Biography of a Paladin

Zalam Njord'il is a blood elf paladin, specializing in holy healing but more than capable of donning tough armor and tanking one or several enemies on the battlefield. Her endurance and analytical skill suit both roles admirably.

Sefalir's story begins as merely a blood elf civilian living her life in Silvermoon City, daughter to an apothecary and mage, minor members of a noble family that served on the Silver Circle. I view her as a socialite more than anything else at this time. She was educated, but not driven to seek knowledge. The hints of a calling to the Light were suppressed by the needs of family, the bonds of blood and society and culture.

Her family was destroyed during the Third War, when Prince Arthas led his army of the Scourge against the High Elves, ravaging Quel'Thalas and corrupting the Sunwell. The utter collapse of society, after the initial struggles to survive using what she had picked up of herbalism from her mother, drove her to a madness that would have destroyed her had she not been functional enough to serve some purpose. Following the elves' trek to Outland, she found places at inns and taverns, exchanging food and a bed for barmaid duties. She spent most of the intervening years serving food, alcohol and perhaps more to the warriors following Prince Kael'thas. Self medicating through the arcane energy withdrawals and grief of losing her kin, she only returned to Silvermoon City in Grand Master Rommath's retinue of servants.

Living in Silvermoon City during the combat against Kil'jaeden in the Sunwell Plateau, she and the other blood elves of Silvermoon had varying degrees of reaction to the Sunwell's reignition from M'uru's crystal heart. It's rebirth struck her especially hard, and she blinked her eyes open to find a city guard and a fellow barmaid hovering over her prone body on the ground. Prophet Velen's words still echoed in her mind somehow, and it is from that point that she began to clean herself up and seek sobriety. Grief was still present but she found herself capable of functioning without alcohol, and soon found herself studying more and more at the City's libraries, and enrolled in the Paladin training regimen.

Sefalir took the name Zalam Njordil to honor her new path as a Paladin of the Light with which Prophet Velen and M'uru had spoken to her heart, and her family bloodline. Njordu was a family pet name for her father's branch of the bloodline represented on the Silver Circle.

Once Zalam did enough training in her martial and healing skills where only practice and further dedicated study would benefit her, she left Silvermoon City and began her own research as she travelled across the Eastern Kingdoms, flew across parts of Kalimdor, and travelled through parts of Outland. She never found much favor with the Blood Knights, and she didn't seek to gain it, disapproving of their history.

Nowadays, she abstains from alcohol, drugs and hedonism, focusing instead upon study of the history of her people, and exploring the lands of the world seeking more of the magic Light she first tasted in a dream of M'uru. Her companion is an arcane mage, a troll she rescued in the Hillsbrad Foothills. The pair explored all of Northrend together, and currently wage battle in Icecrown, tracking movements of the undead armies and assisting other explorers and warriors doing the same. They report to no command.

Healing style

Over time I believe I've mentioned that I'm not a very reactive healer, not really, anyways. I love to pug, and I love to heal on each of my healers, but my skill at healing is highly based on my raid leading and tanking experience. I heal based on my judgement of the incoming damage. But that judgement is based on my knowledge of the tank. Not really his class, though that comes into it probably. I develop expectations of incoming damage based on tanks and their gear. And I don't even gear check and I uninstall-ed GearScore last month! But given content and where most tanks are, I know my skill set and the damage the bosses deal out enough to keep healing pretty steady, I'd say.

I read all these great blogs about healers that are situationally aware and watching the boss's abilities so they can react to them. It just suddenly struck me that, well maybe I do that, without even realising it. I know the fights. I know what's coming, usually. But not move by move on the boss's part. I'm staring at green bars and watching how they move, and watching the debuffs flying around. (Oh how I love you GridRaidDebuff) It's the damage that's coming that tells me what I need to know. That might make me a subpar healer (though I rarely feel that way) but it does mean I need to have a good relationship with the tank. Could be a pug respectful one, but the more I trust the tank, the more they trust me, and the more confident I'm feeling about the fight in general, the better I heal.

Less than perfect, but that's just my style.

Side note: LOOK UP THERE! At the top. See? I won Abra's Cadaver. The mage Abramelin was kind enough to pass the staff so, since I was DPSing last night in ICC, I won it. /happy. I was amused by the name. Yay for silly humor.