| Sir Shindo Malphur | |
|---|---|
 Shindo wielding The Raven's Talon (Art by https://fenriersden.tumblr.com) | |
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Name |
Shindo Malphur |
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Age |
32 |
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Family |
Unknown (Mother) |
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Born |
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Home |
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Titles |
Knight of the Citrine Eagle |
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Affiliations |
Grand Alliance |
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Status |
Alive |
Sir Shindo Malphur is a Knight working for the Alterac Silver Hand Chapter known as the Citrine Eagle.
History
Sir Malphur the Elder and the Culling of Stratholme
Sir Malphur, Knight of Lordaeron, was called to aid Prince Arthas in the Culling of Stratholme to stop the plague. He had his infant son, Shindo Malphur, sent to Northshire to be taken care of by the Priests in the Abbey. The Priests kept the indentity of his father a secret, as they didn't want the boy to learn that his father slew many plagued people in Stratholme. In truth, Sir Malphur was there not only to obey his Prince's command, but to ensure the safety of the other Knights. Sir Malphur fell with several Knights, all trying to stave off hordes of ravenous undead citizens. Shindo's mother would have no idea as to what happened to her son. Wherever she may be...
Starting Out
Through his youth, the Priests of Northshire tutored him in the Light, becoming an adept priest for a time. At the age of 13, he has lessons with the passing guardsmen and warriors, showing much more promise as a fighter than a preacher. At the age of 20, he sets out to fulfill his dreams of changing the world for the better as a budding Paladin. He moved through the Elwynn Forest, solving disputes, saving the innocent and inspiring people to better themselves. A year after his journey started, the people of Darkshire required his aid to be a judge for cases involving the townsfolk. They came to him as he was clearly a man of the Light and as a newcomer in the town, he was completely unbiased. He remained in Darkshire for seven months before taking off on his journey again. He followed the rumor that his father was a Knight at Stratholme and explored the ever-burning city with a group of adventurers. There, they found the dreadlord Balnazzar in the guise of the Scarlet Grandmaster, Saidan Dathrohan. Together, they dispatched the dreadlord, but as he found out some time later, he would not truly be slain on this world. Finding no real information about his father, he pressed on and kept to the Path he was set on, to brighten the world wherever he was. But when the call went out that the Dark Portal was opening, he immediately knew that he'd need to be there to assist in anyway possible. Shindo crossed the Portal with the Alliance to fight the demons on the other side.
Through the Portal
Shindo moved with the Alliance from Hellfire to Terrokar Forest. There, he had first met the Arakkoan people, crazed in trying to find a way to please their fallen king, Terokk. He saw a group of them performing a ritual to do just that, with a small peculiar looking bird caged with them. Shindo saw the fear in it's eyes and sought to stop the ritual and free the bird from it's fate. The dread raven hatchling, he named Munnin, followed him through thick and thin. From then on, Munnin was his companion. It was an intelligent bird, and clearly understood his words as he spoke to Munnin like he would anyone else. They were inseparable really. Their bond grew as they moved through Outland as the hatchling grew large enough to carry Shindo swiftly through the field of battle.
Once the Heroes of Azeroth defeated The Betrayer, Illidan Stormrage, he and Munnin, like many Alliance soldiers, returned home for a well deserved rest. It would be during this solemn time that Shindo decided to take up the smithing trade. He apprenticed under a group of blacksmiths in Stormwind and learned the tricks of the trade. His new skills will come in handy as that peace was short lived. The Lich King sent his undead forces to attack Stormwind City. A floating necropolis loomed overhead. He was among the many that took the fight back to the Lich King by striking down the undead at the gates, then crossing the sea to Northrend.
One Place At A Time
Shindo thought the best way to combat the Lich King would be to tag along with the Argent Crusade. At this time, Shindo was a Warrior of the Light. Fighting for truth and justice wherever he may be. Wandering from place to place, he felt, would help achieve his ultimate goal of making the world better. One place at a time. It's this reason why he never joined the Argent Dawn, then come into the Argent Crusade. He dreaded the idea of being stationed while there could be someone out in the world in need of help.
Shindo did what he could to assist the Crusade however. Stomping down some undead here, ground some gargoyles there. It wasn't glorious work, but he was happy to do it. During the campaign, he was shown a location of cultists by some scouts. He and Munnin took off to cease their actions.
Shindo would keep Munnin hidden while he did some scouting on his own. He soon found that the group of cultists were more than that. Gargoyles, nerubians and a fowl Death Knight known as Orbaz Bloodbane was accompanying them. Shindo was soon caught and brought before Bloodbane. The Death Knight relished in the idea of torture and conversion for Shindo. He was soon taken prisoner and held in a cage with other Argent Crusaders.
Some time would pass before Shindo was next in line for torture. Looking outside his bars for some means of escape...it would drop in on him. From the skies, a jailer's key-ring would fall. Munnin had swiftly taken the jailer and dropped the key for Shindo, it seemed. Shindo took this opportunity to free the other captives and have them arm themselves for freedom. He then swiftly armed himself with a shield from one of the fallen knights and beat back the undead and cultists.
Looking for other captives, he would be confronted by the Death Knight. Furious that so many prisoners had escaped, he looked to take his rage out on Shindo. He did his best to block the Death Knight's runeaxe with the scavenged shield, even landing in some solid strikes. But alas, Shindo was unarmored and the shield had been damaged from the fighting.
Swiftly, Munnin swooped down and batted Orbaz away, clutching Shindo in his talons and taking off. Shindo would forever remember how his friend saved him from certain doom as Orbaz Bloodbane cursed him and his meddling bird too.
From then on, Shindo and Munnin wouldn't stray too far from the Argent camps during the Northrend Campaign. As the Heroes of Azeroth went on to test their might in the Argent Tournament, and to further prepare themselves to fight the Lich King at the Icecrown Citadel, Shindo would be doing what he could to keep the Scourge at bay. It would be sometime before The Lich King fell when Shindo decided he would prepare for his return home. He had full faith that the Heroes of Azeroth will defeat the leader of the Scourge.
Under A Dragon's Wings
After the Northrend Campaign ended and the Lich King was defeated by the hands of the Heroes of Azeroth, Shindo returned to Stormwind. He normally recluses himself to the Dwarven District of the city to learn the blacksmith trade. Realizing his armor would likely be in need of constant repair and maintenance, and he was short on coin at the time, he would just do it himself. He made plenty of friends in his time there, even apprenticing over an old dwarven smith who regularly worked at the forge. It was peaceful, for a time. The scars of Northrend healing well.
While forging himself a fine blade, his first weapon he made by hand, Shindo heard a bellowing roar in the distance. The shadow and heat of dragon wings flew over Stormwind. Deathwing, the Aspect of Death, has come. The City was in panic. Hours ago, everyone was smiling and enjoying the day. Now, the sky was red and the winds burned. The ground rumbled when the dragon landed on the entrance to the City. Shindo did what he could to get the people in the District to shelter.
While the Heroes of Azeroth went to hunt this dragon and save the world, Shindo was in Stormwind, assisting in repairs. While sending out for supplies, he saw a banner setup for the Silver Hand Recruiter. He looked to his cart of metal and tools, then to the banner and chuckled. “Not today.” He said to himself. He knew where he was needed. He put his faith in the Heroes of Azeroth to protect himself and the rest of the world. They have done it before, he knew they would do it again.
Aspirant of the Silver Hand
It would be a couple of years before word got out that Deathwing was slain. The world was saved, yet again, by the Heroes of Azeroth. Shindo rejoiced at first...but doubt plagued his mind. Not in the Heroes or the world, but in himself. One night, late in the evening, as Shindo was laying in bed, he thought to himself, “Could I have helped more had I spoken to that recruiter? Joined the Silver Hand?” He pondered this thought for several months while going about his day to day life. The results of the Cataclysm was being spoken of in the District. Shindo had overheard the new southern continent called “Pandaria” has revealed itself, and that war was imminent with the Alliance and Horde.
While smithing a pauldron, he realized that he could in fact be helping with the warfront. Assisting the soldiers of the Alliance directly. With that, he dropped his hammer and the piece he was working on and ran to where the recruiter of the Silver Hand once was. He signed up with The Silver Hand Chapter of Stormwind and dedicated himself to their cause.
Shindo had become an Aspirant of the Silver Hand and offered his blade and smithing talents to them and to the Alliance. His first mission lead a group of them to Silverpine Forest. He aimed to impress the Knights that he accompanied. The task was simple, aid a group of Gilneans through the forest safely through now Horde controlled territory. It wouldn’t be long before the group was attacked by the Horde’s hulking orcs and foul Forsaken troops. Shindo’s first battle since Northrend, it was. He was a bit rusty, but his reflexes awoke. Parrying blows and returning them to his opponent. An Orc who didn’t care to introduce himself. Shindo was a fine fighter, but he was supposed to be a Paladin of the Light. He had to show what he could do.
During the battle, one of his allies was thrown aside by an enraged orc combatant and charged Shindo while he was fighting another. The Aspirant Shindo was being overwhelmed, but didn’t let up. Shindo ran one of them through with his blade and grabbed the other by the eyes. The Light came to his call and it blinded the Orc, leaving it defenseless. The Knights questioned the Orc while Shindo went to get his wounds healed. They learned the Horde’s patrol routes and avoided them well enough to escort the Gilneans to safety.
Any of the other Aspirants would have chosen to slay the Orc once he was blinded, just to impress the officers, but Shindo chose the choice that led to less bloodshed. It got him a good reputation for thinking outside the box. He had made his first mark.