Crura Darkmine, a dwarf forged by her pain and loss. Bound by kinship and duty, and driven to change that. For her relatively short life, for a dwarf, she has fought more battles. Brought her skill with blade and shield, with hammer and anvil, to levels found by true masters of war and the forge, and still she struggles to escape her pain. A character forged by grief and success.
Characteristics[]
Born without magic, to her father's disdain, overlooked by him but not her mother, Crura experienced negativity early in life but she rose above. Her skill in combat was prodigious, and encouraged to pursue it by her mother she found her place in Dark Iron society as a soldier. Yet, loss was yet to leave her alone, but never did she let this break her will to move onwards.
Physical Appearance[]
Solidly built, on the tall side but still squarish and more bulky. She lacks that typical shape for dwarven women, easily mistaken for a male dwarf if looked from behind. Yet, she is not on the extreme side as far as muscle density goes, and her chest is on the larger side to boot.
More obvious then most markings on her is the scar that runs from left cheek down to her chin, framing her lips. Her black hair is kept short, and her left arm ends at the elbow. Yet her own stubbornness and distrust of technology and magic has prevented her from even trying to find a proper prosthetic.
Otherwise, Crura is a Sister of Steel, and contrary to the RPG Prestige Class, this is more less similar to 'Avatar' in nature (the prestige class version), where her body takes on attributes of stone and steel, but doesn't transform into it completely. Her skin is rugged, hard like stone, burning with a heat underneath, while her bones are toughened, more like steel in durability!
Crura Darkmine by Anathema-Game
Armor Sets[]
Crura has created for herself two sets of full-plate armor, one she wore as an almost complete sister of steel, and the other she forged after losing the blessing the first time. The first set of armor is a special alloy known as 'Dark Elementium', which is to say that it is created by mixing pure elementium with dark iron ore to create fire-biased elementium armor that weighs slightly less then it should. This Dark Elementium armor is marked by the crests of Clan Darkmine, and other Dark Iron-themed designs, but she lacks the strength to wear it yet.
The other suit is made out of an alloy known as 'Dark Mithril', and although it had to be reforged once when the original was stolen by her great grandmother, Corgra, the current set is her main armor until her strength allows her to don the heavier armor. This armor is marked by her maker's mark, a double-bladed axe with a C and D on either side of the haft. On the front if a symbol for the now defunct 'Steelgrasp Brigade', but otherwise the iconography and designs of the armor are her own accomplishments, Clan Steelgrasp imagery, and minor dark iron details, but NOTHING regarding Clan Darkmine.
Both sets of armor are magically enchanted to remain durable, and strong, but scars still remain from battles fought.
Core'Splitter[]
Forged originally by her great grandfather, Curiose Darkmine, a master smith of yore that mastered the use of elementium ore in his crafts. The weapon was made before the civil war that rocked Ironforge, and was enchanted by his wife, Corgra Darkmine. It was so named because it was made from elementium discoverd in the heart of Ironforge Mountain, within a core of dark iron ore found only in the greatest of volcanoes. The greataxe's enchantments allowed it to remain ever sharp, unbreakable, and could rend even fire and earth asunder. But after the civil war, and Curiose's demise, the weapon was locked away in the vaults of Clan Thaurissan due to the fact the weapon itself was altered by Ragnaros's arrival.
When Ragnaros exploded onto Azeroth, Curiose was one of those slain, and Core'Splitter truly took up its name as its powers allowed mutated to become baneful to fire and earth elementals, it was a weapon that could even banish Ragnaros if used properly! Thus, it was locked away. Corgra was going to be slain for its creation, but she disappeared suddenly before she could be taken into custody.
When the weapon was claimed by Crura as a reward for her service in helping rid Shadowforge City of its fiery overseers, it became attuned to her growing sister of steel blessing, an extension of herself. It was destroyed by the Titan Keeper Thorium while he was removing the sister of steel blessing from herself, per her request. The fragments nevertheless remained charged with powerful elemental and titanic energies!
She uses a more mundane dark iron battleaxe, that has been imbued with Lightforged runes from her time on Argus!B
Molt'ar, Shield of Ignis[]
In the process of removing her sister of steel blessing in Ulduar, Crura's allies were granted several rewards. One was meant for her. Molt'ar, Shield of Ignis, a disc of titansteel with a swirling pool of magma seemingly trapped beneath glass as strong as titansteel. In truth, Molt'ar was a powerful fire elemental of titan-imbued fire trapped within the shield. It could launch a torrent of titan-infused fire and magma upon her foes!
Molt'ar was freed upon Crura's return to Ulduar, where she sought to regain her sister of steel blessing, but in doing so it ripped her left arm off of her, and attempted to kill her. Although defeated and imprisoned again in the forge of Ignis, Crura kept the sundered remains of the shield.
Although she lacks an arm, she uses a clever armor-contraption (despite her distrust of technology) to more easily strap a shield to her fortified stump, to boost her defensiveness in battle, almost to the point it used to be!
Personality[]
Crura is as one would expect a dwarf. Strong willed, determined, willing to do what is needed and a tendency to prefer action to words that serve to make her headstrong at times. She refuses to admit or show weakness, even her missing arm isn't acknowledged, part of the reason she refuses a prosthetic. Crura however, is also intelligent, keen of mind that values strength, honesty, and detests weakness and trickery. She will speak her mind freely, and is confident on military tactics and matters of the forge.
She takes failure personally, holding it, as all her painful emotions, inside of herself. She refuses to cry and seeks perfection. If she was only stronger... faster... better... she could have stopped herself from failing, or from feeling hurt.
Although once she was becoming more compassionate, forgiving, and more willing to cry even; her time on Argus and being tortured by the servants of her great grandmother, as well as losing the dwarf she loved, has once more hardened her heart to positive emotion and caused her to seek strength enough to feel no pain again.
History[]
The only child of Crurose Darkmine, the great granddaughter of Corgra Darkmine, the Ancient Flame, but more then that? She is her mother's daughter, Corla Furyforge. Although it had been a political marriage, Corla had been allowed to continue her work as the captain of the guard for a prestigious general of the Dark Iron people. Crurose on the other hand was a politician through and through, underhanded, self-interested, and focused on his clan's prestige first.
Early Years[]
When Corgra was discovered to be non-magical, having no talent despite the Darkmine blood in her veins, her father all but disowned her. He ignored her, his wife, and simply focused on his political plots. Her mother however, was strict, but loving. She did her duty as the captain of a general's personal guard, but also her role as a mother. She tutored Crura in the art of war and combat, even sparring with her daughter while holding nothing back. Bones were broken, scars were gained, but during it all she impressed on Crura these ideals; Honor, sacrifice, lawfulness, duty, and to aim higher then anyone to achieve nothing less then perfection.
Due to this, Crura was emotionally distant from others. She cold, calculating, and a perfectionist. She focused on training instead of any emotional trauma she had earned thus far. Her life's value was based on her skills and success in her daily duels with her mother. As until she could defeat her mother in a duel, Crura was banned from joining the military. Although she eventually did succeed, and joined the military of Shadowforge.
The Wars[]
Her primary foes were the Bronzebeard Dwarves, but even Crura, as emotionally backwards as she was, couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of Loch Modan before splitting a bronzebeard in two with her axe in the same hour. Her main targets were usually caravans, and despite offers for promotion, Crura stubbornly refused any special treatment despite the danger being a mere soldier presented. When the orcs came and took over the Spire, she was bound to remain in Shadowforge City until the orc's 'welcome' expired and their blood could be shed next.
When that day came, she did lead a squad behind enemy lines, and took great pride and honor in keeping as many of her troops alive as possible, and all without the use of a spellcaster on her team. This was of course due to her hatred of her father, and distrust of magic born of it. But, when Emperor Thaurissan was assassinated while she and her team were in the Spire, fighting against the Dark Horde and their draconic lords, her life changed. Among the casualties was one Corla Darkmine, who saved the general she was in charge of protecting but at the cost of her own life.
General's Student[]
The general, with the knowledge Crura's father had also perished during one of his plots, took Crura in and treated her as his own daughter. Although he was incredibly strict, and professionally she was simply the new captain of his guard to replace her mother, he ensured she had a proper education beyond what she had been taught, and taught her that a warrior must be balanced to reach greater levels of mastery. To give her this, he apprenticed her to one 'Torgrim Lavadeep', a legendary forgemaster and smith that worked with her own great grandfather to delve the secrets of dark iron ore and elementium ore, and although her great grandfather died long ago, Torgrim had not. He learned how to create alloys with Dark Iron, including alloying it with Elementium, Mithril, and even Thorium!
Her time with Torgrim was harsh, she was never once complimented. He always found fault in her actions, but in her heart she knew he respected her drive for perfection and natural talent with the forge. Although Torgrim did perish of old age before her apprenticeship was over, it was while training under him that she began to notice the early stages of her sister of steel transformation. With no one in Shadowforge knowing the secrets of it, she obtained permission to travel to Ironforge now that the Council of Three Hammers was formed.
Ironforge[]
In Ironforge, she learned about her blessing and her curse, but more then that? She found further mastery of the forge among the Bronzebeards, caused her to spend years in the city. She found a home among Clan Steelgrasp, serving beneath Furgas Steelgrasp with pride and honor, and becoming friends of the likes of Vilmar Ironbrow, Bathildis Ironstout, and Modarin Slatefist. Their compassion brought no end of confusion to her, and slowly she began to open up. To be more like them, and while she began matching blows with Furgas and Vilmar as her blessing of steel and stone grew, romantic feelings to Modarin Slatefist grew. This caused her to reject her sister of steel blessing, but the damage was already done.
During this time, she was also the bouncer for the Steel Pub, which was later renamed to the Battlestein Brewpub, and even forged tankards for the pub in its earliest days!
Removing the Blessing, Ulduar[]
With nothing to remove the transformation already caused, Crura and her friends traveled to the Titan city of Ulduar under the suggestion of Vilmar. Greeted by Keeper Thorim, and commended by him for her resolve to remove such a blessing, and for her friends to travel with her in such a journey. The trials commenced. Crura was taken away, and her friends were made to fight, to prove their worth in Crura's recovery.
Three tests, in the first they defeated an unnamed fire elemental in the workshop of Ignis, in secret this was the same fire elemental trapped within the shield of Crura, the being known as Molt'ar. The reward for beating this elemental was Molt'ar, Shield of Ignis, reserved for Crura. The second test was in Mimiron's laboratory, a prototype turret that rewarded them the Crown of Innovation, a broken helmet with a lightbulb on top. Still, the final challenge was one won nearly singlehandedly by Thane Vilmar Ironbrow. This challenge was a battle with Thorim himself, where Vilmar's religious faith was put on full display and he earned a personal gift by the Keeper. "Thunder's Gift", a mighty maul possessed of the storm itself.
Crura was returned, unconscious, her axe shattered, and her armor removed. Brought home, Crura suffered horrible nightmares, visions of a fully metallic version of herself that represented her old self. A lingering presence of the sister of steel transformation. Ready to be reawakened should Crura fall prey to it, but she remained strong. She slew this presence, and escaped it. Forging new armor, keeping the fragments, and fielding a new dark iron battleaxe to wield in the meantime to go with Molt'ar!
Modarin[]
After recovering from Ulduar, Crura wasted no time in solidifying a romance with Modarin. The two began dating, and although it was slow at first given Crura's inexperience in affairs of the heart, the two did speak of plans to raise a family. This was put on pause when the Legion returned.
The Legion[]
With the Legion's return, Crura refused to raise a child in a world threatened by the Legion. She promised to return, and joined the Legionfall forces, but the threat was not removed with the defeat of Kil'jaedan. No. Onto Argus Crura went, and although she sent letters to Modarin, not a single letter made it to him. Her great grandmother, Corgra Darkmine, intercepted them all, burning them to ruin her relationship and 'toughen' Crura up. Unbeknownst to Crura, she was actually pregnant during this time, although in the most early stages. Her mind was too focused on the Legion to note the signs.
Near Death[]
On Argus, assigned with her commander, Teldara, a famed draenei orcslayer, Crura would try and sacrifice herself to save Teldara and her comrades by blocking the axe of a gigantic Fel Lord with her own body. The axe tore her armor asunder and would have slain her. If not for a shard of Xe'ra that Crura had picked up after the Naaru was slain by Illidan. The shard imbedded itself on her back, granting her a sort of 'Lightforging' in a non-traditional sense. Her fiery eyes were golden hued, and Lightforged tattoos were present, connected to the crystal to form the visage of the naaru. However, her unborn child did not survive this experience, something Crura would learn after awakening to her own great distress. More then that? She was hurting from the lack of contact with Modarin, the first person since her mother she had opened herself fully to, had he moved on? Died? What would he think of what happened!?
Sorrow of the Heart[]
In truth, due to the letter burning, Modarin had assumed Crura had perished. He moved on, he sought his own happiness as Crura struggled to survive. A truth that broke Crura completely after she returned to Azeroth with the Legion's final defeat.
Battle for Azeroth[]
After returning to Azeroth, Crura was lured into a trap by her great grandmother, Cogra, who played on her sorrow and grief with Modarin. She revealed the letter burning, and captured her. The shard of Light was removed from her back, taking her Light-based powers away for good. Her axe was taken, and her armor was melted down. With everything taken from her, she was tortured relentlessly as her character growth withered and died. She returned to her old self, toughened up as desired, but not once did Crura break under the torment. She was eventually rescued by Furgas and others, foreswearing her title of Thane and giving up on any nationalistic ties she had with the dark iron people.
Her pain, her grief, manifested in a desire never to feel pain again. She made plans to return to Ulduar, to reclaim her blessing of steel of stone, to become a sister of steel once again.
Return to Ulduar[]
Crura and some of her remaining allies, even the one who tortured her due to his work with Bathildis and others, helped her return to Ulduar. Even an old ally, Dolgbvari, assisted. She met with Thorim again and made her request, unconcerned with the possible ramifications. Her death was likely, but she still pursued it, and was taken to Ignis the Forgemaster who complimented her use of his shield.
By Toastmouth!
The process began, Ignis 'reforging' her body upon his anvil, his forge responding dangerously but the elementals were beaten easily by her allies. That was until her shield ripped itself, and her arm, off. Her left arm was burned off, leaving a stub just below her elbow, while Molt'ar freed itself from its prison in her shield and began trying to kill her! With his return to the forge, being bound, Crura was successfully saved and began her transformation again, but it was far slower then it had been originally.
Trivia[]
Crura is the first female character I seriously attempted to RP, over 5 years ago on Wyrmrest Accord. Although I took many breaks on her, Crura was also my intro to how WoW RP etiquette was learned and discovered. I constantly rescaled her powers as I learned how to better balance a character, until doing a story to remove her sister of steel stuff to avoid being too OP (she was originally a full on sister of steel). But... with her on a shelf for Legion, a lot of her stories dried up, my own fault, and when I did try and bring her back, I still wanted it to be unique. So quite a bit of things changed for her, to spice the character up.
Still, she's been a sister of steel, a master smith, a forgemaster, a thane, an avatar of flame, and now? She's returning to being a sister of steel, with the proper power of an avatar now, not simply the dark iron version of it.
Core'splitter had originally been reforged, and its leftovers turned into a tankard, this has since been retconned to keep the fragments available for a future smithing project where she remakes the sundered remains of Molt'ar, with Core'splitter's fragments, into a MIGHTY weapon!
Links[]
Traitforge Profile - Battlestein Profile
"Just an Average Day" - A short story
"Crura, a Rebirth" - A short story attempt
Character Sheet (Not 100% serious, made for fun and greatly exaggerated!)