Traejan: 30 Days of Character Development: 03
(( cross-posted by request from tumblr ))
3.) Name one scar your character has, and tell us where it came from. If they don’t have any, is there a reason?
I have literally been pining away for this prompt since I spotted it on the list. This is really the first prompt that lets me explore some super relevant backstory. I mean, it's all relevant, but this applies directly to Death Knight Stuff of Importance.
The one scar I've chosen to name is THE Scar. Which is to say, the one that came about because of what killed him.
Everyone who has ever met him has seen it, because it's impossible to miss. It begins just beneath his right ear and descends diagonally over his throat and well down over his chest. Unless he wanted to wear a scarf forever there would be no way to completely hide it. Most people who make a conscious effort to try and ignore the fact that he is dead tend to get tripped up by it because it's staring them in the face.
The necromancers who put him back together were not plastic surgeons and were definitely not taking any chances with a wound of that size when they decided to stitch it back together. Thick, black, cable-like material holds everything together. At least whoever did it had a good eye for symmetry, because the stitching is quite neat and even.
So that's the what; now onward to the why.
If Traejan had a powerful fear of arachnids now it would be entirely justified. He fought and died during the Scourge's siege of Silvermoon, successfully cutting his way through several waves of undead for some time before his number finally came up. It was a Nerubian Cryptstalker that did it, one that managed to get the jump on him when it basically cut his mount right out from under him. Despite the ambush he held his ground against it rather well for awhile.
And then he got cocky and careless.
He'd thought he'd finished it and that was that, which was the moment when he let his guard down. A valuable lesson was learned that day: never assume it's dead until it's on the ground and stops moving.
The Cryptstalker had one last fight in it before it was over and its wild flailing eventually became too much to handle. All it took was for one razor-sharp claw to slip past his guard
There is of course far more to the story, but some of the finer details I prefer to divulge ICly.