Velouree Kranze

Born in Ascalon into a noble family, Velouree wasn't in fact the only child. He also had a twin sister - Lillian. They grew up under the Charr sieges, which put them on constant house arrest for the sakes of safety. It was a miracle that their father, who was an Ebonguard soldier, survived altogether. 
When Kralkatorrik flew across Ascalon, branding the land, Velouree's parents finally decided to move out of Ebonhawke. Though, the upcoming mesmer was intrigued by the dragon, to say the least. The family arrived to Divinity's Reach, where they quickly made a standing for themselves as nobles in the Salma district. The twins' father became a Seraph guard, with Lillian following in her father's steps. Their mother had been a performer her entire life, with which she continued here. It was from her that Velouree learned the art of being a mesmer - complicated but rewarding.

Eventually, the noble decided to venture out and see the world for himself. Tyria was vast, and there was more to it than Ascalon and Kryta. The Kranze family had already seen a piece of the Shiverpeaks while fleeing from Kralkatorrik's Brand. Something about the chilly peaks appealed to Velouree, and he found a second home among the culture of the Norn. The vaguely adventure-tempered noble spent plenty of time along the giants of the Shiverpeaks, meeting with their shamans and learning of their ways. 
Joining the Order of Whispers was simultaneously a good decision and a mistake. The covert spy order was like tailored for Velouree, using his illusions and manipulation to fish information out of people before they could notice anything. A devious deed to some, but the mesmer was ready to combat dragons any means necessary. Now, for the mistake part... a certain thief had suddenly shown up in the noble's path. Best of both worlds, a street urchin. A rank above him. A swarthy Lightbringer of Elonan descent. Lyssa have mercy, that man annoyed the ever-loving hell out of Velouree. The man's name was Anoor. The noble didn't expect a street urchin to have a surname anyway. He was like a cat - came and went as he liked. Even the Preceptors couldn't give this man solid guidelines. He did as he wanted, all the time and never kept his hands to himself. Thief.

Tyria grew restless as elder dragons awakened. There was Zhaitan, mercilessly slain by the mesmer. Mordremoth, who's tangled jungle and splitting of Destiny's Edge didn't stop Velouree in his tracks.
Problems started surfacing when Mordremoth died. The magic balance in the world was thrown off, releasing far too much chaotic unbound magic. This affected Velouree extremely poorly. As the mesmer was bent on experimenting and exploring the limits of how far and how much he could manipulate things, eventually reaching Chronomancy, the loose magic got to his head. There was an overflow of it in his body - something that he couldn't handle at all. This resulted in hallucinations, gradually increasing in severity with time. Problem was, very few people believed a hallucinating mesmer as they were usually the one fabricating the hallucinations. Inbetween the events of th exploding Bloodstone, surfacing of Lazarus the Dire and White Mantle attacks, Velouree was locked up in his house in the Salma district. He kept away from people, attempting to cull the hallucinations somehow but to no avail. Velouree also managed to pry his way into the Shining Blade out of pure pettiness.

When Lazarus was shown to be the god of War, Balthazar, Velouree became livid. A god, here, now?! And so rude, too. However this occurence provided a perfect excuse to just... disappear into thin air. The Eye of Janthir showed the Crystal Desert - so the mesmer went ahead. Only the Whispers knew where he was leaving to. Under the cover of night, cloaked, Velouree left Divinity's Reach and followed a Whispers contact into the long-cut off desert land.
Upon arrival to Amnoon, earlier than everybody else, Velouree busied himself with learning the language and working on a proper disguise. This was the perk of a mesmer - a simple illusory cloak could make you a completely different person. However, the desert's high magic concentration in its sands and the presence of a god and potentially another elder dragon made the hallucinations even worse. But there was nobody Velouree knew here, so it would be alright. When people from central Tyria started arriving, Velouree had finally decided to move out. There was some kind of comfort knowing he wasn't the only one making advances. Campaigning around the desert proved to be difficult, but Anoor was there to assist with several other Whispers agents. 
By Balthazar's defeat, the mesmer had taken on a new disguise. Vabbi was his home now. He settled in the Garden of Seborhin under the cover of an Elonian noble, despite disliking Palawa Joko's harsh regime. However, as of now he is currently back in Amnoon and closely tied with Anoor.

After the fall of Rata Primus, Velouree came down with a magic-induced fever that kept him confined to his residence in Amnoon for little short of a month. He eventually worked out that using magic may be better than bottling it up and quickly got back to adventuring. Anoor accompanies Vel closely on his endeavors, supporting the mesmer directly or from the shadows. However, with recent events a lot has been going on in the noble's head. Palawa Joko's death and the task of rearing leftover Awakened and uniting Elona's factions was already tough. The recent failed assault on Kralkatorrik doesn't make it better.

After the roaring (no pun intended) defeat, Velouree retired to his house back in Divinity's Reach. A long way from Elona, certainly, but the mesmer sustained a rough injury to his abdomen when a branded crystal rammed right into him.