Looking for help with my backstory please? (Void Elf Warlock)

Lore Role-playing
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Hello (^.^) /

I’m currently levelling up a void elf warlock to RP on and I’ve came up with a backstory I’m in love with but my problem is I tend to be able to come up with good stories but I’m not to savvy with the lore :sleepy: So they tend to be creative but… wibbly wobbly timey wimey :roll_eyes:

I very much appreciated any help anyone can offer!
I’ll try and keep this as short as possible but here goes…

My characters backstory would start with her parents, Blood elves living in Silvermoon who were outcasts because of their love for fel magic, Necromancy and all things evil. To escape the many eyes upon them they head off to the Ghostlands, where they find a small hut and settle down then have a child(My character). My character would then grow up around her parents wickedness and evil, learning only fel magic and necromancy. She would never know any better than the secluded life she lived with her parents and witness the most truest of horrors. Once older, When Umbric and his followers were exiled to the Ghostlands and her parents then learned of the void off them, her Parents would befriend them and follow alongside manipulating those around them. My character, now experiencing others for the first time would be learning the differences between them and her parents and truly noticing them for evil.
From this point on I kind of need a little more time to think what happened next but I’m wanting the conclusion to be along the lines of when they went into the void rift her parents fell instantly to the madness of the whispers because they had no sanity to begin with and when everyone was saved by Alleria, My characters parents were left behind in the rift to be enslaved by the Ethereals as the Alliance has no place for their evil and my character was spared and brought to Stormwind with the others

That’s the basis of the story :sweat_smile::sweat_smile:
So that way fel magic is the only magic she knows, and she would watch her parents summon demons etc. She knows its not right so she uses it for the good of the alliance to help people now. But of course the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree and all those years of her watching her parents torture and experiment has its toll on her and shes this type of Jekyll and Hyde type persona where she’s good but she’s also chaotic at times and has a bit of a split personality.

:+1: or :-1: Would this be considered a good backstory or do I have it all wrong?

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Pretty much! I’ll keep my input brief for brevity’s sake.

Firstly, the blood elves haven’t existed for long enough as an entity to have produced grown adults. If born since the sunwell’s corruption and scourge genociding the high elves, your character would be a young child.

Second, people typically over and underestimate the stigma placed upon fel magic but being exiled for it isn’t part of normality unless you’re a felborne mutant aligned with the Legion. Necromancy is a horrid taboo given recent history for sure (Dar’khan juitifiably villified as a great betrayer) but death knights are still tolerated. The story of exile just doesn’t make much sense.

My suggestion is to have your character be part of a family exiled for void related studies and political wrongthink but if the character must be orphaned, having her parents lost to void madness works.

If the premise is to be a character messed up by her surroundings, the average life of an Umbric aligned exile is enough. I would advice strongly against using such backstory to justify “random” behaviour and split personalities as it’s both unjustified and poorly regarded. Few people want anything to do with a crazy character who randomly shifts moods and it’s often thought of as an excuse to get away with bad behaviour and reinforces the stigma upon void elves as dangerous lunatics to avoid, poisoning the well for others.

I’d personally shave this story down to a grown but young elf in exile due to her family’s void research and politics with her parents lost due to being uncharacteristically reckless warlocks too eager to seek new power. She’d then strive to be better than them and use the dark power for good as a weapon against the evils that bore it.

One more detail is that being a warlock isn’t really something one teaches a young person as it demands discipline and moderation, juggling all kinds of dark and corruptive powers including fel magic. I’d say she picked it up recently by herself based on observation of her reckless parents, wanting to do better. She’d be on the path by choice, still new enough to make mistakes and face interesting struggles as she seeks answers. As a Void Elf she would already be trained to some mental fortitude to resist the whispers such that she wouldn’t be inclined toward chaos and madness.

I hope that helps but in the end it’s just, like, my opinion…

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The Orcs and the Shadow Council laugh at your precious notions of ‘safety’. If someone accidentally conflagrates their soul in hellfire from an accidental spell backfire or is devoured by laughing demons that they failed to dominate, t’is only an extension of natural selection!

But, on a more serious note, to answer your original post, Yuffle, it might be worth considering likely character traits based on your class and backstory.

To be a Void Elf, and especially a Warlock; means that your character has a very strong willpower. Her mind has endured the whispers of the void, and the fact she has communed with demons of supernatural power and age and still lives means your character is mentally tough as nails and not afraid to exert her will and dominance upon others, even beings greater than herself. Had she been meek or frail she likely would be dead or worse by now.

As such; while you may hide or downplay it, your character will have a powerful, dominant personality that may or may not spill into social interactions.

One thing to do note about playing a Warlock is that you will be irrevocably, irredeemable capital ‘E’ evil once you go past the novice stage, as you deal with the most blackest & foulest of magic, spreading suffering and corruption far beyond the scope of mortal crimes. While you may do it for a good cause, your sins will usually far outweigh your good in the end.

But the way Warlocks handle their corrupted path is what also makes it fun. There are many ways warlocks can deal with it.
Naivete/delusions - These are the warlocks who simply do not know the full consequences of their actions, and are blissfully unaware. Granted, the more experienced/knowledgable you become, the less likely this is.
Uncaring - This is the type of Warlock who simply puts any notions of morality, good and evil, behind them. They are much like sociopaths with a very limited or absent moral compass, and simply do not think about the evil they inflict, viewing such petty mortal concerns as irrelevant.
Embracing it - These are the warlocks who embrace the path of their wickedness fully, often relishing in it or even going mad. Gul’dan and many of his Orc followers are good examples of this.

These are just some examples, by all means not limiting, and I think one of the reasons why Roleplaying a warlock is so fun as it gives you a great opportunity to see how your character may act in an arc towards irredeemable evil. It makes for great tragic stories, especially ‘good person tries to use evil means for good’.

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Sorry I was trying to keep it short but no her parents would never of been exiled they would have left by choice to purse darker studies and be secluded.

As although the persona I was wanting for her she would never be an evil person per say rping wise she wouldn’t be nasty or try to get away with doing anything like it it would more so just be very chaotic for example talking to herself or just simple mood shifts but nothing overall nasty or mean :blush:

But I’m gathering that the backstory doesn’t work at all?

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I’m not saying that she’d be nasty but split personality and/or unpredictable moodswings are a classic indicator of a player adverse to consequence and consistency which turns others off from interacting with such characters.

Either way I’d rewrite the story and I’ve given what suggestions I could for it.

My own angle with this one is to weaponise the evil that nearly destroyed her people and turn it on itself. It’s an approach of ostensibly noble goals but she still works hideously foul magics that probably thins her soul every other go. Neither naive nor uncaring, I’d call it more a fatalistic approach of doing what’s needed at honest, unsentimentally calculated expense to herself and whatever else.

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I think I posted this elsewhere in the forums, but I agree warlocks need not be evil.

This character chose the dark, fel-illuminated path in search of ultimate power to compensate for “trauma” in his younger years.

As he was on the verge of completely destroying himself and endangering those around him, he had a profound catharsis largely thanks to one special person in his life, and decided to use the dark powers to do good.

While still greatly enjoying to inflict agony and destruction upon his foes… :smiling_imp:

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Others have already given good feedback but if you haven’t already I suggest reading about high elves/blood elves on wowpedia. My assumption is that a Warlock would find the act of siphoning mana from creatures more satisfying than others when they were taught the technique and be attracted to the power and thrill from fel magic. Even if you’re character is not evil per se, the magic they play with is corruptive and dangerous it will have some sort of impact on your character the more they use it. To make a real life reference, think of it like a hard drug, the substance will affect the user, and after a long period of using it, the behaviour will be affected. Fel magic is something to take seriously and is not for the weak minded. Pretty nasty stuff actually.

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Oooh, there’s a lot to say about this topic.

Firstly, the most important stuff. Neither blood elves (as blood elves) nor the Ghostlands (as the Ghostlands) were around for long enough for your character to have had a childhood there as a blood elf.
She couldn’t be older than 12 which is already kinda stretching it.

Marinya gave a fairly good suggestion for an alternative, though.

Secondly, I vehemently disagree with the statement that all warlocks are evil.
None of them are “lawful good”, obviously but they’re far from being completely malicious.
Void elves, death knights and demon hunters are prime examples for the magic wielders to not necessarily needing to subscribe to the ideology of the magic they wield.

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