A'zi the Fierce

"'A most dangerous foe.. I fought her on more occasions than I can count on one paw. She is the most threatening of all of her kind not simply because of her viciousness or overwhelming might.. but because she thinks. She can determine your movements before you've made them and can counter them. I've seen her slay Shado-Masters as if they were students. Do not underestimate this mantid, my lord.' - Kong Chi, speaking to Lord Taran Zhu"

Hatched and born a decade before the mists were parted on Pandaria A'zi was like many of her kind at birth; overwhelmed only with the urge to kill and to feast, but she was hatched just before the swarm that was to strike the lands of Pandaria and thus she was sent out with countless, nameless other Mantid to attack the Pandaren along the Serpent Wall and to prove themselves worthy.

Given only rudamentary weapons of kyparite with only a pair of bracers and anklets, she was thusly sent off to do battle with the pandaren. Of the countless thousands of Mantid that struck, only several hundred returned... A'zi amongst them. Her ferocity was such that she slew countless Shado-Pan before being accosted by a powerful pandaren warrior known only as Kong Chi; whom managed to match her, blow for blow, until at last she decided to depart knowing that neither of them could best the other. The Shado-Pan attempted to shoot her down but she countered the arrows shot at her, slicing them out of the air with her blades before flying back to the Dread Wastes.

Her alarming tenacity, tactical awareness, speed and combat prowess put her in a class above all the rest of the mantid whom returned. Whereas they had only less than a handful of kills A'zi boasted on having several dozen. This caught the attention of Blade Lord Ta'yak; the martial master of the Mantid forces on Pandaria and as such it was he whom brought A'zi under his wing and taught her the arts of his martial skills--and several other techniques besides. For a decade she studied and trained underneath him, graduating only a few months before Shek'zeer would become overwhelmed by the Sha's power. After departing from her instructor's tutelage she found herself in the uncomfortable position of being one of the few whom was unaffected by the maddened whispers of her Empress' Voice...

The Madness of the Queen
After realizing that her Empress was compromised by the energies of the Sha she had decided to depart and joined up with the Klaxxi'va; an organization of the Mantid untouched by the corruption and madness of the rest of the swarm, and would serve them for many years up until the Wakener had arrived and began to assist the order against the Empire of Shek'zeer. The very same Wakener whom would later become the Champion of Azeroth, and the mouthpiece of the Speaker.

She managed to only avoid being slain along with the rest of the Klaxxi'va when Empress Shek'zeer annihilated them all with a potent blast of sonic energy due to being out and away from the base as she was looking for an uncorrupted kyparite tree. She was later present with the rest of the Paragons on the initial assault against her fellow mantid in the Heart of Fear and had waited until the Wakener and their allies had left before she found her way back to the very spot where Blade Lord Ta'yak had fallen, where the great mantid's body lay cold upon the stones of her old home. Standing there she looked down upon him and noted how far he had fallen, remembering fondly of the many years of tutelage under his care. She took his body with her and left the Palace where she had his body encased into Amber and then she had placed the Amber-Encased Mantid Lord on a mountain peak overlooking the lands of the Dread Wastes so that he would always be able to see the land she remembered he valued so greatly.

Upon the Death of the Empress she felt her mind being snapped away from the rest of the voices of her kind; it caused a great pain within her that passed after several hours, but it left her unable to function for some time. She left the service of the Klaxxi'va at that point and returned to her prior activities--mainly wandering the lands of Pandaria and seeking ways to improve her combat skill and her connection to the True Ones (otherwise known as the Old Gods).

Self-Improvement
At this time she explored around Pandaria and searching for any kind of information to improve her martial prowess and mastery of such. She had heard about the Temple of the White Tiger and how its members permitted any wishing to train and learn within their walls, but she decided going to such a place would end poorly for her life, instead she decided to prowl around the Kun-Lai Mountains; maintaining a low flying altitude as she snuck through the wall when she noticed that several Shado-Pan were missing from their patrols. Once within the mountain range she began to observe the monks and warriors training within the temple from afar utilizing a spyglass made of amber to observe. She made notes of their postures, movements and how each one moved when they when to strike. And she began to adopt them into her own combat style.

After a time she began to realize that this would not be enough to defeat the foes of her people and returned to her home in the Dread Wastes where she found that a new Empress had taken the reins of the Mantid people: Shek'zera. She rejoined her service and it was underneath this Empress that she remained, battling alongside her fellow Mantid once more as they sought to purge the Sha's corruption from their lands as well as the taint upon the Kyparite trees made them unusable to the Mantid as a whole. Though with the destruction of the Heart of Y'Shaarj this process was expedited considerably. Being one of the few Students of Ta'yak to still breathe she was appointed as a combat instructor for the younger generation even if she did not approve of being called an instructor as she preferred to fight--not to teach.

The Invasion of the Vale
This continued up until the present day when N'Zoth the Corruptor was freed from his prison by the actions of the mortals in the Eternal Palace, and as he began to invade both Uldum and Pandaria; the Empress Shek'zera commanded that the empire march to war and claim the vale for the glory of the Mantid. She was amongst the first to join the battle and though the Mantid were quite vicious and prepared to fight, she found herself being opposed by not just the Golden Lotus, Shado-Pan and Champions of Azeroth but also by Mogu of the Rajani Clan whom had joined forces with them as well to oppose the will of the Old Gods. Though the fighting was indeed fierce and she had killed many it was of little point.

The former Wakener and now Champion of Azeroth managed to push past the lines of the Mantid and slew Empress Shek'zera, ending her rein of conquest once and for all resulting in the Mantid being forced back to the Dread Wastes beyond the wall once more. It was at this point that A'zi began to realize that conventional battle would be of little help against the foes arrayed against them and decided to go into self-exile to contemplate, reflect and meditate to try and determine what they were doing wrong if they were doing all within their power to try and claim what they felt belonged to their people...

The Calling
It was at this point that during her meditations she felt a vibration she has not felt before in quite some time.. the vibration of a song, but it was.. different. Unique.. but undeniable. She followed the impression of this 'Song' until it had led her to a cave at the base of a withered kyparite tree and upon entering it she had found herself somewhere else entirely; emerging from a blackened portal within the body of some massive organic creature. It was here that she first met the Paragon, Ex'elakun, and several others; and it was here that she was brought into the folds of the Oblivion Crusaders, where she has vowed to assist them in their battles and their wars for as long as she is able.

Though at home amongst the other insectoid races she has an intense dislike of the N'Raqi and the constructs whom seem to behave or regard them as being inferior to them; A'zi has found herself in the company of others whom she utterly despises but pushes aside all notions of arrogant and disgust in order to bring about the will of the Mantid and the whims of the Seven-Headed God.