Alexia Ciannor is an infamous sorceress and the current wielder of the blade Witchfire with powerful necromantic abilities. Born in Cygnar, she currently wanders the Iron Kingdoms as a mercenary while evading the agents of the Church of Morrow. She raises and controls the dead with startling ease, but the relic’s dark whispers bring Alexia to the brink of madness. Alexia ultimately desires to master the secrets of transcending death in order to restore her mother to life, perhaps an impossible goal.
History[]
Early Life[]
Alexia Ciannor was born in 586 AR to Lexaria Ciannor in the Cygnaran city of Corvis. Lexaria was the leader of a peaceful witch coven. However the purges of witches during the reign of Vinter Raelthorne IV resulted in her mother being executed when Alexia was seven years old. The coven was sentenced to death by Ulfass Borloch. Borloch had previously blackmailed the coven turning the benevolent coven into a covert political tool. They were initially forced to create embarrassing incidents to rivals but then evolve into disappearances and deaths. However when the coven realized that Borloch was planning to double-cross them it was too late and they were tried and proven guilty of the crimes that Borloch forced them to commit, Pandor Dumas, Lexaria's brother-in-law who was a prelate of the Church of Morrow tried to hide the execution fom Alexia, but she sneaked into the woods and witnessed the executions personally.[1]
Behind the scenes the entire incident was a plan by Vahn Oberen. Oberen had gained the sword known as Witchfire which was a fulcrum of necromantic power and the bane of spellcasters. It could drain life energy and arcane lore (in the form of experience) from the victim and add them to the wielder when done in the correct fashion. The Corvis coven’s execution fit the bill perfectly. Five sorcerers, an entire coven, executed on enchanted ground under a full moon—this was the event Oberen had engineered for years. However the power of the sword was too much for Oberen to handle and after executing the witches Oberen fainted and Borloch had to immediately move the "executioner" to avoid revealing his identity. Not knowing the truth about the sword he left the Witchfire at the site which was recovered by father Dumas and his men who found the sword disturbing. Lexaria was buried in a special tomb on church grounds and the blade Witchfire which was used in the executions was also placed there believing that the sword should be placed in holy ground. [1]
After her mother's death, Alexia was sent to be fostered by her closest living relative, Prelate Dumas. The Church of Morrow likely believed that Dumas would have a positive influence on Alexia and subvert any possible sorcerous taint passed to her by her mother. Alexia was profoundly affected by her mother’s death: she became withdrawn, despondent, and refused to have anything to do with other children. Nearly every night she woke screaming from terrible nightmares, often calling out the names of her mother and of Magistrate Borloch, among others. There is little question that she harbored both a growing obsession with her dead mother and a growing ability in the sorcerous arts, which she appears to have concealed from her uncle. Years later, Alexia began to formulate her revenge. Alexia vowed her mother and the others who were set up and executed would live again to have vengeance - revenge on Borloch who orchestrated the trial and revenge on Corvis which she considers a wicked city. [1]
In 602 AR, Alexia desecrated several tombs including those containing four members of the Corvis Coven. She attempted to bring back her mother which resulted in animating the coven as walking corpses with the only goal of brining death to the living.[1]
Amid the Longest Night festival, triannual festival to celebrate the ushering of the new year. a time of excess and celebration when the streets are packed with revelers, a horde of walking dead rose up from the undercity to assault Corvis and wreak all manner of havoc. In the chaos, Alexia visited the church to steal her mother's corpse and the Witchfire, accompanied by some of her strongest creations as well as the four zombified coveners she already rescued. Her plan is to steal the Witchfire, escape, and use it to restore the entire coven fully to their former selves. Vahn Oberen tracked who had stopped city authorities from investigating Alexia so that she will lead her to the sword tracked her down to the church and attempted claim the Witchfire for himself after Alexia entered her mother's tomb, but failed to get through her thralls. Dumas who sees the battle realizes the true nature of the sword and is stunned by the revelations about Alexia. After Alexia escaped, her army of undead collapsed into inert bones.[1]
Alexia decided not to reanimate her mother's corpse in the same crude way as the others. Instead, she saved Lexaria for a special treatment in the Cyrissist Temple of the Incomplete Axiom, the location of a great machine that can take the witches' souls imprisoned inside the Witchfire and reinsert them into their old bodies. Once she has used the machine resurrect her mother and the other members of the coven, she plans to turn her attention to the evil magistrate Borloch and Oberen, whom she had previously learned to be Borloch's collaborator in the trials a decade ago.[1]
Alexia led an army of thralls to attack the Cyrissist temple, completely overcoming the resident priests who relied too heavily on secrecy and unbreakable doors for protection, and were not equipped to defend the temple against so many determined interlopers. The souls of the Corvis Coven were extracted by the Temple's great machine when Alexia placed the Witchfire in the receptacle. Unfortunately, before the resurrection could be complete, Alexia was defeated by her uncle's agents and fell off the platform.[1]
As Alexia passed through the swirling energies, the loose souls seized her as a vessel. Her memory of the events at the temple was later erased; she didn't know how she survived the fall, half-mad and possessed by the ghosts of her mother and the others. This has further enhanced her magical abilities, particularly where the Witchfire is concerned.At the same time, agents of the outlawed Inquisition, led by Vahn Oberen, infiltrated Corvis. They seized control of the city with the help of Magistrate Borloch and prepared for the arrival of a skorne army led by Vinter Raelthorne. United with the Witchfire, Alexia Ciannor raised the Legion of Lost Souls to aid the city during the Battle of Corvis. Vinter's plans were thwarted, and by the end of the battle Alexia killed Vahn Oberen - now revealed to be an alias of former head Inquisitor Dexer Sirac - and his soul was absorbed into the Witchfire. .[1]
Mercenary[]
Alexia in 608 AR.
Alexia relinquished the Witchfire to the Church of Morrow however the calling of the blade was for her to resist. A year later in 604 AR the heavily armed convoy that was carrying the blade to the Sanctum in Caspia for safe keeping was attacked by an undead horde lead by Alexia. This resulted in her being hunted by the Illuminated Ones of the Order of Illumination and Alexia on the run became a mercenary for hire.[2]
Since becoming a mercenary Alexia has indulged her interest in the war between Khador and Cygnar by offering her services to both sides. She avoids battle-chaplains of the church but intends them no violence, for they remind her of her beloved uncle. Even though Necromancy is illegal in the Iron Kingdoms many beleaguered captains and kovniks eager for assistance will turn a blind eye to the source of her power so long as her Risen companions slay their enemies and keep their distance from regular soldiers. While on the run from the Order of Illumination, Alexia survives by selling her services as a mercenary. Clients appear to be those desperate enough to make use of her necromantic power to destroy their enemies. Her mercenary activities seem to be confined to Cygnar and Khador, she is careful to avoid Morrowan battle-chaplains but intends them no violence, for they remind her of her beloved uncle.[3]
Alexia desires to master the secrets of transcending death in order to restore her mother to life and she shifts through the remains of thralls, skarlocks, and bonejacks in an attempt to understand their fabrication and broaden her mastery of death magic. Fascinated by Menite rites, Alexia believes the Testament of Menoth might know secrets she requires even if she has to make him break his vow of silence at the tip of Witchfire. However this is hampered by the fact that Menites shun land laothe her for her dark magic. Cryxians seek to destroy her and reclaim the Witchfire, which was once buried and forgotten under the ruins of Castle Moorcraig. Alexia neither knows no cares about the origins of the sword and the only person alive from the expedition that recovered his is Kell Bailoch who is not given to speaking[3]
Alexia is able to summon two types of unliving servants. The Risen manifest from the dark power of the Witchfire, which is able to animate the slain and bind them to her will. These creatures are relatively weak but are can be as numerous as there are corpses on the field. They mindlessly rend their victims with bare hands and teeth. Alexia can siphon the death energy animating them to strengthen herself in battle. The second of Alexia’s undead servants requires a process born of her unique and disturbing aptitude for necromancy. By inscribing runes of unholy power into a Risen, she can transform it into a powerful thrall guardian. Stronger than their mindless kin, these undead can follow complex orders and act on their own initiative. Ciannor’s ability to craft powerful thralls with such ease had made her the envy of many necromancers. What they do not know, however, is the terrible price Alexia must pay for her power. The voices of the dead coven fill her mind, vying for attention and growing louder each day, and a weary Alexia has begun to confuse their desires for her own.[3]
Personality[]
Alexia is motivated by a twisted desire to avenge her mother and unhinged from having witnessed the decapitation at such a young age. Fascinated by Menite rites, Alexia believes the Testament of Menoth might know secrets she requires. She has no plans to ask politely, however, hoping instead to force him to break his vow of silence at the tip of the Witchfire.[3]
Since the Longest Night, Alexia’s infamy has only grown. Those few who knew her in those days say she has grown madder still, haunted by the ghost of her mother and those who burned alongside her in that ghastly trial. Some suggest that since then, the chorus of spectres in her head has been joined by the dozens, perhaps hundreds, of souls that have perished at the end of the Witchfire. Her motives have grown even less discernible as she has made her way across the battlefields of the Iron Kingdoms.[4]
Alexia seems as happy to fight for one side as the other, taking her pay in coin and the corpses of the enemy. To what ultimate end Alexia uses the thralls she raises is a question shrouded in darkness. What is certain is that as the wars across western Immoren grow in scope and intensity, so has her mastery over the Witchfire - or perhaps, its mastery over her. Perhaps her desire to resurrect the spirit of her mother is only a diversion, a feint by powers to whom Alexia is herself only a pawn.[4]