NOTE: This is covered more elegantly in The Kun-Lai Couple


Posted here: https://desuarchive.org/trash/thread/33924135/#33976657
https://pastebin.com/0LGT5V2V
Hilda Origins
>>33971124
That's canineyesdog's call. But I interpreted pic related as...
>Gilneas, akin to early nineteenth century London but with all the Azeroth magic and advancements in tech and culture. During the events of Warcraft 2 and Warcraft 3.
>Hilda's parents are a fan of Greymane. They supported his idea to make a giant wall. The country was great without the Alliance and there was no need to be expansionist when life was already top titty.
>Mother was an ambassador to the rare interactions with the outside world.
>Father was a naval militia leftenant who reported straight to Greymane.
>Third War rolls around. Massive regret starts to stem. MGilneasGA status revoked. Who would wanna live in Gilneas anymore?
>The Gilnean-deployed worgen affliction against the undead scourge assault backfired.
>Gilneas City itself slowly became the subject to the affliction and civil war as the outskirts became untraversable.
>At this point, Hilda was well into her teenage years. Learning the ins and outs of politics, courtship, subtlety, and Gilnean traditions.
>Her mom eventually shows a recent bite. From a Worgen. She wasn't careful enough when returning from an ambassador meeting.
>Hilda backs away, mortified. After hearing rumors of crazed, rabid worgens in the city, she thought it was all over.
>But then her mother reveals that everything is actually fine.
>Dad doesn't know.
>Transforming into her worgen form, Hilda's mother proved that nothing was lost. It was more like a twisted blessing that could be ignored and hidden.
>She was still mum.
>After that, Hilda saw her mom in worgen form only once more. It was a secret between the two of them.
>Mom would sometimes allude to the cool things she can do in worgen form and the subtle inhuman strength she's gained.

>>33976657
>Hilda started dreaming about the outside world. The places beyond the wall. If her mom could turn into a monster and still be as badass as she was, then clearly she wasn't a monster and there's plenty out there to discover.
>Heck, if her mom was an ambassador seeing all that's out there, maybe it's not a pipe dream?
>Maybe all this noble stuff is just pish posh.
>That's when the peak of the civil war exploded.
>Walls went unwatched.
>Townsfolk fought their friends.
>Worgen invaded.
>Hilda's manor, her home, was breached by looters.
>Her dad was somewhere else in the city at Greymane's side.
>She followed her mom to the underground tunnel leading outside to the cliff their estate was placed upon.
>The rain outside the rocky, slippery cavern walls splashed on large furred silhouettes.
>A duo of Worgen.
>Suddenly and silently, a trio. The third being her mom. The last time she saw her. In her worgen form with pupils illuminated by the curse and full moon. Maddened and fighting off the duo to save her daughter.
>Terrified, Hilda scraped out of the rockface and into the rain, but not before her ankle was caught by claws.
>She didn't even feel the pain. Just the hot blood as teeth ever so slightly bit into her leg.
>Glancing back, Hilda saw that it would have been worse if mom didn't clasp the attacker's snout to prevent the entire leg from being gashed.
>The snout didn't last long.
>Mom manhandled the biter's body in between her and the other worgen.
>Amidst a lightning flash, the biter's jaw and snout was used as leverage to split apart his entire throat.
>The fight continued as Hilda hopped forward to the peninsula.
>Hops led into a slip. Which became a mudslide into the below brush and foliage.
>The young noble's vision swayed. Weird haziness stemmed from her leg. Thunder rolled by, lulling her to unconsciousness.

>>33976690
>She awoke to the same moon. But it was so much closer to the shoreline.
>Climbing up the rockface only awarded her with the gruesome sight of a worgen who's neck was ripped in half.
>No sign of her mom or the other attacker in the manor either which was entirely wrecked by the looters.
>She took a letter opener as a knife and some stuff from her room.
>At least her leg wasn't bleeding.
>Morning rolled around and the city was still in heightened conflict.
>Hilda eventually found plenty of Gilnean refugees that escaped the madness. A convoy formed to make the long trek to Stormwind, mostly by boat, especially now that Arthas took Lordaeron.
>Maybe mom would be on one of those?
>Hilda joined the exodus full of hope but the worgen affliction residing within her body began to take its toll as neither disparate group met along the way showed any signs of her parents.
>She constantly felt cold and kinda sick.
>Then she could smell everything. Like, every little thing.
>By the time they reached Menethil Harbor, the bite marks on her leg got just a bit hairy.
>In fact, she was growing hair way faster and had to settle with pigtails to even manage it.
>Her body ached and the convoy was getting annoyed by her insistence to plop down on the wagons.
>Eventually, Ironforge's Deeprun Tram caused more dizziness. The flashing lights causing the corner of her vision to create glimpses of her smiling mom.
>Disjointed conversations with the friends she made along the journey eventually raised enough suspicion to where she dodged any interactions.
>She practically screamed back at responses, frustrated about the lack of baths and food.
>The mixture of tension, anger, and fright caused her to split from the convoys as soon as Old Town crowded her view.
>A bump splays her backpack onto the stone tiles.
>Annoyance spikes to scared alertness as a worgen scoffs at the minor inconvenience and goes along his way.

>>33976711
>It didn't make sense.
>That's a worgen. And no one's attacking him. He's wearing clothes. What's going on? Where's mom?
>None of it made sense. Everyone was so loud. So she ran into the most quiet place. A giant cathedral.
>The ache in her leg, which she had forgotten for days until now, finally subsided.
>Silently, and without pain, she transformed into what her friends see her as now.
>She hid the form. First attempting to plead with those that looked like Stormwind nobles. Wouldn't they know about her family? She's a noble too.
>Apparently her previous status mattered little to those outside Gilneas. In fact, it hurt more than helped as outsiders viewed the previously isolated city slightly traitorous.
>As the Cataclysm passed and more worgen became broadly accepted into society, she thought it was more appropriate to stay in that form.
>She didn't know what to do with her new body. Sure she had stories and hints about her mom's worgen form but this is real. And alone.
>Though, the glimmers of her mum never stopped. She's there somewhere.
It's a bit dark but I wouldn't call it edgy. Her adventurer attitude is the polar opposite for now because of the time she's had alone and lost. The experience as a noble in Gilneas fits into why she became a skilled rogue.
I think it's awesome that, like Li Li, we don't know what Hilda's human form looks like. I'm an even bigger fan of similarities that can be drawn between characters that have entirely different meanings. Specifically when they bank off the setting's worldbuilding.
The same reason why Quest for Pandaria's content hits so hard. Every chapter has morally grey conflicts that the characters manage to stay neutral between for the sake of imagination.