Lyra Steamsmith

Summary
Lyra Steamsmith, the Death Knight that she is now is a generally cold and unsympathetic being to those around her with a disdain clearly present to many peoples even if she doesn't voice it. In life she was an energetic greedy business Gnome. Undeath however has lent her pursuing other interests alongside the defence of Azeroth. Battle pet raising and adventuring only serving to satisfy the one universal constant with this Gnome.

Her ego.

Physical Description
''Pale of skin, Lyra stands at an average height for a Gnome. Her once thin muscled body now more gaunt than anything. Flecks of dried blood are splattered over her neck and old scars crawl around parts of her body. Even her own hair which in patches may still hold a darker colour have now become a blank white, almost brittle to look at. Her cold blue eyes stare unblinking at those around her with an almost off-putting blank expression.''

Gear
''Thick black plate armour covers her body, scratched in many parts showing dashes of greys underneath. Her shoulderguards are decorated in bone ornamentation of drake skulls. Cold to the touch her armour is covered in a faint layer of frost snaking its way over all surfaces.''

''Her own pair of runeblades hang from the waist, chipped in places but still sharp to the eye. Small runes decorate the blades that now and then seem to glow in hues of blue and green.''

''Attached around her belt are a number of scrolls tightly bound to her form that glow a sickly green colour. A battered, torn book hangs from a thick chain clasp on her back, the cover showing a ripped yak head.''

''Her tabard however showing the colours of the Ebon Blade is clean, neat and pressed with no visible creases or marks on it. Care has been given to maintain its condition despite the rest of her appearance.''

Early Life
''Lyra Steamsmith was born in Gnomeregan around 75 years ago from current date, truth be told the records are murky over such and even memory can become fuzzy. She was born a couple years after her brother to a rather strict household. Her mother was an active member of Gnomeregan society, strict and demanding of the family to represent the very best of Gnomeregan ideals. Her father on the other hand was a middling tinker specialised in clockwork technologies and enjoyed status as a tinker within the city. However Lyra's early days were followed with strict home-schooled education, repeated beatings over emotional outbursts and to practice detachment from the world around her. Something she would struggle with for the rest of her life.''

''Upon leaving home at the age of 22 she would find work in Gnomeregan's tax offices for many years. Serving the state as her mother stamped into her. There she found a partner working as a courier through the city and eventually a family of two daughters came along. Where much the same as she was raised, her daughters were given similar raising. However lacking the certainty of her mother, Lyra's methods began to form cracks in her relationship with the rest of the family and eventually contact would be strained. Up until the Troggs began their attacks, she found new work in the cities office of public morale. Printing and designing propaganda posters for the effort, finding her own upbringing coming to attention of duty to the state. There she would work until the fall and her evacuation from the city where upon her husbands life was lost and while her daughters escaped as well contact was quite broken with their new lives in Stormwind. Her parents had similarly fled but towards Kalimdor and Theramore finding a new home there.''

''Upon finding herself unemployed and still brimming with patriotism she enlisted in the Gnomeregan forces. Aiding the Alliance war effort over several fields of battle. From specialist support in Kalimdor during the early days after the Third War aiding the Kaldorei to Outland where she spent a couple years at Toshley Station in the field. It was here she met Trazik Darkbolt and Wilson and began representing the ideals and supporting S.P.O.R.E. She would eventually be transferred back to Azeroth at the end of the Northrend campaign and find herself once more stationed on Kalimdor. There for a year she spent time as a prisoner of the Tauren during an engagement that went south in the wake of the new conflict with the Horde. Much is unknown of this time and little is gained from asking Lyra, however a respect for Tauren customs seemed to be born from captivity and a lingering corruption from a Twilight attack left longterm scars.''

''She would spend the remainder of her service until meeting Arclight working with Gnomeregan Covert Ops and a branch only known as Section Fourty-Two. Her deployments for the record are classified and remain so until this day.''

Arclight Career
''Lyra found employment with The Arclight Association during the Legion invasion of Azeroth. Seeking them out in a period of their redemption after a period of being a rogue organisation. Unknown at the time was her link to an intelligence oversight but she found the promise of exploration an alluring one. She found an immediate connection to Ermalina Sparkblade the then leader of the association. It was shortly after such joining that deployment to the Thandol Span happened, (See the Thandol Span Incident for more). It was here she was met with loss once more of Ermalina and a downward streak began of reckless behaviour, paranoia and guilt that would surface many times down the line. Over time she aided in many missions, expeditions and covert work. Including bringing back the former leader of the association Brandelwyn Brassfizzle and keeping an eye on troubling employees of the association who were once more speaking of potential treason and a return to their rogue status. Dark times loomed over the association that took many months to clear with the looming divide of loyalist and seccesionists within the association.''

''A few individuals however were picked out by Lyra despite her detached state and friendships being a strong word were forged. Including with Brandelwyn's own daughter Quizley Brassfizzle and an undead of the Ebon Blade, Molly. Many expeditions and adventures were had along the road. Plots and schemes were hatched and the pursuit of material wealth led to her starting a farm in the Wetlands for yaks and marsuul. Initially a research cause for their benefit to the Khaz Modan region, their use became primarily economic based over time with the "Yak Shack" being a notable brand name for her goods. The Steamsmith Trading Company would then be formed as an extension of this over the course of her time with Arclight.''

''One incident however sent her down a path she never did crawl back from. Honouring her debt to the memory of Ermalina Sparkblade, many deals were struck with eldritch entities which sent her down the path of damnation. Haunted by the visions of the Old Gods and barely keeping a grasp of her sanity, the one final deal that sealed her fate was to return Ermalina to life at the cost of Lyra's future. This would eventually lead her into bumping heads with many in Arclight viewing her as unstable and not even what monk practices she picked up over time were enough to control the spiral. Finally one thing was clear, her salvation would only be found in ending her life before she became a pawn of the Old Gods. This end was found in Northrend where on the pursuit of the Mechagonian Loyalist Mobius Doomcoil and George alongside the Bilgewater Battalion she spent her life. With an epic aerial fight utilising the full extent of her monk abilities and determination she ended the threat of Mobius Doomcoil and crashed into Icecrown where she died shortly after.''

Undeath
''If one thing is certain about Northrend. The dead do not stay quiet for long.''

''The Ebon Blade an organisation that in life Lyra despised found use in the determined spirit of Lyra Steamsmith and saw to her broken remains gathered from the frozen wasteland of Icecrown. There in the stillness of undeath her mind finally found a sense of peace. Loyalties have changed, her home has changed. Even those around her no longer share the same level of importance to herself. A new mission was made clear much like to others raised, the future safety of Azeroth was of primary importance.''

''Hatred flows through frozen veins. Hatred of the enemy that tormented her mind until its end, hatred of every evil that has visited Azeroth and seen it and her suffer. It is a powerful motivator and one she fully intends to help fan and spread its power through her form. She brings the bristling and terrifying powers of frost to those who oppose her, the Ebon Blade and dare harm those in Arclight she has deemed important to the safety of this world. However, casting off the blindfold of life she has agreed to a set of principles, the full extent are only known to her and her new masters in Acherus. One however is clear, to never strike against the Horde unless a threat exists upon her own self.''

''Over time she has found without the need for sleep a great many hours of the day have become available for other things. She has taken to raising small critters for battle in a competitive and research based cause, studying runes of power for her own goals. And adventuring, where a number of contracts have already been completed for local villages and towns that Arclight find themselves near.''