Sympathy for the Devil

I’ve been playing my Forsaken Warlock lately and having recently reread Cynwise’s On The Forsaken I started to wonder more about her background, her story. I don’t RP, I am fascinated by it but always felt my lore knowledge wasn’t strong enough to come up with believable stories for my characters. The Forsaken has always been the race that I’m most sympathetic with of the playable races.

I don’t ask her about what happened, but I can’t help but wonder. Sometimes I think there are hints of a possible past. Anytime we’re around books she seems to linger. Perhaps she loved books as a child, or perhaps they remind her of a loved one now gone. I don’t know, she doesn’t say.

I do know she’s never at peace. Even in Undercity she’s always on constant watch for some perceived threat. At other times it’s a different watchfulness. You can catch her starring off into the distance as though she’s waiting or hoping for something or someone. But we never speak of it.

I don’t know what she did before Arthas and the Scourge happened to her. I don’t know what she went through to break free. I assume her allegiance to Sylvanas Windrunner must be strong but she never mentions it. She does her bidding, but I don’t know if she stands behind all of the actions of her leader.

I can’t fault her for her silence. We are both quiet people. We don’t speak much unless it’s related to the task at hand. I hope one day she’ll come to trust me enough to talk about her past, or for that matter her present feelings, but that day’s yet to come.

I guess the most important question has to be, is she evil? Did the killing and suffering endured by her and those she loved break her? Is she insane, evil, driven mad by what was done to her? Is she beyond redemption? I don’t know. Traveling through Hillsbrad Foothills I got the feeling that she isn’t, she may even have a sense of humor, but the flicker of humor was gone as quickly as it came. Now I’m not sure if I just imagined it.

We’ve traveled a long way together and she’s always had my back. We ride in silence. I still hope for just one sign of who she really is. Maybe one day I’ll have one. Until that day she has my sympathy. I will give her the benefit of the doubt. We’ll continue down the road until her story ends, one way or the other. Perhaps then she will share it with me.

Note: Yeah. You’re thinking, Ancient, what was that all about? My only explanation is the entire time I play her I’m hearing a steady diet of music like Within Temptation’s Faster, The Howling and of course my all time favorite Warlock music, Sarah Brightman’s – Fleurs Du Mal. Oddly, she is the only character that has this effect on me. The only character whose backstory I wish I knew. I don’t know, maybe I will someday.