| Raelor Valeclaw | |
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Race: |
Kaldorei |
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Birth: |
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Positions: |
Shan'do of the Cenarion Circle |
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Affiliations: |
Cenarion Circle |
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Appearances: |
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Faith |
Worship of Elune |
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Status: |
Alive |
"The lands and I are one" - Common Druidic Saying
Raelor Valeclaw is an ancient Druid of the Cenarion Circle, trained before it's creation following the War of the Ancients. The people of Kalimdor, beyond his own people, know him as a sagely follower of Cenarion Traditions: often bringing him into conflict with the neutrality of the Cenarion Circle. However, he retains his status among is because of an undeniable connection to nature and a dedication to it that few could ever match.
Though a vessel for the Wisdom of Ursol, he is also a vessel for the Strength of Ursoc, embodying what he believes the place of a Druid is: Guides to enlightenment in times of peace, and the most fierce defenders of life and the balance of Azeroth when war storms upon the horizon. His career as a warrior began as a voluntary rebel against the Highborne Empire in the War of the Ancients, continued in the War of the Satyr, War of the Shifting Sands (I & II), the Third War, the Nightmare War, the Third Invasion of the Burning Legion. In the wake of Deathwing's return from Deepholm, he served as a Guardian of Hyjal against the rising threat of the Twilight's Hammer Cult and the Firelands.
History
Kaldorei Empire
Childhood
Raelor was born to a huntress living on the edge of the elven territory held by the Prince Farondis. He grew up in the forest, his mother bringing him through the wilds to observe and live among the lands revered by the Night Elves. He grew up alongside his half-brother, Ko'danil. He grew close with his brother, up until their paths lead them to different sections of the Elven Empire. Where Ko'danil had followed the path of the Moon Guard, Raelor had followed a simpler path as an Innkeeper living in the forest with the 'lesser' folk.
War of the Ancients
When the War of the Ancients began, Raelor supported the war effort as a mere volunteer Warrior. His training was minimal at the time, and mere luck had often kept him from passing. He was a witness of many of the tragedies that took place in the War: The Death of Ursoc and Ursol, and the murder of Malorne.
Eternal Starlight Reborn
Crown of the Heavens
Raelor, having survived the War of the Ancients, was among the living Kaldorei who bore witness to the ritual the Aspects Alexstrazsa, Nozdormu, and Ysera would perform to create the First World Tree: Nordrassil. The words of the Dreamer, and the grand symbolism of the tree that the aspects had charged the Kaldorei with protecting, stirred his immediate interest in taking up coming teachings of Malfurion Stormrage. With temperance and dedication, he quickly rose among the teachings and found himself upon the path of the Claw Totem.
Spirit of the Claw
To pass the test of the Bear Totem, Raelor would need to find the Great Bear Spirit of Moonglade. The Great Bear spoke of one of many Druidic Philosophies: The Way of the Claw. The spirit would then send Raelor upon a trial to prove that he possessed the ideologies two greatest component: Strength of Body, and Strength of Heart.
The ritual would required him to journey to the hold of the Timbermaw Furbolg Tribe, and gain the trust of their eldest Shaman, for he would be key to the ritual imparted upon him. Once trust was established, and the ritual was conducted, Raelor would wake in the Emerald Dream, taking part in a trial of internal strength and external strength by the greatest followers of Ursoc and Ursol. When he emerged from the Timbermaw Hold, and presented proof of his success to the Spirit, he was granted the powers of the Druid of the Claw, which he would empower through dedication towards nature and these ideals.
The War of the Satyr
The War of the Satyr began years after Raelor had unlocked the power of the Bear, and as Druid he was charged with protecting both the Wilds and people of Kalimdor from the lurking threat that thought to taint and defile the flourishing lands of Northern Kalimdor. Fighting along side a follower of Goldrinn whom he had befriended when both were mere students, Raelor ultimately would have to overcome the madness of his former close friend. Subduing the fierce Worgen with his immense Strength, he somberly watched as the Druids of the Scythe were sealed away: hoping that in the future, something could be done to ail their spirits.
Founding of the Cenarion Circle
Carrying scars from the madness of the Scythe Druids, Raelor was a supporter of the Cenarion Circle's founding. For a time he lingered to impart the Wisdom he had learned from his training, until he was called to walk the Emerald Dream.
The Long Vigil
Raelor wandered the Emerald Dream in the thousands of years that passed between the War of the Satyr, and the conflict that would engulf the southern sands of Kalimdor. His time walking the Emerald Dream enhanced his knowledge of Druidism, taught him many new secrets and lessons from Azeroth's past and present spirits, and fostered an immense bond between the Druid and nature's creatures.
The War of the Shifting Sands
Aspect of the Claw
Stirred from the Emerald Dream to reinforce the War effort in Silithus, Raelor took command as a captain of followers of the Claw Totem in the War of the Shifting Sands. Though little is remembered fondly in this war, some who can remember beyond the Death of Valstann Staghelm could remember a gallant bear adorned in druidic runes and relics that stood it's ground and held back the Qiraji tide as the forces pushed back to Un'goro: one of the last to take refuge, expecting to die in the humid crater.
Settling of the Sands
Raelor remained in the war until the tide had turned. From it's conclusion, he gained a skeptic view of the Archdruid Staghelm, though sympathetic to the pain he felt at the lost of his heroic child. He returned to Moonglade for a time, but he did not feel up to returning to the Emerald Dream immediately. He journeyed south for a time, investigating the great deaths in Mashan'she, a land later aptly renamed Desolace.
Before the Fel Storm
The Tauren Tribes
Raelor had always viewed the Tauren as kin to his people: an essential part of what made Kalimdor the paradise it had become, and no less resolute in their reverence for nature and its defense than the Night Elves. Though the Dream would constantly call at his mind, he would not abandon the tribes to the Centaur without doing what he could to aid them. As Warrior and Healer he would assist the tribes, representing the two aspects of the Way of the Claw in all his time present with the Tribes. During this time, he had learned much of their people, and in turn had garnered respect. Many were as enthralled in the stories he would spin upon a warming fire, as he was enthralled in the preserved, ancient tales of their people.
Though his friendship with the Tribes was a bond he was proud to earn, the call of the Emerald Dream eventually overcame him. Believing the strength of the Tauren would see them victorious against this threat, he returned to Emerald Dream to uphold the ancient pact bound into the birth of Nordrassil.
The Wandering Isle
Two hundred years after his return from the Tauren Tribes, Raelor again woke from the Emerald Dream. With curiosity imparted upon him by recent conversation with spirits who stood watch of the Seas, Raelor set out upon the waters in search of a new wonder to the World: the return of an Ancient People. It was a long search, but as his energies for one day nearly expired, he found the island he had sought: the Wandering Isle. Despite his fatigue, he marveled at the great Turtle Shen-zin Su, and the people who lived upon it.
The Druid did not stay upon the Isle for longer than a mere five years. But from those scant years, he had learned much. He left it with relief, knowing that so noble a people had not been destroyed by his people's ancient arrogance. Though he had learned much in his time there, in both mental discussion with the famed "Monks" of the Pandaren, but also in physical study with them. He returned to Kalimdor with a rudimentary understanding of Chi, enough to mix these practices with his other practices.
He also had a new and insatiable craving for Pandaren Cuisine, limitless in its ravenous nature as the all consuming void itself.
The Third War
When the Burning Legion returned to Azeroth ten thousand years after their first intrusion, Raelor was trapped like many of the Druids in the Barrow Dens. Once being freed he set out with the forces of Kalimdor, witnessing vile deeds both the Humans and the Orcs did to the land. Yet when the Legion's final assault began he set these feelings aside, fighting along side them in the last ditch efforts of mortal races to defend the world they called home. In the battle he was deeply wounded, forced to retreat and watch from a distance as Archimonde was slain.
A Reunited, Hateful World.
The world had once again become connected, the Eastern Kingdoms and the ancient lands of Kalimdor. A new storm of change was upon the Horizon, and after a year of recuperating, Raelor emerged from the Emerald Dream.
Teldrassil
The discussion among the Cenarion Circle surrounding the birth of a new World Tree was hotly debated. Raelor stood upon the side of Malfurion, worried Fandral was allowing his pride and grief of Valstann to cloud the teachings of Cenarius. He was against it's growth until long after it had risen to it's great height. From that point, he thought to aid it in growing: if a World Tree was to exist, it was better that it was healthy.
Shifting Sands II
Raelor had mostly dealt with healing the damage done to Kalimdor until the threat from Silithus arose again. He partook in the summoning of Eranikus in Moonglade, and the battle following the opening of Ahn'Qiraj.
War of the Nightmare
Hotly involved in the Cenarion Circle, Raelor was among those channeling their energies under Fandrals guidance in hope to cure Teldrassil, though ever wary of the Archdruid. When Malfurion returned and confronted him, revealing the truth of their spells intent, the anger of Ursoc raged inside him. He fought to protect his people from Teldrassil's nightmare induced Madness, until called, like all other druids upon Teldrassil, to the aid of Malfurion.
Raelor, like the many Druids upon the second World Tree, assisted Malfurion in healing Teldrassil, once the source of it's corruption had been torn from the Tree. In the rebirth that followed, his view of the World Tree changed. Following the conclusion of the Nightmare War, the resolve of it's it's Guardians was renewed. The Crown of Earth had overcome it's corruption, and carried the same benevolent spirit as Nordrassil: a spirit to share its restorative energy and foster growth in itself and all the lands surrounding it. A symbol of the purity of life, and representative of how life's changing nature allows for redemption, and from it the betterment of all the World.
The Threat of Emerald Flame
The Legion had returned for a third gruesome time. In the turmoil of Azeroth, Raelor reached out to Lanalora Stormleaf, who had been seeking guidance for a druidic circle growing in the kingdom of Alterac. He traveled with the resurgent of Alterac, acting as an ambassador to the Highmountain Tauren and ambassador to the Dreamweavers for a time.
The Citrine Eagles
The Citrine Enclave
Raelor had helped increase the power of the small druid circle, dubbed the Citrine Enclave. Though it would eventually collapse (likely due to the pressures upon the Druids in face of the Nightmare, calling them far from Alterac) Raelor had managed to gather wisp left behind after the fall of Elerethe Renferal, and helped the Eagles journey through Val'sharah for a time.
The Plague Wagon
The Commander Kavid had broken the promises of the Matriarch in consulting the Citrine Enclave before any action could be made in the forest. He ignored the warning against aggression in the sacred forest. He ignored the humans in the valley below the battlefield, and the sanctity of the Temple above. With a force of Eagles he rushed out to Val'sharah to intercept a plague caravan over Bradensbrook, resulting in an explosion that left the entire area tainted. Though the Eagles would later step up to help cleanse the disease they had helped spread over the sacred forest, the damage had been done. Raelor would guide them through the forest no longer: he would even declare a threat to Kavid should he ever set foot in the sacred forest of Val'sharah ever again. From this destruction came a divide that ultimately caused Raelor to regress to Kalimdor for a time, contemplating his failures and working to combat the Legion there.
Physical Description
Druid. The name speaks much on it's own: a personification of nature's aspects, furious and restorative. Physically, this was well represented in the very body of Raelor. His face and chest bore fierce amber markings, signifying his connection to the Claw Totem and his reverence for Ursoc and Ursol. His chest was always bare to expose these markings proudly, for there was no shame in honoring the sacrifice of so noble beings in all moments of his life. His hair is a flowing stream of untamed emerald locks, entwined with leaves. His chin carried a beard of a similar fashion: not as impressive as a dwarven beard, though it traveled far, ending just above his abdomen. His body carried in it raw physical strength: always in peak physical condition to honor the Strength of Body.
His eyes bore an amber glow, though not one he had from birth. This glow showed the great connection he had developed with the very spirit of the Wilds. Personification of the truth that he and the land were one in the same, and the plight of the world could not be ignored by the Druid.
Armor
As if the exposed markings did not preach his path clearly enough, the Druids armor should exaggerate very well the spirits he embodied. He bore a hood of ironwood, covered on the outside with the fur of a fierce ursine beast with an unmatched intensity in its beading eyes, it's surface inscribed in faint emerald runes of power. These runes were also present upon his shoulderguards: themselves made of Ironwood, shaped like massive paws of a bear guarding his shoulder. It was covered in spots of growing leaves, each twig and branch flowing with runes just as the jagged claws tips were: all leading back to a central rune. A emerald circle with an inner dot of magic. His kilt bore the heraldry of the Claw upon his sides, diverting from the front and exposing his covered legs: providing him a measure of agility one would not find in a pure kilt. On his waist would hang a pouch, baring the symbol of the Cenarion Circle upon its opening in bright amber cloth. His gloves were Ironwood, reaching out in ending in a pair of dense, pointed claws that the Druid could draw forth or draw in depending upon what the situation required.
Bear Form
The Namesake of the Druids of the Claw, Raelor’s Bear Form is able to take a distinctive appearance baring similarities to his true form. His brown fur bares the markings of his true form in a identical amber glow, stretching from hind legs along his back to his face. His chin is marked with faintly green hairs, from the beard of his true appearance. His size, though chosen at the moment of the individual casting, was most often well over 11 feet in height. His swaying necklace persists in this form as well, though grown tightly around his neck.
Trinkets!
- Idol of Ursoc and Ursol: Ursoc crouched over with fangs bared in a roar, with Ursol standing upon his hind legs with a calm demeanor. The front of the platform they stand upon bares a glowing inscription of a bear's paw.
- Melor'ne Fal (Light of Truth): The Lantern of an Ancient of Lore, storing starlight that can be shaped both as a source of light and a focus in spells invoking the power of the stars.
- Seed Pouch: Bearing the mark of the Cenarion Circle stitched into the sealing flap, this bag hanging from his waist is always just in reach. It carries the components for many powerful druidic spells: powders, Mushroom caps, Acorns, and general seeds.
Personality
A Bear is known for it's protective nature, and varied stoicism or mirth. These traits come with this Elder Druid of the Claw, a powerful force for those he grows fond of. He has a mirthful side, though quickly buried when someone draws his ire, which is near limitless when invoked for the foulest of reasons. Though he could be considered, he is not violently so: disdain for many races is a judgement of cones cultures and it's attributes. Individuals from most races, until the War of Thorns, were treated with respect and wariness from him until trust took root in his perspective of them.
Beliefs
"The wicked are undeserving of this world, reborn in the greatest of crowns that reaches to the forgiving heaven." - Raelor's lectures in Moonglade, repeated many times over ten thousand millennia."
Born with the worship of Elune in all her aspects woven deeply into his mother's mentality, he too shares in it. The religion of Elune flows well with the Druids, for her ancient temples spoke greatly of her chosen beasts who watched from Mount Hyjal. Though he does not worship the Wild Gods, his veneration for them goes as far as any devoted Paladin's worship of the Holy Light. He lives with constant respect for the teachings of the Wild Gods, carrying the paths of Cenarius and their philosophical understandings to all who would listen: the sharing of their will deemed his personal penance for the sins of the Ancient Kaldorei.
As with the Ancient Guardians of Hyjal, Raelor venerates the Red, Green, and Bronze Dragonflights. The Red and Green he hails most of all, the Bronze a great enigma that he has respect for, regardless of the self appointed distance they take from most worldly affairs.
Trivia
- He is prone to meditation and exercise: any Thero'shan under his wings knows how deeply he stresses both.
- He was considered for the Moon Guard, for the arcane potential in his blood was considerable: he did not have any true interest in such magics, thus choosing a simpler life.
- Acts as a Guardian to a Whelpling names Lisaera.
- As an Ancient Druid, many of Raelor's lessons come from Malfurion Stormrage. This is due to the limited forces that knew such magics in Ancient Years: his different Shan'do also consisted of Ancients, and once mastering the art of Dreamwalking, certain members of the Green Dragonflight.
- Raelor has skill in brewing: his favorite drink is a recipe of mead taught to him by a Shaman of the Timbermaw Furbolgs while undergoing a trial of proving to the Great Bear Spirit of Moonglade, in order to unlock the art of Shapeshifting.
- Raelor despises having to battle Tauren, and Shaman of any variety who show respect to the land.
- Able to speak Darnassian, Common, Taur-ahe, Nerglish, and bestial languages.
- Rarely spends money on himself: Most of the money he has ever gained since becoming a druid has gone towards those in desperate need of it. He is known most often for using this money, as well as his own time, to help in Orphanages in Kalimdor. Among the things he will spend gold to buy, Pandaren food rank highest.
- Considers Pandaria as sacred as Kalimdor, and has respect for the Pandaren that surpasses even his love for the Tauren.