Character Highlight: Alia Atherton-Chess

General Information

Full Name: Alia Atherton

Associated Titles and Alias: Magna of the Kirin Tor, Self-Proclaimed Loremaster, Friend of the Ankoan, Queen to the Rook.

Character Alignment: Neutral Good

Sexual Orientation: Straight

Philosophy: “The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.”

Alliance or Horde: Alliance, however through her Dalaran roots Alia is allowed to maintain many contacts within numerous factions.

Physical Appearance

Race: Human (Stormwind/Dalaran)

Age: Early Adulthood (20-25)

Height: 5’ 9”

Hair color: Brown

Eye color: Violet purple

Body shape: Shapely

General description: Alia is a simple beauty; A tall young women with medium length brown hair that is almost always in need of a proper trimming and a band of freckles across her short nose. She has curves, but intentionally or not, she always seems to wear clothing that accentuates this. Often there are handwritten notes to herself on her palms and forearm, or her hands are stained with ink from her work. She always carries with her a well used, medium-sized, sun-bleached and ink-stained book bag slung over her shoulder and an old worn cloak in her arms. Both have seen much better days.

Face Claim: Katherine Langford

Distinguishing Marks

• For those with eyes to see, Alia's entire aura is brimming with volatile arcane energies. 

• Alia’s staff is an exotic marvel. It was made of a material that carries shades of deep purple, or at least artificially colored somehow to appear as such. The headpiece is a gem, deep and multifaceted as the Void while being smooth and polished, and glows with a soft lilac hue, with the same metal material bent into a spiral that surrounds the thing before extending upwards into a stiletto end that looks too sharp to be mere decoration. It carries heavy stylistic similarities to the staff Queen Azshara is usually depicted wielding.

• On occasion, Alia is accompanied by a red dragon whelpling that goes by Rorik, or simply Rori, short for his draconic name of Rorikstrasz. He tends to follow Alia closely, so you can't miss him. Assuming of course that he's not serving a time-out inside Alia's bag.

Personality and Demeanor

An intelligent bookworm, Alia is prone to losing herself in books and engaging in long speeches about obscure facts. She tries to share a smile with everyone she crosses paths with, but once frustrated, she turns that intelligence to the offensive, and can get quite cynical when she's frustrated for long periods of time. Alia is the kind of person that is always smiling to herself if not to others. Not to mention has a tendency to giggle randomly at a joke or witty comment that crossed her mind. Combine this with her passion for adventuring, and you have one very likable person with way too much power at her disposal.

She does have a terrible memory for faces, so if you've met before in the past, and your not established friends, it might take a minute for her to remember you. Despite the terrible memory, she has a sharp wit, and has the street smarts to see through the smoke and mirrors - she's not going to let herself be walked all over, and can lie her way out of most corners if forced.

As much as she has suffered at the hands of the Horde, she remains a neutralist. She's no Horde sympathizer, but unless they strike first she will not run out to meet them, nor will she allow their innocents to be hurt or their wounded to go untreated. This gets her in trouble more often than not, but so far she’s been lucky enough to get out of that trouble in one piece.

Other Information

Favorite Trade Skill: Inscription. Alia makes her own inks using herbs found around Azeroth. Her hands are usually stained because of this.

Main Character Hobby: Reading and being in places she really shouldn’t be.

Favorite Drink: Coffee, almost all bends. When it’s time to get drunk, she prefers Lavastone Port or Kaldorei Ginger Wine. Recently has come to appreciate Suramar Spiced Tea.

Favorite Food: Anything cooked by that irredeemable bastard Jon Chess.

Favorite IC Activity: Walking the length of the city, studying arcane lore, and turning Jon or Rori into sheep when they get on her last nerve.

Favorite OOC Activity: TRP Profile Watching. Like people watching, only more intense.

Background

Alia’s story begins like many other unfortunate souls: The Stormwind Orphanage. After defending a younger ward from bullies using wild arcane magics, she was scooped up by an Archmage and given a bright future as a student of the Kirin Tor.  Her training was standard, but it would have been completed much faster if this young upstart didn’t develop the habit of wandering off into libraries, ancient tombs or long-forgotten ruins. She became infamous as the girl who couldn’t keep her nose out of a book. While her magic capabilities dragged behind her peers, her knowledge of history, local legends, ancient relics, and cosmology became near unparalleled - and nearly got her killed during the Nexus Wars, when a fellow student turned traitor to the Kirin Tor thought she would make easy tribute to the Spell-Weaver, and she activated a Surge Needle to escape her would-be captors. She didn’t make it out completely unscathed; the raw power unleashed permanently altered her appeared, giving her the violet eyes she's known for today.

As the Cataclysm reshaped the surface of Azeroth, so too did it alter the course of Alia's fate. While performing a simple delivery for her Archmage, she came across a cave, ablaze with dragon fire in the Badlands. On the ground in front of its opening was a goblin woman, burned beyond what should have been possible and clearly not long for this world, trying to crawl out before the roof collapsed on top of her. In her arms, a smoking bundle. On her breath, a desperate plea: "Please take care of him for me." The earth claimed her shortly after, and Alia found herself in the care of a red dragon egg. Unprepared and unqualified for such a responsibility, Alia took him from place to place, seeking those of his own kind that could give him asylum. It was a road trip for the ages, and by the end, was it really a surprise when her new friend sought her out after she had returned to Dalaran? She named him Rorik, short for Rorikstraz, after a town mentioned in her favorite bedtime story. Never have there been such close friends and confidants. He even helped her cheat her fire magic exams!

The magic of friendship could not save the young apprentice when the mists parted and a new conflict erupted between the Horde and Alliance across the strange new land of Pandaria. Fleeing with more than just physical scars, and Alia found herself outcast from Dalaran. From everything and everyone she knew. She spent these years as a simple adventurer, helping common folk and experiencing life on the road. Things did not change much when the Iron Horde returned from another point in time. Alia finally settled down and devoted time to amassing arcane knowledge rather than studying hundred-year-old tablets or helping Little Jimmy out of an old well. But still, she kept her head down and out of the affairs of the world. It wasn’t until the Legion returned and she was personally invited by the Council of Six themselves that Alia reluctantly returned home to the floating city. She lent the aid critical for the Tirisgarde to recover powerful artifacts and aided the other Orders in securing the Pillars of Creation. For her service, she was allowed to regain her Kirin Tor membership, pending the success of the restoration of a tower belonging to an Archmage Theocritus after his abandonment of the structure. This was, it turned out, was something of a golden cage; The Tower was in severe disarray and disrepair, and thanks to the wonders of bureaucracy, she never received any further communication regarding her case. A purposeful move by those who wanted to make her suffer.

Chained to the system, she’d find solace in aiding her friends on their more exciting adventures, even going so far as to join a mercenary guild by the name of The Brotherhood of Valor. Many of her current friends and contacts came from this period. She ended up departing from their ranks, wanting to focus on mending rifts rather exacerbating them, but it was by no means a waste of time.

The Magna and her Rook ^

Enter Jon Chess; A green-eyed, silver-haired rouge with two sharp daggers and a sharper wit. Jon was (and still is) prone to dangerous acts of heroism, and became good friends with Arexzia, Lightforged medic and another good friend of Alia’s. At one point, Jon’s exploits left him addicted to a powerful narcotic derived from chaotic Fel energies, called Sa'Diablo, and Arexzia came to Alia, hoping her knowledge of magic and their interactions with the world could cure Jon once and for all. Alia did what she did best and together, the corruption was dispelled. Jon went his own way, and she went hers as newfound friends, and that was that

But Fate was not done with the two quite yet. Alia visited a bookstore by the name of ‘The Turned  Page’ on a glowing recommendation, and while searching for a replacement to her copy on the history of the Second War, who walks in but Jon himself, and a small Kaldorei child with him as well. (See the "The Search for Korynna Starwind" on Jon Chess's blog for more details) Jon and Alia's paths crossing in similar ways would become a common occurrence, and if Jon didn't already have a documented penchant for being at the right place at the right time, no matter the circumstance, one might think this was on purpose. The tipping point came in the form of two amateur footpads who made a pass at Alia, looking for a meal, but instead found a very cranky Rook - Jon Chess' assassin identity. Grateful for his timely aid, Alia invited Jon to visit her tower any time he pleased for a visit, and his acceptance marked the beginning of a relationship full of adventure and deep love.