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- Zentao -
Guardian - Raid Master

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re: The Sunweavers - A Family History - Abridged

The Sunweavers
A Family History - Abridged

The following is the foundation and framework on which the stories and exploits of the Sunweaver Family are based. As a framework, many finer details are left out in order to provide optimal flexibility in authoring the forthcoming character story-lines. Any conflicts with documented WoW or Steadfast Lore are unintentional.

Regarding Heroism and Royalty - In the RP community there is a clear delineation between those that approve and those that disapprove of any player character being portrayed as a significant community figure; either as the savior of the land (the hero of heroes) or as the long lost son/daughter of the king.

I agree with the desire to avoid allowing player-characters to be the next ruler of the gaming universe; there is nothing more stifling to open-ended free-form RP story development than a real-life narcissist RP’ing the long lost successor to the Throne. As such, the Sunweaver Family is neither related to any core WoW NPC nor have they ever held a position of senior leadership in the Thalassian empire.

But I disagree with not allowing characters to be RP’d as the savior of human/elven/orcish-kind. Throughout the entire game, your quest progressions take you through significant world-changing events in which your character plays a central role. From personally smiting Arthas to saving Thrall from having his essence scattered across the elemental planes of existence, to landing the killing blow against Deathwing the Destroyer; we are all Heroes of the land. By denying or ignoring that storyline progression you severely limit the intent of role-playing in the first place; to escape an average and mundane real-life existence to be a part of an epic story-line. As such, the Sunweavers are heroes, they are a cut above the average inhabitants of the land, and they answer the call, albeit reluctantly sometimes, when the world needs saving.

- - - -

Avoiding the attraction to the addictive use of the Arcane, the Sunweaver Clan focused their attention to the martial arts, specializing in the use of both sword and bow. As far back as any can remember, they have been a central fixture of the elven military. Even before the exile of the Highborne, they stood guard and fought next the Kaldorie. Although the lack of Arcane use, not to mention their acceptance by their Kaldorie, excluded them from the core of their society, they were quite content with living on the fringe, taking the mantle of Protector.

However, the acts of Dath’Remar Sunstrider, and the pending exile of the Highborne placed the Sunweavers at a crossroads. Having garnered the respect of their Night Elven cousins, the Clan Elder was approached directly by Malfurion himself and offered immunity from exile, a permanent home, and a position of honor as the Protectors of the Well of Eternity and the World Tree.

There was no greater honor and the decision was not made easily. Through much consideration and debate, it wasn’t until the moment their brethren were boarding the ships to set sail into exile, beyond the known limits of the Maelstrom, that what they must do became clear. The Sunweavers were the core of the Highborne military and without their protection they would surely perish. Bidding farewell to Malfurion and their Kaldorie cousins, they boarded the ships and joined their brethren in exile.

From their initial settlement in Tirisfal Glades, to their move northward and founding of Quel’Thalas, the Sunweavers protected the Highborne. Remaining as the key driving force behind Thalassian military might, the Sunweavers were on the front lines of the Troll War, and the First and Second War and suffered devastating losses to key military leaders and their bloodline in the process.

With their numbers and leaders dwindling through the course of thousands of years of war, leadership of the army transitioned to the Windrunners. But the military skill the Sunweavers had honed over time was not lost. After the fall of Silvermoon to the Scourge, and the loss of his brothers and wife and unknown whereabout of his 4 children... the sole remaining Sunweaver member of the military was assigned to lead a forward post taking the fight to the enemy in Outlands.

It is at Falcon Watch where you can find Ranger Captain Venn’ren Sunweaver.

But what of his children?

Gelthan, his oldest son and most skilled with sword and bow who defiantly left home many years before the Scourge invasion.

Zentao, second-born but who could never win the praise of his father due to his refusal to hold a sword - a choice not easily made considering the Sunweaver history.

Artair, but a young adult at the time of the Scourge invasion who, against his father’s wishes, picked up a sword and entered battle only to fall. His body never found in the aftermath for a proper burial.

Jhalesa, a firecracker and troublemaker who did not find her calling until the loss of her mother and subsequent disavowing of her father.

It is this motley crew of dysfunctional youth whose stories have yet to be told. If they only knew that it is through their attempts to escape reality that they ultimately save it.


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Solivar
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re: The Sunweavers - A Family History - Abridged

Firstly, HUZZAH! Character background! My favorite kind after pretty scenery. ^_^

Secondly, just as a standard note for RP programming, for anyone who is curious about the matter...

Your humble Guardian Loremaster has, frankly, given up trying to conform to "WoW RP community mores" when it comes to many matters -- particularly matters related to heroism and your characters' relative possession of the same. Frankly, I came here most directly from tabletop Exalted, where not only were the characters allowed to be literally world-shatteringly Big Damn Heroes, they were actively encouraged to be so by the game's mechanics. And, well, Exalted is based more or less directly on the "feel" of an MMO -- specifically, World of Warcraft -- down to the damned Charm trees being pre-Cataclysm WoW talent trees. My point? You don't have to depict your characters as insignificant in the macro-cosmic scheme of things as far as I am concerned and I actively encourage you to be the biggest damn heroes you want to be, both in the past, present, and future. Blizzard's own metastory may revolve around the doings of their own stable of signature characters but their story is not Steadfast's story, and we are the heroes of our own tale -- which is the way it should be.

Similarly, I have no particular objection to making use of the game's NPCs in backstory or current story. Solivar's personal history brushes up more than a little bit against the story of Alexandros, Renault, and Darion Mograine, and the good Ebon Highlord has been a major supporting character in Steadfast's own narrative since the tail end of Wrath and into the present. So, for that matter, has Yogg-Saron. Common sense when using NPCs is encouraged but complete disengagement from NPCs is not -- after all, NPCs exist to be interacted with and that is their sole legitimate function in a roleplaying setting. Ranger-General Halduron Brightwing is currently scheduled to make a cameo appearance in the nearish future, f'rex.


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- Zentao -
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re: The Sunweavers - A Family History - Abridged

Yes, it is time to write those stories that have not yet seen ink and parchment, and to compile those that were written, but pre joining Steadfast.

As Gelthan was my original main, and as the GM of an RP guild: Brotherhood of the Wolf, his story is pretty well developed but has not seen daylight since joining Steadfast.

I picked the Sunweaver surname during The Burning Crusade as after a search of NPC names, there were none at the time. There is now, albeit just one, a Tailoring Vendor in Twilight Highlands.

And I picked Ranger Captain Venn'ren as my anchor NPC because there is no documented surname for him (assuming Venn'ren is his first name... and if it isn't, it is now) nor is there any other mention of him, that I was able to find, in the WoW Canon... thus leaving his backstory undefined and likely not to be built up in the future by Blizzard. Thus I can twist him and his existence to my own ends... bwahahaha.


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