Ever since “The Burning Crusade,” my husband Loveth and I have had something of a friendly disagreement where the lady Jaina Proudmoore is concerned.  For Loveth, Jaina is the only lore character that matters, all else pale in comparison.  He adores her with an adoration initially born of his desire to regenerate mana efficiently and Jaina’s Mount Hyjal spirit aura.  For me, she’s the most confused mage in the history of Azeroth.  A mage with spirit aura?  Really?  Wowwiki calls her the most powerful sorceress in the history of the world (of Warcraft), which she would have to be to have half the abilities they’ve given her.  As a mage & priest, I’ve always been a little insulted by the idea that this chick who doesn’t even have her own character model, and is wandering around in gear that make her look like she just emerged from Scarlet Monastery, is the most powerful (or confused) mage in the history of Warcraft.

But I digress… though I recognize her importance as a lore character, especially since “Wrath of the Lich King” has come out, I’ve always jokingly called her Jaina Proudwhore.  Now, if you haven’t seen Ian Beckman’s “Azrothian Super Villains” you should.  His portrayal of the Burning Crusade villains is HILARIOUS.  Jaina is portrayed as a bit of a get around girl, if you know what I mean, hence my nick name for her.  Also, it gets on Loveth’s nerves which makes me giggle a little.  We go back and forth about ol’ Jaina.

Then, recently, while fishing in the fountain in Dalaran for coins, I saw something that made me feel so profoundly sorry for Jaina Proudwhore Proudmoore, I almost felt bad for calling her names.  What was it, you ask?  This…

Since WotLK, I’ve been pretty immersed in the lore of the story – especially since I’ve been working on the Loremaster stuff.  Arthas is far more interesting to me than Illidan ever was.  To me, Illidan was just one big emo elf.  Yes, I know there’s more to it than that, but that’s always where he’s been for me.  I could never get past his somewhat silly appearance.  Arthas, however, is one evil guy.  The man killed all his people to gain power, it takes a special kinda bad to do something like that.  I like that he’s the personification of good, turned to the personification of evil.  It’s very much a “the higher you are, the further you fall” type situation with good ol’ Arthas.

So, when I saw this coin, my heart broke a little for poor Jaina.  When I asked Loveth if he’d see them coin, he assured me that not only had he seen it, he’d kept it.  Instead of tossing it back, he has it stashed away in his bank.  His interest in Jaina as a lore character persists, while my interest in her begins to emerge as more than just a half hearted attempt to understand her as a character.  I’m a bit stuck on her array of unique and unmagelike powers.

Right now, I’m just thinking that poor Jaina might be taken a bit more seriously if Blizz would give the poor girl a custom model.  Random NPC’s outside the keep in Borean Tundra has a custom model, but a lore character of importance doesn’t?  Give Jaina a unique model already!

On one last note, if you’ve not seen those machinima, go and watch them.  Seriously, you won’t regret it.  Beckman’s a funny guy!!

…(¨`·.·´¨)
…..`·.¸.·Maeleigh