<img>http://home.comcast.net/~langford1234/exarch/Alistair.gif</img> Alistair Ward
Biography: Alistair was the firstborn of Aidan Ward, a human soldier, and Silivren, a High Elf mage, seven years before the Orcish invasion of Azeroth. Although his mother was Elven, Alistair bore little, if any, of his mother's characteristics, including her natural magical aptitude. His hometown was the city of Lordaeron, now in ruins and declared Undercity by its current residents, the Forsaken.
Alistair's father Aidan had served in the Lordaeron armed forces for several years, battling the elusive Trolls in the forests of the kingdom of Lordaeron. Soon after Alistair's birth, however, Aidan retired from the military to take care of his son. Alistair grew up hearing many of his father's exploits as a soldier and one of the finest swordsmen in Lordaeron, and as such, wanted to be a soldier like his father. Aidan, however, did not wish for Alistair to experience the darker side of war and conflict. Aidan, however, did not shy away from telling Alistair his stories or play war with him as a child, and as such, Alistair's dream never died fully.
When news started reaching Lordaeron of an unknown army rampaging through Azeroth to the south, Aidan once more enlisted in the army. Soon after Aidan was reinstated, Anduin Lothar arrived with the remnants of Azeroth, pleading for help from the northern kingdoms. As a result, the Alliance of Lordaeron was formed, and Aidan was sent off to war with the rest of his battalion, leaving Alistair and a pregnant Silivren behind.
Alistair continued his studies, becoming particularly interested in history. He read about the various wars with the forest Trolls, the alliance with the Elves, the beginnings of magic, taking it all in with great enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Silivren gave birth to another child, the girl Ariel. Unlike Alistair, Ariel was almost full Elf, taking after her mother. Ariel discovered her powers very early in her childhood, long before she learned how to control it, getting her into trouble quite often and earning the rejection of her fellow children. As a result, Alistair was Ariel's only friend for much of her pre-teen life. Despite wanting to spare her from the corrupting influence of arcane magic and the Burning Legion, Silivren finally decided to teach Ariel to become a mage to control her powers.
As Alistair and his family remained in the relative safety of Lordaeron, the Horde rampaged and pillaged much of Quel'Thalas, taking the sacren Elven runestones and defiling them to make the Altar of Storms. Aidan and his fellow soldiers fought valiantly, and eventually push the Orcs back to Blackrock Spire. During the battle in the Burning Steppes, however, Lord Lothar is slain. Stirred by the death of their leader, the Alliance forces fall into a frenzy and push the Orcs back to the Dark Portal, where it is destroyed.
Aidan returned home to a massive celebration in Azeroth, heralding home the heroes of the war after two years of fighting. Alistair was further excited about becoming a soldier upon hearing tales of the War, despite the horrors that occured.
One year later, reports came from Nethergarde Keep that the Portal had opened once again. Aidan was called as a hero of the war with the Orcs to follow the raiders through the Dark Portal into the Orcish world of Draenor. Once again, Aidan answered the call of his people and left his family to face the Horde.
After another year of fighting, Aidan returned, though he had changed much since he had been away. The fighting in Draenor had been fierce, even worse than any of the fighting in Azeroth, culminating in the final destruction of Draenor. Aidan eventually regained himself after some time alone, but one could always see the look in his eyes of one who had seen too much. Soon afterwards, the Ward family moved to the city of Stratholme.
After a few years of living peacefully in Stratholme, Alistair got a letter from one of Aidan's old friends from the war, a blacksmith in charge of repairing and replacing swords and armor for his unit during the war. As a favor for Aidan's valiant efforts during the war, the smith offered to take Alistair as an apprentice in Stormwind. Alistair accepted, and moved off to Stormwind to begin his training.
Just a few months after Alistair left Stratholme, however, disaster struck. A plague started sweeping through Lordaeron, infecting several small towns and turning the residents into undead. Arthas Menethil, King Terenas's son and a Paladin of the Light under war veteran Uther Lightbringer, fought back against the plague, but to no avail. After some time, Arthas became crazed and violent. When the plague finally reached Stratholme, Arthas ordered the town to be destroyed. Alistair's mother, Silivren, died as the city burned. Aidan survived, later to join the Scarlet Crusade. Ariel fled to Quel'Thalas, the final order of her mother before she died. Eventually, however, Arthas assaulted Quel'Thalas, and Ariel went missing soon after.
Alistair, grieved by the loss of his family, turned to his tutor to learn the ways of being a warrior as well as a blacksmith. With his father's old, battered armor and sword with him - gifts given to him before leaving for Stormwind - Alistair swore to reforge his father's equipment and continue his legacy, becoming the avatar of his revenge against the Scourge.
During the process of rebuilding his father's armor, Alistair ventured into Stratholme with the help of a scouting party of Argent Dawn soldiers. In the ruins of his old home, Alistair was seperated from his team and found his father battered and bloody from a recent skirmish with the Scourge. After exchanging some parting words, Aidan died in Alistair's arms, only to be followed by a flood of ghouls as they assaulted Alistair. The Argent Dawn soldiers returned just in time to prevent Alistair's death initial death, but his wounds proved to be severe. During his evacuation to Darnassus, Alistair gave up his spirit and died. However, due to the quick action of a High Elven priest accompanying him and his team, Alistair was restored to life, albeit barely. He arrived successfully in Darnassus shortly after. The moonpriestesses there were able to treat his severe wounds, and prevent the plague from infecting his body.
Over the next two months, Alistair completed rebuilding his father's armor and sword, taking them up in the hope of one day restoring Lordaeron to its former glory, and to protect all of Azeroth from a similar fate.