find from the Shadarim and those not of the military branch which he had helped guide their first steps in unlife, going on a "pilgrimage" of sorts to the place in which she felt was the greatest bastardization of the Light: the twisted, dark tomb which rest in the shadow of the grave of the most well known Light user in history: Uther Lightbringer. After scouting the place out for several weeks, she noticed no visitors and commissioned the help of others to set up magical wards and traps to keep intruders at bay. In addition to this, she  used her survivalist and scouting skills to create physical traps.

Why was she doing this? The answer was  simple: guilt weighed heavily on Malaise's mind from the breaking up of the military branch that Malaise had belonged to. She had made the mistake that the Cult had tried so hard to teach her: "Not to get close". Little did she know at the time, the sense of "trust"--as much as she could have, at least--and brotherhood with her allies was a show of character and not one of weakness. She had known she could get stronger--both in mind and in body--and set out to test herself in one of the harshest lands: The Void realm. If she could return to it a sane woman, she would have surely learned much to help guide and be an inspiration to her fellow Forsaken. Another branch would not break up "because" of her.

Guillotine stood watch over the tomb for quite some time; as still and vigilant as a gargoyle.

==== Life with the Living, and birth of "The Skulk": ==== A few years later, stories of Malaise began to spring up again. She had presumably continued her Lightslayer work, as human communities started publishing stories of a strange and dangerous figure named "The Skulk". Was this "Skulk" a horrific story character made to keep children from playing outside too late at night? As influential members of the Clergy [of the Holy Light]  were either going missing or coming up dead (as well as the artefacts they were carrying), the answer was probably a safe "no". "The Skulk" had a name, but no face....to those living, at least. The members which had &lt;nowiki&gt; &lt;/nowiki&gt;been slain by her and later raised, would know that their killer was her.

Alongside her various acts of manslaughter, Malaise spread the word and ways of the Forgotten Shadow in locales dangerously close to human territories. She was a brazen little woman. The murders, however, grew somewhat less common as she began to explore and interact with the more living races: particularly those of the Horde. Malaise was fond of keeping an open mind, and surely there were those whom were living, that could teach her something important to carry on to the rest of her people.

Unfortunately, many did not enjoy Malaise's company at the time: she was too fond of trouble making, she gave "untrustworthy" vibes, and it was clear on some interactions that she was feigning responses and emotions that she knew would provide a more positive demeanour in her allies.

There was one race who was more accepting of her than any of the other living races, however, and she found a sort of kindred spirit with them: the Trolls. From the water-loving Hexmaster "Korgano" to the crime boss and information broker known as "Bones", there were rarely any Trolls that she did not get along with on some level. Perhaps it was their tribal ways that she connected with; having been part of one ( at the time, unknowingly) in her past life? They held a great respect for the Shadow &lt;nowiki&gt; &lt;/nowiki&gt;as she did, and often did not use it haphazardly; in the ways and manner that often drove others to insanity.

If anything, Malaise did her best to pick up and apply what she had learned from the Trolls during her short "adventure" away from being around the Forsaken full-time. She grew more understanding for living creatures (animals) and their intelligence because of them as well, and set out to test her knowledge by going to the Un'Goro Crater. There, she tracked and caught a Venomhide Raptor, who's voracious appetite and cast-iron stomach earned him the name "Muncher". Teaching and raising Muncher was quite a task; Malaise did not know how to care for the living, when they needed to be fed, how much sleep they needed, the like....but she enjoyed the challenge. The dinosaur had to have his will completely crushed and reformatted so that it would serve her, and this no doubt appealed to Malaise's sadistic tendencies. Either way, food, water, and these things were those which she did not require in undeath. However, Muncher is a full grown Ravasaur today and is rarely exempt from joining the Lightslayer's outings.

==== The Onyx Rose Order: ==== Whilst conducting her favourite sport of Worgen hunting on Fenris Isle and it's keep, she found the place to be inhabited: and by allies, no less. Death Knights, Forsaken, and other Undead had gathered there. They were nearly in mourning for the loss of one of their most influential members--a Goblin Death Knight simply known as "Red"--whom had been slain by a rather zealous "organization" of Light worshipers just a day or two earlier. Even more strangely, this group of Light users did not associate with the Scarlet Crusade. Malaise just had to look into this looming threat.

Although the new inhabitants of this place had told the Lightslayer that the group of Light users had been exterminated, she would rather be safe than sorry. After getting sanctioned by the Cult [of Forgotten Shadows] to investigate the groups, she found herself under the employ of this strange group of Undead "misfits": the Onyx Rose Order. Even more strangely, was the fact that they were lead (at the time) by a living Sin'dorei Paladin, no less: someone named "Zeri'senna". At first, it was easy to suspect this Zeri'senna was the leader of this group who had killed Red...but, she had to stay her blade; keep the vials of her deadly ichors sealed. In this situation, "Zeri" had not done any harm to the agenda of the Forsaken or the Horde; she served them faithfully that could be found. She also could have potentially led this enemy group of Light wielders.

It was perhaps the greatest test of patience that Malaise had ever faced. After some time, the test was passed: Zeri ended up passing the reigns to a necromancer named Tyrinade, and she ended up retiring; taking a back seat in the Rose's affairs. As far as the organization went, Malaise looked deeply into them and had concluded that there were no traces left that could be rebuilt into an organization again.

It was time to leave the Onyx Rose for now, but she did not leave without learning a few things. Not only to have more patience for the users of the Light who her allies and offered a unique skillset that proved useful against certain enemies, but that having those akin to 'friends' was a strength and not a weakness as she had been believing beforehand.

==== Back in Familiar Lands/If it Ain't Broke, Don't Fix it: ==== Malaise's patience had been worn thin by the (general) sense of un-professionalism and lack of reason that many of the living races tended to exhibit. If she was going to stay sane, she had to join the Forsaken again. After all, she had new knowledge and experiences to teach them. The main question was, "where would she go, exactly?"

Malaise thought about asking her Keeper in the Cult to assign her somewhere, but thought against it. Instead, she went sniffing and investigating herself to find a group in which she felt her presence would benefit the most.

It was not long, until she found the perfect place to settle down for a short while: Branch 27-B of the Royal Apothecary Society. She has settled in well here; finding inconsistencies and flaws within herself--especially regarding social and interaction issues--and has been fixing them. At least, that's what she thought she would do. Malal eventually found out the hard way, that she was not cut out for the close and "family-like" dynamic that this branch of the Royal Apothecary Society had. She had not been "raised" (do you see the pun, there?) with kindness in her black heart: only the ability to mimic it to manpulate others. Will this change in the future? Who knows.

Malal obtained one of the last samples of the late Senior Apothecary Elmerney Fuddler's "ReMemory Potions" from  Grand Apothecary Thaddeus Seenwood, under the pretense that she would do her best to replicate it. The potion--a vaporous, purple substance--was meant to be inhaled and it's purpose was just as it was named for: Granting a Forsaken the ability to walk through their memories and relive them, even the ones from their time alive. It is unknown if she took the potion and was unable to deal with the rush of memories and vanished in her confusion while she sorted through the new mess of understanding her convoluted life, or if she had really intended to join the Society with the aims of finding a way to get her memories back and then leave. Perhaps one may never know.

=== Lingering Shadows: === Gaining the memories of her time alive--thanks to the ReMemory Potion--has not seemed to affect Malaise's day to day activities. It did, perhaps, spur some other changes: Malal decided--after breaking and making so many ties as of recently--it would be best to go back to a place in which she was more accepted; quirks and all: the Onyx Rose. On a trip to the Undercity--shortly before it's fall--it was as if the hand of fate agreed with her: Malal was able to find her boss--the Red Lady, Tyrinade--with relative ease. Since her departure, the Rose had moved to a new location to do it's business. Whether surprisingly or not, Malaise was welcomed back with (relatively) open arms.

Shortly after re-joining the Rose, Malaise and her new friend from the Order, Allen Neffries-- whether by turning in favours or otherwise--had the decay that ravaged their bodies removed in one fell swoop. Malaise would much prefer to wear an illusion of her old and decayed form...either because it allowed her potential enemies to more easily underestimate her strength and physical capabilities, because others were more familiar seeing her in such a way, or mayhap something more sinister....

=Personality= &lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;

Malaise is of the Neutral Evil alignment. The last thing she will do is sacrifice her own happiness, time, and the like for others, unless there is benefit to her. She often pushes the envelope; seeing what she can get away with without getting in trouble. As the concept of emotion tends to grow more and more distant to the older Forsaken, the act of getting away with something is truly one of the few things that still gives her a sense of happiness. This does not mean that she cannot garner some form of "joy" from other things.

Yet, Malaise is not entirely selfish: she vehemently defends both her faith and the Forsaken in general, and will rarely do anything for herself that does not benefit her people as well in some fashion.

Unlike most Lightslayers, Malaise keeps a slightly more open mind when it comes to the users of the Light: If a Light user is an ally...she will of course attempt to convert them to the Shadow, but she understands that their knowledge of the Light could prove beneficial in a variety of ways. Everyone can be used, after all: even if their only use is as cannon fodder. If they are an enemy, "Lighters" are fair game: they will be much more useful (un)dead than alive.

In recent times, Malaise has seemed to be more genuine and invested in things; caring about her allies. Whether or not this is the truth, or if she has simply learned to become a better actress... is not known.

Quirks
(Does your character have any unusual or notable about how they conduct themselves?)

Relationships
Lucy Rose ("Rosie"): The Forsaken often speaks fondly of a woman named "Rosie"; a coworker--and most definitely something more--from her days in the Royal Apothecary Society. Malaise heard of Lucy's passing on a job accident after she had left from serving the Apothecaries full time. As her soul had wanted to leave it's mortal coil, the various attempts by fellow Apothecaries to revitalize her did not bear fruit. While angered at first, the woman soon realized and understood that Lucy was unhappy in unlife and wanted her fate; she could finally rest.

 Hendrik Fultier ("Viper"):  Malaise still keeps ties and contacts within the R.A.S., and "Viper" is one of them. It's not known if he is a love interest, but the warlock definitely seems to have a fondness for her; treating Malaise with more respect and kindness than other individuals he interacts with.

 Requieas:  The Deathstalker, Requieas, is one of the few people that the woman actually calls by name. It is widely known that Requieas was Malal's dance partner at the Tournament of Ages' ballroom reception last year, as friends and not lovers (as they wore yellow roses). Since then, the two have often been seen together, though they appear to act as business partners and colleagues rather than anything more.

Allen Neffries ("Neffy"): A fellow member of the Onyx Rose Order, Malaise and the warlock hit it off well, if only because of their shared enjoyment of annoying their colleagues and causing mischief (all in good fun, of course). The woman speaks well of the man, and the two seem to genuinely enjoy one another's company. In exchange for teaching him shadow magic, he has been instructing her on proper usage of Fel magics.

Companions
Malaise has always been fond of keeping non-sentient companions in her unlife, whether they be undead like herself, or living:

==== "Guillotine": ==== A reward for her service in the Battle for Gilneas, Guillotine is a large raven and marvel of Forsaken technology that the members of the Royal Apothecary Society built for her by one of the members of her "congregation" of sorts. Part of his brain is exposed, his lower jaw and the entirety of the right side of his ribs have been replaced with metal. Amoung it's feathers and wings--particularly the primary and alular feathers--they have been replaced with long, thin blades and other weapons; perfect for decapitating a head during flight.

There are also attachments made for plague bombs and poisons, as well as storage compartments for various things on it's body.

==== "Muncher": ==== Muncher is a scatter-brained Venomhide-species of raptor that she uses mostly as a means of land-based transport, as the consumer of evidence of her work as a Lightslayer, and as the main source of poison coating for her weapons (unless it's a particularly big or dangerous job). He is the only (currently) living member of her "team", but his owner has hinted that there have been other "Muncher"s; he was simply the first to be properly tamed/raised.

====  "Geist":  ==== More of a "Living Shadow" than an actual creature, Geist is a creature of pure shadow energy who has been broken and manipulated by Malaise to aid her when she is in the most trouble. Having to "summon" him takes much energy away from her, so he is not often seen. Geist's looks are between a wolf and a darkhound, though not fully one nor the other.

===  Phosphor:  === Named after the radioactive element that normally emits a green light in the dark, Phosphor--never heard or seen from in these days--is a large spider that burns a bright green with an angry fel-fire. Whether or not Phosphor was summoned from the Nether, or is simply a very resilient spider from Azeroth is unknown.

====  Compys:  ==== Considered the "rats" of Azeroth by the Trolls, Malaise believes that having a few Compys around would be quite useful. They are small dinosaurs with a venomous bite; potentially good for scouting out areas and getting rid of guards. She has recently been heard speaking of two recently "acquired" compy hatchlings, named "Snatcher" and "Thatcher".

Quotes:
"Those whom speak loudest, die quickest."

"What is unlife, without risk?"