Erebus'mal

Appearance
(coming soon!)

Birth
Unlike most Draenei seen on Azeroth today, Erebus'mal has the unique trait of being born on the Eredar homeworld of Argus. However, he was only a month old when he was forced to leave the rapidly changing world with Velen and his followers. Erebus was given a demonic name, his parents having sided with Archimonde and Kil'jaden in the alliance to the visiting and corrupting Sargeras. As the world descended into civil war, the mage Bashuul, a former friend of the family, stole the baby away from his tainted parents and brought aboard the Oshu'gun with the retreating Eredar, from then on known as the Draenei. Bashuul was old and set in his ways, and did not consider himself fit to raise a child in the loving home he would require. So, the aged cryomancer offered the child to a childless couple aboard the Oshu'gun. They gracially accepted, and decided to keep his name - the one remaining tie he would have to his birth parents.

Draenor
Erebus grew into a brash and ill-tempered young man, arrogantly choosing his own path even when it conflicted with the paladins who were training him. He was distrusting of the native Orcs of Draenor, finding their lack of affinity for the Light suspicious and dangerous. The young draenei's equal parts arrogance and ignorance should have ejected him from his training, but the influential hand of Velen ensured that the boy remain in the order, knowing of the events that would surrond his life and needing to ensure he remained on the path of the Light. Erebus would continue his training in the Temple of Karabor for some time, never really learning any discipline but coming adept in his affinity for the Light. One day, Velen would send him off to Nagrand to continue his training. The primary condition of Erebus's freedom from the temple was he was to never invade upon the land of the crashed Oshu'gun, which the orcs had secured as their own. Naturally, he disobeyed.

The Orcs
It didn't take long for Erebus to find trouble in the vast plains of Nagrand. Had he respected Velen's wishes and remained near Telaar Erebus would have never entered into the events that would change his life. As it was, Erebus was drawn to the large crystal ship in Nagrand, by both its beauty and his assumption that it should be the draenei and not the orcs who were allowed to be there. Against better advice, Erebus set out to reclaim the ship on his own, but upon reaching the vast expanse around the giant diamond, Erebus encountered a mammoth gronn, quickly engaging the brute in combat to prove his own prowess. He would learn a lesson in humility that day when the gronn would make quick work of the young draenei. Before the final blow could be struck, Erebus found aid in a wandering orc shaman, who saw to the draenei's rescue. Though saved, Erebus was mortally wounded and not long for the world. So the shaman Azrell took the paladin into the Oshu'gun to be healed by its magical properties, as well as by his shamanistic abilities.

Azrell purposefully made Erebus's recovery slow, forcing the paladin to take in his surrondings and live amongst the orcs and learn their language and their culture. Erebus once again was humbled by the orc, finding much tranquility in the shaman and his kin, and finally gaining an understanding and respect for the race he shared the planet with. The peace was not long to last, however, as the orcs would soon find themselves under the same demonic influence the draenei had been running from all these years.

The Betrayal
The paladin, now a bit older and much wiser, personally saw the fall of the orcs by the hands of the Burning Legion, the once proud race succumbing to the alluring taste of power the fel blood offered. His saddest day would come when Azrell, his savior, his friend, his brother, was found to have taken from the fount of fel blood and joined the demonic horde. Erebus knew of no other reason that Azrell would join the demon forces than what the others' had: power. Azrell was in fact trying to save his family, and in his haste took up the power of the Burning Legion to ensure their safety in the new order. Sadly, the orc's constitution was no match for the dark influence and he began his descent into darkness. With what little sanity he had left, he sought out Erebus at the Throne of Elements in hopes of gaining some recovery from the corruption - but on his journey realized there was no salvation, and instead forced Erebus to engage him in combat, seeking his own downfall and spare himself the shame of the seeing his people enslavement to the Burning Legion. Though relunctant, Erebus had no choice but to strike down his dear friend, a man he considered to be his brother.

Erebus returned to the Temple of Karabor, to Velen, embittered but prepared for the coming war.

The War
The knowledge Erebus had gained during his stay with the orcs made him pivotal in the resistance against the orcs. He knew their culture, their strategies, their strengths and their weaknesses. As Erebus fought against the rampaging orcs, with each orc he had to put down, he lost a little more respect for the once proud and peaceful people. The orcs persisted despite the efforts of the draenei and Naaru, and soon they found themselves pinned down at the Temple of Karabor. While many had to flee, Velen requested that Erebus stay behind - knowing of events Erebus would have to endure in order to grow in abilities as a paladin. Relunctantly, he agreed, and defended the the temple for as long as he could before the orcs overwhelmed the remaining forces. While many were killed, Erebus was one of the few that was taken prisoner - back to the Hellfire Citadel.

At the citadel Erebus would endure tortures the likes of which no draenei had faced before, all in the effort to get him to end his suffering - all he needed to do was agree to partake of the fel blood that had transformed the orcs. While Erebus had lost much in the way of respect for the orcs at that point, it was the teachings of his depared friend Azrell that kept him going through the worst of it. Through that, he remembered what made the orcs the great people they once were, and over time he regained his respect for them, and gained a compassion for their plight.

As the humans came to Outland to fight against the savage orcs, the numbers in the citadel dwindled, and Erebus finally had the opportunity to escape his confinement. After fleeing from the citadel, Erebus traveled first to Nagrand, to the site of Azrell's fall. There he meditated for days to find the strength to continue on, the wounds he suffered in the citadel burning deep in his flesh and soul. It was in a vision that he saw the prophet Velen, and the Exodar in Netherstorm. However, Erebus was far too weak to make the journey, and so accepting defeat, he laid himself down upon the ground and let his fate befall him.

The next morning, Erebus was surprised to have awaken at all. He examined his wounds, wounds so stained with demonic power that the Light could not properly heal them, were gone. Though some scars remained, he was renewed in his strength. Though he could never be sure, he believed it was the elements that guided him through his recovery, just as Azrell had done for him so many years ago. And so with his newfound strength, Erebus hurried to the Exodar to escape with his people.

The Crash
After the crash into Azeroth, Erebus was tasked with aiding in the protection of those rebuilding the Exodar and its scattered parts. During his time with them, he learned a great deal about engineering, and would build upon those skills through his travels. He would not leave the isles until he met the human paladin Lorthran Darmire, an ambassador sent to the draenei people to learn more about them. Erebus and Lorthran would eventually set out through Azeroth, both learning from each other new skills in the Light. It was on his travels with Lorthran that Erebus would run across the draenei huntress Ellaena. The two fell into a deep passion that spanned across their travels through Azeroth.

Eventually, Erebus felt sure enough in his skills to return to the broken husk of Outland, the shattered remains of his home of Draenor. Ellaena would not follow, however, still not ready to face her home world, in its torn state. The two would part ways and Erebus ventured through the dark portal.

Outland
It would be in Outland that Erebus would reunite with his adoptive sister, Patari, the cyromancer who studied under Bashuul. Along with the aid of the druid Ti'zell, the three journeyed across the cracked landscape of Outland, doing all they could to impeded the efforts of the Burning Legion and the pressence of Illidan. Eventually their travels would take them back to the Temple of Karabor, then the Black Temple, and face off against Illidan the Betrayer. Though triumphant, Ti'zell had fallen in battle. Patari would remain in Outland, to explore the land and learn more about its history, while Erebus would pass through the dark portal once more and return to Azeroth so he could join the Argent Dawn and their efforts against the undead - a plight set upon the world by the Burning Legion.

Northrend
The time came for the Alliance and Horde to venture to Northrend and battle against the Scourge where they were strongest. Under the banner of the Argent Crusade, Erebus would cut through the dangers of Northrend, leading up to a lengthy stay in Icecrown to tirelessly battle the Scourge. It was in Northrend that Erebus would reunite with his love Ellaena. Though again their paths led them in seperate directions, he bound by duty to the crusade and she tempted by the thrill of the hunt and treasure, they would fight together in the wastes of Icecrown.

During his time in Northrend, Erebus had the resources to truly develop his engineering skills. He saw that the Scourge's greatest strength was being able to turn the fallen into soliders to bolster their ranks. No matter how many battles he won, the Scourge barely felt a dent in their numbers. So he began his work on his "Personal Paladin" or "Justice Dispenser" - a mechanical device that could be planted in the battlefield to constantly emit surges of holy Light, healing the living and burning away at the undead, or be dropped from on high and explode upon impact to take out even greater numbers in a fraction of the time. Though it would not be perfected during his time in Northernd, his efforts to introduce a mechanical enemy to the Scourge, one that could not be converted to their side, helped in turning the tide of the war. It was during this time he would gain the surname "Lightgear."

Azeroth
With the Lich King's defeat, Erebus spent little more time in Northrend, aiding only in some slight clean up. Sworn to secrecy by Tirion about the fate of Arthas, Erebus returned to Azeroth to find some rest with his adoring huntress, Ellaena. However, all would not be well between the two. While Erebus was ready to lay down his armor and weapon and work only on his engineering to help aid the Alliance and Crusade, Ellaena was still eager for adventure.

While working further on his pet project, the Justice Dispenser, Erebus was granted the aid of fellow engineer and rogue Emise. Commissioned by the SI:7 to help with his progress on the device, she was also ordered to gain as much information as she could about the device for the Alliance. While Erebus was more than happy to help the Alliance any way he could, grateful for their acceptance of his race into their fold, he did not agree with their hatred of the Horde, and vice versa. He found the feud to be childish and refused to take up arms against the Horde of Azeroth. His device had the benefit of not having any effectiveness against those of the living, only harming those of the Scourge and Burning Legion. However, many high ranking members of the Alliance military wanted to tune the machine to harm those of the Horde.

As Emise worked with Erebus on the project, she also spoke in great lengths with Ellaena about her wanderlust. She encouraged the girl to break free of Erebus's seditary lifestyle and continue to explore Azeroth for big game and hidden treasures. To help in her decision, Emise welcomed her into the Blood and Gold Society, and underground guild of less than savory characters. Ellaena left without warning, to work in the shadows to sate her adventure lust...