“First things first, please state your Name and age for all of the people at home that may see this.”
My name full name is Quincinatus Shadowbane. I prefer Quin. I… don’t remember my age, exactly, but I should be a bit under forty, now.
“What’s your occupation, or line of work? How do you live your day to day life?”
I am an Ebon Commander, or a Field Commander, of the Shadow Vault unit of the Ebon Blade. That constitutes the organization of death knights and Ebon Blade agents, in the field, during operations. Our unit is small, and I am the only one, so I am often required to do some… managerial work that is typically above my station. I draw a lot of scouting routes. I also watch over prisoners.
“Where do you live, or are you someone who travels a lot?”
Living somewhere is… strange, now. I don’t have a need to “live” anywhere. I don’t sleep. I just exist, wherever I am, working. I’m also working on claiming my family farm in what is now the Eastern Plaguelands but there’s some… disagreement about it.
“Who do you live/travel with? Are you by yourself, or do you have family, friends, or any animal companions?”
I have those of my unit, with whom I try to be as close as I can. I have some living family left, but they… live their own lives, now. I have my steed, Spite. Undead. Not really a companion.
“Do you enjoy living/traveling with them?”
The short answer is I try. With regard to my comrades, I wouldn’t have it any other way, leaving aside the times where they don’t know what’s good for them.
“What factions do you align yourself with, if any?”
The Knights of the Ebon Blade, since their inception, have been neutral to the Horde and Alliance war, as members of both factions were taken into the Lich King’s service and subsequently liberated. I have… sympathies. I have friends with different sympathies.
“Who do you love in life? Where did you meet?”
I… I don’t really want to talk about that. Suffice it to say that “love” is very different, now, if not replaced by something else entirely. It’s not romantic.
“What sort of strange food combinations do you really enjoy to eat?”
I don’t “eat,” anymore, because I don’t taste, and whatever I put into my stomach will probably stay there. Not that I’d know–I haven’t tried. As a death knight, I have a… compulsion to inflict suffering. I choose to do so in what, I think, is the most just and decent way possible. I use harpies, gnolls, defiant ogres, kobolds, and other malignant blights, as well as abundant wild animals, like wolves and bears.
…It’s the best I can do.
“What sort of hobbies do you enjoy doing in your past-time.”
I aid locals in their encounters with various cultists, though that’s something I do when I have my own time, and is a part of my job. I put on civilian clothes and go to sermons. In the back. Being too close to the altar is… uncomfortable, as is most blessed ground, but the outskirts are okay. As best I can, I work with reforming some of our Cult prisoners, helping them see that their actions are wrong and helping them repent. It’s… very, very, very hard.
“Any sort of tips or tricks you want to share to people out there who may be interested in doing that themselves?”
The Light accepts all who are willing, and as long as you give your heart to it willingly, it will bless you with strength, no matter who you are.
…With regard to reforming prisoners? Lots of restraints. Figurative and literal.
“What animal would be cutest if scaled down to the size of a cat?”
…I like horses. I don’t know if that answers your question.
“What story do you enjoy hearing over and over, never getting tired of it?”
The tale of the prodigal son. Promises great hope for us all, I think.
“When did something start out badly for you but in the end, it was great?”
I… can’t say I’ve had so rewarding an experience. Going to church, again, after being risen, I think. Very awkward. Mildly painful, itching everywhere, and I don’t itch. It hurt to see, and I don’t hurt anymore. But I learned what I should have learned a long, long time ago.
“What would a world populated by clones of you be like? “
More just, I think. I hope. I… really, really hope. If you ask my comrades, they might say more boring. I’m… I’m not that boring.
I used to have lots of fun, you know.
“Tell Me, What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen or experienced?”
I’ll be honest, I thought the whole, “time travelling to another planet” business was a hoax. Part of me still doesn’t believe it. But I had a comrade who died and met her… other self? From the past? I don’t know what it’s called. She… her… cremated and buried her… self. On that planet. In the past. That I visited. That sure was something.
Part of me is convinced this is a conspiracy.
“What’s the most ridiculous thing you have bought on a whim?”
Little puzzle toys. Don’t ask, please.
“What’s the worst hairstyle you’ve ever had? “
By default, this one. I don’t mean to brag, but, in my day, I had no need for other hairstyles.
Now I… have no need for them at all.
“If you were gifted a massive plot of land, say 500 acres, what would you want to build on it?”
Farm. Wheat, rye, barley, oats. Have a few livestock, to graze the fallow. Cows, chicken, maybe some horses. Hire farm hands. Maybe be the quiet, lenient, and occasionally absent mayor of a small village.
“Do You Have any interesting adventures or exploits to share?”
They… involve a lot of death. I led a campaign against a small, rogue order of paladins that was killing my comrades. That was interesting, but unsurprising, and sad. I don’t find these kinds of things “interesting” anymore, unless I’ve helped somebody. It’s all evisceration, asphyxiation, screams, chopped limbs, dismemberments and decapitations.
…I try not to find them too interesting, anyhow.
“What Race of people outside of your own do you feel is the strangest, or hardest to get to know?”
…I can’t understand the… dry-nigh? Dray-nay? I have comrades that correct me every time. Until the Broken Shore, and the subsequent campaign on Argus, which I didn’t have much to do with, I understood them even less.
I can’t imagine what it must be like to live that long, on multiple planets, in a building floating through space. But, we share a faith, which brings me great hope.
“Which of your vices or bad habits would be the hardest to give up? “
I… have a temper. Always have, and undeath doesn’t help. I’m working on it.
“All right, What’s your favorite childhood memory?”
Learning to ride was great fun, as I recall. Useful, too.
I don’t have… very many fun childhood memories.
“Flipping that around, What’s your worst childhood memory that you’re comfortable sharing with us?”
I have none. Not because of an absence of memories, either.
“Who have you lost that’s been close to you?”
Many comrades in the Blade.
“How do you feel about the state of the world today? Any grievances or complaints you want to get off your chest?”
I don’t think many people realize the kind of magic that they’re dealing with. I certainly don’t, but I feel its effects, first hand, every day. The bodies in war have souls attached to them, that live on, one way or another. If you want to send those souls drifting into damnation, for all eternity, I’m sure someone will do it to you.
“What is your biggest regret in life?”
…Dying. I won’t say more, but I’ll say I’m not being smart with that answer. Not as smart as you might think, anyhow.
“Where’s your ‘happy place’? Is there anywhere or any state of mind you like to go to when you want to enjoy yourself?”
Sometimes, I go ride on my steed, Spite, through the fields of my childhood. They’re blighted… beyond recognition, really. Sometimes I’ll stare out over the balcony of Acherus, or over an Icecrown glacier, looking over the ocean. If asked if I enjoyed them…
…No.
But, sometimes, I spend my time with… some… of the prisoners in the Vault. Some of them are coming along well. It is a rewarding experience, working with them, when they behave. It’s… the closest to enjoyment I have. It’s a bit of a far cry.
“And Finally, Do you think that children born today will have better or worse lives than their parents?”
Their parents didn’t stop having lives, for one. They’re out there, somewhere, reaping what either they have sown or what someone else had sown for them. Secondly, worse. Much, much, much worse.