10-17-2005, 02:27 PM
A Tale of Dispaya
Born in the grande city of Gilneas was I and daughter to one of the city's great high Generals. I was taught to be a most proper lady and was schooled in the arts of philosophy and magic and of the old language of my ancestors.
At the dawn of my 18th year I chanced to fall in love with a soldier who served under my father's command. Most in love were we and he vowed to marry me with my father's blessing, which was given in earnest as my love was a great Paladin of the realm and a dear friend of my family. For many moons we shared the greatest happiness two souls could ever know, but sadly it was a happiness that was not to be...
Father's advisor was a most wretched and wicked man though none seemed able to see it, for he disguised his true nature with foul magics. Of his âtrue nameâ I will never tell but the people of my city knew him as "Walter." I knew him to be a snake in the grass but Father dismissed my warnings as folly and deemed instead to trust him fully. That Walter had some kind of dark hold on him I am not uncertain.
This dark man took a liking to me and desired me for his own, but I shunned his love and offerings of gifts in favor of my true loves. When I rejected Walterâs advances he flew into a rage and swore at once that if he could not have me then no one else would. A dreadful scheme he then hatched and under guise of night he came to the kitchens disguised as a lowly cook and then infected my food with some sort of unholy plague.
Much sorrow followed as I soon fell into sickness. Knowing my death was near I looked into the eyes of my love and swore to him that I would never leave, but I could not keep my word when death finally took me from him. From the spirit world I watched as he sat at the edge of my bed and wept.
Yet, even in death I could not find peace. Once wrenched back into my now dead body I awoke alone in my stone coffer. Now fully un-dead, I spent what seemed an eternity screaming for my release in fits of terror that soon drove me to madness. I remember this time now only as a nightmare from which I could not awaken.
When the crypt was finally opened it was Walter who was there to release me. He took me as his own and I had no memory of the life I had lost and no will of my own. For what I can only guess were many moons, I lived as his servant in his dark tower, hidden away from my father and my love who now thought me lost to them. Forced to serve him in ways most wicked was Iâ¦
My memories of this time are dim but I know that one day I became curious to see the world outside the tower and so wandered into the light for the first time in many seasons. I reached out a hand in friendship to the beautiful people I saw but they only screamed. Town guards surrounded me with swords drawn as children ran from me in terror. Walter was soon there to take me back into the shadows, but not before one of my father's guards recognized me and reported his findings.
My father, the General, and my love were so enraged that they grabbed their weapons and stormed into Walterâs tower with a few loyal guardsmen. Upon seeing me, they confronted him and there was a battle most fierce. Though both were soldiers strong, Walter was a wielder of great magic and in the end, my father lay dead and Walter fled the city never to be seen or heard from again.
When the guards turned on me, my love stopped them and bade them take pity on me, though my form was now most wretched to him. When Walter was defeated, my will was released, and enough memory for me to know who I once was. In that instant I looked into my love's eyes but no longer saw the love he once felt for me...only pity for the miserable creature I had become. I knew that he could no longer love me and my heart sank most deep into despair.
He could no longer love me, but he could not find it in his heart to slay me either, so in secret, he took me to a tunnel beneath the city, and from there sent me away. I was to be banished forever from the city I once loved so dearâ¦never to return again.
As I left I looked back at him only once, hoping to see the love he once showed me, but instead seeing only pity in his eyes. I vowed to never look back again and my anger became fierce.
I wandered the forests of Silverpine for a time, feasting on the vermin I found there. I crawled into dark places during the days and roamed the woods freely at night. The people of Pyrewood village came to know me as "The White Lady" and they told their children stories about me and fled from my horrible visage on sight. So horrible had I become and so angry that I despised all that was human. I was now fully undead and I hunted and feasted on human flesh as my hate for them grew.
Then came the time of the Lich King and I was swept up into his great army as they came to invade the lands of men. Now under control of the Lich Araj the Summoner, I learned to increase my powers of magic and I brought much death and destruction to the lands of men and trolls alike. I was their nemesis...their judge and their executioner....and each day I brought more and more soldiers into my master's army.
My time with the Scourge lasted only until one of their own finally took back her own free will. That one was called Lady Sylvanas Windrunner, and she freed us and took from us the evil taint of the Scourge. My free will was finally restored and with it the full memories of my fore-life. My hate was now gone and my heart true once again. Under care of the Forsaken I once again took up my study of magic, drawing on the vague memories of my past.
One day I chanced see myself in a mirror for the first time, and the very sight of my hideous visage threw into rage and despair. I grabbed a dagger from my crypt and tore off into the wilderness. Once there I turned the knife on myself...wishing to end my horrible un-life...but the dagger found nothing in my breast to piece....and life continued on for me still. A rain came and I lay in the dark forest in the mud and wept.
It was in the woods of Deathknell that I happened upon a Great Troll called Sreng who took me under his wing and bade me join his tribal family...the great tribe: Ironsong. As my memories of my fore-life were still fresh, I thought he was the "General" of my past, and in my confusion I called him this, much to his amusement. Though I know well his title of âWarlord,â I still call him "General" to this day, in tribute to my own father who died defending me. As Sreng is now more father to me than any other in the realms, it is a name I call him with much reverence. Twas the troll Shillatae who sent him to me after seeing me in a vision...and he found me and finally offered me a place to call "home."
Since that time I have had many adventures with Sreng and his tribe...finally earning the title Champion...and the Farseer when he adopted me as his own daughter.
Someday I will find that Dark Man and he will pay for the suffering he brought upon me and those I once loved. Until that day comes I will forge my own destiny alongside my newfound tribal brothers and sisters.
Of my love...I know he is still there. Hidden behind those great city walls now closed off from the world...walls I can never pass through again. I can feel him sometimes when I am near and I know that he still thinks of the girl he once loved, though she is now dead. I will forever miss him and so my heart holds much despair, thus my name given me by the Forsakenâ¦Dispaya, which means... âforever in despair.â
Of this undead âlifeâ I have many questions. Am I still the girl I once was only trapped in this form? Or am I merely stricken with old memories that are not truly my own? Have I a soul, or did the soul that once inhabited this body move on when death claimed her? Am I she or is she Iâ¦or am I something entirely new? Someday perhaps my answers will come to me, but for now I must accept and know who I am.
I am now "Dispaya of Ironsong" and my heart is true.
-=((D))=-
Born in the grande city of Gilneas was I and daughter to one of the city's great high Generals. I was taught to be a most proper lady and was schooled in the arts of philosophy and magic and of the old language of my ancestors.
At the dawn of my 18th year I chanced to fall in love with a soldier who served under my father's command. Most in love were we and he vowed to marry me with my father's blessing, which was given in earnest as my love was a great Paladin of the realm and a dear friend of my family. For many moons we shared the greatest happiness two souls could ever know, but sadly it was a happiness that was not to be...
Father's advisor was a most wretched and wicked man though none seemed able to see it, for he disguised his true nature with foul magics. Of his âtrue nameâ I will never tell but the people of my city knew him as "Walter." I knew him to be a snake in the grass but Father dismissed my warnings as folly and deemed instead to trust him fully. That Walter had some kind of dark hold on him I am not uncertain.
This dark man took a liking to me and desired me for his own, but I shunned his love and offerings of gifts in favor of my true loves. When I rejected Walterâs advances he flew into a rage and swore at once that if he could not have me then no one else would. A dreadful scheme he then hatched and under guise of night he came to the kitchens disguised as a lowly cook and then infected my food with some sort of unholy plague.
Much sorrow followed as I soon fell into sickness. Knowing my death was near I looked into the eyes of my love and swore to him that I would never leave, but I could not keep my word when death finally took me from him. From the spirit world I watched as he sat at the edge of my bed and wept.
Yet, even in death I could not find peace. Once wrenched back into my now dead body I awoke alone in my stone coffer. Now fully un-dead, I spent what seemed an eternity screaming for my release in fits of terror that soon drove me to madness. I remember this time now only as a nightmare from which I could not awaken.
When the crypt was finally opened it was Walter who was there to release me. He took me as his own and I had no memory of the life I had lost and no will of my own. For what I can only guess were many moons, I lived as his servant in his dark tower, hidden away from my father and my love who now thought me lost to them. Forced to serve him in ways most wicked was Iâ¦
My memories of this time are dim but I know that one day I became curious to see the world outside the tower and so wandered into the light for the first time in many seasons. I reached out a hand in friendship to the beautiful people I saw but they only screamed. Town guards surrounded me with swords drawn as children ran from me in terror. Walter was soon there to take me back into the shadows, but not before one of my father's guards recognized me and reported his findings.
My father, the General, and my love were so enraged that they grabbed their weapons and stormed into Walterâs tower with a few loyal guardsmen. Upon seeing me, they confronted him and there was a battle most fierce. Though both were soldiers strong, Walter was a wielder of great magic and in the end, my father lay dead and Walter fled the city never to be seen or heard from again.
When the guards turned on me, my love stopped them and bade them take pity on me, though my form was now most wretched to him. When Walter was defeated, my will was released, and enough memory for me to know who I once was. In that instant I looked into my love's eyes but no longer saw the love he once felt for me...only pity for the miserable creature I had become. I knew that he could no longer love me and my heart sank most deep into despair.
He could no longer love me, but he could not find it in his heart to slay me either, so in secret, he took me to a tunnel beneath the city, and from there sent me away. I was to be banished forever from the city I once loved so dearâ¦never to return again.
As I left I looked back at him only once, hoping to see the love he once showed me, but instead seeing only pity in his eyes. I vowed to never look back again and my anger became fierce.
I wandered the forests of Silverpine for a time, feasting on the vermin I found there. I crawled into dark places during the days and roamed the woods freely at night. The people of Pyrewood village came to know me as "The White Lady" and they told their children stories about me and fled from my horrible visage on sight. So horrible had I become and so angry that I despised all that was human. I was now fully undead and I hunted and feasted on human flesh as my hate for them grew.
Then came the time of the Lich King and I was swept up into his great army as they came to invade the lands of men. Now under control of the Lich Araj the Summoner, I learned to increase my powers of magic and I brought much death and destruction to the lands of men and trolls alike. I was their nemesis...their judge and their executioner....and each day I brought more and more soldiers into my master's army.
My time with the Scourge lasted only until one of their own finally took back her own free will. That one was called Lady Sylvanas Windrunner, and she freed us and took from us the evil taint of the Scourge. My free will was finally restored and with it the full memories of my fore-life. My hate was now gone and my heart true once again. Under care of the Forsaken I once again took up my study of magic, drawing on the vague memories of my past.
One day I chanced see myself in a mirror for the first time, and the very sight of my hideous visage threw into rage and despair. I grabbed a dagger from my crypt and tore off into the wilderness. Once there I turned the knife on myself...wishing to end my horrible un-life...but the dagger found nothing in my breast to piece....and life continued on for me still. A rain came and I lay in the dark forest in the mud and wept.
It was in the woods of Deathknell that I happened upon a Great Troll called Sreng who took me under his wing and bade me join his tribal family...the great tribe: Ironsong. As my memories of my fore-life were still fresh, I thought he was the "General" of my past, and in my confusion I called him this, much to his amusement. Though I know well his title of âWarlord,â I still call him "General" to this day, in tribute to my own father who died defending me. As Sreng is now more father to me than any other in the realms, it is a name I call him with much reverence. Twas the troll Shillatae who sent him to me after seeing me in a vision...and he found me and finally offered me a place to call "home."
Since that time I have had many adventures with Sreng and his tribe...finally earning the title Champion...and the Farseer when he adopted me as his own daughter.
Someday I will find that Dark Man and he will pay for the suffering he brought upon me and those I once loved. Until that day comes I will forge my own destiny alongside my newfound tribal brothers and sisters.
Of my love...I know he is still there. Hidden behind those great city walls now closed off from the world...walls I can never pass through again. I can feel him sometimes when I am near and I know that he still thinks of the girl he once loved, though she is now dead. I will forever miss him and so my heart holds much despair, thus my name given me by the Forsakenâ¦Dispaya, which means... âforever in despair.â
Of this undead âlifeâ I have many questions. Am I still the girl I once was only trapped in this form? Or am I merely stricken with old memories that are not truly my own? Have I a soul, or did the soul that once inhabited this body move on when death claimed her? Am I she or is she Iâ¦or am I something entirely new? Someday perhaps my answers will come to me, but for now I must accept and know who I am.
I am now "Dispaya of Ironsong" and my heart is true.
-=((D))=-