Pinned
“You know, I wasn’t always this cold, pale, and lifeless.”
Life, Love, and Death
Velgana Milner was born into a farming family in Northern Lordaeron. She spent most of her life working the land and tending to livestock. She would often accompany her father on his long trips to deliver and trade their harvest with other towns, especially those surrounding the city of Lordaeron. In one of the markets, she met her first love, James. He was an apprentice studying magic in Dalaran at the time. She became interested in learning more about magic through him, often borrowing many of his books when he was visiting his family. Though James’ hectic schedule kept him busy, they would often spend weekends together. The couple had even discussed moving to Southshore to be closer to Dalaran where they could both practice magic and start a new life together. Sadly this would never happen.
During one of the usual caravan deliveries to their town, Vel became exposed to the plagued grain. As people cooked with it and fed it to their livestock, the grain spread the sickness to everyone in its vicinity. The local inn took in the sick for comfort as healers tried to keep the illness at bay. Vel and her family sat there as fever and vomiting set in. A day or so later, news came that the entire area was to be quarantined by orders of Prince Arthas. People were scared but too weak to flee. In a matter of days most of the town had fallen to the plague before anyone ever arrived to assess the situation.
The Awakening
When Velgana awoke, she had no recollection of what had happened or how long she had been asleep. She wasn’t even sure where she was until she realized she was laying in a cold dark crypt. To her horror, she had not been sleeping, but was deceased. As she emerged from the crypt she saw many others just like her helping those who were waking. Scared and hopeless, she listened as the others briefed her on what happened - the fall of the kingdom and the weakening of the Lich King’s control over the dead. She was one of the luckier ones. The crypt she was buried in had a ward placed over to protect the deceased from becoming the Lich King’s pawns. There she laid in a stasis, waiting for the perfect moment to be awoken as this new race of undead. Overwhelmed with this information, Vel took refuge in the rundown town of Brill.
As the weeks passed, she became increasingly curious about the life she left behind. Sadly her parents had not awoken as she had, but maybe James was awake or even still alive! She cloaked her disfigured face and journeyed to Hillsbrad. Her arrival to Dalaran was met with horror when the surrounding buildings were in ruin and all that was left of the city was a hole. Scared to venture into Southshore during the day, she waited until nightfall. Under the cloak of moonlight, she stumbled upon the graves of many who had died during the fall of Dalaran. Sadly James was one of those casualties. Heartbroken, she fled back to Tirisfal to try to resume a somewhat normal routine.
Through the years that passed, Velgana struggled to adjust to her life of undeath. This became all too much to bear when the order was given to attack the town of Southshore with the deadly Forsaken blight. It was all she had left of her former life and the memory of James. Though she wasn’t alone in opposition of this, Lady Sylvanas took no consideration of the pleas from some of her people and continued with the plans. Disgusted by this decision, Velgana and the few others drove a wedge between themselves and the Banshee Queen.
Order of the Splintered Bone
Vel along with a small group of others began questioning many of the motives of Lady Sylvanas. The few undead who opposed many of the choices of the Banshee Queen met in secrecy at an abandoned tavern they called The Splintered Bone; Thus the Order of the Splintered Bone was formed. The group’s members swore to keep a close eye on everything Lady Sylvanas was planning and to warn necessary parties as they saw fit. They also swore to protect the order and each member's identity no matter the cost. To this day the order still exists in secrecy.
Leaving Home
Feeling no need to stay in Tirisfal any longer, Velgana made plans to travel to Kalimdor to continue on with her studies in magic and herbalism. Once she settled into the busy city of Orgrimmar, she began venturing out into the Barrens to pick herbs daily. It was during one of these trips where she was ambushed by a group of quilboar. Still an apprentice in her magic training, she was unable to fight the entire group off; She accepted her fate - a final death. As she lay on the ground, a sudden commotion broke out around her. Dust from the dry earth coupled with quillboar blood flew as they squealed before falling to their death. Velgana covered her face, waiting for a weapon impact to strike down on her but instead was greeted by a large green orc hand waiting to help her back to her feet. It was in that moment that she met a brave orc warrior that would fight by her side for many years to come.
Currently
Through the years, Vel was able to complete some of the dreams she had from her previous life. She continued to study and worked hard in perfecting her skills as a mage, especially frost. She is now one of the Forsaken Cold Witches, and uses her spells to not only fight off enemies but also to help preserve her body. Though she’s still aligned with the Order of the Splintered Bone, she’s constantly answered the call of the Horde whenever needed. Another goal of hers was granted when she was able to work alongside the Kirin Tor of Dalaran. Vel is always eager to help aid in whatever task the Council of Six may ask of the mages.
