Anne Ashvale

Anne Elizabeth Ashvale is the youngest daughter of Jordan and Mira Ashvale, and a semi-retired Argent Commander. A career soldier, Anne has spent the better part of her adult life in service to the Kingdom of Lordaeron and later, the Argent Crusade. She left active duty in the Crusade after Tirion Fordring's refusal to act against the horde despite the myriad atrocities committed by the forsaken, but continues to aid the Argents in their struggle to rid Lordaeron of the remnants of the Scourge.

Appearance
Taller than most women and just as rugged as some men, she seems perfectly suited to a life of combat. Any trace of her feminine figure is usually hidden beneath layers of boiled leather over mail or battered plate. Save for her chest, her body is more muscle than curves, especially her legs. On the rare occasion that she wears something revealing, numerous scars are visible on her arms and on her back, indicating that she had probably spent the better part of her adult life on one battlefield or another.

Never what most would consider beautiful, the years of battle have certainly not been kind to her. Her hair is an uneven mess, often unwashed and looking as though she'd cut it with her own belt knife. Her nose appears to have been broken more than once and just a glance at her hands would suggest she was no stranger to the occasional fist fight.

Armor
Her armor is nothing extraordinary. Simple, battle-worn plate and chain, scraped and dented from years of use. In battle, she often wears a greathelm with a full face shield and narrow eye slits. When wearing full armor, she is sometimes mistaken for a man due to her size and strength.

Favored Weapons
Ash: The family greatsword, named for it's grey-steel blade, the weapon measures 52 inches in length, and weighs nearly four pounds. It has a wide, cruciform hilt, wrapped in blue leather. The sword is also presumably the source of her nickname.

Lichbane: A Saronite bastard sword, claimed after defeating a scourge champion in single combat. Not a true greatsword like Ash, Lichbane would be considered a "hand-and-a-halfer" and it is often worn on her hip.

Personality
As a career soldier who has survived many of the most horrific military engagements of the last decade and a half, Anne's shortcomings are fewer than one might expect. Despite being born into an aristocratic family, one would never describe her as a proper lady. Prone to binge drinking while on leave and possessing a tongue that is as well-sharpened as her sword, Anne can be difficult to deal with, especially for those who have no military background. She is never more comfortable than when she is in combat and while on leave, she seems to struggle with integrating herself back into society.

Relationships
Anne has always struggled to maintain what one might describe as a healthy relationship--be it platonic or romantic in nature. At thirty four, she remains unmarried and unattached, preferring brief and emotionless encounters with men and women alike. Despite her apparent inability to maintain a romantic relationship, her fellow soldiers are treated as if they were family, and Anne would stop at nothing to protect them.

Despite numerous invitations to visit them, Anne has not seen any of her family since her brother Ethan's funeral after the fall of Icecrown. She did not attend her nephew James' funeral, but is said to have visited his grave frequently while traveling through the Eastern Plaguelands.

Residences and Wealth
Since the fall of Lordaeron, Anne has lived at one barracks or another, never settling in one place for longer than a year. She owns no houses, nor does she rent rooms. What coin she is paid goes toward maintaining her weapons and armor, and what remains often goes to gambling, alcohol or friends in worse circumstances than her own. It is said that her prized possession is her late brother's greatsword, a weapon which she is never seen without. Although the weapon traditionally passed from father to first born son, she retrieved it from the battlefield after Ethan fell, passed it on to his son James, who died without an heir just two years later, and bequeathed the blade to her.

Following her nephew, Lord Blackwood's death in combat, Lady Anne has taken over as acting director and President of the Ashvale Trust during the new Lord Blackwood's minority. She presently resides at Westvale House in Stormwind, where she handles all the day-to-day operations of the Trust. As per the last will and testament of Lord Blackwood, Lady Anne now receives an annual stipend of one hundred thousand crowns, fifty percent of which she intends to donate to the Trust, and a further twenty five percent to be donated to a relief fund for the families of Alliance soldiers who have perished during the war against the Iron Horde.

History Born and raised at the Ashfort, Anne had the terrible misfortune of growing up with the knowledge that her mother's death was a result of her coming into the world. Although her father never directed a single unkind word at her, Lord Jordan wanted little to do with his youngest daughter, and Anne spent much of her childhood in the care of her elder brothers and a governess. Always a tomboy, Anne took to swordplay at an early age and without any protest from her father, she was trained by the Castle's master-at-arms.

Military Service
As the youngest daughter in a prominent family, Anne's options were always rather limited and rather than allow herself to be married off like her elder sister, she elected to serve Lordaeron's Army. Enlisting at just eighteen years old, she quickly managed to get a transfer out of her father's Regiment, and would end up serving the 23rd Regiment of Hearthglen, attaining the rank of Sergeant at just twenty one.

Aspirations of Knighthood
At twenty one, Anne approached her eldest brother Ethan, expressing her desire to become a Knight of the Silver Hand. While Ethan found the notion rather humorous at first, Anne quickly proved that she was far more determined than most. She would undergo two years of paladin training before being deemed unworthy by Hearthglen's Bishop, but not for lack of skill. In the words of one of her trainers, "Lady Anne lacks the temperament necessary for one to serve as a paladin of Lordaeron. Her skill at arms is beyond reproach, but this alone is not enough." At just twenty two years old, Anne became disheartened and abandoned her paladin training to return to her Regiment.

Knight of the Silver Hand
Under the guidance of her brother Thomas, who felt that she should be given a chance to prove herself, Anne resumed training as a paladin at twenty three. After completing her final trial, Sir Thomas Ashvale proposed her for membership in the Order of the Silver Hand, and Anne was finally accepted, albeit by a narrow margin. At the age of twenty five, she was inducted into the order in a small ceremony at Alonsus Chapel in Stratholme. Both of her brothers were in attendance.

The Fall of Lorderon
Although Anne was never what the Order considered a model paladin of the Silver Hand, she served faithfully, obeying orders without question, and accepting the tasks which most of her brothers and sisters in arms might have considered demeaning. Throughout the plague of undeath and the rise of the Scourge, Anne continued to serve the Knights of the Silver Hand until it was suspended by Prince Arthas.

The Scarlet Crusade
Counted among the original members of the Scarlet Crusade, joining the order seemed a logical choice to Anne. With much of Lordaeron's aristocracy and surviving clergy having dedicated themselves to the cause, the Scarlet Crusade seemed to be the only hope for the survival of Lordaeron. Her disenfranchisement and eventual departure from the Scarlet Crusade can be attributed to both the slaughter of countless innocents, and her own experience at the end of an inquisitor's whip. She still has nightmares about the former, and her back still bears the scars left by the latter.

The Argent Dawn
Anne was later taken in by the Argent Dawn, an order which she has often declared to be what the Knights of the Silver Hand should have always been. Anne still regards her time with the Argent Dawn as the best years of her life, and has remained with it ever since--even in its present incarnation, the Argent Crusade.

The Battle of Light's Hope
Coming Soon!

The Northrend Campaign
Coming Soon!

The Siege of Icecrown
Coming Soon!

Retirement
Unhappy with Highlord Fordring's refusal to engage the forsaken and his insistence on maintaining a neutral stance in subsequent conflicts, Anne was granted semi-retired status, but retains her rank and continues to aid the Crusade in its mission to rid Lordaeron of the remaining Scourge. Since her departure from the Crusade, she has served as both a combat instructor at Alliance High Command, a hired sword for a number of mercenary outfits, and most recently served a single tour as Commander of a small Alliance force on Draenor during the conflict with the Iron Horde.

Although she presently serves as acting director and President of the Ashvale Trust, Lady Anne has sworn to return to Shadowmoon Valley to recover her nephew's remains and see that he is given a burial befitting a man of his rank and station. Regarded by many as a suicide mission, Lady Anne remains optimistic, having assembled an elite team of six hardened veterans for the task.

With distant relations coming out of the woodwork and all seeking a piece of the late Lord Blackwood's wealth, many question whether this is indeed the time for Lady Anne to leave the estate under the control of its Dowager Countess. Despite those voices, Lady Anne insists that recovering her nephew's remains is a matter of personal honour and will not be dissuaded.