The daughter of Thane Zulatobari Greatforge, so named after the clans great ancestor, Zulbar Greatforge. She is a potent paladin and seeker of lost lore, she knows how to swing that hammer and how to cut and appraise gems too.
THIS IS HIGHLY OUTDATED!
Physical Description[]
Standing a rather average height of 4'4" and weighing a similar average of 147 lb, Mairla is an average, if a bit wiry, dwarf. Her long crimson hair is usually braided or even bundled to keep it out of her way.
Rarely without her armor, she wears a thorium-mithril alloy that was masterfully crafted by her father, the Thane of Clan Greatforge. Completing her armor is a circlet of almost pure gold that was also made for her by her father. The circlet and armor are both runed by her uncle, the warlock known as Kalrum, but neither resonate as evil or have any fel or void connections. They instead feel arcane in nature and are expertly made.
Her weapon is a completely different matter, it is clearly an ancient greathammer, a maul, that is also of titan make. It radiates with the holy light, some of it coming from Mairla, the rest coming from the hammer itself. When asked where she got it, she merely responds in an ancient titan vault dedicated to the Keeper Tyr, and while not nearly as strong, it was created in homage to Tyr's own hammer, The Silver Hand.
Personality[]
Curious, kind, and helpful. She can be naive, but more then makes up for it in her courage and tenacity to do the good thing. She's honorable and has a respect for the older races, and in part to her natural curiosity, has a love for knowledge and books that often leads her to long periods spent nursing a single tankard as she reads.
History[]
Early Years[]
Born shortly before the Dark Portal opened, Mairla's mother was killed and she almost suffered the same fate if it was not for a wandering Wildhammer warrior known as Dolmir. He took the baby to Thelsamar where Mairla grew up without knowledge of her clan, and she quickly grew bored. By the time the Second War rolled around, she had already explored all of Loch Modan and even made foot trips to Ironforge for the hell of it. She'd always return, not even an adult yet in the eyes of her adopted family, the Silverhearths.
The Second War[]
That would change when Dolmir returned during the Second War, and as a paladin no less! He sought out Mairla to check up on her and got far more then he asked for as she demanded stories, tales, and other bits of information to feed her intense curiosity. When those finally dried up, she realized she wanted to be like him, she wanted to adventure and asked him to teach her. He refused, and shortly thereafter he left to join his Wildhammer kin before Khaz Modan fell. Of course, as the outer defenses fell, Mairla and the rest of the dwarves who managed went to Ironforge for protection. She survived the war and returned to Thelsamar to rebuild, and it was then that a magically aged Dolmir returned. The poor recipient of a warlocks curse, he did not have long to live, and agreed to teach Mairla what he knew and what he had learned.
Dolmir's Death and Mairla's Conviction[]
By the time he died, Mairla was a rather good fighter and even able to call upon the holy light. Although it was rather weak, but what strengthen her conviction and allowed her to obtain greater power over the light was her quest. Given to her by her mentor in the process of her training, it was to seek out and learn the secrets of the light from the Titan Keeper Tyr. Dolmir, in his travels had come across stories of an ancient hero with a silver hand who was a champion of honor and virtue. Of course, at the time it was not known Tyr was a keeper, merely a champion in ancient human chronicles. But Dolmir had a feeling that this Tyr had lessons to pass on, secrets to be unearthed somewhere, and he passed this onto Mairla. That, and his holy symbol, his prayerbook, and her mothers locket with symbol of her birth clan.
Finding Her Roots[]
Finding her real father took time and once she finally matched the symbol of the locket to the clan and found her father, it was an even harder challenge to convince him of her legitimacy, but she managed and was named heir to Clan Greatforge for she was his only daughter. Since then, she's went all across the world with the Explorer's League, acting as her fathers in-between for the clan and the league. During this time she found her hammer, her father and uncle made her armor, and she was living her dreams of being a explorer.
A Change of Heart[]
That was until a fateful expedition to Silithus where her faith would be tested and found wanting. Led by another dwarven paladin who ended up being already corrupted, she and another dwarf, a priest, would be captured and used as slaves to fight the rest of the expedition. In the end, she and the priest were saved and the paladin slain, but the dark powers left a stain on her soul that would fester in time.
Redemption[]
It eventually led to Mairla suddenly leaving Ironforge and willingly entering a known Twilight camp, she was captured, tortured, and forced to serve the Old Gods once again and only after the extreme efforts of her family and the allies they hired was she saved. And this time, leaving nothing to chance, her uncle Kalrum, and her aunt Fjrorum drew forth all the shadow they could find and purified her the best they could. Shes since recovered and is ready to fight the Legion.
Quotes[]
"Fer Tyr's Light!"
Trivia[]
Mairla's first touch with the Old Gods occurred during a roll event in Ahn'qiraj, hosted by a Dwarf Paladin named Thelodahr. This occurred right before the prepatch to Legion!
Mairla went missing and I actually did not roleplay her for four months as I hosted events on another character. Her father in specific. In total I did three such events titled aptly, "Mairla's Missing part 1, 2, and 3." All three events occurred during the Legion expansion and it was largely because she learned of Tyr's Death that drove her over the edge.
Afterwards, I wrote a short story about her redemption! Which I shall link down below.
External Links[]
Mairla Greatforge: Armory Page
Mairla Greatforge: Steelgrasp Page